Page 75 of Hearts of Stone

“Jesus, Jade!” Daniel sprinted forward, grabbing me by the arm, ready to drag me back down the stairs. “I know you love a project, but a gargoyle the size of a mid-sized truck is not the right one.”

And that’s when it all went to hell.

Wulfstan went from a thinking, feeling creature to a reactive one. His eyes dropped down to where Daniel’s hand gripped my arm, and his fangs were bared a moment later.

“No, brother!” Carrick shouted, leaping forward, but that just made everything worse.

A growl the sound of about a thousand angry pit bull terriers filled the lobby. Danny let out a yelp, dragging me backwards by my arm, but we didn’t get far. A massive clawed hand snapped out, grabbing me by my other wrist.

“NO!” Wulfstan’s response echoed throughout the hall, the word getting larger with each reverberation, but people had been saying no for some time within its walls and not getting far with it.

“Let her go!” Seneca cried, leaping forward, but he was too late.

Claws pricked my skin, not enough to make me bleed, but enough for it to hurt. I thought of the marks I’d seen on Daniel’s body in my dream and then pulled in a breath.

“Wulfstan…” My voice was a string pulled too tight. “I need you to let me go now, please?”

When I saw the look of horror on his face, I questioned my ancestor’s sanity, for if that had been the expression Wulfstan wore as Luther forced him to do more and more diabolical things, then Luther should’ve been the one locked away. But rich psychopaths were able to maintain their habits in ways poor ones weren’t, so of course, that wasn’t what had happened. Wulfstan sucked in a breath and then let me go so suddenly that Danny and I stumbled backwards and into the arms of the other gargoyles.

“Get Jade out of here!” Graven ordered, then spun around to confront Wulfstan, or perhaps to fight him to the death if that was what was required. I didn’t get to see which, because his wings flapped out, creating a barrier between us and the rogue gargoyle. “Get her back to the house now. Wulfstan is bound to Z Ward, not The Eyrie, so he cannot leave its walls without permission. I’ll hold him off…”

But whatever Graven had to say, it was cut off as Seneca tossed me over his shoulder, then leapt into the air, flying up, up, up until we landed on the roof of the main house.

“You can’t ever go back there,” he said, the minute he set me down on my feet. “Promise me that, Jade, promise!”

But I couldn’t. I knew why he needed to hear me say it, but my eyes were drawn across the grass, back to the hulking shape of Z Ward. Carrick and Graven landed not long afterwards and stepped forward.

“Wulfstan was a great gargoyle once…” Graven said in an overly calm tone. “But the master…” His eyes flicked to look at each one of us. “He left his mark on every gargoyle in the flock, but he was obsessed with Wulfstan. His ability to withstand the master’s will, to resist him right up until he was forced to do something completely dire. It was a game the master relished. They became tied together in a way a warlock rarely is with a gargoyle.” He shook his head slowly. “We save our hearts forour fated mates only, but Wulf… Through Luther’s persistence in trying to break him, he managed to do something else entirely. Something we still don’t completely understand.”

As if in counterpoint to his speech, a ragged scream cut through the air, but this time I didn’t jump in fear. A sob rose in my throat, one I tried to swallow back down as I straightened up.

“I know what it’s like, to find yourself in a relationship so terrible you can’t see a way out of it.”

“Jade, no—” Carrick started to say.

“When you become something else, something the old you would never even recognise.” I stared at the black outline of the building. “Where you wonder if he’s the monster, or it’s you that’s become one.” I shook my head. “We have to find a way to free Wulfstan.”

“And if you do, then what?” Graven stepped forward, wings starting to unfurl. “He’s only bound to Z Ward, not the estate. What if he hurts someone? Worse, what if he hurts you?” He darted a sidelong look at the others, then shook his head. “That male’s head is scrambled by everything he was put through. There’s nothing in him that would want to hurt a single hair on anyone’s head. No one except for Luther, that is. But deprived of his vengeance, his mind plays tricks on him. He’s attacked masters before who’ve tried to rehabilitate him, thinking to bring him back into the fold. But when the devil rides him, all he sees is Luther.”

Graven moved closer, his hands feeling heavy, weighted down with his concern, when they landed on my shoulders.

“A dreaded enemy or a lover he must hold close: I don’t think Wulfstan knew which towards the end. He screamed for days when Luther died, after he’d killed every single inhabitant of Z Ward. Their bodies were buried somewhere off the property in paupers’ graves, with little fanfare. He didn’t stop screaming until Luther’s body was lowered into the family plot. Becausewhen Luther was laid to rest, so was Wulfstan. He took the solace of the stone more and more until he couldn’t be roused again; until now.”

Until I’d woken him, that went unspoken. I hadn’t meant to do it, nor to cause the gargoyle such pain, but now that I had, I couldn’t ignore it. I had all of this money and power now. There had to be a way I could help…

“Take me to Mother Agnes,” I said, staring into Graven’s eyes.

“Jade—”

“We agreed that I need to develop my powers to keep myself safe and to learn how to defend myself. Well, I can learn how to heal as well. Take me to Mother Agnes so I can learn how to wield all this power I’ve been gifted.”

Graven stepped forward and hoisted me up into his arms, but did he do that because he agreed with what I was saying or because I was mistress of this house? I couldn’t work out which, but that didn’t seem to matter.

“Bitch, you’re going to magic school?” a familiar voice asked, as Daniel appeared on the roof. “You’re taking me with you!” When he took a running leap at Seneca, the gargoyle was forced to put his arms out to catch him, or risk Danny going tumbling off the edge. “Alright then, gargoyles, let's make with the flappy flaps. Fuckery awaits!”

Chapter 43

Graven

---