Page 6 of Stolen by the Gargoyle (Gargoyles of the Underworld #1)

The last thing I expected when I burst from the mouth of the cave was the scorching heat of the sun and nothing but deserted land for miles.

He’d told me that we were in the Underworld, but I hadn’t really believed it until I saw the hellscape with my own eyes.

Maybe I should have turned back around and gone inside, but fear pushed me forward.

Maybe that hadn’t been the smartest decision, but I couldn’t bring myself to really care at the time.

Not when the threat of what the gargoyle wanted loomed over my head.

In that instant, death by sun seemed preferable.

What a fucking joke that was.

I regretted the decision almost immediately, as my bare feet scraped across the terrain, my nails cracking as I tripped. The soles of my feet began to bleed, and I whimpered and cried, regretting that even more when it made my mouth dry.

I craved water, but all I tasted was the salt of my own sweat as it dripped down my upper lip.

I panted, my chest burning with every step I ran and bile choked my throat as I fought not to hurl.

Fuck, why had I done this? I was in literal hell; running was some kind of fucking torture. And there were people who did this shit for fun?

I paused, my feet skidding against sand. A cloud of dust swept up, almost choking me as I tried to inhale. A part of me contemplated turning back. I was in the middle of fucking nowhere with nothing but scorching sun and– fuck –were those vultures in the sky?!

Unease wrapped me in a tight embrace as I recalled the gargoyle’s words.

“We are in the Underworld.”

I hadn’t registered them at first. Not with everything else going on, not with everything else he was saying. It had all become a blur of incredulity and fear. The Underworld.

I really was in the fucking Underworld.

I was not equipped to live here. I already felt my skin itching. I didn’t fuck with this type of climate.

Fuck, this was bad.

I turned, staring off in the direction from which I came, but all I could make out was a murky horizon. The cave had vanished, as if it had never really been there at all.

Okay, I hadn’t run that far, had I? Where was the mouth of the cave? It should have been there, right? Unless I’d imagined the whole thing.

Maybe I was in some kind of dream-induced hallucination.

Maybe I’d gotten hit by a car and I was in a coma.

Maybe none of this was real.

I took a step forward when suddenly, black dots appeared in my vision a great distance away.

One and then another… and another. Until there were dozens of round formations rushing in my direction.

At first, my brain didn’t register what was happening.

But then came the snarls that curdled fear low in my gut.

I turned away and ran.

I had no idea what was hurtling in my direction and didn’t want to find out.

Fuck, did I look like waiting for those things to catch up to me?

I wasn’t some dummy in a scary movie trying to investigate what mysterious and ghostly noises were coming from the basement.

Obviously whatever those things were, they weren’t friendly.

They sounded like rabid dogs snarling and yapping… and they were coming for me.

I definitely should have stayed in the cave…

The thought burst through my head loudly, and I threw a look over my shoulder, regretting the action immediately when I saw how close those things were now. They gained on me, close enough where I could make out their every detail.

Up close they were ugly, with rows of sharp teeth, flat snouts, and four sets of yellow eyes. My heart slammed up to my throat as I pictured one of those little creatures sinking its teeth into me. I was dead. Fuck, I was so fucking dead.

I cried out in terror, my arms flailing as my legs pumped faster than I’d ever moved them before.

It still didn’t feel fast enough. The creatures were gaining on me, their snarls chasing me and their acidic breath hot on my back.

Tears flowed freely from my eyes, but I didn’t want to give up…

I couldn’t give up. My life couldn’t end here. I wouldn’t let it.

I tripped, skidding to my knees on the sand. Rock and grit rubbed me raw, and I felt my exposed skin tear open. I screamed, turning and scrambling back as one of those things lurched for me–

And then a blur tore in between me and it.

Snarls and chaos rained down around me. The other creatures skidded to a stop, yapping and barking as that giant blur of a figure tore through the one that lunged at me. There was a hot spray of warmth that splattered against me, making me gasp.

And then the terrifying screeching stopped for a moment as the blur ceased to be. The gargoyle stood in front of me, his back arched, facing off against the demons.

He let out a roar that rumbled the ground beneath me. My nails dug into the sand, as if searching for purchase to steady my trembling body.

He roared, and the creatures issued battle cries of their own. And within the next second, they were attacking. I screamed, scrambling back on the ground away from the melee of the fight.

Look, I could get down and punch a bitch, when the occasion called for it, but I wasn’t about to get caught up in all of that. They had teeth like razors that tore into the gargoyle’s rock-hard skin like it was butter. I could only imagine what they would have done to me.

The things were small, but they converged on him as a unit, corralling him in a way that made my heart pound and had me fearing for his safety.

When a creature lunged for his wings, I screamed, “Behind you!”

But the gargoyle seemed to have been waiting for that to happen.

His wings snapped closed tightly against his back and the creature clamped down on empty air before falling to the ground close to me.

It got up, disoriented, shaking its head.

When its vision cleared, it saw me and made an attempt to pounce…

The gargoyle skewered it with the pointed end of his tail, the hard flesh piercing the demon’s chest and lifting it into the air. He shook the thing like a rattle and then tossed it amongst its comrades, sending them toppling over.

The death sent them into a tizzy. They came at him at once. Everything was a cacophony of snarls, claws, and teeth. He ripped through them like they were bugs, though he sustained his own injuries in the process.

His skin split open and red-black blood dripped across his flesh.

The sight made me ache. Everytime their teeth sunk into his flesh, cries ripped past my mouth.

I wanted to rush in and help, but I knew I’d be more of a hindrance, so I stayed where I was as he picked them apart one by one, until they were nothing but slumped bodies already being buried beneath the sand.

For a moment, everything stilled. Time. Space. My heart.

But the gargoyle’s chest heaved up and down, his entire body tense. He faced away from me, but the set of his wings were sprung tight against his spine. His black claws dripped blood onto the sand, the three claws on his feet vicious and curved and standing in blood and guts.

I was almost too afraid to speak, fearing what it might bring, so I pushed quietly to a stand.

He snapped around to look at me. I almost expected anger on his features, perhaps some of that violent rage aimed and reserved for me.

But… there was none. His features had smoothed over.

Yes, while they were still very much grave, his black orbs were soft on me, assessing.

It felt like they were roving over me, searching for any sign of injuries.

I waited with bated breath for him to berate me, for him to be angry that I’d left… Wasn’t that what kidnappers did in situations like this? They grew upset, locked up their captives?

He stepped forward, confident, straight, every glorious inch of him wide and bloody, like a warrior who had just come out of battle in a story.

He stopped in front of me, staring down from his tall frame.

“You are hurt.”

I barely felt my bloody knees and palms. How could I pay them any mind when his wounds seemed more prominent and he wasn’t even wincing?

There was a gash on his chest, a diagonal, deep wound that ran between his two pectorals.

Blood slid from it, down and over his navel-less belly.

He didn’t have a fucking navel.

Why my brain chose to grasp on that little detail was beyond me, but it did.

My eyes couldn’t tear themselves away at first, but when they did, I latched onto his face, sprayed with dark blood.

Even his long, black hair dripped blood.

He sported gouges across his body, and though he barely flinched, I wondered if they ached.

“So are you,” I whispered.

He lifted his hand, reaching out to grab my chin but thought better of it when the blood splattered down between us.

He grunted, as if displeased, and then bent to pick me up.

He grasped me under the knees and at my lower back, lifting without a grunt.

He pressed me close to his chest, fingers gripping me tight.

There was a loud snap as his wings lifted… and then we were flying.

I swallowed down my yelp of surprise, choking on the wind as we soared high into the sky. His wings beat rapidly, creating swift gusts that ruffled my makeshift skirt, blowing it upward to my thighs.

He didn’t speak as he flew us away, though I wasn’t sure I expected him to, or that I would have heard him over the gush of rushing wind at the velocity he was going. Silence was better. It gave me time to stew in my own stupidity.

You know what, no .

Fuck that.

I wasn’t stupid. I was terrified . I’d woken up in a strange place, kidnapped by a strange creature, claiming he was going to mate with me so I’d be his wife.

Me leaving, trying to find a way out, wasn’t stupid.

It was a very real and valid reaction to the uncertain situation I had suddenly found myself in.

So what if I didn’t know the area or where I was? I wasn’t going to sit around with my arms crossed just because I had no idea what was outside. Yes, that had gone badly. Yes, I could have gotten killed. That wasn’t the point.

When faced with life-altering situations, fight or flight instincts had kicked in, and I’d chosen to run away from what I’d perceived as an imminent threat.

But… did I still feel that way after what had just happened? I wondered as we finally touched ground near the mouth of that now-familiar cave. He carried me through the dark threshold in silence and I felt myself clinging tighter to him. But was it fear, or something else?

He’d saved me from those demons, but he’d also brought me back here. To the place I associated with my captivity, the cage that tore me from my freedom.

What did I feel? I couldn’t quite place a name to it. It still clenched at my gut, but the ache was less now. I wondered if it was precisely because he had saved me. But the earlier anxiety ramped up anyway, with thoughts of what he’d all but promised would happen between us.

He made huffing noises as he stormed into the cave, going deep inside, further even than where he’d laid out his nest of blankets. He walked into another tunnel until I heard a trickling rush of… water?

We emerged into an illuminated cavern. I gasped at the sight. Bioluminescent algae clung over the jutted walls and ceiling, casting a yellow light down on what looked like a little pool. Water streamed in from a cluster of rocks like a little fall, and steam emanated from it.

My bones suddenly ached to take a dip.

A second later, I got my wish.

The gargoyle walked to the edge of the pool and, without a word of warning, tossed me inside.

My limbs flailed out and water shot up my nose, burning my nostrils as I was enveloped in the warmth.

Thrashing out, my palms blindly searched for the edge, nails breaking as my fingers grasped wet rock.

Sputtering, I pulled myself along the edge until my feet found purchase and I could stand on my own.

“What the fuck?!” I shoved my sopping hair back and glared at him.

“Clean yourself,” he demanded. That calm facade transformed once again, making him finally appear angry. I wanted to flinch away from how scary it made him look, but I was too pissed to do anything other than glare back. “I will return momentarily.”

And he turned…

And left.