Page 1 of Protected By the Gargoyle
CHAPTER1
JANIE
“It’s little things like this that I now appreciate. Normal things that normal people do, like meeting a friend at a café.” Janie sipped her chai. “Ah, delicious.”
After what she’d survived five months ago, meeting her best friend to catch up over a hot beverage on a Saturday morning wasn’t something she’d ever take for granted again.
Larissa leaned forward, dropped her head into her hands, and moaned.
“What, you don’t like your coffee?” Janie asked.
“No.” Her friend’s tone was low. Barely audible. When she lifted her head, she shook her head and a strand of dark hair escaped her ponytail. Shadows passed over her face. She repeated, “No,” louder this time. As she peered out the window, shock froze her features. Then her eyes appeared unfocused, and she turned pale.
Her haunted expression sent a chill over the back of Janie’s neck. She knew this look. She followed Larissa’s gaze outside, but only saw pedestrians walking by the busy shopping area, bundled up in winter coats and carrying shopping bags as they did their holiday shopping. Still, when she leaned back in the café chair, her spine turned as straight as a sentry’s.
“Is it…you know?” She couldn’t say it. No, she didn’t want to say it. Her muscles clenched from the tautness in her shoulders down to the tightness in her butt. She leaned toward her friend and whispered, “A premonition?”
The last time Larissa had one of her visions… Janie winced and shoved the horrid memory away. She’d been trying to piece her life back together and started a new part-time job. She clasped her mug with both hands, and the heat warmed her palms. It was now even more important to her to be able to take care of herself. They’d robbed her of that freedom when they’d held both her and Larissa captive.
When Larissa pulled her hands from her temples, they were shaking. She placed them on her lap and dragged her gaze to Janie. “I’m sure it was nothing.”
“Don’t do that. I’ve known you far too long, and we’ve gone through a literal hell together.” Janie nudged her chin higher, bracing herself. “Tell me what you saw.”
Larissa took a heavy inhale and released it with a shudder. She glanced out the window once more. “I saw one. Here in Boston. Like the kind in…the cave.” Those last two words were barely a whisper.
The look they exchanged communicated what was unspoken. Every muscle in Janie’s body fired up with an instinct to move. Fight. Flee. She wasn’t sure which she should listen to, if not all of them. She searched the sky for signs of burnt-red wings flapping down, and a creature coming to smash through the glass and snatch her in its claws. She grasped the edge of the table as if it could keep her cemented to the earth.
Larissa forced a tremulous smile. “You look like you’re on the verge of freaking out. Don’t.” She leaned forward and in a lower tone added, “Remember, my visions aren’t always accurate. It could just be a dark memory that dislodged or something like that. Brains are mysterious in that way. What I saw doesn’t bode impending doom.”
“But your visions have come true. How many times have you saved my life now because of them?” Janie snorted. “I’m losing count. When it comes to your ability with sight, I’m not going to dismiss anything as a fluke. Tell me everything,” she insisted.
Larissa hunched her shoulders and then lowered them with the next exhale. “There’s nothing else. It was just a flash. The red glowing eyes, the burnished wings, the claws…”
“Where?”
She glanced out the window. “I’m not sure. I only saw the sky. It was nighttime.”
Janie released a slow breath. At least it didn’t seem imminent. It was mid-morning in December in Boston. The sun set earlier each night, which meant darkness would fall soon enough.
But tonight? Her lips curled. “Do you think one’s coming?” She glanced to where Larissa stared out the window. “Or is it already here?”
Larissa’s expression contorted as she concentrated, her eyes appearing unfocused. She’d only recently become more comfortable with her visions after learning she was a witch and this was one of her abilities.
“No, not here.” She rocked back-and-forth in her chair. “Not now. It’s—it’s not—definite. It’s…murky.” She blinked a few times as if appearing to refocus. “Nothing to fear.” She pushed her chair back. “But I need to tell Roman about it—just in case.”
Just in case what?
Roman, a massive gargoyle shifter with dark hair, was Larissa’s mate and commander of the Stone Sentries. These gargoyles hid in plain sight, either mounted as statues or cloaked with invisibility, as they protected Boston.
Janie curled her fingers, and her nails pressed into her palms. Would it be like the last time the demons invaded Boston? She’d been seduced by an incubus and had almost died. After she’d recovered, another one had hurt Arto and taken her to its realm. She squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t bear anything like that to happen again. Not only for what happened to her but Arto as well. The burly shifter with gorgeous hazel eyes and rock-star-length brown hair who had been assigned to watch over her had become a close friend. If anything happened to him…
No, she wouldn’t go down this dark path of contemplation. She already had enough terrible dreams at night, and she couldn’t let the demons steal the days too.
Janie tried to refocus on more positive things as she left the café to head to work. She cut through a park that had a section enclosed for dogs. Although she didn’t have any pets, dog parks were one of her happy places. Seeing the animals running around playing lifted her spirits. They looked so joyful and without a care in the world. It helped distract her from Larissa’s vision, which was pushed further to the back of her mind once she got into the medical office. Dealing with the business of patient arrivals and insurance and scheduling appointments kept her mind preoccupied for much of the day.
Larissa texted her that afternoon.Don’t worry. It was probably my imagination. As a precaution, Roman notified the Sentries to be on alert.
That was reassuring.
