Born By Moonlight by Krista Street

Chapter 13

~ WYATT ~

I strode down the hallway, heading toward the library. I knew I was scowling. I’d just left my mate at the healing center—after she’d heard devastating news about her dwindling life force—so I could attend my final meeting with the SF gargoyles before leaving her again.

Of course, Avery had nodded in understanding, telling me she should really go see Charlotte and Eliza, but it hadn’t sat well with me.

She’d been distressed, and I hadn’t been able to fix it, which automatically put me in a foul mood. Not to mention, for the first time in months, she’d softened toward me.

Blood rushed to my cock when I remembered our kiss and how she’d responded to me. The feel and taste of her had lit my blood on fire.

I ran my tongue over my lower lip. I could still taste her.

Seething quietly, I stalked through the library’s huge doors, entering the massive room. The domed ceiling rose one hundred feet, and rows and rows of shelves, stacked higher than seemed humanly possible, made it one of the most impressive buildings in the SF headquarters. But I’d grown so used to the structure that I didn’t give it a second glance.

I cruised to Mallory, one of the gargoyle scholars who frequented the SF, and I had to duck when one of the library’s floating shelves shot past me.

Each shelf, around thirty feet tall, floated above the floor. There were hundreds of them, and they all swayed and moved in the air, as though they had life forces of their own.

I prowled to the quietly working gargoyle. “Master Mallory, have you found anything new?”

Mallory’s large pointed ears twitched, and he gave me a sympathetic smile, revealing a mouth filled with sharp teeth. “I’m afraid not, Major Jamison, not since our last report to you.”

Another shelf shot past us, skating five feet above the floor before it shot upward to suspend eighty feet in the air. Since Master Mallory only stood at around four-foot tall, wearing an earthy-brown-colored woolen robe, the floating shelves didn’t bother him.

“Have you checked every single scroll in the library?”

“We have, sir. Alarus is double checking them now.” He pointed a curved claw upward. On one of the shelves, Alarus dangled from a ladder as he plucked scrolls, tucking them under his stubby arm. “Neither of us were able to find what you seek. I’m afraid our library contains even less on the Safrinite comet than what you discovered in the fae lands.” His large dark eyes blinked in a face that looked like stone. “We’ll continue checking, just in case we missed anything in the first round.”

I placed my hands on my hips, anger roiling inside me. I was running out of time. Avery was down to fifty percent life force. Not even two weeks had passed since the Safrinite comet, yet her magic was gone, and her life was hanging on by a thread.

It didn’t help that come nightfall, the gargoyles’ search would cease when they returned to stone.

I needed to get to Bulgaria.

“Report to me if you find anything, anything at all.” As much as my irritation rode high, I knew that Alarus and Mallory were doing their best. “And thank you for your time and work.”

Mallory bobbed his chin. “Of course, sir.”

I did a one-eighty and hurried back toward the library’s entrance doors. I whipped my tablet out, looking at the message Wes had sent me when I’d been with Avery in the healing center.

The courts sentencing just arrived. They’ve given us three gargoyles in Bulgaria. Nicholas Fitzpatrick is aware. He’s organizing them now. You may leave when you’re ready. A portal key is waiting in your apartment.

I glowered when I saw Nicholas’s name again. That bastard could rot in hell for all I cared, but in the next breath, I quelled my anger. I needed Nicholas for this task. How I felt about him didn’t matter. I’d have to play nice.

I typed in a message to Wes.

Heading to my apartment now, then will be leaving. No new findings in our library as of 1600.

I shoved my tablet back into my pocket. Since I’d been granted a portal key, once I grabbed my bags, I’d be in Bulgaria instantly. I clenched my hands into fists, but they still shook.

Fifty percent. Avery was down to fifty percent.

We were running out of time.

With a burst of speed, I shoved through the exterior doors and blurred toward my barracks. The afternoon sun was hidden behind clouds, a cool nip in the air. It did little to soothe the hot swirling magic beneath my skin. My wolf also wasn’t helping. He’d been prowling and pacing ever since we’d received the message from Wes.

And on top of that, within the hour, I would be half a world away from my mate while Avery’s life force continued to drain from her. My worst nightmare was that she’d die while I was gone, that I wouldn’t be able to find a cure in time, and that I’d never see her again.

Swallowing the fear that crept up my throat, I rounded the corner on the sidewalk to my barracks, then drew up short when a familiar lilac scent hit me.

My nostrils flared, my entire body going rigid. I whipped my gaze around. I knew she was near, but I didn’t see her.

Continuing on, I rushed the remaining distance to my barracks, and there she was.

It was like a blow to my chest when I spotted her standing near the entrance to my barracks’.

She stood in the corner, hidden from view unless one was walking directly toward the main door. A bag sat at her feet, and her face was a mask of uncertainty.

I growled, unable to help it. Anytime she looked worried, scared, unsure, or anything apart from happy and content, my wolf and I grew irritated.

“Avery,” I said when I reached her. “What’s wrong? I thought you were going to see Charlotte and Eliza?”

She jumped, obviously not detecting my silent approach. I placed a hand on her arm, needing to touch her and wanting to soothe her startled look.

The second I made contact, her bunched shoulders loosened. Unlike the previous weeks, she didn’t flinch from my proximity. A surge of relief raced through me.

“I just came from the party Charlotte and Eliza are at. While I was there I got a call from the Institute.” She twisted her hands, so I stepped closer.

“What happened?”

“They learned of my test score and what’s happened to me from my parents. Until today, they didn’t know about the Safrinite comet. I never told them during my weekly check-ins.” She shook her head. “I don’t know why I’m sad about it, I mean, I knew this was coming, but it’s official now. They said that with a failed test and this unusual ailment plaguing me, they can’t admit me.” She gave a brave smile, but it didn’t hide the devastation in her eyes.

“Avery.” My arms were around her and pulling her toward me before I could stop myself.

But she came readily. Her arms wrapped around my waist as she buried her head in my chest.

“It’s one piece of bad news after another. Sheesh, what did I do to piss karma off?” She laughed softly, but it rang hollow.

I pushed a lock of dark hair behind her ear, my heart thumping with an uncontrollable need to protect and cherish her. My wolf snarled. His agitation only made mine worse. We’d been failing all day at keeping our mate safe and happy.

“I’m sorry,” I finally said when she pulled back to look at me. “I know how much you wanted it. Fuck, Avery. I’m so sorry.”

She shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. It’s nobody’s fault, besides that damned comet.” She shook her head, her eyes staying dry, and I realized at that moment that she was coming to terms with everything, that she wasn’t going to cry about it anymore. My heart swelled at her inner show of strength. She truly had a soul of steel.

But her next words made my blood run cold.

“Wyatt, I can’t keep doing this.”

“You can’t keep doing . . . what?” I asked slowly.

Her gaze lowered to the ground. “Stay here, waiting for the inevitable. I don’t want to sit in my apartment, or hang out idly with my parents, while hoping that you and other SF members can figure out what’s wrong with me and fix it.”

I released the breath I’d been holding. She wasn’t running from me. She wasn’t here to end things with me. The force of my relief made my hands shake.

But she was running from reality.

“Babe,” I said softly. “You have to give me time. I can’t fix this without more time.”

Her lips parted the second I uttered the soft plea, then they lifted in a small smile. “You’ve never called me that before.”

My chest rumbled when her scent took on a new hint of musk. I stepped closer to her, drawing her near again. Goosebumps sprouted on her skin when I dipped my head down.

“I’ll call you whatever you want as long as you’re mine.”

She shivered, and I knew I was getting off track. I needed to get moving. I had to get to Bulgaria. I had to find her a cure, but I couldn’t until I’d gotten her settled somewhere safe, until she felt okay.

“Do you want to stay at my place?” I asked quietly. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”

She shook her head, and her finger trailed up my chest. Damn if that feeling wasn’t distracting.

“No, I don’t want to stay here.”

My brow creased as I racked my brain for a better solution. “A hotel then? Another commander’s residence? Where do you want to stay? Just tell me. I’ll make it happen.”

Her lips curved up more. “Wyatt, don’t you get it? I want to stay with you.” She waved toward her bag. “I’m not going to sit around while you all work to find answers. If I only have days, or a week, or however long fate has given me to live, I want to spend it with you while we both hunt for answers. I’m coming with you to Bulgaria.”