Page 43 of Protected By the Gargoyle
Was his agony that obvious? Apparently so. “Janie and I were together,” he confessed and squared his jaw. “I revealed my feelings, but like a fool, I told her she was my mate.”
Roman narrowed his gaze. “What’s the problem there?”
“It was a shock to her and at the worst possible time.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And terrible timing in general, considering what we have going on. I should have my head focused on finding the demon and nothing else.”
Roman snorted. “When it comes to your mate, she’ll always be above all.”
Arto lowered his head. “I fear I’ve driven her away and lost her forever.”
“Just give her time.” Roman paced across the rooftop and scanned the city. “Stay here tonight, Arto.”
“Commander?” Arto said.
“Take the shift here on the rooftop. Switch shifts with Diego.”
Arto stared at Roman, trying to read the reasoning.
“Knowing that your mate is here, your heart and your head will already be here,” Roman elaborated. “I want to protect Larissa above all else. I still do. I can’t fly too far from her while knowing there’s a threat out there. Although we communicate often, I fly back here as well to be close to her. I need to assure myself that she’s safe.”
Arto exhaled with a whoosh, and his shoulders dropped. “You’re right. Whenever I fly from here, my thoughts are on Janie. Is she safe? Is she happy? Even if I’m not the one to make her feel either of those things right now, I’d rather do all in my power to try.”
“I understand completely.” Roman gave a sage nod. “Good luck.”
JANIE
Since she couldn’t sit still, Janie listened to music through her earbuds while she wandered through the tower, up and down stairwells, and along halls. Trapped like freakin’ Rapunzel. Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” came on. She wished she could, but the quiet in the tower was too pronounced. Too eerie. Too devoid of sentries, especially one in particular.
When did her life turn so crazy? She was in a building guarded by gargoyle shifters and a witch, and they had to get the demon out of Boston without requiring some medieval-styled, crazy-assed sacrifice.
Fuck!
She wanted out. She wanted to scream from the roof of this tower, not be caged in this sleek prison to keep her protected because of her mistakes.
The biggest of which might have been pulling away from Arto. Why couldn’t she have been braver, stronger? She should have remained calm, the way he always managed to do. Instead, she let her emotions derail her and send her running from the one man she valued more than any other.
She’d been avoiding Larissa all day, telling her she needed time alone. But where could she go? Not her room with the recent memories of Arto right next door, not his, and definitely not the library. She couldn’t wander through the tower forever.
When she needed to rest, she collapsed onto the sofa in the sitting area. She texted Larissa to meet her there.
When she arrived, Janie sighed. “I screwed up. Bad.”
“How?”
She ran her fingers through her hair and dropped them to her side. “Everything with Arto was amazing. But then…” She closed her eyes and shook her head. When she reopened them, she sighed. “He told me I was his mate—and I freaked out.”
Larissa clasped her hands together. “Mates? I knew it!” Then she frowned as if appearing to catch up to the last part. “And oh…” Her voice lowered with chagrin.
Janie exhaled, and her shoulders sagged. “It seems”—she mashed her lips together and then sucked air through her teeth—“intense.”
Larissa canted her head. “Yes, it is. And yeah, it freaked me out too. But I got used to it.”
“How?”
“Because it’s part of Roman’s world. And I love Roman.”
