Sorceress Rising (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 2) by Lisa Blackwood Read Free Book Online Page B

pretend extreme indifference, or take a nap if you wish,
but just stay close.” Gregory gave her one of his wicked, toothy gargoyle grins
over his shoulder before he turned his attention back to his spell.
    Lillian pursed
her lips.
    He was correct
on all counts.
    Damn.
    But she wasn’t
about to take a nap on his command like some naughty child.
    She pushed off
from the tree and walked around Gregory until she could peer around his half
mantled wings.
    He’d burned a
magic symbol into the very air—she couldn’t think what else to call the
glowing, tightly knotted flecks of light hanging suspended at about waist
height. A second was forming next to the first. On the original’s opposite
side, a soft glow soon formed into a third pale green symbol, this one shot
through with silver spots of brighter intensity.
    Gregory shifted
from his hunched position to stand upright, his wings stretching farther until
they were fully extended.
    Anticipating his
next move, Lillian ducked under the outer edge of his wing and sank down into a
cross legged position. Safely out of the way, she leaned back against his legs
and watched him work.
    As she half
expected, he pushed the glowing symbols with a gentle sweep of one broad wing.
The misty lights flashed brighter as they floated away from each other with
increasing speed.
    Wanting an
explanation, she craned her neck to look up at Gregory. He stood with his head
bowed, eyes closed, expression relaxed. His arms rested at his sides, and his
tail laid curled around his ankles, the picture of peaceful contentment.
    Why shouldn’t
her gargoyle be happy? He was working powerful magic from the Spirit Realm,
doing what he was designed to do. She swallowed back her questions to simply
allow him this moment.
    Only his wings
held any tension as they fanned the air slowly, stirring up a slight breeze as
he called more magic and shaped it into more of the fire-bright symbols. After
each was made, they hovered in a group a few feet away. When he had another
half dozen of them, he fanned his wings with more power and sent the new spells
out into the surrounding forest in pursuit of the first round.
    She leaned back
against his shins and closed her eyes, wanting to feel the magic he worked, to
understand its makeup and purpose. Touching him, she felt the leashed power at
his command, his ironclad discipline and infinite patience. He continued to work
his spell, but acknowledged her presence in his mind with a flick of warmth and
humor.
    A solid weight
landed in her lap. She gasped as her eyes snapped open and riveted on the
object in question. Recognition came a moment later. She chuckled in relief and
patted his tail companionably. Then jerked her hands away with a startled
exclamation. His normally warm skin was cold, so chilled she’d thought her
fingers frostbitten. She blew on the tips to warm them even as her thoughts
sought out her gargoyle’s.
    The answer to
her unasked question came to her in a flood of emotions and sensations—in tune
with her own, and yet not hers—for these were Gregory’s, and her perception
changed to his view point.
    Invigorating
magic swept from the Spirit Realm, filling the forest around him with its
bounty. Its pureness and strength unmatched by anything found in either Mortal
or Magic Realms. It tasted of comfort and home—of the infinite.
    And, yet, it
was unnaturally cold, not compatible with any living body, even one as adaptable
as his own.
    But there was
a pleasant warmth near at hand. His thoughts turned in another direction. His
beloved. His lady. Even though she was trapped in a mortal form weaker than his
own, he still took comfort in her living warmth against his legs. They had had
so few opportunities to merge in this way, their two separate consciousnesses
together in one body. It was not the same as existing as one being in the
Spirit Realm, but here, clothed in mortal flesh, it was as close as they could
come. And how he had missed this