“Excellent. I know teachers value learning, and this book has very valuable information on Gargoyles. If Terak remains part of your life, this you’ll want to know.”
Larissa weighed it in her hand. “This is a very light history.”
The Oracle arched one fine brow. “Why would I bother with that? This, my dear, is about how Gargoyles mate.”
Huh. So this was what dumbfounded felt like.
“Trust me, read that book. You’ll like what you learn.” The Oracle stepped back, though she didn’t sit on the settee again. She now looked at the elf. “Oh, and Aislynn? I need you to tell Fallon something.”
“Yes, Oracle?” Aislynn answered, acting like it wasn’t unusual to be receiving messages for a woman not two feet away.
The Oracle smiled, full of mischief and torment. “Tell her to get her sword ready. They’re coming through the door.”
Fallon bared her teeth in a snarl even as she reached back and grabbed her sword. In a fluid movement she turned and ran, coming within a few feet of the doorway as the walls exploded.
This time the revelers were disturbed. Screams rent the air as a mass of bodies started running away from the chaos. Aislynn grabbed Larissa’s arm, and displaying more strength than such an ethereal woman should ever possess, picked her up and toward a wall in the back.
“Protect the Oracle,” came shouts from all around. The men and women, so languid moments ago, now held the same warrior postures of Fallon and Aislynn.
In the confusion Aislynn’s hand was ripped away and Larissa was thrown hard against a wall. Pain radiated through her back where she was hit, but it was manageable. She put down her hands against the wall to push away only to feel a doorknob, thank gods. One turn confirmed it wasn’t locked. It opened into an alleyway. One side was blocked off, so there was only one way to go.
At the end of the alley she glanced in both directions. Several blocks down on the right was lots of traffic and wandering beings. After one last look behind her to make sure no one had followed, she took off.
After several blocks of running the sidewalks became populated. If it weren’t for the mix of races she had never seen outside of books, it would have been any night on the town, with revelers searching for the next bar or club. She still stood out a little with her casual clothing and too quick breathing, but if ever there was a moment to celebrate being on the shorter side height-wise it was now.
Head down, she walked fast and straight. Find a phone and call Michael. He’d be able to get to her. Piece of cake, though it would be a little easier if her ears weren’t still buzzing from the earlier club noise.
A hand wrapped around her mouth and pulled her into an alleyway.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Her nails dug into the arm as she kicked backwards. Another hand closed around her middle and a low buzz of sound started near her ear, gradually turning into words. “Calm, little human. You are safe.”
That voice, that deep baritone which meant safety. She withdrew her nails and stilled her legs. The arms loosened enough that she could move, and she turned to face Terak.
“Thank gods.” She threw herself against him with such force his body rocked back some inches. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging onto him with all the strength in her body.
There was no hesitation as he returned the gesture. He brought her tight against him, his arms steel bands as they closed around her. His mouth rained small kisses against her temple. “You are safe. I have you. You are safe and they will never touch you again.”
His wings flapped, taking them up into the air.
“I was so scared.” Gods, his smell was so clean, warm and heady and such an amazing contrast from inside the club. This was what she wanted to be surrounded with. How could any drug be more potent than Terak close and warm and all hers?
His breath puffed across her ear and his lips never quite left her skin. “I would never stop searching for you, never. If I had to make war with the Guild for your safety, they would all be laid before me. I will never be separated from you.”
They traveled in silence then, though Terak kept her close. As they approached her apartment Terak’s mood began to change. The relief he had displayed was being replaced by silence and stillness. Once they entered the apartment the transformation was complete as anger charged through every inch of his body. He was so tight she was half surprised he wasn’t vibrating.
He let her down, folding his wings around himself with a sharp snap. He circled her, taking her in. “You left without me and my protection.”
The words and tone were flat, but they held such repressed anger he may as well been screaming for the knot they caused in her stomach.