Page 73 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

ChapterSixteen

The yelling brought me out of the haze. I was still lying on the ground. All I could see above me was a pair of jean-clad legs, black wings spread wide, and the sound of snarling and yipping.

“What is that noise?” I whispered.

My throat was dry, so my voice was barely audible, but Dax still heard me. He stepped over me and crouched down by my side, his attention split between me and whatever was happening nearby.

“Ally, thank the gods. Are you okay?”

I took a moment to take stock of my body. Other than my fuzzy head and weak muscles, I felt fine.

“I’m okay. What happened after I passed out?”

“Let’s just say that the cat alpha decided that Poppy was a spy from the wolf pack, especially when Zeke Marshall showed up from the police department and mentioned that Garrett was on the way. It didn’t matter that Zeke explained that Garrett is the police chief and would be expected to show up anyway. The cats know Garrett is the alpha of the wolf pack here and then, when they realized that Poppy was his sister, things went to absolute shit.”

Dax sheathed the sword in his hand down the back of his shirt, reminding me that I needed to ask him how in the heck the magic for that worked, and reached down, lifting me in his arms.

When he straightened, we were face-to-face with the alpha’s mate. Dax snarled at her, but she raised her hands, palm out.

“I’m not here to hurt her,” she said.

“Back up,” Dax barked.

“Please, I mean no harm.”

I put my hand on Dax’s shoulder. “Let her speak,” I murmured.

He shot me a glare, turning so that most of his body was between me and the female. “Fine, what do you want?”

She kept her hands raised and took a small step forward, her eyes on me. “You’re a Conduit, aren’t you?”

“I’ve never heard of that before,” I said.

“You channel the power of the gods.”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t channel their power.”

It wasn’t a lie, but I wasn’t about to tell her all of the things that Talant had shared with me. I didn’t know her.

“I’ve met one of your kind before,” she said.

“I’m not a Conduit,” I insisted. “I’ve never even heard that term before.”

“That may not be what you call yourself, but it’s how I know you.”

“Who is this Conduit you met before?” I asked. Why was this shifter so insistent?

Her eyes darted around, as though she were making sure that no one else was near us. “My mother.”

I blinked. “I thought shifters couldn’t hold magic power.”

“My mother wasn’t a shifter.”

I realized then that she was half human. It was rare for a half human shifter to achieve alpha status. Most packs and clans would reject an alpha with a human parent.

She inched closer, which brought another snarl from Dax. Her gaze flicked to him. “I swear, she is safe with me. I know what this sort of power can do to a witch. My mate can be reactive, but he knew and loved my mother like his own. Once I explain it to him fully, he will understand and calm down.”

“The damage will already have been done,” Dax replied.

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