Page 31 of Fated to the Gargoyle

“We have treasures,” Sable says.

“Lots of treasures,” Soren finishes.

I smirk at the tape and let that one go.

Sable lifts me from the ground so I can reach the rest of Soren’s measurements, careful about it, like I might dent. “So you’re gonna leave me again,” I say around the tape, and I can’t keep the huff out of it.

Soren just watches me work. He’s in love with me, right out in the open on his face, and it makes me so nervous I nearly drop my pen.

Sable sets me down easy once I’ve got the last number, and I jot everything into the notepad. “You two are about the same size.” I glance at Sable. “You’re bigger.”

“So when am I gonna see you again?” I ask.

Soren answers by scooping me up off my feet again and pressing his forehead to mine. There are no plump lips on that face for kissing, so I’m learning this is how my gargoyle does his embracing, and honestly, it works for me. Way up off the ground with my eyes closed, held by something that could crush a car, and nothing in my whole traveling life has ever held me this safe.

“I will come to you before sunrise,” he says, low. “Allow me to prepare a proper home for you.”

The diner door swings, and he sets me down quick. Lamar makes it to his truck in record time. Devon stops dead on the sidewalk, taking in the two gargoyles in the parking lot with his whole face wide open. “Wow,” he says.

Soren keeps his eyes pinned on that truck while the engine turns over and Lamar speeds out of the lot. I peek up at my gargoyle. Ohhh, he really, really does not like Lamar.

I tap his massive arm, and he looks back down at me. “Well. Go on, if you have to.”

He brings one claw up and draws it soft down my cheek. “Please go home and rest.”

I sigh, nod, and make myself walk to my car. I climb in, start the engine, and give the two of them one more glance before I pull out of the lot.

Rest is a cute idea. What I’m really going to do is put my dinner in the oven and soak my feet while it bakes, and I am not going to sleep until he comes back, hell no. It sounds crazy even inside my own head, but it hurts to be away from him. Is this what being fated is supposed to feel like? Because if so, I freaking hate it.

An hour or two at the Singer, now that I’ve got his numbers, and my gargoyle will have some pants by sunrise. The whole town can stop getting a free show, because that’s my ass, and it’s for my view only.

Then my own thoughts catch up to me at the red light, and I grip the steering wheel. What the hell is wrong with me?

15

SOREN

My wings come open the moment her taillights turn out of the lot, and I plant my feet to keep from following them. Being apart from her is already a fight, and she hasn’t been gone a minute.

“Your mate is beautiful, brother,” Sable says beside me, watching the same empty road. “And she has a strong heart.”

“She does.” I don’t try to hold back my smile. “I asked her if she could love a monster. She told me she’d take a whole demon, so long as he helped with her bills.”

Across the lot, Devon finally quits gawking and walks himself to his little car. He’s young yet, and anything my mate protects, I protect. The boy drives off with no idea he’s gained himself a shadow.

“We are in a different time.” Sable turns a slow circle, taking in the dark shopping center. “It is difficult even for me to comprehend, being accepted this widely.”

“I want Treasure to have everything she desires,” I tell him, and my claws curl with how much I mean it. “This town is on that list.”

“Then let us go look at the land.” Sable rolls his shoulders, ready for the sky.

“What about that disgustingly messy dragon?” I’m not done with tonight’s business yet. “Did you get him to speak on the robberies?”

Sable nods. “It’s been odd. Shadow Suds first, then a warehouse. He suspects the diner will be the next target.” He tips his head at the building behind us. “The one where your mate is employed.”

My ears twitch back flat. “No one will harm my mate.”

“Of course not,” Sable says, mild about it. “Shadow Wolf Creek will witness its first murder if anything comes near that diner.”