Page 12

Chapter 12

A Promise Kept

Evrard

T he Sixth Watch launched at nightwake, flying in formation toward Meravenna.

When Evrard got the signal from Brandt, he peeled off from his swarm.

His heart ticked urgently as he beat his wings toward the sea, working against the wind.

Would Maggie accept his bite, or would she need convincing?

He wasn’t sure he had the words to explain how it would connect them.

He practiced his speech as he flew, making his mouth form the human words so he could deliver it when he reached her.

You are my human. My mate.

I must bite.

He sounded like a goblin straight from the mines.

She deserved something prettier.

When he hit the coastline, he turned to follow it, knowing it was only minutes until he saw her again.

If he could speak to her in his tongue, he’d tell her of her beauty.

How she woke him to the beauty of everything he took for granted.

How she gave him a reason to survive.

How she was his only family.

He caught the scent of smoke on the wind before he saw the flames in the harbor that outshone the village lanterns.

Before he heard the screams that tore through the night.

That tore through his heart because they were her screams.

Heedless of anything else, he dove for the sound.

He spotted her at the end of a long pier, next to the smoking remains of a wooden building.

Tears streaked through the charcoal smudges on her face as she wailed at the sea.

Whoever hurt her would pay.

Her eyes went wide when she caught sight of him swooping silently toward her.

And then she was in his arms, and he lifted her up, desperate to get her away from whatever was causing her harm.

“Evrard,” she gasped, clinging to him as he wheeled above the village at a safe altitude.

Her hair came loose and streamed like a flag in the wind.

“What are you doing here?”

“Came for you,” he said gruffly.

He held her close, burying his face in her hair so he could breathe in her familiar scent beneath the layer of ash and tears.

“For my Maggie.”

She burst into noisy sobs.

He should never have left.

If he’d stayed, he could have protected her from whatever had happened.

Dragons swallow the goblin hordes, this was more important.

“Hurt?” he asked, aching all over to stop her sadness.

“Fire burned you?”

“No.” Her body jolted with the effort of suppressing her sobs.

“Not me. My supplies. My ship. He burned everything to get back at me. There was nothing I could do to stop it. It’s all just… gone .” Another cry tore out of her.

Now Evrard was burning.

“ Who did this? ”

“Kaspar,” she gasped out.

“The man you chased away that night. The one holding my kitten. He wanted to marry me, and I refused him. This was his revenge.”

His lip curled, remembering how the cowardly human had run away, soiling himself.

“I’ll kill him.”

“Don’t.” She turned her face into his chest, muffling her voice.

“It won’t fix anything. I still won’t have the Wolfhunter . I won’t have anything.”

“Have kitten. Have me,” he insisted, scanning for a place to leave her while he went to strangle this Kaspar.

It would go against every guardian instinct in him to hurt a human.

But his loyalty was no longer to humankind.

It was to Maggie alone.

If that made him a traitor, so be it.

He spotted a pair of sea cliffs that jutted out into the water, bracketing an isolated, sandy beach.

A rocky break created a calm little cove and made the beach unreachable by any means but the air.

She would be safe there until he returned.

His heels sank into the sand as he set her down, and he had to use his tail to regain his balance.

He didn’t want to let go of her yet, but he couldn’t give Kaspar the chance to find a good hiding place.

“Stay here,” he rumbled.

He nosed affectionately against her neck before pulling back, a purr rising in his chest.

She refused to let go of him.

“Take me with you,” she begged.

“Maggie safe. Strong.” He pried her hands off, holding her tiny fists inside his.

He hated to leave her alone again, but he wasn’t sure he could carry both her and a reluctant Kaspar at the same time.

Her green eyes etched into him deeper than any moss.

“Promise you won’t get into any trouble you can’t get out of? I need you to come back to me.”

Overwhelmed by her concern, he nodded.

“I’ll come back to you. Always.”

He launched upward before he changed his mind.

It didn’t take him long to find the man.

Kaspar was drinking on the docks, laughing and watching Maggie’s ship burn.

He hadn’t even tried to hide.

He was celebrating .

So deep in his cups, he didn’t seem to notice the dark wings swooping overhead.

Evrard caught the back of Kaspar’s clothing and yanked him into the sky.

The other humans on the dock shouted after him, but there was nothing they could do.

Banking around the thick column of smoke, Evrard gave the human a good look at the ruined ship he was so eager to see.

“You did this?”

Kaspar didn’t answer, just screamed and struggled in his grip.

Where did he think he was going?

Did he really want to fall into the sea from this height?

Evrard gave him a shake.

“Enough squealing. Answer me.”

Kaspar only doubled his efforts, flailing his limbs.

He twisted and turned enough that the wool fabric of his coat started to shred.

He wanted to get away?

Evrard dropped him to teach him a lesson.

Kaspar fell with a shrill exclamation toward the burning boat below.

Immediately, Evrard clamped his wings to his back and dove, catching the man’s ankle just before he hit the deck.

The flames seared the edges of his ears as he pulled them both through the fire and up out of range of the scorching heat.

Maybe it was resignation to his situation or the blood rushing to his head, but either way, Kaspar didn’t fight this time, just dangled there limply while Evrard located an eerily warm updraft to glide in and conserve his energy.

“Now. Answer. You did this?” Evrard rasped, tightening his grip.

His throat was already sore from speaking so many human words, but he pushed past the pain.

“Tell me or I drop again.”

“Y-yes. No. I sent my men. They did it.”

“You paid, they did.”

“Yes, yes. That’s what happened,” Kaspar said hurriedly.

“Johan and Christof. I can point them out to you if you fly me back to shore.”

Evrard grunted.

He didn’t care about whatever lackey had rowed the boat or lit the torch.

It was all Kaspar’s doing.

If anything, his cowardice made him more despicable.

If you want to eat meat, you should be willing to hunt.

Kasper filled the silence with panicked babble, his voice thick from the blood running to his head.

“Why do you care about the fucking boat, anyway? Is this about that Sparhauk shrew? You want her? You can have her. She’s nothing to me. I won’t stand in your way.”

Silently, Evrard agreed.

He contemplated breaking Kaspar’s legs just to be sure he’d never stand again, even in the afterlife, but he didn’t relish the thought of inflicting pain.

The sad little human seemed to read his conflicted thoughts and resumed his struggle, as if escaping Evrard’s hold would earn him anything more than a deadly plunge into the cold sea.

All the while, he never stopped talking.

He was worse than a moth.

“You can’t do this. You gargoyles aren’t allowed to harm us. If you kill me, your life is over, too. You’ll have your wings clipped when the Zenith finds out you broke the heartstone vow.”

The magical vow might stop Evrard from squeezing Kaspar’s neck, but it wouldn’t stop the force of gravity if Kaspar managed to wrench himself out of his grip.

“Can’t kill. Might drop.”

The man stilled instantly.

“What do you want? I’ll give you anything, just tell me. I have coin! Two ships. Barrels of salt herring. I’ll give you the wedding ring off my mother’s finger if you’ll let me go!” Kaspar whimpered.

Weak little man. No gargoyle would whine and bargain when he was faced with the consequences of his own actions.

Evrard didn’t have an answer.

What did he want from the man?

Nothing, except perhaps his pain and suffering for causing Maggie distress.

But if he harmed a human, even one that deserved it, he’d never again be trusted by his kind.

Might even lose his wings.

That would be trouble he couldn’t get out of, and he’d promised Maggie to avoid it.

Still, he couldn’t let Kaspar walk away.

Not after what he’d done.

He deserved to be punished.

Evrard banked out of the updraft, heading out to sea.

“What are you doing? Where are you taking me?” Kaspar begged.

A low, wind-scoured island interrupted the dark horizon.

When he reached it, he coasted low over the rocks, skimming it with his tail before skidding to a stop on the highest promontory.

He dumped Kaspar in an untidy heap to deal with later.

“Wait! Stop! You can’t leave me here! What about your vow?”

In fact, Evrard could leave him there.

He felt no pull on his guardian heart except toward the little beach where Maggie waited for him.