Chapter 11

Mynewmasterwas strange and beautiful. I sat by her bed and watched over her as she slept, feeling bereft…lost.

Everything I had hoped to achieve had been for nothing. It had all been a stupid, pointless dream. Now here I was, free at last, but all I could do was mourn what I had lost. Cecelia was gone. I was alone again. Except for my new master, a powerful Lovell witch who had refused to end my life and trusted me to carry her soft, fragile body inside, when she didn"t even know me. I looked down at my hands. Nothing made sense.

The fae woman hovered nearby, intermittently poking at a device attached to my new master and frowning. The ghost drifted in and out of existence, currently unformed and looking like nothing so much as a displaced bit of fog. The testy jinn was pacing in the hallway, muttering to himself about worthless servants and weakling witches, uncontrolled flames flaring into existence on his fingertips from time to time.

They were all worried about my new master. Which said more loudly than words just how different she was from the witches before her. My new witch groaned and lifted a hand to rub at her face. I could feel the earth energies inside her slowly stabilizing. Her spellwork had left her severely depleted. But she was recovering.

From freeing me.

She blinked her captivating gray eyes at the ceiling, muttered "Fuck me," then started to sit up. I moved to help her, desperate for anything to distract me from the pain of being alive. All the other supernatural creatures in the room moved closer, as if to protect the witch from me. Because I was big, scary. Unstable.

I ignored them, just like I had ignored the judgements all my life. I might be a big, dumb lump of stone, but even I didn"t like watching people suffer. I slid my arm behind the witch"s back and eased her upright, reaching out my other hand to brush the tangled green waves of hair from her face. She blinked at me, going still for a moment, before letting out a long sigh.

The fae patted the witch"s shoulder from the other side of the bed. "I checked your monitor, just like you showed me," she said, a note of pride in her voice. "You didn"t drop."

I had no idea what she was talking about, but it made my new master smile fondly and say, "Thank you," with genuine gratitude. Then she turned to me.

"You brought me up here?" she asked calmly.

I nodded. "As you commanded, master."

She frowned at me. "I didn"t…command you. I asked. I think. And I"m not your damned master!"

I opened my mouth to protest, to ask how I was supposed to live without a purpose, without someone to serve. But the jinn interrupted, shoving past the fae to scowl at my master and I, his arms crossed over his chest, barely restrained magic pulsing in his aura. "The witch can"t be anyone"s master, idiot, since she clearly belongs to me."

I glanced between them as my witch rubbed at her arms. Only then did I notice the faint silvery-white markings on her skin. My brows drew together as a sudden, protective surge of anger rose up in me. "You marked a witch? You enslaved my master?!"

My wings snapped out to the sides, and I bared my fangs. I might be new to my duties here, but this was unacceptable. How could my master be my master if she was under someone else"s control? And how could the jinn even consider enslaving another being, after being treated this way himself for so long? My body trembled. I needed a master. I needed a purpose. I needed…to not feel like I was about to come apart at the seams.

I needed to smash that smug smile right off the jinn"s too-pretty face.

Easing my arm out from behind my master so as not to jostle her while she was still recovering, I stood, looming over the bed and the tiny jinn. "Remove the marks from her flesh."

He looked up at me, one black eyebrow raised. "Not a chance in hell."

I made a grab for him, but he dematerialized, appearing at the end of the bed with a taunting leer. "You"re no match for me, you clumsy pile of rock."

I turned to size him up, debating how best to snap his tiny neck. But my master pushed me out of the way, climbing to her feet with a muttered, "Move morons. I"ve gotta pee."

I blinked at her as she brushed past me and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her with a sharp thud.

The fae shook her head at me. "Some advice, stony one? Just ignore Aahil. Everyone else does."

The jinn flicked his wrist in a graceful motion and the hem of the fae"s shirt caught fire. She cursed in her native language and sent a bright stream of fae magic at the flame. The jinn must not have been serious, since the flame went out. Demon fire normally couldn"t be extinguished by anyone but the one who cast it. Maybe he was just testing her? I couldn"t tell if the jinn and the fae were friends or enemies. Just one more thing to add to the pile of confusion inside me.

My witch returned from the bathroom, running a hand through her green hair in an attempt to untangle it. She stopped at the sight of the fae"s singed shirt, shook her head, then continued walking past us all, toward the door. I followed, not wanting to let her out of my sight.

The jinn snorted and trailed along behind us. I shot a warning glare over my shoulder as he followed us down the sweeping staircase. My witch caught the look and sighed. "Ignore him. His yapping is way worse than his bite."

The jinn disappeared, reappearing at the foot of the staircase just as my master went to step down onto the floor. She teetered and windmilled her arms to halt herself and keep from slamming into the jinn. He gave her a predatory smile that made me want to squash him all over again. "Do I need to show you how bad my bite can be, witch?" he purred.

She gave a dry laugh and started moving again, as if she was going to step right into his space. I was surprised when he took a quick step backward to avoid touching her.

She arched a brow at him, but said nothing, simply turned and walked away—ignoring him, as she and the fae had recommended. I didn"t miss the way the jinn seethed at being dismissed.

I see. He wanted attention. I was not going to be the one to grant his wish. I followed my master into her gleaming kitchen as if the jinn didn"t exist. He didn"t join us.

My new master started getting things out of the refrigerator and piling them on the countertop. She must be hungry, after expending all that energy to free me from the cursed book. I went to help her, and she watched me, her expression wary. That was okay. I was used to people being intimidated by my very existence. But there was really nothing I could do about how I looked.

"Please sit, master," I said gently. "You need to rest. I will prepare your food."

She rolled her gray eyes at me and planted a hand on one lush hip. "I"m not helpless, you know," she informed me. As if I hadn"t witnessed just how strong she was. She might look soft, with her short stature and her round figure, but I could feel the power inside her. And from the frank look in those gray eyes, I had a feeling she possessed the same iron will of her ancestors. Even if she put it to use for different purposes.

The fae came to shoo the witch over to a chair at the table. "No one thinks you"re helpless, Andy. Let the man make you a sandwich. You did just drain yourself freeing him. He owes you."

She narrowed her eyes at the fae but did as she was told, sinking down to sit in one of the dining chairs. "I"m not your master," she said firmly. I could feel her eyes on me as I made her two sandwiches and placed them on the plate the fae handed me. "I don"t own any of you," she said as she withdrew the device she wore clipped to her waist and touched the screen with little beeps. "You"re free to leave whenever you please."

I felt panic rising up inside me at the thought of being cast out and adrift. Setting the plate in front of her, I met her eyes. "I would rather you dispose of me, master."

She frowned. "Stop that. I"m not going to murder you. Make yourself some food and sit down." She pointed sternly at the chair nearest hers. "Then you can tell me why you keep asking me to off you."

I sighed, but did as I was told. The need to be directed was too strong to override in my current state of mind. Memories of Cecilia were creeping in around the edges, digging sharp claws into my heart. It had probably been a hundred years or more since I lost her. But I had spent most of that time in the unthinking in between world of my captivity in the book. To me, the wound seemed fresh. Raw. I sat and stared at my sandwich while the fae went about making her own food. "Please, master. I"m not hungry."

She pointed at the sandwich. "Eat. And tell me what"s causing you so much pain."

I did as I was told. The sandwich tasted like dust in my mouth. But I knew, on some level, that my body appreciated the nourishment after being starved for so long. The previous owner of the book only fed us if it was absolutely necessary to maintain our abilities.

"I used to be a free gargoyle," I said between mechanical bites of my food. "I had a master, but they discharged me from their service when they moved here to Mageia." I sighed. "I wasn"t like the others of my kind, content to guard buildings. I wanted…I wanted to see things. To live a different life than what tradition dictated."

I swallowed, trying to keep the sandwich down.

"When I came to the magic realm, I met a woman," I said, my voice flat, unable to figure out what I should feel. The overwhelm was drowning me, pulling me down into numbness, but flashes of sharp, painful emotions bursts through at random. "She was a dreamer like me. She was half nymph, half human. She saw the world differently than her kind, but she still had that carefree nymph mentality." I couldn"t help the wistfulness that crept into my voice. "I envied her that. The way she could just flit from one thing to the other with such curiosity. I always had to fight the urge to be rigid and inflexible."

I ached with the memory of her laughter, her teasing. The touch of her small hand. The way she was always going on about her dreams and all the places she wanted to see, all the things she wanted do and experience.

I licked my lips, my mouth gone dry. "I tried to give her the life she wanted. I tried to get a job like a normal person, rather than living my life as a stone sentinel. I…we wanted a life together, I thought…." I heaved a sigh. "I was stupid. No one wanted to hire me for anything except typical gargoyle contracts. Which would mean I"d be tied down to one place, guarding it, unable to travel with Cecelia and see the world."

I grimaced as I recalled her words to me. "She didn"t want to stay in one place. She wanted her freedom. She said maybe we should split up. Go our separate ways but…I was foolish. Devoted."

My witch didn"t look impressed with my story. She had devoured one of her sandwiches, but now she was just glaring at me.

"Please, master, eat your meal. Your energy is still depleted from your spellwork," I said softly.

She huffed. "You can read my energy? No—wait. Don"t distract me. I want to hear the rest of your story. How did that stupid cow fuck you over?"

I blinked at her. "I…what?"

She took a bite of her sandwich, still glaring while she chewed. Then she gestured angrily with the hand that held the food. "I know where this is heading, dude. And I already want to stab a bitch. Go on!"

I shook my head in confusion. "I…um. I decided that if I wanted to make a life for myself and give Cecelia the life she wanted, I needed to train my magic so I could be more employable. I have some affinity for magic working beyond my basic gargoyle abilities, it"s just that no one ever bothered to teach me anything—gargoyles are supposed to be happy being guardians." I shrugged. "I finally found someone who would help me. I entered willingly into a contract with a witch. She agreed to help me work on strengthening my magic, and I agreed to do odd jobs for her in the meantime. It was meant to mutually beneficial—I would earn some money while getting the training I needed to find a better job. She would have the assistance she supposedly needed around her estate."

"Let me guess," my new master said, her voice as dry as the deserts. "The witch was a Lovell and she screwed you over."

I nodded sadly. "I was too trusting. I…it is my weakness, I suppose. The witch imprisoned me. First at her home, then later in the book. I stupidly held out hope that Cecelia would find a way to free me. But…she did not."

The witch was watching me closely. "What did she do, big guy?"

I picked at the crust of my sandwich, unable to meet her eyes. "She…fell in love with the witch. I"m not sure if it was consensual, or if there was an enchantment involved. But I was gone from her sight. Then one day the witch called me from the grimoire only to tell me that Cecelia was dead. She said if I continued to struggle against her hold, she would find and kill everyone I loved." I closed my eyes. It had probably been an empty threat. The way she flaunted Cecelia"s death was probably meant to break me and make me submissive. I knew this. And yet…it had worked.

My new master gripped my hand and squeezed, startling me. My eyes flew open to find her staring at me intently. "You were tricked, gargoyle. They both took advantage of your optimism and your loyalty. And yet you mourn the loss of the woman you loved? She doesn"t deserve your devotion. Not then, and certainly not now!"

I hunched my shoulders. "Yes, master. I"m aware." I forced myself to meet her eyes, feeling like I might shatter into a thousand broken pieces. "And still, my heart grieves as if it happened just yesterday."

She sucked in a slow breath and heaved a truly massive sigh. Then she sat back, releasing my hand and picking up her unfinished sandwich. "I"m not going to kill you" she said firmly. "So just stop that nonsense."

I tried not to argue, but the words spilled out anyway. "I have no reason to live. My family is gone. My master dismissed me. The world does not want me. And the one person I thought would stay by my side forever forgot me the moment I was out of sight. Death would be a mercy."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I tell you what. Give it a month. If, in a month, you still want me to put you out of your misery, we"ll talk. But," she held up a hand to forestall my protests. "You have to promise me something in return."

I sighed. That was how it worked with witches. There was always a cost. A bargain. Usually one that was horrifically unfair. "Name your price, witch," I said tiredly.

She smiled at me, the expression transforming her round face into a thing of beauty and joy. "During that time, you have to live. No more of this moping and melodrama. You"re free. You can leave if you want." She must have seen the panic on my face because she rushed to add, "Or you can stay here, I guess. The rest of the idiots are still hanging around, so what"s one more weirdo in my life?"

I let out a breath, the tension leaving me. "I will try, master. Only, please don"t send me out there alone. I can"t…I need a master."

She pressed her lips together as if considering something, then gave a curt nod.

Pushing away from the table, she turned to the fae. "Can you show him to a room somewhere and help him find clothes to replace those rags?"

The fae woman nodded, then winked. "As you wish, mistress." She danced out of the way to avoid being smacked while the witch muttered about not calling her that. Then the fae regarded me with brilliant green eyes, her head tilted to the side, listening to something only she could hear. "Ah, here he comes."

A small rodent of some kind came scurrying into the kitchen, screaming with its harsh chitters and yelps. My witch—Andy, what a strange and fitting name—bent and grabbed the thing, holding it under its front legs while it kicked and yammered.

"What is with you?" Andy inquired. Then seemed to listen to the chattering. "I"m sorry, okay. Geesh. I was a little busy freeing trapped creatures from cursed books and passing out from energy depletion."

The rodent stopped chattering with a huff, its expression almost people-like. It flung out one front paw toward me and grunted.

"He wants to show the gargoyle around," the fae said with a suppressed smile. "He says you treat him like a child, but he can help. And he"d like you to know that he knows where you sleep and he knows all your secrets, and he now has a translator so he can share them with anyone who asks."

My witch walked over to me and held out the strange creature. "Here," she said in a flat voice. "Take this."

Then my witch left me alone with a laughing fae and a smug…hedgehog…thing.

She really was a strange and beautiful witch.