Page 14 of Dragon’s Golden Mate (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #2)

“Are you sure you’re all right with this?”

Maeve and Kendrick walked through the darkness, sticking close to the shadows of buildings and avoiding lights where they could. They carried no flashlights, but the sharpened senses of their inner beasts meant they didn’t really need to.

“Of course. Do you think I’ve never done anything like this before?”

“Well, I don’t know. Have you?”

Maeve thought about it. “Not exactly this, no. But I wasn’t always a coven leader and a mother. I’ve had my share of escapades.”

His laugh was always a pleasant sound, but the darkness around them emphasized it. “Such as?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Maeve almost wished she hadn’t said anything.

She sounded like she was trying to impress him, when she’d promised herself that she wouldn’t do anything of the sort.

“Just typical teenager stuff, you know. Sneaking out when I wasn’t supposed to.

Hanging out with friends my mother wouldn’t approve of. ”

“And does what we’re doing count for either of those offenses?”

He certainly did make her feel much younger than her real age, and so did slipping through the streets of Salem at night in the company of a handsome man. “For the sake of fun, I’m going to say yes to both.”

The cathedral came into view as they went around the corner.

It was tall and dark, a shadow against the moon.

There were light poles in the parking lot, but no one was paying for them to shine on an empty building that would soon be torn down.

The hustle and bustle of earlier in the day, that Kendrick and Lucille had each told her about, was gone.

The building was a lonely bastion in the night.

“Honestly, Maeve.” Kendrick caught her arm, bringing her to a stop next to him before they entered the parking lot. “I want to make sure you really are okay with what we’re doing here. It could be dangerous. Anything could happen.”

“I’d better be all right with it, since it was my idea,” she reminded him. “I’m not going to send you in there by yourself. What if I’m wrong? Or what if I’m so completely right that it makes things worse?”

He exhaled. “Then I guess we’ll find out together.”

They crossed the parking lot and went straight to the back door, where they’d managed to get in before. Apparently, no one had noticed the stone that was keeping it shut at the moment. Kendrick scooted it aside with his foot and led the way into the dark building.

As soon as she passed through the doorway, Maeve could feel something activating inside her. It rose in her stomach, almost like nausea or excitement, and it pushed out through her arms. It could be the energy of the place, or it could be her concern over her plan.

According to the book Lucille had dug up, gargoyles were telepathic.

They didn’t use a vocal language like humans and certain other supernatural creatures.

Kendrick wanted answers about the building, and the odd stone creatures probably had them.

Therefore, it made sense to try to speak to them on their level.

Kendrick reached the door at the end of the hall. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

He opened the door and stepped into the sanctuary.

The light that filtered through the stained glass was dim, but it was enough for her to see Kendrick’s body twist and change.

His neck extended, and he shook his head as a thorny crown of horns erupted along the back of his skull.

A long tail shot out from behind him, whipping to the right.

He spread his wings, shaking them out slightly before settling them along his back.

His dragon form looked almost black, but green limned the keeled edges of his scales.

Her wolf jerked to life, all the more eager to get out after seeing Kendrick’s transformation.

She felt her fur bristling as her bones crunched and moved.

Her senses were muffled for just a moment before they took on the sharpness of her alternate form.

As her four paws hit the old carpeting, she could feel the building’s energy in a whole new way.

Maeve shook out her coat. Thank Goddess I can still shift, even if my magic is shot.

I never had any doubts.

He was in her mind. Maeve froze, the meaning of that hitting her hard.

Kendrick swung his head around on his long neck, his dark eyes meeting hers. They both knew what it meant.

Maeve could deny it all she wanted. She could make excuses, but—Look out!

The bird-like gargoyle they’d seen before dove from the gallery. It tucked its wings against its sides, aiming its sharp beak right at Kendrick.

Kendrick ducked just in time, and the bird swooped back up toward the ceiling. Looks like we’d better get started.

They had no common language with the creatures, especially since they didn’t seem to have a language at all. Maeve had thought up the plan, but she hadn’t imagined what it might be like to go through with it when her mind was so closely linked with Kendrick’s.

She saw the cathedral around them, but not as it was right now. Brilliant sunlight illuminated the windows. The cracks in the plaster were repaired, and the carpet was clean. The wood of the pews shone from so much polishing. It was just as it might’ve been when it was first built.

This was how Kendrick saw the church. Maeve was in awe at the pure beauty of it.

That wasn’t enough to convince its guardians, though. The panther-like creature they’d encountered before came bounding up the aisle. Its mouth was wide, and its ears were back as it made a grating hiss. It leaped toward Maeve and landed on her back.

The stone claws, sharp but cold, were a shock to her senses. Maeve shook it off, hearing as much as feeling the thud when it hit the floor. Her first instinct was to be angry, but she fought to keep it under control.

She sent the visual message that she’d rehearsed.

It was her in her human form, standing in the aisle of the church.

A golden light, sparkling and pure, twisted up from the floor and through her body.

It poured out through her fingertips, and she smiled as she let it course through her.

This was how the cathedral made her feel, at least when she wasn’t under attack.

Maeve let the vision go. The cat had recovered itself and was returning for another attack, but it paused. Its gray eyes watched her carefully, and its muscles twitched as it dug its claws into the floor, prepared to pounce once again.

Either it doesn’t believe me, or it doesn’t understand. Maeve braced herself for another impact.

We’ve got some more company.

The sad goblin from the newel post headed their way from the front of the church.

It flew quickly toward them, keeping its legs tucked under its body.

To her surprise, it stopped just short of them and perched on the back of a pew.

It watched them intensely, leaning forward slightly as though ready for an attack of its own.

Her vision was taken over. This time, it was an image of Kendrick and Maeve together in the church.

Maeve saw them from a bird’s eye view, which was probably how one of the gargoyles had seen them.

They walked through the building, pointing at various parts.

Each area they pointed at immediately crumbled and fell away.

Just as quickly as the vision took over, it was gone again. Maeve stumbled slightly as she found herself back in the dark church, only on the ground now instead of up near the ceiling. It’d worked! The gargoyles were communicating with them! But how could she tell him that he had it all wrong?

Kendrick heard or felt her concerns. I’ve got it.

A moment later, a new image crowded into her mind.

It was one of Kendrick, standing at the front of the church.

Cassandra was in front of him. He pointed over Cassandra’s shoulder, and she turned and walked away.

He was trying to convey that he, too, wanted to protect the church from what Cassandra wanted to do, and the destruction was pinned solely on her.

Something moved in the darkness. It was the gargoyle that’d been on the top of the church, the one with the feathered wings and lolling tongue they’d seen in the old photographs.

It was slightly bigger than the other three, about two feet tall.

Its wings were spread out in a display, and it walked with its chest proudly out.

The tongue was now tucked away, and its angry little face focused hard on Kendrick and Maeve as it approached from the altar.

It was minute compared to Kendrick’s mass as a dragon, but it didn’t seem to notice or care as it strutted forward boldly.

Cassandra appeared in Maeve’s mind again.

This time, she stood in front of a massive vortex, a swirling wall of light and energy.

Her hair flew out all around her, and she spread her arms wide.

Even as a mental image, the light was so bright that it was hard to bear.

Cassandra breathed in as light and energy flowed through her body.

Shit. Whatever it was that they didn’t like about Cassandra, Maeve had inadvertently shown them an image of herself that was very similar.

The other problem was one that Kendrick had noticed, as well. I don’t know where that is, his voice rang in her head. I haven’t seen that before.

It was hard to communicate only through pictures and feelings, but Maeve couldn’t just give up.

They were surrounded by the gargoyles now.

The goblin still watched from the back of the pew.

The hawk had landed on the balcony railing, alert and ready for the next attack.

The panther and the creature with the feathered wings were on either side of them on the floor.

All those pairs of eyes, all judging, all certain that Kendrick and Maeve were the enemy.

Maeve lay down. Her wolf argued with her, but she forced her head down until her chin touched the floor between her front paws.