Page 67 of The Maestro's Mates
“My affinity. I can still feel the spirit of your bond. All three sides of it. It’s possible the gargoyle’s end of the connection will fade away, but I doubt it. The dormancy is suppressing it, but it’s still strong.”
Sebastian nodded, reaching out and pulling Justin closer, wrapping his arms tight around Justin’s back. The vampire's mop of curly blonde hair fitperfectly under his chin. He put his nose to the top of Justin’s head, breathing in his sweet smell.
“He’s going to keep fighting us, you know,” Justin murmured into Sebastian’s chest. “Especially now. When he wakes up from this, he’s going to take it as a sign he’s getting near the end, and tell us we should let him go.”
Sebastian growled a little under his breath. Justin was right. Pavel was the most stubborn of the three of them, which honestly shocked Sebastian. He’d always thought he’d be the most stubborn in any relationship he was in.
No. He was the most stubborn. Pavel couldn’t outlast him.
“You came around,” Sebastian replied. “He will, too. No matter how long it takes.”
Justin didn’t say anything, but Sebastian could practically hear him thinking that they weren’t sure how long Pavel actually had left.
Linda sighed dramatically at the sight of their concerned faces.
“This is against my better judgement...”
Both Sebastian and Justin turned to her. She didn’t say anything. Sebastian knew his mother. Something had shifted.
“What?!” Sebastian barked. “Out with it. If you can help us, help us.”
Linda pursed her lips in annoyance, but after a second, she continued.
“I don’t know much about gargoyles and their history, but Idoknow about spiritual bonds. Based on the little I’ve read in the old books—which were mostly bullshit, but still—there are ways to keep a fading gargoyle tethered to reality. I’d imagine if you completed the mating, there’s a goodchance it would put off the dormancy. Maybe permanently.”
Justin tensed in his arms, and Sebastian was sure he’d done the same. Being offered hope at this point was jarring. Sebastian released his vampire as his arms fell to his sides.
“How sure are you?” he said in a rough whisper.
Linda rolled her eyes, and it took everything in Sebastian not to smack his own mother upside of the head.
“I still think the three of you are a bad idea, but…I’m pretty certain. Say, ninety percent.”
Justin’s fingers brushed against Sebastian’s cheek, firmly guiding his gaze back to his mate’s. For the first time, Sebastian saw real hope in Justin’s eyes.
“We have to try.”
They returned to gazing at the stone form of their mate. If he didn’t return from this, there would be no chance to find out. They couldn’t mate with a statue. Pavel had to come back.
But despite the doubt, Sebastian couldn’t help but echo Justin’s words.
“We have to try.”
Chapter 26
Pavel
The dormant state was not one of drifting or floating. It wasn’t even peaceful. It was just…nothing. Utter lack of consciousness.
Pavel didn’t dream in his dormancy. He wasn’t aware at all. Coming in or out, there were a few moments that were more like sleep, a woozy interval where consciousness persisted. But deep in that state, a gargoyle might as well be dead.
It might sound terrifying to some, but it was all Pavel had known. He’d been a gargoyle for over three thousand years, and in that time, no one had ever managed to rouse him out of his statue form. No one had broken that empty nothingness.
Until today.
It wasn’t gradual or gentle. It was like a bomb going off. His whole body came alive, and there was no time of easy transition. Instead, his mind was plunged into the cold water of conscious thought like he’d been pushed off a cliff into the Arctic Ocean. His skin stretched, and his bonesshifted uncomfortably, the process speeding along faster than it ever had before.
His eyes snapped open, and he was greeted with the most perfect sight he’d ever seen. His two mates standing side by side, holding hands and staring at him, eyes bright with hope and adoration. Sebastian wore his trademark smirk, his long black hair perfectly framing his handsome features, and a tiny smile was breaking out on Justin’s soft face.
