Page 25 of Dragon’s Golden Mate (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #2)

“You’re sure you’re able to handle this?”

Kendrick gave Beck a look from the passenger seat. “I’m doing so well that I was even patient enough to let you drive.”

“Okay, fair enough. You’re a real grump when you don’t feel good,” his nephew told him.

“And now you know where you got it from,” Kendrick retorted. “And really, I’m perfectly fine. I just feel bad that I’ve let it all wait until now.”

“You couldn’t have helped that,” Lilith said from the backseat. “You had to heal up before anything else could happen.”

They swung into the parking lot at the cathedral.

It had a sad look to it now, with the windows boarded over.

Beck, Griffin, and Ewan had returned with large sheets of plywood to cover the area where the stained glass had once been, as well as the floor.

At the very least, it would keep any nosy strangers from getting in and getting themselves into trouble.

Ewan and Griffin pulled in next to them, and the dragons all got out of their vehicles. Kendrick looked up, noting that no one was watching them from the steeple.

“I put a new lock on the back door,” Beck told him, tapping the device in question as they walked up to it.

Kendrick sighed. “I guess whoever ends up buying the place will just have to replace it again, so I hope you didn’t spend too much on it.”

Beck and Griffin exchanged a glance. “No,” Beck said as he turned the key. “I’m pretty happy with what I spent. You go first.” He held the door open for his uncle.

They’d been acting weird for a week, at least. Kendrick had asked Beck what was going on, but he’d insisted that everything was normal. Kendrick didn’t fully believe that, but he let it go.

He led the way down that same short hallway, his stomach knotting up a bit as he returned to the place where he’d nearly died. Eight hundred years, and in only a moment, it’d nearly slipped out of his hands. That was a strange feeling.

Kendrick opened the door into the sanctuary.

As the others had told him, large pieces of plywood had been put down over the gaping hole in the floor.

With all the windows boarded over, very little light made its way into the building now.

Ewan lit an electric lantern he’d brought along.

Kendrick observed all the damage the cathedral had endured, but he hadn’t given up on the place yet.

“You boys did a good job with the boards,” Kendrick said quietly. “Maybe someone will come along and look at this place and decide it's worth fixing up.”

“We left one job for you.” Lilith brushed past him, now using the light from her cell phone to lead the way.

His heart sank as he stepped between the front two pews. The shattered pieces of the goblin still remained there, one showing his little ear, another a triangle of wing. “Poor little thing. Cassandra sure made a good job out of you. I don’t know if I can fix this.”

The cat gargoyle appeared on his right, coming out from under the pew in front of him.

It peered up at him sadly. The dog landed on the seat of the pew.

It looked down at the goblin, then up at Kendrick, and then at its fallen friend once again.

Last came the hawk, who landed on a nearby light fixture, ruffled its feathers, and glared.

“All right. All right. Let me see what I can do. It’s a hell of a puzzle.

” Kendrick moved slightly so he could sit on the floor.

He picked up one piece and then another.

It was easiest when there were identifiable features to go off of, but other pieces were nothing more than chunks of rock.

Kendrick studied the varying striations and crystallizations of the minerals, twisting and turning each piece until he had them just right.

The goblin began to take form as his fellow guardians stood watch over him. Sometimes, as Kendrick hesitated, they looked up at him with worry and urgency. The cat ducked under the pew and then came back with a piece of the rock that he’d been missing.

Finally, he slipped the last piece in place. It was a sharp, triangular shard that showed one of the goblin’s eyes, half of his nose, and a bit of his lip. He waited, hoping something might happen, but he simply held the cracked remains of a little statue.

“That’s it,” Kendrick said softly.

“Did we miss a piece?” Griffin suggested.

Ewan and Beck began looking around, but Lilith had another idea. “Let me try.” She laid her hand on top of the gargoyle’s head. A warm gold light that matched the color of her dragon flooded down through the cracks in the stone guardian.

Kendrick recalled that same light through his own body, right here in this cathedral. He’d damaged himself to the point that even the naturally quick healing powers of a shifter simply weren’t enough. Lilith had managed to save him, but would it work for a hunk of granite?

When she lifted her hand away, the cracks were gone. The goblin stretched and turned. He fluttered his wings, and bounded to the floor when he saw his friends. Kendrick thought he might’ve even seen a hint of a smile on his sad little face.

“There, now.” He dusted off his hands and grinned, thrilled to see the gargoyles investigating each other.

“I hated knowing he was here in pieces. Now we just have to wait and see if there are any problems when someone buys this building. I’d be happy to bring the gargoyles to the clanhouse, but those little guys have been here for centuries. This is their home.”

Another look was exchanged among the dragons.

“What?” Kendrick demanded.

“You don’t have to worry about what will happen to them,” Ewan told him, putting his hand on Kendrick’s shoulder. “There’s already a new owner, and it turns out they’re just fine with letting the current occupants stay here.”

“New owners already? Who?” Despite that news, Kendrick still worried. He’d grown rather fond of those creatures.

“Us!” Beck clapped his other shoulder. “The Alexander clan now owns this cathedral.”

Kendrick was floored. “You’re kidding! Surely, we didn’t have enough money for that!”

Beck held out his hands to encompass the whole church. “With all the damage, plus the fact that it’d been sitting empty for quite a few years, plus a few horror stories about it being haunted, plus the dissolution of Deegan Enterprises, we actually did have enough money.”

“Now we don’t have to worry about what might happen if someone else discovered that freaky portal in the basement,” Griffin explained. “The gargoyles can stay here with it, as they were meant to, and no one will be the wiser.”

Kendrick’s laugh filled the cathedral. “You all think you’re pretty slick, don’t you? Doing all of that behind my back! Is there anything else you haven’t told me about?”

Beck checked his watch. “The historical society is probably here right about now.”

“Not to protest?”

“No,” Beck confirmed. “They’re designating the cathedral as an official historical site. It’s kind of like it’s doubly protected now, between us and them. Well, triple if you count the gargoyles.”

“I definitely do!” Kendrick replied with another laugh.

They headed out to meet them just as several more cars pulled up. A small crowd was forming, and Kendrick immediately felt a tickle at the base of his neck. His dragon, which had been forced to rest, lurched to life inside him.

Lucille was the first to walk up to Kendrick. She was all professional in her role with the historical society. “Congratulations on your purchase, Mr. Alexander. The historical society looks forward to working with you on any future renovations.”

He chuckled at her businesslike manner. “And I look forward to working with you, as well. I have some ideas about how the place can be brought back to its original charm.” With, of course, four gargoyles and a portal to another dimension inside it.

“Mr. Alexander.”

Kendrick recognized James, the skinny man who’d tried to get assertive with him when the historical society was protesting the demolition of this building. Kendrick raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

James extended his hand. “I’d like to formally apologize for my behavior a few weeks ago.

I had no idea that you were a patron of history and architecture.

I shouldn’t have assumed that, simply because you were speaking with someone who had such a reputation for tearing things down, that you wanted the same thing. ”

“It’s quite all right.” Kendrick shook the other man’s hand firmly, using the steady grip of his fingers to let him know who was in charge of the situation. “I can understand, and I admire your commitment to remarkable old buildings such as this one.”

James swallowed and nodded, shaking his hand a little when he took it back. “If you don’t mind, we’ll be saying a few words to commemorate the church’s designation as a historical site.”

“As you wish.” Kendrick gestured toward the front double doors, with a couple of steps leading up to them. “That seems like as good of a place as any.”

“Thank you.” James also gestured at the front door. “Please, you should come up there with us. It’s only right, since you’re the new owner.”

“Well,” Kendrick hesitated, “it’s really my whole family who owns the place.”

“Go.” Beck pushed the center of Kendrick’s back. “It wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for you.”

With a sigh, he trudged up next to James and Lucille.

Kendrick’s eyes scanned the crowd and found her immediately.

Had she always been that beautiful? She certainly had been in his dreams, her face haunting him as his body healed itself.

More than once, he’d been sure that he held her in his arms, only to wake and find himself in bed alone.

She watched him now, her long hair hanging down her back, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” James began, pausing to clear his throat, “you can see that we stand in front of this very unique church. There are many beautiful and historic buildings in Salem…”