She nuzzled into him. “You did. I didn’t understand.” The rumbling was louder now, the heat building. She curled into Terak’s arms. “Love you, my Gargoyle. My warrior.”
Love you.
Shadowy arms wrapped around her, and Larissa was pulled down through the floor.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
‡
“Hi there, Sleeping Beauty.”
So I’ve died and gone to hell. It was unmistakably Fallon’s voice, and the swordswoman wasn’t on her favorite persons list. Considering Fallon’s general attitude, there was no way she was on anyone’s favorite persons list.
But Fallon had come to free her. And she had fought with Terak. And she did look cool carrying around such a big sword.
Okay, maybe purgatory.
“Take your time waking up. It’s fine. It’s not like we have anything else to do except sit around and stare at you.”
Awareness came in short spurts. Grass scratched her cheek and arms, and the earth was solid underneath, solid and cool, but warmer than it had been when she had been forced through it like a ghost, insubstantial, weightless, wrongness. Her skin prickled at the sense memory, and she shuddered with the renewed cold. Did Terak feel…
Terak.
“Terak?”
“Here,” and strong, rough fingers grazed her chin. She forced her eyes open to see his beloved face. He was sitting to her left, looking as if had just risen from beside her.
“What happened?” Because last she checked, she and Terak were about to get crushed under a mountain.
“Shadow,” Fallon answered as Terak helped Larissa into a sitting position.
The world’s rotation was observable, but Larissa took a few deep breaths to get the dizziness under control. Once that was accomplished, she looked to the area where Fallon pointed, to see the dark warrior on the ground, a healer above him. Shadow looked greyer, like a faded copy instead of the original.
“Is he okay?”
“He will be. Mostly,” Fallon said. “Don’t overthink it. It’s what we do.”
Larissa looked at the various Guild members. No, they weren’t nice and they weren’t good, but while she would happily live her life if she never met up with them again, that didn’t mean they weren’t needed in these days. Days that would only get darker during this period that the necromancers could destroy all.
She reached for Terak, needing skin contact. He meshed his fingers with hers, his eyes dark and bright. “Thank you all for saving Terak and saving me.”
From out of a giant purse Laire pulled out a small, black velvet bag. “I’ll tell you how you can show your thanks – hand over that little bauble you’ve got with you.”
Terak’s fingers tightened on hers. At his nod Larissa fished the jewel from her pocket. “What would this have done?”
“Pray you never find out,” Laire said. She held out the opened bag. “Drop it in there, please.”
Larissa did as asked, and Laire spoke a few words in an unidentified language before tying the bag off and tucking it back in her purse. Laire looked her over, and the term X-ray vision floated through Larissa’s brain. The mage asked, “The dagger?”
“Buried in Garof’s back, if you want to go back for it.”
For one moment, fear flickered over Laire’s face, but the Asian woman closed her eyes and turned away, heading back for her companions. Fallon exhaled in an explosive blast, and Larissa decided to not ask any questions.
And now to the other problem of the night. “Taneasha?”
“We have her, and we know her part in this.”
Fallon’s tone might have warned against asking any questions, but Larissa couldn’t let it go at that, no matter what the girl did. “What’s going to happen to her?”
“We’re not going to kill her, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Never let it be said Fallon tried to soften news. “But you’re not going to see her in class again.”
Before Larissa could even begin to process her conflicted feelings about her former student, from the sky dropped several gargoyles. Terak rose but kept her in his arms, beneath his wings. She curled into him.
Terak called out, “All have survived?”
“Yes. We looked for you, but the mountain was crumbling too quickly and we had no choice except to leave.”
“I would have it no other way, Malek.”
Larissa squirmed a little. When Terak looked at her she arched her eyebrow and tilted her head a tiny amount. They really were a couple because Terak read her wants perfectly and set her down, though he kept her close. She spoke to the assembled gargoyles. “Thank you for coming to my aid. I am grateful to all of you beyond what I can say.”