The Glass Gargoyle (The Lost Ancients Book 1) by Marie Andreas Page A

harassed here—” He cut off as he heard something. He must have better ears than me. It took me a few seconds to even hear a buzz, a full minute before I heard what made him so pale— faeries. Faeries singing. And unless I was mis-hearing, that lovely horrifically off-pitch tune was being carried by my own three bundles of mischief.
    “Damn it.” He looked around frantically, clearly debating his options. Finally he stopped and pulled me up against his chest. Even with the oversized clothing, there was no denying he was a fit specimen. “Don’t forget who got you out.” He looked down the road, trying to see where the singing was coming from. It was clearly getting closer. “This isn’t over,” he hissed next to my ear. An instant later he vanished.
    There was no way to tell if his parting words were a threat or promise, but I decided for the moment I didn’t care. And that a certain trio of badly singing faeries was quite possibly the best sound I’d ever heard.
    It sounded like the faeries were with someone on the ground, otherwise they would have already been here. Most likely Harlan.
    I was almost to the cross street where the singing was coming from, when the faeries suddenly shut up. An instant later the singing was replaced by war cries. The sound wasn’t that different to the untrained ear, but extremely noticeable to anyone who knew faeries.
    I had a feeling they’d found Alric, costume or no. Most people didn’t know, but faeries had excellent olfactory systems. Better than most hunting dogs. They didn’t want to ruin the mystique of being able to find people, so they never told anyone. I’d found out about it the hard way by bringing home some pickled herring one day.
    Although the faeries had taken off in a different direction, heavy footsteps were still coming my way. I paused. The louder tread would be Harlan, my guess on the faeries escort was right. But at least three other lighter footfalls were with him. Were the guards bringing him in too? He’d been there during my argument with Nirtha.
    A jolt of fear shot through my stomach and I thought about jumping in the bushes. Luckily, before I could bolt, Harlan and three of his cronies came into view.
    Seeing who he had with him made me re-entertain the bolting option. The three were old-school diggers. And three of the biggest busybodies in town. Aside from Harlan. The four together could not be a good thing.
    “Taryn!” Harlan’s booming voice hit a second before his hug did. “I was in fear we would have to storm the prison to free you.”
    I patted his back and tried to push away. Unfortunately fur was hard to get traction against. Finally, he took my gasping as a plea to be released.
    “I’m fine. How did you know where I was?” I cautiously nodded to the other three. There was no way I was talking about any of my current issues within a five block radius of them. “And where did the faeries go?”
    “Rumors spread fast when you know what to listen for. You weren’t home last night so I kept an ear out,” he said. “As for the girls, they saw prey of some kind. Most likely a rat or weasel.”
    I smiled at that. Very appropriate even if inaccurate.
    “But they’ll find us later.” Harlan neatly spun me down an adjoining alley. “They always do. First we have a proposition, one that you are uniquely suited for.”
    I sighed at the gleam in his eye. It never boded well for me if he let that gleam make an appearance. “What now, Harlan? I’m glad you rallied the troops to get me out, but I’ve had a really bad few days. I just want to go back to my place and get some sleep.”
    “No, no, that won’t do. You see the vandals who killed your odiferous landlady also did some re-designing of your abode.” He raised a hand at my gasp. “Not to worry, I have my wives over there returning things to normal. Should be ship shape in a few hours.” The smile that joined the gleam was extremely bad for me. He was up to something I