Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
DUMONT
C alix was gone and this time it appeared to be for good. Yet , a victory never felt so empty.
Eloise was alive but still hadn’t woken. I sat beside her as she lie in my bed, a pale angel statue with golden hair covering my pillow. Her chest rose and fell with small but steady, reassuring movements.
It had been three days since that bewildering, terrifying moment when Calix had thrown the fire at her, enough so that it could have burned her alive, yet it hadn’t. Somehow , she’d managed to take it inside her. And then unleashed that massive wave of magic on Calix and his demon minions.
Some extremely fucking powerful magic.
Anya had stopped by often, insisting that she needed some time with her sister and that I needed to go do something else. That wasn’t easy, not when all my instincts urged me to come back to my mate.
I remained on watch for any signs of her waking. As the days passed, hope dwindled that she’d ever wake. No . I had to remain positive. She was alive. I inhaled her scent, and it comforted me amid all the distress.
“ Come back to me, my love.” I touched her cheek, the softest of satin beneath my fingertips. “ My mate.”
Her eyelids twitched. Did I see that or had I imagined it from wanting it so much?
I stared at her face, my pulse racing with hope, exquisite hope. And then, my beauty’s eyes opened halfway.
“ Eloise !” I cried with joy and clasped her hand within both of mine.
She blinked a few times and gaped at me from those stunning green orbs.
“ Dumont ?” she croaked, as if her throat was parched.
“ Here .” I grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her.
She propped herself up to take a few sips. “ Am I awake?” Her eyes were full of wonder.
“ Yes ,” I declared, buoyant with relief. “ You’ve been asleep for three days. How do you feel?” I couldn’t keep from touching her as I fretted over her.
“ Like I could pee a river,” she said in a deadpan voice.
I chuckled. “ Let me help you to the bathroom.” I gently scooped her in my arms and carried her toward it.
“ You’re not going to stay in there with me. Please put me down.”
When I did, she paused for a few seconds while I hovered with my hands aloft.
“ I’m okay,” she said. “ Don’t worry, I won’t fall.”
I lowered my hands and stepped backward.
“ I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”
She closed the door. After she’d finished, I tried to carry her again, but she brushed me off.
“ I can walk.” She took small steps back toward the bed, but I insisted on holding her arm to ensure she had her balance.
Once she was back in my bed and propped up by pillows, she drank the entire glass of water. She glanced around before her gaze met mine again.
“ Have I been in your room this entire time?”
“ Yes .”
“ Have you been here with me?”
“ Whenever Anya would let me,” I responded with a gentle smile. “ She said she sometimes needed time with you.”
Her gaze drifted off. “ I think— I think I heard her.” She tilted her head. “ She was talking about magic and the elements and how I must have an affinity for water.”
That made sense after what I’d seen. And her scent had always reminded me of the ocean.
Eloise sighed. “ Either that or I dreamed it.”
I watched her face, still riding the high of breaking through the fear she might never wake.
“ No , that sounds right. We’ve been discussing what you were able to accomplish, and that was what fascinated us the most. That was incredible, Eloise . You are incredible.”
She rubbed her temple. “ Dumont , remember that nightmare I had in your room? I’d dreamed of something like the battle outside the library.”
I added that piece of the puzzle to the one we’d been trying to solve.
“ Perhaps you’re gifted with foresight, like Adelaide .”
“ Who knows?” She raised one shoulder before she grimaced, as if she’d eaten something sour. “ What about Calix ? Any signs of him returning?”
I shook my head. “ He’s gone.” I glanced at her with awe, pride rising in my chest. “ Whatever magic you have inside you is”— I stumbled, searching for the proper word— “extraordinary. You are a far more gifted witch than you realize.”
Unease drifted from her face, and her lips fluttered into a half smile before she met my gaze. “ Right before I woke, I heard you say something. You called me your— mate. ” She furrowed her brows. “ I definitely dreamed that, right?”
My heart pounded against my ribcage, and my skin tingled with awareness. Revealing this to her would make me vulnerable, open to rejection. After almost losing her, it was a risk I was willing to take.
“ You weren’t dreaming, Eloise ,” I said in a slow, measured tone. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for her reaction. “ I know that might be too much. Too intense. And scare you away. If I did so at the Vault and that’s why you left…” I swallowed. “ I’m sorry. I never wanted you to leave. "
She shook her head, mouth tight. “ You didn’t scare me away. I overheard you talking to Hugo about Calix being back and…well, I freaked out. I made the worst decision by running.” She sighed. “ I’m the one who’s sorry.”
“ No need to be. I shouldn’t have kept anything from you. We had suspicions about sightings, but I didn’t want to worry you. I’ll be more open from now on. I just want you to be happy… The truth is…” I gulped. “ I love you, Eloise . And from the moment I met you, I knew you were the one for me.” Her eyes widened. “ The only one. My mate.”
She gaped, not saying anything for several heart-pounding seconds during which time I feared I’d scared her away.
“ Wow .” Her voice was barely audible. “ I —uh—didn’t know. I’m not even sure what to say.”
My heart sank. I definitely blew it. “ You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to even acknowledge it. I’d never push you.” I took a deep breath and exhaled. “ Just please… Don’t run again.”
She shook her head. “ I’m done running. I want to be brave like you.”
Her praise warmed me, filling me with hope. I exhaled and tension drifted out of my taut muscles.
“ You already showed how incredibly courageous you are.”
Her face broke into a luminous smile, one brighter than any full moon guiding my way during a night flight.
“ I’m not going anywhere, Dumont .” She reached forward and touched my cheek. “ Everything I want is right here.”
I stared at her with amazement. Could she really be saying this?
“ Now , I’m the one wondering if I’m dreaming.” I laughed.
“ No . It’s the truth.” She gazed at me with such warmth, it leveled me. “ I feel the same way about you. I love you.”
My heart swelled and joy threatened to burst out of me. She loved me ? A gargoyle.
“ You do?”
“ Yes . Completely . And although I know it might not be easy for a gargoyle and a woman—or witch— I do know that I want to be with you.”
“ Yes .” I took her hand and kissed it. The briefest contact of my lips on her skin stirred the instinct for more, and I kissed up her forearm. “ My mate,” I whispered with reverence. Euphoria roared through me I could cry to the skies. “ We’ll figure everything else out with time. All that matters is that we’re together.”
Yes , we’d find a way to live together. And love each other.
I’d been given the most important gift in the universe to have Eloise as my mate, and I’d do whatever it took to be with her, protect her, make her happy.
My wondrous mate gazed at me with her beautiful eyes and then cupped my cheek.
“ Absolutely . A gargoyle and witch starting a new chapter together.” Then one side of her mouth slanted up in a sly smile. “ Now that’s one story I never thought I’d be a part of.”
I chuckled and enclosed her in my arms.