Why would I do that, anyway? I mean, I get why I changed to stone—I’m assuming some latent impulse deep inside me came forward in an effort to stop me from dying. Is it really so far-fetched, considering I recently learned my dad was a warlock? But why did I stay stone for so long? Why didn’t I come back to Jaxon the first chance I got?
I rack my brain, trying to come up with the answer, but there’s still nothing there but a blank and empty chasm where my memories should be.
It’s my turn to clench my fists, and as I do, my battered fingers start to throb. I glance down at them and wonder how I made such a mess of myself. It looks like I clawed my way through stone to get here. Then again, maybe I did. Or maybe I did something even worse. I don’t know. That’s the problem: I just don’t know. Anything.
I don’t know what I did for the last four months.
I don’t know how it was possible for me to change into a gargoyle—or how it was possible for me to change back into a human.
And, I realize with a dawning horror that chills my very soul, I don’t know the answer to the most important question of all.
I swing around to stare at my uncle. “What happened to Hudson?”
6
Vampire Roulette
Isn’t the Same
Without the Blood
Uncle Finn seems to age right in front of me, eyes going dim and shoulders slumping in what looks an awful lot like defeat. “We really don’t know,” he says. “One second, Hudson was trying to kill Jaxon, and the next—”
“He was gone. And so were you.” Jaxon’s hand tightens reflexively on mine.
“She wasn’t gone,” Uncle Finn corrects. “She was just out of reach for a while.”
Once again, Jaxon looks unimpressed with his summation of events, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, he just looks at me and asks, “Do you really not remember any of it?”
I shrug. “I really don’t.”
“That’s so strange.” My uncle shakes his head. “We brought in every expert we could find on gargoyles. Every single one of them had conflicting stories and advice, but none of them even hinted that when you finally made it back, you wouldn’t remember where you’d been. Or what you’d become.” My uncle’s voice is low and, I’m sure, meant to be soothing, but every word he says just makes me more nervous.
“Do you think something’s wrong with me?” I ask nervously, looking between him and Jaxon.
“Nothing is wrong with you,” Jaxon snarls, and it’s as much a warning to Uncle Finn as it is a reassurance to me.
“Of course there isn’t,” Uncle Finn agrees. “Don’t even think that way. I’m just sorry we’re not more prepared to help you. We didn’t anticipate…this.”
“It’s not your fault. I just wish—” I break off as I run into that damn wall again. I push against it, but I can’t seem to get it to break.
“Don’t force it,” Jaxon tells me, and this time he gently wraps an arm around my shoulders.
It feels good—he feels good—and I let myself sink in to him even as fear and frustration continue to circle inside me. “I have to push,” I tell him, cuddling closer. “How else do we figure out where Hudson is?”
The heat is on, but I’m still freezing—I guess spending four months as stone will do that to a girl—and I run my hands up and down my arms in an effort to warm them.
Uncle Finn watches me for a few seconds, then mutters something under his breath as he waves a hand in the air. Moments later, a warm blanket settles around Jaxon and me.
“Better?” he asks.
“So much better. Thank you.” I clutch it close.
He settles back against the corner of his desk. “To be honest, Grace, we were both terrified he was with you. And just as terrified he wasn’t.”
His last words hang in the air like a heavy weight for several minutes.
“Maybe he was with me.” Just thinking about being trapped with Hudson has a huge lump taking up residence in the middle of my throat. I pause, force myself to swallow it down, before asking, “If he was with me, do you think… Did I bring him back with me? Is he here now?”
I glance between my uncle and Jaxon, and they both stare at me with what has to be intentionally blank faces. The sight turns my veins, my heart, my very soul to ice. Because as long as Hudson is running around, Jaxon isn’t safe. And neither is anyone else.
My stomach churns sickly as I rack my brain. This isn’t happening. Please tell me this isn’t happening. I can’t be responsible for letting Hudson loose again, can’t be responsible for bringing him back where he can terrorize everyone and raise an army made of born vampires and their sympathizers.