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

I felt a nudge of blood flow down below. She winked, but I flipped her off of me and recovered before Mr. Boner came out to play.

“Won’t happen again,” I said, charging her for a takedown.

She easily spun with it, slamming me to the ground. I groaned, got up, and went at it again. Slam. My breath left my lungs and I lay there gasping.

After the third time she knocked me on my ass, I stood and kicked Excalibur’s handle, cursing. But it wasn’t the fight or losing that bothered me, and she could tell. Transforming back to normal, she followed me out of the training room and to the walkway nearby that looked out over what appeared to be an old manufacturing room, with various machine parts and conveyer belts.

“You’re not doing so bad in there,” she said, standing next to me. I couldn’t help but notice that her fingers were bleeding at the nails, where her claws had grown from, but were quickly healing.

“I don’t… I mean, at least you all are here with me, but…”

“This is about your friend?” When I nodded, she continued. “It wasn’t his fault. They had his family. And besides, he only gave you up to me, and I like to think maybe he saw something in me that made doing so less of an issue. Maybe he saw that I didn’t really want to hurt you.”

My gut said to trust her, the side of me that had dealt with the shadows after her bite. Part of me felt a connection, though maybe it was a dark connection related to that bite—I couldn’t be sure. Was I supposed to embrace this kinship, or blame her for nearly turning me into a creature of the night? I had no idea, but knew there was way too much going on in my head to decide right now.

For one, I couldn’t forget the way she’d been on the stairwell that first night we’d met, when she’d tackled me and managed to fight the darkness when grabbing my cock. A weird way to fight evil, considering all the church’s views on such matters. I’d since mentioned it to Elisa, who assured me it had to do with intimacy and a human connection. When Sharon could make that bond, she could fight the evil influence of the Fae world.

A glance over at Sharon showed she might’ve been remembering that same moment, because her hand was gripping the cylindrical railing, finger moving along it, as her eyes moved along my crotch.

I cleared my throat. She blinked, saw that I’d caught her, and then turned away—but not before I saw the rosy blush spreading across her face.

“I’m trying to understand,” I said in an attempt to bring the topic back to Chris and his betrayal. “But… Oh, shit.”

“What?” she asked.

“His family, are they…?”

She faced me, embarrassment turning to worry. “You can’t go after them. Not when we’re here setting this trap for Arthur and Morganna. Not when they’ve done so much for you.”

“You don’t think they’d let me go?”

“They’d be stupid to!”

I processed that, feeling my chest start to heave and my fingers growing twitchy. “And Chris?” She looked away, even started to turn, but my hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist. “Sharon… tell me what you know.”

“All I know is how the Legends are,” she muttered, eyes on my hand touching her, an instant calm seeming to take over. For a moment, she hesitated, then put her free hand on top of mine and stared intently into my eyes. “In my mind he was free to go, but I arranged all that… when they find out they can leverage him, which they likely already have, they’ll go after him. Kill him to teach you a lesson? Maybe. Hold him to lure you into doing something stupid? More likely.”

“Then you’re getting me out of here, and showing me where he is.”

“Don’t let them bait you.”

“If his life might be on the line?” I stood tall, determined. “I have no choice.”

27

“Jack…” Sharon’s eyes were wide, pleading, but as cute as that was there was no way it would work on me. “You want to leave here with me, the woman who tried to kill you as far as you know? The woman who was your enemy only two days ago?”

She made good points, but they didn’t negate the need. “Of course not. We’ll bring the team.”

“Where?” Red asked, stepping up to join us, giving me an awkward smile.

“He wants to go after his friend.” Sharon folded her arms and started to smile, as if that was enough to get Red on her side, and in doing so would change my mind.

“And you know where he’d be held if they had him,” Red said, looking at Sharon with a new level of interest.

“What?”

“Yes, this is good.” Red glanced around and saw Pucky and Elisa returning from taking a bathroom break. “Hey, ladies. Sharon has a good idea.”

“What?” Sharon looked lost—the deer staring into the headlights. “No, I…” Seeing the expressions of interest and excitement on Elisa and Pucky’s faces, the Big Bad Wolf deflated, giving in. “We go back to the hideout, the one I know all about, and make sure they’re not holding Jack’s friend. If they are, free him, of course.”

“Better than sticking around here!” Pucky exclaimed.

Elisa, however, looked a little less sure. “We have a lot of training for you,” she said to me. “The sword, your new class—”

“Would both be better utilized against a real enemy,” I countered. “Imagine, me getting my levels up out there, grinding, refocusing my skill trees on the Tempest branch.”

“He makes a good argument,” Pucky said.

“And either way, I’m not about to leave Chris stranded. He might be a prick sometimes, but that prick is still my best friend.”

“You’re not going alone,” Elisa said. “And we’re not going without telling Mowgli.”

“But what if he doesn’t let—”

“No,” she interrupted me. “I said ‘tell’ not ask. If this is important, it