Page 3 of Taken By the Gargoyle King

Even if Sera did survive by some miracle, she was not out of danger until I had located the traitorous viper that was behind this attempted coup. They had not succeeded yet, so Sera and myself, were in mortal peril until I’d wrung their murderous necks. For now, I was the King in my hearts-daughter’s stead, and I would remain so until she was hale, of age, and happily found her own consort to stand by her side and protect her from such dangers.

My human mate’s eyes were definitely moist when I described the death of my sister and the illness from which my heart-daughter was struggling to recover. I had gambled by stealing her from Aderia, but I knew right this instant that my gamble had paid off. She was soft and kind. She would heal Sera if she could, and all would be well.

My heart grew firm in my chest with resolve, and after, I would make certain that no one could ever come close to my female the way I had. She would be safe, protected, coddled. I would outfit her with the best lab she could ever desire, and I’d pleasure her so she would never want to leave my bed.

Of course, humans were always unpredictable. They could not sense a mate bond the way most species could, and Caitlyn seemed determined to challenge me. “Fine,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting up her dainty little chin. “I will come with you to heal your niece, but afterward, you take me back to my lab! And you better sponsor my research until I have my results. You’re making me lose valuable grant money.”

Oh, yes, I’d take her to her lab when this was all over. It just wouldn’t be the lab on Aderia. With a smirk stretching across my face and relief flooding my body, I said, “You have a deal.” She gave me the most suspicious glare I had ever received, but could clearly not find any fault with my words. I was tempted to snatch her back into my arms so I could seal our agreement with a kiss. The mutinous expression had me turn toward the ship’s controls instead.

Caitlyn had slept for most of our journey and we were fast approaching the planet. She might have thought we were still in Aderian airspace; she was wrong. I’d been a little worried when she stayed under as long as she had, but she did not seem to experience any ill effects now from the herbal blend I’d used to knock her out. An old family recipe that I would one day share with Sera, if the fates permitted it.

“Is that your planet?” Caitlyn asked, unable to sit still. She’d popped back up from the cot to hover at my shoulder and gaze at the viewscreens. The planet filled up most of the view now, lush green on one side where the jungles dominated, with a vast gray sea on the other, lined with the aeries and cliffs that our people lived at.

“Yes, that is Daudiras,” I agreed with her. Dark lay over the capital, allowing us to see the many lights that brightened it at night, and ribbons snaked away in the directions of other, smaller cities. The jungle was dark, uninhabited, save for one treetop enclave to the west. It was a beautiful, rich planet that drew many tourists as well as offering valuable trade to export. A jewel of the Tarkan empire, my jewel, and hopefully, one day it would be Sera’s to rule and guide. And, for the first time since the deaths in my family, I felt the first tingle of love and excitement for my planet again. I wanted to show all the beautiful, good parts to the female sitting next to me. I wanted her to fall in love with Daudiras like I had.

“Oh, it’s so beautiful!” Caitlyn sighed, echoing my sentimental thoughts and making my chest sing with pleasure. Yeah, it really was. I turned to look at her, catching sight of the eager expression on her face and the sparkle in her eyes. So was she, a beautiful, clever female with a kind heart. I was lucky to have found her, to discover she was the target of my desperate quest.

An alarm started beeping only seconds before the small spacecraft rocked and trembled. I threw myself on my mate without thinking, certain that the ship was just hit with a missile from down on the planet, or maybe from another ship in orbit with us. It shouldn’t have happened, it shouldn’t be possible at all, but there was no mistaking it.

When the turbulence subsided, I realized I’d curled my wings and body entirely around the seat Caitlyn was in, cocooning her in all the safety I could offer. When I lifted my head to look at her, I saw that her eyes were huge in her pale face. “Did we just get shot at? I thought this was your planet? Why are they shooting at their interim king?” I did not appreciate the disparagement of my position, but I had bigger things to worry about than a bit of status.

More alarms were shrieking now and reports of the damage were scrolling across the viewscreens on the console. “This should not have happened,” I said, a snarl rattling from my chest in anger. “I am flying the right credentials for a simple trade mission. This must be the traitor, coming in for the final blow.” And I was going to kill them for this, their name would be smeared for all time as the failure, the betrayer. They were going to wish they were never born by the time I was done with them and their sympathizers.

Caitlyn was quiet as I gripped the piloting controls and forced our ship to head for the planet, our only hope for safety. We had to make a landing, or we’d end up blown to smithereens in space. They weren’t going to leave it at just one shot. Shields were failing already, and damage to the controls made the flying hard. One engine was down and when the damage caused a cascade of more failures, sparks rained on us from a panel above our heads. My wing protected my mate, and my tough skin protected me, but I still hissed in frustration.

“Iru, do you read me?” I snarled into my com as I fired the remaining thrusters with all the ship had to slow our rapid descent into the atmosphere. I was getting messages from the main spaceport flight control tower, demanding a response, warning me of my speed, and offering intercept aid. I could not respond to any of that, because the traitor could be waiting for it. I could not trust a single person, except Iru, and now Caitlyn. We were on our own.

“We’ve been shot at, coming in for an emergency landing. Iru, it’s going to be rough but I’ll be fine. Focus on Sera! I’ll be in time. I swear I’ll be in time.” My closest friend had not picked up his com, but the message would be there, waiting for him when he had a chance. I hoped that his lack of an answer did not mean he was dead, and that Sera was gone, just that he had to lie low with my heart-daughter to keep her safe.

I felt Caitlyn’s hand against my shoulder, saw the determined, grim expression on her face, and knew I had to do everything in my power to keep her from harm. As the ship crashed deep into Daudiras’ jungle, I wrapped her safely inside my wings and held her as metal tore and engines exploded around us.

Chapter 4

Caitlyn

I had never been in a crash before, and I did not want to experience it ever again. The noise of the ship breaking around us, or the free-falling feeling in my stomach, they were engraved on my brain. They were things I was certain would feature in my dreams for a long time to come, just like my abduction as a teenager had disrupted my sleep for years. Unlike then, I hadn’t gone through it alone this time though, and surprisingly, that made a difference.

Strong arms were warped around my middle, and a cocoon had formed around the rest of me in the form of big, leathery wings. I was cradled against a muscular chest, surrounded by a musky, masculine scent that hinted at home, at the lovage plants my mother used to grow. Kalzudaud, the King. My adrenaline filled body thought that his kingliness was exceptionally funny right now. I was in the arms of an actual king. How bizarre was that?

He groaned, his chest moving against mine as he inhaled with a shakiness that jerked me out of my near hysterical state to the here and now. He was hurt; I was sure of it, and it was because he’d shielded me from it all.

No longer was the ship spinning, sounds roaring as we plummeted to the ground. I could not recall the blow, the jolt, when we struck the planet, but we must have, because we were stationary now. “Kal?” I asked, stroking a clammy hand up his bare chest so I could locate his jaw in the darkness. I did not know if it was his wings that shut out all the light, or if it was truly dark around us. I just knew that I could not see anything.

Another groan preceded what had to be him, rousing to full awareness. I did not think I’d lost consciousness at any point during the crash, but he must have, and I worried what it meant for our survival. What kind of medical supplies could we get our hands on? If this was an assassination attempt like he suspected, we could not trust anyone to be on our side should they approach the crashed ship. I was suddenly struck with the urge to get out of there right now. What if they came back to finish the job?

“I’m up!” he growled, and I saw his eyes open above me. Two glowing pools of quicksilver with a cat-like pupil. He probably had great vision in the dark. “Caitlyn, are you hurt?” he demanded as soon as those eyes locked onto mine. Any remaining haziness faded in a heartbeat. Then his hands started roaming, stroking along my back, my shoulders, down my arms, and they would have continued down to cup my freaking butt if I hadn’t latched onto his wrists to stop him.

“I’m fine! Are you? Kal, what just happened?” I might regret it a teensy, tiny bit that I hadn’t let him touch my ass, but his worry flattered me. This was probably all kinds of silly, but I was starting to really like this guy, not in the least because of how much he cared about his niece. I was not above admitting that he was sexy either, and that seeing him so frantic for my safety was really nice. I felt coveted, cared for, and somehow, like I was no longer alone in this big, scary universe. But he was a king, and I had a lab and research to get back to when this was over; this was not the time for a fling.

“The traitor shot us out of the sky,” he said, answering my question with a hint of laughter in his voice that was entirely out of place. “Come, we must gather supplies and get out of here.” His wings opened from around me at those words and just enough light penetrated the space to allow me to see by.

The interior of the spaceship was a mess of broken panels, scorch marks, and debris. We were lying not on the floor, but what used to be a wall, and a hazy smoke was slowly filling the space around us. Kalzudaud rose to his feet next to me and carefully assisted me upright; not disoriented in the topsy-turvy space like I was.

I tried to scan him for any sign of injuries when he located a panel and yanked out a bag with emergency supplies. The darkness and the smoke did not help. I did not get a chance for a proper look until he’d shouldered open the warped and broken airlock and guided me outside. It was daylight, but the light was slowly fading and giant trees cast shadow over almost everything.

His dark gray skin did not make it easy to spot bruising or marks, but I was pretty sure that he had some scratches. Tarkan like he had a way of hardening their bodies when they prepared for a fight or danger. They called it their battle-form and he must have assumed it as we crashed, preventing him from getting badly injured. Then he twisted his head to glance at me and I caught a shadow along his jaw that curved around his head toward his ear, partially hidden behind his luscious black hair. That was the injury that had knocked him out.

“I need to check that,” I said to him, and gestured with my hand toward his head. His mouth quirked in a half-smile that had my heart rate shoot through the roof. What was it about this guy that made my libido kick into overdrive? I was sure he knew of the effect he had on me. Most alien species in the quadrant had unfairly good developed senses compared to my human ones.

---