Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(25)

“I don’t see anyone up there,” Jax says. “Happy?”

I peer through the grate, trying to get a closer look. The room does look empty. Darn. “I guess.” I turn away quickly and the lone brass ring in my pocket bounces out and hits the bottom of the air vent. Jax and I look at each other. He starts to laugh.

“You kept a drape clip?” He holds his stomach.

“It’s brass!” I say, and that’s when I hear a high-pitched squawk. “What was that?”

“Harlow’s pesty crow?” Jax suggests, but his face says he’s not convinced. He looks through the bars again. “Kind of loud for Aldo though, isn’t it?”

A shadow flies across the grate so quickly that we barely have a second to react. I hear a loud thud and see claws stretching through the bars. Jax quickly removes his hands.

SCREECH!

The sound is so loud my ears are ringing. That is definitely not Aldo.

The screeching only gets louder, and then the grate above us starts to move. Jax begins to pull me back just as a hairy claw pulls the grate clear off and a face peers down inside.

“What the—?” Jax starts to say as two glowing red eyes stare back at us.

The shape of the eyes, the claws…it’s so familiar. “Gargoyles,” I say almost to myself, and then I hear the ear-piercing sound again.

“Gargoyles aren’t real,” Jax tells me.

That’s the last thing I hear him say before one flies through the grate after us.





CHAPTER 10


    We’ve Got Company


Jax pushes me forward. “Run!”

I don’t have to be told twice. With one hand I scoop up the brass ring, and with the other I pull my body forward through the grate, moving as fast as my hands and knees will take me. I hear more thuds echoing through the duct. More than one of those beasts is after us.

Gargoyles are real. Gargoyles are real. I knew I saw one move!

Their high-pitched wails are so loud that Jax and I are actually forced to stop for a second to cover our ears. Out of the corner of my eye, I see them. They’re wrinkly and dark gray with red eyes and long wings they fold under themselves, but the long, sharp claws on their hands and feet frighten me the most. One lets out a long wail when he sees us and Jax shoves me forward again, shaking me from my trace.

My heart is pounding and I can hear their nails tapping at the grate as I fly forward, seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I throw myself out of it. I am relieved to see Jax right behind me. I run for the grate, prepared to put it back in place the minute Jax is clear to hold off the gargoyles. It seems like a good plan until I see Jax’s face twist in pain and he begins sliding backward into the tunnel.

“Gilly!” he yells.

I drop the grate and grab Jax’s hands, pulling as hard as I can, and get nowhere. It’s like we’re locked in a tug of war and Jax is the rope. The screeching makes it almost impossible to hear, but I see Jax’s lips moving.

“My shirt pocket!” he yells, and I let go of one of his hands to reach inside his shirt. I pull out a vintage pocket watch that looks like it cost a fortune. What’s this got to do with anything? I think as another wail from the gargoyles makes me wince. “Open it and aim it at them. Them! Not me!” he yells.

I open the watch and hear Jax yell a word I don’t understand. Then I am momentarily blinded as a bolt shoots from the watch and hits the gargoyles. Their screams are deafening, but their hold on Jax relaxes. I yank Jax so hard that the two of us go crashing to the floor.

“Give me that,” Jax says, pulling the watch from my hand. “I think you singed my pants!” Sure enough, his pants are smoking. The hems are shredded where the gargoyles grabbed him. Tiny drops of blood drip down his calves.

“You could say thank you!” I bark as I try to stand up, but my legs are quivering.

“For almost getting us killed?” Jax yells back. “You just had to spy on Flora.”

Then a wail stops us both in our tracks. We look at each other, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing. Those gargoyles are not dead.

“Shoot the watch thing again!” I say, scrambling to my feet and grabbing his arm to run.

“I can’t! It only works once an hour.” Jax takes the lead, pulling me along.

The shrieking intensifies as the gargoyles fly out of the duct and after us down the hall, picking up speed. “Duck!” I yell as one dives at Jax’s head. The exit is just ahead of us. Just a few more feet. A few more… “No!” I scream as my shirt takes flight—and me along with it.

“Kick!” Jax yells, pulling on my leg. “Kick harder!”

The gargoyle’s face is so close I can smell its rancid breath. Its claws rip through my shirt and sink into my back. I scream and immediately my mind takes me to my siblings. I’m not going out like this. They need me. I kick harder, wiggling like a worm until my leg hits the gargoyle hard in the stomach.

The gargoyle wails and drops me. Jax breaks my fall, half catching me, half stumbling to the door, which he throws us both through. We slam it shut and lean against it as the gargoyles screech madly.

“I can’t hold it,” Jax yells, gritting his teeth as he pushes against the door.

“Me either,” I say, breathing heavily. My back is burning from the gargoyle’s scratches. “What are we going to do?”