Trouble with Gargoyles: an Urban Fantasy (Moonlight Dragon Book 3) Read Free

motorcycle boots and scuffed jeans to the dark hoodie that was one of his favorites. She saw only the surface, the sparkle that meant nothing. If she was able to sit down with him and talk to him she'd either want to marry him or she'd run away, claiming that he was too "heavy". The only reason I didn't burn down the hostess stand was because Vale's dark eyes didn't acknowledge her even for a moment. He had eyes only for me.
    "Moody," he said.
    I shivered at that deep voice. One of these days I was going to ask him if he practiced it. That was kind of a sexy thought, but I put it away for later because I'd picked up something else in his voice that wasn't associated with canoodling.
    I stepped toward him. "What is it? What's wrong?"
    He opened his mouth to reply and abruptly frowned. "What's that all over your face?"
    I reached up. Did my best not to cringe. "Oh, you know. Just bobbing for hot wings. It's a new sport. You should try it."
    I reached over the edge of the podium and grabbed some tissues from the box there. I hastily mopped the sauce off my mouth, cheeks, and chin so I no longer looked like a sloppy cannibal. I also belatedly noticed I was still wearing my plastic bib. With a curse, I yanked it off and balled it up. Vale might be deep and sophisticated, but I was still a work in progress.
    "What is it?" I asked, frustrated. Worried. My lips and tongue were on fire. It hurt to speak.
    Vale caught my arm and pulled me to the door. "It's Christian."
    My heart dropped. I looked back for Melanie. Christian and she had an on-again, off-again thing. I think they were currently on, but it didn't matter either way. Vale's demeanor told me this would affect Melanie, too. She was making her way toward us but kept getting waylaid by congratulatory diners. Everyone wanted a piece of the hot wing queen.
    "Don't tell me he's dead," I whispered to Vale. "Just don't."
    I liked Christian, which was a surprise because I normally distrusted super good-looking guys who were aware of how gorgeous they were. Christian fit that bill, but it turned out he was an okay guy. He'd probably saved Vale's life.
    "Something's happened to his mother."
    "Diana," I breathed.
    Another candidate for someone I shouldn't like and, well, I actually didn't like her, come to think of it. She'd insulted my heritage and even though she'd been under a compulsion cast by Vagasso, she'd still tried to kill me and my friend Orlaton in order to help Vagasso overthrow Las Vegas.
    But disliking someone didn't mean I wanted them to be hurt.
    "She's dead," Vale confirmed, a bit loudly. He looked deep into my eyes for something. "Did you feel it?"
    I cocked my head, surprised. "Did I feel it? How would I—" I paused, recalling what I'd just been experiencing. "Did it happen just a few minutes ago?"
    He nodded. "She took her own life."
    I clapped a hand over my mouth, genuinely shocked. Diana had been a witch and a pretty tough and bitchy one. She'd survived her encounter with Vagasso and that had to count for something. She hadn't struck me as depressed or as a quitter. It didn't make sense.
    "Why would she do that? Wasn't she in California?" I had a thought. "Was it because she missed Christian? She couldn't have been too thrilled with his decision to stay in Las Vegas when Vagasso is still here."
    "You're closer to the truth than you know," Vale murmured and then he was stepping past me and drawing Melanie into a hug.
    She gaped at me from over his shoulder, mouthing "What's going on?" at me.
    Vale straightened and leaned away from her so he could see her face. "I need you to come with us to see Christian. He could use a friend right now. His mother just passed away."
    There was more to it, though. Even the death of the world's most powerful witch, which Diana wasn't, wouldn't have made the magickal impression on me that her death had. Something else was going on and I was dying to know what.

Chapter 2
     
     
     
     
     
    Melanie parked her Prius at the sidewalk