Chapter 15

The half-moon hung heavily in the heavens, and the wind whistled past, rustling the trees. I couldn’t bring myself to leave the window or stop staring out into the woods surrounding the tower. Reed had just left for Tritonia and wouldn’t be back for a while, but my stomach churned with unease. He’d mentioned asking Gage to help him make a quicker trip to Vanore. Did that mean the two were no longer trying to rip each other apart?

But how many bandage spells could one place over hexes before things went beyond haywire?

I exhaled loudly.

My scalp hurt, and I glanced back at Gingernuts pouncing on my hair. Then he darted through the place as if he were a bullet, bouncing off furniture and walls. Geez, someone was restless. After years stuck here, the only way I’d dealt with insanity was routine. Redecorating. Running on the spot, stretching, meditation. Anything to keep my mind occupied.

Back outside, several bats squeaked and flew toward the trees, probably searching for fruit. But as I followed them, my attention caught on a figure drenched in shadows. This part of the woodland stood about fifty feet from the tower, but was I imagining things? I squinted, studying the silhouette.

“Reed?” I whispered.

If he’s back already, that means he failed.

“Thanks, Miss Obvious,” I responded to myself.

Don’t want you getting your hopes up again. Look how well that turned out last time.

“Okay, enough. I don’t need a reminder of every single mistake I’ve made.”

The figure shifted and stepped forward wearing a cape and hood. Just like the man in the mansion watching those being tortured.

Ice froze over my chest, and I scrambled to my feet because it was the same man. What the fuck was that sadistic bastard doing in the ruins? For the first time, part of me welcomed having the gargoyle for protection.

The stranger kept silent but stared up in my direction. No guards accompanied him that I could see, and if they snuck toward me, the gargoyle would chase them away. So had the witch sent this man to check up on me? Or was she hiding somewhere, ready to toss another spell at me?

I scanned the empty field below. No one else emerged from the forest.

A strong gust of air blasted past, pulling at my hair. It threw the hood off the stranger’s head. Pearl-white hair fell to his shoulders, fluttering in the breeze.

Wait! I stepped closer because I’d seen this man before. His wild hair, even the uneven posture where one shoulder stooped lower than the other. Years ago we’d crossed paths.

He was the fucking henchman who’d killed my father when we’d gotten caught stealing Faye’s golden wig. I gasped for air, hugging myself.

Dread flowed through my veins like tar. Of course the fuckwit would work with Faye. What the hell did he want?

I choked on my next inhale and couldn’t stop shaking. What could I do? I had no one to call, so I’d fight alone to the end like I had my entire life.

Except…Was he standing just far away for the gargoyle to not spot him? Or was he contemplating how to easily reach me without effort? Well, I wasn’t going down without a fight, I’d stab him the moment he entered the tower.

That’s right. Jab him in the neck. Payback is a bitch.

“Damn right!”

What was he doing? Going to gawk at me all night? I wished more than anything I’d taken knife-throwing classes. But looking down at the murderer had my blood boiling, as all I could picture was my dad being dragged away by the back of his shirt as if he were a sack of potatoes. His pleas ignored. My patience hit a breaking point and my words rushed out of me like an exploding dam. “What do you want?”

“I heard you’d slipped past Faye’s spell.” His voice floated on the breeze, but it carried that sickly-sweet tone I imagined perverted old men used to lure young kids into their carriages.

The man pulled the hood over his head. “I wanted to see you and have questions for you.” He rubbed his chin and remained in the shadows. For the life of me, I didn’t trust a thing that came from his mouth. What the fuck would a monster like him need to ask me?

No footfalls on the roof. Okay, he was being cautious about the gargoyle. Except wouldn’t the witch protect him against the spell? Back in the mansion, he’d watched those shifters get beaten as if he were the king of the world. Was he working for the witch or vice versa?

“Like what? How I felt about you butchering my father? How much I love this prison that you and that bitch locked me in?” I trembled all over.

“Those matters don’t interest me.” He stood there, his arms dangling by his side, unnerved. He seemed like a dick who’d stalk someone for weeks on end before working out the most creative way to murder them.

For years I’d pictured myself facing the asses who’d destroyed my life, and within a few days, I’d found them both. And instead of fear, rage pumped through me that such fuckwits existed and continued to harass people. They didn’t deserve a future.

“I have questions too,” I said. “Like why kidnap innocent shifters and torture them? Are you a shifter hater? Did you get bullied as a child and now you’re the big man getting your revenge?”

“You have a wicked tongue, Elliana.” He adjusted his groin. “Maybe I’ll put it to good use.” His voice climbed several octaves, and bile hit the back of my throat. Gross. So was that his reason for his visit?

Footsteps boomed overhead, and the creep backed into the woods, but I wasn’t ready to let him go. Maybe this was my chance to uncover the truth, understand why they’d locked me up. The more information I had, the better opportunity I’d have to discover how to overthrow them. And it piqued my interest…Why would this man even bother coming to visit me without the witch? Unless she was hiding, and he was toying with me?

Lure him out into the open. Get the gargoyle to take him down.

“You may be onto something,” I whispered as I leaned out of the window.

“So you know my name,” I replied. “What do I call you?”

No response.

“Asshole” sounds reasonable.

“Look. I’ll answer anything you want,” I said. “But you need to come into the tower. I can’t keep shouting because my throat is getting sore.” I chewed on my cheek, pacing back and forth in front of the window. Just picturing the dickhead butchered at the hands of the gargoyle had me smiling, and the eagerness to make this happen surged through me.

So I hauled my hair into my arms and pushed the long cords outside the window. The golden locks dropped and hung a few feet from the ground.

“Quickly. Climb up into the tower using my hair. Surely, the witch has protected a mere human by ensuring the gargoyle won’t harm you? She wouldn’t want you injured, right?”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Who said I was a human?”

Was he a shifter? Or a warlock? When I’d seen him years ago, he’d behaved like the witch’s bodyguard, following her instructions. He’d seemed to carry no magic.

Tell him you’re hot and going to remove your clothes.

“Are you insane? I’m not stooping that low,” I mumbled to myself.

It’s clear what he’s here for and it has zero to do with asking you questions.

A shiver trailed the length of my spine, and I shook. I’d die before I let him touch me, but he wouldn’t make it to the tower if my plan worked.

Outside, he remained concealed within shadows.

“Or are you waiting for the witch to give you permission?” I taunted him. “Where is she?”

“It’s just us two, child.” His creepy tone returned, and when he stepped forward again, he had his cape open, revealing no shirt, just pants. He rubbed a hand over his lips as if drooled. Disgusting.

Darkness plunged through me. My subconscious was right, and it took every inch of strength to not haul my hair back inside. Dealing with the devil came with dangers…but I wanted him to hurt, to scream with pain, to beg for his life just as my dad had done.

My mouth opened, but no words came. Two tries later and I found them. “Well, what are you—?”

A large shadow swooped overhead.

I jumped and pressed myself against the window’s edge.

The gargoyle hurled through the air, darting after the man, who recoiled into the forest.

I held my breath. Please catch him.

Yes, beat the snot out of him.

Moments later, the white-haired man was tossed out of the woods and landed with a thump in the field. A roar gushed from his mouth, and he climbed to his feet, his cape falling around his feet. His torso shimmied, growing in size, white fur spurting across his body.

Shit, okay, so he was a shifter? Then why harm others like him?

The gargoyle burst out in pursuit, dragging broken branches caught on his wings behind him. He stormed toward the man, crouching forward, growling. Without hesitation, the gargoyle kicked him in the ribs, sending him across the field, rolling and spinning from the momentum.

I stayed glued on the action. “This is for killing my father.”

The man slumped on the ground, swallowed by the oversized weeds.

A roar rattled through the night, and I flinched.

From within the folds of the grass, a white lion leaped out, his movement a blur. He slammed into the gargoyle’s stomach, driving the creature backward. No one had ever stood up to the stone guard.

The gargoyle stumbled backward but steadfast. As an undead, fear didn’t play a role in its attacks.

The albino lion shook himself, his enormous mane swishing around his head. He stood taller than Reed in lion form and raised his head, unleashing a guttural growl. Except this was no ordinary lion. On top of his head were two bull-like horns, white as polished pearl. He had long, curved, saber-shaped canine fangs, but saber-tooth lions were extinct. His tail swung back and forth, tipped with an oversize scorpion’s barb.

I gawked, my mouth falling open. It was as if the universe had crafted him by piecing together elements from other animals. I’d always assumed he was a human. Was this why he attacked others—to steal body parts with magic? I’d never heard of anyone born this way.

The animal pounced at the charging gargoyle, both caught in a tangle of limbs and wings and tails. They hit the ground hard, their hissing snarls leaving me covered in goosebumps.

Gingernuts hopped up on the windowsill, curious about the racket.

The lion flew into a tree trunk but scrambled to his feet and recoiled, scanning the woods behind him. He planned to run because maybe taking out the guard went against the witch’s rules. But then again, he had to save himself. The stone creature closed the distance between them.

“Don’t let him escape,” I called out, gripping the wall as I half-leaned out to watch the battle.

His white tail struck the gargoyle’s stone face, the scorpion barb hitting the guardian right in the eye. It shook its head, swiping at the affected pupil.

I bounced on my toes and cheered.

Stab him in the heart already.

“Yes.”

But the gargoyle swung around, its wings beating, and swooped after him, wobbling at first, as if unable to keep its balance.

The white beast snarled, his ears flattened against his head, and he hurled himself upward at the stone guardian. The gargoyle pivoted his wings, bringing himself to a stop midair, and kicked the animal with its hind legs in the chest with such force, the shifter winced and smacked the ground with a thud. White vapors floated from his parted lips.

At once, the guardian tumbled to his knees, patting his eye over and over.

The lion staggered upward, stumbling about. While the animal limped away into the woods, the gargoyle climbed up and staggered after him.

I grasped my hair, clenching it, my eyes on the duo below, when a long strand floated away from me. I reached out and grabbed it, staring at it in astonishment, when the piece broke off in my hand. The rest floated away.

I rocked on the spot because my tresses were uncuttable and I’d never shed before. I stared at the strand, twisting in the air like a worm slithering over salt. Staring back at the injured fighters, I wracked my brain for an explanation. The other gargoyle had been injured before by Dustin, and I hadn’t lost any hair then, but now I had when the white-haired man had gotten slammed.

“Oh, hell.” My curse was connected with the lion’s strength!

Scenario after scenario hammered in my mind. My hair had grown from the first day I’d been tossed into the tower, and I’d never understood why. They kept me guarded by the stone creature, protected. Did that mean the creep drew his power from my magical hair, whether it was on me or Gingernuts?