Chapter 21
Quinn
On my tenth night in the Sunshine Sin Hotel, I had to pretend to sleep even though my nerves were jittering too hard for me to do more than doze for short spells. Maybe Rollick had been telling the truth when he’d said there were no cameras in the suite, or maybe he’d been trying to lull me into a false sense of security. I wasn’t sure I could take anything he said at face value.
And the last thing I wanted was for him to suspect at all that I was anticipating what was going to happen in the wee hours of the morning.
After hours of lying there with a knot in my stomach, enough exhaustion finally closed in on my mind that I actually did drift off. I woke up with a start at the sound of my name.
“Quinn!”
The voice was so brusque I didn’t recognize it as Rollick’s until I’d jerked upright with a jolt of my heart. The room was still dark, only a thin wash of moonlight spilling through the tall windows. The demon was standing in the doorway, his handsome face gone taut with more tension than I’d ever seen on it.
I was groggy enough from my interrupted sleep that I responded exactly the way I should have, not yet remembering the full situation. “What’s going on?”
“It seems the fiends who want you have somehow gotten wind that I might have taken an interest as well,” he said, still terse, striding into the room. He opened the wardrobe and grabbed the wig and discarded dress from inside, then spun to scan the rest of the space. “We need to get you out of here, temporarily at least. And remove every trace that you ever were here.”
I blinked at him and pushed myself off the bed. There was a real urgency to the moment even if I’d been ready for it. Things wouldn’t go well for me if I wasn’t gone in time.
“Can’t you fight them off, Mr. Powerful Demon?” I asked, because it seemed like the sort of thing I would have said if I hadn’t been counting on him not doing that until his hand was forced. I grabbed my backpack and started stuffing in the few belongings I’d left out so that it wasn’t obvious I’d packed for this moment.
“That would only confirm to them that I have something to hide,” Rollick muttered. “A being who has no idea what they’re nattering about would graciously allow them to search the premises for you in case you snuck in without my noticing, as if that’s possible. Put on that vest of yours—we don’t want them catching wind of you once you’ve left the shielded section of the hotel.”
I yanked the vest out and tugged it over my head. Then I pulled on an extra T-shirt for good measure, because I already knew what answer I hoped to get to my next question. “Where am I going?”
“Crag will fly you to another secure location until I let him know it’s safe to return,” Rollick said, to my relief. “It’s dark enough that he should be able to avoid notice, and our unwelcome guests haven’t gotten close yet. But they’re coming on fast, so move quickly!”
Everything had worked out. Well, so far—I couldn’t count my chickens until I was actually out of here. I yanked on my shoes and stuffed my phone into a pocket on my bag, purposefully steering my gaze clear of the places around me where I’d stuffed a couple of things I didn’t want Rollick seeing. They were tucked away well enough that he shouldn’t catch sight of them just looking around in a hurry, but we were counting on the shadowkind searching for me digging a little deeper.
Tucked between the mattress and the box spring but right near the edge was a folded sketch that I’d signed Quinn and an unreadable last name on. And I’d slid a hair elastic with a few blond strands clinging to it behind the TV. Not places Rollick would expect me to have accidentally left something behind, but telltale giveaways if the intruders stumbled on either or both. The message my men had passed on should encourage the other shadowkind to pry.
As I swung my pack over my shoulder, Rollick prowled around me, his eyes taking on an eerie glow in the darkness. I suspected he could see in it much better than I could, but he was brisk in his perusal. He crouched to look under the furniture but didn’t jostle anything around.
“Good,” he said, guiding me out of the room with a hand on my back. “I trust the gargoyle will put as much effort into keeping you safe as he has so far, and the rest of your devotees will meet up with you at the safehouse. Nothing to worry about; just a small kink in our plans. We can get on with your training soon.”
“Wonderful,” I murmured. It wasn’t as if he didn’t already know I was hardly the most enthusiastic student. Then we reached the terrace doors, and Crag wavered into being from the shadows there in full gargoyle form.
My heart leapt at the sight of him. I’d have flung myself into a tight embrace if Rollick hadn’t been standing there. It seemed wisest not to do anything that might provoke the demon in the middle of our precarious plan. Instead, I walked over to the gargoyle and lifted my arms so he could easily scoop me up in his preferred carrying position with me tucked against his broad, stony chest.
“Do not be seen,” Rollick said in one final warning, and Crag dipped his head with a grunt to the affirmative. Then he took off into the air.
The gargoyle soared so high so fast that I lost my breath, staring up at the distant stars. I guessed the point was for us to be swallowed up into the darkness of the sky so no one all the way on the ground could make us out while we were still near the city. I leaned my cheek against the planes of Crag’s chest and then tensed a little.
“I put the extra shirt on so the vest isn’t pressing against your skin directly. Is it helping?” I could remember far too clearly how he’d started to struggle with the toxic metals burning him when we’d fled my attackers ten days ago.
“It’s still not an enjoyable sensation, but it’s less intense with the barrier,” the gargoyle said with another swish of his wings. His voice came out in a deeper, rougher rumble than usual in this form. He started flying out over the ocean instead of up into the sky and lowered his head to brush his lips against my hair. “Are you comfortable?”
“I’d rather be here with you like this than anywhere else I’ve been all week,” I told him, and kissed his shoulder. The combination of the granite-like texture of his flesh with the living warmth that emanated from it was strangely thrilling. “How far are we going?”
“Rollick thinks we’re heading to a property of his out in the desert,” the gargoyle said. “Torrent was able to locate a small island where he’s stashed some supplies—nothing there for Rollick to connect to us. No other shadowkind around. As long as you have your vest on, no one should be able to find you there.”
I wouldn’t let myself question what would happen after, not yet.
We flew on and on. Dawn light started to turn the horizon gold, but we were far out enough over the ocean now that I couldn’t even see the mainland. Crag started to drop. I twisted my neck and made out a splotch of land amid the deep blue water, like a birthmark on the ocean’s surface. As we glided toward it, I saw palm trees and a wooden shelter that wasn’t much more than a rough shack, large, jagged rocks catching the spray from the waves along one side and seaweed-mottled sand along the other.
Crag set me down on the sandy ground outside the shack, which only had three walls but held a few bundles of the supplies Torrent must have brought. I stepped away from the gargoyle quickly so that he could get some distance from my vest and then glanced around. With the brightening sky and the warm breeze rustling through the palm trees, the island looked like some kind of paradise.
“It’s our very own desert island,” I said with a little laugh. “And I didn’t have to go through a shipwreck to get here.” Relief surged up through me, stretching my mouth into a broad smile.
I was free. For the first time in ten days, I was out of Rollick’s clutches. For the first time in nearly three weeks, there was no immediate threat of attacking monsters. They had no way to find me.
I couldn’t stay here forever, obviously, but for the time being, it was a paradise in every possible way.
I set down my backpack in the shelter of the shack and then walked down to the water. The waves lapped at my toes, refreshingly cool in contrast with the already-rising heat of the tropical sun.
Crag followed me. He’d stayed in gargoyle form, either because he wanted to be sure he wouldn’t need to whisk me away again or it simply hadn’t occurred to him to shift back when I didn’t mind him like this. I had to assume he felt more comfortable in his actual shadowkind form than the human guise he squeezed himself into.
“Is this the kind of place you’d want to fly out to when you weren’t busy with some job for Rollick?” I asked, trying to picture his life before it’d gotten tangled with mine. How often did he get to feel free when he had to hide his true self so much of the time? “No humans so you don’t have to worry about spreading your wings. Plenty of fishing opportunities.”
The gargoyle let out a low rumble of a chuckle. “Maybe because of my nature, I’m usually drawn more to rocky terrain. Rushing up and down the slopes is quite a sensation.”
“I bet it is.” The thrill-seeker in me leapt in eager anticipation just imagining it.
“And there can be good hunting on mountains too.” He flexed his clawed fingers with a satisfied expression that brought more warmth into my chest. Then he paused, seeming to feel the need to clarify, “I only hunt what I can consume—or for others, like when I brought fish to you. I don’t enjoy slaughtering every creature in my path. Unless those creatures are vicious beasts trying to attack you.”
“I think in that particular situation, it’s understandable.” I tucked my hand around his elbow. “What’s best for hunting in the mountains?”
Crag tipped his head in a thoughtful way. “It depends on where the mountains are. There’s a kind of horned sheep I’m very fond of. We could bring Lance along—you liked how he cooked the fish with his fire. Roasted sheep would be even better.”
He spoke so easily about us traveling together, experiencing more of the world together without having to worry about fiends giving chase, as if he wouldn’t allow there to be a future when that wasn’t possible. Right now, with my newfound freedom stretching out in front of me like the vast sprawl of the sea, I could believe it too.
Tears sprang to my eyes. Crag peered at my face as I brushed my fingers across my eyes. “Are you all right? If you’re not happy here?—”
“No, I’m good,” I said quickly, swallowing the lump that had risen in my throat. “They’re happy tears. It’s just amazing not to have so many threats hanging right over me.” I still had things to worry about, I had no idea how our plan would pan out in the long run, but we’d won this part of the game. We’d managed to beat Rollick this once.
The exhilaration of the knowledge sent me back toward Crag. I grabbed him in a hug, meaning to keep it short because of the vest I had to keep wearing, but he wrapped his bulging arms around me and squeezed me back.
“Thank you,” I said. “I know you’ve basically screwed yourself over with him. You could have kept working for him—he’d forgiven you?—”
“That doesn’t matter to me,” Crag said in his usual gruff way. “I’m yours. You’re my Softness. I”m only glad I could be a part of getting you free.”
My throat tightened with emotion again. I lifted my head and bobbed up on my feet to press my mouth to his.
We’d never kissed while he was in gargoyle form before. I’d felt the sensation of his stony lower lip before thanks to his jaw that never shed its rocky quality, but the texture of both together and the brush of the fangs that protruded at the corners of his mouth sent an eager quiver through me. Heat flared between my legs.
There were no cameras here, no unwanted figures watching us. I was free in that way too. I could welcome this monster I’d fallen for without any fears that our intimacy would be violated.
But a second later, the body I was hugging contracted a few inches, the fangs vanishing and part of the mouth mine was melding with taking on the more pliant feeling of human flesh.
I pulled back to find Crag nearly human-like again, his skin bronze-brown other than his jaw, his horns and wings vanished, his facial features smoothing out, and his body shrinking just a little more into its still large but not monstrously massive stature. I stared at him, confused, and then understood.
He thought I wouldn’t want to be kissing the “monster.” That I’d rather have him like this. But it was the monster who’d saved me—now and many times before. Didn’t he know by now I didn’t see anything horrific in his natural form?
I raised my hands to rest them on either side of his jaw. “I like you this way, but I like seeing you as you really are too. I like… feeling you as you really are. I’ve gotten to enjoy your gargoyle tongue. Will you share the rest of you with me?”
Surprise flickered through Crag’s expression. “Are you sure? I—it’s more likely I could hurt you by accident. And… it’s not as if I’m the most attractive man even in human form, but at least?—”
My heart wrenched. I pulled him into another kiss, which turned firm and hot enough to make my knees wobble when he kissed me back. Then I eased away just far enough to say, “I think you’re amazing in every form. You’ve been the gargoyle with other shadowkind before, haven’t you?” He’d admitted to me that while he’d never taken a human lover before me, he’d had flings with shadowkind women in the past.
Crag’s grunt told me I was right. “That’s different. You’re different.”
“Maybe, but I want everything they got.” I peered up at him, giddy with the glow of the dawn and the wild terrain all around us. “Give me the gargoyle, please?”