Robin choked on a nervous laugh and stepped between Etienne and his foster mother. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Etienne,” Robin said quickly. “We’ve just agreed to abide by guest-host laws of hospitality after all. We wouldn’t want to violate those terms with hasty threats of violence.”
He had his back to Dubheasa, and she looked down into the quiver of arrows on his back. As Robin held out placating hands to Etienne, she plucked an arrow from the quiver and rapped him sharply on the head. Robin jumped, one hand flying to his head and the strands of white-blond hair still clinging to the sharp tip of the projectile.
“I don’t need you to remind me of social protocol, young man,” she snapped. She popped him with the arrow again, this time rapping it against the knuckles of the hand currently covering his head. Robin yelped and jerked his hand away, then belatedly realized he’d left his scalp unguarded. Dubheasa whacked him again for good measure.
“She attacked me first,” Etienne growled.
“I wasn’t a guest then.” Dubheasa sniffed. She started to mold her face into a fair impression of an emotionally wounded female, but abruptly abandoned it a second later to narrow her eyes and jab the arrow in Etienne’s direction, almost piercing Robin’s ear in the process. “I didn’t feel nearly as wanted as a guest should be made to feel. This is just another failure that would not have happened if the women were here.” She brushed at her skirt, idly casting the arrow behind her into the fire where it exited the world with a brief sizzle and a puff of ashes. “I expect things will go much smoother after they arrive.”
“They aren’t—” Etienne rasped.
“I will get them,” Kirill interrupted.
Adonis carefully kept the surprise from his face. Kirill wasn’t one to be ordered around. And he certainly wasn’t one to invite Irina into a dangerous situation, especially not after the whole fiasco with the demoness and the monster wolf. Which meant he was up to something. As usual.
Dubheasa, Robin, and Marian all watched with unabashed interest as Kirill grabbed the nearest panel of drapes and peeled it back with a practiced flick of his wrist. The material billowed out briefly, then settled, revealing a single tall window pane. On the curtain rod above the window sat a gargoyle.#p#分页标题#e#
The beast was the size of a small dog, and didn’t look any different from any other carved stone that one might see decorating any other castle. Its eyes held no spark of life, and nothing about its hunched figure suggested it was anything more than cold stone. But as Kirill stared up at it, the horned beast tilted its head down, the movement so scarce it may not have happened at all.
Adonis waited for Kirill to tell the gargoyle where he wanted to go, but the vampire didn’t speak. He just waited, patiently, looking at the glass as if he were having a peek outside to check the weather. Magic crackled in the air, and the window hummed to life with a faint blue glow. Kirill leapt up onto the window sill with the smooth grace of a cat, and stepped through the portal without so much as a backward glance.
“How did he do that?” Robin asked curiously.
Adonis nodded toward the gargoyle. “The gargoyle is a guardian of gateways.”
“And he serves the vampire?” Dubheasa’s voice held a slight hint of surprise. “They don’t usually follow a master. And Kirill didn’t give it any verbal orders either.” She strode forward, peering up at the stone beast. “Are you telepathic, ancient one?”
“No,” Adonis answered for it. “He’s just a good listener.”
“Eavesdropping.” Dubheasa nodded her approval. “An important skill. Well done.”
A low growl trickled from Etienne’s throat, the sound scratchier than usual, every bulge of muscle taxing the restraint of his lovely blue jacket. Marian shot off the couch as if she’d been an arrow fired from her own bow, landing between Etienne and Dubheasa. Adonis half-rose from the couch, one hand out and lips parted to stop Marian before she drew an arrow, before her weapon made an appearance to further stir the promise of violence in the air. He froze as another growl shattered the tense silence—this time from Marian.
Etienne’s brown eyes exploded into the orange-gold of his wolf form and he bared teeth that didn’t look altogether right in a human mouth. Marian answered by lowering her frame, leaning forward ever so slightly. Her green eyes melted under the heat of red flame as the burning eyes of her hellhound form looked out through her human face. Adonis’ mouth fell open.