Levet (Guardians of Eternity #9.5)(17)

“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.”

Elijah folded his arms over his chest. “Then turn around and walk away.”

Claudine scowled. There weren’t many demons willing to stand up to a fully grown gargoyle.

“We’ve come for my brother.”

Elijah cast a bored glance in Levet’s direction. “He doesn’t seem interested in yet another family reunion.”

“Oui,” Levet agreed, waving his hands in a shooing gesture as he sternly reminded himself that he was no longer afraid of the evil creatures who’d tormented him his entire childhood. “So, go away.”

A hint of vapor curled from Claudine’s nostril. She didn’t have the fire of her mother, but she could belch a foul cloud of smoke.

“I don’t know how you had your name returned to the Wall, but I warn you, I won’t be satisfied until you are once again shunned,” she growled.

“So you seek to revoke Mother’s direct proclamation?” Levet mocked. “Perhaps you’ve even decided it’s time to challenge her to become the doyenne?”

Ian took a hasty step away from Claudine. As if afraid of being contaminated.

A legitimate fear.

Berthe would destroy anyone who even hinted at mutiny.

Claudine shook her massive head. “Mother would never have revoked your banishment.”

“I assure you that she did.”

The gray eyes narrowed with suspicion. “How?”

Levet gave another shooing wave. “Go ask her.”

“I’m asking you.”

Levet rolled his eyes. He’d known word of his return to the Guild wouldn’t make his family happy, but he was in no mood for yet another répugnant confrontation.

“I simply revealed my part in saving the world from utter destruction. How could she not include such a hero in the Guild?”

“Liar.” Claudine stomped her foot, making the ground quake. “You are a pathetic weakling that offers nothing but shame.”

Levet heaved a resigned sigh. “As I said, go ask her yourself.”

“Non.” A dangerous expression twisted his sister’s ugly face. She didn’t like being thwarted. Especially not by her deformed, height-challenged younger brother. “You might have deceived Mother into returning you to the Guild, but I intend to make sure it’s a short stay.”

He spread his wings, resisting the urge to take yet another step closer to the vampire.

He was a hero.... Hear him roar.

“You don’t have the power to shun me.”

Claudine pulled back her lips to expose her tusks in a visible threat.

“Perhaps not, but I have the power to kill you.”

Levet blinked in shock. It was against Gargoyle law to kill another gargoyle unless they were banished.

Or unless a formal challenge had been issued. And really, who wanted to deal with the paperwork?

“I’m a member of the Guild,” he reminded his whack-a-doodle of a relative.

“Not for long.”

Raising her hands, which had claws long enough to skewer Levet, Claudine stepped forward, reluctantly followed by her partner in crime, Ian.

Levet squared his shoulders, summoning the last of his fading power.

“Merde,” Elijah snapped, clearly at the end of his patience. “I told you to stay back.”

“This is Guild business, vampire,” Ian growled. “You don’t want to interfere.”

“What I want is to be left alone with the woman I love,” Elijah informed them, a smile curving his lips at Valla’s gasp of shock. “And if that means killing you to accomplish that goal, then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Love?” Valla squeaked, her hands pressed over her heart. “Did you say you love me?”