Before the woman could reach Austin, he swiped, his great paw hitting her shoulder. I could hear the crack from here. She rolled across the ground like a tumbleweed. Down on all fours, he ran after her, but this time he knew better than to pounce. She was good on the ground. Her body was a weapon, and she used it to her advantage.
“Use it wisely.”
A tidal wave of power welled up inside me, pumping through my blood. Stretching my skin to cracking. Dizzying my mind.
Through it, I could see the woman charging Austin, her injured arm tucked close to her body, flames rising from her skin. Austin swiped again, but she ducked under the strike and kept going. He lowered quickly, mouth open, and clamped on to her other shoulder, ignoring the pain I could feel blistering through the link. He wrapped his arms around her, a bear hug, the pain now agonizing, tearing him apart, no beginning and no end.
He tore with his teeth, ripping out her shoulder. Still squeezing, ignoring the misery it was causing him. Ignoring her screams. Trapped, she had one power, the pain she bestowed, but he was pushing past it. He opened his great jaw wide and clamped down on her head, his teeth digging into bone, and then he wrenched. The victor.
I turned from the grisly aftermath and magically cut off his pain. He didn’t need it anymore. He didn’t need to know when he was nearing the edge of never coming back. Now he just needed to heal. Something I would help him with after I dealt with the thunderbird.
He’d taken down one of the pair, and I fully intended to handle the other. But I’d have to fly to do it.
I shed my clothes and shifted, wasting no time. Color swirled from my tiny little wings, nothing compared to that mammoth in the sky.
Sebastian jogged toward me, looking up as I thrummed my wings, calling to me. I didn’t know what he was saying.
That big beast soared above the woods effortlessly, born to fly.
I labored after it, definitely not.
Frustration and fear bled through the now unmuted link. Austin didn’t want me to go. He’d done his part, though, and Ivy House had given me the power to do mine.
Jasper still flew around the thunderbird, and as I neared, I could see him dipping in and coming away, making small attacks. He was still getting shocked, but not badly enough for it to take him down. He couldn’t hope to take this creature on his own, but he hadn’t given up. He hadn’t relented.
My heart surged. He’d been a good choice.
Another shape caught my notice. Another gargoyle flew toward us, moonlight shimmering off its silvery hide.
The last part of the summons. Just one gargoyle this time. No team to sort through or try out. One gargoyle to help me do the impossible.
Nearer still, he carved through the sky with a dexterity that not even Damarion had been able to achieve. The thunderbird rolled, tucking in its wings and diving, nearly smashing Jasper out of the sky. But Jasper pulled back at the last moment, careening and then correcting his course.
The newcomer moved with great speed, silvery light slicing through the dark night. When he neared, he snapped his wings out, the effect thunderous, and hung stationary in the sky. His wings thrummed like a hummingbird’s, although the motion was barely noticeable, creating a low-pitched sound that pulled at the center of me.
Jasper rose higher. Then, across the town, I saw other fliers lift above the trees and buildings, rising like balloons after a parade. Most of the gargoyles that hadn’t made the cut at Ivy House had stayed in the area, and I knew—without quite understanding how I knew—that they’d heard this newcomer’s call to arms. Heard the distinct sound that brought their kind together.
Mr. Tom and Ulric tried to rise as well, clearly knowing what it meant.
Without specifically knowing how, but feeling the rightness in my blood, I cut out the sound to them. Just to them. Like snipping the strings of an instrument.
The thunderbird regained height and then banked lazily, heading back in my direction.
“Here we go,” I said, the actual sound like a jumbled mess around my enlarged teeth.
The lesser-statured gargoyles filed in, flocking to this newcomer like they had Damarion back in the day. This time, Austin could pull rank if he needed to. I wouldn’t stand in his way. The newcomer had a good trick, and I wanted it at my disposal.
The newcomer darted forward, flying toward me. I gestured like an idiot, not sure how to communicate. It turned out I didn’t need to.
Jasper soared to my left and flew at my speed. The larger new guy took my right. All the others spread out around us, some above, some below, some behind.