Page 55 of Guardian of Shadows

Nekoma, who kept glancing at Luna, asked, “Why not say what you mean then?”

It was Tabitha who answered. “Because the English language isn’t hard enough already. We have words that sound the same but have different definitions, like there. Spelled one way, it indicates where. Where is my brother? He’s over there. Spelled another, it is the possessive form of whose. Whose house is this? It’s their house. And then you have the contraction of they are. They’re a lovely couple.”

“I may need to adjust my language translator,” he mumbled.

Elle waved a hand. “Don’t bother. I’ve been here four years, and there are too many sayings that don’t make sense.”

“And then you have all the different languages and accents. Unlike Evyndral where everyone sounds the same, on Earth, different lands have different languages. And some of those who speak the same language have a different way of speaking the same words such as tomato and tomahto,” Yari said.

“What is a tomato?” Nekoma asked her.

“It’s similar to what we call a sipési. And what we call a disési, they call a potato.”

“I’m going to starve, aren’t I?” he asked, frowning.

Luna carried a plate of chicken parm into the room and stood beside the fae. “Not on my watch,” she said, winking.

Nekoma’s eyes widened, and his ears matched Elle’s in the pink department. Anthony wanted to warn Luna to go easy on the male, but then again, maybe there was something she saw in the fae. She didn’t appear to be nauseous, so Anthony doubted they were mates. It could be that she found Nekoma attractive and wanted to spend time with him.

Luna stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork, but before shoving it in her mouth, asked, “What’s the plan with Grevolus?”

Tabitha sighed, and Luna frowned. “What?”

“We need to get Carleigh to send out a Clan-wide memo. It’s not your fault, Lu, but we’ve had this same discussion multiple times.”

“Or we could do one of those old timey phone trees, like in the movie Practical Magic.”

Tabitha rolled her eyes. “With the number of Clan members, it’ll be Halloween before everyone receives their call.”

“You’re no fun,” Luna fussed.

“Oh, I’m all kinds of fun. Just ask—”

“La, la, la,” Gregor chanted, plugging one ear since his other arm was around Tessa’s waist. The Gargoyles laughed, the fae looked confused, and it was Tabitha’s turn to blush.

“Right. Yes, uh... Grevolus.” She explained the plan to Luna, ignoring the look Anthony was giving her. Who exactly had his twin been hanging out with? When was the last time she’d told him about a date? Now that he thought about it, it had been months.

“Something you want to tell me?”

Tabitha narrowed her eyes at him briefly, locking down their link. What the actual fuck? In their twenty-six years, she had never blocked him from speaking silently. It was something they could only do when in close proximity, and they didn’t do it often, but it was another thing that made their bond so special. Elle glanced up at him, concern filling her pale blue eyes. Anthony pressed a kiss to her temple and sent a wave of love through their bond. He would talk to her about what was bothering him later.

Thran and Yari, who hadn’t strayed far from Elle, stepped closer. “We need to get back to Norway. Since Nekoma is staying here, we would appreciate a portal when the time comes to go after Grevolus. We don’t want you approaching him without us.”

Elle smiled at her siblings. “We can make that happen. Right, Nekoma?”

“It would be my honor.”

Everyone followed the twins outside because seeing a portal was new for the Gargoyles, and it was amazing knowing the fae could travel not only between countries but realms too. Thran and Yari waved, stepped through the opening, and then it snapped closed behind them.

“Holy goddess, that’s amazing.” Luna sidled up to Nekoma, still holding her plate of food. “What does that feel like?”

“Like stepping through a doorway that’s buzzing slightly with energy. I can show you if you’d like?”

“Really? Where would we go?”

“Now, Lass. Don’t be too hasty,” Dominic interrupted.

“But Papa, imagine if we portalled to the house in NOLA and surprised Solara?”

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