A Very Levet Christmas (Guardians of Eternity)

“Oh.” Levet grimaced. Weres mated for life, which might explain the bitterness he sensed eating away at the soul of Damon. “I’m sorry. How did she die?”


Damon’s brows snapped together. “She’s not dead, you idiot.”

Levet made a sound of impatience. “If she’s your mate, and she’s not dead, then why do you speak of her as if she is beyond your reach?”

“Because she is.”

“Why?”

“She . . .” With a sudden shake of his head, Damon appeared to recall that he wanted to murder Levet. His hand reached out to grab Levet by the horn, giving him a violent shake. “Get me out of here. Now.”

“Eek!”

Flailing to get free, Levet swung his arms, forgetting he was holding the wand until it smacked into the side of Damon’s leg.

Instantly a fountain of sparks filled the air, a thick darkness abruptly rolling over them.





Chapter 3


Damon felt his feet hit a hard surface as the black mist began to fade. Their surroundings were still too fuzzy to make out, but Damon knew without a doubt they weren’t in the frozen snow outside St. Louis.

God. Was this nightmare ever going to end?

Or maybe it wasn’t a nightmare, a dark voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Maybe he’d already battled the king and died. Now his punishment was to relive the worst moments of his life along with this annoying gargoyle who should have been drowned at birth.

“Where have you taken us now?” he growled.

“How should I know?” Levet muttered, holding up the slender stick that sent out sparks from the end. “This is a loaner wand.”

Damon scowled, barely resisting the urge to snatch the stick out of the gargoyle’s hand and shove it up his ass.

Only his natural aversion to handling magic made him hesitate.

Instead he bared his elongated canines. “Then stop waving it around. I . . .” He forgot what he was going to say as the last of the mist cleared and he was able to have a good look around, stunned by the beauty of the luxurious villa that overlooked the Aegean Sea. “Shit.”

The gargoyle cast a fearful glance around the vast marble room that opened to a veranda complete with an infinity pool. There were low sofas and cushy chairs in shades of pale aqua that perfectly matched the sea.

It was a house that was as different from the cramped cabin in frozen Siberia as possible.

“What is it?”

“This is my lair,” Damon said, his voice thick with a furious disbelief.

He didn’t know how or why the gargoyle was doing this to him, but he wanted it to end.

Levet gave a low whistle, pointedly glancing toward the priceless Grecian statues that were tucked into shallow alcoves.

“You have done well for yourself considering—”

The creature’s words dwindled as the air prickled with the heat of Damon’s wolf. “Considering that my father was rumored to have sold his soul to a demon lord and my mother was a lunatic, crazed with her need to see me on the throne?”

Levet widened his gray eyes at the bitter accusation. “Actually I was going to say ‘for a mangy hound.’”

Damon hissed out a frustrated breath. “How have you survived this long?”

“It’s a gift.”

With a flick of his fairy wings, the gargoyle stepped toward the open French doors where the sunlight sparkled against the white marble, his gaze locked on the shoreline where the private beach met the sea.

Damon abruptly frowned in suspicion. “I thought gargoyles turned to stone during the day?”

Levet shrugged. “We are not truly here.” He turned back to meet Damon’s accusing gaze. “Is this still the past?”

“How should I know?” Damon snapped.

There was a shift in their surroundings, and suddenly Damon could see himself standing across the room, his expression rigid as he watched a slender, dark-haired female enter from a side door.

“We are about to discover,” Levet murmured, suddenly back at Damon’s side.

Damon already knew.

He’d lived this precise moment one week ago.

“No,” he rasped. “Get us out of here.”

Ridiculously Damon tried to back away, hoping he could somehow escape the sudden tugging that he could feel deep inside him.

Of course it was a wasted effort. He’d barely managed to take a step before his consciousness was yanked from his body and thrust into his body across the room.

It was the same as before. The sense of disorientation before he was being sucked into the past, feeling agonizing regret as he watched the beautiful female halt directly in front of him.

“Gia,” he breathed, his gaze compulsively taking in the toga-style sundress that clung lovingly to her slender body.

Pain, so intense it should have been lethal, sliced through him as his gaze lifted to meet her dark, accusing gaze.

Over the past years the two of them had remained close, but Damon had resisted the savage need to make her his mate. So long as his mother was alive he understood Gia would be in danger.