She turned away from his confused look and stepped out onto the cement.
Oliver greeted them at the door. Henri darted around his legs and rushed into Ketu’s arms.
Argyle reported to his boss, “The warlocks have been destroyed.”
Oliver nodded at him and then to Becca. “Excellent work, Daughter of Light.”
She smirked and pointed at the door. “I have to pee.” She hurried past as Rahu stepped up with his hand wrapped around Maria’s bicep. Given the fact that she’d duped Antoinette and Ketu for nearly a year now, that was probably a wise decision on his part.
Oliver turned his focus to Penelope, who sat on Sofia’s hip with her arms anchored around Sofia’s neck. “So this is our youngest Daughter.”
Sofia cleared her throat and nodded.
Oliver glanced at Griffin. “You were successful at your first assignment. Which inadvertently turned into two rather impressive tasks. Well done.”
Griffin raised his hand like he was in school. “Can I ask you something?”
“Certainly.” Oliver inclined his head once.
“Why me?”
Oliver tilted his head, confusion on his face.
“Why did you ask me to join your brethren?”
“Are you questioning my choice?”
Griffin shook his head. “No. I think I’m worthy. I think I belong here. But…how did you know? I mean, when you asked me, I didn’t have any faith in myself.”
“Many have the ability to do good but lack the confidence to reach full capacity. It is my job to see through all that self-doubt. Tell me again how you discovered the child.”
Griffin raked his hand through his hair. “Four years ago, her father asked me to protect his family. I didn’t realize his mate was a Daughter of Light when I took the assignment.” He winced.
“And what happened?”
“I wasn’t successful. They were attacked by warlocks. I managed to save Penelope but not her parents.”
“And where was this?”
“In New Brunswick, where I used to live.”
Oliver nodded. “There is not a large gargoyle contingency up there. I don’t think they are organized at all, truth be told.”
Griffin shook his head. “They aren’t. I was a freelancer. And…and I don’t know if you are aware, but I was not raised as a gargoyle.”
Oliver arched one brow and silently waited for Griffin to continue. He darted a glance at Sofia before doing so.
“I grew up in the human foster care system. I was a problem child, to say the least, since I didn’t even know what was going on the first time I realized I had magical abilities.”
I would imagine,” Oliver said.
“I didn’t have any sort of formal training, and everything I learned was sort of trial and error. I didn’t even learn about Daughters of Light until well after that assignment.”
“And yet you felt the need to protect this one,” Oliver pointed out.
Griffin glanced at Penelope, then cupped the back of his neck. “Honestly, I just didn’t want her to end up in the human foster care system, like I did. I assumed she was a basic witch, so she needed to be with other magical people. I brought her here to give her over to you, actually.”
Oliver’s brow shot up again. “If that is the case, how did she end up in the care of this dragon here?”
“Um, I panicked the night I arrived in town. I was afraid you would pass her off to the humans too. Like I said, I didn’t know she was a Daughter of Light at the time. When I met Sofia, I could tell immediately that she was a good soul, so we started talking and…and I left Penelope with her and went home.”
He’d certainly left out a whole lot of key information, although it was, of course, for the best.
“But not before Sofia and I connected.”
Sofia flung around to stare at him. “What? Why are you telling him that?”
“Because I want him to know,” Griffin said, shifting his attention back to Oliver. “You should know that I’m in love with Sofia.”
Rahu slapped his hand to his forehead. Oliver furrowed his brow. “Why do you react that way?” he asked.
Becca returned and slid her arm around Rahu’s waist while he said, “Because he’s not supposed to tell you that. You have these strict rules about your brethren having any sort of emotional attachments, so they’re all afraid to tell you when they fall in love or sire children. Except this one, apparently.” He waved at Griffin.
“To be fair, I haven’t been working for him for very long. Just a couple of days, actually,” Griffin said.
Rahu nodded. “Makes sense. But you should know that you’re probably going to get fired now.”
“Why would you say that?” Oliver asked.
Rahu stabbed his thumb in Argyle’s direction. “That’s what this one says.”
Oliver looked up at Argyle. “And why would you say that?”
“We cannot be fired, Rahu,” Argyle muttered, before, more loudly, saying, “I simply warned Griffin when we were on our way back here.”
“Why?” Oliver asked.
Argyle rubbed his hand across his bald head.
Delilah, who had been in a separate vehicle, stepped into the conversation. “What are we talking about?”
Rahu said, “Oliver wants to know why Argyle warned Griffin that he isn’t supposed to fall in love.”
“He should talk. He won’t admit to himself that he’s in love with Pacey,” Delilah said.
Argyle’s jaw dropped so low it was practically dragging on the ground.
“You’re in love with…Pacey?” Oliver said, drawing out the sentence.
“I…”
“He hasn’t done anything about it,” Delilah supplied. “You haven’t even slept with her, have you?”
Argyle shook his head.
“Is that why you hooked up with her sister and got her pregnant? Were you imagining it was Pacey?”
Oliver lifted his hand, palm facing out. “Pardon
