Free Gargoyle's Mate by Nia K. Foxx Page A

creatures actually existed the world would know by now?”
    “Not if they didn’t want to be known,” he answered simply.
    She shook her head at the ridiculous notion
    “Fine lets carbon date the text.” She indicated the book in her hand.
    Sometime later, Fatima rechecked her notes for the fourth time, certain she had done something wrong. Maybe she’d missed a step or mixed the wrong solutions.
    “If you do it twenty times it won’t change the outcome,” Lorn said, leaning against a stainless steel counter with his arms crossed over his chest.
    “Okay, suppose this is from around 600 AD, but carbon dating will not tell me if its author was in full control of his or her faculties.”
    “Perhaps you‘d like to check each of the over fifteen hundred volumes in there? Surely you can’t think everyone was crazy?”
    “Sounds like a good plan to me.”
    By 10 p.m. Fatima was only a fraction of the way through the texts and ready to scream in frustration.
    This can’t be right , she silently lamented, shaking her head at the stack of text she’d checked and double check. Although only a fraction of the documents were carbon dated she had yet to find a piece to disprove Lorn’s neatly scrawled index cards associated with each item. He had chronicled the year written, author, date of acquisition and country of origin. It was unfathomable to believe none of the works was a fake, yet the proof was staring at her with alarming results. She was determined more than ever to plow through the volumes.
    ***
    Lorn left Fatima to the carbon dating while he focused on a recently acquired document given to him by a Russian Protector. Fatima was a diligent scientist, which was to be expected based on her past work. She’d dived into the project with gusto becoming completely immersed in her work. He found himself having to force her to take a break for sustenance after hearing the protests her empty stomach made. It was late but Lorn doubted she’d checked a clock even once. She came in again from the biology labs mumbling something about improbabilities as she put away documents only to begin reaching for a new set of materials.
    “I think we’ve done enough tonight,” Lorn said, placing a marker in the bound text he read to keep his place.
    “What?” she asked distractedly. “There’s still several more hours of carbon dating to be done.”
    “More like weeks.”
    “An even better reason to keep working. The sooner this is done the sooner I can get to work helping you with the actual research and translations.”
    “Agreed, but it will all be here in the morning,” he promised, rising from the plush wheeled leather chair to his full height.
    Lorn silently observed her as she quietly processed everything. She’d reacted the way he’d expect for a human of this era. Even after verifying the authenticity of some of the materials, she’d rather believe the writers belonged to a deranged segment of society instead of entertaining the possibility the words might be remotely factual. He knew one surefire way to counter her disbelief, but in doing so he would be removing all choice of her ever going back to her old life. There was merit in the idea, of course. The way he felt now, he couldn’t bear the thought of her leaving him, but how long would he feel this way? One human never held a gargoyle’s interest beyond a few sexual encounters unless it was their Fledgling mate. Yet Fatima was different somehow.
    He could see the fatigue etched in her face even if she refused to acknowledge it. Her thirst for the truth was admirable and there was no denying the critical nature of their work but Lorn wouldn’t prioritize it above her basic needs.
     
    “If you’re tired, please don’t let me stop you from leaving.” She tried to ignore his approaching form but was a dismal failure.
    “I think it’s time we both went to bed.”
    To her surprise he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss on the top of her