Page 23

“ C lose the portal.” They were the last words I managed to gasp out before darkness took me under.

The sound of battle roused me from a dead sleep hours later. Vicious roars and the scent of hellfire had me bolting upright, a gasp falling from my lips.

Rain was coming down in sheets even now, but an overhang on the roof kept the worst of it off of my face.

How did I get over here?

My fingers were still loosely wrapped in someone else’s. Disoriented and confused, I blinked down at Drake’s unconscious form.

Then everything came back to me like a wrecking ball.

The portal fracturing.

A row of corpses and demons bleeding out.

Monty and his demons fighting to keep order.

The gargoyles coming back to life.

Just the mention of gargoyles had that electric buzz flitting across my skin. I could hear the deep roars from below and knew without looking that they had joined the battle.

“Drake!” I called out, shaking the man beside me. “Wake up!”

He didn’t stir, but a gravelly war cry that stood out among the rest echoed from the courtyard. That same pull that led me up to the roof, had me scraping my knees on the rough surface as I crawled to peer over the edge to take in the damage below.

I couldn’t pull myself to my feet, not yet. My body was shaking too intensely to function on that level. Exhaustion and the chill had taken hold and weren’t eager to free me just yet.

It was a massacre below. Monty, the gargoyles, and the few loyal demons Monty had left, were fighting for their lives against an ever-growing horde of demons.

The flow didn’t stop, the portal spitting more and more out to the point that their shadow-clad bodies were packed wall to wall.

“Monty!” I screamed out as one dove from on top of the nearest column. He looked up in time to slice the demon in half before turning his attention back to the battle.

A ragged cough had me turning around to see Drake pulling himself to his knees. His demon form was struggling to take over—horns on his head and his skin shifting color, from tan to pale blue.

“Drake,” I said, drawing his attention. Before I could move a figure flew onto the roof and fell between us.

“Mate,” the gargoyle growled as he crouched down in front of me.

The creature was made of what seemed to be stone, but I knew it couldn’t be quite so hard. He was wearing dark pants and that was it, thick muscles on full display, glistening in the rain. Claws tipped his fingers and toes, scraping at the ground where he stood.

“Who are you?” I breathed out.

“Kol. The commander of the gargoyles. And you are my mate.” It was said with such finality that Drake rasped out a laugh behind me.

“You better watch making demands. She’ll eat you alive.”

“I don’t need advice from halflings. Hel offered her to me the moment I woke. She’s mine.”

“I’m not,” I argued. “I have other mates.”

He smirked when I said ‘other,’ meaning I was already acknowledging his words. But even I couldn’t deny the pull this creature had over me. His fangs and claws didn’t scare me away, I was used to monsters.

Hell, Monty was already mine.

Kol was different somehow. There was an electric buzz that danced along my skin every time he was near. As he moved closer the scent of midnight skies hit me, cold air, musk, a hint of the forest, and a strange earthy spice I’d never smelled before. It was clean and light, yet sensual. I was lost to my instincts as my omega whined for her mate.

Then Drake’s laughter drew me right back to the words this gargoyle spoke and I narrowed my eyes.

“You don’t get to make demands of me. Shouldn’t you be fighting?” I argued.

He nodded once. “I’ll return to the fight. But I will come back for you.”

“Don’t threaten me, gargoyle.” He merely let out a huff of laughter at my words.

Kol flew off, and I stood there stunned until Drake finally snapped me from it. “Come on, we have to go find the others and get the library secured. This is only going to get worse.”

Was that even possible?