Entwined Realms Volume One(35)

She left the room and headed for the balcony. She never asked about the schedule on who watched over her when, so she didn’t know when the next gargoyle would arrive. After five minutes of doing the arm-waving trick and no one showing up, she went back inside.

Someone would figure it out eventually, and it wasn’t like Terak was in danger anymore.

She entered the living room, glancing at the clock. Dinnertime. Her stomach let out a low roar that would be highly embarrassing if anyone else would have been around to hear it.

Well, she was hungry, and everything that could be done was done. No sense starving while she waited.

The television caught her eye as she wandered to the kitchen. Sigh. It would be nice to have a television that worked, and she needed to make a note to call a repairman tomorrow.

What was being reported on? Was the city in panic? How was her dad going to respond to the news that the wards were broken?

Speaking of Dad, why wasn’t her phone ringing off the hook? As soon as an orc invasion was reported, her father should have made a beeline to the apartment and proceeded to try to grab her up and bring her home.

Strange. Maybe not the strangest incident of the day, but strange.

She made a turkey on rye. It was nice to do something as normal as make food after the last few hours. Normal was severely underrated, and if her life ever went back to normal, she would never take it for granted again.

Normal was not a gargoyle who had the ability to shift into human form.

Human.

It had been so crazy today she hadn’t considered how important this was, but this… this was big. How the zombies and orcs had gotten past the wards was still a question, but this ability was probably the way gargoyles were able to enter the city and pass the wards that guarded it – presuming the other gargoyles had this same ability. Only a human was supposed to be able to walk past them, and right now Terak was certainly human, at least on the outside.

Think of the implications. So many spells, especially protection spells, relied on that one designator. Human. An enemy who could bypass them at will, especially a race as powerful as the gargoyles – that would scare a whole lot of people.

Alone and unarmed, Terak had fought a band of orcs. He had been hurt, and yes, she helped, but none of that changed the fact he alone killed over a dozen of some of the most feared fighters in this world.

Gargoyles were not to be underestimated.

A hard knock sounded against the door.





Chapter Twelve





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Surprise visitors had to be bad news. Terak…

Several loud thumps sounded in a row, as though the person on the other side were hitting the door with the side of their fist. “Ris, open up. Now.”

Michael, using his patented I’m the eldest and with Dad gone I’m in charge voice.

Her brother the cop, who never came over without calling first.

As tempting as not opening that door was, that wasn’t an option. Michael would kick it down in a heartbeat – any of the family would. And if she objected in any way, shape, or form or threatened parts of their anatomy, she would be met with a shrug and an insincere apology, and left with the full knowledge they would do it again if they felt it necessary.

With no other choice unless she wanted this to become a full-scale incident, she opened the door. “Michael, what are you doing here?”

He walked in before she had a chance to fully block the entrance or voice an excuse on why this was not a good time to visit, which translated meant he was not going to be leaving until whatever had brought him over was wrapped up to his satisfaction.

She shut the door with a quiet click. Michael wasn’t yelling – not yet, at least – and it would be best to do everything possible to keep things quiet and prevent Terak from waking up during their little family chat.

Overprotective gargoyle versus overprotective big brother. That was a match-up she had no interest in seeing anytime soon.

Michael’s eyes wandered her apartment, not in casual interest but in a hard sweep, searching out any hidden secret or concealed clue.

He was looking at her place with cop’s eyes, and there went any hope that this was a friendly visit.

He’d never used the sweep on her before. He once joked this was the only place he could relax and not be a cop. Something had sent him here.

So what did he know, and how did he know it? If he knew she was at the park, where were the drawn weapons, and where were the other brothers and her father? And why wasn’t he asking about the gargoyle sighted in the park? And if he was here only because there was an orc attack in the city, why wasn’t he ushering her out of the apartment and straight to Dad’s?

Nothing was adding up. This needed to be played casual, at least until she had a better idea of what her brother knew. “Michael, what are you doing here?”