Page 19 of The Gargoyle’s Glade (The Gargoyle Knights #3)

Coltor

I avoided Merry for the next few days, though I did leave some new carvings on her porch.

The truth was, where she was concerned, I kept swinging between being stunned and ashamed.

The opportunity to be honest with her about my vision had been right in front of me, and I’d been unable to force the words out despite her readily offering forgiveness for my other affronts.

Then she’d kissed me and everything I knew had shifted, and the world had made sense for a moment.

The urge to continue checking in on her only intensified, my nerves extra frayed after finding her by the pools like I had. I felt like I might lose my sanity over the next several days as I tried to keep up with a change in her routine.

Seir started stopping by her cabin every morning. They’d say their greetings, and he’d take a crate full of paperwork and proceed to the portal. Merry had started staying behind. She’d drink a cup of tea while watering all her seedlings, then she’d vanish inside, new carving in hand.

This part pleased me far more than I wanted to admit.

In the evenings, as I prepared to set off for my rounds, I’d find her out with her watering can and often a few new visitors in the glow of the setting sun.

No matter the time of day, the sun caught her hair, sending off sparks.

A halo of flames. She flitted around her gardens, always busy, constantly glowing.

I couldn’t shake the image of her as a firebird, especially when she put her arms out a certain way and a trick of the light would give her flaming wings.

It would have been foolish and an outright lie at this point to deny that I was taken by the stunning woman.

Still, I was braced for the worst, and my thoughts remained focused on her both asleep and awake.

I didn’t understand what it meant that my visions about Merry and Ophelia had manifested differently than I’d foreseen.

While my vision about Ophelia had been wrong, she was still in stone sleep, which for all intents and purposes wasn’t all that different than dead.

I wasn’t sure there were any of my kin who could pull her from it if that’s what it came down to.

I couldn’t help but expect something else where Merry was concerned too.

On my way back from patrol near the end of the week, I found her on the path near the portal.

The sun was high in the morning sky, hours past her normal plant-watering time.

I’d stayed out longer than I normally did, some unusual activity in the doorways having kept me occupied past sunrise.

It turned out to be nothing of concern, just a disturbance in the magic of the portal itself, but it had thrown my schedule off by several hours.

I approached her from the front, ensuring she could see me land and change from my slightly shifted stone kin body with wings to my human form.

She blinked. “That’s quite a fascinating process.” Her voice was low and breathy. The way she said it, the slow track of her eyes over my body lit my blood on fire.

“On your way to the crossroads? Don’t you usually go with Seir?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m allergic to the dust or something there, so they’ve been bringing my work to my cabin instead.”

“Oh. Revalia then? To the market? Or to see your horse? I could accompany you, if you like.” I blushed as the offer tumbled off my lips. I’d made a visit of my own just the day before, but if she needed me to, I’d go back.

Greta had accepted the challenge of trying to craft an elixir that could limit the damage sustained by an injury, and Rylan, fascinated by the request, was also working on a similar charm that could be embedded into a stone or other trinket.

Jacks had seemed unusually irritable as he paced the fence in the paddock, but I was not a horseman, and the groom had been caring for him.

Merry’s eyes jerked to my face from where they’d been lingering around my shoulders and her cheeks turned pink. “Yes. No. I see Jacks in the afternoon usually. I’m going to Ophelia’s. I’d be happy for your company if you’d like to come with me.”

“You can’t,” I said, and Merry frowned. Her eyes were tired, glossy. Her hand idly rubbed at the muscles in her neck.

“Why not?”

“She’s stone sleeping. Has been for quite some time.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “Is that unusual? To stone sleep for a long stretch?”

“It is. My kin and I are keeping an eye on her though.” Between myself, my father, and my sisters, someone had checked once every day or so since I first found her. Absolutely nothing had changed, but Lovette seemed certain she was just resting.

Merry swallowed, both of us taking in the swath of wildlife that surrounded her at all times. I was becoming concerned about the resources for them in the glade. So far, they all seemed to be peacefully co-existing, but if they depleted what the area could offer, that surely couldn’t last.

“Is she alright?” Merry asked, drawing my attention away from the animals.

“We don’t know,” I admitted. “She’s one of the oldest of us. The rules are not the same.”

Her face fell. “I hope she’s okay.”

“Me too.”

We stood there a long moment, the urge to hold her nearly overwhelming me. “You seem tired. Are you ill?”

She touched her temple. “Just a headache.”

“Another one?” After a brief hesitation, she nodded, but I could see she regretted the movement straightaway. “You should rest.”

Merry closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “I really need to speak with Ophelia.”

“Maybe someone else at the conclave can help?” I offered.

“I could take you there. What did you need her for?” There was no escaping the sudden flush that lit up my whole body.

I’d essentially offered to take her home, to introduce her to my whole extended family, and I hadn’t even hesitated.

The words had tumbled off my tongue like it was the most natural thing in the world.

My pulse tripled as I tried to figure out what that meant.

“It’s the book she gave me about hearing the animals, being a conduit.

I can’t make any sense of it.” Her face dropped.

“I thought by now, with the number of contracts I’ve sorted, the animals would be leaving in droves.

Some have, but there are more. Always more.

” The strain in her face was highlighted by the shadows cast when she turned her head. I ached to reach for her.

“Perhaps someone at d’Arcan then?”

She shook her head, then winced, a hand flying to her forehead.

“Hailon and I went the other day. Whatever language or encoding it’s in, it’s not known to have origins with the stone kin, demons, witches, or fae.

Tap tried to read it as well, as he’s the keeper of the contracts, and even he was perplexed.

Ophelia had made it seem like it was a simple little guidebook.

I’m so confused. This feels like some kind of test, and I’m failing miserably.

” She sighed. “Could you please let me know when she’s ready for visitors again? ”

“Of course.”

“Thanks.” Merry turned back down the path, steps intentionally slow, soft.

My chest ached. Even walking hurt her.

“Should I fetch Hailon for you?”

Her curls bobbed as she shook her head, one hand twisting the bracelet on her wrist around and around. “She’s in the city today.”

I’d had enough. I was here. I could help.

“I’ll see you home. They should not have left you like this.” I softened my tone. “I will not leave you like this.”

“I’m fi—” I stepped in front of her and scooped her up, then let out my wings so I could glide us back to her cabin.

She’d squeaked but didn’t fight to be let down.

Instead, she grabbed on tight, arms lashed around my neck and legs held snugly in the bend of my arm.

The close contact had my whole body alight.

I breathed her in, the scent of sunshine and berries flooding my senses.

Something under my ribs gave a wild throb, and I had to cover my gasp with a grunt.

“Don’t lie to me. You’re not fine, Merry.”

I got her into the cabin in short order, settling her comfortably on the sofa. I fetched a glass of water from her kitchen and offered it to her with some of the shimmery elixir that was sitting by the sink. Greta’s work, by the looks of it.

“This is all very sweet but completely unnecessary, Coltor. Thank you though. And I can’t take any more of that until later, I had some before I left for the portal.” Her praise sent a bright thrill through me. “It should start working soon, honestly. I’ll be alright. I promise to rest.”

“Drink.” Her eyebrow raised, but she did as I asked. I paced, arms crossed as she sipped. “How bad?”

“How bad what?”

“The headache. How bad is it? How long has it been going on like this? Do you need a healer?”

“Hailon has checked me over and everyone else at d’Arcan as well.

I’m just… tired. I think the animals are the cause, if I’m honest. Blocking them out takes a special kind of effort I don’t know how to control.

It’s like I’m doing it naturally, but the more of them there are, the more it’s taking out of me.

Greta made me that elixir, and Rylan said he’d work on a trinket for me, but that might take a while.

Ophelia said eating something sweet would help, but I’m tired of honey and jam. ”

I could only grunt. That was not a resolution. She needed Ophelia.

Unfortunately for us both, so did I.

I blew out a rough breath and made for the door. “Stay put.” The command indulged the growing part of me that felt driven to hide her away from the rest of the world, to protect her from it. That part of me was far larger than I wanted to admit and was refusing to be ignored.

“I may go to bed instead, or soak in the tub. Is that alright?” She raised an eyebrow, sarcasm heavy. She’d do what she pleased, regardless of what I asked of her, we both knew that.