4. Luke

FOUR

Luke

A sher caught my head before it smacked the floor, the human crushing the rest of me under his weight. I hissed out a curse, thrashing my legs and caught the bastard right between the legs.

Bullseye.

He rolled off me, making no sound. Not even a grunt.

I jumped up, ready to kick ten tons of crap out of him.

“Bastard!” I roared. “Bastard!”

Asher moved past me, taking him down by snapping his neck. But it wasn’t enough. The man’s presence sullied my home, each one of these fucking cultists tainting the whole of Brinecrest.

They would never stop. They would never fucking stop hunting me in the name of that burned mess in her stifling cavern.

Ember.

Damn her to the hottest hells.

My veins throbbed, the inner binds around my powers fraying like cotton threads under pressure.

“Calm down!” Asher yelled.

“Luke!” Tom chimed in, hurrying into the house.

No calm here. No rest here. No peace until they died, until she died.

Ember. Ember. Ember. Destined to end by my hand.

“Stomp the fire out,” I said, a power breaking free of its box.

Flight. My power. Mine. Mine. Mine.

Yes…

I dashed into the rain, head full of Ember and tongueless humans, my rage hotter than the lava lake she loved to gaze upon.

“Luke!” voices called after me.

I took to the sky, instantly drenched, running on pure fury.

“Where are you?” I roared into the storm, flying over the town.

Somewhere down there more tongueless bastards lurked, waiting to strike, to attack, believing they would touch this body.

Dream on!

The hold around my fire power fractured. Flames licked through the gaps, reaching parts of me, saying hello with kisses of wicked heat.

Deadly, wicked heat.

Oh, yes…

“I’ll burn you out,” I said.

Come to me, fire. Come out and play.

Hotter, hotter, hotter, the walls around it coming down. Almost free, almost mine again.

The sound of beating wings came from behind me, along with the voice of my bodyguard. His presence threw me off, dimming the flames.

Fuck it. How dare he screw this up.

Wasn’t that a good thing, though? Wasn’t slamming the brakes on this for the best? I mean, I was taking that potion for a reason. To stop behavior like this.

“Luke?” he hovered before me.

I faced him, confused, everything murky like the grimmest of soups. Gray and lumpy, bordering on gruel.

Ugh.

I shouldn’t be up here…

The gargoyle flew closer. “Come here, Luke.”

What if I hurt the wrong people by unleashing my fire? Where would that leave me? Worse than the monsters, worse than those gas mask creeps.

I’m not this person…

Here I went again, teary eyed and weak. I steeled myself against another emotional collapse, casting my gaze on the town below. The people down there were sleeping away the storm, tucked up in their beds, warm and safe, getting through this Friday night, the weather forecast brighter for the town’s reopening tomorrow—everything closed due to a lockdown following the chimera attack.

“Luke?”

I saw myself having fun, smiling and laughing as I made my friends some cocktails, fully in my happy place.

That’s who I am.

That’s me.

That. Is. Me.

“Luke?”

God, I missed working. I could do with a shift as a barman at the nightclub Midas Cherry right now to blow away the cobwebs. But Seth wouldn’t let me work any shifts. His club, his rules. Blah, blah, blah.

Fuck him.

“Luke?”

I blinked at Asher, the bite of the bitter wind getting to me. “I’m…I’m sorry.” I shivered, bobbing in the air as if on water.

“Come here,” he opened his arms.

I went to him, my fury receding. A bubble of calm engulfed me as he held me close. Just like that, I returned to my softer self.

What a magical guy. A bodyguard and an antidote to anger.

Lucky me.

Asher stroked my back, his big wings sheltering me from most of the wind and rain. “Let’s get you home. It’s been a shit night.”

“Okay…” I breathed against him, the ability to fly slipping away from me.

I clung tightly to him, wriggling further up his body.

“You alright?” he whispered.

“I’m feeling like a complete idiot.” I kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

A tingling flood inside pushed everything back to where it should be, the potion back in control. Phew. Let it smother me again, put a stop to this. There were better ways of fighting back that didn’t involve hotheadedness.

We yell at each other on the sands of Crab Cove…

Crap. An unwanted memory.

He runs from the lighthouse. He runs from me. Silly argument. Silliness and him losing his protection because of a strop. Big time screw up, puts himself in the firing line for a monster to consume his soul.

But why? What the hell had Finn been thinking? Why would he give up the key ingredient to his safety? To spite me? To hurt me?

You’ve never been vindictive, I thought at him, the emerald glow of the terror house catching my eye.

I quickly averted my gaze, always avoiding eye contact with that building.

The memory faded. My body fully gave into the effects of the potion again, fatigue taking over. My grip on Asher slipped, limbs too weak to hold on any longer.

He adjusted my position, holding me like precious cargo. “You really need some sleep.”

I smiled up at him, happy to pass out right here.

He beat his wings, ready to take us back to the lighthouse.

I’m coming, my beautiful bed!

A bone-shaking roar tore through the clouds directly above our heads, shooting holes through my sleepy hope.

What now?

Seconds later, an enormous monster broke through the ceiling of darkness. Luminously violet, its body resembled a great white shark. Wings covered in spikes burst from its body where its pectoral fins should be, its dorsal fin similar to one of those blades you saw on woodwork benches.

If monsters with humans riding them weren’t a real danger, I’d be peeing myself laughing at the ridiculousness of this flying shark and asking myself if I’d somehow stumbled into a B-movie universe through my wardrobe.

The monster cut through the air, making a beeline straight for us, a glittery purple light sparkling in its opening mouth.

Wow. Had it swallowed a vat of glitter at some craft fair before coming here?

A flash of rage failed to stir my powers again. It stuttered under a surge of panic.

Asher yelled something and sped off, arms locking me in an iron grip.

I watched the glittering light expand behind us, way too pretty to be menacing. Only, weren’t some of the prettiest flowers in the world the deadliest?

Hmmm.

The monster chased us, its mouth expanding, the light growing brighter and brighter, too much bling for my eyes to take.

“Shit!” Asher said as Sharky gained on us.

He flew faster, taking dives and sudden ascents, trying everything to shake the monster off. But the bastard acted like a homing missile, never giving up.

Crap. I tried wrenching my fire power from its prison, fumbling, slick with metaphysical oil. The potion pulsed in my veins, mocking my struggles.

You had your chance, it whispered. Too late now.

Fine. I just had to tap into my rage again, plunder my depths for the right spark to set off the inferno. Send my fears packing.

But I met coldness. Everything was too far from the surface, lost in the dark.

“I’m getting you out of here,” Asher growled, veering left.

My stomach lurched, air screaming in my ears. A sense of hopelessness took over me. Where were the other knights to back him up?

“The key is ours!” a gravelly voice cracked like thunder, the shark surging forward in a sudden burst of speed.

Was that Sharky’s voice or the enchanter speaking through it?

God, who gave a crap?

“Shit!” Asher barked, unable to dodge the tail swipe.

It cracked him in the face and his head snapped back, blood immediately spraying from his nose. Crimson splattered my face, my lips—a strange flavor hit my tastebuds, kind of earthy. For a moment, I expected something to happen, for my power to thirst for more of him. Beg to take his essence, his abilities, and add them to my roster.

Call me a vampire, a leech, an abomination.

I never wanted to do that to him, or even figure out if I could. Not him, not any gargoyle. Ever.

Asher took off, rising higher.

“Are you okay?” I practically whimpered, wiping the rest of his blood from my face.

He responded with a furious growl, blood streaming down his chin, dripping onto his sexy, red leather outfit.

“There is no escape!” Sharky called.

The monster got too close again, the glitter light still bright in its jaws. Asher dodged a second strike, a third, shooting upward at great speed.

The monster didn’t follow this time.

“I’ll get you to the tower,” Asher said, his furious amber gaze fixed on Sharky.

He flew down slightly, speeding toward the gargoyle tower at the center of town, the magic in my system keeping me safe from the altitude changes.

Buildings were also fortified against monsters, gargoyle statues channeling protective magic into every structure, locking monsters outside. There was one at my lighthouse with a cocked eyebrow and a downturned mouth.

“I’m getting you out of this,” Asher reassured, adjusting his grip on me. His nose continued to leak blood, his wings beating furiously.

My heart pounded an erratic beat, my fear palpable. A million vines tangled in my chest. Despite Asher’s protection, I couldn’t help feeling exposed, vulnerable, and so damn useless in this fight.

I spotted some knights and heard them call Asher’s name.

Yes! Finally! Time to vanquish this bastard.

“The key is ours!” Sharky cried again.

The glittery light exploded, a mighty stream rocketing toward us.

Oh. Crap.