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

items were there, too, moving about her in a circle. All ancient magic artifacts.

My craving to be gone returned, the feeling of leaving that world taking over, of connecting me to Avalon and the Dark Lands all at once, and then I was pulled, back through walls and rooms, catching glimpses of fighting as I went.

I searched for Megha and the others, my body suspended somewhere between here and the other worlds. A kick hit me, not a physical thing, but like a mental kick, something that threw me from my connection.

If I was going to be caught here, I knew I didn’t want it to be back in that room. I transferred my focus to the upper floors, to the way we had come in. I was caught off guard when a blast of magic energy hit me from behind. The force was enough to send me stumbling out through a doorway to land face-down in the grass.

Nothing made sense, but one thing was certain—I was back.

Focusing on clearing my mind, I pushed myself up and saw that I was in the courtyard out back. Then I saw her—Fatiha, near the house, watching me.

The others, where they free? Was I? She tried to come toward me, but I pushed out, focusing on those other worlds, on calling the Liahona to me.

Her own power canceled it! Nothing happened, and we were at a standstill.

“Do you really think you’ve done anything to stop me here?” Fatiha laughed, the echoes of Thitis in her voice. She stepped back into the shadows, face shifting to become that of Senator Ohlo, whose house we were at. “The opening will come soon enough, and my army will make this world cower before me.”

“For what purpose?” I asked.

“To fucking rule,” she said, sneering, and then she was gone.

I stood there in the courtyard, Secret Service incoming, shouting for me to get on my knees, hands behind my head. A glance into the shadows showed my team arriving, ready if I gave the signal. But this? No, I couldn’t tell them to fight the Secret Service.

Whatever happened next would determine where I truly fitted into this world, and I had no plans of becoming the bad guy.

My first step was to transmorph my face and fingerprints. Next, I sent the Liahona away, dropping my staff. I turned to face them in my false identity, going to my knees with hands up as they demanded.

120

Being dragged off with ties around your wrists and thrown into the back of a car with the likelihood of going to prison wasn’t the bad part. All the eyes on me from nearby residents—that’s what killed.

Knowing that my team was standing by and could likely break me out hurt, too. I didn’t want them to make any moves but knowing that I didn’t have to be taken in was a bit much to stomach. I was the good guy, though, and had to live up to that.

I’m with you, Riland’s voice came through.

Thank God, I replied. The others?

Safe.

And Megha?

He paused, then said, The end there, I’m not sure.

If we didn’t get her, we’re fucked. All of this was for nothing.

“What the hell was your plan, anyway?” the man in the front seat asked.

“We’re not supposed to talk to him,” the other cut in.

“Says who?”

A sigh, and then a sudden muzzle-flash. The other guy was dead. A glance back in the mirror, and the driver’s eyes flashed red.

Shit, I thought to Riland. We have trouble.

The rest are incoming. And… other help.

I sat up, looking out the window in time to see the car come smashing into ours, hitting the driver’s side and tearing through his window. At the same time, Senator Funai was there, floating overhead as he sent a spell bursting out that tore the man to shreds.

Senator Funai landed as the cars screeched to a halt against a guard rail, then he was back with me, pulling me from the wreckage. Three others were with him, all looking like D.C. interns but with hands glowing gold.

“I thought you couldn’t be involved,” I said, trying to process what had just happened.

“That was before you let yourself get taken by one of theirs.”

“How was I supposed to know?” I protested.

He shook his head. “You couldn’t have.”

I glanced around, realizing we were only two blocks away from the National Mall and not so far from the Capitol building. The night might have been dark if not for the dull orange glow over the National Mall and the steady flow of cars with their headlights on.

Something in the wind smelled of sulfur and lavender, two scents I was beginning to associate with magic, lately. While the air was often warm on D.C. nights, a wind came strong and heavy, carrying with it an extra layer of heat that was unnatural.

My instincts told me to get off the street and a second later I turned to see why. A vehicle came screaming around the corner. I braced myself. When I realized it was a black SUV, though, I shouted, “They’re with us,” and was relieved to see I was right. My team piled out, Shisa on guard, growling toward the Capitol building.

“Damn,” Steph said, eyeing the wreckage, then the senator.

“This is the rest of my team,” I told the senator. Riland emerged from me, and nodded, so I added, “Rather, now this is the rest of my team.”

“I’d love to shake all of your hands,” the senator said, “but…”

Instead of finishing his sentence, he turned at the moment Shisa reacted and even I felt the surge of magic. A circle of light expanded in the air over the Capitol building, and suddenly the light shot out and then up, as if it was a beacon.

“The portal,” Riland said, voice shaking.

“We’re too late,” I added.

“Too late to prevent it, but not too late to shut it down,” the senator shouted. “Follow me.”

The rest of us shared looks of excitement at that, then took off after him