“Elijah, is something wrong?”
He stepped forward, gently cupping her face in his hands as he allowed her to glimpse the hunger burning like an inferno in his eyes.
“If I return to your apartment it’s going to be more than a couple of hours before I’m prepared to leave.”
A raw, primitive excitement rushed through her. “Oh.”
“Oui.” His thumb absently stroked the rough skin of her cheek, his gaze trained on her lips. “Oh.”
Valla didn’t hesitate. Somewhere down the road her heart was bound to be broken, but if she’d learned nothing else it was to grasp happiness when it was offered.
“The apartment is built to protect a vampire,” she said, her voice husky. “You would be safe.”
He shuddered, his fangs glinting in the streetlight. “You understand what I’m saying?”
A shy blush stained her cheeks. “You want to become my lover.”
His hands tightened on her face, his expression stark as if he was gripped by a powerful emotion.
“Much more than your lover, mon ange . . .” he began, only to halt as he tilted back his head and tested the air. “Merde.”
“Danger?” she breathed, her gaze searching the shadows for an intruder.
“I smell gargoyle,” he muttered.
“Levet?” She pulled free of his grasp, heaving a sigh of relief. “Where?”
Far less enthused, Elijah jerked his head toward the narrow alley that led between the buildings.
“He just landed in the courtyard.”
Ignoring Elijah’s grumblings, Valla turned to hurry through the alley.
“Thank god.”
Landing in the center of the courtyard, Levet was startled when he caught Valla’s scent coming from the street rather than her apartment.
A momentary fear clutched his heart at the thought that the vulnerable young nymph had been out on the dangerous streets alone before the frigid pulse of power assured him that she was far from alone.
Entering the courtyard, the pretty female rushed to his side, her smile as brilliant as the lights that lined the Champs-Elysées.
“There you are,” she breathed. “I’ve been worried.”
“Forgive me, ma belle,” Levet said with genuine regret. He truly had not intended to upset his newest friend. “I had a long overdue appointment with my mother.”
“Are you okay?”
He smiled, his wings fluttering with pleasure. “I am perfect.”
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Elijah muttered as he moved to stand beside Valla, his arm wrapping around her waist with an obvious intimacy.
Ah. That was a new development.
Levet blew a raspberry in the vampire’s direction. “Not even you can spoil my mood, leech.”
Valla bent down so she could study his pleased expression, her hair shimmering like the purest gold in the moonlight.
“What happened?”
“I have been officially returned to the Gargoyle Guild,” he announced in grand tones.
She blinked. “And that’s a . . . good thing?”
“But of course.”
“Then I’m happy for you.”
She leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on top of his head, her lips barely brushing between his horns before Elijah was determinedly pulling her back to his side.
“If you have managed to complete your business, then perhaps you should be on your way,” the vampire growled, clearly jealous.
As well he should be, Levet smugly acknowledged.
He was a babe-magnetron.
Or was it magnet?
Whatever.
“Really, Elijah,” Valla chided softly.
“Oui, really, Elijah,” Levet echoed, his hands planted on his hips.
Elijah’s fiercely handsome features revealed he was at the end of his patience, but before he could react, there was the unmistakable sound of flapping wings coming from above.
Levet abruptly glanced upward, his tail twitching. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the stench of gargoyle scum,” Levet muttered.
There was the distinct aroma of moldy granite before Claudine and Ian descended from the rooftops to land in the center of the garden, crushing the marble fountain beneath their feet.
“Mon dieu,” the vampire snapped, glaring at the two gargoyles that filled the courtyard with their gray, massive bodies.
“Elijah,” Valla gasped. “Do something.”
“I can’t believe this.” With a shake of his head, Elijah stepped forward. “Stop there, gargoyles.”
Levet allowed the bristling vampire to distract his unwelcomed relatives.
Being a hero didn’t mean he had to be stupid.
And he was still weak from his encounter with his mother.
Besides, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum clearly needed to be taught a lesson in manners. And Elijah was just the vampire to teach them not to drop in unannounced.
Too thick-skulled to be aware of the danger she was in, Claudine stepped forward, her massive form consuming a large amount of the courtyard despite having her wings folded back.
“Clan chief.” Her voice echoed off the buildings. “We have no fight with you.”