With a curse, I threw aside the bedcovers and pulled on clothes I left lying on the floor. I grabbed the crutch and hurried out of the room. The stitches across my stomach protested as I rushed down the hallway. As I’d feared, the commotion came from Sylvia’s room. A gang of gargoyles milled around the doorway, blocking the path to the door. I started weaving my way through. My stitches protested more. Through a crack in between two sets of massive shoulders, I saw the entire bed tremble as Rourke’s body shuddered.
“Help him!” Sylvia clung to a bedpost and tried to catch one of Rourke’s flailing hands.
Marilynn and six wizards stood at the foot of the bed. They sent a wave of magic onto Rourke. It sank into his body, but it did nothing to slow the shudders. He started mumbling incoherently. Marilynn said in defeat, “I don’t know what else to try.”
Deirdre grabbed her son’s hand and hung on. “Merlin, do what you must.”
“No!” I shoved past the last line of gargoyles, ignoring the shooting pain across my stomach. It was too late. Matt poured the vial down the gargoyle king’s throat.
“No!” My crutch went flying as I pitched into the room. Colin caught me before I fell on my face. He handed me the crutch. I took it. I hissed at Matt, “What have you done?”
“He’s out of time,” Matt said stoically.
Blue veins popped out along Rourke’s throat as the water of life entered his system. The shudders stopped. Calm reigned for several seconds. It stretched out into a minute.
“It’s working,” Grey murmured. He stood toward the head of the bed.
I bit my lip, hoping against hope that I’d been wrong.
Then, he coughed, and that hope died. More shudders rocked his body. Blood leaked out of his eyes. His face transformed. His forehead extended, fangs elongated, and the gargoyle came out. He let out a tremendous scream. It was the last sound he made before he collapsed back to the bed. This time his body stayed still.
Sylvia put a hand to her mouth. Her strong face ravaged with tears, she stared down at Rourke as if she couldn’t quite understand what had happened. And didn’t want to. Grey let go of me to walk to his mother. She turned into him and started sobbing.
Deirdre sank down against the wall. Her eyes dry yet devastated. Around us, the gargoyles transformed. All of them, including Colin and Deirdre. All except Grey. They let out a beast-like howl unlike anything I’d heard from an animal. The glass windows of the room cracked as if it had been made of tissue instead of thick panes. More howls sounded from the gym. They spread through woods as other animals picked up the call of mourning. It continued until the howl was all that could be heard under the waning moon.
I watched a star shoot across the sky.
The gargoyle king had passed.
Matt stared down at the still body, his amber gaze flickering with uncertainty. His shoulders drooped. I knew how much he’d been counting on this working for Rourke and for himself. For a second, I thought of going to him and offering support. Yesterday, I might have. Today, I couldn’t help but wonder if I knew him at all. He’d become so desperate to regain his magic he hadn’t hesitated to use Rourke’s broken body as a human experiment.
I left the room. I slipped through the gargoyles and found Gia just beyond them in the hall. She sat huddled on the floor against a wall. Her head down, her arms hugged her knees to her chest. Ignoring the pain under my bandages, I sat down beside her, my shoulder against hers. She lifted her head to look at me with dry reddened eyes. I put my arms around her shoulders and we huddled together.
She said, “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Why should I?” She gave a small hysterical laugh. “The world is going to end anyway.”
“Because you have to. Because we need you. Grey needs you.” Now more than ever. Until Grey transitioned, the gargoyles were leaderless. It was too soon to think about it. Rourke. Blake. Their silent faces pressed down on me. I leaned my head against Gia’s. “Because there will be a tomorrow.”
And as I said it, I wondered if I believed it or simply pretended. Or if that mattered.
It was nearly morning by the time I crawled back into bed. My body ached fiercely and I