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

as the Nine, it’s hard not to have done horrible things. And once you’ve crossed a line, it’s hard to ever fully turn back.”

“Bullshit,” I countered.

Megha went to the door, hand up as she appeared to sense something. “Regardless, best to proceed with caution. For now, we have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” I stood, reaching out to Shisa to see if there was trouble.

Instead, I got a mental communiqué from Riland. Galahad is outside. It seems he isn’t able to see the house, but knows it’s here.

At least the magic is mostly working, I replied, and we all dressed, heading out to meet him. He was waiting at the corner of the street, where I created a new hiding spot out of the shrubs, and he told me it was time to do my duty as the replacement for Senator Funai.

“Be careful,” Ebrill said, glancing up at the first faint hints of dawn. “We won’t be there to have your back.”

“No, but we will,” Galahad said. “Me and mine.”

“And if they pull me into their world again?” I asked, referring mostly to Moronoe.

“Do what you did last time,” Aerona replied. “Get out of there.”

“Only this time, faster,” Megha added.

I chuckled. “Right, sure. Simple enough.”

Giving them a nod, I turned to Galahad and followed him to his car, anxious to see if my trip to the Senate would be any less frightening than going up against three of the Nine. To my surprise, nobody attacked us on the way, this time. The only feasible explanation I could think of was that they were distracted, or, for some reason of their own, they wanted me to make this trip. To lure me away, or to get me into a trap, I wasn’t sure which.

“This car’s almost as nice as Gertrude’s SUV was,” I commented, nervous to not have Shisa or my ladies with me. They would be fine, and Steph and Megha were sticking around to watch over the house.

“She will be greatly missed,” Galahad said, sitting across from me. The driver was a woman with black, shoulder-length hair, who glanced back at us at the mention of Gertrude.

“Oh, you knew her?” I asked.

“She was well-known in our circles,” he replied. “But me, personally? You could definitely say that. We actually dated for a little, about a hundred years ago.”

I laughed, then realized he was serious. “Oh, right. Time for you must be… complicated?”

“Frustrating.”

“Are you immortal, or how would you describe it?”

He considered the question. “Able to be killed, but old age would never take me.”

“It’s an odd world I find myself in.”

“You still have no idea.” He leaned back, staring at the window.

“And that’s how you’re going to leave that statement? Hanging out there?”

“I can’t tell you everything at once, or you might have a meltdown.” He winked.

“Are you fucking with me?”

“Ah, senator etiquette lesson one—let’s watch the language. Also, might want to get into senator mode now.”

I scrunched my nose. Shrugged. “How?”

He chuckled, then saw that I was serious. “Well, you need to try again. You’re able to do transmutation, right? Transmute yourself. No mental blocks this time.”

“Right. Sure. Only, I don’t exactly know how to do it every time.”

He stared at me, then rolled down his window. The D.C. heat penetrated the comfort of our car as ahead of us the image of the square building that I assumed to be the Senate came into view.

“The Russell Senate Office Building,” Galahad confirmed. “We’re here, and it’s time. We can’t exactly walk in there with you looking like… you.”

I glanced around, taking the place in, some of my rune-enforced studies hitting me. “Three Senate buildings. That over there must be the Dirksen building, and that one Hart.” Leaning back to appreciate the architecture, I found my breathing clear, my eyes wide—two of my telltale signs that I was excited.

And when I got excited, confidence soared.

“Jericho, we really need to—” Galahad started.

I held up my hand, grinned, and focused my transmutation power on the image of the senator I had burned into the digital display. A moment later, I was an elderly man, what little hair I still had now white and gray. Not what I was used to, but it was the senator, no doubt about it. The transmutation even included the glasses.

“Well, I’ll be…” Galahad stared for a minute, then smiled wide. “Good to see you again, Senator.”

“You know it’s still me, Jericho, right?”

He nodded, as he opened the door for me. “Of course. But right now, that’s not true. Shall we, Mr. Senator?”

I caught on, nodding, ready for whatever the hell this was going to be. As we approached the building, Galahad handed me a folder. Runes were etched into it, and he gave me a knowing nod.

“That gives you everything you need to know about the other senators, at least on a shallow level. If we’re going all the way with this, which is necessary, I believe, you will need a whole lot more than is in there. But for now, this will do.”

I flipped through the folder, absorbing what I could while my thoughts were largely distracted by the situation with the Nine and Mizoa. Was she out there finding us allies? She had been cool, and having bonded with Rianne, I imagined that she would stick to our side. Then there was my team to worry about. Steph and Megha were holding down the fort, but they needed rest. With a yawn, I realized that so did I. And what if Megha left? She had made a couple comments about doing so, but I wasn’t sure how seriously I should take that.

Steph was being surprisingly open-minded about the whole situation, and part of me wondered if I was supposed to feel guilty about the romance with the others. She had assured me that I shouldn’t, and was involved, too… so I guessed I was safe. As long as nobody got jealous, and as long as everyone was basically making love with each other, it was legit.