Page 46 of Hungry Like A Dragon
Delilah flung her arms into the air and moved back to the center of the half circle the other gargoyles had formed. “You believe their ridiculous story that all they want is a stupid spell to take back to their colony? You are softer than I believed after all. And let me tell you, Iknewyou were the most pathetic and weakest of the bunch.”
In truth, he was the largest of the group of sentries, although Petra guessed Delilah wasn’t referring to his physical form.
She felt Noah tense next to her, probably waiting for Argyle to attack the woman for slandering him. But the gargoyle continued to stand as still as, well, a statue, until, after a moment, he said, “You compelled me with a truth spell, in case you forgot.”
Delilah raised a finger, like she was about to chastise him, and then she froze for a few seconds, before slowly turning her head toward Petra and Noah. “He has a point,” she said, and then she motioned at the other four gargoyles before walking forward, the large men following in perfectly symmetric steps.
Noah and Petra both shuffled backward until they were practically on top of the older woman seated in the rocking chair in the middle of the ruins. They were trapped. If they didn’t have Sadie, they could fly away, but there was no way in hell Petra was leaving her daughter. And she knew without a single doubt Noah felt the same.
Not that the knowledge made her feel all gooey inside.
Okay, maybe it did, but this sure as hell wasn’t the time or place to be thinking about what a damned perfect mate he would make.
If only.
“So,” Delilah said, “if he’s speaking the truth—which he has no choice, thanks to my truth spell—whyareyou here?”
“The curse,” somebody said. Not Petra and not Noah, although it was a masculine voice.
Gabe stepped into view, flanked by Talia and two other dragons. Rahu Volos and Ketu Ormarr. Rahu was young, maybe mid-twenties, but one of the best flyers in their colony. And Ketu was a straight up badass who had seen too many battles in his day yet not enough in recent years, and was likely itching for action.
Petra’s eyes widened when she saw her bestie. She wanted to rush over and hug her, except the old lady still had Sadie in her arms and Delilah’s gargoyles were all bristling and flexing like they were challenging the dragons to make the first move in some sort of cage fight.
Ketu, Petra noticed, ignored the other men, while Rahu flexed right back. Which was amusing despite the circumstances, because he was wiry, tall, and thin, while these other men were massive, bodybuilder types. Living as stone statues apparently was the natural secret to avoiding steroids.
“Which curse?” Delilah said. “You’re gonna have to be a little more specific.”
“The curse on our colony,” Gabe replied, striding forward so that he stood only a few feet away from the woman.
Delilah turned her attention to Petra. “I thought you said you were from out west?”
“We may have lied about that part.”
Delilah shook her head. “So you’re really from that colony in Detroit? Because I’ve enacted a lot of curses in my day, but that’s the only time I’ve ever cursed an entire colony of dragons.”
For the love of the gods, she sounded proud of herself.
“How?” Gabe asked. “How did you do it? How was a dragon able to curse anything at all, let alone something of that caliber?”
“She got that ability from my side of the family.” The old lady had left the rocking chair and wandered into the circle of dragons and gargoyles, Sadie still asleep on her shoulder. Petra’s hands shook with the urge to pluck the baby from her arms.
Gabe narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”
“Her mother,” she said, nodding at Delilah.
“Delilah is your daughter?” Noah asked.
“Her name is Dahlia. But she hated it, so she changed it a few years ago.”
“I do hate it,” Dah-er-Delilah confirmed.
That explained why the lead Petra had been chasing went cold so abruptly.
“You’re a witch and you hooked up with a dragon?” Petra said. “Really?” She furrowed her brow. The older woman shrugged.
“He was hot. What can I say?”
Petra glanced at Noah out of the corner of her eye. Yeah, she understood.
