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

the vehicle. He would stay behind and prepare what he could for next steps.

129

Inside it was dark, what with the tinted windows. To add to the effect, it looked like a thunderstorm might be coming. I wasn’t so used to those in the summer back in Oregon, but had heard the weather in D.C. could have its eccentricities.

Sure enough, as we went, clouds far off showed flashes of lightning. Distant, high above, and yet terrifying. More so, when I considered that it could be magic and a sign of a fight to come. When magic is introduced into one’s life, it becomes hard to think of anything strange in non-magical terms.

Megha took the lead, giving directions, while the rest of us leaned back, ready for anything. As she communicated with Steph and the guards in the other vehicle, I leaned back, thinking maybe leaving Shisa at home was a mistake. Since communications were open, I could hear Steph talking with Persival and one other of the wraiths, along with the guards. At least her opting for the other vehicle made sense, now, but the idea of speaking with ‘ghosts’ didn’t feel exactly natural.

“Nervous about tomorrow?” Ebrill asked, eyeing me with both hands in her lap.

As crazy as everything had gotten, and with the others coming into the picture, I realized as I looked into her eyes that we hadn’t had as much alone time lately as I might have liked. With a slight shake of my head, I leaned toward her and said, “More about tonight.”

She nodded. “Good. Finding the rest of the ladies… is paramount.”

“Yenifer was one of our best fighters,” Aerona called back. “If we have her on our side, it’s like nothing can stop us.”

I scoffed, although hadn’t meant to. “Sorry. It’s just that, size and strength seem to be such small factors now, considering the amount of magical power we’re up against.”

“But when magic isn’t a factor anymore,” Ebrill countered, “you might appreciate having a beast like her on the team.”

“I’ll appreciate it either way.” I eyed her a moment longer as we rode, then leaned in. “Were you close?”

“Me and Yenifer?” Ebrill laughed. “We were all close.

For a moment we rode on, all listening to Megha give directions, curse as the point changed, then give new directions.

“What could she be fighting?” I asked, a dumb question since none of us had clear answers.

Ebrill shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “What I’m wondering is what this means for others? If she’s in this state… I don’t know.”

“As long as they’re alive and have a chance, I’m okay with whatever we come across,” Aerona called back. “They could be turned into unicorns for all I care, but we’d find them, bring them back to us.”

“Wait, unicorns…?” I scrunched my nose.

“They’re real enough,” Ebrill answered the unfinished question. “Although, I should say that they were rare to find, even in Avalon.”

“But they did exist?”

She nodded.

“You never saw one,” Aerona shot back. “How do you know?”

“Rianne told me.”

“Oh.”

That was it. I had to marvel at the power of one lady that the simple invocation of her name would bring an argument about whether a creature was mythical or real to a close. She had been quite amazing, what I had seen of her before, and the fact that she remained in some form even to that day.

“Almost there,” Megha said, glancing back eagerly. “Be ready for anything.”

A glance out the window showed that we were passing Logan Circle, with its grand Victorian mansions and the park—beautiful trees surrounding a statue of a man on a horse. We went up Vermont Avenue and came to a stop by an empty lot, half covered in grass and half dirt, right off R Street. I noted a swing and slide and guessed this must’ve been a school at one time, maybe elementary, but as I glanced around, I saw no sign of any scuffle or magic having taken place.

Trying to use my transmutation powers, I searched for magic traces, not sure if that would work. It showed me the glowing lines of the gargoyles and more specifically the book Megha held, but otherwise only revealed very faint streams of violet light near the top of a building across the street.

“That’s where it happened,” I said, indicating the spot. “But they’re not here, now.”

“I’ve got something,” Megha said, and then we were moving again, following another set of directions.

This time we headed up toward U Street, screeching to a stop when she called out, only to find a smoking apartment and stronger signs of recent magic, but no sign of Yenifer still being around.

“How are we going to make this work?” I asked.

“We keep trying until it does,” Megha shot back, irritation heavy in her voice. Suddenly she perked up, then threw open the door as she said, “Right next to us! One street over—faster to go without the cars.”

Shit. I followed, glancing around and using my transmutation magic to create a shimmer in the air that would block view of the gargoyles, in case anyone happened to be looking our way. All of us were out then, charging between buildings and over a wooden fence. We almost turned into a backyard full of partying college kids, but ducked back and went around instead.

“On the move,” Megha said, indicating the buildings, then up to the roofs.

The gargoyles grabbed us, then used their claws to dig into the side of the building and climb, fast. A moment later we were racing along, me on Ebrill’s back, Riland on Kordelia’s, when Aerona cursed loudly, coming to a stop. The rest of us came up beside her, anxiously looking around for any sign of trouble.

“She’s gone,” Megha exclaimed.

“What?” I asked.

“Gone. Not showing up. We… lost her.”

“She’ll be back,” I said, more out of hope than anything else.

We lingered a bit, sticking to the shadows as we were already too exposed. Our hope faded, so we started back toward the cars with the idea that we would