Page 18 of Gargoyle Vigilante

“I appreciate your trust, but the exchange needs to happen in front of the chosen witnesses.”

Amir yanked the relic to his chest. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”

Michael smiled. “No apology needed.” He gave Dante the side-eye. “The Divine has certainly blessed you with a charming mate. Don’t fuck it up.”

As much as Dante didn’t care for Michael, he could agree with him on this. He didn’t want to fuck things up with Amir. Admitting he was wrong, that he was thrilled to finally be with his fated mate, wasn’t something he was ready to share out loud. But through his actions, he would make sure Amir was safe and happy.

“Let’s get this underway.” Michael turned to leave, then paused. “Oh. And Dante? Put something on. We must remain dignified.”

Ezekiel snorted. “I don’t think him putting on clothes is going to fix that.”

“Excuse me, Ezekiel.”Everyone paused at Amir’s words. “I owe you my life and everything, but please don’t make fun of him. He’s a good, err, gargoyle, and he’s my mate.” Amir wrung his hands, but he continued, “Dante rescued me. I don’t want anyone hurting his feelings.”

Ezekiel sucked in a breath as if he was about to respond, but Michael grabbed his arm.

“Duly noted, Amir. We all have smart mouths on us, but we’ll be more respectful in the future.” As he passed, Michael whispered in Dante’s ear, “At least when Amir is around.”

Dante wanted to say that was fine with him—since he had plenty of disrespectful observations to share—but held back for Amir’s sake. Instead, he reached for his mate, who was still fussing with his clothes as if trying to make sure everything was perfect. As soon as Michael and Ezekiel left the room, Dante gathered him into his arms.

He bent down, burying his nose in Amir’s soft curls. The scent was muskier, and the hint of vanilla and almonds that he’d first noticed had been transformed by their intense encounter.

“That was nice of you to say. I’m not sure I deserve a mate as good as you are.”

Amir gave his arm a light smack. “Stop. If we were chosen to be together, I’m sure we’re not only good but great.”

Dante laughed, giving Amir a squeeze before letting him go. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like laughing.

“I’ll go along with that.” He placed a kiss on Amir’s forehead, then grabbed his pants off the floor. “We’d better get moving before Michael has a meltdown.”

Once he was dressed, Dante twined his fingers with Amir, leading him out of the room and down the hallway to the foyer. He had to stoop a bit to accomplish this feat, but now that they’d mated, not touching Amir seemed almost painful. As it was, he was still a bit miffed that their time basking in the afterglow had been interrupted.

He stole a peek at Amir, who was looking around, his jaw slack. Dante drew his eyebrows together, confused at first by what it was Amir was so wowed by. However, the fine paintings of glorious angels and historic religious battles that he’d taken for granted, that had become background noise over the decades to him were now being appreciated by someone with fresh eyes.

“Where are we again? I know we’re in your lair and all that, but where is it located exactly?”

“We’re a hundred feet below the Church of the San Gabriel Mission. Great cardio going up and downthosesteps.”

“Seriously? Wow.” Amir grinned. “I always meant to visit—we had a semester on California missions in one of my classes—but I never made it to this one.” He chuckled. “Of course, I would’ve missed out on this part of the tour.”

Something occurred to Dante. He had some questions for Michael regarding Amir’s angelic status. While gargoyles could easily move about unseen when in their creature form, couldNephilim do the same? Otherwise, traveling together might be tricky.

They reached the foyer then took the hallway that led to the conference room. His thoughts wandered to other long-term questions. He’d never heard of other mated couples actually living with his mate in the lair. Certainly weren’t living there or any lair that he was aware of.

He now regretted tuning out everything related to the subject of fated mates. Had he known he was going to have such a huge change of heart, he would’ve paid closer attention to the happy family details.

“Ah, there they are.”

Michael gestured them inside the arched doorway. The room was in a circular shape, the walls consisting of a rough, natural granite and shale that had been left exposed. Four wrought iron, standing candelabras were placed in equidistance from each other close to the walls, with thick white pillar candles already lit.

But the centerpiece of the room, which was where their most important decisions were made, was a ten-foot long table made of a rich cherry wood and inlaid with a variety of other woods that created a geometric design on the edges.

Everyone was standing, no doubt chatting and getting caught up before they began. The archangels had so much on their plate all the time that they rarely had time for socializing. Getting more than two of them in the same room at once was a challenge.

“Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel. This is the Nephilim who has been protecting the Seal of Solomon.”

Dante gasped at the same time Mal and Ezekiel did. All the holy relics were important, but some held more special significance than others. This ring, made of iron with a hexagram star seal, was given to King Solomon by Michael as agift from the Divine Spark. The ring was fashioned to protect the user from demons as well as control them. No wonder the rogues who came after Amir took so many risks to obtain it.

The archangels acknowledged Amir by nodding their heads and smiling. Gabriel stepped forward, and Amir tensed, his hand gripping Dante’s tighter. He was proud of how brave his little mate was. Dante’s own world was so common to him—angels, demons, his fellow gargoyles, all genders carrying the ability to be life-givers—that he was impressed by how well Amir was holding up.

---