Enlightened by Magic: A Gargoyle Shifter Paranormal Romance (Guardians of Magic Book 2)

by Elena Gray

  “Hurry!” Mathias shouted, waving us toward him.

  My wings snapped out as I grabbed Kat in my arms and flew toward the portal. More of the ceiling fell away as I tried to dodge it. Kat buried her face in my chest to avoid the debris falling around us. My heart thundered in my chest, adrenaline spiking with each flap of my wings.

  I grunted as pain flared in my wing. Shit. I couldn’t move it. As the ground quickly approached us, I tightened my hold on Kat and twisted in the air, curling my body around her. My shoulder hit first as we bounced and skidded across the floor.

  I didn’t have time to see if Kat was okay—we needed to get the hell out of there. I could hear Mathias yelling for us to hurry. I jumped to my feet, yanking Kat up with me. Just as we turned to run the final few yards, a large section of plaster fell from the ceiling. I shoved Kat toward the portal and dodged out of the way.

  As I went to follow her to safety, another rumble shook the ground under my feet, sending more debris raining down on me. My gaze locked with Kat. Her eyes were wide with fear as she extended her arm toward me. Then the rest of the building collapsed.

  Chapter 19

  ~Katarina~

  Voices buzzed around me as I stood at the window of Uncle Mathias’s home in the mountains. The snow-capped peaks glistened under the moonlight, distracting me from the conversation taking place in the room.

  I pulled the blanket tighter over my shoulders. Even with the heat of the fireplace next to me, I still couldn’t thaw the ice in my veins. The look of hopelessness in Jax’s eyes as I’d reached for him still haunted me. I couldn’t erase that image from my mind, no matter how hard I tried. I’d reached for Jax and grasped nothing but air as the house completely caved in.

  Strong arms wrapped around me from behind. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

  “You need to stop torturing yourself.”

  “I don’t know how. It keeps replaying over and over in my head.” I turned in his arms and tipped my chin up until I met his emerald eyes.

  “I’m right here, Kat,” Jax soothed as he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “I can think of other ways to remind you of that.”

  I wriggled, trying to free my arms that were trapped between us. I needed to touch him to remind myself that he was really here, that I hadn’t lost him. My palms pressed against the cotton t-shirt stretched tight across his chest. The steady thump of his heart eased the tension in my body.

  Still, I couldn’t shake the memory of Slade yanking me back just as Nicholai had closed the portal. I’d screamed and pounded on Slade’s chest until I had nothing left in me. The only thing racing through my mind was how we’d left Jax behind. I’d been angry at Slade for pulling me away instead of letting me save his brother.

  It wasn’t until I was transferred to another set of arms that reality had sunk in. The smell of earth and amber filled my senses, then I’d realized Jax was there. He was alive.

  My uncle had transported Jax out without a second to spare. There was no way that I could repay him for all that he had done for us, but I would spend the rest of my life trying. If I had lost Jax, Slade wouldn’t have been the only one with a piece of their soul missing.

  Thankfully, this was a win for us. All of the prisoners were here and being administered to by my uncle’s healers. It was surprising to know that the prince of the underworld had some of the world’s best healers on staff. It seemed ironic since his job was basically death. Then he reminded me that while reapers and shades were immortal, they weren’t invincible. I knew that firsthand. Gargoyles were the same way—immortal, but not invincible, and I’d almost lost two of my mates in the span of a heartbeat.

  I threaded my fingers through Jax’s hair and tugged his lips to mine. While I would have loved to drag him to the bedroom and take him up on his offer of a distraction, I knew that we still had a lot to do.

  Reluctantly, I broke our kiss. Seeing the absence of black in his eyes had me pushing up on my toes to press my lips to each lid. Resting my forehead against his, I said, “You have no idea how good it is to see your beautiful green eyes. How are you feeling?”

  Jax gave me a half smile as he slid his hands down my arms and clasped my fingers. “Better. The healers wanted to check my wing, but I didn’t want them to waste their energy on me when there were others who needed them more. Our bond is already working. I should be fully healed by morning.”

  I felt like he was avoiding my real question, but I didn’t want to press him right now. I knew he was still trying to process the fact that his father had murdered Samara. I would give him some time, but he couldn’t keep this to himself forever. Not when it could draw the darkness back to the surface.

  “How is Natasha?” I asked.

  “She still hasn’t opened her eyes, but her pulse is stronger,” Jax responded. “The healers said it could be a few more days before she’s conscious again. Rose’s new guardian hasn’t left her side since he carried her back here. I believe that even though the bonding ceremony hasn’t been completed, the strength of his dragon is speeding her healing.”

  We had no way of knowing how many had died at the hands of Alastor. At least six souls had been collected and brought to the underworld. But we had no way to account for others he may have held prisoner somewhere else. At least we were able to get the rest out in time.

  I glanced across the room to Samara, who was sandwiched between Draven and Zander near the sofa. Nicholai was positioned behind her. Since they’d met, he’d never been far from where she was. I’d have to ask her about that later.

  Draven had found Zander and brought him here. Zander discovered that the missing shifters were part of the same pack that were living on the outskirts of the realm. When Zander checked on the prisoners we rescued, he found two of the five in the pack alive. Remembering his howl of anger when he’d found out the other three had been killed by Alastor still sent a chill down my spine. The shades had retrieved the fallen shifter’s bodies and brought them back to Zander’s council so that they could have a proper burial.

  “Has my uncle come back yet?” I searched the room for him until Jax shook his head.

  “No. I’d imagine Hades is gathering all of the demons. If there are more that betrayed him, then Tartarus is about to get some new residents.”

  My uncle had been hesitant to leave us again, so he’d left some of his shades behind to guard us. In all honesty, I hoped my uncle found Alastor before we did. While I wanted to kick his ass for the horrors that he’d wrought, I knew we were no match for him. At least not right now.

  “I need to talk to Roark and Quinn.” Jax looked toward the dining room.

  I followed his gaze and found them standing together, talking.

  Jax continued, “We need to plan our next step. I still don’t believe that my father acted alone, but then, dark mages never do. I’m sure someone from his order helped.”

  “What makes you think so?”

  Jax shrugged. “Just a feeling, I guess. My dad is very persuasive when it comes to getting what he wants. He’ll make empty promises he has no intention of keeping.”

  Forcing my lungs to cooperate, my fingers tightened around Jax’s. I didn’t want to let him out of my sight for fear his father would succeed in taking him from me. If what Alastor had said was true and Jax’s dark magic was connected to all of the dark mages, what would stop them from manipulating his magic?

  “Kat, I’ll only be in the next room.” He pulled me back into his arms and kissed the top of my head. “Alastor is not going to do anything today and definitely not in your uncle’s house. My father may be a maniac, but he isn’t a fool. He knows he’s no match for Mathias.”

  I held onto Jax for a minute longer before I finally released him. He was right. My uncle was a god. Shit. His whole family were gods. As long as we were here, we were safe. I wondered if my uncle would mind if we never left. This place was definitely big enough for all of us.

  The living room alone was the size of my apartme
nt. The second floor had seven bedrooms, with just as many bathrooms. Rumor had it that there was a theater on the other side of the house and an indoor as well as an outdoor pool. There were definitely plenty of reasons for us to stay.

  “You’ll have to get used to me being a little clingy.” The need to touch him again had me gripping his waist. “I almost lost you.”

  Jax devoured me with his eyes and the desire that pulsed in our bond made my breath quicken. His fingertips swept across my skin until they settled at the nape of my neck. He leaned in, his lips nearly touching mine. As I went to close the distance, he turned his head. His warm breath tickled my ear, sending heat to my core when he said, “You can cling to me all you want later, when we’re in my bed.”

  Then he walked away, leaving me with an ache between my thighs and some very wet panties. I had the female equivalent of blue balls. Now I would be counting down the hours until bedtime. Maybe I would have to excuse myself and turn in early.

  As I crossed the room, I glanced at Samara again. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. We hadn’t had a chance to talk since we got back. She’d stayed with Rose and Natasha until she knew they were okay. This was also the first time that I didn’t see Thomas with her. She was of the same mindset as me. She didn’t want to let him out of her sight.

  Postponing my early retreat to my bedroom, I approached Samara. “Can we talk for a minute?”

  She glanced from Draven to Zander, then gave me a quick nod. I led the way to the adjoining kitchen so I could make a cup of tea. The only time I really drank it was when my grandmother wanted to read my tea leaves, but right now I needed something to calm my nerves. I just hoped my uncle had some in his pantry.

  Stepping into the massive kitchen, I took a second to admire the view. It’s said that the kitchen is the heart of the home, and my uncle spared no expense to make his feel that way. The island in the center of the room had espresso cabinets that contrasted with the white cabinets around the perimeter.

  “Wow,” Samara whispered. “Your uncle has amazing taste. Every room seems to get better than the other. Do you think he would mind a ghost as a permanent house guest?”

  I laughed as I traced my finger over the white granite countertop. “I was thinking the same thing.”

  You would think being the prince of the underworld that he would have a darker color scheme, but he seemed to prefer everything crisp and bright. He even had yellow flowers in vases scattered around the room.

  I was about to search the cabinets for tea, when I found a bottle of wine on the counter. I recognized the label as one of my favorites. I wondered which of the guys had made sure this was here for me.

  As I searched the drawers for an opener, I said, “I noticed Thomas wasn’t with you. Is everything okay?”

  Samara nodded. “I’m worried about him. He said he needed time alone to think. I should have told him the truth from the start. How can he accept me when my kind imprisoned him? Not only did they inject him with goddess only knows what, but he heard the cries of those who were being tortured around him. What would make him want to have any part in my world when his first introduction was at the hands of a sadistic mage?”

  I wished that I had Nicholai’s ability and could hug her. Seeing the despair in her eyes broke my heart. “You know, I do have some experience with this, since I used to be a human too. In case you forgot, a dying witch gave me some crazy ass powers along with some sexy gargoyle guardians. Then I discovered my uncle is a god, who turned me into a reaper. Somehow I managed to deal with it.”

  “Even if he does accept it, look at me, I’m a damn ghost. What do I have to offer any of them, now?”

  “You,” I replied. “Don’t you think that they are just grateful to have you here? When Draven and Zander thought they lost you, they were shattered. They’ve been with you since you came back to them. They could have abandoned you, but they haven’t. I see their love for you every time they look at you.”

  “It’s not fair to them. They can’t even touch me.”

  I leaned across the island and whispered, “There are other ways to be intimate without using your hands.”

  Samara laughed and shook her head. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

  “Maybe just a little, but going from human to immortal practically overnight will do that to you.”

  The smile on Samara’s face faded. “I still don’t know if that spell was one hundred percent effective. What if whatever they injected him with is dormant in his body and one day he grows horns or something while he’s at work? How can he go back to his old life when there is a chance of that happening?”

  “Then we’ll have to hope that he can accept our world.”

  Samara chewed on the inside of her cheek as she studied me. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Are you really happy? I see you with the guys and it’s kind of hard not to miss the chemistry between all of you. But like Thomas, you weren’t given a choice. I didn’t give you a choice. If you could go back and change things, would you?”

  I didn’t even hesitate with my answer. “Do I miss my old life? Some of it. I’m hoping to find a way to see my friends again. That’s one sacrifice that I hope I don’t need to make. As for my job? I realized that I was using my career to fill a void in my heart. That void wasn’t filled until I inherited four guardians. I don’t blame you, if that’s what you’re worried about. This was the path that was already laid out for me.”

  “Do you think Thomas will forgive me for lying to him? If it wasn’t for me, he would never have been taken prisoner in the first place. Maybe the council is right. Maybe it’s best if humans don’t know about us.”

  I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured myself some wine. I hated drinking alone, but unless Samara could conjure some ghost wine, I had no choice. Taking a sip, I said, “I don’t think that holding a press conference and announcing to the world that fairies and mermaids are real is a good idea, but why can’t it be shared with the right people?”

  Samara’s brow creased as she twisted the ring on her finger. “I don’t know. I just can’t help thinking that things would be different if I had been honest from the start.”

  I rolled Samara’s words over in my mind. She was dealing with the exact same situation that I had. “Look at me and Slade. I worried that my dishonesty would make him hate me. We didn’t even have a relationship like you and Thomas, yet he forgave me.”

  “You’re right. I knew that this moment would eventually come along.” She waved her hand. “Well not exactly this way, but I always knew there was a chance that he would reject me. It wasn’t fair of me to let him think that we could have a normal relationship when nothing about my life is normal. I don’t know how much longer I have here, but before I can find peace, I need to know that he’s going to be okay.”

  I reached out to place my hand over hers and it passed through, slapping the counter. Samara smirked and rolled her eyes at me. This whole not touching thing was driving me crazy.

  “You know that I will look out for him,” I reassured. “Whether he chooses to stay here or not, I will find a way to make sure that no damage was done to him. Luckily, Draven had the sense to keep Thomas’s kidnapping from his mother. The less people that know about him, the better.”

  I didn’t want to voice my fears aloud, but I was worried that Thomas would be traded from one form of torture to another if the high council found out about him. What if they decided to run their own experiments on him to see what Jax’s father had injected him with? Their concern for protecting their own kind would be their top priority, no matter the cost to Thomas.

  Lifting my glass, I drained it in one swallow, then picked up the bottle and refilled it. Today sucked and this bottle of wine was doing exactly what I needed it to do. Relieving the tension in my body.

  “I’m glad that you were the one that the ancestors chose,” Samara said. “I don’t like many people, but
you’re starting to grow on me.”

  “Gee, thanks. I’m glad that I made the cut.” I hopped up on a stool and propped my chin in my hand. “So tell me about Nicholai.”

  Samara flinched and if she wasn’t a ghost, I would have thought she was actually blushing. “What about him?”

  “You two seem pretty tight. He’s like your shadow, no pun intended. He seems awfully protective of you, and don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you look at him when he touches you.”

  “He’s just being nice to me.”

  “Okay. You can deny it all you want, but there is definitely something there. He’s also part of the underworld and the only one who can touch you.”

  Samara shifted her gaze to the vase of flowers on the island. I could see the gears turning in her mind. Had she not really given any thought to the fact that she could have a relationship with Nicholai? Maybe now she would open her heart up to him. If she hadn’t already.

  I clutched my chest as fear spiked through my bond. Pain twisted my stomach, causing me to double over.

  “What’s wrong?” Samara asked, appearing at my side.

  “It’s Slade.”

  Chapter 20

  ~Slade~

  I fisted the sheets on the edge of the bed and squeezed my eyes shut. Voices echoed in my head as memories came to life. The screams and sobbing haunted me. So did the putrid scent of blood, vomit, and death. Knowing innocent lives had died on my watch gutted me. I should have been strong enough to save all the supernaturals stuck inside the dark mage’s house, but I failed them just like I’d failed Samara. Now they were dead, and it was my fault.

  Alastor Thornwell’s face plagued my thoughts. Playing in a loop, over and over in my mind. I was still locked in that torture room as he siphoned a sliver of my soul. The ache in my chest, a constant reminder of what I’d lost. The sadistic smile he wore was ingrained in my mind, and to this moment, I could still feel the orbs he casted at me. My abs tightened and I grunted through each hit.