“Promise me!”
She jerks. “I promise. I promise!”
I take a single step back, giving her some space. “Good.”
She watches me curiously, easing away from the wall. “Am I… Am I in danger?”
“Yes.”
“Then take your name back! I didn’t ask for this. Erase it from my mind!”
“What’s done is done,” I growl, hurt that she wants to forget me so soon.
A ringing bursts through the room, startling us both. I twist, spreading out my wings into a protective arch, baring my fangs.
The sound rises from Summer. I straighten when she pulls the noisy thing—a communication device, a cellular telephone—from her pocket.
Chapter8
An Unshakable Gargoyle
Summer
My hand shakesas I check my phone. It’s Dad. Glancing at the gargoyle, our eyes connect. He doesn’t stop me as I answer the call, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Summer, how’s everything at home?” he asks.
I’m terrified. I’m transfixed by awe. There’s a literal gargoyle in my room, the same gargoyle that should be in an aggressive crouch behind the counter at the museum. The same gargoyle that I’ve seen a thousand times throughout my life.
Now he’s in my room and he’s…alive.
“Everything is fine.”
Everything is not fine. Not fine at all!
“Good, because Mom and I need you to pick us up. Some asshole slashed a bunch of car tires at the hospital, and they hit both of ours. This town is going to hell.”
I struggle to comprehend what he’s saying. The fire, the escaped criminals, and now slashed tires? Elmstitch is a quiet, sleepy town, and this turn of events doesn’t fit.
Not to mention there’s also a gargoyle in my room.
And I’m talking to it, him—Zuriel. A name I didn’t dream up. A name that’s dangerous to know. I try to force his name out of my head. How do you unthink things?
So yes, going to hell seems accurate.
“Summer?” Dad prompts.
The gargoyle peers down at me, watching my every move, no doubt listening to every word. I suspect he would rather I tell Dadno.He doesn’t know that telling my dad anything he doesn’t want to hear will make him suspicious. And oddly enough, I don’t want my dad involved. A shotgun isn’t going to solve my problems.
My eyes shift to the exit and see my chance. A way out of this corner and beyond my room.
Zuriel let me pick up the phone, and he hasn’t attacked me—not really at least—if he has plans to hurt me, he is going about it all wrong. “I’ll be there soon,” I reply before Dad feels the need to prompt me again. “See you then.” I hang up.
The gargoyle growls, baring his teeth, crowding me back into the corner. “Stay with me. We have more to talk about. It is our first night together.”
Our first night? There’s going to be more? My chest expands and tightens furiously.
He’s so close to me, filling my lungs with his fire. He emanates so much heat it’s like an invisible sauna has been erected in this corner. Flustered and sweaty, it makes me pant. My cheeks flame with heat, and I swallow, suddenly thirsty. I’m not comfortable this close to him, or any man—male—I don’t know.
