swiftly in her defense.
It was big of him to try to protect her, Gwen thought, and she shot him a grateful look. She’d never thought of herself as the kind of person who wanted protection, but Henrik’s was offered without hesitation or expectation and it somehow made her feel like she mattered, not like she was worthless for needing it.
“I also did not consider such a result,” Robin said without blame. They swirled a hand over the dark pool and the surface rippled like a twitch of skin that had been irritated. “Our magic works so oddly here.”
Ansel returned from parking the car and went to stand next to Robin. “So...how do we clean it up? I’m guessing that Lysol doesn’t make a home product for this.”
Rez, still a unicorn, pranced forward with an arched neck, lifting his knees in an exaggerated parade step.
“Show off,” Gwen muttered under her breath, and she was rewarded with a stifled laugh from Henrik at her side.
“A little room,” Trey requested, and Gwen and Henrik shuffled over to the side with Ansel while Daniella closed her eyes and began to hum.
Gwen was not sure she would ever get used to their shifting. It was like Trey wrinkled in place, and then blurred, and then there was a dragon in the garage. He was a great, green, jewel-scaled dragon with wings that would fill the space if they weren’t folded tight against his back, and he slithered forward with as much drama and preening as Rez had, his long neck curved proudly.
Gwen found that her hand was in Henrik’s where they were crowded back together and it felt perfectly right. She’d rather have her little gryphon, she thought, than either of the other, showier knights.
Rez dipped his horn towards the puddle and Gwen could swear that it growled.
The tarry substance wriggled back from him like it was alive, the surface wrinkling. Then tendrils of black abruptly shot forward, towards Rez’s feet. Daniella’s song rose in volume and Trey opened a mouth full of teeth and shot brilliant white flame that harmlessly washed over his shieldmate and drove the darkness back, the surface shimmering like hot oil.
Gwen was sure the pool screamed then, but it wasn’t exactly audible. Henrik’s hand in hers tightened.
The evil tar tried to leap to the side towards Robin, who knelt unafraid at its edge. They raised a hand and muttered and the darkness howled in outrage and streamed in the other direction.
Rez pranced to meet it, and he was glowing again, brightly blue, which made Gwen realize that Heather had returned. Vesta, squirming under one arm, hampered the motions of her hands.
Daniella’s voice was like a bell in the acoustically poor garage, and Trey reared back for another burst of his un-burning flame.
The blackness sizzled at the edges and retreated, making several feints in all directions before it crawled, snarling, back up into the sword as Rez and Trey advanced on it.
Then it was gone, and the sword was as black as it had been when Gwen tossed it in the corner, silent and sullen. She let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.
Beside her, Henrik released her hand as if he’d only just realized he was holding it and Gwen felt bereft. She dared a swift glance at him and her heart squeezed at the sight of his miserable expression.
“Is it safe to touch?” Ansel wanted to know. “How about those boxes?”
Rez ran his horn over the tainted storage containers, but Gwen thought it was only a precaution; the blackness seemed to have retreated entirely.
The knights shifted back into their human forms and returned to their keys. Heather put Vesta on the floor again and the tiny dog raced around the garage several times until she crashed into Daniella’s legs and finally sat down to gnaw on her own tail anxiously.
Robin flew to the black sword and gave it a thoughtful touch. Gwen shivered to remember the feel of it in her hands. If it had done that while she was sparring with it...or when they were fighting the bleak at the turn of the year. She rubbed her hands together and wished she was still holding onto Henrik.
She felt a curious draft of air at her side and turned to find that Henrik had left through the open garage door and was walking down the long driveway towards the road. The others were all gathered around Robin, poking at the boxes and speculating about the magic.
She chewed