LET GO MY GARGOYLE
Taming the Dragon Book 5
by Tami Lund
Cover Design: C.D. Gorri
Editor: Julie Sturgeon
Copyright: 2020 by Tami Lund
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LET GO MY GARGOYLE
Four years ago, Sofia had an affair with a gargoyle. The next morning, he disappeared—leaving her with an infant.
Now he’s back, and Sofia is afraid he wants to claim the child she’s been raising as her own.
Griffin isn’t back because he wants the child. What Sofia doesn’t know is that the kid isn’t even his. He’s back because his boss told him to protect Sofia and the baby. A task he doesn’t think he’s capable of doing.
Unfortunately, the more time he spends with Sofia and her adopted daughter Penelope, the less he wants to leave.
And the more danger he’s putting them in.
Taming the Dragon series
Each book has its own happily ever after; however, it is recommended they be read in the following order:
Dragon His Heels
Hungry Like a Dragon
Dragon in Denial
Bewitching the Dragon
Let Go My Gargoyle
Chapter One
Why did the most prestigious of all gargoyle brethren have to be located in New Orleans, of all places?
“It’s a big town,” Griffin told himself as he strolled along the sidewalk, heading toward the City of the Dead, where he was supposed to meet his new boss, Oliver, at dusk. He glanced over his shoulder, his senses on high alert, but so far, he hadn’t come across any dragons.
Not that they weren’t here. In fact, this city was crawling with them. Or so it had seemed the last time he’d visited.
“I can’t believe I’m moving here,” he muttered, kicking at a clump of moss growing between two broken chunks of concrete.
A golden opportunity to join the elitist of the elite had been dropped into his lap, and all he could do was worry about running into someone from his past.
He paused next to a whitewashed stone pillar marking the entrance to the cemetery that was about to become his home for, oh, the rest of eternity.
Were these guys really so diehard that they lived as stone statues except when they were working assignments? Because Griffin would freely admit that he’d choose to sleep in a warm, comfy bed rather than perched atop a gravesite any day of the week.
Why had Oliver picked him of all the gargoyles all over the world? It was certainly the burning question of the night. And what happened if he didn’t succeed? This position was a life sentence. Did that mean Griffin would get to keep trying, again and again, until he got it right? For all of eternity?
Did that mean he’d technically never fail, ever again?
The sun dipped below the horizon and shadows stretched across the sidewalk, reaching like long, dark fingers across the aboveground burial sites.
Creepy AF.
Shaking off the willies and gripping the small duffle that contained all of his worldly possessions, Griffin threw back his shoulders and stepped into the cemetery just as the sound of footsteps hurrying down the path echoed in the dim remnants of daylight. He slipped to the side, ducking behind a massive oak tree draped with Spanish moss.
A human man strode past, heading toward the wrought iron gate, pulling it closed and threading the iron chain through the grates before snapping the lock and heading down the sidewalk, his footsteps gradually fading into nothingness.
Not that a locked gate mattered to a gargoyle. If his magic didn’t work to free him, he could, with relative ease, scale the wrought iron barrier. Or, better yet, shift into his leathery, winged body and simply fly over to the other side.
But, of course, the locks weren’t for him. That guy didn’t even know Griffin existed, at least outside of his stone form. Those locks kept the humans out after dark, which allowed the resident gargoyles to shift out of their stone forms and go about their days…er, nights.
“Okay, might as well get the initial meeting over with.” Even though he’d much rather head down to the quarter, have a drink, or twelve, and find a lovely lady to flirt with for the evening.
As long as the quarter was dragon free, at any rate. Which it probably wasn’t, so scratch that idea.
He strolled along the moss-covered path, meandering, not really trying very hard to find his new boss. He was reasonably confident the guy would find him eventually. Hell, Oliver had found him all the way up in Canada, so he shouldn’t have too much difficulty here on his home turf.
The air shifted, indicating magic was being used, and Griffin bristled.
But it was just another gargoyle. The man who transformed from a statue to tanned, surfer-looking dude and then hopped nimbly down to the sidewalk in front of him wasn’t just another gargoyle, no matter how laidback he appeared in his human form.
“Oliver.” Griffin nodded once and did not offer his hand to shake, as was the custom for gargoyles.
His new boss nodded in return. “You’ve arrived.”
“You didn’t expect me to?”
“Oh, I knew you’d come eventually. But yes, I was concerned that you might get…distracted on your way to town.”
Griffin lifted one shoulder, let it drop again. “I did delay, actually. I could
