Page 12 of Hidden By the Gargoyle

His brows rose and his posture relaxed minutely. “That’s a good choice. Gargoyles are immune to most types of magic.”

It was my turn to stiffen. That wasn’t what I’d been told. “Most types of magic?”

“Because of their stone battle form, they are somewhat susceptible to earth magic. Last time I spoke to the gargoyle king, he said they were working to breed that out of their line.”

Considering Talant had been sleeping beneath this mountain for the better part of two millennia, I imagined that the gargoyle king had succeeded. Still, I should mention it to Minerva and Dax. Just in case.

“You will have to wake me up at some point,” he said. “Why not do it now?”

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “With what magic, Tal? I’ve only felt it once and I have no idea how to access it, much less use it.”

It was his turn to sigh. “I’ve offered to help you, Ally. You keep turning me down.”

“Because you’re impatient and arrogant and I don’t want my first magical act to be blowing up this mountain with you in it because you pissed me off,” I retorted.

His smirk returned and he flopped back down on his side, looking every inch a god in search of hedonistic bliss.

“So, what are you going to do, then?” he asked. “Live the rest of your life with a gargoyle bodyguard.”

If it was Dax, I would happily do it.

Talant leaned forward, just an inch, but his boneless sprawl became something more predatory. His stillness was nearly preternatural, as though he were a statue of a cat that would suddenly come to life and pounce. It was disconcerting when he did things like this. Sudden switches from the amiable friend to the intense predator. It made me wonder if I knew him at all.

“Your expression says that you like the idea,” he said.

I scowled at him. Somehow, during our time in my dreams, Talant had learned to read my expressions. Meanwhile, I could never tell what he was thinking because he always hid it behind a smirk or a flirty comment.

I hated feeling so easy to read.

“You like him,” he continued.

I shrugged again and looked down at my knees. Inexplicably, tears threatened to fill my eyes. I blinked rapidly in an effort to hold them back.

Of course, he saw them anyway.

“Why are you upset?” he asked.

When I looked up, the smirk was gone, and he looked as serious as I’d ever seen him.

“I’ve been in love with him for nearly ten years,” I stated. “The gargoyle guarding me.”

Talant sat up, bringing his knees up and resting his elbows on them. His hands were clasped between them. “Have you told him?”

I shook my head. “No, he’s…” I paused. “A lot older than me. Probably by centuries. I’ve known him since I was eleven. To him, I’m still that little girl.”

“If he agreed to protect you, he must care.”

“He cares as a man might care for a little sister,” I replied.

By the goddess, it hurt to say it aloud.

“So, make him see you as a woman.”

I frowned at him. “What?”

“If he sees you as a little girl, make him see you as a woman.” He said it as though it were a simple fact. Something easily done.

“Are you seriously giving me advice on my love life when you’ve basically been in a coma for fifteen hundred years?”

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