Page 41 of The Night Firm

I inhale sharply, and the scents of stone and earth and air mixed with cedar hit me.

"I know she is human, but she is under my protection," Sebastian says. "She works for The Night Firm."

At his words, both gargoyles begin to shake and make a sound that resembles rocks being thrown at a boulder. It takes me a moment to realize that they're laughing!

Sebastian frowns, clearly perplexed by their reaction.

"The Sons of Night have much to learn," the gargoyle in front of me says. This one's voice is lighter, more feminine.

Each of the gargoyles' eyes are the size of my head, and I have a hard time knowing which one to look into as it lowers itself further to make eye contact with me.

"Tell me what you know," she commands.

Somehow, I know it's a she.

I'm about to say I don't know what she's talking about, that I don't know anything, when her mouth gently rests on my forehead and a vision overtakes me. I am no longer in the cemetery, but on the highest imaginable mountain. At the peak, the two gargoyles are together, and the one that spoke to me shoots into the air, flying higher, higher, higher. She screams as something within her pushes out, and a baby gargoyle slips into the wind, falling into the other gargoyle's arms.

I see the baby gargoyle, feel into it, and then the vision disappears as quickly as it came. I fall, my legs too weak to sustain myself, and feel strong arms catch me before the earth does.

"What did you do to her?" Sebastian demands, drawing closer and reaching for me.

I place a tempering hand on his arm. "I'm fine."

With his help I stand, leaning against him for balance, as I look into the eyes—or at least into one of the eyes—of the female gargoyle before me. Sebastian gasps as I place a hand on the gargoyle's face gently. "Your child will be born atop a mountain, and she will be healthy and safe and beautiful."

The gargoyle nods, huffing into my face. "Thank you, Wise One, for that blessing."

With that, the gargoyles return to their posts and resume their stone-like slumber as the door before us swings open.

"What was that all about?" I ask, my heart jack-rabbiting in my chest.

"I do not know," he says, casting a suspicious glance at the gargoyles before leading us into the darkened hall of the mausoleum. "Akuro and Okura have been guardians of the dead for as long as I can remember. But they've never behaved that way before." He looks at me with wonder and confusion. "How did you know she was pregnant? Gargoyles rarely breed. It hasn't happened in thousands of years, that I know of."

I shrug. "When she asked me, I saw a vision and I knew. I've always had hunches about things, and sometimes I have ideas that I write about, but never anything so clear, or about someone other than myself. I always assumed I was just making them up." My mind flashes to the vision of the brothers defending me against the evil forest. I assumed that was just a fantasy, but what if it wasn't?

"Who are you, Eve Oliver?" he asks, his arm still around my waist in case I collapse again.

I shrug again, feeling stupid. "I don't know how to answer that. I'm just me."

"Indeed," he says, skeptically.

"Indeed," I repeat, with an edge to my voice. "Do you think I'm lying to you?"

"No. But I do think there's more to you than is immediately evident."

"Isn't that true of everyone?" I ask. "None of us are what we first appear. We all have layers, depth, secret pains and hidden desires that subtly shape who we are. Why would you ever presume to know someone with so little effort?"

I step away from him and suck in a breath of air. "I can walk now. Shall we?" I say, before he has a chance to respond. I'm still shaken with what just happened and I don't really want to talk about it with skeptical Sebastian, at least not until I have a chance to think on things.

He's still eyeing me strangely as we walk through the darkened halls. It smells of death and dust and old flowers and cold marble, and every step we take echoes in the large, sparse space.

Even our breathing sounds too loud as I walk beside him. He seems to know where he's going, so I stick close as I look around, trying to take it all in. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all made of white marble. There are no pictures, no furniture, nothing but arched doorways with heavy doors appearing every so often. "Where do the doors lead?" I ask.

"Various places. Examining rooms. Storage. Broom closet."

I do a double take to see if Sebastian is actually making a joke, but I can't tell. His face is stoic. And they probably do need broom closets here. So he might have just been being very literal. But do I perhaps notice a corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly?

The man is maddening.