Stone Guardian(74)

His first instinct was to pursue her, to gather warriors and fight. But even if he knew where she was held, he could not leave. His Clan was in danger, and he needed to find the threat within. With the Guild she was safe.

Later, the Guild would pay for taking her. Now, they were the best option to keep her protected.

To Krikus, Terak said, “Send out our scouts to be on the lookout for her. As soon as she is found they are to send word. We will take her back…

…by battle if necessary.”



*****



“You would betray me, Valry?”

She had arrived to her meeting with the accursed vampire with her shoulders back and her head high, but now, as she saw him step from behind several rocks and Malek at his side, her body hunched over, losing the arrogance that always marked her passing. She reached out a beseeching hand. “This is not betrayal. I would never betray you. Everything I have done was so our people can become great again.” She motioned to the vampire who was still several feet away. “He is here to offer a bargain.”

“Which means you do not believe us great now, under my leadership and the leadership of my father. If that is the case, I wonder then why you would not 1betray me.”

“You are a great leader, but you are blinded by a utopian vision of living in this world as equals amongst the other races, but they will never accept us. We must always live separate, and they must know our strength so they will never come against us!”

It should hurt more, the female he once meant to mate aligning herself with a man with the blood-red eyes, a mark of a true vampire and necromancer. It should tear at his chest, drive him to howl at the moon and claw the dirt around him.

And he did feel that, but for another female. Larissa was apart from him and the ache in his chest would not abate. He could not lean over and pull her toward him. He could not see her little chin lifting as she fought him or those blue eyes laughing and inviting him to share in her joy. All he could not do was tearing at him, pulling him apart at the seams.

He would get her back, and if the Guild fought him, he’d destroy them all.

The only emotion he could spare for Valry was anger, anger that she was keeping him from finding Larissa.

Betrayal or not, perhaps some good could come of this night if he could discover why it was Larissa these beings were obsessed with. Terak turned to the vampire. “What is your name, Vampire?”

The vampire cocked his head in surprise. “You would speak to me, Terak, Clan Leader of the Gargoyles?”

“I would be a fool to not listen to your words now that you are here before me. Valry spoke of a bargain. Tell me what it is.”

“I am Garof.”

“And who is your master?”

“That does not concern you, Clan Leader. That knowledge will not affect the words I speak. I hope my lack of answer will not stop you from listening to my other words.”

Terak inclined his head. Vampires never gave the name of their Master; it had been a desperate attempt he gave slim hope to succeed, nothing more. “I will listen to your words. What actions I will take based upon them is not guaranteed.”

“My people want the woman. She is needed for a spell.”

“She is needed to rip the Realms apart, this I know.” Terak watched the vampire closely, but to the vampire’s credit, the only sign this might have been a surprise was an extra-long blink. “How would she accomplish such a task? Why her?”

Garof shook his head. “You do not need to know the specifics. What I am willing to divulge is that we need her and her alone. To possess her we would be willing to pay a very high price.”

What did the vampire think to offer? “How high?”

“Since you know the ultimate purpose the woman would serve, you will understand when I say this. Once we return the Magic Realm to its former state, we will have Gargoyles rule over all, second only to the Necromancers.”

They would never quit hunting her.

As Valry gasped and even Malek let out a grunt of surprise, this knowledge pounded through him. She would never be safe again. There was nothing he could do to blunt their interest. With his words and his covetous gaze, the vampire showed how much they desired her.

To stay with her was to put his Clan in the direct path of the necromancers. They would go from neutral parties to fierce enemies.

But to walk away from her was as good as handing her over to them.

She was sunshine. She was light and laughter and the key to a part of him that had sat, unused and rusty, since his mother had died. She was gentleness that surrounded a will of steel, and a fierce protectiveness to her family and her students and whoever else she considered her Clan.

She kept the secrets of a Gargoyle and had fought to save him. She told him her secrets and let him wipe away her tears.