“Quickly, I need at least ten of you. Injured gargoyles are being transported here and we need to help them into the springs.”
In a flash the rock wall comes alive and ten females glide to the ground, following me inside with several of the Hideaway males.
Bethany speaks firmly to Baelen as she slips into the water and takes over helping Llion. “I will take him. He is Grievous after all.”
Baelen doesn’t argue, returning to the edge of the water to wait for more wounded gargoyles. When Grayson returns with Welsian and two members of my Storm Command, Baelen immediately carries them into the water with help from the Hideaway males while the Grievous females hold them safely until they heal.
Before Grayson disappears again, I touch his arm. “Have they stopped fighting?”
He focuses on a point past my shoulder. “The war is ended. The elves are returning home to wait for their new Queen’s orders.”
He slips out of my hold. “There are more, Marbella.”
I step back. “Of course.”
Grayson comes and goes and I lose count of the number of times he appears and disappears. Erit and Llion are healed. So are my Storm Command and Welsian. After the most badly wounded have been saved, Grayson brings those who are beaten and bloodied, but not at death’s door. After that, he brings the ones with cuts and bruises. As soon as each is healed, one of the Hideaway gargoyles flies them away, taking them to their loved ones, then returns to help transport the next one.
Indira and Erit are the first to leave. She pulls me into a hug, telling me, “I’m going to bawl my eyes out now and you’d better not tell anyone about it.”
The hours churn on. Baelen and I and the Grievous females keep working to make sure nobody is left unhealed. By the time Grayson staggers to the far corner of the springs and drops to the ground exhausted, nearly two hundred gargoyles and a hundred elves have been saved.
Bethany helps the last gargoyle from the water, gives me a tired nod, and tells me she will see me at the Royal Residence. Baelen brushes the hair from my face, kisses my tired lips, and says he’ll wait outside with the Phoenix until I’m ready. He knows I have one last thing to do.
I approach Grayson with caution, not because I’m afraid of him, but because I don’t want to force him to speak if he doesn’t want to. He found out so much about his past today: the truth about the death of his whole family, that the people he trusted were the ones who killed them, the fact that he had wings and lost them.
He rises to his feet as I approach, steadying himself by planting one hand against the wall. “Marbella Mercy,” he says, stopping me in my tracks. He contemplates me, his gaze traveling from my headpiece to my disheveled hair to my tired eyes. The golden runes across his chest glow in the soft Elyria light.
“Yes, Grayson?”
He looks me in the eye. “Now we are no longer enemies.”
I respond, softly, “Agreed.”
He falters. “I don’t… know how to be around people.”
I choose my words carefully. “Neither did I. But I think you’ll find that…yourpeople—the gargoyles—are incredibly tolerant of new and unique friends.”
I gesture to the front entrance, inviting him to come with me. “Please?”
He shakes his head. “I think it’s better if I disappear for a while. I have to figure things out.”
“If that’s what you need to do.”
He gives me a solemn nod and then he’s gone.
