Page 50 of Protected By the Gargoyle
It yanked the demon as well. The incantation was going to take them both.
They were being dragged together in some kind of vortex that opened in the distance over the harbor, a gaping crimson hole punctured in the darkness of night. It stretched wider like the opening of a mouth with black frayed edges.
Arto flung himself toward her. He had to reach her before it was too late. Before he lost his Janie forever.
The demon was captured in the hole first. The thing—whatever this portal of dark magic was—swallowed the demon and its roar. A burst of flames erupted out of it with volcanic force.
Janie was hurdling toward it. Hard and fast. And her coloring faded as if she, too, was disappearing.
No. Not Janie.
He’d do anything to save her.Anything.He’d follow her into that realm, into any void in any universe.
The only magic he knew of that was more powerful than anything was that of love. The only thing he could think of was that unbreakable bond between mates.
But Janie didn’t want to be mated to him. The idea had terrified her. By forcing the connection, she might hate him forever. That would be worse than any death he could contemplate.
It was too important, he couldn’t bear to even consider the alternative—a world not just without Janie, but one in which she suffered her greatest fear of being trapped in a realm with demons.
As he soared to reach her, he bellowed, “This woman is my mate. I demand you relinquish your hold on her. She isMINE!”
JANIE
An invisible force yanked her and dragged her backwards through the sky. This wasn’t at all like flying in either Arto’s tender embrace or the demon’s hellish arms. She was tumbling but not falling.
How? Why was she travelling diagonally? Gravity should have dragged her down with its force. Instead, it dragged her across the sky as if she had a hook in her gut.
Then she saw it in the distance—a small reddish hole no bigger than a dog. The demon was hurtling toward it, too, hollering with an eerie echo into the night. Dark tendrils unfurled from within the crimson cavern. The gaping cavity in the sky stretched, as disturbing as a slash through a priceless painting. Only this resembled nothing like art. It was vicious, monstrous, ugly. Even as it morphed, it grew more terrifying—a monstrous mouth in an unnatural place.
The demon fell into the hole and then vanished, its roar silenced. No sign of it remained. She was headed toward it. No. She couldn’t follow it into this monstrous vortex. She forced her feet forward, pressing them as if it could prevent her from falling in.
It was useless. She continued feet forward and arms spread wide, but it did nothing to slow her speed.
Arto’s voice echoed around her.
“This woman is my mate. I demand you relinquish your hold on her. She isMINE!”
He claimed her as—his mate?
CHAPTER16
JANIE
As Janie hurled toward the mouth-like cavern, it trembled. The wind rumbled like an earthquake. Then it shot her backward into the sky.
What the—
She was falling.Again.
And then Arto caught her.Again.
She heaved massive breaths, adjusting to the sudden shift. Whereas she’d been headed for certain catastrophe, she was now safe in Arto’s arms. She gaped at him. What just happened?
He carried her to the rooftop where Roman in gargoyle form tended to Larissa. She was now sitting, which was a good sign.
Janie turned to look over her shoulder. The red hole was shrinking, closing. She blinked and it was gone.
Her feet touched something hard. She was back on solid ground again, on the rooftop. Once she balanced, she faced Arto. He was injured and bleeding. “Your back!”
