He nodded his head. "If you would please come with us, we’ll take you to the Circle. Your friends can wait here."
"Not happening," Kris and the others replied as one.
"We all go together, or we don't go at all," Kris said with finality.
"We were instructed to bring only Benjamin to the Circle," the other gargoyle said.
"Well, I’m not going without my Beloved and those here," I told them.
"I will take them back to the Circle. You both may leave." Another gargoyle appeared in the doorway.
"Elder Sonod. Elder Atticus instructed us only to bring the one," the one closest to me said.
"You both may leave," he said again in a harsher tone. They both bowed and left.
"Welcome," he said to all of us. Then he stepped up and hugged Roarke tightly. Devin stiffened beside me.
Roarke smiled and backed up. "It’s good to see you, my friend. Elder Sonod, may I introduce Benjamin Morgan and his mate, Krispin Adair? The second of the Walden Coven, Devin Davis, and the lead enforcer, Basil Paladorus. And this is Cameron James and Jackson Turner of the Belle Fort Wolf Pack," he said as he pointed to each of them.
"It’s good to see you too, old friend. Although, I don't know the reception you all will receive here," he said. He made motions for us to follow him, and we started to walk.
"Atticus is up to something, and I don't know what it is, and he has the ear of three of the other elders," he whispered as he leaned in.
"Have you heard anything of what he might be planning?" Kris asked.
"No, they’re all tight-lipped. There have been a lot of halted conversations or talks behind closed doors. It’s very disconcerting."
"Roarke, remember what I told you. You leave Ben's side for nothing," Kris ordered.
We made our way outside, and I saw the big stone pillars standing in a circle. It truly looked like the images of Stonehenge. It was beautiful. There were several gargoyles surrounding the circle and five in the inner circle. Then I saw him—the gargoyle who attacked me. He had a smirk on his face.
"Elder Sonod!" Elder Atticus bellowed. "You dare bring all these foreigners to the Circle. Only the accused was to be brought before us," he snarled.
Accused? Did he just call me the accused? What the hell is going on?I thought to Kris who stiffened beside me.
"These men are guests of the Circle. The accused is the gargoyle Bazer, who attacked the vampire in his territory," Sonod replied.
"There is no evidence of that, except the word of this bloodsucker. Who has chosen to besmirch a highly regarded chieftain!" Atticus replied.
"Highly regarded," Sonod scoffed. "This is the sameformerchieftain who was bested and overthrown because of his treatment of non-gargoyle mates."
"Gargoyles should never mate outside their race," Atticus shot back. "It was right of Chieftain Bazer to punish those who would sully our kind."
The gargoyles surrounding the circle moved closer; they seemed to have tripled in number. Many of the elders nodded in agreement with Elder Atticus.
"Dogs, Bloodsuckers, human cattle, all should be our slaves!" Atticus continued.
The gargoyles moved closer and closer, ready to seize us the first chance they got. Through this back and forth, I felt Kris becoming more and more enraged. These elders were about to come face to face with the King of the Dragons if they continued this line.
I heard a scuffle; a gargoyle had attacked Cam. Jackson shifted into his huge wolf, intent on defending his mate. He was double the size of a normal wolf with all black fur, he had long sharp teeth, and his lips drew back in a snarl as he continued to defend Cameron. During the attack, Cameron shifted as well. He was a little smaller than Jackson but still larger than a normal wolf.
The other gargoyles converged on us. I heard a mighty roar and felt Kris's power. All movement stopped as a bright light shot forth and Kris transformed into his magnificent dragon.
"You dare try to attack my Cardia!" he roared. "I am High King Krispin Adair, King and Sovereign of High Garden, Guardian of the Sacred Fire, and you dare try to accuse and try to harm my mate."
Everyone stared at him in stunned silence. Then everything went black.
The Heart of the Dragon
