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

And I had played a part in it!

“That’s exactly right,” the voice said, returning to my side, circling me and laughing. “You, Jericho, brought down the walls of this world. Is that backwards?”

“Who the fuck are you?” I spat out, not in the mood for these games. “We did what was needed. We won.”

“Ah, but at what cost?”

While I didn’t want to admit it, this figure had a point. I hated to see this land of magic cast off as it was, and everything I was beginning to understand that it represented. And as she materialized further, her words rang even more true. Maybe that was the hypnotism of her beauty, this striking woman with her green eyes, red hair that flowed about her as if in a bath, and glimpses of nude flesh amid shifting darkness.

“Who are you?” I said, my voice almost slurring.

“I go by many names, none of which you need to bother yourself with. But come to my side, join me… and I’ll tell you one. A name you’ll enjoy, a name you can call out as I make you shout with pleasure.”

She came closer, body almost in full view, hand out to touch my face. But I pulled back, shifting and turning away from her.

“They will lead you astray,” her voice said, distant now, fading. “Mark my words. You want me at your side. You need my power.”

“All I have, all I need… I’ll figure it out without you.”

A jolt shot through me and I was pulled back from that place, leaving it all behind.

Ebrill was there, watching me. Steph was up against the wall with her arms around herself, while Kordelia stared out the window.

“It was bad,” Ebrill said, holding a cloth to wipe my forehead.

“I sensed her,” Steph added, a shiver running through her body. “The woman with the flowing red hair.”

“You’ve…” I pushed myself up, still shook from the pain and confusion of the dream. “You’ve met her? Before?”

Steph shook her head. “Only her power.”

It made sense to me, then. The curse—I would have been under its influence, had I given in. More power, maybe, but no freedom.

Kordelia turned back to me, then nodded. “It’s almost sunrise.”

Ebrill eyed the window and helped me up. “No more attacks, at least for now.”

“Fatiha might come during the day,” I pointed out.

“She might, but it wouldn’t do much good.” Steph shrugged. “Wouldn’t be able to do much against us. Her side’s power relies on darkness and shadows. She’ll come at night, I’d wager.”

“There you go.” Kordelia went to the window, flared her wings, and said, “Be sure to get some rest, but be ready in case she tries something. You never know.”

“Understood,” I replied, and offered a smile to Ebrill, then felt Steph wrap an arm around my waist. She nuzzled me as the other two froze. We watched the sunrise, Ebrill and Kordelia now stone nearby. Out of curiosity, I reached out to mentally check on the shisa. The creature was still there, patrolling the grounds. I had been curious how that worked, but apparently the guardian didn’t work like the gargoyles. That made sense, I supposed, since it was brought to life with my powers and the powers of the house, not some gargoyle curse.

My eyes moved to the way the orange light highlighted the curves of the gargoyles’ statues. The shadows made me wish they were alive so I could caress them again, hold them to me. I reminded myself that they would be back at night, but that seemed so far away. Funny how this time, they had each struck a pose before the morning light transformed them so that they had a fierce, sexual look of danger to them. I couldn’t help but let my eyes roam over their curves, now stone, before turning back to see Steph watching me. She raised an eyebrow.

“You and this one…” She walked over to Ebrill, running a finger along the stone of the gargoyle’s arm. “It’s serious?”

I laughed. “We barely know each other. But… it’s complicated.”

“Like how we’re complicated?”

“We are, aren’t we?”

She turned back to me, hand resting on Ebrill’s shoulder, the other moving along her wing, seductively. “I was trying to find myself, back then. Looking for ways to expand my magic. I wish I could say it was to bring my mother back from the dead or something, but she’s alive and well with my dad in the Peugeot Sound. For me, it was as simple as wanting power in the form of magic. I joined secret societies, a coven… all of that to find out I needed more. A journey to a land you never want to see earned me those wraith knights, and the fire was the result of a month in Turkmenistan. But this… everything I heard from anyone who knew anything about the Liahona pointed to more power than anyone could possibly comprehend.”

“We’ve all done things,” I said, not sure if I should be consoling her or what, but trying anyway.

“Before this,” Steph turned, eyes focused on mine. “I crossed lines, maybe, but always for the right reasons. Or, so I told myself. When I got the power I sought, I told myself I’d stand up for the little people, use my new power to, I don’t know, cure cancer or something.”

“Thought you said it wasn’t for anything like that.”

“Not directly, but… yeah, in part. Can you really imagine having that power and not doing some good with it?”

“Of course, I would do good,” I replied. “But then again, I’m not doing this for power.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” She scoffed, arms crossed. “There was a time, right when the curse hit me, and I was still more in control, when I would have hurt people.”

“And now?”

“No more crossing lines. It’s wrong, of course, but more than that—I set myself up to be susceptible.”

“To their curse?”

She nodded. “Never again, Jericho. Never.”

I took her in my arms. “You’re with us now.”

“I wanted power,