At the time, I hypothesized that they’d done something incredibly unruly to get themselves locked up in a prison in the veil, but now it seems their insurrection may have occurred long before the Sentinels captured them.
“You rebelled against your queen,” I say, a calculated guess on my part. “You didn’t attack the bright elves as ordered.”
Anarchy drags her fingernails along the edge of the chair’s wooden seat. Her nails have retained the same silver sheen that was the color of her claws, and they flash in the dim light.
“Oh, it wasn’t an act of mercy,” she says. “Our actions were purely self-serving. Humans were a threat to us all. As long as their focus was on the bright elves, their eyes weren’t turned on our people. The bright elves were a buffer that, once gone, would leaveusvulnerable. For once, we should have joined forces with them.” Her shoulders sink. “Possibly even gone with them into hiding.”
“I take it your queen didn’t see it that way?”
“She did not. No matter what I said, she was not dissuaded from the path of war with the bright elves. She said to me:‘Light and dark, we will all burn together.’It became clear that she had given up any hope of our survival and craved only a glorious death.”
Now, Anarchy casts a long glance at Lucian, since a magnificent death seems to be his wish also. Once again, his forehead crinkles in response, but not so deep a scowl this time.
“So she turned you into panthers?” I ask Anarchy.
“No, actually, it wasn’t her.” Anarchy gives a huff. “The bright elves had formed an alliance with gargoyles, whom we thought might be more receptive to our warning, since there wasn’t such a long history of enmity between us and them.
“But upon delivering our information to one of their warriors, who was a gargoyle with an unusually dark heart—which, by the way, is why we thought we could get through to him…” She gives another disgruntled sigh. “Well, he repaid us by cursing us.”
On either side of me, Rumble and Strife hiss with indignation and on the floor, Riot adds his snarls to theirs.
“That gargoyle was so delighted with the beasts he turned us into,” Anarchy continues, “that he vowed he would create more shadow panthers. We stayed long enough to witness him curse three of his own warriors before we escaped.
“But it seems he did pass on our warning to his people because our queen didn’t get her wish. We watched from afar when she attacked the bright elves’ stronghold, but they and the gargoyles had already gone.”
“Not all of them,” Lucian says, speaking up for the first time since Anarchy started her story.
She inclines her head at him. “Indeed. One gargoyle clan remained behind, surviving by concealing themselves in the stone monoliths that humans create.” She inclines her head at Lucian. “A clever plan to hide in plain sight.”
“Is that why you attacked me?” Lucian asks. “For revenge because of what that gargoyle did to you?”
“Revenge would be a good reason, but no.” She catches her bottom lip between her teeth and gives him a sudden smile. “It was your blood.”
Lucian presses back against the sink. “What about my blood?”
Her canine teeth flash as her grin grows. “The gargoyle who created us took great amusement in adding a little extra factor to our curse: We crave gargoyle blood.”
I can only blink at her. “Why would he do that when it means you might attack his own people?”
“He had a dark heart. I don’t think he liked his people very much. If I had to guess, he may have had a little dark-elven blood in him.” She shrugs, as if it doesn’t matter to her. “I’ll never know for sure.”
Lucian’s brow furrows and he eases away from the sink. “I was bleeding the whole time in the forest. Why didn’t you attack me then?”
She lifts her hand up in front of her face and holds her thumb and forefinger very slightly apart. “Because you only have alittlebit of gargoyle in you. Your dark angel energy dominates your gargoyle side and overpowers it. I could easily resist your scent until you slathered your blood all over my nose.”
Lucian scowls and folds his arms across his chest. “I didn’tslathermy blood across your nose.”
She lowers her hand and gives him a wide-eyed look. “I’m not sorry you did. Licking you satisfied my cravings.”
Lucian doesn’t seem to know how to react, half-frozen, forehead crinkled, his cheeks flushing a little.
She gives him a soft smile, her pale-blue eyes twinkling.
One corner of his mouth rises, just a little reminiscent of the confidence he conveyed when I first met him. “You’re welcome?”
“Maybe I’d like to be welcome again sometime.”
I clear my throat to get their attention.
