Capture the Crown (Gargoyle Queen #1) -Jennifer Estep Page 0,157

to keep going until I killed Milo, and then Wexel, and finally Maeven, but she was right. I had used up most of my magic, and I was barely standing. I didn’t have enough power left to block her lightning. So as much as I hated it, I stopped and looked at Milo again.

Wexel had gotten the crown prince up onto the strix, and he had mounted another creature. They were the only two Mortans left alive, although it seemed as though all the strixes had survived. Silence dropped over the plaza, and no one moved.

“Let this serve as a warning to Morta!” I yelled, although my voice was more of a hoarse, broken rasp than a strong, commanding tone. “If you, Milo Morricone, set one foot in Andvari ever again, then I will kill you! And all who are with you! Is that understood?”

Somehow, the silence grew quieter, tenser, and even the injured seemed to stifle their moans.

“Is that understood?” I yelled again, louder than before.

Milo glared at me, hate boiling in his eyes. Beside him, Wexel’s face was equally red and angry. Milo opened his mouth, probably to spew curses at me, but a smooth, silky voice cut him off.

“Understood,” Maeven called out.

I stared at the Morricone queen. To my surprise, a satisfied smile slowly spread across her face. Why was the bitch smiling? I had escaped her clutches and beaten back her son. She should be trying to murder me, not grinning like I’d done her some wonderful favor.

Maeven respectfully tipped her head to me. “Well done, Gemma. All hail the new gargoyle queen.”

My frown deepened. Why would she call me that?

Maeven made a sharp motion with her hand. Wexel nodded back at her, and his and Milo’s strixes shot up into the sky, along with the creatures the dead Mortans had been riding. Delmira stared at me, her face pale, but her strix also shot up into the sky. The three guards followed her, along with Maeven. That left Leonidas and Lyra alone on the refinery roof.

A small smile flickered across his bruised, battered face. I always knew you were magnificent.

Despite the distance between us, I could hear the ring of truth in his words, and I couldn’t stop the spurt of pleasure that filled my heart.

Now your people know it too. They will never call you Glitzma again.

I glanced around. He was right. Everyone in the plaza was staring at me with a mix of awe and wonder—and a touch of fear.

I looked back at Leonidas, not sure what thought to send to him. High above, a strix screamed out a warning cry. Somehow, I knew that it was Maeven’s creature and her way of ordering her son to leave. Leonidas’s dark amethyst gaze locked with mine again. Then Lyra flapped her wings, and the two of them sailed into the sky.

Leonidas Morricone might be gone, but he would never be far from my thoughts—for better or worse.

* * *

I stared up into the bright blue autumn sky, but the strixes quickly climbed the mountain and vanished over the peak. The Mortans were gone—for now.

Once I was sure they weren’t coming back, I limped across the plaza. The miners, merchants, and shoppers were slowly climbing to their feet, as well as checking on the injured, but I staggered over to the broken fountain.

Reiko had propped herself up against the base, and Grimley was lying beside her. I crouched next to my friend, who had shifted back into her human form. Blood stained the side of her purple tunic, but she gave me a pain-filled smile.

“It looks worse than it is,” Reiko replied. “I’ll be fine after a round or two of healing.”

One knot of tension in my chest loosened. I looked at the gargoyle. “Grims?”

“I’m okay,” he rumbled. “Just a little sore and scorched, but I’ll be fine.”

The other knot loosened, and I sat down in between them. Reiko leaned her shoulder against mine, while Grimley shuffled over and put his head in my lap. I scratched right in between his horns, just as he liked.

Five minutes later, Reiko, Grimley, and I were still sitting by the fountain when a familiar figure dropped to a knee in front of me.

Topacia stared at me with wide eyes. “Gemma! Are you okay?”

“More or less.”

Topacia turned to Javier, the bone master, who was standing beside her. “Heal Princess Gemma at once!”

Javier stepped forward, but I waved him off. “I’m not hurt as badly as others are. Take care