Page 47

I can’t even remember Derek ever thanking me for anything. Not for making sure we had groceries or for leaving him small, unexpected presents.

I swallow past the emotion welling inside me. “You’re welcome, Rocky.”

His mouth twitches.

“Gabriel,” he reminds.

“Whatever.” I turn toward the hallway, then stop.

“Hey.”

He looks up.

“Yes?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

He studies me.

I lift one shoulder. “I mean, probably. Eventually. I can’t promise anything, but we’ve got ten weeks, right?”

“Yes.”

“So tomorrow we’ll try something else.”

He doesn’t answer immediately. Then he nods. “Tomorrow.”

I smile and head for the stairs.

I’m halfway up when I hear him call my name.

“April?”

I turn.

He’s standing at the bottom of the staircase. And he’s already changing. The gray is spreading across his hands. His shoulders are stiffening. His face is beginning to shift.

“Oh, crap.”

I hurry down the stairs.

“Wait! Hang on!”

But by the time I reach him, it’s too late. His wings emerge, his body twists. Then the transformation takes him.

Then he’s there. An ugly gargoyle literally sitting in the middle of my hallway.

“Well,” I say.

Indeed.

I put my hands on my hips. “That’s inconvenient.”

You have no idea.

“At least no critters can poop on you in here,” I say brightly.

Splendid.