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A nthony had never flown with Cruz and Celeste, but the Goyle and his mate were lovely.

Once they were in the air, Celeste set them up with snacks and drinks, then moved to the cockpit with Cruz to give Tony and Elle some privacy, as much as you could have with the others having shifter hearing.

Elle was glamoured, although he couldn’t see what she looked like.

He waited until they were in the air to make sure Elle wasn’t going to freak out over the takeoff.

She had squealed and clapped her hands. “That was exciting!”

Settled on one of the leather sofas with drinks in hand, Anthony asked, “What kind of glamour are you wearing?

“A cross between Carleigh and Harlow. Your cousins are beautiful.”

“Eh, they’re okay, but you, my dear fae, are stunning.” That earned him a quick kiss on the lips. “What’s the fae word for mate?” Anthony wasn’t giving up on claiming Elle.

“ Ars?lnun .”

“Or-suh-noon?” he repeated.

“Yes. We haven’t really talked at length about what that means, other than you only get one. Is there a ritual you perform to claim each other?”

Anthony took a sip of beer, then cradled the cold bottle between his hands.

“No ritual. When we decide we’re ready to seal the bond, the Gargoyle will bite their intended.

” He reached out and touched the skin on Elle’s shoulder where he would sink his fangs.

“I’ve heard it doesn’t hurt the one getting bitten since it usually happens during sex, and emotions are already heightened.

” Elle shivered, and Anthony removed his hand. “Does that scare you?”

“Oh, no. I was thinking about... Anyway.” Her pointed ears turned pink, and he ran his finger down the shell of one. Elle took a deep drink of her soda. “Is there a courting season beforehand?”

Elle’s questions gave Tony hope she was considering accepting the inevitable, regardless of the sigil.

“There can be. If one of the mates isn’t of age, the other will wait until the younger one is old enough.

Sometimes that means staying away for a while, and sometimes, it means being friends.

Take your dragon princess for example. Travis said Cassi has been visiting Brent for the last four years.

He would have been fifteen when they met.

Gargoyles age faster than humans, but he still wasn’t considered an adult at that age, so they courted, I guess you’d call it, in the meantime.

Full-blooded Goyles transition for the first time when they reach puberty, but half-bloods don’t transition until they meet their mate.

That can really suck because it could be anyone they’ve come into contact with.

As for you and me, we’ll take this however slow or fast you want. That is, if you want to be my mate.”

Elle took a sip from her glass and licked her lips before asking, “What do you want?”

“Not gonna lie, Sweetheart. I was ready to seal the deal back at the hotel.”

Elle’s blonde brows dipped. “I want that too, but I’m afraid of what the sigil will do to our bond. What if Grevolus gets irate and kills me? Will the bond kill you too?”

“I doubt it, but instead of worrying about that, let’s focus on seeing your sister and getting you back to Evyndral. Tell me about Yari.”

Elle’s smile was fond. “She’s a warrior.

She and Thran spent every day sparring from the time they were old enough to hold a sword.

I wanted to be just like Yari, so I started off with a bow and arrow.

They were planning on attending the dragon guard trials right before Grevolus took me away, but I had no doubt they would be chosen.

Then I saw Thran fighting amongst the D?nthúlú during the battle.

I didn’t see Yari until she stepped through the portal with Princess Cassiopa and Prince Rhoan.

Since Yari was with the royal siblings, that means she was assigned to watch over Cassi, and only the best of the warriors would be chosen for such an honor. ”

“Is she going to take my head when we meet?” Anthony joked.

“Why would she do that?” The plane shook with a little turbulence, and Elle squeaked, dropping her glass, and jumping onto Anthony’s lap.

“We hit an air pocket, nothing to worry about.” He placed his free arm around her waist, and Elle leaned her head onto his shoulder.

Being as tall as he was, Anthony dwarfed most women he slept with.

Never had anyone fit so perfectly against his side.

Then again, Anthony rarely snuggled anyone.

The last female he spent any amount of time with after sex was Jolee, Dakota’s packmate, and then, he’d been trying to get information from the female.

Anthony pressed a kiss to Elle’s hair. “Do you want Celeste to get you another drink?”

“Not right now. I’ll probably spill it too.” Elle leaned forward, waved her hand, and the glass reappeared on the table in front of them. The carpet was dry where the soda spilled.

“That’s a handy gift to have.”

Elle laughed, kissed his cheek, and returned her head to his shoulder. He would rather have her lips on his, but he wouldn’t rush her.

“Going back to Yari, I was only joking. If she does come at me with her sword, I’ll release my wings and fly out of her reach.”

“Now that’s a handy gift. I always wished I were a dragon so I could take to the sky. Since I wasn’t, I figured the next best thing was to train for the royal guard where I could be around them all the time.”

Anthony held his jealousy in check. Barely. “Do dragons have magic other than being able to shift?”

“Not that I’m aware of. You mentioned you have cousins who are witches. Do most Gargoyles have magic too?”

“Not really. Their mother is a witch, so they got their gifts from her. Some of us do have abilities, like my cousin Connor. All his life, he’s had visions of things yet to come.

When he was around five or six, he was kidnapped and taken to Greece.

That’s a country in the general direction we’re headed.

At the time, he had never met the male who would turn out to be his mom’s mate, yet he was able to mind-speak with Dante and show him images of where he was being held.

There were more kids who were also kidnapped, and one of them happened to be Connor’s mate.

They were rescued, but since they were little, their parents took them home, and Connor only recently found Alyssa when he went to South Carolina after having a vision of wolf shifters being killed.

” Anthony went on to tell her about Alyssa being a biologist, the GIA agent who followed her and Connor to Atlanta because he was certain Alyssa knew more about a sample of tissue she was tasked with studying, and how Connor saved the wolf pack.

“Our cousin Sebastian is now our King, having been passed the crown from his father. Bas is trying to gather leaders of other shifter species and form a council to spread the word that Agent Stallings is sniffing around. We don’t know if the agent told anyone else about the DNA samples, but if he did, there could be a witch hunt. ”

Elle leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. “Why would they hunt witches and not shifters?”

“I forget you don’t know all the idioms. Back in the late 1600s, women who had gifts were condemned as witches because the people of their villages considered them heretics.

Devil worshippers or some shit. These women were healers who did nothing wrong.

Nowadays, whenever someone is being targeted for being different, it’s referred to as a witch hunt. ”

“So, I should be careful who I toss fireballs at. Got it,” Elle teased, and Anthony tugged on one of her many braids.

“How long does it take you to get your hair like this?”

“About an hour if I don’t use magic.” Elle waved her hand around her head, and her hair was unbraided, flowing down her back.

“Damn, woman. Can you cook the same way? Like, if I asked for a steak and baked potato, it would appear before me?”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Only if the meat and potatoes were available. I can’t conjure items out of nowhere, but I can move things I can see. It’s basically moving energy from one place to another.”

Anthony ran his finger through the fine, blonde strands.

“I love your hair down, but when it’s braided the way you had it, you look like the badass you are.

” Elle twirled her hand again, and the braids were back.

“I wish Tabitha could do that, then it wouldn’t take her forever to get ready when we’re going somewhere. ”

“You said she’s your twin. Does she look like you?”

“Not so much. Her hair is brighter red like our mother’s, and her eyes change from green to blue depending on what she’s wearing.

My dad has dark hair, but I got his blue eyes.

Hang on.” Anthony set his beer down on the side table, leaned forward, holding onto Elle so she didn’t fall off his lap, and pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

He wrapped both arms around her so he could tap on his phone.

“These are my parents, Gregor and Tessa. Dad calls her Red, and she calls him Stone, which isn’t that original, but it stems from when they first met. ”

“No wonder you’re so handsome. Look at them. Is this when they were younger?”

“Nope. That was taken last time I visited.” Anthony scrolled to the next photo.

“See, this is them with our younger brother, Andy. I forgot to tell you Gargoyles stop aging when they’re in their thirties or early forties.

My dad is a few years shy of six hundred.

We can live to be a thousand unless we decide we’re ready to cross over to wherever Goyles go when they die.

Granted our females are susceptible to human diseases for some reason, but most live as long as their mates. ”

“That’s wonderful. Fae are long-lived as well. We can live a few thousand years, whereas the dragons can live twenty times that. I’m not sure I would want to.”