Claimed by Shadow Page 0,29
very depressed about missing her turn.
The gargoyles had stopped the attack once their leader was safe, but were eyeing the Graeae with understandable concern. Several of those nearby were starting to check on their fallen comrades, with one pulling Donkey Ears away. His hairnet had come loose, but at least he was starting to come around. I hoped he'd recover, but the only thing I could do for him was to be sure we didn't cause any more harm. I reached under the table and pulled Casanova out by his fancy tie. "Explain to them that we'll be leaving now.”
"We bloody well won't!" Pritkin crawled out, looking like a madman with his bloodstained clothes and matted hair. He scowled about until he located the female gargoyle Enyo had released. "We aren't going anywhere until she removes the geis!”
"Miranda!" Casanova called in a strangled voice, and I realized I might be holding the tie a bit too tight.
The gargoyle came over, but although it was hard to read her fur-covered face, her body language didn't look cooperative. If someone can walk sullenly, she managed it. She poked Pritkin in the stomach, maybe because she couldn't reach his chest. "You well. We sssafe. Good trade." He tried to grab her but she dodged his hands with a fluid movement that seemed impossible unless she'd dislocated something.
Maybe she had, because her ears went back and she hissed at him, showing off a very nonfeline forked tongue. She crossed her arms and took a wide-legged stance behind Casanova, her long tail whipping about behind her.
"I do not deal with Fey affairs," Pritkin said haughtily, as if such a thing was beneath him. "It is of no concern to me whether you are here legally or not. You have nothing to fear. Now, take it off!”
"What's going on?" I asked Casanova, who was straightening his tie. He gave me a less-than-friendly look, which I guess was fair under the circumstances.
"In exchange for healing him, Miranda put a geis on him not to reveal their existence to anyone. If the Circle finds out they're here, they'll be deported.”
"Is that all?" I turned narrowed eyes on Pritkin, who didn't notice because all his attention was on Miranda. Considering the whopping geis I was carrying, I didn't have a lot of sympathy for his tiny one. "If you're not planning to tell on them anyway, what difference does it make? Let's go. Those mages could be back any minute.”
"I'm not going anywhere until she removes it," he repeated stubbornly. The tone made me want to kick him. Instead, I prodded Casanova, who rolled his eyes.
"Miranda-" he began in a long-suffering voice, but she set her jaw. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to.
"Damn it, Pritkin!" I said angrily. "I'm not standing here until the Circle sends someone else after us. You want to talk, fine. Let's go talk. Otherwise, I'm out of here.”
"There's an idea," Casanova said brightly. "I'll call you a car.”
Billy Joe came streaming through the door and got swatted at by half a dozen gargoyles on his way over. Normally, I'd have been surprised that they could see him, but after the day I'd had I didn't even blink. "He's with me," I told Miranda, who nonetheless began hissing at Casanova in the strange language the gargoyles used. She had obviously had enough unwanted visitors for one day.
"Ixnay on the car," Billy said, looking worried. "Is there an exit that bypasses the front, back and side doors? 'Cause they're all being watched.”
"By who?" Now what was wrong?
"Oh, I don't know," Billy replied sarcastically. "Whose mages did you just beat the crap out of? The Circle knows you're here, and they're out there in force. There's gotta be two, three dozen-I stopped counting. The trio we met in the bar was their advance crew, their way of asking you to come along nicely. But considering the way you returned 'em, I don't think they're interested in negotiating anymore.”
"They attacked first," I said defensively, then paused to wonder whether that was strictly true. I hadn't seen what happened in the bar between the time I left and when Casanova and I tuned in to find Enyo throwing down with the mages. If Pritkin hadn't been with them, then they'd walked into a mess not of their own making. No wonder they hadn't been in a good mood when they met us again.
"It doesn't matter," Pritkin said, almost like he'd been reading my mind. "They want