“I can’t believe you’re kissing me in this state,” I said.
“You have looked worse,” Gabriel said, smiling.
“I find that difficult to believe,” I said.
There was a crack of thunder behind me and I twisted to look at the castle. Or rather, what remained of the castle. It was nothing more than a jumble of stone and mortar now, the broken spell spewing arcs of light into the night sky.
Beezle landed on my chest and examined my face. “How did you manage to make the whole castle fall down, huh, Maddy?”
“She killed my mother,” J.B. said from behind Gabriel.
I sat up more fully, nudged Gabriel aside so I could look at J.B. He had his hands in his pockets and was staring broodily at the remains of his family court.
“I did,” I said steadily. I wouldn’t offer any excuses.
“I knew that you would,” he said. “She wouldn’t stop trying to kill you.”
“I’m sorry that I’m unreasonable about that,” I said, a tad defensive. “But people keep trying to make it a question of them or me.”
“I’m not blaming you,” he said. There was no sorrow in his voice, and his eyes were dry. “I just knew that it would happen, sooner or later.”
“Well, the upside of Destructo-Girl’s actions is that the room full of spiders is destroyed, so we can cross that off our to-do list,” Beezle said.
“And we got Wade back,” I said.
“For which I am heartily grateful, Madeline Black,” said Wade.
He stood next to Samiel, wrapped in Gabriel’s overcoat. He looked a lot thinner than the last time I’d seen him. Exhaustion had etched his face in new lines, and his salt-and-pepper beard was ragged.
“What of the cubs?” Wade asked. “Did you find them as well?”
“Yes,” I said, and explained what had happened. “But we still don’t know how to…fix them.”
I looked at J.B., who turned away from the castle to face Wade. “We’re trying to find a way to heal them, but it’s difficult. We’ve only just determined that it’s their memories that have been taken from them.”
“Yes,” Wade said grimly. “That, I knew.”
“Why didn’t they take yours as well?” I asked.
“Amarantha and Focalor had some other intention for me. They would not reveal it. But they did force me to watch as they tore the first memories from our cubs.”
“What are they doing with the memories?” I asked.
“They’re selling them,” Wade said. “To vampires.”
“Selling them?” I said blankly. “Why?”
“Human sensation is like a drug to these creatures. They feed off it. When a vampire kills a human he experiences all the moments of that human’s life before death. Many vampires become addicted to the thrill of memory. But it is impractical to kill humans all the time.”
“It attracts too much attention,” I said.
“And depletes your food supply,” added Beezle.
“So Amarantha and Focalor decided to get together and sell memories to vampires? How did they come up with the technology for extracting the memories in the first place?” I asked.
Wade shook his head. “This I do not know. There is a third party in this game. Whoever that is presented the technology to Amarantha.”
“Awesome,” I said. “There’s an unknown factor running around.”
“Madeline,” Gabriel murmured. “I know that it is important to find the source of these problems, but do you not think we should return Wade to his pack? They have been grieving for their alpha.”
I rubbed my face, tired beyond comprehension. “Right. Return Wade to pack.”
“Jude is going to grind his teeth to dust when you bring Wade back,” Beezle predicted. “He didn’t believe you.”
“Believe what?” Wade asked.
“Maddy promised to bring you back,” Beezle said, landing on my shoulder as I got to my feet.
Wade grinned. “That is why I told Jude to go to her if I went missing. Madeline’s loyalty is her finest quality.”
My cheeks reddened as everyone looked at me. “Don’t we have somewhere to be?”
Gabriel touched my cheek. “You should not be embarrassed. Everyone here knows that you would fight to the death for them. It is why we put our own lives in peril when you ask. It is why the Grigori fear you, why Lucifer wants so badly to collect you.”
“Because she’s stubborn?” Beezle said. “I never really considered that a positive quality.”
That’s because when you want a doughnut and she says no, you know you’ll never get it, Samiel signed.
“I’m more stubborn that she is,” Beezle said. “If it’s one thing gargoyles know how to do, it’s outlast.”
“Ooookay,” I said, very uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. I didn’t want any more discussions of my qualities while I could hear them. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
I turned away in the direction of the portal, but not before I saw them all smile at one another, like they knew something I did not.
I crashed into bed when we finally got home. It was midday, but the sky looked like it was threatening snow so my bedroom was pleasantly dark. Gabriel kissed my cheek and then I conked out.
When I woke up I was painfully aware of the fact that I had slept unwashed and in my clothes. I rolled to my feet and wandered over to the window. Snow had fallen while I slept—a great deal of it. The rain barrel in my backyard was covered to about half its height, and the snow was still coming down. It looked like we were having a genuine Chicago blizzard.
I stripped out of my clothes and went for the bathroom, wondering vaguely where everyone was. The bathroom door opened just as I finished shampooing all the gunk out of my hair.
“Gabriel?” I called.
“Yes,” he said, and pulled aside the shower curtain.
He stepped inside, and I looked up at him. His eyes were burning.
“I’ve never taken a shower with anyone before,” I said, smoothing my hands over his shoulders.
“Neither have I,” he replied, and he kissed me. “But I think we can figure out what to do.”
“I think we need to burn those sheets,” I said as we got dressed in the bedroom a little while later. “We’ll never be able to get the spider goop out of them.”
Gabriel gave the sheets a critical look. “You may be correct. The spider ichor seems to be very… persistent.”
“And very smelly,” Beezle said as he flew into the bedroom and landed on the dresser.
I pulled my sweater over my head and glared at him. “Haven’t you ever heard of privacy?”
“That is a concept with which I am unfamiliar,” Beezle said.
“Newlyweds usually enjoy being alone,” I said pointedly.
“Gargoyles usually enjoy being fed in a timely manner,” he replied.
“Go bother Samiel,” I said.
“I’ve been bothering him all morning. It’s your turn,” Beezle said.
“Your cell phone is ringing,” Gabriel said, cutting in.
I kicked around in the pile of filthy clothes on the floor until I found my peacoat. The phone was in the inside pocket, and I had to very carefully unfold the jacket to get at it without getting dirty again.
I glanced at the caller ID. “What’s up, J.B.?”
“You need to get downtown as soon as you can,” he said, and there was suppressed excitement in his voice. “I think Chloe’s figured out a way to cure the victims, but I need your help first.”
“We’ll be there soon,” I promised, and clicked off.
I told the other two what J.B. said.
“We can go as soon as I get fed,” Beezle said.
“Why are you coming?”
