Strong arms closed around her, and suddenly Hawkyn wasthere, his body between her and Drayger.Then, in a gust of cold wind,everything changed.The temperature.The time of day.The freakingcontinent.
She was no longer standing on her lawn, but on a cobblestonepath.And she was no longer looking at her house, but a well-kept medievalcastle.
“What the hell are you doing?”She tried to jerk away fromHawkyn’s grip.“I was going to—”
“Kill him.”Hawkyn released her and stepped back, hisexpression hard, cold, and despite her anger, she shivered.“You were going tokill him.”
“Damn straight I was!”She cursed, releasing the holdonher power.As it drained from her fingers, her furydrained with it.Well, some of it, anyway.“Look, youhave toprotect him.I get that.But I need to live.”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to make happen?That’swhy I took you to the Gra.”
“You’re trying to keep me alive because you screwed up inthe parking lot and you’re trying to save your own skin.Can you blame me fortrying to save mine?I’m not a pizza for you to deliver.”
“Pizza?”He blinked.“What brought this on?”
“Does it matter?It’s true, isn’t it?If Drayger’s faterequires me to die, you’ll hand me over like a thin-crust pepperoni and youknow it.”
“Ham.”
“What?”
“I like ham on my pizza.Not pepperoni.”
She huffed.“The pizza isn’t for you.That’s the point.”
“Your point is stupid,” he said, sounding a little tired.“Listen to me, Aurora.”He gripped her shoulders and dipped hisheadso his face was mere inches from hers, his gaze holdingher in place even more so than his hands.“In the past, things might have beendifferent.I’ve always done my job even if it didn’t make sense.Even if I feltthat what I was doing was wrong.But I’m invested in your well-being now.I’minvestedinyou.Iwillfind a way to keepyou safe.You’re not a pizza.That’s why we’re here.”
She eyed the castle, wondering if anyone was covertlywatching them from the battlements or the arrow slits.“Why didn’t you take meback to Sheoul-gra?”
He snarled.Actuallysnarled.“Because my father kicked us out.”
“Oh.”She certainly wasn’t going to touch that topic rightnow.Seemedto be a little sensitive.But then, she’dbe prickly too if her father had kicked her out of their home.She couldn’teven imagine it, not when her parents were so loving and supportive.“So where,exactly, are we?”
He took her hand and started along the drawbridge thatappeared to still be in working order.The moat beneath it teemed with...Whatthe hell were those sharp-toothed, three-eyed things?
“We’re in Belgium.”His voice was still harsh withsmoldering anger, but with every step they took, the tension eased in his body,his gait becominglooser, his shoulders pulling back.Her fingers itched to dig deep into those big muscles and massage the remainingstress away.“I lived here for a few hundred years, give or take a century.”
A splash below drew her attention, and she looked down justas one of the dolphin-sized things in the water snapped its jaws, its threeeyes focused on her like she was dinner.“Don’t humans ask about the monstersin the moat?”
He laughed, a deep, lovely sound she appreciated even moreafter the earlier tension.“Those are horror-maws, sort of demon sharks that weuse to keep enemies out when the drawbridge is up.And no, humans don’t askabout them because this castle is hidden by an invisibility enchantment.No onecan see it from outside the veil except Memitim.The only reason you can see itis that we’re inside.”
Even as he spoke, she swore she could feel the magic on herskin.A guard wearing a combination of modern military BDUs and plate armorwaved them through the gate and into a massive courtyard where a dozen or somen and women sparred with various weapons.
“Everyone here is Memitim,” he explained as they passedthrough a stone archway to the main building.“There used to be more of us, butalmost everyone has moved to Sheoul-gra.My brothers and sisters who remainedare the few holdouts.”
“Why would they be holdingout?”
He shrugged, making his black T-shirt ride up so she got aglimpse of tan skin just above his waistband.
“A lot of reasons, I guess.Sheoul-gra can be a bitclaustrophobic and creepy.Plus, Azagoth can be an asshole.”More angerbillowed from him, but he seemed to put it back in some sort of containerbefore he continued.“Some of my siblings have no desire to meet him.Ever.Can’t say as I blame them.”
Aurora couldn’t help but be sad for him – forall ofhis siblings, and once again she counted herblessings that she’d grown up in a stable, happy family.
They approached a door with a brass plate that said “Admin,”and he stopped.“I’ll just be a minute.Don’t run away again.”He paused.“Howdid you get to your house, anyway?”
“I don’t know.One moment I was standing on a landing padthingie in a forest with a guy in hooded robes, and then I was home.”
He frowned and then nodded.“Jim Bob.He arrived inSheoul-gra just before myheraldialerted me about Drayger being indanger.”He shoved open the door.“I’ll be right out.”
