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

about putting together some Lasagna, per my amazing recipe. I put it in and listened to them discussing, but really needed a bathroom break.

Sitting on the toilet allowed me a moment to consider everything, to look at our situation. We had just found out that Yenifer, and before her Aerona, were both being controlled by Mizoa and Glitonea in a search for this extra magic. Now, we were working with Mizoa and hoping to get Glitonea on our side, but first going to the coven I had barely escaped from before, because Fatiha occupied it and was now damn powerful. She had absorbed some of the Nine along with many from the Dark Lands, and now had their power within her.

This wouldn’t be easy.

“You can trust him,” a voice said, and I placed it as Ebrill. “We all do.”

“Rianne did,” a second voice said. This one had to be Kordelia.

Then Yenifer’s deep voice replied, “What I know is… he cursed us. Nothing more.”

For a moment I balked at that, having kind of forgotten that getting stuck as stone statues and then waking many, many years later with wings and horns could be considered a curse.

“To save us,” Ebrill replied. “To save the Liahona and bring us to this time.”

“As monsters.”

I flushed then, and they went silent. After washing my hands, I opened the door and saw them looking my way. Ebrill offered me a guilty look, although she had been defending me.

“Hey,” I said, stepping out, wiping my hands on the back of my shirt. “For the record, all I’ve done is what Rianne asked.”

Yenifer stared at me, chest heaving, dark purple nipples at eye level making it all very awkward.

“And for the record,” I added, “I don’t see any of you as monsters.”

“Then you’re blind.”

“You’ve gained power. A type of power that has altered your appearance, but you’re still beautiful.”

She growled, hands out, body exposed. “Look at me! How can you say that?”

I looked, and then looked at Ebrill and Kordelia. While Ebrill was the most beautiful by traditional standards, looking almost like a succubus as much as a gargoyle, Kordelia and then Yenifer had more of a demonic-power thing going on. Yenifer fully embodied this raw power, this woman with the strength to rip the heads off her opponents, and in some twisted way, I found it sexy as hell.

“You are all beautiful,” I said, standing my ground.

Another long pause, then Yenifer turned to the door, stomping off. She stopped in the doorway, then, and glanced back at us.

“What about Mizoa?” she asked. “The witch had me under her control. Used me.”

“Along with Aerona,” Ebrill noted. “I think, before we make any moves, this is a discussion we need to have with her.”

They all looked at me as if I might disagree, but I nodded. While I had spent a brief amount of time with Mizoa when taking her to Rianne, I didn’t know her. The rest of the group had to see her as a threat at worst, at best someone they were only half sure they could trust.

“Let’s talk with her, then,” Kordelia offered.

Yenifer led the way, already ducking to squeeze through the door—even with the modifications I had made so that the doors and halls would be bigger in the house, while being cautious of not wanting to have the place cave in on itself.

As we walked, I told Yenifer about my trip to Avalon with Mizoa. “…for what it’s worth,” I finished, not sure how much I was helping.

Yenifer paused, nodded, and then kept on. “It’s worth a great deal. Considering what I know of Rianne.”

We stopped by to check on the Lasagna, but that shit takes forever to cook so we had to settle on more snacks and some mango slices one of the guards had picked up.

Mizoa was with Megha and Steph. The three of them were in some sort of magical connection, judging by the way their eyes glowed green and those little lights like fireflies floated around them.

“We should talk,” I said, hoping to cut in before Yenifer did with a more offensive approach.

Megha held up a hand, while the other two remained unflinching. After a moment, Megha opened her eyes, grinned, and said, “We have a plan.”

“It’s just that we’re not sure that—”

“What plan?” Ebrill asked.

“She will infiltrate the coven,” Steph said, her eyes open now too, along with Mizoa’s.

Yenifer grunted, but her eyes flitted over to meet mine.

“I don’t understand,” I said, thinking back over the way we had found Megha working for the enemy, and saved her via a trip to the Dark Land. “They’ve seen you on our side. They—”

“They know her as a traitor,” Ebrill said, again interrupting me, but at least nodding at my glance of annoyance. “We know their hubris—they’ll assume she only came to us as such, to infiltrate our ranks.”

“Seems a stretch,” I countered.

But the others were eating it up, already starting to go on about what they might find in the coven, how best to get in and what exactly Megha should be looking for. Megha nodded, eyes on me as they spoke, not even turning as Riland and the lion-dog entered, and Shisa came over to me.

Finally, Megha held out her hand and watched as her pet, Bob, emerged from her dress, then crawled up her arm to perch on her shoulder.

“How did you control Yenifer?” Megha asked Mizoa.

“A simple spell,” Mizoa replied. “It allowed her free movement, so that the fighting was all her own, while I could see through her—sorry, your,” she added as she turned to Yenifer, “your eyes, and use magic through you when needed.”

“That’s how she moved about so quickly,” I said, hand on my chin, intrigued.

“Exactly.” Megha stood, coming to me and taking my hand. She placed it on her cheek, so that my finger was on her temple. “Enter me. Stay with me in this, so that you might see what I see, know that you can trust me fully, and that