Page 8 of Secondhand Garagyre

Thesensation of holding someone after so many years of being stone is somethingInever thoughtIwould ever again have for myself.Itis entirely wanted at this point.Ihave spent so much time listening to this woman pour out her heart that being able to touch her is ambrosial.

Methodically,Iscan the surrounding area with every sense available to me.Mybody is finally acclimated to being flesh, with all the consequences that come with having a fleshly body.Sight, scent, sound, and taste could be a blessing and a curse, dependent upon how one looked at it.

Afaint heartbeat at the edge of the cemetery catches my attention as my stomach cramps with hunger.Therhythm of the heartbeat tells me it is a human.Ithas been so long sinceIhavehad blood that being aroundPaisleywithout findingsomeoneto drink is foolhardy.Myspecies is not one that is permitted to lose control.Theresults of such a happenstance are… deadly.

But… the feel of her in my arms is not somethingIwant to give up, either.NordoIwant to leave her lying here defenseless when, obviously, someone is lurking about.

Itake a moment to assess my physical body, trying to ascertain ifIhave enough energy to glamour myself long enough to reach the whomever it is intruding on my time with my female.

Reachingdeep within myself to where my magick dwells,Iprod it and roll my eyes when it ignores me.Ireally should not be surprised;Ihave done nothing to nurture it for some time.Magickis dependent upon my kind drinking regularly.

Noblood, no magick.

Snarlingunder my breath,Iprod my magick again and am delighted when it finally responds to my call, andIwatch my body, as well asPaisley’s, fade.Themagick is doing its job to obscure us from sight.

“Ifyou will last just long enough for me to reach the foolish human across the cemetery,Iwill be able to feed and replenish part of my energy levels,”Igrumble, ignoring the fact thatIam speaking to my magick as if it is a sentient being.

Apparently,Ihave been alone far too long and have lost what little mindIhave to begin with.Ilayahanis probably laughing her ass off at me right now, watching me from the afterlife.Assuringmyself that my glamour is in place and thatPaisleyis just as fully covered asIam,Istand on silent feet and stalk towards my evening meal.

Myattention fully on the mortalIam hunting,Imiss the whispering caress along my jaw.Acaress thatIhad begged, pleaded, and wished to feel for many centuries.

Chapter Ten

LAITHOG

Rage.

Incandescentrage is allIfeel asIslink up behind the human male.Myfemale’s supple weight still fills my arms.

Hehas been watchingPaisley.

Forhow long… and more importantly, why?

Thesoon-to-be-dead fool positions himself in a manner that has hidden him easily but displays an obvious line of sight toPaisleyand the bench she frequents.Thethings he is holding appear to be what looks like a modified spyglass with two ports for a set of eyes to peer down simultaneously.Agenius invention, but one that does nothing but infuriate me.

Becausehe has been using them to trackPaisley’smovements,Ican tell from the depressions in the grass that this male, or others like him, has stood in this spot many times.

Lookingaround,Ifind an appropriate spot to setPaisleydown.Thegrass here is not as well manicured, but it appears soft, and that is all that matters right now.Itis softer than the bench shehas been sitting on for the last six months, soIdon’t feel too bad laying her down whileIattend to my evening meal.

Usingmy tail,Isweep a few fallen leaves and twigs out of the way asIlowerPaisleyto the ground, taking care not to jostle her asIgently slide her out of my arms.Assuredthat my glamour is still fully encasing her,Iturn back to the dead human.

Becauseheisdead.Hejust does not know it yet.Myprimary fangs lengthen within my mouth in anticipation of my first meal in centuries.

Themale is holding a small black square up to his ear, an odd light reflecting across his cheek as he rapidly speaks. “I’mtelling you, boss, something out of aHollywoodmovie or a fucking nerd convention just picked your girl up.Thenthey fucking disappeared into thin air!” the man barks out in alarm.

Whatdoes he mean by “your girl?”Hemost certainly is not speaking about myPaisley, as she belongs to none but me… well, none but me as soon asIconvince her that she wants to belong to none but me.Mysensitive hearing picks up the sound of a tinny voice coming from the vicinity of the male’s ear, andIrefocus on the matter at hand.

Ah.

Thismust be some sort of communication device.Imay have been asleep for many years, but stupidIam not.Stupidcreatures did not survive long in the timeIgrew up in.Itis of no matter.Themale does not appear to want to talk to whomever is on the other side of the little black box, soIsincerely doubt this little conversation will last very long.

Theman winces as the tinny voice gets louder, andIcannot suppress my smirk.

Good.

Heis in trouble for losing sight of his target.

Iwant this male to suffer greatly.Thedressing down he is currently experiencing is nothing compared to whatIhave in store for him.

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