The Shadowed Path

3. Lawrence

3

Lawrence

Everything about the situation made me want to turn the car around and return to the safety of my house and work. Well, of my house. As for work, that was a different matter, although we now knew who had killed Beverly Graves and why. In a sense. I was still mentally sorting through all the details.

Meanwhile, I chauffeured the Fae who had killed my father—the Fae whom I'd spent centuries wanting to take my revenge on. And where were we going? To a place where we could sneak into Faerie before the gateway opened by the Gray Fae—a not entirely trustworthy character—closed. I didn't like being vulnerable to attack, but what could I do? I had to make sure John and Kestrel Graves got home safely. What had they been thinking, deciding to go into Faerie? Right, they wanted an answer to why Kestrel's witch powers wouldn't settle, a problem that had consumed Beverly, Kestrel's mother, and led her to the actions that resulted in her death.

Witches were a stubborn bunch. But then, so were gargoyles, and don't even get me started on the Fae.

"How do you know this is where they're going to enter Faerie?"

Rhys slid me a glance.

I ignored the look. "I mean, this all seemed rather suspicious, don't you think?"

"I have my sources, and that's all I can tell you. It's above the pay grade for a gargoyle."

I almost snapped that he was the one who'd invited me, so he might as well let me in on the secret, but I gritted my teeth over the words. There was no point fighting with him. He was the only connection I could use to rescue my best friend and his daughter, who was like my own child.

"You said Reine has enemies waiting for her. How do you know they won't be waiting for us as well?"

Silence. The suspicion that had been planted in my gut early that morning when he’d accosted me in my driveway finally bloomed into a full-grown thought. "Or are you in league with them?"

"Well, I've made some mistakes. You know that. Just help me protect my sister, all right?"

"And my friends," I had to remind myself to loosen my grip on the steering wheel. It was probably pointless to continue to engage him in conversation, but I couldn't resist. "Do you at least know what kind of enemies we might be up against?"

"You remember the soul eater, right?"

"Yes."

"Think about creatures like that, but worse."

That wasn't comforting. But then, nothing with the Fae ever was.

We pulled into a dirt parking lot that ostensibly led to a hiking trail. Only one other car was parked there. I pulled into a space a few spots over from it.

"This is it." Rhys got out of the car before I could cut the engine. He tapped on the trunk, where our packs were stored.

I counted backward from ten. Forget some nameless, faceless enemy. Rhys was going to kill me with elevated blood pressure.

I took my time turning off the air conditioning, confirming the lights were off, and cutting the radio. Not that I really needed to do any of these things. I just needed to make sure Rhys knew I wasn't going to take his command on everything.

He scowled when I finally joined him by the trunk. "Took you long enough."

I shrugged. "I like to make sure everything is taken care of before I move on to the next step."

Rhys looked up to the sky. "Goddess grant me patience."

I, too, looked up, where big fluffy clouds gathered over a robin’s egg blue sky. It was going to be a lovely day, the kind where I would hate being inside an office and would wish I could go to someplace secluded, change into my gargoyle form, and spread my wings and fly. "Me too."

Rhys did not look amused. I unlocked the trunk and stood back so he could pick up his backpack. I grabbed mine as well and closed the trunk. My thumb hovered over the lock button on my key fob. From what he had said, leaving my car unlocked in a deserted place would be the least risky thing I could do. I acknowledged that locking it gave me an illusory feeling of control, so I pushed the lock button twice. The beeps echoed through the woods.

"Feel better?" Rhys sneered.

"Where to now?" I looked around, enjoying the smell of the early spring buds and leaves over the morning-warmed dirt and rocks. No matter what happened to me, the cycle of the seasons would continue.

"This way." Rhys gestured for me to follow him and led me to the path to the trail. About a mile in, he took what looked like a side trail carved by an old stream. This brought us to a clearing, where the air still crackled with magical energy.

"What happened here?" I rubbed the small hairs that stood up on my arms.

Rhys sniffed the air, even though I knew he didn't need to. "Good, they only left an hour ago, at most."

"How do we follow them?"

"The sunrise showed the entrance to the portal, so all we have to do is figure out where it would have been shining." He closed his eyes, and I stepped back. The Fae were more attuned to nature, at least its rhythms, than gargoyles. However, I could still sense the boulders surrounding the campsite were more than just boulders.

One in particular drew my attention. It thrummed like a guitar string that had just been plucked. I walked over to it and placed my hand on it. Instead of stone, my palm met the sensation of cool, sticky air. Before I could say, "I think I found it," it pulled me in. I tumbled to my hands and knees inside a cave. I rolled out of the way just before Rhys tumbled through as well.

We lay panting on the floor, which was covered in fine sand. I stood and brushed off my hands on my pants. Then I held out a hand to help Rhys up. He ignored it and rolled to his knees.

"You could have told me you sensed it."

"I didn't have time. It pulled me through just as I figured it out." I mimed placing my palm against the stone.

"That's lesson one. Don't touch anything unless I tell you to."

I again clenched my jaw. As much as I hated it, I had to concede that he was now the expert.

We walked out of the cave and into a scene of midwinter bare trees and leaden gray sky, but warmer.

"Is Faerie always seventy degrees?"

"Not always. The air here is warmer because of all the magic. It was probably a good fifteen to twenty degrees cooler before we got here."

The degree to which I was sweating didn't make sense for the air temperature. The smell of the air clogged my nostrils, like strong perfume in an enclosed space. "How often do gargoyles come into Faerie?"

Rhys shrugged. "You're the first in a long time as far as I know, mate. How is it working for you?"

I doubled over, hands on my knees. I knew this feeling, although it had never overtaken me so quickly before. My pack hit the ground, followed quickly by my shoes and shirt as I shed clothing.

"Whoa, whoa, mate, what are you doing?"

I would have laughed at Rhys' distress had I not been putting all my effort into stalling the change so I wouldn't ruin one of my two changes of clothing. I had just pulled on my pair of larger pants, which swallowed me in human form, but…

With a roar, I straightened and flung my arms back. My wings sprouted with ferocious speed, and my gargoyle form overtook me. In what felt like an instant, I exploded from inside. I grew a foot taller, and all my muscles bulged under my skin as my jaw grew squarer and my teeth larger and more pointed. My skin darkened to gargoyle gray. Now the black leather trousers fit perfectly.

Change complete, I again found myself on my hands and knees, panting.

Rhys looked at me with wide eyes. "Are you…all right?"

I glared up at him. "Do I look all right?" I leaned back so I knelt and dug through my pack to find the leather thong I used to pull my now-long black hair back.

"You didn't have to change." He gestured to our surroundings. "No threat that I can sense. Or did you?"

"I don't know." Gods, I hated those words. "It came over me. I couldn't stop it."

"Well, you're just going to be full of surprises, aren't you?"

I gathered the garments I'd shed in my haste and noticed the indentations of footprints in the grass. With my heightened gargoyle senses, I could pick out five distinct ones—the sneakers Kestrel favored, John's sensible hiking boots, Reine's almost as sensible walking boots, another man's boots with flat soles, almost like they were from another era—Ellerin's?—Sir Raleigh's large paw prints, and…

"Hey, Rhys, look at this."

"What? Oh, footprints. Very good. We're in the right spot."

"But what are these?" I pointed to a semicircular indentation. In fact, several of them went around and over the others.

Rhys frowned. "Those are a dark Fae creature. Not sure what kind, but…" He walked to the edge of the clearing, where the trees parted to show a trail. Great. Another path through the woods. What would this one lead us to?

"Best get a move on, mate. Whatever it is, it's following them."