Ash and Stone (Hidden Truth Book 1)

by Rose Alexander

  I would like to have the answers as soon as possible. Ash can put this mystery to rest and maybe we can move on with our lives... ignore the prophecies that seem to surround her. Who am I kidding. I know this is a pipe dream of a lovesick fool. I can daydream and delude myself, but deep down I know the answer. We can’t sacrifice the world for our own brief happiness. I would rather give my life than do nothing. This is just one small cog in a bigger wheel that turns us ever closer to our fates.

  "Let's go dig." Donavan groans out loud.

  "Dig through what?" Berwyn's voice floats through the walls.

  "Josiah thinks we can discover who Ash's sperm donor is." Gideon sighs. "We might as well all go. It will speed up the work."

  "You really think you have the answers?" Ash gazes up at me as she pulls out of my arms.

  “If we don't, there's something seriously fishy going on." I grab her hand and lead her back to the living room.

  "We don't need to go through the records." Donvan puts his feet on the coffee table and laces his hands behind his bed. "I'm surprised you aren't thinking of this."

  "What do you mean?" Gideon lifts an eyebrow, a skeptical expression on his face.

  "Ash, you're what, twenty-three, twenty-four?" Donavan studies Ash.

  "I'm twenty-three." She nods her head.

  "Who was always showing up for 'business purposes' back then?" Donavan dons a cocky smirk.

  "Asher," Gideon and I reply in unison.

  "I'm even named after my dad?" Ash's mouth gapes open.

  "Let's contact him. How do we find him?" Ash's face lights up as if the missing puzzle piece will solve all of her problems.

  I lock eyes with Gideon, and he nods. This is going to be a hard truth to reveal, though her being half-demon, it's hard telling if it will faze her at all. Asher might be a gargoyle, but he isn't a protector. He has always danced with the shadier aspects of life. If it can make him a profit, he's willing to try anything once. We couldn't prove it, but we were convinced he was helping demons obtain souls around the time Ash would have been born. Maybe we were wrong about that and his crime was far worse... falling in love with one. Or at least lust.

  "Asher isn't the most reliable person." I reach down and squeeze her hand. "Keep your expectations low."

  "Josiah, I grew up in Hell. Demons don't sit around campfires and sing kumbaya. Our families aren't close and the only person you look out for is yourself. My mother and I were an exception to that rule." Ash glances out the window as her eyes well up with tears. "I don't have any expectations of an emotional reunion, but I want answers and I'll do whatever it takes to get them."

  Her face hardens as determination burns like fire in her icy blue eyes. The Ash we met in the forest is showing through, and if I'm honest, I find it incredibly sexy. My cock hardens and twitches as my mind wanders to all the things this more dominant Ash could do to me in the bedroom. Would she be opposed to whips and chains? Would she think I was exploiting her demon side if I asked?

  “I’ll call him.” Gideon reaches in his pocket and pulls out his phone. “I’ll have to coerce him to show up.”

  "Do whatever you have to do to get the bastard here." Cerek balls his hands up at his side. "Sugar, can you calm your emotions just a touch?"

  "Doubtful." Ash shrugs and blows him a kiss.

  "Her demon is poking out." Usiah stalks her with his lust filled eyes.

  Gideon lifts the phone up to his ear and signals for us to be quiet.

  "Asher, it's been a while." His tone comes out overly friendly. "Listen, I remember you used to have a head for business and we have a proposition for you."

  A muffled voice sounds through the phone, but too quietly to make out.

  "It's sensitive, and I'd rather not discuss it over the phone, but I have a feeling our idea is world changing." Gideon winks at Ash.

  It takes all of my strength not to snort. He sounds like our goofball of a brother with his choice of words, though Asher has no idea. The muffled voice returns and Gideon nods as if Asher could see him.

  "Oh, you're that close?" Gideon's eyes widen. "That would be perfect. The repository is less than an hour from here."

  "What's he doing at the repository?" Donavan sends out mentally.

  "Probably nothing good." I send back.

  "Oh, we will see you soon." Gideon hangs up the phone and grins. "He ate that up."

  "What's he up to?" I cock my head as I try to work it out.

  "He said he had a meeting at the repository and is heading this way now. Let's grab some dinner and wait for him to show up." Gideon suggests.

  "Can we have bacon again?" Ash's face lights up.

  The group falls into a fit of laughter. Poor girl is going to want bacon for every meal now. We are going to have to introduce her to all the amazing foods this world has to offer.

  "Why don't we order Chinese takeout instead? I'll make bacon again for breakfast tomorrow, I promise." I wink at her.

  "You eat Chinese people here?" Her eyes widen. "I thought human was a hell delicacy.”

  "Oh Cora." Donavan snorts. "It's a type of food, not the people."

  Her cheeks turn a bright pink, but she straightens her back. "Then it better be as good as bacon."

  "I'll order all of our favorites so you have choices." Donavan pulls his phone out. "Do the mutts have any preferences?"

  "Chinese food wasn't a thing when we lived here." Berwyn shakes his head.

  Donavan orders, then pops out to pick it up. The rest of us settle in front of the television, Ash perching on the edge of the couch, careful not to bump her new wings.

  "If you focus on them withdrawing into your back, you should be able to put them away." Gideon points behind her.

  She closes her eyes and scrunches her face as she concentrates. I watch with rapt fascination as her wings twitch and flutter, but go nowhere.

  "You'll get it. Donavan couldn't put his wings away for a week after his sprouted." I wink at her, hoping his struggle will help keep her from growing to disheartened.

  "If it takes a week, I might cut them off," she mutters, but her shoulders relax.

  "When he gets back, we'll ask him how he finally managed to do it." Berwyn lays a hand on her knee.

  She nods her head and smiles at him. I grab the remote and put Sabrina on for her again, remembering how much these depictions of demons and hell made her laugh, and we wait for Donavan to return with the food.

  It doesn't take him long and we dig into the Chinese, loading a plate full of lo mein, sweet and sour chicken, and general Tso's for Ash to try. As we finish eating, a prickle down my spine, alerts me to Asher's presence at the edge of our territory. It won't be long before he arrives.

  23

  Ash

  My eyes widen as spikes dig into my brain, as if someone’s stepping on it. I watch as the rest of the room stiffens.

  "You can all feel that?" Gideon glances around.

  "What the fuck is it?" Cerek grabs the sides of his head.

  "That's what it feels like when a gargoyle who doesn't belong here enters our territory. It will pass." Josiah explains. "Angels have their own feeling, and so do demons. The next time Lilith shows up, you might sense it."

  "Great, another lovely gift that keeps on giving from these pebbles." Cerek rolls his eyes.

  "You realize your woman is half gargoyle, right?" Donavan throws his head back and laughs. “Besides, after a while you hardly notice it anymore.”

  "She's also half-demon and has thicker skin than you do. Looks like she's been upgraded to a stone." Cerek smirks.

  "Glad you agree she should take our last name." Donavan shoots him a lopsided grin that causes Cerek to scowl.

  "We should really go to our apartment now. You four will need to wait in a bedroom until we have Asher's guard down." Josiah glances out the window.

  "I don't mind being alone in a bedroom with Ash." Usiah waggles his eyebrows.

  Gideon's eye twitches, but he doesn't say anything.
These men aren't ever really going to get along, but at least they keep it civil for my sake. I'm going to stay out of it until they give me a real reason to break them up. So far, it's been mostly harmless, and their squabbles are tiny in the sum of things.

  We rush down the stairs as a crawling sensation works its way down my spine. The closer Asher gets, the more uneasy I become. If it's this bad with gargoyles, what's it going to be like with other creatures? I can only imagine how it'll feel when Michael shows back up.

  Josiah ushers us into their apartment, then opens a door on the right that leads to a bedroom. As he shuts the door behind us, I spin around, surveying the surrounding room. Everything is neatly put in its place and it's surprisingly bare for men who have lived here their entire lives.

  The stabbing sensation suddenly stops as I hear the door open. It seems as soon as the guys laid eyes on the other gargoyle, the internal alert system went quiet.

  "So what's the amazing idea you have?" A deep voice rings through the apartment.

  "Come sit down and we'll tell you." Josiah's voice sounds dull and lifeless.

  Is my potential father so bad that he can't stand to be in the same room? My chest tightens with annoyance at the man I haven't even met yet.

  Their voices quiet as they settle in the living room. Now I can't make out individual words. I approach the door and press my ear up to it, hoping for some clarity.

  "Time for the big reveal. Cora, get your cute tush out here." Donavan's voice floats through my mind.

  I take a deep breath as I grab the doorknob. I'm not sure why I'm nervous to meet this man who could potentially be my father. I don't want anything from him but information... but the flutters in my stomach betray me.

  Twisting the knob, I fling the door open and pad down the short hallway to the living room. A black-haired man with a full beard and grey eyes is sitting on the couch, animatedly talking with his hands.

  "If you invest a quarter of the profits, you'll see a return within three years. I have an insider who can handle all the trades for you." His last sentence falls off when he notices me.

  "You!" He shrieks, jumping to his feet. "You can't be here! She promised you would stay in hell."

  His eyes are so wide, they bulge out of his head as he twists around, searching for an exit. Donavan is blocking the windows, while Josiah is blocking the door.

  "I can't be here. This is a trap, a trap that's going to get us all killed," he stutters.

  "So you knew about me, but you just let me leave?" I pin him with a glare.

  "What are you on about? Of course I knew about you. How do you think your mother hid what you are in hell?" His forehead wrinkles in confusion. "Wait, who do you think I am?"

  "What do you think I am?" I cross my arms over my chest. It's taking everything I have not to reach out and snap his vile neck.

  The sins this gargoyle has committed are leaching off of him in a black miasma that is revolting. He would be on the intense treatment floor at my old job. I guess he would have to be pretty fucked up to fall in love with a demon, even if it was my mother.

  "You're the thing Danya got knocked up with." He shrugs. "It's none of my business. Money is money, after all."

  "You're a sorry excuse for a gargoyle." Gideon spits as he gets in Asher's face. "You father a child with a demon, then call her a thing?"

  "Hold up!" Asher holds his palms up. "You've got the wrong idea man. I just procured spells for the demon. I couldn't have fathered a child if I wanted to." He unzips his pants and drops them, exposing himself to the group. "I lost my balls when I refused my mate over a century ago. She didn't take kindly to the rejection."

  "He's a eunuch?" Donavan falls over laughing, grabbing his sides. "This just keeps getting better and better."

  "Can we just kill him?" I growl and fake like I'm lunging forward.

  Piss runs down the gargoyle's leg as his face blanches.

  "No, we won't kill him. Did you have to make him piss on our floor, Ash?" Josiah sighs. "Someone will have to clean it up."

  "Make him do it. I can torture him until he complies. I have a very particular set of skills in that area." I flash him a wicked grin.

  "I... I have information. I can help you find who your actual father is." Asher's eyes dart around the room.

  "I'm not paying for you to scam me." I scoff.

  "Smart girl." Gideon grins. "But I'm positive Asher was volunteering his services in exchange for not being tortured by Hell’s finest."

  "That's exactly it." The scummy man nods his head emphatically. "No charge for a demon who could disembowel me."

  "Start talking. I want to know everything you know about my mother and me." I tap my foot as I glare at the scumbag.

  I'm irritated we haven't found my father, but also relieved this weak excuse of a gargoyle isn't him. To be related to something so spineless... the thought makes me shudder.

  "Well... I met Danya about twenty-four years ago through a business associate. All I knew was she was pregnant and needed a witch to hide her pregnancy." Asher pulls up his pants as he babbles. "I acquired her a witch, and she paid extra for my silence. Seven months later she came back asking for a witch to hide the baby’s scent. I assumed then you were an abomination. But like I said before, money talks."

  "You're not giving me anything that motivates me to not hurt you." I growl as the Cerberus steps beside me in their three-headed dog form.

  "Cerberus is on earth?" His eyes roll into the back of his head and he falls to the floor, splayed out in his own urine.

  "How is he even a gargoyle? I thought you were supposed to be super strong demon killing machines?" I raise an eyebrow and glance between the three Stones.

  "We did warn you not to get your hopes up with that one. He's a disgrace to his own kind." Josiah sneers at the body lying prone. "But it sounds like he does know something we don't. The sight of Cerberus shouldn't have made him faint so easily."

  Cerberus ripples and shifts into the three men, Usiah wearing a shit-eating grin, while the other two scowl.

  "We should tie him up until he talks. We don't want him running off without any real information exchanged." Berwyn taps his chin as clothes appear on his body.

  "No one wants to touch that." Donavan makes a disgusted face.

  "Usiah will do it. It was his idea to come out here and back Ash up." Cerek grunts.

  "Aw, man." Usiah groans but walks forward and assesses the situation.

  Josiah pulls a chair from another room and sets it near the passed out gargoyle. Usiah rolls his eyes before hoisting the man into the chair, then Gideon uses a length of rope to tie him in place.

  "Now how's he going to clean up his own piss?" Donavan whines.

  I shake my head and chuckle. I'm not volunteering, but that stupid comment was what I needed.

  Grabbing a handful of his greasy, black hair, I lift his head from his chest with one hand and reach back and smack him with a loud thwack with the other.

  "Huh?" The whites of his eyes are so big they appear to bulge out of his head.

  "Now, let's try this again." I paste on a wicked smile. "Please give me an excuse to hurt you. It's been too long since I've gotten to do what I'm best at."

  "I can't decide if she's scary or hot." Donavan's voice floats through my mind, nearly making me lose it.

  "Both." Usiah winks from behind Asher.

  "Why did you react so strongly to seeing Cerberus here? And before you answer, I should let you know, they can smell a lie." I let go of his hair and wait for him to answer.

  "He's the first seal. If he leaves hell, Pestilence can ride." Asher breathes heavily. "The apocalypse has begun, and you started it, abomination."

  "Is that all?" I throw my head back and laugh. "There's worse things than a few colds."

  "You're going to blow through all seven seals and don't even know it. Did you even bother researching what the seals are?" He stares at Gideon. "Because I did. That's why I was at the repository. After all
, these humans are talking about a new pandemic running across the world."

  Well, fuck. They researched prophecies, and knew about the apocalypse, but they didn't bother learning what we could do to prevent it. It's plain as day on their faces. That needs to be our next step.

  "Start spilling your guts before I spill them for you." I feign a yawn.

  “Cora, there’s an angel nearby.” Donavan stands next to me.

  “Why don’t I sense anything?” I gaze up at him.

  He opens his mouth as if to speak as the door to the apartment flies across the living room, landing with a dull thud. Michael storms in, brandishing a sword glowing bright white.

  24

  Ash

  The witch was right... her spell did keep him from appearing immediately next to us. The gargoyles shift into their stone forms as they charge forward. I conjure a fireball ready to throw it but become frustrated as the Stone men keep getting in the way.

  I can fight my own battles, if they would let me. Fuck this shit. I focus on a sword in my hand, feeling the weight of the cold metal in my palm. My arm drops slightly as the sword comes into existence. I will it to burn with hellfire as I run forward with a primal scream, pushing between the Stones and swinging wildly at my mark.

  Michael easily dodges, lifting a leg and kicking me square in the chest. I fly into the wall and wheeze as the air is knocked from my lungs. I groan as I struggle to breathe, but force myself to my feet.

  Cerberus has shifted back to his three headed dog form and is snapping at the rancid smelling angel who is trying to get past him to Asher. I swivel my head to find the gargoyles picking themselves up off the floor, moving slower than they should. I hope they aren’t hurt.

  "Untie me, you fools! It's going to kill me!" Asher shrieks, his voice rising in pitch.

  I roll my eyes. This idiot couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag, let alone defend himself against an archangel. He thinks he can run out of here and save his own skin, but it won't work. This angel has eyes only for him. Whatever he was about to tell us, Michael doesn't want us to know.