Rocked by Love (Gargoyles, #4)(37)
She immediately threw herself in his direction, wasting no time in protesting when he all but shoved her behind him. That was exactly where she wanted to be, so he wouldn’t be getting any arguments. Not about this. She even had the foresight to cover her ears when he let out another of his roars, although she did glance up at the ceiling to make sure she had time to dodge any falling plaster. Luckily, this time the ceiling held.
The tech finally managed to pry King David from his face and threw the feline across the room. The cat sailed into the open closet door and thumped hard against something inside. Kylie heard another yowl and cried out in response. Oy, but she hoped he wasn’t seriously hurt. As soon as Dag finished kicking this roseh’s ass, she was taking a shot of her own and then rushing the King to the vet.
Just hold on a few more minutes, bubeleh, and I’ll get you all taken care of. I promise. She just wished the cat could read her mind.
Dag, it appeared, didn’t need to. On this, at least, they seemed to be of one mind: stomp this kuppe drek into next week, then have cookies and milk.
It didn’t quite happen that way, though, because the minute Dag laid a hand on the tech, the guy gave a high-pitched shriek, his eyes rolled back into his head, and he wilted like a debutante in a whorehouse. He collapsed into a heap, held off the floor only by Dag’s claws fisted in the front of his jumpsuit.
Then, of course, Dag let go, and the tech and the floor got much better acquainted.
Kylie stared for a moment, half expecting the guy to jump back to his feet, grin and quip, “Just kidding!” and get right back to the fight. Didn’t happen, though. He stayed unconscious, and Dag continued to look as if he’d just bitten into a knish filled with rancid earthworms.
Cautiously, she eased a few steps forward and peered around the Guardian to the limp figure at his feet. “Uh, not to be a kibitzer, but any idea what just happened here?”
Dag sneered down at the tech and clicked his talons together in a gesture of frustrated violence. “This one is no nocturnis. Just a filthy pawn in their games.”
Kylie blinked at that assessment and quirked an eyebrow. “Really? So he tried to kill me just because he doesn’t like to work on Thursdays? That seems a bit of an overreaction.”
“The attack came from the Order, but they used an innocent to make it happen.” His gaze scanned the room and caught sight of the half-open window in the corner. “They must have been watching the house. When he opened the window, they seized the opportunity to cast a spell. They hexed him, bringing his mind under their control and commanding him to kill you. And they nearly succeeded.”
“They can do that?” Even Kylie thought she sounded horrified, but that was nothing compared to how she felt inside. “If they can force any innocent bystander to take a shot at me, I’ll never be able to leave the house again. I won’t be able to trust anyone.”
“You can trust me.” Dag closed the window, then returned to loom over her, his expression solemn, but lacking the deliberate blankness he had shown her for the past week. “I have sworn to protect you. You can trust Knox, as well. As a Guardian, he too would be able to break the hold of the Order on one such as this and end the spell. And if your friend the witch has even half the talent of a trained Warden, you can trust her, too. She will recognize the danger and act accordingly.”
Kylie shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking about you. About them. Of course I can trust them. But what about the other techs? Maybe you were right. Maybe letting them inside was a bad idea.”
And didn’t admitting that chap her ass a little? Kylie hated to think that Dag’s paranoia had been closer to the mark than her own laissez-faire confidence. It would be a long time before she felt comfortable allowing another worker into her house. Maybe she could learn to view those cracks in the plaster as character features.
“No.” She could hear his reluctance to admit it, but he forced the word out nonetheless. “The system is a good addition to ensuring the security of the house and everyone in it, especially with the others coming. If these humans did not come to install it, others would have. It must be done, and none of the others were affected by the hex.”
“How can you be sure?”
He hesitated, and for a moment, Kylie almost thought he looked … sheepish?
“When I heard you scream, I became concerned for your safety, so I gathered the other three and left them bound in the empty room near the kitchen.”
“You tied them up and left them in my dining room? Dag, one of them is going to get free and call the cops on us!”
She hurried out of the room and headed in the direction of the Guardian’s captives only to have him stalk after her, shifting his form on the go.
“I made certain they were unconscious,” he protested. “I am not foolish.”
“Oh, so you knocked them out and left them tied up in my dining room. That’s going to make the police so much happier. Happy to add more charges, you shlemil.”
“I do not know the meaning of that word, but your tone indicates it was not complimentary.” He followed her into the dining room, but took her arm before she could rush over and unwrap the still figures from about three thousand feet of plastic-coated wire. “The humans are unharmed and will remember nothing when they regain consciousness. Do you think that in the thousands of years of our existence, Guardians have never had to deal with humans seeing us and jeopardizing our secrecy?”