Rocked by Love (Gargoyles Series) (35 page)

Read Rocked by Love (Gargoyles Series) Online

Authors: Christine Warren

“Not to mention that we’ve been so busy concentrating on the things happening here in North America that we’ve completely ignored the rest of the world,” Wynn said with a troubled frown. “I don’t know what else we can do, though. We’re already spread out between here and Canada, all the way from the East Coast to the West. Now we need to be worried about the British Isles and Europe, too?”

“Should we always have been worried about Europe?” Kylie asked. “I mean, that is where the Guild was based, and where the Order started, right?”

“Are you trying to make us cry, Ky?” Ella teased weakly. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m already feeling overwhelmed. I don’t know if I can take on another continent right at the moment.”

Kees hugged her close to his side. He had barely let go of her after hearing how she had been hurt attempting to prevent the portal from opening. A knife to the side had taken her out of commission, but had thankfully deflected off a rib before it could do much real damage.

“No one expects any of you to take on all of Europe,” he reassured them. “You have enough on your plates as it is. This simply means that we must redouble our efforts to find the remaining Wardens and Guardians as quickly as possible. I have to believe that some of our brethren remain overseas. To have moved us all to the New World would make no strategic sense.”

“That is assuming that the
nocturni
infiltrator did not arrange for our assignments,” Knox growled, holding Wynn tightly on his lap. If Kees had been overprotective since this morning, Knox had been nearly feral. The sight of a knife to his mate’s throat had thoroughly shaken him.

“Do not give in to paranoia,” Spar advised. “To do so only weakens us. We must keep clear heads and trust in our Wardens until we have evidence to the contrary.”

Dag sighed. “I trust
our
Wardens implicitly. It’s the ones who came before that I wonder about.”

Kylie pushed aside her plate and climbed onto her mate’s lap. He looked surprised, but welcomed her with open arms and settled her comfortably against his chest.

“We can’t give up on them all,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “The ones who’ve gone into hiding? They’re probably on our side and are just as much opposed to the Order as we are. If we find them and share with them what we’ve learned, I’m sure they can help us. And at this point, we need all the help we can get.”

She had to stifle a yawn with a fist to her mouth.

“You’re right,” Wynn said, “but that doesn’t make finding them any easier. The three of us have been trying for months.”

“Not on the deep Web.”

“What do you mean?”

Kylie explained. “Before I knew magic existed, I never thought about where people would be able to safely discuss it without freaking out the public and shit. I mean honestly; you put that stuff on the surface Web, and someone is either going to burn a cross on your lawn, or send the men with the white coats to talk to you about it.”

They all eyed her with various levels of confusion.

She sighed. “The average person on the street, or on the Internet, doesn’t believe in magic, guys. When they hear people talk about it they either think they’re a Satan worshipper or a lunatic. So where can people who
know
magic is real go to connect with each other? The deep Web. In fact, I found some interesting conversations on the darknet while I was searching for
nocturnis
. If any of the missing Wardens are even remotely tech savvy, that’s the place where you should be looking.”

Ella started to look excited, and by “excited” Kylie meant “awake.” “Oh, wow, that makes perfect sense. If even a few of them are on the darkwhoosie, if we contact them there, then they can spread the word to others they might already know of. I mean, it’s not a guarantee of anything, but I think it’s the best lead we’ve had in a while.”

Fil nodded. “Agreed. Can you show us how we can get hooked in to the ‘darkwhoosie’ there, Koyote?”

“Only if you all swear never to call it the ‘darkwhoosie’ again. At least not in my hearing.”

“Deal,” Wynn said firmly. She flashed her old friend a smile. “We really lucked out the day you became a Warden, Kyle E. Woyote. I don’t even know where we’d be right now without you. We wouldn’t even know that a third of the Seven had been set free, let alone about the attacks here and in Dublin. You’ve helped us save some lives.”

“Not enough,” Kylie said.

“It’s never enough.”

Kylie felt the sad silence stretch between them, but Dag let it go for only a moment before he hugged her tightly.

“You Wardens might be lucky to have Kylie join your ranks,” he said, smiling down at his mate, “but none of you have half my luck, for I have had Kylie join my heart.”

Kylie returned his smile and added a roll of her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Back at you, big guy. You know, for such a tough Guardian-type dude, you can be a real sap, you know that?”

The others laughed while Dag tickled her in retaliation.

“This is perfect then,” Wynn said, snuggling against her mate’s chest and nodding to the rest of the group. “Kylie will get us on the darknet, we’ll intensify the search for the missing Wardens, and continue to dig up everything we can on those last three Guardians. I think Ireland is as good a place to start as any. And who knows? Maybe we’ll get lucky again.”

Kylie grinned and leaned in to whisper in her mate’s ear. “I know what would make me feel lucky. Having the house all to ourselves again.”

Dag laughed and whispered back. “At least we have the third floor to ourselves. Perhaps we should be thankful for small mercies.”

Looking up into his flaming black eyes, Kylie felt her heart melt and the rest of the world recede. This Guardian, this mate, this man had burst into her life in a shower of stone and violence and changed absolutely everything. He had opened her eyes to an entire world she had never known existed, and opened her heart to feelings she had never thought were possible.

Really, the only thing she had to be thankful for was him.

And she would be, for the rest of her life.

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About the Author

Born and raised in coastal New England,
Christine Warren
now lives as a transplant in the Pacific Northwest, where she gets ocean, mountains, forests, and farmland all in one pretty package. When not writing (as if that ever happens), she enjoys spoiling her horse, playing with her dogs, concocting all sorts of yummies (both liquid and solid), and most of all, reading things someone else had to agonize over. She enjoys hearing from readers and can be reached via e-mail sent to [email protected]. You can sign up for email updates
here
.