by Cate Corvin
“But his godfather. What about him?”
“If his parents’ deaths were the splintering of a pane of glass, Victor’s was a sledgehammer reducing it back down to sand. He never healed from Rand and Nance’s deaths, but Victor left a hole that can’t ever be filled.”
I wasn’t sure if he was right, or if he was projecting his own internal scars onto his friend. Either way, both of these men had been hurt beyond comprehension, and learning to love again was going to be a hard-fought battle. I would have to make sure I didn’t push too hard—
Hold the fuck on.
Why would I be pushing? I wasn’t trying to make them fall in love with me!
Was I?
No, I wasn’t. I couldn’t be. This was all just heightened emotions due to extenuating circumstances, and once I was free to live my life again, it would all fade. Damien would return to his models and debutantes, Gio would live his nude life of brooding, and Sawyer… well, Sawyer would always be there for me.
I ignored the pang in my heart that he might be the only one.
Impulsively, I stepped in front of Gio and wrapped my other arm around him, clutching him tightly and resting my cheek against his broad, bare chest. I wanted nothing more at that moment than to absorb all the pain that was coursing through him, slowly poisoning him for years and years with no relief.
“You deserve to be happy, Gio. Stop letting ghosts haunt you and keep you from living the life you want. That’s not what your family would want for you.”
“You can’t know that,” he said gruffly, but his arms were both around me and clenched tighter at my words.
“I can. I do. You’re a good man, and they raised you, so I have no doubt they were good people. They’d be hurt to know you’re torturing yourself like this. Give yourself some freedom.”
I felt something brush against the top of my hair, and I knew he must have kissed me, but I was too afraid to look up. I didn’t know what I might see in his eyes… or what he might see in mine.
“You’re right, Tin. Freedom. That’s exactly what I need.”
One second we were standing at the railing of the rooftop, the next we were plummeting down the side of the building, only for Gio to snap his wings open and catch an air current that lifted us back toward the sky.
My piercing scream echoed in our wake.
Chapter Fourteen
“Wow, Zara. So this is the day you decide to wear yoga pants, huh?”
I kept stretching and pointedly looking away, determined to ignore Gio’s jibes, but he wasn’t the kind of gargoyle who could just let it go. I refused to give in, though. I was still pissed at him for leaping off a roof with me in his arms with no warning.
Asshole.
He squatted down right in front of me on the training mat, and even though he’d put on pants for the sake of today’s guests, all the broad muscles of his chest were on display and his considerable package was clearly limned against the fabric of his gray sweats.
Honestly, my skin-tight pants were far less revealing than a hung guy in sweatpants. I never understood why men thought women were the ones showing off when they were always the first to put their pythons on a pedestal.
“There’s nothing wrong with my pants. Why would you care, anyways?” I really did need to stretch out my legs, but there was no way I was busting them open while Gio was squatting right in front of me with that coy little smirk on his face. “Can you move over a little? A girl’s gotta stretch the hamstrings.”
His gaze dropped from my face to the rest of me, and I was suddenly very thankful for extra-padded sports bras. “Just so you know, I got a BA in Physical Therapy while I was going to university with Damien, so if you ever need help getting stretched out properly, I can get in there nice and deep…”
Whoa there, cowboy.
“I can stretch myself o—” I cut myself off midsentence, a flush rising in my cheeks. “You know what, quit being a pervert and get out of my way.”
Gio laughed and moved to the side, collapsing on the mat beside me. “Both of the gargoyles coming in today are pretty strong, I want you to test your power against them. You need to feel confident in yourself, no matter the situation, no matter the stone.”
I reached for my left toes, stretching over my leg. I probably didn’t even really need to stretch anymore, but it was an old habit from before my department-mandated workouts, and I wasn’t ready to give up all my human habits just yet. “They’re from other Orders?” I twisted my head under my arm to look at him and caught him blatantly staring at my ass. “Gio?”
He shook his head and smirked. “Yes, and I trust them implicitly, if you must know.”
“Oh, I must.” I stretched the other leg, wondering if Angelique would be one of them. She was about the last gargoyle I wanted to deal with right now. “Especially if I’m going to fall in line with Damien’s orders at face value.”
“You know life is much easier when you just roll with him.” Gio leaned back on his hands, showing off his abdomen to its best advantage.
“I know. I’ve pretty much accepted that at this point. But since he’s been more open with me, I’m more willing to humor him.” I rolled off the mat and bounced to my feet. “So who are these friends of yours?”
Gio remained on the floor, looking up at me. His eyes slid upwards, but he wasn’t smiling anymore. A faint furrow had formed between his brows.
“Hello? You still with me, Gio?”
I waved a hand around in front of his face to catch his attention. His expression smoothed back into neutrality, but there was an odd tension in his shoulders now. He picked himself up off the floor and beckoned me to the middle of the room.
Damien had spared no expense on the training room. Sawyer used the weight sets on the far side whenever he trained alongside us, but this half was fortified like the vault upstairs in the penthouse. I could only imagine what other gargoyles did as part of their training that required such defenses.
“They’ll be here in a few, so you’re just going to spar with me to warm up.” Gio flexed his arms. Those things were bigger around than my skull, and drew my eyes like a magnet to a lodestone. An enormous, jacked lodestone.
I didn’t realize a full minute had passed until Gio raised an eyebrow. “Distracted?”
“What? Me? No.” I gave my head a little shake and paced to the mat to stand in front of Gio, spreading my feet wide for leverage and angling my left side towards him. “Let me guess. Rule number one is no distractions?”
Gio uncrossed his arms, taking up the same position across from me. “Damn right. But as long as the distraction is me, I’ll cut you a little slack.”
Damn, this guy could dole out some emotional whiplash. One minute he was all business, the next minute he was undressing me with his eyes and my hands were itching to make good on any fantasy he could muster.
“Don’t hold back,” I said, tossing my ponytail back over my shoulder. Within three seconds I knew those had probably been my last words.
Gio hit me like a damn avalanche. He launched forward and I barely got my arm raised in time to block his strike. The force of the impact rattled through my bones, and his dark wings spread wide, catching the air to slow his forward momentum.
His other fist barreled upwards and I ducked my head aside, just missing the uppercut. The breeze of its passage ruffled my hair, and I saw a split-second advantage. I pushed forward, using my arms to knock him back, and went for a strike to the torso.
Something snaked around the back of my calf. Gio dodged my punch, gripped my wrist, and pushed my head back. I went straight down, lying flat on the floor with Gio lying halfway over me. “Watch the feet,” he murmured, only inches away from my lips. “If someone hooks their leg around yours, it’s easy as hell to knock you off-balance.”
“Yeah, I see that.” The wind had been knocked out of my lungs the second I hit the floor. I was breaking rule number one in a bad way; Gio’s hips were pushed against mine, not grinding or thrust
ing, but it was still impossible to miss the heat he was packing.
“We’re going to try something from jiu-jitsu next. I want you to be able to take someone down first.” His wings were still spread, cloaking us under an intimate cover of darkness. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep every muscle in my body still while he was lying atop me. “You come at me first. You’re going to get a grip on my shoulders, wrap your legs around my waist, and pull me down.”
“Is this really jiu-jitsu, or are you trying to get in my pants?” I breathed, only half-joking.
Gio propped himself up on his elbow, keeping me covered with a torso that was twice the size of mine. “Can’t it be a little of both?”
His dark eyes were blazing, the fire behind them burning hotter by the second.
It was a dangerous game I was playing. He might cover his pain with mindless flirtations and humor, but if I really opened up my heart to him, there’d be no pulling back without hurting both of us. This gargoyle had risked his life for mine, and planned to do it again at every opportunity. That was the kind of thing that imprinted someone on your heart in a permanent way.
Gio shifted against me, and I lifted my chin. “Maybe it can. But first, you’re going to teach me.”
The Onyx just gave me a crooked smile and took his sweet time getting up. He extended a hand to pull me up. Gripping my palm, he yanked me hard enough that I slammed against his body and had to spread my palms wide against his hard chest for balance. Or so I told myself. My palms lingered for longer than strictly necessary, but Gio didn’t seem to mind. He held my gaze, keeping me close for a long moment. The beginnings of an erection pressed against my lower stomach and his free hand went to my ass. “Maybe I was wrong. I think this was the perfect day for yoga pants.”
His gravelly voice in my ear raised goosebumps over my skin. It was a damn shame that becoming a stoneheart didn’t take away all the human bodily functions that gave away my extreme attraction to my bodyguard.
“Rule number one, don’t get distracted,” I taunted as I forced myself to break free of his grip. We resumed our starting positions, each dealing with our own levels of sexual frustration. “Head in the game.”
This time, he moved slower, giving me a small opening to work with. And maybe that erection was hampering his movements just a bit. Either way, I took advantage. I dug my fingers into his hard traps, jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist, and put all my weight into tipping him forward.
I was pretty sure he was just humoring me. It was like trying to climb a fucking mountain. But as soon as he tipped forward and my back hit the floor, I used his own momentum against him, sliding my legs under his thighs and thrusting upwards. He pitched over my head and hit the unmatted floor with a sharp crack.
No way was I letting him off lightly while he was down. I hooked my arm through his and dragged myself on top of him, planting my knees the way he’d taught, and pushing his wrists down overhead. “Eat them apples, Onyx.”
“Do you really want to test me? I can think of something better to eat than apples.”
I really wished I could stop myself from blushing. At the very least, I could blame it on a workout flush. “Head. In. The. Game.”
Gio broke my grip easily and shoved me off his chest, tackling me before my brain had caught up. With my arm twisted behind my back and my face mushed into the mat, there was no way I was getting out of this one. “I don’t think I was the distracted one. You got the leverage right, used the momentum, but the real challenge comes when you’ve got your opponent down. You can’t be distracted for a single second, or they’ll use that hesitation to shift the advantage.”
Well, if my trainer was a little less appealing, maybe it’d be easier to keep my mind from wandering. Especially when he manhandled me like he wished this was a bed instead of a floor.
“Got it. Let’s try again.”
He released his grip on my forearm, his fingers trailing up my spine before he rose. Seriously, I was going to have to request a less attractive gargoyle to take over his duties.
I climbed to my feet, stretching my arm, and Gio’s eyes darkened with irritation. I was confused for a moment, wondering if I’d done something to offend him, but then I realized we had an audience.
While I was getting the shit twisted out of my arm, two other gargoyles had entered the training room. It became pretty apparent that it wasn’t going to be possible to get a less attractive trainer, because I had yet to see a male gargoyle who wasn’t in contention for Perfect Specimen: Male Category.
They were both fullbloods with the same fashion sense as Gio: apparently shirts weren’t just optional, but actively discouraged while on the premises. The one leaning against the wall and watching us with a measured gaze was an Amethyst, his violet horns sprouting from mussed, dark blond curls.
But the moment I saw the other male, my stoneheart started pulsing, reacting to my anxiety. Every crystalline fiber in me tensed up.
He was a Topaz. Wings so much like Gio’s, but a pale gold instead of black, and amber horns growing from a stubble of dark hair. Unlike the calm, casual disinterest of the Amethyst, he was smirking, his arms crossed over his chest and staring at... me.
I tried not to bristle under the entirely unwelcome attention. Just seeing those rich autumn colors on a gargoyle was enough to make me feel sick, even if I wasn’t vulnerable to them anymore. The memories he triggered were almost a physical blow, and I sucked in air in a vain effort to settle my stomach.
“Are you going to introduce us, Gio?” I asked, keeping my tone steady. I wasn’t about to let the Topaz see how much he discomfited me.
To my surprise, Gio slipped a hand around my waist, and the Topaz’s grin grew wider, even though he hadn’t stopped scanning me like a steak he was ravenous for.
“Feeling a little territorial, G?” the Topaz asked, striding forward. He held out a hand and I glanced at Gio, seeing a muscle tick in his jaw and a different kind of heat burning in his eyes.
Holy hell. Was he jealous? Was that why he hadn’t wanted me to wear yoga pants to spar with these guys?
I steeled myself and took the gargoyle’s hand.
Gio shook his head. “This is Roland Terez. The quiet guy is Jules Danthuzin. I trust them with my life, so you don’t have to worry about them telling anyone that you have the Ruby. Besides, there’s always a chance they won’t make it out alive.”
Roland, the Topaz, didn’t release my hand until a low growl came from Gio’s throat. “So, you’re Zara Kyrillian.” The name was still foreign, Sterling on the tip of my tongue to correct him. But he was right. That was who I was now.
Jules finally joined us. He moved like a cat, his movements lithe and graceful. He didn’t quite look unfriendly, just wary. It was odd to be on the receiving end of the usual distrust between humans and gargoyles. I took his hand next, and he shook firmly, waiting only a few seconds too long for the contact between us to grow awkward.
“A pleasure, Zara,” he said.
I liked him already. Gio hadn’t budged an inch from my side, his shoulders still tight. If anything, he might have moved a fraction closer. “So, Damien’s briefed both of you on the situation. We need to see how her power is developing, so you two are going to test her. After we’re sure she can resist your powers, I’m going to work on having her accept my shield.”
His inflections on the words seemed to give it a bit of a double-meaning, that he was planning on being more than just my physical shield. He definitely had some territorial aggression going on, even if these new gargoyles were his friends.
“Shield her from what, Gio? Not me?” Roland was definitely the more bombastic of these two. I made a mental note to try to slip a solid uppercut into our sparring session.
Jules rolled his eyes, a movement so quick I almost didn’t catch it. “Let’s start with me. I’m not going to attack you, Zara.” His deep voice was like his handshake, calm and confident. “The Order of Amethyst are chameleons.”
Jules nodded, the corners of his eyes crinkling a little. I figured that his version of a smile. “A Ruby should be able to see right through it, but since invisibility isn’t a mental magic—something that affects your mind directly, like Emerald or Sapphire—you might need to push a little harder to get through the illusion.”
Roland swept a hand over his head, showing off his biceps. What a toolbag. “Don’t worry,” he said with a wink. “I’ll make sure I push you real hard when it’s my turn.”
Gio had completely ditched his humor when they walked in, but now he was glaring at Roland. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Terez. She’s mine to protect, and these are my training sessions. They’re going to go at the pace I dictate, which means when she’s ready.”
I touched his hand lightly, just enough to let him know I appreciated him. He couldn’t possibly know why Topaz gargoyles disturbed me so much, but he seemed to sense my annoyance—and the unease I was trying to hide—with Roland.
“Come on, Zara.” Jules jerked his head at the training mat. When we were in the middle, a good distance from Gio and Roland, he leaned in. “Don’t let Roland get to you. He’s an asshole, but he’s relatively harmless. Gio will knock some sense into him if he gets out of line.”
I offered him a smile. “He won’t have a chance, I’ll do it first.”
“I see why they like you so much.” Jules clenched his fists, and the familiar hum of gargoyle magic filled the air. “Now, I’m going to use my power. All I’m going to do is move around you, so don’t expect an attack. I just want you to focus on using your Ruby to sense where I am and peel away the magic.”
“If I peel it away, would you be visible to someone else?” I asked, watching his hands vanish into midair, followed by his arms. The chameleon effect crept over him like a wave, vanishing him from sight piece by piece. The air shimmered, then settled. It was like he’d never been there at all. The skin on the back of my neck prickled as I wondered how many Amethysts I’d walked by as a human without even knowing they were there.