Page 2 of Seduced by Moonlight (Gargoyles of San DeLain #1)

WARD FROWNED. “Can you identify it?”

“Whatever it is, it’s unlike anything I’ve encountered before. And considering who we’re dealing with….”

They both knew the dangers posed by Lennox and Nox. Their experiments were notorious for crossing lines others dared not even approach.

“She’s unconscious at the moment, but with your permission, I’d like to cast a spell to keep her that way. At least until I’ve healed the minor trauma she suffered.”

“Yes, that might be best.”

Celine nodded. “I think it would be okay for you to leave. I’m not worried about her waking unexpectedly, not with the spell I’m using.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s a powerful spell. As weak as her body is, I doubt she can fight it off.”

“Well then, if you’re sure.”

“I am. It’s like being under anesthesia, and I control the gas,” Celine joked. “She’s not waking. Check back in two hours. I should be done and ready to lift the spell.”

“Okay then.”

Leaving the infirmary, Ward made his way to his private study, his footsteps echoing thanks to the castle’s stone walls. Those witches had dared to target a creature who possessed powers beyond what most could comprehend. It was a dangerous game they were playing.

Now that Lennox and Nox were both dead, their powerful organization had fallen into chaos. Fractured and crumbling, it was now being divided up and distributed among the remaining leaders of San DeLain, including himself.

He’d been more interested in property and financial gain—not a hunter who shouldn’t exist. But if someone forcibly mutated her DNA, that made her a victim.

But she wasn’t like those others. She was something more.

He’d rescued her from a black magic ritual where she was to be sacrificed. Did that make him accountable for her well-being? Did he even want that responsibility? And what about her? Did she want him to take responsibility for her?

Ward’s clan included gargoyles, humans, and other paranormal beings. In that aspect, he was much like the Elder of the Daemons of San DeLain. He offered asylum to pretty much anybody who wanted it as long as they’d swear allegiance to him.

Out of all the individuals Ward had welcomed into his clan, none possessed as much power as him. However, this woman—whatever she may be—might match his strength. Maybe. But he had age and experience on his side.

Additionally, although she was beautiful—even with her bruises and messy appearance—she did not pique his interest in the slightest. His desires lay solely with men. How would she react to someone who only desired males?

He sat at his desk, maps and texts spread before him in a chaotic swirl of paper and ink, along with the trappings of modern technology, like his desktop and laptop.

Gargoyles kept to themselves, so he did not have close ties to the other leaders of San DeLain, but he trusted the daemons and dragons the most. Maybe it was because, out of all the paranormals, those two species were the most like his kind.

Meaning they could not change humans into what they were like the vampires, weres, and the mers. The only way gargoyles could prolong a human’s life was by sharing their blood, the exact same way the daemons and dragons did.

He needed to inform Kage and Hudson of this latest development. But first, he needed to understand the latest development.

This hunter could shift the balance of power in ways no one could predict. He needed to restore her health, and then… well, they’d see. His gut said he needed to protect her until he could ascertain her true role in all this chaos, and he always listened to his gut.

What was she? Could she be a creature from another dimension? A being from ancient times? Or perhaps even a manifestation of pure magic itself? Whoever or whatever she was, she’d fallen into his world like a meteor—sudden and fraught with unknown consequences.

His castle might be her sanctuary for now, but whether it would remain so depended on her. Ward knew one thing for certain: Paranormal society was standing on a precipice, and every step needed to be measured with caution and precision.

The balance of power in San DeLain was delicate even at the best of times—introducing an anomaly like her could either stabilize it or send it tumbling into chaos.

And they’d had enough chaos. Only time would unveil what role she would play in all of this—and until then, he would watch over her, guardian or jailer, as need be.

He was still contemplating the situation when his cell phone started ringing incessantly. Seeing that it was Celine calling, he quickly answered.

“Ward, I need you back here immediately. She’s trying to wake up. She shouldn’t be able to with the sleep spell I put on her, but there you go. You need to get here.”

Shit, shit, shit. How? “I’m on my way. If you feel unsafe, just get out of there.”

“That goes without saying. Hurry.”

Ward jumped up from his desk and rushed from the room, pulling his human glamor around him. Last thing he needed was for their guest to freak out over how he looked. Who knew if she remembered seeing his true form earlier.

And dammit, he should’ve stayed even if Celine hadn’t thought there was a reason to, but she’d been so sure the hunter couldn’t wake up. How was she trying to wake up? He knew of that sleep spell, and it was a doozy.

His people swiftly moved out of his way as he ran through the corridors. Within minutes, he entered the infirmary. Celine was still there, so Ward assumed that was a good sign.

What wasn’t a good sign was that the hunter was wide-awake and sitting up.

Her gaze, bright and alert, scanned the dimly lit room with a predator’s precision, pausing only when it landed on Ward. For a moment, there was a palpable silence filled with tension and unasked questions.

“She woke up just now,” Celine whispered, standing rigidly by the bedside.

Ward knew his healer enough to know that even though her face was a mask of professional concern, her body language betrayed a hint of fear. Why hadn’t she left?

“I tried reinforcing the sleep spell, but it didn’t work. She woke quickly. She’s… she is incredibly strong. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The hunter turned her attention to Celine briefly before addressing Ward directly, her voice hoarse. “Where am I? And who are you people?”

Ward advanced slowly, careful to keep his movements nonthreatening while putting himself between the hunter and his healer as she backed away from the bedside. He knew the importance of first impressions.

“You’re safe here,” Ward said softly, hoping to convey sincerity through his tone and demeanor.

The woman blinked slowly. “Where am I?” she asked again.

“You are in my castle,” Ward replied. “My name is Hereward Tywyll. I go by Ward. My clan is Clan Tywyll. I am the king of the San DeLain gargoyles. I brought you here for your protection. Do you remember your name?”

“My protection?” Her eyebrows furrowed in a mixture of skepticism and slight amusement.

Ward chose his next words carefully, fully aware she hadn’t answered the question of who she was. “There were witches who were here in my woods doing a black magic ritual. They planned to drain you of your powers, and I intervened and stopped it.”

The woman appeared to consider this, her gaze never wavering from his face. Then she swung her legs off the bed and stood up.

“I don’t remember asking for help,” she said quietly.

“That may be,” Ward acknowledged, hearing the underlying thread of steel in her voice. “But it doesn’t change the fact those witches were trying to sacrifice you using black magic in my territory. You may not have asked for help, but you needed it.” He paused, watching her reaction closely.

“You said you were the one who brought me here?”

“Yes.”

“So is that your human glamor?”

Ward raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer that question. Instead, he asked one of his own. “What do you remember?”

She pressed her lips together, then finally spoke. “Fire. Chants. And then, agony….” Her voice trailed off. “Finally, darkness.”

Something very close to what Ward assumed was pain danced across her expression.

“You were part of a ritual. Remember?”

“The fire and the chanting that I remember were not part of what you stumbled across.”

“What?” That made no sense to Ward. Then again, she was right. When he came upon them, there was no fire.

“I don’t mean to be a burden or a threat,” she continued.

“We need more than that if you expect me not to consider you a danger,” Ward stated bluntly. “You’re very powerful.”

“Fair enough,” she conceded. “My name is Rihanna Norwood. I was part of a coven in another realm—wizards and witches who bend not just elements but dimensions.” Her gaze flicked up to meet Ward’s again. “And something went very wrong during an experiment.”

“An experiment?” Ward asked. “Wait. Did you say—”

“Oh goddess,” Celine whispered. “Another realm?”

“Yes. Instead of expanding our reach across dimensions, it tore through them haphazardly—sending me here. Not long after that, some of the vilest smelling beings captured me. They experimented on me.” Rihanna’s tone was matter-of-fact, but there were hints of anger and pain in there too.

“The hunters found you, and they mutated your DNA,” Ward surmised.

“At first, I didn’t understand what they were doing, but it became frighteningly obvious pretty quickly. With each successful manipulation, they added another paranormal’s DNA to mine.”

“Until they had mutated your DNA with that of vampire, a were, and a mer. The Power of Three,” Ward mused, trying to hide his horror. “Then, what? You escaped?”

“In a nutshell. I went to a coven for help. That was something I shouldn’t have done,” Rihanna admitted. “I expected help. Instead, I got betrayal.”

“So your arrival here wasn’t intentional?” Celine asked.

“No more than yours would be if you suddenly found yourself elsewhere without explanation or consent,” Rihanna countered.

“I’m so sorry. I am so, so sorry our own kind did that to you,” Celine said softly. “But unfortunately, the established coven of witches here in San DeLain are….”

“Evil.” Rihanna finished for her.

Somewhere outside, a raven called. Frowning, Ward glanced at the window.

“Yes. It’s why a lot of us, take me, for example, are not part of a coven. We belong to other clans or packs or whatever. I’m not the only magic user who looked for acceptance elsewhere.”

Ward took in the information slowly. “And what is it you seek now, Rihanna?”

Minutes ticked by, and Ward shifted uncomfortably.

“That’s not an easy question to answer, now, is it? For now, I seek sanctuary,” Rhiannon said. “And perhaps allies. I need to recover, to understand the full extent of what they did to me, and eventually? To find a way to either return home or make a new one here.”

Her lips tightened momentarily.

Ward nodded. If the roles were reversed, he had no idea how he’d react, either. And unlike her, from sunup to sundown he was vulnerable.

“I can offer you sanctuary, Rihanna Norwood of another realm,” Ward declared formally, his voice resonating with both power and a tinge of warmth. “Clan Tywyll will protect you as long as you wish to stay and abide by our laws.”

“And what laws would those be?”

Ward quickly entailed what it would mean to be part of his clan, even temporarily. “So basically, those are the things that I would require of you.”

“Nothing more than any good guest would expect anyway,” Rhiannon agreed.

“But there are two things I am going to insist upon,” Ward said. “You shall refrain from performing any significant magic without supervision until we have confirmed it is safe for both you and us.”

“That’s fair,” Rihanna agreed swiftly. “And what about the witches? The ones who attacked me?”

“All dead except for the one. And I will deal with their coven accordingly if they dare to trespass on my land or against my people again,” Ward assured her. “I do not tolerate threats lightly.”

“Good.”

“This leads me to my second requirement,” Ward said. “ I need you to swear an oath of loyalty to the clan. It’s a crucial element of the initiation process for every new clan member.”

“Not to you?”

“For now, no. This oath will be temporary. If you decide to stay, either because you wish to or because you’re unable to return home, then you will swear to me. But I will have my members protected. Usually when someone applies for membership, I do a background check on them, check references, and so on.”

“Something you cannot do with me.”

“Exactly. You are a complete unknown, and a powerful unknown. Plus, from what I understand, you have characteristics of a vampire, a were, and a mer, but I don’t know exactly what that means or entails. Which, we will need to discuss in depth.”

Celine stepped forward. “And do you seek vengeance?”

“Vengeance is tempting,” Rihanna confessed.