Page 1 of Guarded by the Gargoyle (Hidden Hollow #3)

PROLOGUE 1

KAEL

F or untold centuries I was frozen in stone.

It was a punishment for my disobedience—for choosing the wrong side in the great war of Heaven. A punishment for my pride.

The one I followed promised freedom…so I was given servitude as my penance. He swore that we would rule…and so I was tasked with protecting and bowing to those lowliest of all of the Almighty’s creations—the humans. But not just any humans—I was bound to protect and serve women, those descendants of Eve who first tasted the forbidden fruit and caused all of humanity to fall, as I had fallen myself.

Nor was that the end of my punishment. I was given a new form—a hideous visage I would be forced to wear whenever I did battle. No longer was I a beautiful archangel…now that I was fallen I was also a gargoyle. One doomed to serve forever or until the holder of my key no longer needed me and released me.

At first my pride was hurt—I wanted nothing to do with my new role. But then I was called forth, called out of stone and given one to watch over. She became everything to me—my light, my life. But she was not free—she was owned by another. The one who tasked me with her care.

He hurt her—the one who first held my key. He made me watch over her but he kept me from protecting her. When she died, I could not save her.

I vowed then that never should another male hold my key. Before I turned to stone again, I asked a witch to place the spell on me. I begged her to make sure the next woman I protected would also be my keyholder, so that none should stop me from keeping her safe.

Whoever she was, I swore to guard her with my life, to protect her from any danger, and to give her my heart…even if it meant my death.