Page 39 of Hearts of Stone

“When we are in stasis, we have no nutritional needs,” Graven said, pushing forward and that brought up a whooole lotta memories. My eyes traced the line of those massive wings, folded up behind his back, then down along those broad shoulders and his lips curved slightly at my attention. “But when we come back to flesh, we must eat.”

“But you didn’t eat last night.”

“So eating pussy doesn’t count…” Daniel snickered, producing several bottles of alcohol and plonking them on the bench top.

“Shut. The fuck. Up,” I hissed.

“After you fell asleep, we went to Harold’s house and he provided us with food,” Graven replied.

“I’d worked up quite the appetite,” Carrick said.

Lemme just say that the sight of a gargoyle sporting the kind of smug smile dudes get when they’ve gotten lucky was weird, but it didn’t stop me glowering at Carrick. His smile only widened.

“So you need to eat now?” I asked. “What kinds of food do you consume?”

“Pretty sure I know who to ask about that, the bastard.” Daniel pulled his phone out and put a call through.

“Who the hell are you ringing?”

“Harry may or may not have given me his number, for ‘just in case’.” He straightened up as the call went through. “Hey, Harry.” Daniel twined a lock of his hair around his finger. “Yeah,just calling to find out what fricking gargoyles eat. You’ll be right over? Coolies, see you soon.”

He leaned across the bench and stared at the lot of them with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

“Soo… you’re gargoyles and you live on the top of Jade’s house. Have you been there since the moment the house was built or some time after that? Are you like magical? Like, does someone carve you out of stone and then bippity boppity boo you into existence, or are you, like, born in a stone egg or something? And what’s with the porn-worthy boners everywhere? Like, believe me, walking into a room of massive hard wangs is my idea of a good time, but you seem to be very,veryhappy to see our girl Jade. So, what’s that about?”

Graven’s brows had drawn down by increments after each question, but just as he went to answer, the French doors to the kitchen were wrenched open.

“So you found them.”

Harry was sucking in breaths, obviously having run over here from his cottage, as he scanned the room to try and read our responses. I’m fairly sure my artificial calm and Daniel’s blatant fascination were not what he expected.

“If you mean the gargoyles on my roof?” I asked. “Yeah, we found them, much to my surprise. But you aren’t shocked at all by that.”

“Um, well, no. I wasn’t sure if you’d meet them straight away. I thought we had a bit more time.” Harry’s voice grew more and more gruff. “I mean, it's always something that each heir to the house discovers. That gargoyles exist, and whether or not they can command them.”

“We have made clear we will do anything in our power to ensure our mistress’ happiness,” Graven told him.

“OK, I’m getting the appeal now,” Daniel said, as he sidled closer. “I mean damn, not only do they have dicks with built inG-spot attachments, but, fuck, they’re all grr, arrgh, I will protect you with my dying breath, and shit.”

“Want me to see if any of them are into dudes?” I asked.

“No need, honey. My gaydar was activated the moment I saw them move, and I’m not even getting a little wobble. I mean, you might be able to command them to…” He wrinkled his nose then and shook his head. “Actually, scratch that. Gross.”

“Honestly,” Harry said with a rueful look. “This was kind of a test. If the gargoyles didn’t wake for you, if you couldn’t command them, then a ‘mistake’ would be found in the legal documents and—”

“And the beautiful house woulda gone bye-byes?” Daniel asked. “Shit.”

“A generous stipend would’ve been paid to you for being a member of the family…” Harry’s voice trailed away.

“OK, fine, whatever,” I said, because nothing he said surprised me. I still couldn’t believe they’d put me in this fancy house, so the idea it could all be taken away made sense. My focus shifted to the gargoyles. They were what interested me, not this place. “Tell me what you like to eat and we’ll sit down for a meal.” I turned to Graven. “And you… You can explain everything.”

“As you wish,” Graven said with a slow incline of his head.

After talking to Harry, I let him and Daniel loose on the Uber Eats menu, ordering up a storm. Apparently gargoyles were omnivorous, eating meat and fruit and vegetables, but they preferred spicy foods. But while they sorted that out, Graven moved forward.

“Perhaps a walk before dinner?” he asked.

Seneca and Carrick moved to join us, but a small shake of Graven’s head stopped them where they were.

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