Knights-of-Stone-Bryce (7 page)

His gaze dropped to her parted lips, so tempting. An urge to kiss them made all his muscles tighten. Anticipation had him pinned on the edge of a cliff as he pondered whether to take the leap forward.

“Well, look at this,” Gavin interrupted.

When Bryce turned ahead, Gavin lingered close with a knowing smile.

“Get a room,” Calum teased, joining him.

His brothers barked with laughter and flew ahead.

Bryce reluctantly pulled away from Mairi. “Just having a little fun with a race.”

“Sure. That’s what it was,” Gavin said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Sod off.” He reached them. “You’re off your heads, as usual.” Then he communicated to Gavin.
Thanks a lot, cockblocker.

Gavin laughed in reply.
Couldn’t help it. Seeing you both hovering there, breathless with lust, but not doing a damn thing about it. Just trying to spur you on.

Had the opposite effect, now, didn’t it?

Gavin nodded in Bryce’s direction.
Guess you need to move quicker next time.

Bryce scowled at Gavin and returned to fly at Mairi’s side. Her face had turned impassive, probably due to embarrassment at his brother’s ribbing. During the rest of the flight over the Atlantic, he kept her within a couple of wingspans away, needing to be close to her. An odd mix of the need to protect and possess consumed him. The protective streak wasn’t new—it was ingrained in every gargoyle. The possessiveness that pulsed through his veins made him want to growl whenever one of his brothers flew too close. By the way Gavin and Calum snickered, he’d swear they were trying to goad him on.

When they arrived at the castle remains hours later, Bryce told Mairi, “We’re going to talk to my parents real quick. Wait here.”

Mairi nodded, taking a seat on one of the flat boulders. After greeting the guards and informing them of the reason for their visit, one notified their parents. His mother emerged first, practically at a trot, followed by his father, who wore his typical stoic expression. She wrapped each of them in an enormous hug.

Bryce quickly summed up Mairi’s situation, mentioning that she was now an orphan who needed a place to stay.

“That poor child,” his mum said. “I want to meet her.”

“Don’t bring up what happened to her clan,” Bryce said. “She’s gone through enough. We’ll explain more after we talk to Duncan.” Bryce led them to her. A moment of fear flickered inside him. He wondered if she’d taken off, struck by terror upon returning to the Highlands. When he spotted her on the rock, hair falling down her back like lava, a strange sense of relief filled him. As if each time he was in her presence was a gift. “Mairi, these are my parents, Aileen and Angus.”

Mairi stood. “A pleasure.”

His mum welcomed her with a warm hug while his da almost shook the life from her while patting her shoulder. The sudden, affectionate gestures surprised her, leaving her frozen. His brothers stood back, smirking or shaking their heads.

“Da, easy,” Bryce said.

“Bah,” Angus said. “She’s not a fragile human. She’s gargoyle. Like us.”

“He’s right, Bryce.” She recovered and grinned, hoping to convey she wasn’t as cold as she was afraid she’d come off. “I’m stronger than I look.”

Bryce’s mum smiled at Mairi before turning to her sons. “How’s it going with the veil?”

Lachlan stepped forward. “It’s done. We restored the veil.”

“You did?” Aileen said.

“Aye,” Lachlan replied. “Only by working with the tree witches and wolf shifters.”

His brothers all spoke at once, excited about how they’d tapped into their magic.

When Calum blurted out, “Lachlan almost died,” it killed all talk. Silence fell like a curtain drop.

Shut yer trap, ye total nutter,
Bryce
communicated to his youngest brother.
Mum will lose her mind.

Mairi wasn’t sure he intentionally kept her in the conversation or not, but she tried not to laugh at Calum’s blanched expression. He looked like he’d swallowed a toad.

Aw, shite, you’re right
, Calum replied.
I got carried away.

Aileen’s eagle-eyed stare penetrated each one of her sons. “What do you mean Lachlan almost died?” Each word came in a low, serious tone.

Gavin elbowed Calum in the biceps. “Nice going, mate.”

“Easy!” Calum protested.

“I’m fine,” Lachlan said in an attempt to placate her. “Clearly
not
dead.”

Mairi watched Aileen fret over her boys. Mothers were protective by nature—and gargoyle mothers with the instinctual protective drive—forget it. Off the charts. A pang at her own loss echoed inside. What she wouldn’t do to have her parents back.

“Sit,” Aileen commanded and pointed at some nearby boulders. “Tell me everything.”

“Aye,” Angus added, with a bit of awe in the gruff tone. “I want to hear it all myself.”

Bryce, Lachlan, Mason, Gavin, and Calum sat on the flat rocks. Their oversized frames bumping into each other in the tight space. Their parents scrutinized each one of them, making them squirm like they were young boys. Mairi stifled a laugh at the ridiculous sight.

“Calum, tell me now,” Aileen demanded.

“Well, Lachlan worked with a female wolf shifter named Raina,” Calum began.

Lachlan shot his brother a warning look.

Calum appeared to have caught the warning. “Anyway, she helped Lachlan tap into his energy and he learned to project it. We all worked together connecting our magic and projecting it out. Lachlan joined ours with that of the wolf shifters and tree witches. It worked! The humans were knocked off course.”

“And Lachlan?” His mother gave Calum a piercing glare.

“He—uh—experienced technical difficulties. With all the energy coursing through him and all.”

Aileen raised her eyebrows. “Continue.”

“He was simply depleted for a wee bit,” Calum said, drooping under her withering stare. “Needed some time to recover in stone to restore his energy under the sun.”

Aileen embraced Lachlan, again. “Oh, Lachlan. My eldest. I can’t imagine.”

“He’s all right, Aileen,” Angus barked, although his eyes conveyed concern.

Mairi watched the family dynamics play out as an outsider. Fascinating. Although she loved her parents, they’d never expressed this type of affection. They didn’t hug or show how they cared the way Bryce’s parents did. The interactions between the brothers also intrigued her. Although they ribbed each other constantly, it seemed natural as part of their close-knit group. As an only child, she didn’t have any sibling relationships to compare it to. She sensed deep attachments in their family, one she’d never had with her own, nor did she realize existed until now. An ache within her intensified, loss on so many levels.

Could she find a new beginning in a clan like this? No. She wasn’t ready. The wounds were too fresh, the mourning only just begun.

“It was all Raina,” Lachlan admitted. “She saved me.”

“The wolf shifter?” Angus raised his heavy brows.

“Aye. I couldn’t have done it without her.”

Lachlan’s tone held a bit of reverence when speaking of Raina.

Aileen loosened her hold on him. “Do you have feelings for this wolf?”

Lachlan took a deep breath and said, “She’s the one. My mate.”

Judging by Aileen’s gasp, this was unexpected. “
The
one?” Aileen echoed. “A wolf shifter?”

What was it like to have someone care so deeply about a mate? Mairi stifled a groan. It was something she might never experience. She didn’t have a clan anymore, let alone a potential mate. She stole a glance at Bryce. When she caught his gaze, she quickly looked away.

Angus’s eyes widened to the size of boulders.

“What in bloody hell is going on back there?” Angus boomed. “Some kind of cross-species orgy!”

A small laugh escaped Mairi, and she covered her mouth.

Bryce flashed her a boyish grin before facing his father. “Da, it’s not like that at all. We’ve simply come to be more open-minded to others on the isle.”

Bryce came to the defense of his brother. How sweet.

“The divisions between us are outdated,” Gavin added. “It’s time to embrace a new future.”

“You sound like a bloody politician.” His father wagged a heavy finger at Gavin.

Mairi bit her lip to keep from laughing aloud, again.

Bryce said, “We’ve learned it’s better to work together to create more possibilities for all, rather than cling to past prejudices.”

She glanced over the hills, replaying Bryce’s words. It had some wisdom.

Bryce’s parents continued to pepper their sons with more questions about recent events.

Angus turned to Mason. “What’s this I hear about you living with a tree witch?”

“Um…” Mason responded, his face turning as pale as moonlight.

Bryce stepped in. “Mason chose the perfect mate for himself.”

Mason shot Bryce a grateful look. Bryce clearly cared about his brothers. It tugged at her heartstrings, but they’d already been stretched too far in recent days. Still, she couldn’t help but admire his loyalty and devotion to them.

Bryce’s words didn’t help Mason much. For several minutes, his parents fired questions at him. Why a tree witch—evil and dangerous enemies of the gargoyles?

After a heated pause, his mother said, “At least they’re finally settling down. I might be a grannie one day soon.”

“Nobody’s having any babies, yet,” Mason said, spreading both arms wide. Still pale after the onslaught of questions, he managed to smirk at his brothers and add, “Although I’m enjoying the practice of making them.”

During a bawdy round of laughter, Aileen smacked him upside the head.

Bryce caught Mairi’s eye and winked.

Bryce did his best to tone down Mason’s inquisition. He was surprised when his mom turned to Mairi.

“I know you’re in need of a place to stay. If it’s all right with Duncan, our alpha, you’re more than welcome here,” his mother said. She put a comforting arm around Mairi’s shoulders.

Bryce’s muscles clenched. Why? That was what he’d asked for. He’d been at her side for hours. The sudden realization that she’d be gone hit him with an unexpected pang.

“Thank you,” Mairi said. “I’m very grateful. To you and your sons.”

When she smiled at him, it was a wonder he didn’t melt onto the side of the hill. Like Earth being swept away by lava. The smile lit up her entire face, making her beam. Glorious.

Of course, she belonged here. She was from the Highlands. She needed the protection of a clan.

Besides, he’d only met her this morning. Mere hours—a miniscule portion of his life. He had enough going on. No room for a female companion for more than a night.

Even if Mason and Lachlan had changed, that wasn’t what he wanted.

He cleared his throat. “Lachlan and I need to talk to Duncan. I’ll be back shortly.”

She nodded with a small smile.

Lachlan and Bryce approached the guards and requested an audience with Duncan and his inner circle of enforcers. To save Mairi the pain of having to retell the story to a room full of gargoyles, he took on that task.

Plus, after that inquisition, he didn’t want to be the one to tell his parents more about the threat of demons. How his mother would worry. One situation in which facing the alpha was much easier.

After Lachlan introduced the reason for their visit, Bryce took over. As he told it for a second time, it somehow became
his
story, too. Maybe it was empathy for what Mairi had gone through. He sensed it was something more, not that he could identify what exactly that something was. What he did know was that he had to take some sort of action. He couldn’t return to the Isle of Stone without doing
something
to help her move on with her life.

After he’d finished, Duncan said, “Bring her to me.”

The tender interactions of Bryce’s family had left Mairi bereft. The loss of her family echoed with a dull ache. She’d walked away to get some air and paced the sloping terrain. The clan lived in an abandoned castle atop a hill. Strangers living inland; far from the ocean she so loved.

Bryce found her several minutes later. A fluttering sensation rippled through her. A light in her darkness.

“Duncan wants to talk to you about what happened. Are you up to it?”

The less she thought about the demons, the better. But that wouldn’t make them go away. “Aye.”

“Come with me.”

Bryce led her through an entrance flanked by two guards. He led her down a dark, candlelit tunnel that led below ground. Why would anyone choose to live in the cave-like areas? They weren’t bats! Perhaps for greater protection. Blast. She’d rather hide in plain sight.

When they entered an underground chamber, Bryce halted in front of four gargoyles.

“Duncan, this is Mairi. Mairi, Duncan, alpha of the Calder clan.” He pointed to the others nearby. “And these are his enforcers, Malcolm, Rupert, and Quinn.”

She didn’t know the customs of this clan, but since they all were in gargoyle form, a proper greeting would be best. She placed her hand over her heart and nodded in the traditional gesture used in formal situations with her clan.

He nodded in response. “Welcome, Mairi. Bryce has told us of the attack on your clan. Tragic.”

“Aye, it was.” How many times would she have to hear similar words and choke down the now familiar lump in her throat? At least, she didn’t stammer this time.

“It’s a dangerous situation. We must take action. Before we decide on what to do, we need more information as to what we’re up against.”

They were going to get involved? Bryce was right—she couldn’t go after the demons alone. They’d eviscerate her. Yet, putting her trust—her fate—with another clan, all gargoyles—didn’t sit well, either. What if something happened to Bryce? Or one of his brothers? His parents would be as torn apart as she was. No. More so. Was there any greater pain than a parent losing a child?

But someone had to stop the demons before they destroyed other families.

“I will share all I know.”

“In the meantime, you can stay here with our clan. Bryce mentioned your situation.”