Page 10 of Gargoyle Vigilante

Amir hugged the backpack in front of his small frame as if it could protect him from an unnamed attack.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Amir’s brow creased, sweat forming at his hairline. He licked his lips. “You brought me here to save me, right? So what do you want from me?”

He chewed on his plump lower lip, and Dante wiggled his fingers, fighting the urge to grab Amir and toss him on the bed, to tear away his clothes and fill him with his seed. The more he thought about it, the more he ached to take his mate now. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Not unless Amir consented.

“You’re right. I’m not going to hurt you.” Dante gestured to the bed. “Please sit down, and I’ll explain everything.”

“Absolutely everything?”

Dante gave Amir his version of someone who was a friendly guy, offering him a quirk at the corner of his mouth and a dip of his chin.

“Everything.”

Dante waited a beat to see if Amir would sit down again before he did the same. Something told him that his mate wasn’t the type who gave up easily, and he wanted to make sure he didn’t make a run for it again. In addition to wanting to jump him, he was anxious to discover which relic he had and how he happened to come into possession of it.

After returning to the throne, he eased back into a relaxed pose, his legs crossed and elbows resting on the chair arms. Hopefully, his demeanor would help calm Amir.

Amir arched his eyebrows. “Well?”

Dante grunted. He supposed Amir had good cause to be cranky. “Have you accepted that what I’ve told you so far is true, that I’m a gargoyle? That I’m tasked with protecting the holy relics and only wish to protect you?”

Amir tipped back his head, sighing and mumbling to himself. He met Dante’s eyes again.

“I don’t want to, but I can’t deny what I saw. Not sure whatthe protecting me thing is about, but I’ll accept it for now” He shook his head as if still in disbelief. “My uncle always warned me that strange beings and dangerous creatures existed in the mystical realm and that he possessed…” He averted his eyes for a second. “Something they would kill to steal.”

“And what was this item?”

Amir cleared his throat. “That’s not the point. What I’msayingis that as much as I thought he was too obsessed with the spiritual teachings he’d grown up with, I was the one who was wrong about everything. I’ve been studying ancient languages, but I always interpreted what I read as being myths. And I assumed that all the trauma he experienced escaping Iraq had skewed his thinking, that he was living in a constant state of paranoia.”

Dante was beginning to get the picture. “Is that where he obtained the relic?”

Amir’s jaw dropped. “What made you say that?”

Dante shrugged. “When Baghdad fell, the National Museum was ransacked. I’m assuming he stole it in order to keep whatever it is safe.”

Amir appeared as if he might be sick. “He did, he was working there at the time. But now it’smineto protect. My uncle said that if anything ever happened to him, that I needed to protect it.”

“Of course. But did he give you instructions on how to do that? To keep yourself from being murdered and the item falling into the wrong hands?”

“N-no. But I didn’t believe anything he said was actually true. I mean, yeah. The—” He slapped a hand over his mouth before speaking again. “The item is valuable and an important historical artifact, but…” He sighed. “I guess I assumed I’d never have to worry about anything bad happening. I was eighteen when my folks died, and he let me live above the shop. He has an antique store. I helped him clean, and I worked at the store when he went on buying trips. That sort of thing. When I was ready to go to college, he paid my tuition.”

“Sounds like a good man.”

Dante found himself relieved that his mate had been looked after. Yet, a part of him also wanted to kick himself for being so focused on killing the rogues that Amir could’ve been killed. Instead of accepting his mate when he reached his quota, he’d defied everyone and gone off on his own, leaving Amir to an unknown fate.

“He was.” Amir looked down, picking at the cloth of his jeans.

“Is the relic still safe?” As much as he wanted to tell Amir that they were destined to be together and his true origins, he did have another duty to the Divine. “None of the rogues were able to steal it?”

“No. It’s fine.”

Amir moved his hand until it rested on his hip. Dante had a pretty good idea of where the relic was and that it was one of the smaller artifacts still missing.

“Good. When the Archangel Michael arrives, you’ll need to hand it over so it can be kept secure with the others.”

“Others?”

“Of course. We’ve recovered several other items over the years, such as the Holy Grail, Ark of the Covenant—some of the biggies. But many are still unaccounted for and need to be kept safe from the demon scourge so they can’t seize power.”

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