Magical Midlife Dating (Leveling Up 2)

I scrunched up my eyes, willing my wings to work, knowing they probably wouldn’t, the rhythmic throp-throp-throp filling my world.10Strong arms wrapped around me, bands of steel trapping me to a wide, heavily muscled chest, the skin basalt gray with a light sheen, the color gorgeous, the fact that I was alive to see it even more so. Huge, heavy wings strummed the air around us, mighty and powerful. They sped up, throp-throp-throp, lifting us into the air at an incredible speed.

A jet of light shot straight at us from the trees. The gargoyle tilted and spun, dizzying me with the maneuver so that the world seemed to circle us. He straightened, beating the air with his wings, and turned to face the attacker hidden within the trees, seemingly fearless.

I was terrified. If one of those zips of light hit him, it was back to the rocks for me.

“Go, go, at least get higher,” I said, my magic pounding around us, doing absolutely no good.

Those incredible wings, mightier than any I’d seen thus far, their breadth incredible, had us a hundred feet above the ground in a blink with seemingly minimal effort. That was when I noticed the others.

Gargoyles streamed around him, some large and powerful, some smaller and incredibly quick, their skin in all colors and shades. One of them paused twenty feet away, its coloring overall a deep gray but cut through with tan in various places, and looked up at us.

One of the arms holding me peeled away.

“Oh no. No, no!” I tried to twist around and grab his neck. I assumed this was the protector sent by Ivy House, but even if I was wrong, I didn’t care—I was going to hang on for dear life until our feet were on the ground. His one arm held me firm, though, absolutely no give.

He pointed with the other hand at the trees where the zip of light had originated. The gargoyles took off, flying for that spot, fast and effective in the air.

Zips of light met them, arching through the blue sky, the enemy seeing the coming attack and defending against it. The gargoyles tilted and spun, barely missing the magical assault. The one who was holding me pushed higher still, soaring out of harm’s reach.

A neon-pink gargoyle reached the trees first, a blast streaking across his shoulder and punching through his wing. He tucked his wings in close and dove through the canopy.

Purplish skin caught my attention—Cedric, a jagged gash across his torso and his pants halfway ripped off. He stopped in front of us, his wings needing to pump faster than the gargoyle holding me to keep him afloat.

“Help,” I said before I’d thought it through.

Ivy House’s magical communication echoed in my mind. “You are with help.”

“Never mind.” I waved Cedric away as Niamh’s alicorn body rose on black wings from the canopy of trees near the enemy’s location, her crystalline horn and hooves catching the dying light. The struggle to rise was clear, one wing tattered and something dripping from her back leg. Blood, it must be.

A dual-colored gargoyle rose from the same area. A man dangled from his hand, held by the ankle, his body limp. A long cape swung down, clothing, not wings. More gargoyles rose around him, three of them also carrying a dangling person.

Niamh, the effort to stay in the air plain, reached us, her red eyes staring at the gargoyle who held me.

“It’s okay,” I yelled over the throbbing wings around us. “Ivy House sent him. Where are the others? Alek and Mr. Tom?”

She neighed and tossed her head. I wasn’t sure what that meant.

I peeled away the block I’d put up to give her privacy, and a wave of pain, frustration, and impatience blasted me through her magical connection. She wanted to go home. Right now.

Fair enough.

As my gargoyle rescuer wrapped his other arm around me to further tighten his hold, I peeled the other blocks away to check on Edgar (obviously safe but worried) and Mr. Tom (wallowing in agony). There was no way I could get a reading on Alek, who hadn’t been granted Ivy House magic, so I’d have to find him the normal, and much harder, way.

“Mr. Tom is there.” I pointed, down and to the left, feeling him through our magical connection. “Hurry, he’s hurt. Niamh, you go back to the house. These guys clearly have the danger under control.”

She stayed where she was, annoyed now, her glowing red gaze accusatory. Thankfully, I could only pick up on her feelings, not her thoughts—I doubted I’d like the names she was calling me.

“Fine, stay. Hey—” I patted the large arm around my middle before pointing again. “Please help me. We need to get to Mr. Tom. Cedric!” I waved at him even though he was already watching me, flying in place ten feet away. “Go get Edgar.” I motioned him upward. “We’ll meet you back at Ivy House. Stay there until I get back.”