Entwined Realms Volume One(17)
Besides, if she was right – and I am right – this was a mistake. This was random. Bringing her father in on it would only cause problems for her. Dad would move her back to the family house in two seconds flat, the brothers carting her back kicking and screaming if that was what it took.
As much as she loved her father, she didn’t want that. She’d been gone from home not even a year. She didn’t want to lose her hard-won freedom.
Larissa focused again on Terak. His eyes were still steady on her, his jaw set as he waited to counter her next argument.
What she needed was time, time to figure out what was going on and somehow come up with a solution.
“How would you protect me?”
That jaw relaxed a fraction at her words. No doubt he considered the battle won. “You will go about your life and we will be near.”
“You expect me to go into the grocery store with my gargoyle bodyguard?”
And there it was again, that tiny curl to his lips that disappeared almost before it registered. She seemed to amuse him. “You will never know we are there. You will only see us should another attack occur.”
She didn’t see how it was possible something as big and alien as a gargoyle could hide in the city, but Terak radiated conviction. He absolutely believed she would never know they were near.
Which meant entering the city was not a one-time event or something he thought of as dangerous.
Which meant the wards – those magical barriers in which she had placed absolute trust and belief in for all these years – were worthless.
She got up, walking past the bookshelves, trying to ease the unsettled sensation in her stomach. All her life the wards had been an absolute – never worry about the outside races, the wards will keep them out. Had it always been a lie?
With a delicate touch she stroked the spine of a very old binding, breathing deep the scent of wondrous decay that always accompanied large libraries. The familiar and much-loved perfume helped release some of the tension holding fast in her shoulders, her arms, her back. One worry at a time. Right now, it was getting back home. “I won’t know you’re there?” she verified, taking up their conversation.
He leaned forward a fraction. “No, you will not.”
Larissa gave a small laugh, rubbing the back of her neck as she returned to the couch. “It has to be the exhaustion, but I’m going to agree to this.” Before he could say anything she added, “As long as we have a few ground rules.”
While his face remained impassive, Larissa noticed the tip of his tail twitched. Interesting. She filed that away for future reference and went on. “First, we need a time limit. I don’t want to be an eighty-year-old granny wondering if a gargoyle is following me.”
“A year,” said Terak.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a month.”
Terak shook his head. “Necromancers are immortal. They can afford patience. One month is nothing to them. They will want to give you time to forget this and let down your guard.”
She sighed. He had a point. “Two months.”
“A year.”
“Three months.”
“A year.”
“You haven’t had much experience with negotiation, have you?”
His head tilted, as though even the thought was foreign and without precedent. “Most follow my orders without question.”
That’s right. He was the leader here. “Then let me be clear,” she said. “There is no way I’m agreeing to a year. Six months you can follow me around. After that, when there are no more attacks and you see how boring my life is, no more bodyguards. Agreed?”
There it was, another tail twitch, but his voice was steady when he replied, “Agreed. Six months. But when another attack does happen, we will renegotiate the time frame.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re kind of hoping I get jumped.”
“Not at all. I know this enemy and am preparing for battle instead of living in a dream world.”
Was that snark? Did he just snark at her? With that theater-actor voice and impassive face it was hard to tell, but she’d lay odds it was snark. Still, he was agreeing so far, so she didn’t comment and pressed on. “Rule two, I don’t want Valry to be one of my bodyguards.”
Forget his former impassiveness. Shock was now writ large across his face. “Valry?”
“Yes, the female gargoyle from the roof. I do not want her ever to guard me. Never ever. If it’s a choice between her and no one, you go with no one. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” he said quickly. Too quickly. Her gut was right then. Joy.
“Third and final. If you’re right about all this – and that’s a big if – and you find something out about why I was targeted, you have to share with me. No handling things on your own. No plans without me knowing about them.”