Chapter 28

My screams rang across the ruins, and I recoiled from the gargoyle, numbness threading through my mind.

The creature’s arms struck out and seized my injured forearm as cords of my hair jerked toward it in attack. They wrapped around its wrists, binding them to its body, forcing me forward by its unrelenting grip. The creature thrashed against the restraints, crying out from the stabbing ache racing up my body. Fear shackled me while I pulled against its hold, both of us stumbling about. Its wings beat and it lifted off the ground, dread smacking me in the chest.

“Stop its wings!” I called out, repeating the words in my head. But the stone monster dragged me by an arm upward, and when my toes left the ground, an agonizing ache jolted through my stretched shoulder. At once, my hair pulled my head backward, and I shrieked. Faye was on the ground getting dragged behind us, still locked in my tresses.

Pin down its wings, I bellowed in my head, swaying in the air, writhing for escape.

Hair fluttered in my face, swooping around me. In a breath’s whisper, we dropped, and my stomach hit the back of my throat. I yelled out. We hit the ground, my legs crumbling beneath me, my wrist released. I scrambled backward on my ass, feeling no pain as dread knocked me about. The gargoyle fought my tresses. It had one wing clasped under the hair around its body. It yanked one of its arms free and tore at the golden cords binding it in place.

Faye moaned loudly, half-cocooned in my locks, laying on her side, flapping about like a fish out of water. With her mouth and hands disabled, her magic remained immobile, but for how long before she escaped? Grunts escalated behind me, and I spun to find Reed and Kahlo brawling with the other shifters, all teeth and blood. Gage rushed to their aid, and I didn’t see how in the world we could win this. But we needed to escape.

Not while you’re stuck with the gargoyle and Faye.

My gaze settled on Leon glaring at Reed’s back. The lion scratched the ground with a front paw, his head lowered with the bull horns pointed at Reed. Dread shook through me, and I darted toward him, wincing each time my foot hit the ground. “Reed, watch out! Behind you!” I shouted, my insides icing over.

I willed strands of my hair to snake through the air. They caught Leon across his horn, winding tightly, and yanked him back. Normally, his immense strength should have enabled him to drag me along. But with me weighed down with the gargoyle and his love, his vigor failed him. They pulled me in three directions.

Leon roared with frustration, his nose creasing, saliva spitting from his mouth as he slashed at the air with a clawed paw. He thrashed and eyed me as a target. I trembled and needed him anchored away before he attacked me. I scanned the field and spotted half a granite wall from the old ruins. Tie him to the stone. The cord of hair locked on to him, shaking him and hauling him closer, strands hooked on to the parapet atop the decaying ruin. My hair wrenched him across the ground, his paws digging into the ground, his head forward, shaking to break loose.

The horn groaned under all the weight, and Leon screeched as if in pain. The tresses went taut, and a loud crack resonated. A fracture split along the base of his horn. Oh, shit! I’d underestimated the tension in the rope of my strands. The horn snapped clear off, flinging into the air. The lion fell to his knees, bleeding from the breakage.

His face contorted with malice, and he came for me, thundering like a bull.

Terror catapulted through me, shaking me, and I recoiled.

He reached me in seconds, and his deadly tail slammed the ground at my feet, missing me by inches. I jumped out of the way. Over and over he struck, and I ducked each blow, but only within a whisper of my life. Desperate, I threw him backwards while darts of my hair jabbed him in the face, the neck—anywhere to stop his assault. I wasn’t ready to die.

I struck him in the eye, and he halted, shaking his large head, the shaggy mane billowing around his face. But his tail kept flinging around him, reaching for me. I backtracked, but my heel caught on a rock, and I fell backward, crying out, my hands flailing for balance. All I could think about was the lion attacking me, ripping me to shreds. I’d never see my men again, my future lost before it even began.

I hit the ground, and a piercing ache jolted up my spine. But a loose lock caught the tip of Leon’s tail, barely restraining him, tugging him away from me.

To my left, the witch wriggled against the grasp of my hair. Soon she’d get free. To my right the gargoyle fought his restraints, his second wing an inch from being freed. The gargoyle darted toward me so fast, I gasped. He snatched my wrist, trying to hoist me to my feet. All of it was too much. I couldn't hold all three at the same time.

“Help!” I wailed, scrambling backward as the lion’s stinger hammered the ground near me. He growled with such intensity, it rippled my skin with goosebumps.

Gage was by my side within moments, punching the albino in the back like a wasp intent on stinging an animal to death. Leon turned with swiftness, his stinger aiming for my dragon. Gage punched Leon in the chin, but the lion didn’t budge and stalked toward Gage, ready to finish him. He lunged and bit Gage in the thigh.

I fought against the gargoyle’s grip, hauling against his strength. “Gage! No!” I tossed out a thin lock at Leon, winding it around his neck, choking him.

The albino scratched at my hair, veins in his forehead bulging.

The gargoyle clawed at my shoulder. Piercing fire jolted down my back, and I lost my grip on the albino. He batted Gage with his paw, drawing blood, his tail poised, but Gage rolled away.

Leon’s head jerked in my direction, and he loomed closer. Growling like a lion that had cornered a gazelle, he lifted his tail above his head. This was it. Fear stabbed my gut like a knife, twisting ever-so-slowly. Paralyzing dread spread through me as if it were ice. I twitched, fighting the impulse to just fall to my knees and cower. In the distance, shifters surrounded Reed and Kahlo, while two panthers charged for Gage, who bellowed with rage.

My eyes swung to the scorpion barb, and I pictured myself being stabbed to death. Behind me, the gargoyle fought to loosen its wing, staggering on the spot, holding me in place with a solid grip. My throat thickened, and I heaved against the gargoyle’s clutches.

But the barb rushed through the air, straight for my face, and I froze.

A lock of my hair snared around my free arm, jerking me sideways so fast, I lost my breath. My head spun as I cried out. A flurry of air rushed past my ear. The scorpion barb had missed me by inches but had struck the gargoyle in the chest. Fire scorched across my scalp as my hair had caught on White Venom’s tail during the attack, and it was now trapped inside the gargoyle, held in place by the barb that had detached itself from the lion. Under the intense pain, I could no longer hold the witch or gargoyle at bay, and the cords restraining them slackened. They stumbled free.

Yet the gargoyle dropped to its knees, hissing, hands clasping its chest just above its heart. Reality punched me in the gut. “Fuck! Yes!”

Leon had just stabbed the stone creature in the heart. I jerked around to find him staggering, his body shimmering and transforming back into human form. He was going take the stone beast’s place. I held my breath, waiting.

Faye rushed to her lover’s side, crying, mumbling words I didn’t understand. A spell perhaps?

Leon yelled, fear coating his voice, his body shaking as he writhed on the ground.

I pulled my hair to free myself from the gargoyle, but it wasn’t budging. A cold rush ran through me.

Faye called out her enchantment, but nothing happened. She slammed the ground with her fists in frustration while Leon grabbed her hand, holding it to his chest. He had to know his end was coming.

Dust floated in the surrounding air, and I stared down at the gargoyle on his back, legs dissolving into particles. The hair connected to the gargoyle’s heart already darkened into a gray color like stone. And it spread toward me. Would I turn into a stone monster or disintegrate along with the creature?

“No. No. No!” I screamed as cracks formed in the gargoyle’s features. It was vanishing, and Leon and I were about to take his place!

“Elliana!” Gage shouted, hobbling toward me, his shoulder ripped apart, blood coating his shoulders and shirt.

Was my fate sealed? “Gage!” My voice rippled and shrieked.

His face paled when he reached me, his gaze swinging from me to the hair, to Faye praying over her lover, whose legs had already turned to stone. She screeched in agony and ran her hands over her lover’s chest, her touch flaring with a blue magic. But nothing made a difference. Part of the spell had originated with the first creation of a gargoyle, so Faye couldn’t change the curse. Now, it backfired and had taken Leon.

“I’ll get you out of this,” Gage said, but his hand trembled against my shoulder.

“I’ve always loved you,” I mumbled.

“Don’t.” He searched the ground. “Where the fuck’s a knife when you need one?”

“Listen,” I called out, tears blurring my vision, watching the gray crawling up my strands, closing in on me. “I was stupid to push you away and to never let myself be with you.”

Gage grasped my hands, his face inches from me. “I’m going to save you. Don’t you fucking leave me.” His words hiccupped, and tears ran down his cheeks. Behind him, there was movement. Reed sprinted toward us while Kahlo fought an army of shifters. But at once, Gage shuddered uncontrollably, and he staggered backward, his limbs stretching, cracking.

“Gage!” I dove after him, but he’d stumbled too far, making gurgling sounds that terrified me.

Armed with a blade, Reed rushed to my side.

“Something’s wrong with Gage!” I yelled.

“And you’re in danger. Get on your knees.” I did as he said, and he gently cradled the back of my head on his thighs. “Shit, Elliana.” Determination pumped through his expression as he used the blade to hack at the lock connecting me to the gargoyle. The action pulled my hair, but he kept sawing.

My mind started to fail, refusing to kick into action when all I pictured was my death.

I watched with horror as the gray crept along my hair, ready to consume me. For killing a gargoyle, the price must be paid, and for that person to replace the stone creature. That person was me and Leon.

“I can’t cut it,” Reed hissed. “Lie flat on your back.”

I followed his instructions because I had no other idea how we’d fight this. Reed knelt next to my head and slammed the long end of the blade down on my steely hair. An electric spark shuddered through my head, and I screamed.

My gaze landed on Leon embracing Faye, kissing her as the stone rushed up his arms and into her. Spreading across her back, her head, locking them into an eternal kiss. Shit!

Reed kept hammering unrelenting while I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood, riding the agony, my eyes shut, crying out each time a jolt rocked thorough me.

A soft hand touched my cheek, and I flinched. “It’s okay,” Reed said. “Open your eyes. I’ve cut it all off.”

His smile coaxed me to stand up. He took my hand and lifted me to my feet with ease. I looked behind me to a mountain of my cut hair. My breaths raced, and I touched my head, finding every strand had been chopped off and what remained hung to my neck. My long hair was gone. I sucked in a shaky breath.

“Oh, hell, you did it?” I leaped into Reed’s arms, crying and laughing. “Faye’s death must have broken my curse.” I felt pity for her, but I was also glad she was gone. No matter what happened now, we’d saved Reed’s sister, his pride, and the other kidnapped shifters.

Reed hugged me, kissing my face and neck. “You’re free.”

But in the distance, Kahlo was rushing toward us in his tiger form. An array of shifters writhed on the ground; Eagle-Man tumbled out of the sky near them. The blue rings around their necks fading until non-existent.

I broke from Reed’s arms. “The pride is free!”

Where was Gage? I scanned the grounds and saw no sign of him. My stomach churned with an uneasy sensation until Reed groaned from behind me. My heart slammed into my ribcage, and I swung around to find my cut hair curling around his legs like snakes capturing their prey. It moved on its own. I rushed toward him, both of us ripping at the hair, but there too much of it. It curled around his chest, and his panicked breaths had despair swallowing me.

“What’s happening?” I couldn’t stop pulling at the strands that had encircled Reed. It must have attacked him because he’d cut the hair.

A sudden hiss echoed in the air, and I shuddered, glancing behind me. Dread wove into my soul as I studied Faye and Leon, both stone gargoyles, their stony eyes on me.

“Fuck! No!” I shuddered. The spell had been broken. The shifters’ controlling collars had broken. Yet these two moved toward me. My connection to the gargoyle remained? It had to be because of Faye’s magic inside the creatures. I retreated alongside Reed, who was now completely cocooned in hair, and his moans muffled. “Reed!” I yelled as I pulled at the hair, circling him, searching for any kind of give.

Faye and Leon approached, slower at first, but soon speeding up.

Kahlo arrived, already in human form and naked, his breaths heaving, his face bloody.

“Help me! Reed is inside the hair,” I cried and retreated toward the tower, letting Kahlo rescue his friend.

If the gargoyles were taking me, I couldn’t let them injure anyone else. So I’d lead them away. Sweat drenched my skin, and my pulse throbbed through my veins.

But when a roar thundered overhead, I flinched. Every fucking sound had me jumping, so what now?

Gold gleamed in the sunlight as a colossal shadow passed over us. A stream of fire burst free from the flying creature, but as I squinted, I realized what I was looking at.

“Gage?” Excitement riddled through me. Green and yellow scales glinted across his long, serpentine body, wings spanning out, claw tips dipped in gold. He was incredible, and I gasped in awe. Smoke poured from his nostrils. But at once he curled toward us, his wings tucked in tight, and swooped in closer.

The gargoyles charged toward me. Terror shook me at the core.

At once, Gage stormed lower and snatched up both creatures in his enormous mouth in one go. The swish of wind from his momentum crashed into me, sending me into the shrubs, where I stumbled and fell. My mouth fell open as Gage beat his wings like the furious pounding of my pulse.

He landed in the middle of the field, the ground shuddering under his weight. The stone creatures struggled, desperately trying to escape. But Gage sank his fangs into their bodies, crunching them as if they were pork rinds. Rocks fell from his teeth as he chewed on the monsters. A beam of light exploded from his mouth, then vanished just as quick. The spell vanquished.

I exhaled long and loud, but it wasn’t time to rest. Not yet. I spun and half-ran, half-stumbled toward Reed.

From within the cocoon of hair, a growl came. Kahlo pushed me behind him, standing in front of me, and I adored his protectiveness, but this was Reed in danger. He’d risk his life for me, so I would do the same for him.

The hair bundle shifted, expanding, growing. When at once, a golden lion burst free. I stumbled into Kahlo, who held me close.

Reed landed several feet away, tilting his chin back, roaring so loud, the sound pierced my ears. In the distance, Gage unleashed a fireball into the air and rushed toward us. But his body shrunk, pulling inward. And Reed’s did the same. Before long, three naked men surrounded me.

“Oh, shit! I think we pulled this off,” I said, hugging myself, still unable to believe we’d all survived.

“You’re free,” Kahlo said.

“And I’m a fucking dragon. Did you see that?” His hands flayed in the air, and I burst out laughing, joy flooding me because for the first time in too long, I didn’t fear what would happen next. I didn’t understand where to go from here, but as long as we were together, I’d be fine.

I turned toward Reed, my insides beaming. “You got your lion back.”

His smile touched his ears. “But I don’t understand how.”

Reaching for his hand, I intertwined my fingers with his, while Kahlo cradled against my back, and Reed clasped my other arm. “Faye had said the albino lion had given up his life to save her. And that my hair had not only fed him energy but helped him regrow the mane he lost. My cursed hair was connected to his mane, so when you cut it, you unleashed the magic. I’m guessing it must have chosen you to transfer the lion shifter ability because you’d touched it last.”

“All I care about is that I’m back, and I have you in my life.” He kissed my knuckles gently, and I melted at his tenderness. My smile burst from within. I was no longer being worn by worries or obligations.

Gage bathed my arm in smooches. “You finally admitted your love, and my dragon evolved. I knew you were the one for me.”

“I’m sorry it took so long.”

Kahlo wrapped his arms around my stomach and rested his chin on my shoulder, his lips on my cheek. “I finally have a family thanks to you.”

Just hearing the joy in their words had me choking for a response. Maybe I didn’t need to say anything, but being held by my three men, there wasn’t a single place I’d rather be. Who cared that we were bloody, injured—some of us naked. Kahlo was right. I’d found my family too.

Reed broke free. “I need to check on my sister and pride.” He took off and we all followed, ready to do what was needed.