Heart Of Stone

by Cynthia Eden

  “Stay here, Sabrina. You can watch all the action on the screens.” But he hesitated, because he wanted—

  Her.

  Adam wanted her. He wanted to kiss Sabrina. He wanted to taste her again. He wanted to claim her. To possess her completely.

  Leaving her there? It felt fucking wrong. Very, very wrong.

  His head was bending toward her. Their mouths were close. It would be so easy to eliminate that distance. So easy to take what he wanted. But he stilled. If Adam put his lips to hers, he wouldn’t stop. He would take and take and take.

  There were asshole humans waiting outside. He had to deal with them first. But then he would be back for Sabrina. He stepped around her and marched for the door.

  “Be careful!” Sabrina yelled after him. “Everyone has a weakness! Everyone! Be careful, dammit!”

  Adam didn’t stop walking. He maneuvered through the penthouse and a moment later, he headed onto the balcony. The wind whipped against him. And he let the stone consume him.

  Chapter Six

  Adam could’ve at least kissed her good-bye. Hell, would that really have been too much to ask? Sabrina’s breath heaved in and out, and her heart raced as she stared at the computer screens. The men in black were still at the front of the building. They were so intent on getting inside that they didn’t even notice when a giant gargoyle appeared right behind them.

  Her whole body tensed. “Seriously, Adam,” she whispered, “be careful.” Because she’d seen the mighty die during her life. Seen gods perish. Seen dragons fall. Everyone and everything did have a weak spot.

  It was just a matter of finding that spot. A matter of working the weakness.

  The gargoyle grabbed one man and hurtled him into the air.

  Now they all see you. So much for a sneak attack. But when you were as big as he was, it was probably hard to stay hidden for long.

  Darkness still hung heavily around them. A glance at the clock to her right told her it was nearing three a.m. The street outside was empty—except for the men in black and the very pissed off gargoyle.

  Her hands curled around the arm rests of her chair as she leaned forward.

  Two guards down. He’d taken them down easily and as she watched, he was swinging his arm toward a third. He was…

  The phone on her right rang. The sound was so sudden and jarring that she jerked in surprise. Then her gaze shot to the phone.

  It kept ringing. Not a coincidence. No freaking way. She swiped up the phone and shoved it to her ear. “What?”

  Laughter. Familiar laughter. “Are you enjoying the fight as much as I am?”

  Eric’s voice. Unmistakable. The stuff of nightmares. Because, right, she wanted to add more to her already busy nightmare realm. As if it weren’t already overflowing.

  “I’ve got a camera on one of the SUVs that is parked near your building. It lets me watch everything perfectly.” He gave a whistle. “The building you’re inside does have good security, I’ll give you that, and I’m betting you’re locked away tight in a safe room, watching the scene unfold.”

  It wasn’t a safe room…was it? Her gaze darted around her. No windows. Only one door.

  “What is your new friend, Sabrina? I’ve got to say, I’m curious about him. So I thought I’d watch him in action a bit so that I could see just what his strengths are.”

  “Leave me alone.” She made her voice ice cold. “How many times do I have to tell you—”

  “You should never have walked out on me. I…I think I loved you, Sabrina.”

  She should hang up the phone. Slam it down. “How did you even get this number?” It was a landline in the building and—

  Eric laughed. “Seriously, love? It was child’s play for me.”

  Yes, dammit, it probably had been. He’d probably tapped on his computer and gotten the number in mere moments.

  Another guard had fallen. As she watched, the gargoyle picked up a different man and held him with one claw-tipped hand wrapped around the human’s throat. Is Adam strangling him?

  “And you say I’m the monster.” Now Eric was disgusted. “I don’t know where you found that freak, but the guy is worse than I am. At least I’m human…”

  Are you?

  “Here’s how this will work, my dear. While the stone freak is busy, you’re going to leave your safe room. You’re going to slip away. I made the distraction for you—you’re welcome. You’re going to exit the building, and you’re going to run away from him. Just run. You know I’ll find you.”

  How? How does he keep finding me?

  She’d wondered before. She’d even thought that maybe he’d put some kind of tracking device under her skin. She’d looked, but hadn’t found any sign of cuts or implants. And she would remember him doing something like that, wouldn’t she?

  “I’m curious…I saw the video feed of you with him at the ball. Is he forcing you to stay with him? Is he another fool who took one look at you and became obsessed?”

  Not obsessed. I’m supposed to inspire. To bring out the good in people.

  Only she didn’t do that. All too often, her power had the exact opposite effect.

  “You were afraid in that video. You were afraid of him. I know when you fear a man. After all, I’ve seen the way you look at me.”

  Adam had stopped choking the human. He’d dropped the man in black, and the fellow lay sprawled on the ground. Was he dead? Sabrina leaned forward, straining to see better, but the video feed just wasn’t letting her get a close enough view.

  “Is he holding you prisoner?”

  They were shooting at Adam, and she could see chunks of stone breaking away. Then his big, powerful wings stretched behind him. He leapt into the air, dodging the bullets.

  “If he is, then run. Run to me, Sabrina. You know I can protect you from him.”

  She gave a broken laugh. “You don’t protect me from anything. You think I don’t know you were the one in that SUV last night? You sent me crashing off the road!”

  Silence. “I just wanted you to know I was close…”

  “You wanted me to know you were a psychopath,” she muttered. “But guess what? I had already figured that out.”

  “Sabrina. I’m not a psychopath. You know I’m a genius. I can make anything happen. I can change the world, I have changed it. And it will keep changing. You and I together—we create our reality.”

  That was one of his favorite new catchphrases. We create our reality. Sounded like BS to her. “You want to know what my reality is right now? The guy you called a stone freak? I’m choosing him. I’m not his prisoner. I’m with him willingly, so your plan for me to just waltz out of here while his back is turned—”

  “Margaret Lacy.”

  “What?”

  “That’s the name of the woman your freak dropped off at the hospital. And if you don’t get your ass out of that safe room and out of that building—right the hell now—I’ll have one of my men carve her into a hundred pieces. Do you remember Raymond Banner, the head of my security team?”

  Like she could forget that guy.

  “He’s already in her hospital room. Security at that place is really a joke, isn’t it? He’s standing at the foot of her bed, just waiting on a text from me. Oh, don’t worry, he’s dressed like an orderly so no one will suspect that his intentions are foul.”

  She leapt to her feet.

  “But if you don’t move, right now, she won’t be a survivor. Poor Margaret will just be dead.”

  She didn’t see Adam on the monitors. There were four armed men still standing, searching for him. But Adam had flown away. “You’re bluffing…”

  “Am I? Well, I guess we can just wait and see. I mean, it’s not your life on the line. It’s a stranger’s, and I’ve always suspected that you don’t really care much for others. Not in your nature, is it?”

  “Why are you doing this?” Sabrina cried.

  “Because you left me. And when you did, you took something with you.”

&nbs
p; “I took nothing.”

  “You took my control. I was lost without you. The urges I’d kept inside for so long? I couldn’t contain them. And then once I started, once I got a taste for the blood and the pain, there was no going back. I saw my true potential.”

  Wonderful. She’d inspired the asshole to become a serial killer.

  “I still see it.” His breath rushed over the line. “Uh, oh, guess he’s back. You need to choose, Sabrina. Tick, fucking tock. You know I won’t kill you. I would never do that. But I won’t let that freak keep you. You will stay mine.”

  He wasn’t even shocked that Adam was a gargoyle. Just how much had he learned about the paranormal world?

  “Fine.” Another sigh from him. “It’s as I suspected. Humans don’t matter at all to you, do they?”

  Humans. It was the first time he’d made a distinction.

  “I’ll get Raymond to start cutting.”

  “No! Dammit, stop! I’m leaving the building, okay? But I’m on the top floor and it’s going to take me a while to get down. Give me some time.”

  “You have five minutes. If you’re not out of that building and running fast by the time those five minutes are up, Margaret Lacy is dead.”

  He hung up on her. She threw the phone across the room. Then she was running for the door. Sabrina yanked it open and stumbled into the hallway. She didn’t go change into her gown. Five minutes. Just five. There wasn’t time to change. She raced toward the elevator, banging on the button to get the doors to open. They dinged and opened, and Sabrina jumped inside. She hit the control panel, pushing the button for the parking garage but…

  The elevator didn’t move.

  She hit the button again. And again. And she was cursing and swearing but the elevator wasn’t moving.

  Adam had used a key card before. So where in the hell was that card?

  She rushed back into the den. Her gaze flew frantically around the room, but she didn’t see the key card. She went into the office. Not there.

  There had to be another way down. Stairs. She could take the stairs. Provided that the staircase door didn’t require some key card.

  I’ll never get down them in five minutes. She’d already lost valuable time.

  But she still rushed to the stairwell. Only the damn door was sealed.

  Adam had locked her in. She rushed to the bedroom, ripping through the drawers there. No key card.

  How much time has passed?

  Eric would be watching the building. She didn’t think he’d been bluffing at all. If she didn’t get out of there before the time ran out, the woman—Margaret Lacy—would be sliced apart in her hospital bed.

  Sabrina ran out onto the balcony. The balcony wrapped around the entire top floor, overlooking the crashing waves, and then circling around to the front of the building and the street below. She ran to the side that hung over the street. “Adam!” Sabrina screamed. “Help me!”

  She climbed onto the edge of the balcony, hanging on for dear life. Oh, shit, it was high. She could see Adam, a big, hulking mass below her. He was still fighting and she could see guns, but she couldn’t hear the blast of bullets. Silencers?

  “Adam!” Sabrina yelled again. “I need you!”

  He looked up at her. Then he shook his head.

  He shook his head. One claw-tipped hand pointed imperiously as she strained to see him, and she knew the guy was telling her to go back inside. He didn’t get it. That wasn’t an option. “Catch me!” Her voice echoed back to her.

  Then she leapt off that balcony. Hellhellhellhell…The wind whipped around her.

  Was Eric watching? Did he see that she was trying to get down to him? That she was trying so hard she was risking her own life?

  Catch me. Catch—

  It felt as if she’d been flying forever before Adam caught her. Before those stone arms locked around her and yanked her against his chest, holding her in an unbreakable grip. Her eyes opened. She didn’t remember squeezing them shut, but it made sense. She hadn’t wanted to see herself slamming into the ground below on the off-chance that Adam hadn’t flown his stone ass up to save her. “Thank you,” she whispered. Her arms wrapped around his wide shoulders—giantly wide. “Now if you could just gently put me on the ground…?”

  Instead, he sent them soaring higher.

  “No!” Sabrina screamed.

  “What in the fucking hell…” Wow. His voice was deep and hard. Boomy. “What in the fucking hell were you thinking?” The monster before her snarled.

  The very, very angry monster.

  But he was dealing with a very, very desperate muse so he wasn’t going to frighten or intimidate her. “You have to put me on the ground. I have to walk away from this building. If I don’t, he’s going to kill Margaret Lacy!”

  He was still lifting them higher. “Who?”

  “The human female you saved! She’s in the hospital, but one of his men is in the room with her. Eric is watching us right now. He has a camera on one of the SUVs. If I don’t walk away from you …now…he will order his man to cut her up.” Her eyes were watering. From the wind and the jump and not from tears. Not from tears. She didn’t cry for anyone or anything.

  His eyes were glowing. No, not glowing so much as burning. With a red fire. Red in the face of all that hard stone. His face wasn’t a man’s. It was some weird thing that appeared to be a blend of a wolf and a lion. He had some crazy big, wickedly sharp teeth bursting from his mouth. “Please,” Sabrina said. She was begging and she didn’t care. “Just put me on the ground. His men won’t shoot me. I just have to walk away and she lives.”

  “You…can’t trust him.” Each word sounded as if it were being torn from him. “You…can’t…”

  “I can’t let that woman die. And I know you understand this because you’re the one who took her to the hospital.” She released a rough breath. “Put me on the ground. I’ll walk away. She’ll live.”

  His eyes seemed to burn even brighter. Those massive stone wings shook behind him. Then he was flying down and she could feel the wind whipping against her. Relief made her almost dizzy. Or maybe that dizziness came from the fact he was flying so fast. Either way, Sabrina kept her arms clenched tightly around him. He seemed to be heading straight toward one of those SUVs. The men with guns weren’t firing any longer. She suspected that Eric had told them not to shoot. He wouldn’t want one of their bullets to hit her.

  Adam didn’t slow down when he neared the SUV. In fact he slammed right into it. Sabrina screamed even as metal groaned and glass smashed. Then he was flying toward the second SUV and crashing into it, too. He shielded her completely with his stone body, making sure that she wasn’t hurt.

  “No more camera,” he growled. Then he was shooting back into the sky.

  “You were supposed to put me down! No, Adam, stop! You know he has that woman! He’ll kill her! You have to—”

  “Trust…me.”

  With her twisted life, trust wasn’t easy for her. But the gargoyle was flying too far and too fast, and it was already too late to go back. She didn’t have a choice.

  He’d taken away her choice.

  Margaret, I’m sorry. Sabrina twisted and heaved in Adam’s grasp, but he wouldn’t let her go. The gargoyle was too strong. They flew into the night.

  ***

  The last thing that Eric saw was that fucking stone freak flying right at the camera. Sabrina had been trapped in his arms, and, once more, the fear on her face had been unmistakable. Then the feed had ended, courtesy of that asshole.

  Eric had his phone pressed to his ear. “Where are they?” he snarled. “I don’t have a visual. Tell me where they are.” His fingers flew over his keyboard as he tried to track Sabrina. The problem was that she was moving too fast for his system to follow.

  “We lost them, boss. That guy…” Eric could hear the fear thickening the man’s voice. “He caught her in the air. The woman jumped. Did you hear what I said? She jumped from the building. From the friggin’ top
floor. I don’t know if the camera picked up that part. She jumped and he caught her and then they flew away. I have no clue where they are now.”

  She jumped. No, Eric hadn’t seen that. The camera had been positioned at a different angle. Sabrina could have died falling from that height. He pushed away from the computer.

  You were willing to risk yourself for a stranger? Oh, Sabrina, that just isn’t like you.

  “Didn’t sign on for fighting a monster,” the disgruntled voice of the guard muttered in his ear.

  Eric stiffened. “You want out? Then you just walk away right now.” It wasn’t that easy of course, it never was.

  Silence.

  “I thought so.” Eric eased out a slow breath. “Clean up the scene outside the building. Then get your ass inside. I want to find out what’s inside.” Because the building was a mystery to him. He’d tracked and tracked online, but he hadn’t been able to trace the owner, not yet anyway. The building had only recently been completed. Top-of-the-line and very, very pricey. “Report back when you gain access.”

  “Two of our men are dead. What are you going to do about them?”

  Dump their bodies. What the hell did the fool think he was going to do? “A clean-up crew is on the way.” Or it would be.

  Eric hung up on the fellow and tapped his fingers against the side of his phone. A moment later, he was making another call. This time, he was calling the guard he’d placed in Margaret Lacy’s hospital room. Not just any guard…but the chief of his security team. Because I trust Raymond Banner the most.

  Raymond answered before the first ring was even finished.

  “Is she awake?” Eric fired at him.

  “No. The doctors still aren’t sure that she will wake up.”

  That will make things easier. “I think company is coming your way.” That was the only thing that made sense to him. For Sabrina to jump…That meant she was desperate to help Margaret Lacy.

  How disappointing. Eric had expected more from Sabrina. Or maybe he’d expected less. Either way, this would give him an opportunity. He’d seen Sabrina’s mystery freak fight when his body had been covered in stone. But what about when the guy was just a man? Eric was betting the bullets wouldn’t bounce off him, not then.