Page 19 of Guardian of Shadows

Elle laughed, kissed his cheek, and returned her head to his shoulder. He would rather have her lips on his, but he wouldn’t rush her.

“Going back to Yari, I was only joking. If she does come at me with her sword, I’ll release my wings and fly out of her reach.”

“Now that’s a handy gift. I always wished I were a dragon so I could take to the sky. Since I wasn’t, I figured the next best thing was to train for the royal guard where I could be around them all the time.”

Anthony held his jealousy in check. Barely. “Do dragons have magic other than being able to shift?”

“Not that I’m aware of. You mentioned you have cousins who are witches. Do most Gargoyles have magic too?”

“Not really. Their mother is a witch, so they got their gifts from her. Some of us do have abilities, like my cousin Connor. All his life, he’s had visions of things yet to come. When he was around five or six, he was kidnapped and taken to Greece. That’s a country in the general direction we’re headed. At the time, he had never met the male who would turn out to be his mom’s mate, yet he was able to mind-speak with Dante and show him images of where he was being held. There were more kids who were also kidnapped, and one of them happened to be Connor’s mate. They were rescued, but since they were little, their parents took them home, and Connor only recently found Alyssa when he went to South Carolina after having a vision of wolf shifters being killed.” Anthony went on to tell her about Alyssa being a biologist, the GIA agent who followed her and Connor to Atlanta because he was certain Alyssa knew more about a sample of tissue she was tasked with studying, and how Connor saved the wolf pack.

“Our cousin Sebastian is now our King, having been passed the crown from his father. Bas is trying to gather leaders of other shifter species and form a council to spread the word that Agent Stallings is sniffing around. We don’t know if the agent told anyone else about the DNA samples, but if he did, there could be a witch hunt.”

Elle leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. “Why would they hunt witches and not shifters?”

“I forget you don’t know all the idioms. Back in the late 1600s, women who had gifts were condemned as witches because the people of their villages considered them heretics. Devil worshippers or some shit. These women were healers who did nothing wrong. Nowadays, whenever someone is being targeted for being different, it’s referred to as a witch hunt.”

“So, I should be careful who I toss fireballs at. Got it,” Elle teased, and Anthony tugged on one of her many braids.

“How long does it take you to get your hair like this?”

“About an hour if I don’t use magic.” Elle waved her hand around her head, and her hair was unbraided, flowing down her back.

“Damn, woman. Can you cook the same way? Like, if I asked for a steak and baked potato, it would appear before me?”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Only if the meat and potatoes were available. I can’t conjure items out of nowhere, but I can move things I can see. It’s basically moving energy from one place to another.”

Anthony ran his finger through the fine, blonde strands. “I love your hair down, but when it’s braided the way you had it, you look like the badass you are.” Elle twirled her hand again, and the braids were back. “I wish Tabitha could do that, then it wouldn’t take her forever to get ready when we’re going somewhere.”

“You said she’s your twin. Does she look like you?”

“Not so much. Her hair is brighter red like our mother’s, and her eyes change from green to blue depending on what she’s wearing. My dad has dark hair, but I got his blue eyes. Hang on.” Anthony set his beer down on the side table, leaned forward, holding onto Elle so she didn’t fall off his lap, and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. He wrapped both arms around her so he could tap on his phone. “These are my parents, Gregor and Tessa. Dad calls her Red, and she calls him Stone, which isn’t that original, but it stems from when they first met.”

“No wonder you’re so handsome. Look at them. Is this when they were younger?”

“Nope. That was taken last time I visited.” Anthony scrolled to the next photo. “See, this is them with our younger brother, Andy. I forgot to tell you Gargoyles stop aging when they’re in their thirties or early forties. My dad is a few years shy of six hundred. We can live to be a thousand unless we decide we’re ready to cross over to wherever Goyles go when they die. Granted our females are susceptible to human diseases for some reason, but most live as long as their mates.”

“That’s wonderful. Fae are long-lived as well. We can live a few thousand years, whereas the dragons can live twenty times that. I’m not sure I would want to.”

“Yeah, but imagine all the changes you would see.”

“That may be true here on Earth, but Evyndral never really changes. At least it didn’t when I was there. I can’t wait to talk to Yari and find out what happened after the battle.”

They spent the rest of the flight talking about their lives. Anthony explained about being a private investigator and the jobs where he was hired as protection. He told her about Gregor’s brothers and cousins and all the trouble they had when getting their mates. Celeste came out of the cockpit a few hours into the trip and fixed them a big lunch. She asked Elle questions while Tony had his mouth full. The female had that maternal instinct all the mates possessed, showering Elle with warmth and hugs. He had no doubt she and Cruz had listened to their conversations, but they weren’t talking about anything private.

The closer they got to Norway, the more excited Elle became. She removed her bag from the overhead bin and excused herself to the bedroom. When she returned, she wore a flowing, bluish-gray dress. Her braids were even more elaborate, and her face sparkled as if it was covered in a thin coating of glitter. His mate was otherworldly. Since Elle was from a different realm, that made sense, but he had never encountered someone as striking.

“Should I have dressed up?” Anthony was in his usual black T-shirt and jeans he wore unless he was on a job that required something less casual.

Elle cupped his cheek. “You’re perfect. I just wanted Yari to see the younger sister I was before I was taken to Winterhaven.”

Anthony took Elle’s hand and placed a kiss to her palm. “Where did you get the dress?”

“From a thrift store. The one I was wearing when we came through the portal was old and drab, so on the first trip Grevolus allowed me to make solo, I found this secondhand shop that had vintage dresses. I keep it hidden in my duffel so he won’t find it. I can magic the wrinkles out.” Elle shrugged like it was no big deal.

“I’ll buy you as many dresses as you’d like,” he offered.

“That’s really sweet but not necessary. It’s not like I have anywhere to wear it. I thought it would be nice to remind Yari of home.” Anthony didn’t miss the wistfulness in Elle’s voice. He couldn’t imagine a world without all the luxuries of Earth like indoor plumbing, electricity, and vehicles. Maybe she preferred the simpler life.

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