Chapter 19

A faint voice sounded in the distance. It kept humming in my ears. I rolled onto my side to drown out the sound but bumped into someone in my bed. Then last night crashed through me. Kahlo in my tower, us chatting late into the morning, and we must have fallen asleep. It was the first time a man had slept in my bed. He’d been fully clothed—no kisses had been exchanged. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, though I loved that Kahlo chatted and laughed with me instead of going straight for sex. Our conversations were incredibly in-depth about my past, his theory on why shifters had come into existence, and how he believed people could make themselves orgasm without a single touch. Just by thought. Now that left me ultra-curious to explore.

Again, voices came from outside.

I opened my eyes to find streaks of sunlight pouring in from the gaps around the shutters on the window.

Was it Reed and Gage? But if I heard them, so did the gargoyle. My heart slammed into my ribcage. I rushed out of bed, pushing aside the sheets and my hair while Kahlo remained asleep, Gingernuts snuggled against his back.

I rushed to the window and heaved open the shutters. A cool breeze swept over me, washing away the sleep from my eyes. At the bottom of the tower stood Reed and Gage out in the open.

The gargoyle’s wings thrashed overhead, sending a gust of air toward me. It flew toward the shifters.

I shuddered and froze mid-descent, a scream pressing on my throat.

Before I could make sense of what was going on, I hauled my long hair behind me, which seemed to take forever, and shoved it outside. Then, I clambered out the window.

Ice filled my veins. I glanced over my shoulder halfway down as both men picked up a huge bucket of water. It glistened and glimmered beneath the sun as if jewels floated inside. Was it the spell from Vanore? They’d found her! Despite the joy, panic dug its claws into my heart. How long had they been calling me?

Moments from the stone creature slamming into them, the men tossed the water at the monster, drenching it from head to toe.

They both darted sideways as the gargoyle crashed into the wooden pail and fell to his knees.

In a hurry, I hauled my long hair behind me, which seemed to take forever, and shoved it outside. Then I scrambled down the wall using the grooves in the stone, unable to stop staring down at the way the creature’s granite body shimmered and sparkled. My breaths spiked.

He unleashed an ungodly hiss, and I shivered when I hit the ground. No one moved. The three of us watched from a distance, my pulse racing too fast. I clasped my stomach.

The gargoyle stumbled to his feet, its face twisted into a snarl, its eyes wide, its mouth parted and its fangs exposed. But fear was etched on its expression. With wings wide, fingers reaching for its throat, it froze over. Gone were the glimmers and now only a solid statue remained. As it had been during the nights, I’d gone up on the roof to work out a way to destroy him.

Unable to move, I struggled to believe the spell might have worked, not after all my previous attempts, and how Dustin had become the gargoyle when he’d killed the first gargoyle. Fear strangled my insides. Had the two shifters risked their lives? I’d intended to deliver the final blow. Not them.

Gage and Reed strolled closer, and my attention whipped from the gargoyle to the men. How long had it taken before Dustin had transformed into the stone guardian? A whisper of a moment.

I trembled all over.

Still nothing of a change on my men.

Emotions bubbled in my chest, ready to detonate. When Gage and Reed reached my side, I tried to speak, but it came out as a squeak. “Do either of you feel strange?”

I patted Gage’s smiling face, his chest, then turned to Reed, who refused to meet my stare. Why was he avoiding me? Regardless, I hugged him, never wanting to release him or Gage in case the spell took them. He hugged me, his embrace weak and not as strong as I remembered.

Still, the gargoyle hadn’t disintegrated. Breaking free, I took Reed’s and Gage’s hands in mine. “Are you both sure you’re all right?”

“Honey, I’ve never been better, so stop fretting. We’ve just freed you, sweetie,” Gage said.

My breaths refused to calm down, and I studied Reed, his pasty cheeks, the forced smile he offered me.

“What’s wrong, Reed?” I blurted out as I faced him.

Reed finally spoke in a soft voice, but the spark in his eyes no longer lingered. “I’m fine.”

“See?” Gage said. “We’re both okay, just exhausted and starving.”

“You both sure?” Unease nagged me that all wasn’t right. I sensed it under my skin like worms. They were hiding something from me, and it killed me because I’d asked no one to risk their lives for me. So what had they done?

“I’m famished,” Reed said, and I nodded. “Let’s go upstairs and I’ll make a king’s breakfast.” He kissed my knuckles and climbed up my tower, while Gage embraced me from behind. His chin propped down on my shoulder.

“Elliana, why aren’t you excited?” he asked. “You’re free.”

Maybe it was everything happening so fast—I expected this to go wrong. I’d ruined the first spell from Vanore, so it hadn’t gone as planned, but maybe this time the incantation had worked as intended.

Still, Reed wasn’t himself, so how could I celebrate?

I turned in Gage’s embrace and wrapped my arms around his neck, letting myself drown in his warmth. “You and Reed are fucking amazing. I love you both for everything you did,” I said. “You found Vanore?”

“Yeah, we tracked her down at a tavern. Let’s pack and leave the tower after breakfast and put as much distance between you and the witch as possible.”

He kissed the top of my head, but I didn’t want to leave his arms. It all felt too surreal. For years I’d been trapped by the gargoyle and all my attempts failed. And now we got rid of him so easily. What was I missing? My stomach hurt as if danger still lurked. Or had I been looking over my shoulder for so long, I forgot what freedom felt like? But I kept going back to how strange Reed behaved.

“Can you be honest with me?” I raised my head to face Gage. “What’s wrong with Reed?”

He grasped my shoulders and faced me with a stern expression. “We’re both exhausted from the long trip. Don’t read too much into it, honey. Let’s focus on getting you away from this place. That’s the priority.”

I stared back at the gargoyle, still a solid rock, and the first trickles of joy threaded through me. My whole body thrummed with excitement as tears bubbled in my eyes at the reality that the spell might have worked for once.

“Never cry again,” Gage said, wiping my tears. “Today is the start of your new life, and I’m right here beside you.”

I threw myself at him, hugging him harder this time, breaking into a laugh. “Oh, shit, you and Reed did it! Let’s get up there and celebrate.”

Once we entered the tower, Kahlo was awake and sitting on the edge of the bed alongside Reed. Their whispers died the moment I climbed inside. Yep, I wasn’t an idiot. Shit had gone down, and the men were keeping it from me, assuming I wouldn’t approve, or it’d piss me off or otherwise upset me. Most likely all those things. The heaviness returned to my chest, constricting me. What had happened? And considering Gage had taken Reed’s side by not telling me what had happened in Tritonia, the news had to be horrible. Pushing them for an answer wouldn’t work, so I’d work on them to discover the truth.

With Gage’s help, I reeled in the rest of my hair, letting it sprawl across the floor. Reed stared at my locks and released a long sigh. Was he okay?

“Okay, let’s get food in your bellies.” I headed to the kitchen, shaking because I wanted to scream at them. Force them to speak. But then would they even tell me the truth or brush me away? I ought to be bellowing with excitement when instead tears prickled my eyes because something had happened to Reed.

“How can I help?” Gage collected the bread from the pantry and picked up a huge knife.

“When you finish that, can you dice cheese please?”

He leaned toward me and whispered, “So I noticed Kahlo might have stayed here for the night.” His mouth pinched at the corners, and in all honestly, I didn’t have time for this when my insides felt raw and as if someone had dragged barbed wire through me.

“So what if he did?” I said. “He stayed in case the witch came around.”

His expression didn’t shift. “And did she?”

I returned to the basket of eggs on the counter and started breaking them into a bowl. “No.”

“Good. Then, after breakfast, you pack, and we leave for good.” He sliced the bread. I could sense his jitters and the way he kept shifting on the spot. Then he neared me again and whispered, “Because if something happened between you and Kahlo, I’d be okay with sharing, but I’d be disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to watch.”

I froze, letting his words roll through my head. Kahlo had said the same about sharing, as had Reed. So were the three of them talking about being with me together? Hell yeah, that made my day, along with seeing them get along so well. But when I looked over at Reed sitting across the tower, the way he slouched forward, his elbows on his thighs and his gaze miles away, an ache spiked through me.

***

“Are you fucking with us? That prick came here to hurt you?” Gage stopped buttering his bread, his jaw clenching. Reed’s eyes burned with flames while Kahlo dug into his eggs because he’d already heard about the hooded guy paying me a visit.

I nodded and swallowed the food in my mouth before taking a sip of my tea. We sat around the small table, everyone diving into the food, while Gingernuts ate his portion in the kitchen. My knees bounced under the table. While this was a celebratory breakfast, partying was the last thing on my mind. Not when other shifters remained missing, including Reed’s sister, and then there was the whole mystery of what had caused Reed’s change in mood.

“You say the bastard stood up to the gargoyle?” Reed asked.

“In his lion form, or whatever shifter he was. The hooded man was freaking strong, but I suspect the witch kept me alive this whole time because somehow my hair gives him strength.”

“What the fuck for?” Gage stuffed a piece of cheese into his mouth and swallowed his food. “I haven’t even heard of an albino lion before, so where’s he been hiding this whole time? Why did he now kidnap shifters?”

“Shifters have been going missing for years,” Kahlo added. “But it was only one here and there, so most people put it down to random attacks or accidents. What if the same person was responsible for those as well?”

“And he’s getting ready for a major assault?” Reed suggested.

“On who?” I cupped my warm mug and sipped the peppermint drink.

They all shrugged.

“As of right now,” I said, “all we know is that he’s strong, works with a powerful witch, and steals shifters to perhaps use them for his own personal army. And my curse is connected to him, so keeping me alive for my hair is crucial to his strength. But what does it all mean and why is this happening?”

“Considering they’re out of the mansion…” Reed gulped down his tea and wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I say we follow Kahlo’s suggestion. We ask other shifter packs who’s gone missing and when, and if they’ve seen anything strange. Let’s gather intelligence and regroup with a plan.”

“Agreed,” I said. Eventually, the witch would track me down. I wasn’t stupid to think she’d leave me alone if my hair fed the hooded man with power. So the trick was striking first before they saw it coming. I wracked my brain, going over everything I’d seen at the mansion, trying to remember anything the asshole had said when he’d paid me a visit. I’d met him once before when I’d been eight. That event had taken place back in my hometown where I’d grown up. What if he and Faye were from there too? What if someone else knew them?

“I grew up in Crosswind, a small village near the Tritonia border.” I cleared my throat. “It’s a hike up there, but that was where Faye and the albino shifter captured my father and me. What if they’re from there? It might help us gain more insight who we’re dealing with. My father also had a friend there we’d visit sometimes, a woman who baked the most incredible cookies. She might know something.”

Reed and Kahlo nodded their heads.

“Good idea,” Gage said. “Especially since I plan to get Elliana away from here. I’ll take her to Crosswind today, and I’ll ask the shifters there.”

Having Gage jump in and help meant the world because it wasn’t as if every problem was only on my shoulders for a change.

“Perfect,” said Reed. “Kahlo and I will split up and do the same near here. We’ll meet you both in Crosswind tonight at a local tavern. Deal?”

“Yes,” I said, and everyone dove back into the food. The countdown was on, and a sense of adventure set in. Together I was ready to take on anything because for once I wasn’t alone. Adrenaline coursed through me at knowing I’d have someone to rely on, to catch me if I fell, to comfort me when shit got real.

Not to mention more of you to die.

I swallowed the boulder in my throat because she was right. But running away wasn’t an option anymore. No more looking over my shoulder, waiting for Faye to find me. This was the moment we made a difference. My heart skipped a beat at the dangerous mission we were about to embark on.

Here were three gorgeous men who affected me in ways that left me floating on clouds, and I couldn’t bear to have any of them harmed. This wasn’t just about me anymore, but ensuring they received their happy endings. Would I succeed? Being with them gave me the hope to believe in miracles.

By the time we finished eating and I’d packed everything away, the three men stood in the living room, Gage carrying my oversized backpack. Clothes, two of my favorite books, and food for the trip. Plus, gold coins. Gingernuts was already inside a bag with just his head popping out, meowing and not a fan of this arrangement. But he was coming with us wherever we went. He was family. I pushed the straps of my bag up my shoulders with my hair tucked away.

“Ready, Sugar-Pops?” Gage asked, and I hurried toward the trio. Never in a million years would I have guessed where that first meeting in the lion territory would have led to. But my life had never been ordinary, and the unexpected was the norm.

“I can’t tell you how incredible it’s been to have all three of you in my life,” I said as the men stared my way. Gage pulled me into a hug first, then Kahlo joined and third, Reed closed the embrace. Me in the middle of these amazing men who caused my heart to race, who meant more to me than I could have ever imagined. The more time I spent with each, the more I cared about them, and I yearned to keep each for myself. But first I had to work out what was wrong with Reed.

A niggling sensation wormed through my thoughts, well aware that good luck rarely accompanied me, but maybe the fortune from three shifters would balance me out.

“All right, let’s do this,” Kahlo said, his palm still on my lower back, stroking me in circles, reminding me how much I’d shared with him last night. Like my fears, how much I’d wanted to die after each dreadful beating by the gargoyle. And yet he wasn’t running away from my messed-up life.

“I’ll be seeing you soon.” He drew me into a hug, strong and powerful.

Reed’s warm body pressed against me, and when I turned away from Kahlo, he threw his arms around me, as if any moment he might break down and tell me what had happened in Tritonia. But instead, he whispered, “Don’t do anything crazy until I come for you.” The joy in his words had me smiling to have his true self back, even if just for a few moments.

Kahlo collected Gingernuts to take him down the tower wall for me, they both headed out the window, Gage after them. “Time to leave, honey.” He offered me his outstretched hand.

I followed him and took one last look at the tower—my prison and home for the past thirteen years. The paintings on the wall of a meadow and castle, the fabrics over the walls that looked more like a boudoir, but better than stone walls, and even the corner where I’d cried so many times. I had known nothing else for so long and now leaving felt bittersweet. While I had many memories attached to this place, I wouldn’t miss it. I turned and followed Reed out the window.

Farewell.