“Bred for?”

“Our sole purpose was tae protect the Bodywalker who made us. With every generation the instinct was bred into us deeper and deeper. Sort of another way of keeping us loyal tae our makers. I’m happy to say it doesna always work. But ’tis in our nature tae protect with all of our heart and soul what we deem needs protecting. That is what the Gargoyles here are doing. Protecting the Pharaoh and the body Politic.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Five at present. Diahmond, Ahnvil, Hector, Stohn, and myself.”

“Where is the h in your name?”

“He told you about that?” he asked, looking surprised. “ ’Tis in the second position.”

“So you’re the same generation as Ahnvil? You had the same maker?”

“More than that, we were clansmen before being turned. We were captured together, turned together, enslaved together. We even escaped together. No’ in the way that the recent Gargoyles are liberated. There’s a sort of an underground railroad for Gargoyles now. Gargoyles who are already freed help tae liberate those who are still captive or newly created. It gets more and more difficult, however, with every generation as the Gargoyle design is improved and their loyalty more deeply rooted. ’Tis hard to turn them away from their makers, even though they are slaves.”

“Was it hard for you?”

“Verra. Especially considering the skill of our maker. The story goes like this: Ahnvil had just stolen his touchstone. I was coming down the hall just as Ahnvil was running from the scene of his crime. I saw Ahnvil with his touchstone in hand and I had every intention of blocking his way, of keeping him from escaping.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No. I dinna.” He smiled with remembering. “He grabbed hold of me, threw me up again’ the wall, and said. ‘Your bloody stone is in that room for the taking. You can raise the alarm or you can come wi’ me, brother.’ ” He grinned. “Guess which one I chose?”

“Wow. I mean … wow.”

“Aye. Believe me when I say this, he could have been done wi’ me right then … killed me where I stood. We’re of different beasts, for all we’re alike. Mine made for grace and speed, his for brute strength.”

“What’s yours?” she asked, completely enthralled.

“A jaguar. Make no mistake, I’m plenty powerful, but in a head-to-head, hands down he’s the stronger of the two of us.”

She eyed his powerful physique, but she could see the lean grace in the lines of his body. “I can believe that. All of that.”

“I owe that man my life, my freedom, and more. I may be the leader of our tribe, but he’s the strongest of us. He doesna have the patience for it … leadership. Or so he says. And he may be right. But he’s always taken the initiative in all things and I depend on him for his advice a great deal.”

“He does seem very smart,” she said. And then, for inexplicable reasons, her eyes welled up with tears.

“Hey now. Doona be doing that. There’s a good lass,” he soothed her, drawing her close and patting her on the head. “What is it?”

“I just want him to be all right. You have no idea what he went through to get here.”

“I can imagine. He’s—”

A vicious snarl filled the air suddenly, cutting Ihron off. He went so tense so fast that it was like she was suddenly being held by iron, the real, legitimate metal. They both turned their heads and saw Ahnvil standing there, air rushing out of him in bullish huffs.

“Get back!” he snarled at Ihron. “Remove your touch from her this instant or you risk losing a hand. Nay, the whole bloody arm,” he threatened, his voice the darkest, hardest thing Kat had ever heard.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ahnvil!” she sputtered, her face flooding with embarrassment as Ihron loosened his hold on her. Karma skittered away, backing off, the big dog sensing the sudden danger in the room. “We’re just talking!”

“Looks tae me like you’re touching,” he growled, that gravel in his voice grinding low and deep. His accent thickened, just as it did every time he was aroused to some strong emotion or another. Or when he was making outrageously lewd propositions to her.

He moved forward that last step and grabbed Ihron’s hand at the wrist and seeing the other Gargoyle, big as he was, solid as he was, just as able to turn to impenetrable stone as Ahnvil was, flinch … it had Katrina swallowing hard.

“I’m no’ hurting her,” Ihron said placatingly, speaking to Ahnvil as though he could try and tame the beast with a level tone of voice.

“I never said you were hurting her,” he said, a rumble of warning trebling out of him.

Ihron opened his arms and let Kat go.

Kat was breathing hard, awash in so many emotions and so much fear she could barely catch her breath. But just the same, self-preservation made her move. She backed away from the two of them with haste, never taking her eyes from them as she fumbled at the door for escape. Ahnvil had been glaring holes through Ihron with his eyes, but the sound of the doorknob rattling made him blink and he looked in her direction. There was no describing the dismay that washed through him when he saw the fear on her face. He hastened toward her but when she cried out he froze in place.

“No, lass, doona be afraid of me. I’ll no’ hurt you.”

“Don’t tell me to not be afraid! I’m afraid, okay? You come in here all intense and hostile and maybe it makes me weak or pathetic or whatever, but unlike you I’m human and unlike you I’m mortal and unlike you when two big men who are part wild animal start growling at each other I’m really freakin’ afraid!”

“I dinna say you’ve no cause for fear, thrown into this situation you find yourself a part of, but you dinna need tae be fearing me. For I’ll no’ hurt you. In fact, I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you from all of this you’ve been thrust into.” He made sure she saw the shame in his features. “Thrust into by me.”

She hesitated, but he could still see her white-knuckled grasp on the door handle. She glanced over at Ihron, who wisely raised his hands and backed away from the situation. Good thing, too, because Ahnvil wasn’t sure he wasn’t still of a mind to kill him for touching her.

He didn’t examine the ferocity of the feeling. He was there to protect her, at all costs, and he would not fail her. Not her. Not this time.