Love that would let me in and turn the tables on the Gargoyle God.
I mentally shot forward with the music, seeking a way into Gargo's soul; searching for any weakness. The music lifted, strings adding an eerie accompaniment until the drums slammed down, grounding them. With that dramatic beat thrumming through my blood, I forced my will into Gargo. Speared his thoughts with it and tried to claim his soul. He flinched and roared, but he didn't advance, only swept a hand out toward me.
But that was all he needed to do.
I hadn't been the only one on the attack; while I sang, our knights had rushed forward with their commanders. But with his one gesture, Gargo sent stone shooting out of the earth in a wide arc before him. It emerged beneath all of our feet, launching several knights into the air along with me. My flight was brief, stopped by the coils of a dragon tail. Verin lowered me to a solid piece of ground and roared back at Gargo before snaking forward to strike.
But we were all restricted by our concern for Slate. We needed to restrain Gargo but we had to do it without hurting the body he inhabited. It would be hard enough for Slate to heal the heart wound without having to worry about others. So, even though Verin may have been a good match for Gargo, his blows only enraged the God more.
Stone shifted, rocks flew, and Gargo took to the sky in my lover's altered body. Gage went after him, lion claws sheathed as his paws struck; battering instead of tearing. One of Gargo's wings hit Gage in the stomach and sent him tumbling through the air. Gage righted himself mid-tumble and streaked back. Meanwhile, Torin attempted to use his grounding Onyx magic to literally ground Gargo while Declan manifested bashing weapons to knock him out of the air. Banning had climbed onto Cer's back, and my bestie leapt for Gargo like a playful puppy, all three jaws snapping but without any attempt to bite. Because one bite could remove a limb.
Below the flying God, our knights gathered their own magical attacks and the air roiled with power. Magic collided, flaring in jewel tones and cracking like thunder. A sparking web wove over Gargo, forcing him to land. It put Gargo on the defensive, denying him any chance of retaliation, but with everyone pulling their blows, even our overwhelming assault didn't defeat him. Gargo was quick and vicious. Darcraxis had the most success with his water magic, encapsulating Gargo twice. But each time Darc leapt forward to stab the other God, Gargo would twist away in a burst of water droplets.
“What are all of you doing?” Gargo roared at the Gargoyles when he finally realized that he was fighting alone. “Attack them! Help me!”
The Gargoyles turned on their heels, marched back into the Zone, and shut the gates. Gargo roared in fury and started to go after his mutinous army but our knights ran into the space between and cut him off from both retreat and revenge. They lifted their hands and condensed their magic into a ward. With nothing to anchor it, the ward would have to be constantly fueled, but these were Shining Ones, and I had every confidence in their stamina.
While Gargo was snarling at our knights and slashing at their ward—sending up sparks and burning his talons—Banning leapt from one of Cer's heads and landed on Gargo's back. They rolled, glossy wings hiding most of their struggle, and when they came to a stop, Banning was on top. Bann had his hands dug into Gargo's shoulders, his knees on his back, and his fangs in Gargo's neck while Gargoyle wings flopped furiously, smacking Banning and the ground.
Gargo roared again and bucked my husband off. Banning grunted as he hit the ground but stood up quickly and shook it off, the starlight streaks in his blond hair catching the light. He licked the blood from his lips and grinned. As Gargo climbed to his feet, Cerberus sprung. Hellhound heads snarled and snapped in warning while massive paws held Gargo down. Gargo punched each head in rapid succession, the last shot sending Cerberus flying. My eyes widened at that; Gargo wasn't even a third of the size of the Hellhound. Cerberus hit the ground with a whimper.
But through it all, I kept singing. The words were sending me deep into Gargo's soul. Taking me beneath the skin he wore and leading me straight to the love Slate had forced his God to feel. When I found that love, I permeated it with my magic. I fed it my spell and used love in a way I never had before; as a manipulative tool. As a weapon. From inside, I could break Gargo like he had tried to break Slate. I would sing until his soul was under my control. I would—
My song broke suddenly as I fell into a ravine. I had lost touch with the battle, watching it absently as I focused on the epic conclusion of my song. And Gargo had used my distraction to attack me despite my hold on his heart. The earth opened beneath me and I tumbled into a void. As I fumbled for music, struggling to find a song to save me, something grabbed my ankle. My body jerked and coiled in upon itself with the abrupt stop. Then I was pulled upward.
I shoved my hair out of the way to get a look at my savior then stared in shock.
I had expected to see Gage or Verin or possibly even Cerberus. But it was Gargo who held me. His face twisted with an internal war
