Without warning, he tossed me left and dodged right, simulating what would happen should someone blast a gun or spell directly at us. I swooped down to confront a potential enemy before
climbing back up again. He dove below me, and I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to simulate. He was trying to do double duty, work with Tristan and equally help me.
Another gargoyle grabbed me, flying me south, and now it seemed like I was a prop. All well and good. Few of the gargoyles were used to carrying one of their own in battle. They needed to learn.
Lives might depend on it.
“You’re trying too hard,” Ivy House told me, the first time she’d spoken to me since we’d left.
“What do you mean?” I replied, opening my eyes as the gargoyle dropped me and swerved away.
Another grabbed me quickly, diving before pulling out gradually and releasing me at exactly the wrong moment.
With a growl I worked to right myself and fly straight, shooting magic at him to let him know he’d screwed up.
“You’re trying to get too detailed with the connections,” she said. “That part of your magic isn’t supposed to work like the Ivy House connections. It’s supposed to be a general guide. It needs to connect everyone together, not just connect them to you. You’re pulling at strings when you should be pulling at groups and teaming that with magic.”
That didn’t make much sense to me.
After a moment of being flown south by a big gargoyle without a lot of speed, I told her as much.
“It’s easier in battle, but here…”
Strange tingles covered my skin, and I zapped the guy holding me so he’d let go. I pushed him away and lowered so everyone would know I didn’t want to be bothered.
The tingles turned into pricks of pain, and then it felt like my hair was standing on end. Within my mind’s eye, I sensed a swell of lights and colors moving through me and then over and under me, all around me, merging together. The strings I’d been plucking one by one joined together into a symphony, notes rising and falling above the mass to pull at my attention.
“Do you see?” she asked. “This is rudimentary, since I’ve never been able to directly teach the heirs, but it’s an idea.”
“It’s a very good idea, are you kidding me? You’re telling me you could’ve been helping me all this time, and I’ve instead been blasting my crew and flailing around?”
“No, I can help you with certain things, like the connections to your team and issues relating to the property, but magic on the whole is your responsibility. I don’t do spells; I house the magic.
Because I’m a house. See how that works?”
“And you couldn’t offer this up before now?” I asked with a tone.
“I’ve learned that when the heirs figure things out for themselves, they have a better grasp on the magic.”
“And how has that worked with the past heirs? You know, all the ones who have died early?”
“Again, I just house the magic,” she said, now also taking a tone. “I don’t pick their terrible mates who try to steal the magic in jealousy or won’t take the magic out of cowardice…”
She was talking about Austin now.
“Thanks,” I said, because she had helped me get a handle on this new way of perceiving the gargoyle connections. It was certainly a lot better than what I was doing before, but I got what she was saying—I’d need to develop some finesse.
A shock of pain brought me out of my reverie. Another followed it up quickly, stabbing into my side. A third through a wing.
I looked around in confusion and rising panic, taking in the grove of trees in the park at the southeast edge of the town below me. The grassy area beyond it was devoid of people. Patrols mostly
passed through here going elsewhere, as this area of town was not heavily populated yet.
Something struck my leg, digging in, and more popped through my wings. Arrows. Someone was shooting arrows at me! What in the…
I twirled to look around, but I’d sunk low in the sky, lost in my own world. No one flew nearby, giving me space. Another arrow flew up and pierced me. Pain reverberated through my wings with each pump, and wind passed through instead of keeping me airborne.
There, in the trees, a person—a man—stepped into the clearing and lifted a bow. He let go, and another arrow flew, missing me. A second person—a woman this time—stepped into the space between the trees, and a man walked onto the grass beside her. They had their bows out. More arrows flew.
I swiveled to get out of the way as my altitude lowered. With the air passing through my wings, though, I wasn’t effective. More arrows slammed home, sending shooting blasts of agony through me.
Thankfully my gargoyle hide was a lot tougher than human skin, and the arrows weren’t going anywhere near deep enough to cause serious harm, but it still hurt like the blazes.
Not to mention people were shooting freaking arrows at me! People from the pack. Mages would use magic, number one, and two, our people were all over the territory perimeter. This many enemies couldn’t have snuck in unnoticed.
Fury burned in my chest.
Kingsley’s people were trying to get even for my getting that moron Bruce kicked out of the top hierarchy. That, or they didn’t like that I’d challenged Kingsley and nothing had happened to me. Hell, maybe this was still about Austin and they stupidly thought I was the weakest link.
Whatever their reasoning, they’d made a very grave mistake.
I flapped wildly now, pretending like I was trying to maintain altitude while sinking lower and lower. The arrows kept coming, making me wonder if they were actually trying to kill me.
Below the treetops now, I sent out a blast of magic, a stinging spell that would hopefully give them false confidence. None of them had ever been hit with magic before—maybe they’d think it wasn’t that bad and stick around. I sure hoped so.
Another arrow struck deep, fired at close range. My anger spiked. I folded up my wings and hit the ground. Making a show of stumbling and falling, I used that time to rip arrows out of my body and legs, before crawling forward and laboring to my feet, all for show.
James stepped out of the trees, that bastard. He was supposed to be leading the pack in town! His smile was smug and his swagger ridiculous.
Bruce came out, too, along with that woman from the bar last week and a few other shifters, all with bows in hand. All of them were supposed to be participating in training right now.
“Oops,” James said, walking toward me in the nude, having clearly shifted for this. “Looks like, for all the magic you have, and the strange light show, you aren’t impervious to something as simple as an arrow.”
The arrows removed, I shifted into my human form. Blood trickled from my many wounds, already healing.
“And you think you aren’t?” I asked, breathing heavily and hobbling toward them a little. I wanted to see their eyes widen when I blasted them back to last century.
“Think you run this pack, huh?” Bruce walked forward, a block of muscle. “Think you and your boyfriend call the shots?”