Page 43 of The Stones for It
My feet tingled from the damp leaf litter, and of course, Vrath had offered to carry me, but I’d be damned if I let the burly fae treat me like a helpless, delicate human.
I was a trained soldier. Or, I used to be.
I was still trying to process that I was somehow mated to the Gargoyle King. The terrifying rumours of his bloodshed just didn’t reconcile with the secret cinnamon roll who’d gently washed me and cuddled me to sleep.
“Tell me about yourself,” I blurted.
My cheeks warmed as I paced alongside him, resolutely looking anywhere else as I berated myself internally. I wasn’t usually this awkward, but Ilikedhim, dammit, and I didn’t quite know what to do with that.
“King Corvrath, Regent of the Gargoyle Court.” He summoned his giant broadsword in a riot of shadows, twirling the blade skilfully in one hand before using it to salute me without breaking stride. “My hobbies involve slaughtering my enemies and long walks on the beach,” he mocked.
“Still such an insolent igneous,” I huffed, but a giggle escaped me. “So that’s it, huh? Just another gargoyle?”
He snorted, letting his broadsword melt back into the darkness. “There is no ‘just’ about it. We are the superior caste, and if you’d met one before, you’d know it.”
I shot him a flat look. “You’re not the first gargoyle I’ve met, pally.”
“Who?” He bared his onyx fangs, a low growl seeping past them as he tugged on my wrist, stopping me. “You’re mine, Kelsea, and if anyone has so much as laid a claw tip on you, I’ll string them up by their wings, pluck every spike off their body and impale them with it.”
I quirked a brow, forcing my lips not to twitch at his sudden intensity. “A smidge jealous, are we?”
Was it weird I found the threat of severe violence on my behalf borderline romantic?
“Little mortal…” he warned. “Don’t make me punish you.”
I chuckled, but my cheeks warmed at the sensual promise of his words. “No punishing required.”
I shifted on my feet as the pieces finally clicked—realising the connection between the male standing before me with the one I’d met.
“Your nephew…” I started, and his expression wiped clear as he became an unreadable granite statue once more. “He was in my hometown before I was Selected. In need of a little assistance against a couple of arseholes.” I shrugged, like beating up some thugs in a darkened alley was no big deal. “So I lent him a hand. Well, my fists, a few good kicks and a blade, more accurately. Sweet kid.”
I adjusted the sheathe tied around my thigh, feeling awkward now that I’d brought it up.
Would it trigger his hatred for my kind all over again? Would he go back to taking it out on me?
Silence stretched a beat too long with his features so blank, and my fears multiplied.
Fate had given me three sexy fae mates, and I was fucking it up with all of them.
“Kelsea…” His voice was as gruff as I’d ever heard it, strained and deep. “That was you?” A smile broke out across his face and it was like the sun finally rising after a night as endless as this one.
I chewed my lower lip. “What?”
He blew out a breath, almost a laugh. “Jorah told me about a funny purple-haired human warrior who’d saved him from her own kind… I honestly thought he was lying in an attempt to slay some of my prejudices. He even insisted we send her gifts in thanks.” His hands were on me then, sliding through my hair before tugging me against his solid front. “Who knew, in the end, you’d be fate’s gift to me?”
I was already leaning up on my tiptoes when he met me halfway. His lips clashed against mine in a fiercely sweet kiss. Claws teased my scalp, and I shivered into him, pressing myself as close as I could get to his firm strength.
His wings wrapped around me, holding me even as he pulled back with a final, lingering taste of my lips. “Thank you, Kelsea. Your bravery means more to me than I can express.” His fiery eyes danced with emotion, and I sensed he wanted to say more.
Instead, he cleared his throat and straightened, seeming to remember the urgency of our situation right as I did.
His eyes dropped to the throwing star that had materialised back in his hand. The onyx gemstone embedded in the dark metal buzzed with magic.
I shook off the tangled threads of emotion and let Vrath concentrate on the tracker. Like the good soldier I used to be, I watched our surroundings for the both of us.
“Stay close, little one,” Vrath murmured. “He’s near.”
A nervous excitement hummed through me. I couldn’t wait any longer to reach Neiron.
