Chapter Ten
"Thank you," I choked, my emotions getting the better of me and almost locking my throat. It was the most encouraging conversation I'd had since the whole gargoyle issue started. Now I could see why Valor loved his brother so much. Dare was a supremely nice guy. I couldn't help but feel guilty about what I'd said to Mim while we were working on our costumes—the way I'd implied he wasn't good looking. "I…didn't mean those things I said about you. At Mim's place."
Dare pretended to be shocked. "What things? Are you suggesting that I might have been listening to your conversation with your friend?"
I was probably blushing as I sent him a wry smile.
"Don't worry about my ego," he said quietly although I sensed a deep doubt in him that had nothing to do with my comments to Mim. "In the meantime," he suggested, "if I were you, I wouldn't tell anyone you're a witch. It can be dangerous."
"I won't tell anyone I'm a witch, because I'm not," I snorted. "But even if I was, it's not like I'm gonna be burned at the stake in this day and age. In your time, people believed in witches. Nowadays it's different. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Even if I performed a miracle, nobody would believe I'd had anything to do with it. They'd find some sort of scientific explanation for it."
"Believe me," he said as he opened his door and stepped out of the car. "Even in this day and age, it's probably best if nobody knows about witches and their powers."
I sat there a moment before I pulled the keys from the ignition and slid from the seat down onto the floor of the garage.
"Are you coming?" he asked, waiting for me by the door to the house.
"Go ahead," I told him, forgetting that he was supposed to be guarding me. "I think I'll take a walk."
I didn't feel like facing Valor and the rest of the gargoyles. I didn't feel like smiling and pretending that everything was cool. Valor thought I was a witch and he'd decided eight hundred years ago that he didn't like witches. That's a long time. Despite Dare's optimism, I didn't think I was gonna change his mind any time soon.
I headed down the driveway then picked up the pace once I reached the road.
The gargoyles thought I was a witch and experience told them that being a witch wasn't necessarily a good thing. Dare thought I should be cautious. At first I'd scoffed at the idea of danger but now that I gave it more thought…
I wasn't concerned that a lynch mob would turn out to storm my castle, carry me off and hang me from the nearest tree. But I'd seen enough conspiracy movies to make me question my situation in general. If it could be proven that certain redheads had certain powers, somebody would want to study the phenomenon. The government. The universities. The drug companies. Or maybe even someone else's government.
That realization led me to the next one. Valor had said he was indestructible in his stone form. That fact alone—let alone his wings—would make him prime studying material. The gargoyles were absolutely right to hide the fact of their existence. And I needed to be damn careful to keep that fact to myself.
A stiff breeze swirled out of the trees and whipped my hair around my face. I pulled up my hood and noticed Valor standing on the road ahead. It looked like he'd cut through the woods to intercept me. I'd forgotten I wasn't allowed to be on my own. But I'd promised Valor I was gonna be mad at him for the rest of the day so I buried my hands in my pockets and passed him without saying anything.
He turned and joined me, his shoulders braced against the wind. "I didn't mean to suggest there was anything wrong with Victor when we were in the garage," he started in a growl that didn't quite sound like an apology. "I'd trust him with your life."
"That's reassuring," I muttered with more than a trace of cynicism.
"I just wouldn't trust him with the rest of you."
Relieved at the break in the tension, I snickered.
"It's just that Victor goes through quite a few girls in a short amount of time. He's…how do you say it? A player."
"And you're not?" I asked as I slanted my gaze up at him.
"No," he murmured. His intense blue gaze touched my face and traveled to my mouth where it rested a long moment before returning to my eyes. "Not where you're concerned."
My heart did a weird fluttering thing and I felt like I was melting from the inside out.
"I'm sorry if I've been sending you mixed signals," he said quietly.
"That's…okay," I replied, not knowing what else to say.
"I just didn't want to feel this way about you," he murmured, which kinda confirmed what Dare had suggested in the car.
I held my breath and waited for his next words.
"But I don't think I can fight it anymore." He blew out a rough sigh. "I'm not sure why I started fighting in the first place."
"Dare told me about the witch who betrayed him," I said softly. "I'm not a witch, Valor."
He rolled his shoulders like it didn't matter but it was hard to miss the flicker of regret in his eyes. "All redheads are witches," he said in a low voice.
"Well, I don't have any powers," I pointed out. "So that makes me not-a-witch."
"When you were trapped beneath that red box, I was able to wake up without the sun's help," he argued quietly. "You must have spelled me out of my stone form—maybe without even realizing it—because you needed help."
"It must have been something else," I countered right away. "Or maybe you were mistaken. Maybe the sun did reach you."
"I wasn't mistaken," he said seriously. He stopped in the road and I had to tilt my head back to look up at his face, my hood falling down onto my shoulders. His gaze lingered on my hair, and there was a small crease between his dark brows. "I'm pretty sure it was you. I'm just not certain how you did it without any wood."
"What does wood have to do with anything?" I exclaimed.
"Ultimately, witches derive their power from the wood in trees. That's why Reason was so surprised that you hadn't done anything to stop your neighbor. A witch has an obligation to watch out for the source of her power."
"I hate what my neighbor's doing," I muttered, forgetting that I was supposed to be convincing him I wasn't a witch.
"I'm not surprised," he answered with a quiet smile.
"But I'm not a witch." I shoved my hands deeper in my pockets and started walking again. I wasn't a witch and I didn't want to be one. So, I didn't tell Valor that I was holding a hammer with a wooden handle when I'd prayed for help in the garage. The handle was painted red so you couldn't tell it was wood.
The wind tossed Valor's dark hair around his face as we scuffed down the road and he flicked it out of his eyes. "It doesn't matter if you are," he said as solemn as a vow.
We made the rest of the trip back home in silence. As we climbed the long driveway up to the house, Valor opened his mouth several times as if he had something to important to tell me but was having trouble getting the words out. Finally, he said, "The other day, you asked me what it was like back in my time."
"That's right."
"And I wanted to tell you the girls are prettier now," he confessed with a lopsided smile.
I was pretty charmed by what appeared to be an indirect compliment although it was hard to believe the girls weren't prettier back in the day since the guys were definitely better looking—at least the gargoyles were. 'Course, I wasn't sure how many girls he'd seen since he'd landed in my century. "How many girls have you seen, so far?"
"Just one," he murmured, and stopped me with his hand wrapped around mine.
His gaze locked on my face and the husky tone of his voice sent a thrill of warmth through my nerve endings, making my knees weak. I realized I needed to find a safer topic of conversation before I fell flat on my face but I just stood there, trapped in the intensity of his gaze, powerless to move.
Reaching for my face, he tucked a thick curl of my hair behind my ear. "I wouldn't let anyone harm you, MacKenzie. I hope you know that."
Speechless, I nodded up at him.
"After all," he continued like
he was reasoning out his position. "It's my fault that you're in this situation. I put you in jeopardy when I revealed I was a gargoyle. So, I couldn't let anything happen to you."
It took a little reading between the lines but I understood what he was trying to say. Although Reason wouldn't want me to know it, none of the gargoyles would resort to violence against me. On the other hand, they weren't willing to let me out of their sight, either.
"I know," I admitted seriously as I searched his eyes. "And I understand why you guys need to be careful. But I have to go to school tomorrow. If I don't turn up, the administration will start asking questions."
He pulled a hand back through his hair and nodded.
"And I'm going to the Pearl Street Mall on Halloween night," I told him with a determined smile. "I've been planning it with my friends for ages."
He didn't seem too happy about that little announcement.
"But there's no reason you guys can't come along," I added swiftly.
He seemed to consider this possibility for a few moments as we walked to the front door. "I need to talk to the others," he said as he pulled me behind him and I enjoyed his warm grip on my hand. "We need to have a pack meeting."
As soon as we walked through the front door, Valor took his knife from his sheath and leaned into the living room, where the rest of his family was sprawled around the television. Without saying a word, he lifted his blade up to the level of his eyes then he turned into the dining room and tossed it on the table. Responding to this silent communication, his brothers and cousins joined him, one by one, placing their knives with his.
Thanks to all the historical fiction I've read, the whole throwing-down-the-knife business didn't seem all that weird to me. I knew that when the ancient clans got together, it was customary for them to lay down their weapons before talks began. And I figured the gargoyles were just following a similar custom. Since they were having a meeting, tradition required them to lay down their arms before they got started.
"What is this about?" Victor asked when the six gargoyles were seated around the table.
Reason snorted. "I'm guessing it's about the girl."
Valor lifted a hand and motioned me to join them. "We need to talk about MacKenzie," he admitted. "As well as other matters."
I pulled a chair up next to Valor at the end of the table and sat with my hands pressed between my knees.
Valor's elbows rested on the table, his fingers laced loosely together in front of his face. "Chaos, Courage and Force are still in England. MacKenzie's stepfather hasn't sent them yet. We have no choice but to stay here and wait for them. Unfortunately, our presence here creates problems for our hostess."
I opened my mouth to argue this point. I wanted to say that the gargoyles really weren't too much trouble but Valor sent me a quelling look.
"Normally, we wouldn't allow a human who knew about us out of our sight," he said.
"Not until we could leave," Defiance confirmed.
"That's just common sense," Reason drawled.
Valor continued determinedly. "Unless we knew the human and trusted them."
Everyone looked at me as I buried my teeth in my bottom lip, feeling totally self-conscious.
"This is a problem for MacKenzie," Valor pointed out. "Since she's expected to attend school tomorrow."
Victor leaned forward in his chair and flicked his gaze at me. "Could one of us go to her school with her?"
"It might be possible for one or two of you to shadow me," I offered tentatively. "I could say you were relatives from England."
"Not relatives," Valor cut in quickly. Evidently, he didn't like the idea of being related to me. I couldn't help but smile. I didn't want him to be a relative either.
"I'd like to suggest that we put our confidence in MacKenzie," Valor suggested. "The world is a much more complicated place than it was in our time. Our coins aren't the accepted form of money anymore. Instead a plastic card is required."
"I can get cash for you, too," I pointed out, trying to be helpful. "Or I can get you paper money. A card isn't absolutely necessary."
Valor gazed at me, a soft smile lighting the back of his eyes. "MacKenzie's offer just confirms the fact that we need an ally. We can't go it alone in the twenty-first century. Even after the rest of the pack gets here, we're going to need somebody's help. Since MacKenzie already knows about us, it might as well be her. I vote that we give her our complete trust."
At those words, Defiance leaned forward in his seat as his eyes widened with surprise. "What are you suggesting?"
"I'm proposing we invite MacKenzie to join the pack," Valor said.