Chapter 26 – Elliot
ELLIOT
We’ve been unable to snap the massive cuffs off my wrists, no matter how much Cody and I try to break them. Apparently ‘human strong’ is a hell of a lot different than ‘gargoyle strong’. More than ever before, I miss my gargoyle form.
I never imagined dying like this.
The thick door has been nearly broken in by the vampires. I can see them through the broken wood. They jeer at us, and I hate the feeling that I can’t save Cody. That he’s going to die here because I was a terrible leader.
And then something changes in the air.
Instinctively, I try to shift. And do!
The chains on my wrists break as my stone body grows and hardens, and Cody gasps and stumbles back. A second later, he shifts too.
I need to get the others and get Cody out of here. Fast!
Leaping to the window ledge, I jump off the edge and do one quick circle, searching for the rest of my Brotherhood. Instantly, I see Jordon and Damon explode from the trees and fly up to meet me. Then I dive back into the window.
Cody has made it to his feet, but he doesn’t look well.
Jordon shoots into the room, followed by Damon.
Damon hugs Cody, then pulls back. “What’s wrong with him?”
My hands ball into fists. “They beat the shit out of him.”
I want to kill them, kill them all for this, but we gave the shade our word. And a gargoyle can’t break his word. No matter how much he might want to.
“We need to get him out of here,” Damon says, anger and worry in his voice.
That’s exactly what we need to do. If the shield is broken, we can regroup and come back to kick some vampire asses when Cody is doing better. So why are we still here?
I glance around, a chill sliding down my spine. “Shade should be back by now.”
All the men tense.
“Did something go wrong?” Jordon asks, and I’m surprised by how upset he sounds.
Have they all grown to care about her the way I have?
“I don’t know,” I tell him, but a sense of unease fills me.
“We need to go,” Damon says, glancing at the vampires on the other side of the door. “We need to get Cody to safety.”
I know as a leader I should tell us to go. I should do the right thing and protect my Brotherhood above all else, but I can’t seem to form the words to tell them to do so. Something feels wrong about the idea of leaving the beautiful monster here, in a potentially dangerous situation.
“She said that in order to get the crystal she might have to let Lord Drac touch her,” Jordon tells me slowly.
I feel sick. No fucking way. “Cody, fly back to camp. Don’t stop. The rest of you, I won’t tell you what to do. But I’m not leaving without the shade.”
When Jordon and Damon move beside me, I try not to show my surprise. Do they just want to stay with me? Or do they care about her too?
“I can help,” Cody says, but his words sound weak, even to my own ears.
“No, you—“
“I’m hurt, not helpless.”
I want to order him to get to safety, but I think we’ve babied him too long. Yes, he’s the youngest of us, but he’s a man, and he deserves to make this choice for himself.
“And the shade withdrew our promise. She said we can kill the vampires.”
A huge relief lifts from my shoulders. A gargoyle’s word means everything. Trying to free the shade and not kill the vampires would have been nearly impossible. But if she’s freed us from our promise…
“Ready to kill some vampires?” I ask, my voice filled with deadly delight as I pull my blade free.
Thank goodness for the powers that allow our sword to shift with us in our stone forms.
They all unsheathe their swords, and we face the door. A second later, the vampires come crashing through. Their movements are so damn confident, until they see us in our stone form.
That’s right, assholes, the odds have changed.
The first set we cut down with ease, but the others are more prepared. They’re fast and strong, shoving at us, trying to bite us with their teeth and their claws. But unfortunately for them, we’re made of stone and have sharp blades…
We move through the castle, taking out vampires left and right. Some begin to run. Humans cower back from us, but we simply move past them. We’re here to kill vampires, not hurt the humans who are prisoners here.
Searching the castle, we look for any signs of the shade, but there’s nothing.
Nothing at all.
Which scares me more than I want to admit. The shade is capable of incredible things, but she has weaknesses, like all of us. And Lord Drac is exactly the kind of person who would take advantage of that fact.
We’ve almost given up hope when we open a bedroom on the bottom floor of the castle.
One that’s massive and bathed in shadows.
The light from the torches in the hall allow a beam in, and my gaze runs over the room as a sick feeling churns my gut.
We spot her on the floor, unmoving and covered in blood, a dagger protruding from her belly.
“Is she…?” Cody pants the words, struggling from the fighting, heartbreak in his voice.
I sheath my sword and move to her, feeling shaky. If she’s dead, I don’t know how I’ll forgive myself. She did all of this for us, not herself. All she ever wanted was to make this place her home.
Did we ruin that for her?
Did saving us cost her everything?
Kneeling at her side, I feel an unbelievable amount of relief when I see her chest rise and fall. She’s alive, but she’s lost a lot of blood. Too much blood.
I lift her into my arms, her body pale and cold against my stone form. In that moment, I’m surprised by how light she feels, by how young her face looks. And by the fierce protectiveness that fills me as I look down at her.
“She’s going to be fine,” Damon says, but his words are almost a threat.
“We’ll get her to the healer, and she’ll be able to help.” Jordon sounds like he’s trying to be logical, but the high note to his words tells me he’s just as afraid as I am.
I push away all the reasons we shouldn’t take her to the healer in our sanctuary, and I focus on the only one that matters. Our healer is the best. If anyone can help our shade, it’s her.
And gods help anyone who tries to stop us from saving her life.
“Can she die?” Cody asks into the silence.
I hold her tighter. “We won’t let her.
The others protect us as we make our way back out of the castle, and humans follow us slowly behind, heading back to their villages. There’s an excitement in the air that none of us feel. Yes, we did the impossible: we killed the vampires, we freed the humans, and we got our shade.
But none of it matters if she doesn’t make it.
If after everything she did for us, she loses her short life.
My mind goes through all the moments I’ve had with the shade. Moments that felt more powerful and real than anything I’ve experienced in my life. And then I think of losing her.
My throat tightens, and I fly faster.