Page 14 of Stolen By the Gargoyle
I would not let that happen.
I bent to the scorching earth and shoved my fingers into the hot sand. Fire flicked from the depths of the hole I’d punctured, wrapping around my hands like a whip.
Generals of the Underworld–my brothers and I–held certain power over this domain. It was nowhere near as extravagant as our lords’, the Di Morte brothers. Ramiel, Kane, and Lorenzo controlled every aspect of hell. They killed. They tethered and released souls. And they tortured. Each of my brothers was a shadow of one of the lords, and as such, we shared slivers of their powers, but where their magic was an endless well that never emptied, ours were mere droplets in comparison.
Oh, but we were powerful. Powerful enough to direct their hellish armies. Powerful enough to kill fields of demons. To make others obey.
And I was powerful enough for this.
Fire warped into my flesh, penetrating through my pores until it settled beneath my skin, turning me a light, flickering purple color. With its essence inside me, I could control and direct it much better than with it trapped in the ground.
My black, bloody fingers flexed in front of me, the infinitesimal power becoming mine to command. I let a shot of it out, trailing fire across the earth, scorching it even further, andburning any trace of mine and my mate’s scent from the land. The blood burned from the earth, from my own body as well.
Howls of displeasure resounded through the air, and before they could turn their gazes in my direction, I released the fire back into the earth to let it rest.
I went about fortifying the entrance, pulling a boulder and setting it against the mouth of the cave. I did not want my wife to feel trapped, but it was all I could think to do to protect her. She was unaware of the dangers of this world, of all the things that could cause her harm.
I would rather throw myself into the fires of Mount Vita than to ever see harm come upon her.
And it almost did, you fool.
The more I thought about the fear curdling my body at the sight of her, fallen over, bleeding, that demon lunging for her… the more irate I became.
She had attempted to leave me.
Was I so intolerable? Was it something else?
My entire body gave a discomfiting jolt.
Was Iugly?
I admitted our anatomies were rather different. Humans were far softer and smaller. They did not have wings, horns, or tails. They did not have claws or sharp, hard teeth.
Perhaps I was hideous compared to human males and she found me disgusting. Could that be the reason she sought death instead of my mating?
A growl ripped through me.
I would have the truth from her, and I would have it right then.
I turned back and marched to the end of the tunnel where the thermal waters were located. The echoes of my growls shook the cavernous ceiling, dropping bioluminescent demon bugs from where they perched against protruding rock.
I marched to the edge of the pool and my wife screamed in surprise.
I opened my mouth to demand answers. I needed to know what about me she found so repulsive. Was it the tail?
Perhaps it was my tail.
I would ease her fears. Perhaps my tail was not to her liking, but I was certain my cock would be.
But in her surprise at my growls and the sight of me, she grabbed a fistful of wet rock from the edge of the bank and began pelting them in my direction.
The small stones bounded against my body, unaffecting me.
But then she threw one with such force, it shot straight into my open mouth and into my throat.
And I choked.
“Oh, fuck a dick!”
