Page 6 of A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star (Tales from the Tarot)

Chapter six

Elryk

Among Otherkind, not all species are gifted with fated mates. To this day, we do not fully understand why that is. All demons have fated mates, for instance. Dragons are the same. But orcs, sphynxes, centaurs, satyrs, and many more species do not. Gargoyles, therefore, are all the more unusual in that only a very select few of them will have a destined partner. This inconsistency is yet another mystery of the universe that cannot be readily explained—at least not yet.

Gargoyles with fated mates share a special and rather unique bond with their beloved. By virtue of their sacred duty and what it entails, Guardian gargoyles usually find partners who possess magic that complements their own, making them even more powerful and effective in protecting the ley lines they watch over. However, in recent decades, it seems that some clans are experiencing waning numbers of these unions, bringing into question what will happen if the gargoyles can no longer safeguard the wellsprings of magic in this realm.

—Guardians of the Line: A Hidden History, by Dr. Targan Wildethorne

W hen I catch the wee slip of a man an instant before he hits the ground, my heart damn near stops. That was too bloody close for comfort.

Darghan and Zar manage to save the other man, who hangs unconscious between them.

“We’ll take him to the nearest hospital,” Zar says.

“Get as much information as you can from him when he wakes.” I stare pointedly at the syringe sticking out of the man’s chest.

“On it.” Darghan gives a jaunty salute and they fly off with the human in tow.

As I soar higher into the sky, the man in my arms pinches his cheek hard.

“Ow!”

I frown.

“Wow. So this is real?” His words come out a bit slurred, and he looks up at me with honey-brown eyes that ensnare me for a moment. “I was almost a goner, wasn’t I?” His nervous laughter signals some awareness as to how close he came to death.

I nod.

“You saved me though.”“Aye.”

“You’re a man of few words, I see,” he mumbles. Then he smiles at me and hiccups. “Not that I’m not grateful,” he slurs, “but who the heck are you?

I sniff at an overpowering whiff of beer, but it doesn’t conceal the deeper, stronger scent that marks him as a Conduit.

“My name is Elryk,” I tell him, keeping my voice at a low rumble. “I’ll explain everything when I get you to safety.”

He sighs dreamily. “I’m sort of loving this princess-carry moment you have happening right now. Totally romantic, like something out of one of those Highland warrior romances my mom used to read.” He puts a finger to his lips. “Sshh! Don’t tell anyone, but I also used to sneak them when she wasn’t looking and read them too. Especially the sex scenes.” He winks at me in such an exaggerated manner that it almost makes me laugh.

He pouts. “Except it turns out she knew the whole time! Moms— hic— amirite?”

By the Light, I can’t remember the last time I was so drawn to someone after a first meeting. Must be his powers as a Conduit messing with my head.

“What’s your name?”

He beams at me. “Thought you’d never ask. Noah— hic— Noah Price.” He tries to shake my hand but I can’t while I have him firmly held in my arms.

Noah harrumphs and drops his hand. “Where are we going?

“Somewhere safe,” I tell him vaguely.

“A man of… hic … mystery, huh?” He nods to himself. “M’kay, long as you promise no needles.”

“What?”

“No needles,” he repeats, waving his finger at me. “Don’t like ’em, and that weird guy on the train tried to stab me with one.”

My blood runs cold with fear and then hot with fury. “He tried to inject you with something?”

Must have been whatever was in the syringe hanging from his chest.

Noah nods. “Total douche, right?” He squirms a fist from my hold and raises it. “But he… hic … underestimated me. I might be small, but I’m scrappy. After all, I’m from Chicago.” Then the fist drops and touches the side of his head. “That jerk did manage… hic … to get a good punch in. But I got my own back and then some.” He chortles as if in recollection, but the chortle ends in a tired sigh.

Meanwhile, I’m fuming. Noah’s a small man with a slight, almost delicate build. How dare that creep hurt him.

“The greasy bastard,” I growl.

Noah starts giggling. “You’re funny.” His eyelids lower. “You’re also… hic … seriously sexy. Anyone ever told you that? Your accent could set my boxer briefs on fire, just sayin’.”

He’s drunk right now , I tell myself. He’s not seriously flirting with you .

I stop breathing when Noah moves that clumsy hand from his head and starts to trace my face, running his fingers along my jaw and brow. When he gets to the large scar on my left cheek, I flinch involuntarily.

But for some reason, the scar doesn’t seem to bother him, and he moves down to trail his fingers over my lips, then my beard.

He must be drunker than I thought.

Noah grins up at me, those honey-brown eyes focused on me in a way that’s mesmerizing. “Also, gotta say, you pull off a man-bun better than… hic … anybody I’ve ever seen—and that’s a genuine compel… commiel… compeliment,” he says, struggling a little over his words. “Lots of guys with man-buns are total douche nozzles. Snobby assholes.” He snorts. “Total wankers, as some of you say.”

My lips twitch in amusement. “Oh, aye?”

He nods. “Your man-bun looks all dig… ding… dignified. Like you’re some ancient warrior or somethin’. I like it.” He stares at me, his mouth hanging open for a moment, then sighs happily again. “Wings are… hic … fucking epic, too. Wanna touch, but don’ wanna plummet to my death. Let’s wait… hic … till we land. But then can I touch ’em?” His tone is so hopeful, and his eyes are downright pleading with me in the manner of a cute, furry animal.

I swallow a thick lump in my throat. “Aye, you can,” I tell him gruffly.

What the fuck am I thinking? I don’t let anyone touch my wings. But for some reason, I can’t say no to this gorgeous wee man.

He gifts me with a blindingly bright smile. “You’re awesome. Thanks. Oh! You can touch me too. Fair’s fair. Don’t have wings, but you could touch some other part of me.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.

That immediately has my cock far too interested.

His hand drifts down my neck to my bare chest, where he starts to trace patterns on my skin that have my cock standing at full attention in time. Dear Goddess, I can’t remember the last time anyone aroused me like this, and the man isn’t even trying.

It’s dangerously distracting when I’m trying to concentrate on flying.

Because he’s utterly pissed, Noah’s also not in his right mind. I don’t know how much beer he’s had, but he cannae hold his liquor.

His happy-go-lucky drunk behavior is quite adorable.

He’s adorable.

I shake my head, trying to clear such ridiculous thoughts.

What the hell’s wrong with me tonight?

“You always go shirtless? Hic! Not complaining. Pec show’s fantastic.” He burps. “Those arms are delish.” He blinks up at me sleepily then leans in closer to whisper loudly, “Got a thing for… hic… mus… miscle… muscular men.”

He makes a purring noise that has my balls tingling.

“Mm-hmm. Like being manhandled,” he admits and starts to giggle again. “You can… hic … manhandle me if you want, my sexy savior.” The last word is punctuated by an open-mouthed yawn.

He keeps talking at me for another ten minutes before his eyelids start to droop.

“Aye, rest, and we’ll talk more later,” I say as he drifts off. “You’re safe now, Noah, and you’ve nothing to worry about.”

Within a few moments, he’s sleeping soundly in my arms, and I hold him that bit tighter as my wings work double-time to get us back to the castle.

Dawn’s breaking by the time I return with my precious cargo, and with a tired sigh, I land less gracefully than I’d like outside the entrance. Much to my relief, Noah doesn’t so much as stir. He’s out cold.

Kelwyn comes hurrying out, looking haggard and tired. It’s clear he’s not slept all night either.

He inhales sharply when he spies Noah in my arms, and then he leans against the wall of the castle with obvious relief. “You found him.”

“Aye, and just in time too,” I growl. “Some arsehole was trying to abduct him.”

I explain what happened and Kelwyn’s features harden. “They found him so damn fast. I doubt they’ll give up. Others will come sniffing around too.” He gives me a serious look. “We’ll have to keep him confined to the castle for a while.”

I wince. That probably won’t go over well. Forced captivity isn’t many people’s idea of fun.

During all of this, Noah doesn’t even stir, and Kelwyn frowns. “Is he all right?”

I snort with amusement. “He’s sloshed.”

Kelwyn steps closer and sniffs the air again, laughing in relief. “Beer?”

I nod. “He’s just a wee thing and evidently a lightweight.”

We step back as Darghan and Zar land in the courtyard and rejoin us.

“Report?” I ask.

“We dropped off the other man at the hospital in Perth. From what we can tell, whatever was in that needle was a strong sedative but nothing deadly.”

“Of course not,” I growl, trying not to grit my teeth. “They wanted him alive.”

I just don’t like to think about what they would have done if the man’s plan had worked.

Almost against my volition, one of my hands strokes Noah’s hair as if to reassure myself he’s here and safe.

And that’s when it hits me.

When we were flying, I couldn’t distinguish between all the scents the wind blew my way. The two strongest and most in my face were the beer he’d drunk and his newly awakened Conduit power, which has an astringent ozone-like tinge to it.

But now I catch a whiff of the subtle hint of cedar and… heather. And with it comes a dawning realization.

“It cannae be,” I mutter in protest.

I lean closer and inhale deeply, drawing Noah’s scent all the way inside my lungs, where it spreads throughout me and warms me from the tips of my wings all the way down to my toes. This is accompanied by a low-grade hum of awareness that tingles my skin.

I gape in shock at the small human in my arms. “Bloody fucking hell,” I whisper.

“What is it?” Kelwyn asks, immediately alarmed.

I swallow hard. “He’s my fated mate.”

Never thought I’d say those words. Fuck .

Kelwyn’s eyes go wide and he grins, stepping forward to wrap an arm around my shoulders. “That’s perfect, Elryk. Now we won’t have any trouble getting him to stay and help our clan.”

I’m not as optimistic.

While I don’t know much of anything about this tiny human, I can’t imagine he’ll be happy as one of the only ones living in a hidden castle in the Highlands, far away from his family and friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if he runs screaming.

But I decide to push away those concerns for the moment.

What he needs right now is medical attention for his head wound and then a comfortable rest.

Much as I’d like to join him— damn if the mate bond isn’t already messing with my head —I still have some things to take care of.

With obvious reluctance I can’t even attempt to hide, I hand Noah off to Kelwyn to get the wee human situated in one of our guest rooms in the castle, where a doctor can tend to him.

Meanwhile, I regroup with my men to try and track down who exactly tried to attack Noah, and more importantly, who hired the scumbag.

Darghan and Zar took a picture of his ID, but when we run it through the system, it comes up as bogus.

“Damn and blast,” I mutter.

Dargan scowls. “Clearly a professional.”

“It’s amazing such a tiny human managed to overcome him,” Zar marvels.

My chest swells with pride.

My mate is fierce.

I freeze. Oh, fuck no. I’m not going to start down this path.

I clear my throat. “We’ll question Noah tomorrow for more details. For now, we should rest and return to this when we’re fresh.”

We part ways and I head toward the room where Noah’s staying. I don’t even need to ask anyone where he is. I can sense him, like he’s already a part of myself.

My grandfather always used to tell me how immediate the mate bond can be. I just didn’t think it would take root in me so fast, let alone before magically tying the bond between us.

When I arrive at the door, I knock softly.

Our clan’s head doctor, Martha, gestures me inside.

“How is he?” I ask, studying a sleeping Noah, who appears worryingly frail and small in the large bed.

“Well, how do you think? Someone gave him a good smack in the head, and he’s got quite a goose egg forming there. Fortunately, there’s no sign of concussion or more serious injury. He may have a bit of a headache when he wakes up”—she smirks—”but that may be due to the alcohol more than the bump on his noggin.”

I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding and move over to the bed to take hold of Noah’s hand. It’s warm and fits so well in my palm.

Once I’ve reassured myself he’s all right, I force myself to leave for my own room.

The morning sunshine is already starting to peek through the windows of the castle, and exhaustion weighs me down as I drag my sorry arse to bed.

When I flop onto my mattress, I heave a loud sigh.

My fated mate.

Why now, of all times?

No .

It’ll have to wait because I have bigger things to worry about. Raedyn should be back soon with information on the threat coming our way from the West, and no doubt there will be others coming looking for Noah like Kelwyn suggested. A Conduit’s power is far too tempting for others to ignore.

Keeping him here and safe will be my top priority.

When I think about just how close we came to losing him, I know it’ll probably give me nightmares for quite some time. If we’d gotten there even a moment later…

The alternative makes me cold all over.

Noah is essential to the survival of my clan. We must repair and reinforce the barrier before it’s too late—and he’s the one person who can help us make that happen.

I want to tell myself that’s the only reason I have such an intense and growing need to protect the wee human that I cannae stop thinking about.

But like a siren’s song, the mate bond calls to me, whispering of hopes and dreams I abandoned long ago.

I have a worrying feeling the temptation of Noah will eventually be too hard for me to resist.