“Yeah, I am. Aren’t you?”
She shrugged, tugging the straps on her pack. She looked real at home in the mountains, so fucking cute I wanted to grab her and haul her off the trail, have my way with her in the woods.
But, that would be frowned upon by the rest of the team. So, onward we marched.
“No more than I was on our way up to Amaranth City when we first portaled in,” she said. “Besides, now we’ve got Evander with us, and—”
“And the rest of the realm believes he’s a fucking warlord, so he’s more of a target than all ofourasses combined.” I shook my head, trying to clear the bad mojo. “Sorry. He ain’t even what I’m worried about, to tell you the truth.”
“Then what’s wrong?” She glanced up at me again, her face so earnest. So sweet.
Fuck, my heart kicked up a few gears every time I looked at her.
“Hudson?” she pressed. A tiny wrinkle appeared between her brows. “What is it?”
“Haley, I…” Hell, I didn’t wanna lay this on her—not now. But Marco posed a real threat, and she needed to know it. “The gargoyles who attacked us outside the moat? That wasn’t just some random attack. It was personal—highly personal.”
“Well, yeah. They were working with the guards to kidnap me.”
“Even more personal than that, babygirl.” I stopped her on the path, tugging her behind a rocky outcropping for a moment of privacy. “The one who took off that night before I could nail him—his name’s Marco. Mad Marco, to be exact. And me and him?” I blew out a breath, my cheeks puffing up with the force of it. “We got some dark shit between us. Real bad shit.”
“You know him?”
“From way back when.”
That wrinkle turned into a deep crease. “And what about the other one? The one you… took care of.”
“Draven. And that’s just it. After what I did to him? Marco—”
“Let me guess.” Haley lowered her gaze, kicking a stone off the side of the mountain. “You killed Marco’s wingman, so now he wants you even more dead than he did before?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, that fucking meathead’snevergonna stop wanting me dead. Not until I’m a pile of dust.”
She shuddered at my words, then looped her hand through my arm and tucked in close. “We’re not going to let him touch you again.I’mnot. I swear, Hudson, if that asshole comes within fifty yards of you, I’ll… Well, I’m not sure what I’ll do. But you can bet your firm, tattooed ass it’ll be something suitably bloody.”
“Aww. You are justadorablewhen you threaten another gargoyle’s life for me.” I cupped her face and brushed my thumb across her sweet smile. “And as much as I’d love to hire you as my bodyguard…”
My grin dropped. I couldn’t keep up the pretense of jokes when so much was at stake. When her verylifewas at stake.
“Haley, this ain’t just about retaliation for a dead wingman.” I clenched my jaw so hard my entire face ached. “Marco was there the night I found you in the moat—obviously. He was working with Keradoc’s mercs—part of that fucking crew waiting to take you away from me.”
“Yeah, but hedidn’ttake me. We stopped him.”
“But not before he saw what I did to Draven.Exactlywhat I did to Draven. Now he knows.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand. Now he knows what?”
“There’s a code among gargoyles. Even the worst of ’em follow it. You don’t mutilate the wings. I broke that code—and before you even say a word, hell yes, I’d do it again a hundred times over just to keep you safe. But that’s the problem right there, babygirl. There’s only one reason a gargoyle would do something so… so reprehensible to our kind.” I took her hands. Pressed my mouth to her fingers. “A gargoyle would only do it to protect his mate.”
Her eyes widened as the realization hit her.
“Now he knows you’re the most important person in the world to me,” I continued. “He knows I’d violate that one unspoken law—that I’d mutilate my own kind to get to you without a second thought. Which means—”
“Which means…” She sighed and dropped her head into her hands. “Shit, Hudson. It means I’m your weakness. You’re a target now, and they knowexactlyhow to get to you. Right through me. I—”
“Hey.Hey.” I gripped her chin, forcing her to look up at me. “Weakness? Don’t eventhinkit, babygirl. You’ve given me a reason to… Fuck, Haley. I’m… I just… You’re the only… You’re…”
The words were coming at me hard and fast, crashing together in my head like a car wreck. But I forced myself to take a deep breath. To steady my thoughts and start again, because sheneededto know this, even more than she needed to know about Marco.
