A sound like a sail snapping in the wind caught his attention. A shape with a large wingspan descended out of the clouds, spiraling through the air with incredible speed. The gargoyle angled his flight at the last second and scooped Jess out of the sky, cradling her gently and fondly within his shining gray arms.
Damarion.
Earl in gargoyle form hovered closer to the ground, watching what went on above him. He was the safety net in case Damarion or one of the others didn’t catch Jess. Earl had shown he could pull her out of dire straits in the nick of time.
A bright pink gargoyle swooped around Damarion. In a move that stopped Austin’s heart, Damarion tilted and launched Jess into the air. She kicked her arms and legs, screaming again, and was grabbed by Ulric. Another gargoyle swooped low, and she was tossed again, and again to another. They were playing catch with her in midair, her screams sounding with each hurtle.
Rage bubbled up through Austin, not pushing away the fear. Not watering down his desperation to pluck her out of the sky and deposit her safely on the ground.
A comforting feeling sifted down over him and tried to worm its way inside. A feeling of acceptance and confidence.
Ivy House, trying to tell him how to feel.
He gritted his teeth and forced it away, turning toward the house. He couldn’t watch what was going on in the air, not if he wasn’t ready to give in to the urge to charge the large gargoyle the second he touched down. Niamh, Edgar, and Earl had always done right by Jacinta—they’d always done what was best—and Earl knew what it was to be a gargoyle. If they had put their rubber stamp on this atrocity, he’d let it go. It wasn’t his call.
He didn’t have to watch, though.
Nearer the house, he shifted into human form, hoping the return to two legs would soften a few of those screams. His hearing wasn’t that different across forms, truth be told, but maybe…
“Help! Please, help!”
He spun, eyes searching the sky, seeing Jess falling again, head pointed toward the ground. A shock of adrenaline nearly had him sprinting toward her. He’d never make it in time, not even in animal form, but seeing her in danger strummed at every protective instinct he possessed. He couldn’t reason. He couldn’t focus…
Damarion once again burst through the low cloud cover and thick haze of the frigid day, grabbing her before she reached Earl, and then snapped his wings, stopping nearly in midair. She jostled within his grip and fell free. Her ragged scream cut off as he beat his wings once, grabbing her again and regaining his position. His hold was possessive, declaring to everyone that she was his.
He would claim her as a mate the second she’d allow it, Austin had no doubt. And why wouldn’t he? Jacinta was the complete package. She was witty and smart and fun and beautiful. She knew her own mind, got her way when she needed to, and happily went with the flow otherwise. Her company was easy to keep, and her smiles made any hardship worth the effort.
A lead weight settled in Austin’s gut, and he turned away again. It had been four days since her first date with the gargoyle, and apparently they’d gone out to dinner a second time, to the restaurant in town. Austin had promised Niamh he’d leave them be, and Jess had promised she wouldn’t make the mistake of taking Damarion to Austin’s bar again.
This town wasn’t big enough for the both of them, though. A visiting alpha not appealing to the territory holder for right of passage was…
It was a challenge, or at the very least, a flagrant disregard for how things were done. In any other situation, Damarion’s behavior would demand retaliation. Jess didn’t know that, of course, but the gargoyle understood the line he was walking. He was taking advantage of the fact that Austin would not risk hurting Jess, physically or emotionally, to make a point.
One of them would have to leave in the end, and that decision would come down to Jess. If she needed that big male, or wanted him, Austin would find greener pastures. There could be no other option. If the situation went on for too long, Austin and Damarion would have a run-in, and the tougher alpha would have to be decided. Austin wasn’t sure if the fight would be to the death, but given what he knew about gargoyles, he assumed it would be.
“Would ye put that thing away? Jaysus, Mary…” Niamh met him at the back door, holding one of the dolls from upstairs. It flailed in her left hand and she pointed at his crotch with her right. “If you swing that thing around, yer liable to take out the whole house.”