Page 83 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

“Enough!” Talant’s voice filled the cave, making the walls shake.

Dax crouched slightly in front of me, his wings sweeping back to surround me. “You dare touch my mate,” he growled.

My body stiffened at his words. Mate? What in the world was he talking about? Just last night he said that he couldn’t give me what I wanted, and he hadn’t said one word in argument this morning when I told him that I wasn’t going to take whatever scraps he offered me.

“I see no mating mark on her neck,” Talant replied.

I couldn’t see him, but his tone was calm, almost taunting.

Dax snarled again, his body tensing even more.

“But Ally is my Anointed, not my paramour.”

I rolled my eyes behind Dax’s back at Talant’s choice of words. Paramour? Good grief, he was laying it on thick.

I ducked beneath Dax’s wing and stepped in front of him. “Tal, stop egging him on.”

A grin spread across Talant’s face. “But it’s so easy.”

“I don’t care. Knock it the hell off!”

He shrugged. “Fine.”

Dax grabbed my waist, pulling me back into his body. I didn’t shove his hands away, but I did hold myself perfectly still and rigid.

Talant turned toward Sommerton, holding out his hand. “Brother.”

Sommerton stared at him for a moment with his creepy black and violet eyes before he took gripped Talant’s forearm. “Brother.”

“While I understand why you wished me to wake, I can’t say I approve of your methods.”

Sommerton’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t recall you complaining about how I did things before.”

“Ally is my Anointed and her aunt is special to her. What you have wrought means you will likely not be welcomed here when you’re free.”

“We have no need of this place,” Sommerton said, releasing Talant’s arm.

“You have no need of this place, but I must train my Anointed. It is my responsibility to prepare her for what she will face when it comes to her power.”

Sommerton scowled. “Then, bring her with you. The world is a big place now, brother. We can go back to the old ways. They will serve us again. We have only to take what we want as we once did.”

Talant shook his head. “I don’t want my old life. I want a new life. I want to honor her the way I should have then.”

Her? Who were they talking about? Me?

Sommerton looked as though he’d been slapped. “You lie. She imprisoned us both!”

Talant shook his head. “No, she didn’t. I chose to sleep. It was for the best.”

Sommerton stepped back, a sneer on his face, and a portal of black smoke and purple lightning forming behind him. “You will change your mind once you’ve had a taste of what this world offers, Talant. But, first, you must free me. I am weakening here as they feed from my power. I do not know how much longer I have before I fade.”

Talant nodded. “I will come for you. Then, we will talk.”

Sommerton stepped back through the portal, his form disappearing in the black smoke.

ChapterNineteen

As soon as he was gone, I moved away from Dax, heading straight for my aunt but Talant beat me there. He knelt next to Minerva, his fingers curving around her chin where it rested on her chest.

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