Sorceress Rising (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 2) by Lisa Blackwood

intimacy.
    Her presence
also grounded him and reminded him of his purpose, which he’d nearly forgotten
with the first flush of power from the Spirit Realm, and its seductive soul
call. A distraction of such magnitude could have had dire consequences if the
magic had slipped his control.
    With regret
he turned his attention away from his other half, for grounding and locking the
magic into a stable defensive spell was of the utmost importance. Stray magic
of the strength he was summoning could do extreme damage in the Mortal Realm. A
silent thread of understanding reverberated between them. And then with a
silent apology to Lillian, he turned his attention back to the task at hand,
and continued weaving the spell. “Beloved, I must finish what I’ve started. You
may stay and watch or return to your own body when you wish.”
    Lillian gave the
equivalent of a mental nod. “I will return to my own body and be another set
of eyes to guard us while you work.”
    With Gregory’s
consciousness tied up with the complexities of the spell craft, Lillian found
her own mind still lodged firmly in his body. Her perception shifted again, her
field of vision skewed strangely. This time, she was looking down upon herself,
where she slumped against Gregory’s legs, her body still and seemingly
unconscious.
    Surprise,
bordering on sickening panic, kicked her heart into gear.
    Moments later
her brain caught up with her panicked instincts. Her body wasn’t dead. She
could still see her chest rising and falling in a slow, deep rhythm. And this
strange mind link with her gargoyle, while intense, wasn’t a first. She’d
merged with Gregory like this once before. This time was just a little deeper,
and he seemed to be leaving her in control of his body. It was a great act of trust.
One she didn’t want him to regret.
    Last time, no
harm had befallen her physical body. There was no reason this time would be any
different. She’d merely have to figure out how to get back to her own body
without his help. Closing her eyes, in part to help her concentrate, but also
to block out the strange orientation of Gregory’s gargoyle vision, she drew in
a steadying breath.
    She focused on
calming her abnormal heartbeat—make that Gregory’s abnormal heartbeat. When
she’d persuaded it into a more normal rhythm, she turned her attention toward
disengaging her mind from Gregory’s body.
    With another
deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked up. Seeing through Gregory’s eyes
wasn’t quite so odd the second time. He merely saw in greater detail and a more
panoramic manner, a gift of his large and slightly side-set eyes.
    A bit of
movement to her left had her glancing over her shoulder. She tracked an owl
making its not so silent way through the forest. The slight change in stance
shifted her weight in ways she hadn’t expected. The small move almost pulled
her over backwards, and she realized belatedly just how much mass was contained
in Gregory’s wings.
    Some less than
elegant arm windmilling saved her from a nasty fall. Balance restored, she
glanced back down at her own body where it was slumping to the side, but still
in contact with Gregory’s left leg.
    It reminded her
of the last time they’d been merged like this, the link had been severed when
the physical connection was broken. Reaching down, she gave her shoulder a
gentle shove.
    And with a
slight feeling of vertigo, which made her stomach lurch, she was suddenly back
in her own body. Otherwise it was a physically easy transition, though there
was a growing pang of loss. It was as Gregory had once said. One soul now in
two bodies left a definite feeling of incompleteness.
    Lillian shivered
from both physical and emotional cold.
    She was still
recovering when the excited baying of a hound reached her ears.

C hapter Seven
     
    Lillian lunged
to her feet. A wave of dizziness struck her hard, sending her stumbling
sideways until she slammed into a tree trunk. She shook her head and