Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“What the hell happened?” Brandon asked.
“They know she’s here. Her protectors need to come,” Alexander said.
He sensed the rising panic rushing over them. There was no time to calm them down.
Layla had lost consciousness.
“Crazy Lizzie!” he yelled.
Brandon’s front door was slammed open, and the two gargoyle parents came rushing in.
“What did you do?” the female gargoyle asked.
“Layla was at the lake. She was upset.” Alexander glared at Brandon. “She had freaked out because she saw herself documented in a book and it confused her.”
Elle was whimpering. “She’s going to be okay, isn’t she?”
“How do they know about her?” Alexander asked, looking at the two gargoyles.
“Does anyone want to tell me what’s going on?” Brandon asked.
Alexander sensed his anger, his concern, and his need to protect his mate.
“A traitor,” Crazy Lizzie said, suddenly appearing.
She had some grass in her hair and it was poking out all over the place.
“They know who she is. They’re coming after her.”
The gargoyles growled but Alexander focused on the witch. “One of the elder witches got scared and told them what the five-pointed star was, or more importantly who.” Crazy Lizzie stepped toward Layla.
Alexander had already pulled out the spike that was embedded into her skin.
Crazy Lizzie smiled. “She will be fine. Look.”
He looked down at Layla and was shocked to see that her flesh was knitting together. It appeared like bolts of lightning coming together, drawing her skin, and healing, until right before his eyes, it was like there had never been a wound.
The moment she was healed, Layla gasped and sat straight up.
“What the hell is happening?”
“You’ve got to go to sleep.” Crazy Lizzie weaved her hand in front of Layla’s face, and the young woman fell into a deep sleep.
Alexander picked her up and carried her toward one of the sofas, getting her nice and comfortable before turning to the rest of the room.
“I think it’s time everyone learned the truth,” he said, looking at the gargoyles.
They hadn’t changed back to their human form.
“It’s not hard to do.” Crazy Lizzie rubbed her hands together and as if by magic, a sparkle of powder appeared, swirled around, and then she blew, sending it out toward the people it needed. The moment it worked, they all turned toward Layla.
Crazy Lizzie then turned toward him, and ran her hand across his face, where suddenly he got the full details of what happened.
He saw Layla’s two parents. The unexpected love that had blossomed between a warlock and a witch. Their love was short, sweet, but filled with joy and happiness. He saw their lives, which ended on that fateful night when Layla was born. Struck by lightning as the warlock and witch were attacked. They killed their enemies, but not without sustaining fatal blows.
The gargoyles had watched over them as they held their daughter. They shed tears of joy and pain on a night that should have been nothing short of peace. They had been dealt the ultimate sacrifice.
Blood had stained their daughter as they held her, and they handed Layla to the gargoyles with only one demand—to keep her safe. They should love her, and be sure she knows she has two parents who would give their lives for her.
The gargoyles had taken Layla, and the witch and warlock had died at the same time, holding one another. The gargoyles had traveled with Crazy Lizzie to the Northern Forest Pack, where Brandon’s father had been told the truth of what happened. There, Layla’s life was planned. The gargoyles pretended to be her parents, taking on the persona of their master and mistress, giving her the life they wanted for her.
Alexander saw it all, as well as the five-pointed star that decorated her hip. Coming out of the trance, he looked at Brandon.
“My father never told me,” Brandon said.
“Layla is one of the most powerful women in the world, of all time,” Crazy Lizzie said.
“She used that magic tonight,” Alexander said. “She used the lake to kill the creature that nearly took her life.”
Crazy Lizzie nodded. “I have removed all evidence and the lake has settled back into its resting place.”
“Does her presence pose a threat to my pack?” Brandon asked, to which the two gargoyles growled.
“The only reason your pack is safe is because of Layla!”
“They’re right,” Crazy Lizzie said. “The magic that is used to shelter your pack is because of Layla’s presence. Her parents—her real parents—held a lot of respect and were owed a lot of favors. Everyone who owed them helped to preserve their daughter. Your father understood what was at stake.”
“Then how is it Elle was part of this fucking prophecy?” Brandon asked.
“Because they’re intricate,” Alexander said. “Elle was part of you, and with the enthrallment, you weren’t finding that bond. Sometimes prophecies have a way of connecting.”
Crazy Lizzie clapped her hands and whooped. “Fifty points for the vampire.”