Page 36 of Hearts of Stone

I could’ve found out how I could access all this money I was supposed to now have and ordered us food through Uber Eats.

I didn’t.

I could’ve gotten on social media, skited about my sudden rise in social stature, snapped shots of the house grounds or…

I could stay right where I was, until the shadows grew longer and the sun dropped lower, the bright cerulean blue of the sky darkening to a deep indigo. Because somehow I knew that when the sun finally dropped beneath the horizon line, I’d hear the grating sound of stone on stone as the statues in front of me shifted.

And then the dark shapes against the night sky, they moved, stretched, straightened up, until I wasn’t the only one on the roof any more.

“Holy fuck…” Daniel said, as he stumbled out onto the roof. “Gargoyles!”

Chapter 20

Seneca

When I was a boy, my friends and I used to plunge into the big lake just outside our mothers’ homes and see how long we could stay under water. In the dark, stillness of the waters, all sound was muffled but the ones your own body made. My mouth would be closed tight to stop the water getting in, my limbs moving gently in the water to keep me afloat, but I’d hang there in stasis until the other boys were forced to surface. At first it was a competition between them and me, to see who could last the longest, and once I was the last one floating underwater, the only challenger left for me to face was myself.

My lungs would burn, my body growing heavier by the second, but I’d stay down until the very last minute. Then, when my nerve broke and the need for air grew too great, I’d swim up to the surface. Sounds like a simple thing, right? The only sensible course of action. Something I should’ve done well before this. Because that burning need to breathe, it grew more and more persistent and as I pumped my limbs, struggling against the heavy pull of the water to rise above. And then the real challenge would begin.

I had to open my mouth to take a breath.

But if I did, I’d just swallow water and drown.

I needed to get to the surface.

But my limbs were heavy, so heavy now instead of being strong, my head aching with a heavy throb.

This was when the fear kicked in.

I’d start to struggle in earnest, the adrenalin that should’ve had my arms and legs thrusting through the water minutes ago coming too late. I’d claw my way towards the surface, seeing it get closer but not sure if I’d make it, black starting to cloud the edges of my vision. I’d need to breathe, scream for help, my hands clawing at the water, not swimming, as if a helping hand was just in reach, right before…

I’d pop above the surface to the sound of the other boys’ cheers, but all I could hear was my noisy whoops as I sucked in the sweet, sweet air.

That’s what I did now, but I wasn’t surfacing above the waters, rather I was coming back to flesh after such a long time. I remembered. Master Ashley had died and I… Then all thoughts were shoved to one side as I smelled her.

Goddess…

That was the only word for her, in the way the breeze teased the ends of her long dark hair. I’d bury my face in it and smell the scent of night-blooming jasmine, I was sure. And that body. I’d never really seen the appeal of women before, knowing that one day I would find my fated mate and all else would pale by comparison. I was glad for every time I’d pulled away from one of my many master’s playthings when I caught sight of her. She was wearing those damnable pants that seemed to outline every curve of her voluptuous body, the swell of her arse, those sweetly rounded arms making me ache.

But then I saw him.

“Holy fuck…” he said, this stranger with hair the colour of a summer sky. “Gargoyles!”

I moved and so did my brothers, surging forward to protect our mistress. We clawed our way over the fence, flapped our wings to take to the air, then dropped down around her.

“Protect your mistress!” Graven growled, like we hadn’t already assembled. I dropped down onto my hands in the gap between her and this man, then bared my fangs in a snarl.

“Fuck… fuck! Call off your fucking beasties because—”

“Stop!”

Her voice cut through the night air and even the birds stopped to listen to it. It vibrated with command, a golden collar placed around my neck. I was both proud to wear her bond and desperate to pull against it. He might be a threat. He might hurt… her.

My mate.

I turned around, searching her face, seeing the concern and the fear and the need and the desire there and I swore then I would allay or satisfy each one. My chest ached so damn much when I took her in. She was so very beautiful and—

“Don’t hurt Daniel.”

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