Shadows of the Sky

1. Reine-1

1

Reine

“Incoming!”

The blackness that had replaced the gray stone walls of Lawrence’s room at the ILR gradually brightened to a more traditional hospital setting. Lawrence’s hand lay limp in my left hand, and Agent Micah held my right. Lawrence’s head lolled to one side, and his skin had gone gray, but not the strong, vibrant gray of his gargoyle form.

Then his hand was yanked from mine, and Agent Micah pulled me aside as a medical team in green scrubs pushed his hospital bed away.

Had it not been for the agent’s strong grip, I would have toppled to the ground, the connection between me and Lawrence stretched to a tenuous thread. Maybe Agent Minerva had been right. Maybe if Lawrence died, I would, too, since we’d accidentally gone ahead and bonded ourselves. That’s how it felt. Or maybe the giant hollow ache in my chest reflected grief, despair, fear of impending death…

I had never feared death before, at least not my own. Nor of someone I loved.

Love. That was a word I hadn’t expected to make myself susceptible to. I shook my head and silently scolded myself.

Pull it together, Reine. You are a Fae. You are a queen. And queens did what needed to be done. Like figure out…

“Where in Hades am I?” I asked Micah out loud. We stood in an internal room, so I lacked external visual cues. I straightened my spine while seeking a connection with the earth for strength. And Fae, did I find it. A nice magical power source in the form of a crossing of at least two, if not three, ley lines lay under the hospital. The words of a powerful witch came back to me, of a web tightening around me, and I suppressed a shiver. I’d evaded the trap my mother set for me, and while I had no doubt she’d come after me again to challenge my rule, I thought I’d weakened her enough she’d have to go recharge somewhere else for a while.

But I’d made the mistake of underestimating an enemy before.

Micah stepped back but held on to my upper arms. This close, I could see his resemblance to Lawrence. Was it because they were both gargoyles…or could Micah and Minerva be related to him? But he didn’t think he had any family aside from his mother, who’d retreated to The Aerie, the gargoyle enclave that sounded more like a village than a modern medical center.

Apparently satisfied that I wouldn’t end up on the floor, Micah nodded and released me. Then he gestured for me to follow him. We walked out of an empty room with cream-colored walls and into an ICU with a large nurse’s station in the middle and glassed-in rooms with medical equipment. Only a few of the beds had occupants.

“This is Aerie Hospital,” Micah explained. In spite of his hushed tones, a nurse at the station glared at him and put a finger to her lips. He shrugged, mouthing, “Sorry.” She blushed and smiled, then made shooing motions with her hands.

We walked out of the ward and into a corridor. Large windows showed me the curves of mountains with a mix of pine and hardwood trees. I continued to accompany Micah, although I wanted to instead follow the quivering, invisible thread that tied me to Lawrence. I pressed a hand to my chest, sending him whatever strength I could, which wasn’t much. My ears rang, and I had to concentrate on not wobbling as I walked, like I had mild vertigo. It wasn’t normal for a Fae to be yanked from one place to another…and I still didn’t know how far I’d come.

Micah stopped in front of an elevator and pressed the down button. Good, I’d be closer to the earth and better able to recover…and help Lawrence.

“And where is Aerie Hospital? Is it attached to The Aerie?”

Micah jerked a thumb toward the left. “Yes, the town is just a couple of miles away.”

“Great. I’m a medical doctor, by the way. Maybe I can help.”

Minerva joined us, and her scowl deepened, if that was possible. “Because you were doing a bang-up job back in Scotland. Doctor Gordon almost died.”

Hope lifted my heart above responding to her insult. “Almost? You mean he’s okay?”

She snorted. “I wouldn’t say okay, but he’s improving. Doctor Lucia is treating him personally.”

“And Doctor Lucia has experience with—?” I gestured to the two of them.

“Yes, he does,” Minerva snapped. “And things are complicated here, so don’t say anything else. We need to debrief you before you can ask anything that will get us—or you—in trouble.”

Intriguing. I nodded, and the elevator doors opened with a ding. Micah mashed the button for the lowest floor, charmingly labeled, T-Terrace.

When the doors opened, the heavenly scents of butter, cinnamon, and coffee assaulted my nose, and I almost fainted from hunger right there. That’s not an exaggeration—I stumbled, and Micah caught me.

“Get it some food.” Minerva took my arm from him and led me to a small office. I sensed we’d gone underground, to a level of the hospital surrounded by granite and—to my surprise—obsidian. Where were we?

“I’m not an it,” I complained, but I sank into the chair she led me to. At least she hadn’t referred to me as a creature. “And how did we get here? I’m not used to traveling like that. Wait.” My brain began to catch up with my circumstances. “You shouldn’t be able to do that, bring four supernatural beings plus hospital equipment to a different place…how far away?” Now that we sat underground, I sensed a nearness to a place I’d been recently, which meant somewhere in the Southeastern United States. All right, that fit the trees. They’d taken us to somewhere in the Appalachians, then. I hoped Sir Raleigh would follow soon.

“A few thousand miles.” Minerva sat behind the desk and regarded me with her stony cold gray eyes. Her dark hair, dusky skin, and the shape of her face definitely showed her resemblance to the other gargoyles I’d met, except in her, their chiseled features translated to high cheekbones and strong shape. Not beautiful, exactly, but striking if she didn’t look like she hated me and everything I stood for. Which, from what I knew of gargoyle and Fae history, was likely.

“Are you part of the Truth Seekers?” I hated bringing up Merlin’s vigilante “law-enforcement” agency, but I could see him lending them the transportation spell.

Another snort. “No. We don’t deal with them.”

Micah pushed through the door, paper coffee cup held in each hand and the folded top of a paper bag in his teeth. He handed Minerva one cup and me the other. I sniffed—black tea. He gave me the bag, and I opened it to find a chocolate croissant.

“Thank you.” I tore into the pastry. Perfectly buttery and flaky, and not at all what I expected for hospital food. “Where did you get this?” I asked, and I am not ashamed to say I licked my fingers so I didn’t miss a single crumb.

Micah smiled. “The hospital has a coffee shop and bakery. They treat their staff well.”

“All right, thank you. Could you please tell me how I just traveled from Scotland to the US and what in Hades is going on?”

Micah and Minerva exchanged glances, and I sensed rather than heard the whisper of the silent communication between close siblings, possibly even twins. They didn’t know how much to tell me. I reminded myself that while they had taken care of me, they had no reason to trust me. I decided to try again.

“Really, I want to help. Yes, I’m bonded to Law—Doctor Gordon. I’m also a medical doctor, and while I admit I don’t have much experience in gargoyle medicine, I have treated all kinds of magical creatures at this point. I’m sure I could learn quickly, and I can monitor him through our bond.”

They both regarded me with an almost condescending amusement for a moment longer than was necessary, and then Minerva informed me, “And I’m in command of the security forces of the Aerie, which means I outrank you, Fae. We haven’t decided how much to trust you. You’ll have to talk to Mum for that.” Her phone buzzed, and she picked it up. “Ah, she’s here now.”