Title: Magic Of Gargoyles
Series: Gargoyle Guardian Chronicles
Author: Rebecca Chastain
Release Date: 20th October 2014
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Someone has kidnapped a nest of helpless baby gargoyles and is using them as pentagram focuses, devouring their magic—and their lives—for a horrific, illegal power boost. Swept into the dangerous underworld of black magic, earth elemental Mika Stillwater must cobble together her limited resources and skills to have a chance at being the hero the baby gargoyles desperately need. If she fails, the city will be at the mercy of the gargoyles’ murderers and their overwhelming destructive magic.
But pitting herself against powerful black-magic villains is proving just as deadly for Mika as for the gargoyles.
But pitting herself against powerful black-magic villains is proving just as deadly for Mika as for the gargoyles.
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EXCERPT
With
one last twist of a filament of earth magic, I fused together the delicate
seams of the quartz tube. Slumping forward, I braced my elbows on the table and
rested my cheekbones on my palms, cupping my weary eyes in darkness. Six down,
six finicky tubes to go. The specifications of this project taxed my
substantial skills with quartz magic, which was the point. This project would
launch my business and prove that even though I was only a midlevel earth
elemental, my quartz skills were equal to or better than more powerful
full-spectrum elementals. These fussy tubes would fund the down payment on the
lease for the shop I coveted in the Pinnacle Pentagon Center. I could finally
quit my demeaning job at Jones and Sons Quarry, be my own boss, and begin a career
creating one-of-a-kind quartz masterpieces I could take pride in.
My entire future rested on these
fragile vials, and they were due tomorrow at four.
Dull pain pounded my back
muscles. Night had crept over the city while I worked, and my jerky movements
as I stood and stretched were reflected in the semicircle of bay windows in
front of my worktable. Purple smears of exhaustion beneath my green eyes were
exaggerated in the dark windows, and my pale face floated above a dirt-smeared
navy shirt. I checked the clock: almost midnight. Sixteen hours until my
deadline, and eight of those would be taken up by my Jones and Sons workday.
There was no time for a break. If anything, I needed to work faster.
Groaning, I redid my ponytail,
tucking shorter wisps of strawberry-blond hair behind my ears before giving my
hard wooden chair the stink eye. Mentally chanting, Pinnacle Pentagon, to
motivate myself, I reached for another seed crystal.
Frantic tapping shook the glass
in the balcony door. I pulled the door open, knowing it was Kylie, my best
friend and the tenant who shared my second-floor apartment balcony. “I really
can’t talk. I need to finish—”
“Help! Help! They’ve got—”
Something small and hard slammed
into my stomach. I staggered backward into my chair and crashed to the floor. A
small boulder skipped across the wooden floor and smashed into the wall.
“You’re a human!”
I shrieked. The voice came from
inside my room. I twisted, scrambling onto my bed.
Against the wall, the rock
moved.
Beautiful blue dumortierite
quartz veined with green aventurine twisted into a winged panther no bigger
than a house cat. A pissed-off, solid-stone, magical, winged house cat. A
gargoyle—no, a baby gargoyle. A hatchling.
Her eyes glowed feverishly. Long
polished blue claws gouged into the floor when she launched into the air. Her
agile stone wings unfolded with a soft gritty sound.
I lurched backward across the
bed until I was pressed against the wall. The mattress shook when the hatchling
pounced on the space I’d just vacated. Sharp claws bunched in my yellow
bedspread. She raised her muzzle, mouth open, and sniffed the air.
I eased toward the foot of the
bed, readying my escape into the hallway.
“It’s you! Your magic smells so
good. I thought—”
My magic has a smell?
The gargoyle’s eyes darted to
the open door, then back to me. She arched her stone back and hissed at me, the
sound dying to a hair-raising growl. The tip of her stone tail slashed back and
forth, gouging my wooden headboard.
“I need help.”
“My help?” Gargoyles—even baby
gargoyles—didn’t interact with midlevel elementals like me, and they certainly
didn’t ask for our help. “There’s a full-spectrum elemental just—” I started to
point up the street but froze when she snarled at me.
“No other humans! Before it’s
too late.” The gargoyle’s words were smooth coming out of her rock throat, with
just a hint of a lisp from her tongue working around enormous teeth.
I stared into her glowing blue
eyes, seeing past the bared fangs and agitated movements, reading her fear for
the first time. I reached for her, then pulled my hand back when she shied from
me.
“Too late for what?”
“You can save him. Hurry!”
“Save him? Save who? If someone
is hurt, I can send for a healer.” Where were this gargoyle’s parents?
“No. I need you.” Large blue
eyes implored me. “Please!”
A thousand reasons I should find
someone else to help the gargoyle crowded my mind, but the hatchling’s urgency
was contagious. Someone was injured. I didn’t want to waste time arguing with her,
but was I really the best choice? I could work earth, but healing usually took
someone talented with all five elements.
“Are you sure you don’t want me
to get—” someone stronger? I started to ask, but she cut me off with another
sharp, “Please!”
Gargoyles were creatures without
guile, and this baby was obviously terrified for someone’s life. If she thought
I could help, I had to try. I took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s go.”
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