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

that I was suddenly much more confused than scared. “Is this some sort of sick, sexual game for you?”

“What?” Her eyes flashed bright and she growled. “Not—no, I don’t mean your cock, you fucking pervert. Give me the Liahona!”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.” I stepped out of hiding, hands up to show her I wasn’t a threat. “Call this off, go home. Maybe this is all a dream, I don’t know, but it needs to stop.”

“A dream?” She laughed. “A fucking dream? J, if this was a fucking dream, my mouth would still be around your cock. Do you see my mouth around your cock? No. So, wake the fuck up and tell me where it is!”

I wanted to say, ‘in my pants,’ as my response would’ve been to Steph any time before this strange experience. But, I knew she was referring to whatever strange object she was looking for, and I had no idea what that was or where it would be.

When I shook my head, she threw fire my way. A small ball of fire that surely would’ve taken out an eye or worse, had I not dodged back behind the statue. It hit stone, and there was a rumbling sound. The rooftop shook slightly, and Steph’s team looked around in confusion.

She, however, hadn’t broken her focus. “Tell me where to find the Liahona.”

“What the fuck, Steph?” I shouted, scrambling back past the statue, behind another gate. “This isn’t funny!”

“Do I look like I’m laughing?”

Hands snatched me up, the man who had been with her with his face inches from my own, and then we were moving through the shadows, him pinning me down in front of Steph. He was tall but wiry, with more pronounced cheekbones than looked natural, and a sickly yellow shade to his eyes.

“Best give her what she wants, boy,” the man said, and then pulled back as Steph and the other woman—wiry hair and eyes of all black—leaned over me.

“Last chance.” Steph pointed at me with long, red fingernails. Almost claws. The fire was moving between her fingers as if it had a life of its own. “Give me the Liahona, or die.”

Another rumbling, this time enough to create a crack in the roof, and cause the wiry-haired woman to lose her footing and stumble back, falling on her ass. The death knights took up positions around Steph, and she turned, eyes narrowing.

For a few more seconds the rumbling continued, then all eyes turned, and I pushed myself up to see what had drawn their attention. There in the garden, the gargoyle statue I’d hidden behind glowed purple, light shining from cracks in the stone. The cracks spread and a heartbeat later the stone broke off, shooting out as the female beneath burst free, eyes glowing for a moment before the magic light faded and she was left standing there, glaring our way.

A beautiful, in the flesh, real-life gargoyle.

74

“What’s the meaning of this?” the gargoyle asked in a soft, sensual voice. It was hard not to notice her barely-covered body, even as terror filled me. Her long, black, wavy hair fell over one shoulder. Her smooth skin had a slightly purple tint to it, and her horns and wings were red. Large breasts were held only by armor, the loincloth falling into place where it was needed below. She wore armor on her legs, forming at the feet into what looked almost like stilettos, but I imagined might have to do with a gargoyle’s foot shape.

I kept telling myself that it had been me who woke her, so there was no reason to be afraid. But, that didn’t stop the terror from seizing hold, even more so than when I saw Steph with her new magic and her retinue of death knights.

Instead of answering the gargoyle’s question, Steph attacked with her fire. The flames around her hand shot out in three bursts. Her death knights raised their swords and moved forward as the gargoyle rolled out of the way of the first two shots. The third hit the backside of one of her wings, but only singed it lightly before dying out.

A growl escaped the gargoyle as she stood and thrust out a hand but… nothing happened. She seemed confused, then glanced back at her wings, seemingly equally confused, and let out a groan as the first death knight’s sword came down on her. Suddenly, as if purely on instinct, the gargoyle became a fighting machine. She dodged the blade and came up with claws that tore into the man, tail whipping around to stab at his throat, wings flailing to catch a gust of wind and pull her back and out of the way of three more blasts.

The expression of anger and confusion on her face was priceless, and I almost felt bad for the death knights as she tucked her wings, diving back in to give them hell. Two vanished in puffs of smoke from her attacks, but the third managed to knock her back, sword raised. She spun, sweeping out his legs and snatching his sword, then plunged it into the knight’s face, causing him and his sword to puff out of existence.

“What magic is this?” the man next to me demanded, staring wide-eyed at me.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Steph cut in, angered, as she threw another burst of fire. “The boy doesn’t have this kind of power, and the searcher is dead.”

Searcher? I assumed she meant my aunt but had no idea what was meant by the title. Then again, it seemed there was a whole lot I hadn’t known about her.

“A mage in the mix?” the woman asked, pulling a wand from her cloak and turning, eyes darting about.

Meanwhile, the gargoyle managed to dodge around the death knight and pounced in our direction.

“Figure it out later,” Steph said, moving her hand in a strange pattern and creating a shield of flames that caused the gargoyle to change her trajectory, going for the man