Myths and Gargoyles by Jamie Hawke (interesting books to read in english txt) 📕

even as the words left my mouth, I knew there was much more going on here than I understood.

“Follow me, quickly,” my aunt said, leading me to the door at the end of the hall.

“I don’t understand,” I started, and pulled out my cell. “Let me call the cops.”

She held out a hand and a spark flew off my phone, the screen dying as smoke started to emerge from the sides and it grew incredibly hot. I dropped it, staring from the burning wreck of my phone to her glowing hand. She tucked it away, then turned toward the door, muttered something, and held the hand up. Again, it glowed, surging in brightness, and the door opened.

My mouth felt suddenly dry. “I really… don’t… understand.”

“This isn’t simply a case of your girlfriend—soon to be ex, I hope—bringing her friends over to rob the place. Do you understand? This is…” She hung her head, grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me through the doorway. Once we were inside, the door closed. We were surrounded by pure darkness except for the glow of her hand.

She leaned close, voice hushed, “It’s no coincidence, not at a time like this.”

A candle lit behind her, on its own, then several more. She spun on her heel, went to a spot on the wall between two of the now-flickering candles, and pushed. It budged, then opened inward, revealing stairs on the other side.

Not even checking to see if I would follow, she marched up the stairs. Of course, I was right behind her. Each step was a reminder that I’d fucked up but also a reminder that I had no idea how, or to what extent, at least.

When I reached the top, I was out of breath and anxious, looking around a very well-lit room. Only, it wasn’t natural light or electricity, it seemed, but some sort of glowing lights that were forming a square around us as my aunt chanted.

“Tell me,” I said. Then louder, “What is going on?”

She paused, turned to me, and then went back to her chanting. A final glowing ball connected with the others, then lines shot through all, lines that separated and snaked out toward the walls. Now the walls and floors, everything, glowed green for a second before fading.

“A war,” she grumbled. “The shisa outside would’ve done their part, too, but I assume you invited the little bitch in.”

“I… did.” My instinct was to tell my aunt not to refer to the girl who had just been going down on me as a bitch, but in this case I was getting the impression that Steph had somehow royally fucked me over.

“Wonderful.”

“What, like how a vampire needs inviting?” I scoffed. “Come on.”

“It’s similar, but in our case, demons, succubi, witches… all of that. I honestly don’t know if any vampires are involved, but—”

“I’m sorry, go back. You’re telling me you believe in demons and vampires?”

“And witches,” she said, touching her finger to her nose. “Don’t forget about them.”

My mouth opened, then shut. Then finally opened again. Certainly there were words to reply to that, but they weren’t coming to me right now.

“The thing you need to understand,” she explained, “is that there’s a whole world beneath the surface that you don’t know the first thing about. Yes, demons, witches, all of that. Get over the shock, because it goes deeper—back to the days of elves, goblins… you name it.”

“Bullshit.” The word sort of slipped out without me realizing what I was saying. One sideways glance from her was all it took for me to say, “Sorry,” and then she was motioning me to the closed door.

Before she opened it, she leaned in, lowering her voice. “I invited you for a reason, believe it or not. And you’re going to have to put your big boy pants on for this, because we’re not on the fucking bunny slopes.”

Hearing my aunt swear, as poised and proper as she always seemed, hit me even harder than this talk of witches and elves.

“Why us?” was all I could think to say.

“You’ll see, with time,” she replied. “Right now, what I need you to understand is that you are so much more than you believe. So am I. We’re going to work together, to bring back the world of magic. Are you with me?”

“If witches and whatnot are here, what do you mean by ‘bring back,’ exactly?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Remnants, only. Pieces of the puzzle left behind, those who fled. What I’m talking about, though, is a whole other le—”

Slamming doors and pops of explosions cut her off.

Laughter echoed all around, followed by a burst of light and what looked and sounded like shattering glass. It was the light from my aunt’s ward, and as she saw it fall, her eyes filled with worry.

“We have to move, now!”

She had us moving through the doorway and running through a hall only to stop short as dark forms appeared, filling the opposite end of the passageway. They loomed and swayed unnaturally—and they were coming for us. Her hand had me by the forearm, grip unnaturally tight. She pulled me back and into a side room, then slammed the door shut behind us. Muttering to herself, her hand moved hypnotically, strange light trailing from her fingertips.

When a blue line formed in front of her, she turned to me. “Remember what I said.” She grabbed me by the shoulders with both hands, staring into my eyes. For a moment, I thought she was going to kiss me—awkward, to say the least. “Don’t forget, it’s up to you.”

She stumbled back, hit the wall, and looked up at the ceiling as the clattering of hooves sounded above. With clenched teeth and pushing through some pain that I couldn’t understand, she reached for me with one hand, her other going to the wall beside her for balance.

The clattering grew louder. Darkness seeped into the room and filled it. Her blue line formed a spiderweb of lines around us, flickering like a