Sorceress Hunting (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 3) (25 page)

Resnick was certain his face must have frozen in an
expression of disbelief a number of hours ago. The ‘negotiations’ got off to a
rough start, but once Vivian started talking it was hard to dislike the woman
who simply was known to most of the town as Gran.

Doubt, distrust, and question her motives? Most
certainly. But dislike? That was harder. The more she talked, the more things
snapped into place. Events, impossibilities science couldn’t explain—those she
shed light on in a way to make them plausible if not palatable.

The stuff about other realms, armies, demigods, and
swords that could create Armageddon-level shit that could crush the world—that
was bound to give him nightmares for life.

And this Commander Gryton. Him, they’d run into once
already, and he’d left ten dead men in his wake.

It all sounded so impossible and fanciful he worried
his superiors wouldn’t believe it even though they were listening in.

But they did believe.

At least enough to agree to listen to Gran’s plan to
hunt and track this Commander Gryton. The first test of the fledgling alliance
was when Gran and Darkness were asked to go with the senior advisors to further
outline the plan to track this Gryton in detail. While that was going on, the
scientists would begin their study of Corporal Mackenzie.

To his surprise, Gran agreed to his terms. Then the
magic-wielders surprised everyone a second time by asking Shadowlight be
allowed to stay with Anna, saying a war council was no place for children.

Anna and Shadowlight had both been put out to be
called children. However, both agreed to aid the scientists. Just as Vivian and
the big, mean-looking gargoyle had been about to leave in the company of a unit
of soldiers and an assortment of other brass, she’d come over to him and
thanked him for babysitting her two young charges.

Yeah, he didn’t miss how she’d slumped Corporal
McKenzie in with her group.

But perhaps the biggest shocker of the day was when
Darkness had come over and told his overgrown kid to behave and obey Major
Resnick.

When Resnick had openly questioned why they trusted
him, the gargoyle had grunted in humor and left it to Gran to explain. She’d
informed him gargoyles could read a person’s intent. In other words, gargoyles
could smell a lie or a dishonest thought a mile away.

That sounded a lot like being able to read minds.

“Corporal Mackenzie,” Resnick called over his shoulder
as he held the door for them, “if you and….Shadowlight will follow me, I know a
few scientists wanting to talk with you.” Outside, several of his men were
waiting to act as escort.

“Talk, sir?” the Corporal asked with a hint of
sarcasm, “If only.”

The gargoyle bound over to them with lightning fast
speed and sniffed at Resnick. Having that much power and natural weaponry
within inches of his exposed neck made Resnick’s pulse increase and his fingers
itch for a gun.

Shadowlight shifted and leaned against Resnick’s right
shoulder, jamming him against the door frame as the gargoyle’s muzzle came
around to sniff along the underside of his jaw. Sweat trickled down Resnick’s
back.

His men trained their weapons on the gargoyle.

Shadowlight flashed his fangs at the other soldiers
and a deep growl issued from his throat.

“Whoa! He’s just taking in Resnick’s scent.”

“Easy!” he cautioned his men, “I’m good.”

Resnick remained unmoving as the gargoyle continued to
inhale.

“He’s just getting my scent like the corporal said.”
He rolled his eyes in her direction and mumbled, “Right?”

“Yes, sir.” She paused, seemed to think something over
and then chuckled. “Beware, though, they seemed to be rather social and will
use every opening to get in a good lick.”

Now, that gave new meaning to the term ‘take a licking’.
He raised a hand and slowly pushed the large muzzle away from his throat and
then directed his next words at the young gargoyle. “You will not make any more
of those sudden leaps at any of my personnel, neither will you invade anyone’s
personal space. There will be boundaries put in place for your protection.” And
for everyone else, because there was no way the big gargoyle was going to
remain nice if something happened to his kid.

Shadowlight gave a deep, huffing cough. Resnick wasn’t
sure if it was in annoyance or humor. Though he thought it might be humor.

Babysitting detail was sure going to be interesting.

Lillian stood shoulder to shoulder with Gregory as
they gazed up into her hamadryad. “Do you really think this is going to work?”

He wasn’t one hundred percent sure if she had directed
her question at him or the tree. Since the tree couldn’t verbalize words, he
figured Lillian had directed her question at him.

Gregory turned more fully to her and nuzzled her
shoulder.

“Yes. Commander Gryton would have come here originally
on a recovery mission to save face with the Battle Goddess. If he’d been able
to capture River and Darkness, or Shadowlight and the human, he could have returned
to his goddess and likely retained his position, or at least his head.

But he failed in his attempt, and now we know he’s
here. He is injured and knows he’s being hunted. It’s no longer a mission to
save face. Now it is simple survival. His best bet for a continued existence is
to return to the Magic Realm. If he takes what he knows about this place to the
Battle Goddess, he may keep his head.”

“That’s a lot of guess work and speculation. What if
he goes after Shadowlight again?”

“Commander Gryton won’t chance it—at least not until
he’s healed. Once we close our net around him and force his hand, he will come
to the hamadryad. He’ll have no choice.”

“Something isn’t right,” Lillian said and started to
pace. “Why didn’t we know he was here?”

“Perhaps…,” Gregory touched the tattoo on his neck,
“these prevented us.”

“Yes. Maybe. I don’t know.” Lillian paced a circle
around the base of the tree.

Gregory was drawing breath to soothe, or at least try
to reassure her, when she spun around on her tree.

“Why didn’t you warn us?”

He cocked an ear at the tree but kept his attention on
Lillian. “A hamadryad does not concern herself with mortal drama—it is but a
blink of time to one of them. Besides, they do not communicate in complex
thought.”

“You’re wrong. This one communicates. She isn’t a
normal hamadryad. She is the Sorceress. You can’t tell me she didn’t know
Gryton was here in the Mortal Realm. He had to have used the bridge the two
hamadryads form to travel here.” Lillian rounded the tree and came toward him,
her expression troubled. “Why would she hide that from us? I’m telling you
something isn’t right.”

He cast a thoughtful glance between Lillian and her
hamadryad. He wanted to dismiss her concern. There was no way the Sorceress
would intentionally hide Gryton’s presence. Yet Lillian was also correct. Why
hadn’t the tree warned them in some way? While a hamadryad would not directly
interfere with mortal drama as he’d said, she would still protect and warn her
dryad of any and all dangers. Gryton was certainly a danger. One the Sorceress
could not have missed.

Trailing his gaze slowly up the tree, the first hint
of doubt crept into Gregory’s heart. What if the Battle Goddess had found a way
to corrupt the tree?

His emotions churned and rolled, nearly a physical
sensation.

No. It was not possible. The hamadryad was untouched
by evil.

Still deep in his internal debate, Gregory was taken
somewhat off guard by the arrival of a newcomer in the glade. The last thing he
wanted to do was hold a conversation with one of the Fae.

The sidhe paused at the maze’s south exit, glanced
around the base of the tree, spotted them in the shadows of her wide branches
and then made his stiff, slow way over to Gregory’s side. The signs of his time
among the humans were still evident upon Whitethorn’s being.

A hint of foreign chemicals, what Lillian called
drugs, still clung to the sidhe lord and his wrists showed the deep blue-black
of bruises.

But it was good to see him back on his feet. Gregory
reached out both arms and gripped the sidhe’s forearms. “It gladdens me to see
you recovering.”

“I wished to thank you and your lady, as well as the
other gargoyles, for saving the sprite and I from the humans.” He sighed, and
then gestured toward one of the picnic tables Gran had left in the maze. “If
you have a moment.”

Lillian nodded for them both, and the three made their
way to the table.

Once Whitethorn was perched on the bench, he eyed them
both with a frown. “You rely too heavily on your magic to protect and hide
you.” He gestured at his own body armor. “I think it wise to have a few more
layers of protection given how advanced the humans have become. They know we
exist, and while they may be temporary allies, they could very well start
hunting us again with little warning. If I hadn’t put so much faith in my
magic, I might not have become their prisoner. As you already know, my
metalsmiths have been working on body armor for you, I have asked the other
gargoyles be measured and fitted as well. When finished, it will help protect
against magic, bullets, and tranquilizer darts.”

Whitethorn held up his hand when Gregory made to comment.
“I know you will be concerned about noise and mobility, but my master
metalsmiths assure me what they have designed will impress. When you have a
moment they would like to fit them to you both and then Darkness and
Shadowlight as well.”

Gregory nodded agreement. The more layers between
Lillian and harm the better.

Lillian folded her arms under her breasts.
“Shadowlight won’t be near anymore fighting, but if it will help keep him safe,
then yes, make sure he is fitted as well.” Her stance was one he was coming to
know meant he might as well just agree to it now because the argument was
already won—by her.

Gregory nodded to Whitethorn and then added, “How soon
do you need us?”

“At your earliest convenience.”

Gregory nodded a second time, sensing they might need
extra protection sooner rather than later.

Displeasure at his own folly raced through Gryton’s
blood. He’d allowed himself to fall into a trap even the child gargoyle,
Shadowlight, would have seen.

He sprinted up a slight incline and then over the
ridge to an easier trail once again. As he leaped over a fallen trunk, he
glanced behind.

Human soldiers with their strange, handheld lights
pursued him. Stranger still was their sidhe scout guiding them when they lost
his trail.

They were still a league distant and fell farther
behind as he outpaced them. It was the same with the last three patrols he’d
encountered.

He’d killed the first group, which, he reflected
sourly, was probably what allowed the second group to reach his position. There
had only been enough time for him to injure a number of that patrol before a
third had arrived at the site.

Survival instincts had spurred him into motion then,
escape more important than victory. It wasn’t until this newest patrol had
picked up his trail that he realized there was an ambush, and he’d already
stepped right into the thick of it.

A contingency he hadn’t foreseen had occurred. The Fae
had aligned themselves with the humans of this world and had somehow convinced
the humans to hunt him instead.

His magic flared in warning seconds before he heard a
high-pitched whine and a loud blast of sound as something leaving a fiery tail
in its wake cut through the forest in his direction. He darted to the right as
the tree to his immediate left blew apart.

Behind him, the forest exploded with heat, fire, and
noise. A wave of force from the explosion knocked him to the ground. He rolled
to his knees and summoned fire, sending it back the way the humans’ weapon had
come.

His magic flew true, and then came shouts of warning
followed by screams of pain. He didn’t stay to see how many his magic would
claim. Lunging to his feet, he began to run.

There was only one direction.

He knew it as surely as his enemies did.

But it was the only way to escape this godless realm.

The hamadryad was his only chance of survival and if
he hadn’t misread her emotions—and he didn’t think he had—she held enough
maternal instinct for him that she might aid him. If she wouldn’t aid him
willingly, then she would aid him unwillingly.

As for his father—the Gargoyle Protector had never
failed to send his enemies to the Spirit Realm for judgment.

Gryton’s lips peeled back from his fangs. They would
soon see if father or son was stronger, he supposed.

This realm was not the battlefield he would have
chosen for such a contest, but perhaps it was for the best.

The Gargoyle Protector was limited by this Realm and
may not yet have come to terms with how best to fight without the full command
of his power.

From the moment of his birth, Gryton had been limited.
He’d spent centuries learning to use and not be used by his magic.

Though, he still felt its mad, mindless hunger to feed
upon everything around him, always there to remind him of his misbegotten
heritage.

A monstrous abomination that never should have been
birthed upon the three Realms.

But he had been.

And he planned to defy fate and the Divine Ones for
many more centuries to come.

More weapons fire cut through the forest just steps
behind, impacting the trees and undergrowth still shaking in his wake.

Gryton put on a burst of speed and then rolled and
slid down another embankment and followed a stream for a few paces until
another game trail presented itself.

He would live to see his enemies fall.

He’d just have to escape this forsaken realm first.

*****

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Anna whispered as she tracked
the small flares of light suspended over a spell map depicting life-like
forests, streams, hills, valleys and roads in a hundred and fifty kilometer
radius around ground zero.

Ground zero, the hamadryad, was depicted on the
floating map as a three-inch high tree.

The map shimmered and shifted, honing in on the
action.

“Fuck me,” Major Resnick mumbled under his breath as
he studied the map, disbelief still clear in his eyes.

She doubted if she was supposed to hear, but her new
gargoyle senses were still evolving. No one else other than Shadowlight would
have heard her CO anyway.

So yeah. This shit was happening. Their teams were out
there, herding a demigod in the direction they wanted.

A destination with three gargoyles, an assortment of
Fae, and an entire squadron just waiting for the evil overlord to poke his nose
out of hiding. Oh, yeah.

She wished she could be there to see his helmeted head
getting blown off his armor-clad shoulders.

Yet, as much as she wanted to see him dead, she was
equally glad to be here, keeping Shadowlight out of trouble and as far from
that monster as possible.

Darkness had talked the young gargoyle into staying
here, away from the fight. When she’d asked Gran how he’d managed that, she’d
grinned and said Shadowlight had a more important job. Protecting his pet human
in case Gryton somehow discovered her tracking spell and followed it back to
HQ.

Anna knew a lie when she smelled one. She was just glad
the kid hadn’t sniffed it out yet.

“It wasn’t a lie,” Shadowlight said as he sidled up
next to her and looked over the map. “Gran spoke the truth about Gryton being
able to track the spell back to this location. Though he won’t come back this
way. There are too many humans here, and they can now see past Gryton’s own
personal shielding spells thanks to my father’s work.”

The kid was correct—his father had been busy weaving
dampening spells all over the base.

Shadowlight butted her in the stomach, looking for a
head scratch. “Gryton would, as you say, be taken out before he could harm us.”

Anna grunted and studied the map in a new light.

Well, damn. So much for feeling the kid was safe from
harm. Now the reason for all the guards in the room took on a new light. She’d
just thought they were there to ‘guard’ her, the kid, and Gran and to ensure
the other gargoyles and Fae behaved.

Anna glanced back around the room, seeing it with new
eyes.

All non-essential personnel had been removed—even the
scientists had been ordered away, much to their loud and strident denials.
Besides the ever watchful guards, only a handful of the command staff were
present. It made sense.

They were relaying intel to a secondary command site
elsewhere.

She and Shadowlight were still present only because no
one could forcibly move the half ton of gargoyle against his will.

Around the outside walls were the screens showing
real-time data, satellite and drone feeds, radar, troop placements—everything
trackable was being tracked using both magical and mundane means.

“Gryton isn’t trying to evade left or right. He’s
moving in a straight line.” Gran pointed at the markers on the map. “He knows
he’s fallen into our net. Now he’s only interested in escape using the
hamadryad. Keep your men out of his path. He’ll kill them before they have a
chance to inflict serious harm on him. Leave him to us.”

Anna could see Colonel Tremblay having trouble
following Gran’s suggestion. After a long hesitation, he ordered the teams to
keep their distance and allow Specter Team to execute.

Anna grinned at the name given to the gargoyles.

“I want a team name,” Shadowlight said. “Why don’t we
have a name? We’re a good team. We almost beat Gryton when he attacked us.”

“That’s not how I remember it going down.”

“He wanted to take you both alive,” Gran said in all
seriousness and then added, “You’re T-team,” She grinned, “As in toddler team.”

“Nah, more like Pre-School One.” Anna turned serious
again as another green blob floating above the map flared and went dark. Her
fists tightened in silent rage. It marked the present position of a team just
forty feet to the northwest of Gryton’s current location.

The darkening of the tracking spells couldn’t tell the
watchers how many in each team had been killed. It only signaled a powerful
wave of magic had just rolled over that unit’s location.

Human tech didn’t fare any better under the intense
magical attacks.

Colonel Tremblay ordered more teams to assist.

Anna just hoped there was more than bodies to assist
when they got there.