Page 55 of Hearts of Stone

My little heart fluttered at every scenario he suggested, as his words turned what was considered to be the biggest country town in Australia into something else, something magical. I wanted to see, feel, touch all of it, my life being completely devoid of magic until now, but before I could answer, Carrick had something to say.

“Wehad intended to introduce our mistress to the paranormal world tonight,” he replied in an oh-so-polite voice. The same hands that had stroked me, coaxed me, delved into me until I was screaming with pleasure, came to rest on my shoulders. Strong thumbs dug into the muscles, forcing them to relax. “But we were required to present ourselves here, first. Now, are there any further final conditions of the will?”

The lawyer shook his head.

“Everything Master Ashley outlined in the will has been fulfilled,” Mellors replied. “The Eyrie and the Whiteley fortune are yours, in their entirety. I will be in contact with you, Jade, regarding whether or not you wish to change your last name, but the inheritance is not contingent on that. If there is nothing further, may I congratulate you once more, Jade? And wish you all a good evening.” He headed towards the far end of the room, making for the door through which the heads of the families had gone. Before he left, he stopped for a moment then pivoted to open a tall window that faced out onto the street. The cool night air came in to circulate around the room and dissipate the still-prevalent cigar smoke. As he turned to exit the room, he inclined his head in our direction, and I was surprised to see a twinkle in his eye.

“Enjoy your night, then,” Adam said, apparently willing to depart the field, as he nodded to the gargoyles. Before he left, though, he plucked a business card from his pocket and handedit to me. It was a deep scarlet, not the usual white, but that wasn’t all that was unusual about it. The moment I touched it, the card ignited, drawing a little gasp from me and a growl from the gargoyles. “Just a little magic,” he said, with a wink. “If you ever want to go out during the daytime…” Adam stared the gargoyles down before continuing, “just whisper my name on the wind and I’ll find you.”

Before anyone could respond, he waved his hand and then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, like an old school magician.

And, to think, that wasn’t even the strangest thing that had happened to me this week.

I shook my head, still trying to process everything I’d seen and heard, but that was just one smart part of my brain that wanted to pick it all apart, decipher how this brand new world worked. But the other part of me? It just wanted to experience everything. I turned around, feeling somewhat shy when I faced the gargoyles, but not for long. The intensity in their eyes made clear they were up for anything I could think of.

“Can you teach me more about magic?” I asked.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure,” Carrick said, with a smile.

Chapter 32

Carrick

“Can you teach me more about magic?” Jade asked.

I wanted that. If I’d had any choice in the matter I would never, ever have brought her here. The whole place stunk of magic, but it was a sour, musty kind of thing and the heavy incense scent of it filled my lungs, making me want to cough it out. Not like her. She was sweet, so damn sweet, that my mouth watered. Her eyes were shining with excitement as she stood on the precipice of a whole new world. And she was asking if I’d be her guide into it? Gods, she had no idea how much I wanted that. But I couldn’t spill my heart out to her, vomiting my need and my desire onto the floor, so I forced myself to smile, even as my heart ached, and said the only thing I could.

“Nothing would give me greater pleasure.”

“We’d best go to the night market,” Graven said, moving into my field of vision, never one to let others make spontaneous decisions about these kinds of things, but his focus shifted quickly to Jade. “We can introduce you to the world you belong to.”

“Get pastries made from ambrosia,” Seneca said with a groan. “Or drink moonbeam wine.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Take you aerial dancing in the thermal drafts,” I said with a smile, moving to clasp one of her hands in mine, as I set the other at her waist. “The sylphs like to play amongst them, and some of the winged fae are quite the acrobats.”

“Dancing in the air?” she said, looking at me with some trepidation. “I can’t even dance properly on a dancefloor.”

“I can.”

She didn’t understand that whatever limitations she had faced before, they were gone now. I drew her forward so her toes rested on top of mine, then moved, swirling her around the room. Her little gasps were music to my ears because she smiled as she was taken by surprise, and her cheeks went bright pink. Her eyes shone even brighter and she tossed her head back, sending that beautiful mane of hair tumbling back over her shoulders as I changed gears. I flapped my wings, resulting in her little hands squeezing me tight at my hand, my waist. She clung to me like I was a life raft in a heaving sea, her body pressed tight against mine, my cock helpless to do anything other than rise. I wanted a million more moments just like this.

“We should meet with Mother Agnes.”

Bloody Graven. No sooner had I got us a few inches into the air, than he brought us plummeting back down to earth. The male was sensible, grounded, and the gods knew every flock needed that at times, but… the sad reality was that he hadn’t always been like this. I remembered a time when he was just as ready with a laugh and a smile, when he would have been tapping me on the shoulder to cut in and waltz our girl right out the open window and into the air above the street. But then… I pushed that thought away. That was the problem with coming to Whiteley House, the past pressed down hard here, as dense andheavy as the stone that had been used to construct the place. I wanted to leave it all behind, to build something much better.

“Mother Agnes?” Jade asked me, and reluctantly I lowered us back down.

“A wise woman,” I informed her as our feet hit the carpet. “What she doesn’t know about magic isn’t worth knowing.”

“A valuable contact in understanding your power,” Graven informed her.

“Oh…” She flushed as I came to a halt. “Well, yes, I think she’s someone we need to talk to.”

Couldn’t we have just this one night?That was what I wanted to ask. Couldn’t we just rejoice in the fact that the one woman in the world for us had walked in the door of the house we were bound to? That she hadn’t run screaming when we revealed ourselves to her. Instead, she… I sucked in a breath, then smiled. The night was still young. We could see Old Woman Agnes, get her counsel early on and then… I used the hand that was still clasped in mine to spin her around and then dip her backwards in the hollow of my arm. There was nothing to say we couldn’t have a little pleasure as well.

“Your wish is my command,” I said, hoisting her up into my arms, then starting off a dead run towards the long window at the end of the room. Jade buried her face in my chest as her hands went around my neck, doing her damnedest to lodge her nails into my skin as I leapt free of the building and all it represented, flapping my wings out and beating them forcefully.

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