Stone Guardian(90)

Larissa-as-Terak stood. “I have heard all your words. All of it wise council, but I must choose a path. I choose to watch the human. While I do not trust the Oracle, I will not ignore her for no reason other than pride.”

And then the scene faded. Now the scenes on the globe sped up.

Her. It was Terak watching her, before they had ever met.

She saw the seasons change. How long had he been watching her – two, three months?

And then the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

The building across the street. The protective presence she sometimes wondered about, always attributing to an overactive imagination.

Stupid. Stupid woman. Why the hell didn’t you ever question anything? Why did you never question Terak?

Because everything had always been going so fast. There never seemed to be time to sit still and think.

Terak hadn’t shown up as some good Samaritan who happened to pass by. He’d been watching her for a long time.

“Don’t cry, Miss Miller.” Taneasha covered Larissa’s hand with her own. With her other hand, Larissa put her fingertips to her cheek, shocked that tears covered the surface.

“I’m so sorry, but you have to see one more thing.”

Again she was looking from what she assumed was Terak’s point of view. This time he was looking at a man.

Red eyes. No, not a man – a vampire.

They were in a wooded area, the light dim but not yet full dark, so it had to either be at sunrise or sunset. The trees contained the full spectrum of color, which meant this hadn’t happened very long ago. The vampire spoke first. “…we need her and her alone. To possess her we would be willing to pay a very high price.”

The vampire had to mean her. He was talking to Terak about her.

“How high?”

No, no. That can’t be. Terak was setting him up, there was some kind of trap being planned at that exact moment. Terak was not asking what this vampire would give in exchange for her.

“When we return the Magic Realm to its former state, Gargoyles will rule over all, second only to the Necromancers.”

Any moment, a band of gargoyles would jump out and trap the vampire. Any moment.

Any moment.

“I need time to consider my options. How do I contact you to reopen negotiations?”

The little ball went white and no other scenes played out.

The heater had kicked on, blowing hot air directly overhead. Outside the door the five-minute warning bell rang, giving a heads-up class would be over soon. A couple doors opened, and a low hum of voices drifted on air currents.

All so normal. How could everything be so normal? Shouldn’t this much pain be heralded by some change: a blizzard, a volcanic explosion? Shouldn’t something happen in the world when her heart shriveled in her chest?

Terak betrayed her.

He had been watching her for months, planning to give her to the vampires since the beginning. Helping her? He probably was keeping her safe so to get better terms for his Clan.

Taneasha wrapped Larissa’s hand in her own. “Miss Miller, I know they’re watching you right now. I can cast a spell to get you out of here without them seeing. Do you want that? I can take you to my Master and he can help.”

“Yes.” She’d use Taneasha’s help to get away from them, then she’d go home. She’d tell Dad everything and let him figure out the next step, because she was done. She was finished being terrorized and bullied and made love to…

A sob escaped her tight throat, and Larissa put her face down into her cupped hands. She dug her fingers into the skin of her face and forced herself to calm down. This was not the place to fall apart.

Taneasha’s hand stroked her hair. “Right after school, meet me at the gym. I’ll have everything ready, and we’ll get you to safety.”





Chapter Thirty-Two





Taneasha dragged her through the back gate behind the gym. Larissa didn’t ask where she got the key when only the gym teacher was supposed to have it. Wondering about that was for later, after she avoided Terak and got to Taneasha’s house.

A car idled at the curb, and Taneasha got in without hesitation, her hand wrapped around Larissa’s wrist in a death lock. Larissa was pulled in, the door was shut behind her, and the car took off, tires squealing as they peeled away from the curb.

As they rode, Larissa’s mind became a jumble. Images of Terak from last night kept being overlapped with the conversations that little ball showed her, and always present were they eyes of that vampire, glowing red as they bartered her life the same way someone would barter for a piece of meat.

The car went over a bump hard enough that Larissa bounced in her seat and her mind came back to the present. She looked out the window, unable to place where they were. “Taneasha, this isn’t the way to your house.”