Page 16

Chapter 16

A Year Later

Evrard

T he watch never came to look for him, or if they did, it was when he and Maggie were out at sea.

They spent three months hunting the wolf herring aboard one of her new ships, she at the captain’s wheel while he perched atop the crosstrees, spotting schools of fish to follow.

The kitten came with them, patrolling the galley for imaginary mice.

Being at sea had suited them all.

He had a raucous female crew to watch over that satisfied his guardian heart, Maggie had her freedom, and the kitten grew fat on fish tails.

When they needed more privacy than the ship afforded, it was a short flight to an island or sea cliff where Evrard could indulge his mate to the fullest. And they were never troubled by goblins or human men.

In their first season, they earned enough to afford matching gold rings, pay the apothecary bill, and build themselves a stalwart stone nest near her parents’ cottage.

Within a few months of regular treatment, Lenn Sparhauk’s lungs grew strong enough that they expected him to captain the second ship when the wolf herring migrated again.

Evrard and Maggie finally had time to relax and play.

Theirs was always an easy partnership, full of laughter and mutual regard whether they were on land or sea.

But on land, they had fewer responsibilities weighing on them.

No ships to sail nor gate to guard meant more time for language lessons.

More time for making love.

More time for long flights and gazing at stars—or each other.

But above all else, it was Evrard’s greatest pleasure to watch Maggie swell with his young.

Her stomach seemed to grow daily.

In fact, he made it a habit upon nightwaking to snatch her from their nest and fly away with her so they could spend their evenings in the privacy of their little beach.

There, he’d spread a blanket on the sand and unlace her ever-tightening bodice so he could admire her belly and the miraculous way their hatchling’s tiny limbs moved inside it.

He'd lean in close, trying to scent the baby through her skin. When his breath tickled her, she’d squirm away, but she beamed at him through their bond. “I need to work this evening,” she would protest, unable to keep the smile out of her voice. “I can’t sit here with your head in my lap for hours. I have chores.”

He’d growl at her playfully, holding her wrists so she couldn’t push him away. “I’ll do them. Growing our child is your work,” he’d remind her. “Caring for you is mine.”

Tonight, he didn’t have to watch through her bellyskin, guessing at their hatchling’s movements like a seer. Because after many hours of Maggie’s labor, sharing her pain and his pride through their mental bond, their child was in his arms.

Her name was Anouk, and she was so new that her wings were still trapped to her back inside their thin birth casings. Like her mother, she smelled of the sea. She squeezed her eyes shut and waved tiny, green-gray fists at him.

“The gargoyle’s mate finally hatched their child,” the fluffy, white moth circling the bedside candle nattered. “It’s huge .”

The other moth giggled. “And so ugly.”

“At least it has wings.”

Evrard shooed them away with his free hand. “Don’t listen to them,” he whispered to his daughter in his tongue. “You are as beautiful as your mother. More beautiful than the sun and moon together.”

“She has your ears,” Maggie said fondly, reaching to stroke one of them to its little point.

“And bald head. Poor female.”

Maggie laughed. “Her hair will grow in. And probably her freckles, too.”

“Good,” he said gruffly, emotion welling inside him.

“Freckles are good for gargoyles now?” his mate teased him, climbing into his lap to join him and their daughter.

“Yes,” he said simply, not wanting to waste one of the minutes before dawn on argument, even in fun. He kissed the top of Maggie’s head, and she leaned back against him. The kitten, now nearly grown even though they still called him Kit, stalked over to inspect the new baby with a thorough sniffing. Then he curled up in the hollow of Evrard’s shoulder where he had a good view of the proceedings.

The three of them admired their daughter in silence for a few minutes, until Anouk opened her very human-looking mouth to wail toothlessly. He rocked her, but she just cried louder.

“She’s hungry,” Maggie said softly. “I can feel it in the bond.”

Evrard shifted the baby to Maggie, who’d already pulled down her chemise to nurse. Cradling them both, he watched his little offspring root between her mother’s pillowy breasts, grunting and squealing like a little pig.

“She gets that from me, too,” he joked.

Maggie laughed, helping the hatchling latch on. “You will have your turn at them, too, never fear.”

Evrard purred with contentment, the noise lulling both the tired females in his arms to sleep. And as his mate nestled closer and their daughter’s tiny tail curled against his chest, Evrard knew he had found the only trouble he wanted to be in.

His mate was his treasure, and he would be her anchor and her wings. He would steady her when the storms came and lift her when the skies cleared. He would chart a new course alongside her, wherever the tides of fate carried them.

For the first time in his long, solitary life, he wasn’t guarding gates or fighting battles. He was guarding something far rarer, far more precious:

A family.

A future.

A love he would protect until the stars went dark.