Page 76 of Cherished By the Gargoyle
“But you are bound to her,” he murmurs. “She loves you, and I believe you love her. Maybe that’s what the prophecy meant all along.”
My chest tightens as I cup her cheek. My breath trembles against her lips as I brush my mouth to hers in a tender kiss.
Her lips are soft and cool beneath mine. For a heartbeat, I think I feel her breath, but it’s only the wind slipping through the balcony doors.
I pull back slowly, my forehead resting against hers. “Please, Auri,” I whisper, voice breaking. “Please come back to me.”
But she doesn’t move, and the silence that follows is devastating.
Tears blur my vision as I press a trembling hand directly over her heart. It beats faintly and steady, but she does not awaken.
“I don’t understand.” Ryllen looks away, his expression stricken. “Why is it not working?”
“Perhaps the curse cannot be broken by love.” I meet his gaze, the fury beginning to burn through the deep ache in my chest. “Maybe it’s meant to be ended.”
He frowns. “What are you saying?”
I clench my jaw as my grief hardens into deadly resolve. “Malvara did this. She twisted the prophecy, turned it into a weapon. If love cannot wake her, then only the witch can.”
Ryllen blinks at me. “You mean to find her.”
“No.” My fangs lengthen as I extend my sharp claws. “I mean to end her.”
“Then I’m coming with you. Aurora may not have been mine, but she mattered.” His gaze meets my own. “I will help you kill the witch.”
I nod and then brush my fingers over her cheek. “I will find a way to wake you. I’ll end Malvara and tear her very name from this world.” Booming thunder shakes the castle as lighting streaks across the sky. “I will find a way to pull you back from the darkness, my savryl. I swear it on the old gods and the new.”
CHAPTER 51
THALRIC
Istand at her bedside as Ryllen leaves to ready his gear. The torches burn low, throwing faint amber light across her still form. She looks as if she’s only sleeping, with her hands folded over her chest, lips parted, and her hair fanned around her like a silken halo.
Leaning close, I press a kiss to her soft lips. Her skin is cooler now, but I can still imagine the warmth that once lingered there. “You’ll wake to sunlight again. I swear it.” I swallow against the lump in my throat. “I’ll burn the world and tear the very stars from the sky if I have to. I swear it on all that I am.”
When I rise, I turn to the window. The rain has stopped. The world outside glows with a pale green light from Malvara’s spell, sinister and wrong.
The castle is silent as Ryllen and I move through the hallways.
Guards stand frozen at their posts, heads bowed. Servants are slumped in doorways, cups fallen from limp hands. The smell of wax and cold metal hangs thick in the corridors. Eventhe fires in the hearths have died, leaving only curling threads of smoke.
“It feels like walking through a tomb,” Ryllen murmurs.
We leave the castle behind and head through the sleeping city. The baker’s fires are cold, carts abandoned mid-street, horses asleep in their stalls. A thin layer of dew shines on every surface, turning the world glassy and still.
When we reach the city gates, I shove the massive doors shut with a grunt, the hinges groaning in protest. Using my claws, I etch a warning message deep into the stone arch:
ENTER NOT. THE SLEEP OF THE CURSED AWAITS.
Ryllen reads the words aloud. “Do you think it will actually… work?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, stepping back to survey my warning. “But it should keep looters from trying their luck. Fear is stronger than any lock.”
Ryllen studies the mark in silence for a moment. He nods once. “You honor her well, Gargoyle.”
My throat tightens, but I manage a small nod in return.
We travel in silence through the dense forest beyond the walls, the two of us flying low through the trees.
