Darkness Revealed (Guardians of Eternity #4)(62)

“My thought exactly.”

Anna lifted her hand to lightly touch the signet ring that dangled on the chain around her neck. Cezar had promised that she could find him anywhere with the ring, but unfortunately it didn’t include an intercom system. Even if it did, she wasn’t about to stir up her dangerous powers for any reason. The next time she might toss herself to Mars instead of the middle of nowhere.

Glancing around the vast emptiness, Anna heaved a sigh. She had spent enough time over the years living in various places around the Midwest to realize that they were probably miles from the nearest town. “Then it looks like we need to find a friendly farmer who will let us use his phone.”

“Ummm…” Levet rubbed one of his horns. “Actually I need to find a place to hide.”

“Can Morgana find us?”

He shrugged, glancing toward the pinkish glow on the edge of the horizon.

“I don’t know, but the sun will soon rise.”

“Will it harm you?”

“I am a gargoyle, Anna,” he said, as if she were particularly dimwitted. “When the rays of the sun touch my skin I will turn to my statue form.”

“Ah.” Feeling like an idiot, Anna once again surveyed their surroundings, finding nothing but the dilapidated house and barn. “What about that barn?” she suggested.

The gossamer wings gave a sharp flap. “A barn? Do I look like a cow?”

“Fine.” She slapped her hands on her hips. “Then you find a place.”

Turning a full circle, Levet muttered beneath his breath. “I suppose the barn will have to do.”

“Then let’s go.”

Together they stumbled across the rough field, Anna’s aching body protesting each step. Being blasted out of a portal was obviously something to be avoided.

Tripping over a loose clump of soil, Anna moaned as she forced herself upright.

Yeah, definitely to be avoided.

Levet’s small hand reached up to tug on her sweatshirt. “Anna, we must hurry.”

With a weary smile, she grabbed his cold fingers in her hand and tugged him through a gap in the sagging fence. From there it was a battle with the horseweed and blackberry brambles that had taken over the yard.

At last they managed to reach the door of the barn that was thankfully intact, and pulling it open she led the weary gargoyle across the dusty floor into the shadows of the far corner.

The barn was nearly empty. There were a few rusting farm implements scattered about the floor, and a pile of old newspapers that were being slowly nibbled to bits by mice. Whoever had once called this remote farm home had long ago left for greener pastures.

“Here,” she murmured, pushing aside a forgotten bale of hay to tuck him into a narrow stall.

The gargoyle would at least be hidden from casual sight, although if someone actually searched the barn he would be easily spotted.

Where were all those freaking vampire tunnels when you needed them?

On the point of finding her own hiding place, Anna was halted when Levet grasped the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

“Anna.”

“Yes?”

“Once the sun rises I will not be able to help you. If something comes you must run.” Loosening his grip he reached for a stray nail that had been left in the stall and scratched through the dirt. “This is Darcy’s number. Call her as soon as you can find a phone.”

Her brows snapped together. “I won’t leave you, Levet.”

“You must. Nothing can hurt me while I am in statue form.”

Anna blinked. That seemed like a handy little trick to have up his sleeve.

Especially if Morgana decided for an encore performance.

“Nothing at all?”

Without answering, Levet glanced toward the narrow window that was blooming with a pale pink wash of dawn.

“Anna, I am sorry.”

She stumbled backward as the tiny body began to glow and then hardened into unrelenting stone before her very eyes.

“Damn.”

Maybe she should be used to the strange and the wacky. God knew that there had been enough of it over the past few days. Hell, there’d been enough of it over the past two centuries.

But the sight of the gargoyle altering from a living being to a chunk of granite was above and beyond what she was prepared to watch.

Bolting out of the stall, she paused to shove the hay bale across the opening before moving across the barn and climbing the narrow stairs to the hayloft.

The beams were low enough that it was easier to crawl on her hands and knees than to risk whacking her head, and thankfully the loft was empty of everything but a few stray wisps of straw. Taking care to test the warped boards before putting her full weight on them, she inched her way to the back of the loft and pushed open the small door that offered a view of the surrounding countryside.

From here she should be able to keep watch for anyone approaching. Friend or foe.

What the crap she intended to do if something attacked the barn was an entirely different matter.

Chapter 15

Anna knew at once she was in one of those dreams that wasn’t really a dream.

For one thing, she didn’t remember ever falling asleep. One minute she had been keeping a vigilant watch out for the bad guys and the next she was tumbling through a black void that seemed to devour her.

Besides, her sense of awareness was too clear, her surroundings too crisp and vivid for the regular run-of-the-mill nightmare.