Page 95 of A Highland Gargoyle's Lucky Star
“What happened out there? Why did you go apeshit like that?”
I turn to Braewyn, begging him with my eyes to explain. All of a sudden, I’m too tired to do it myself.
My best friend quickly fills Noah in on the rare ability we have to receive divine power from the Goddess to protect our fated mates. When he finishes, Noah turns his attention back on me.
“Why?”
“They hurt you, my love. It triggered something dark and dangerous inside me. You’re my mate, and I told you I’d protect you till my dying breath. There was no way I’d fail you a second time.”
Noah uses his shirt to wipe furiously at his face before narrowing his red eyes at me. “Let’s get a few things clear here, Elryk DarkWing. You didn’t fail me. And I don’t want you to do any dying on my behalf. In fact, I’m gonna learn how to take care of myself and use my powers, not only to enhance all of yours, but to also defend our people and our castle whenever a new threat appears. I’m gonna be so badass, just you wait.”
Braewyn pats him on the back. “Now that’s what I like to hear. You’re a good egg, Noah, that you are.”
A medical team bursts through the door leading to the battlement and quickly surrounds me, forcing Noah and Braewyn back so they can begin to work on me.
“Honestly, I feel fine,” I say in a faint whisper.
“He’s taken in a lot of the Sluagh’s venom,” I hear one of them say. “We’ve got to start purging it from his system.”
“Berserker mode pushed his body too far. There’s quite a bit of muscular damage to repair, as well,” another chimes in.
I start to drift off as they begin to work their magic to stabilize me before moving me to the medical wing.
I’ll just take a wee nap here.
And my eyes close. Noah calls my name, but his voice fades to nothing as I sink into darkness.
When I open my eyes again, I’m lying in a pristine hospital bed, a white sheet and gray blanket pulled up over me. Several machines seem to be hooked up to my body, and I have an IV in one arm.
I take a moment to catalog my various lingering aches and pains. While I do hurt quite a bit, I’m relieved that I can feel all my fingers and toes, as well as my tail and wings. All appendages and vital organs appear to be accounted for, too.
I’ll take that as a win.
Slowly, I turn my head to the side and find a sleeping Noah curled up in a chair pressed against the side of my bed, his hand holding mine even in slumber.
He has bruising on his forehead and a small laceration that’s been neatly stitched together over his right eyebrow. No doubt that was the cause of all the blood dripping down his face that sparked my berserker mode.
The rational part of me knows that head wounds tend to bleed more profusely than others and are often not as bad as they look. But just seeing Noah spill blood when the Sluagh attacked him was enough to tip me over the edge.
My recollection of events after that is hazy, but I have no regrets. I defeated the Sluagh and they’ll never hurt Noah again. That’s all that matters.
I squeeze my mate’s hand softly and he startles awake. There are dark circles under his eyes and he looks awfully pale and tired, but otherwise, he appears to be just fine.
I breathe a sigh of relief.
“You’re awake!” He reaches over and pushes a button on the wall.
Leaning in closer, he begins to study every inch of my face intently. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine,” I manage to say. “A bit sore, like my body’s been put through the ringer, but I’ll survive.” I smack my dry lips. “Could I get a bit of water, my love?”
He jumps to his feet and hurries across the room to pour me a glass of water, then returns to my side with it. I greedily suck down the cold, clear fluid. It tastes about as good as the nectar of the gods at this moment, and I sigh a bit as I settle back down.
The door to my room opens and our clan’s head doctor walks in. She’s an older gargoyle, about my mother’s age, and she has her hair pulled back in a sensible bun and horn-rimmed glasses perched on the end of her nose.
She arches a graying eyebrow at me. “I see our patient is awake.”
“Hiya, doc. It’s been a long time since I last saw you.”
