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

send Jason
down for a cup once I find which wall Gregory just put him through.”
    Lillian made her
way from the kitchen and into the living room as she sipped from her cup.
Before she reached the stairs, there was another loud thump. Moments later, she
heard Jason cursing, which was a good sign. At least he was conscious, she
mused as she took the stairs two at a time. She turned right at the top of the
stairs and headed down the hall leading to her room.
    Her bedroom door
opened suddenly and Jason bolted out. He didn’t make it three feet before a
long, muscular arm shot out of the billowing darkness and latched onto her brother’s
shoulder.
    “Hey! I know
you’re pissed, but I warned you about zippers!” Jason screamed as he was
dragged backward into the room. The door slammed in Lillian’s face. She sipped
from her tea. There was another loud thump, then what sounded like a minor
scuffle. Something heavy landed against the door and she heard her brother
curse before it was cut off. He continued to make noise, but it was muffled.
    Lillian reached
for the handle, but the door sprang open of its own accord. She backed out of
the way just in time as her brother was propelled out with a good deal of
force. He stumbled into the opposite wall.
    She arched a
brow at the sight her brother made—only to realize he couldn’t see it with a
pair of boxer shorts over his head. Taking her time, she circled her brother
and then pulled the boxers off his head.
    She placed her
teacup down on a side table. “I assume it didn’t go so well?”
    He glared at her
when she smiled. He couldn’t do much else, not with the sock jammed in his
mouth like a gag and his arms trapped under what looked to be at least three
layers of polo shirts over top of his own clothes.
    She pulled the
gag from his mouth. “You okay?”
    “Your gargoyle
has anger management issues.”
    Lillian grabbed
the bottom of one shirt and pulled it up over his head while he disentangled
himself from the others. When he was standing in front of her with the clothes
he’d started with, she laughed.
    Her brother
glowered, obviously not finding the situation particularly funny.
    Between bouts of
laughter, she finally managed, “What happened?”
    “Gregory isn’t a
fan of modern fashion. Zippers in particular. I warned him to be careful with
the jeans zipper….guess he understands why now.” Jason made a grab at his
crotch as his face screwed up in mock pain.
    “You didn’t…”
    “Laugh? You bet.
In sympathy of course. Though it was his fault for going commando.” Jason
shrugged. “Unfortunately, I then might also have mentioned something about
sending you up to kiss it all better.”
    Another ominous
growl rolled out of the darkness behind her bedroom door.
    “Ah!” Jason
darted around behind Lillian, putting her firmly between him and the black mist
boiling out of her bedroom. “Think I’ve overstayed my welcome. Bye Sis.”
    Without so much
as a glance behind, Jason bolted for the stairs. His mop of unruly brown hair
stood straight up in a near gravity-defying way as he vaulted off the top
stair. He dropped out of sight and landed with a heavy thump before stampeding
down the rest of the flight.
    Gran yelled
something at Jason before the kitchen door slammed with its usual creak.
Lillian waited a moment more and then turned back to her room, boxer shorts and
shirts in hand.
    “Gregory?”
    Nothing.
    Bumping a hip
against the partially open door, she eased into the dark room and tried the
light switch on the wall. She flicked it a couple times—still nothing. Great.
    Her gargoyle was
beyond ‘pissed’ if his concealment spells had dampened the lights.
    “Gregory, love.
I know you can see in the dark, but I can’t.”
    A rumbling huff
echoed from three feet in front of her. Her searching fingers collided with
warm leathery skin, so soft it was suede like. A wing membrane? Then it pulled
out of her grasp as if he was turning away.
    The sound