Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
DUMONT
E loise stared at me with wide, perplexed eyes behind her glasses. The irises were a pale green so mesmerizing I couldn’t look away. Her blonde hair fluttered in the night breeze, and she appeared almost ethereal beneath the moonlight.
How could we have gone from being strangers, to me inviting her to the Vault in only minutes?
How could I have gone from considering her a tiny, running human to the one whom some part of me recognized was my mate after just one life-changing inhalation of her scent? I breathed it in once more, that ocean-fresh fragrance that turned my world upside-down.
I’d heard that was the way it happened for some gargoyles. One moment in their mate’s presence and they knew. For others, it took longer to understand the connection and accept it. The realization was mind-boggling and I didn’t know how to accept it, even though it hit me with the impact of lightning crashing with fiery brightness illuminating the darkest of nights.
All my instincts flared to protect this tiny human who regarded me with either fear or suspicion. How was this possible? The rational side of me knew it was ridiculous. We hadn't met before. How could I know the first time we met? Absolutely ludicrous.
Besides , she was human. Maybe not so vulnerable as typical humans. She was Adelaide’s granddaughter, after all, and Adelaide was a powerful witch. Eloise had somehow managed to escape Calix’s hold, and the way she’d done so sounded like she had some magic within her—even if she didn’t understand it.
Eloise exhaled with a resigned sounding sigh. “ Do you really think it's necessary to go with you?”
With a somber nod, I replied, " Yes ."
She dropped her head backward a few inches. “ Why do they even want this book so badly? Surely there are other grimoires in the world.” She raised her hands to her temples and shook her head. “ I mean, I looked inside it. It’s just a bunch of spells. You probably can find others on the shelves.” She motioned backward toward the library. “ Do we even know if any of these spells work?”
“ Yes ,” Anya replied slowly. “ One saved my life.”
Eloise turned to her sister, her expression torn. Although they had different coloring, their profiles appeared similar, making it easy to see they were related.
“ Oh .” Her voice came out in a near whisper.
“ We have a lot to talk about, Eloise ,” Anya said. “ Years to catch up on. And if the gargoyles think we’re in danger, we should listen. I’ve been stubborn about this before, reluctant to believe what I didn’t understand. Until I did…”
Eloise dropped her gaze to the grass. “ Go where?”
My heart panged with the slight hope that she was coming around. “ Our home in the Plateau .”
Anya leaned closer to Eloise and whispered, “ They call it the Vault .”
Eloise faced her sister with arched brows. “ It sounds like a prison. What are they going to do with us there? Lock us up?”
Anya giggled, a surprising sound in the midst of all this seriousness. “ No . And at least we’ll have time together to catch up.”
Eloise’s face spread into a smile. “ That’s why I came here. So I suppose I shouldn’t be stubborn about getting what I want—albeit with a mighty peculiar twist.” As the sisters glanced at each other, they broke out into laughter. Although they had a similar tone, Eloise’s struck me with a strange bolt of joy. To see her smile for the first time, watch her laugh, it was absolutely luminous.
It did strange things to me. Although I was relieved that Eloise was coming around to my suggestion, the mystery of her being my mate unnerved me in a way that I didn’t know how to address. I was a commander of a team of gargoyles. I had a duty to protect the city. Responsibility to care for those on my team. A promise to guard the library and Adelaide’s granddaughters.
One of whom was my…
I didn’t have space in my life for a mate, let alone one who was both human and eyed me with distrust. Yet , the urge to keep her safe had grown paramount, even in just a short time. I straightened and cleared my throat. “ It’s settled then. Let’s go to the Vault at once.”
Anya raised her hand, palm forward. “ Before either of you suggest it and freak anyone out any further, I'm going to cut that off right now. We will not be going there via your preferred means of transportation.”
Eloise turned slowly toward Anya with an incredulous look. " You don't mean…”
“ I do,” Anya replied, one side of her mouth curling up into a smile. “ Gargoyles like to fly everywhere.”
Eloise turned pale. She exhaled from her nostrils. “ That's not going to happen.” She crossed her arms. “ Ever .”
Ouch . That refusal hit me with a bolt of rejection. Refusing to fly? Preposterous .
A vision of flying with Eloise in my arms on a beautiful summer night over the St . Lawrence River entered my mind. Her blonde hair would flutter in the breeze. I’d hold her in my arms, feeling the warmth of her body pressed against mine. I blinked to snap myself out of this fantasy, especially since she’d just squashed it as something that would never happen. Why daydream about the impossible?
Anya turned to me and said, “ We’ll order a ride and meet you there.”
Although I wanted to protest and say there was nowhere Eloise would be safer than in the arms of a gargoyle—one gargoyle in particular—now was not the time. It had already been such a challenge to convince Eloise to come with us to the Vault . I didn’t need to add any more obstacles to keep us from getting there.
Besides , I had to snap back into the mindset of a leader and not fantasize like a young gargoyle with a silly crush. The only reason she was coming with me was for protection, not to let me woo her as my mate.
I grunted and focused on the mission. “ Let’s go.”