Found (Books of Stone Book 1)

by B. L. Brunnemer

  When the images stopped, he let my hair go. Gasping, my body limp, I laid down on the desk top as I slowly came back to earth. He slid out of me, making me groan deeply. He had felt so good. He leaned over the desk, his large hand running up my spine.

  Knowing I had to face him, I pushed myself up, fixed my shirt and turned to lean on the desk. He was there instantly, his hands going to my face, forcing me to meet his eyes.

  His eyes were warm as they met mine. “Are you good?”

  “Yeah,” I said, my voice hesitant.

  “What was that?” he asked quietly.

  “The Mate Bond.” I swallowed hard. “It shows your Mate exactly who you are. Your memories, emotions, mistakes. Everything.”

  His eyes narrowed at me. “Everything I saw… they were your memories?” I nodded. Now he would judge; every male I’d been with, every mistake I’d ever made. He knew it now, and he’d judge. I took a deep breath. If he couldn’t handle it - it would hurt, but I’d be fine. I may never have children or meet anyone else who touched me the way he did, but I would be just fine. His eyes ran over my face before meeting mine again. “You are amazing,” he said, his voice in awe. My heart slammed in my chest as he pulled me into his arms and buried his face in my hair.

  I let out the breath I had been holding as I clung to him, my eyes burning. “You’re not so bad yourself.” He let out his own breath, making me smile.

  We were silent for several minutes, just holding each other. Then reality came crashing down. He was a gargoyle, I was a werewolf. Different species weren’t supposed to be able to breed or bond with each other.

  “How did this happen?” I asked no one in particular. He pulled back a little and brushed the hair from my face.

  “I don’t know,” he admitted. “It shouldn’t be able to.”

  “Our Mates, the bond is usually sealed after the first time they have sex,” I admitted. I can see why now. Holy hell, I had been aching. “What about yours?”

  He shook his head. “Ours requires vows said out loud.” His eyes grew shadowed. “We have a bigger problem. If my Elder Council finds out, they’ll probably kill us both.” My heart ached.

  “Same with our Alphas,” I admitted. I met his eyes. “What are we going to do?”

  His face was strained when he answered, “We’re going to have to hide it.”

  19

  December 23

  Atticus

  Movement in bed woke me up. I buried my face into her hair to block the light. Wait, what? I opened my eyes and rolled onto my back to see the sun shining through the bedroom window. Evelyn started to wake up, rolling into me. Pressing her naked body against my skin. Hmm… oh, that’s right... I wrapped my arm around her and used my left hand to take my watch off the nightstand.

  When I brought it back so I could see the time I went still. Not because of the time, but because of the new white vine marking that ran from my wrist and wrapped around my forearm then up my bicep. A single pink cherry blossom stood out on the vines and thorns wrapping over the black and gray tattoos that had already been there. Oh shit. We Mated last night. My chest grew tight as I scoured my memory for what happened. I remembered being drunk, coming back to her place, the feel of her. Sliding into her… then it was all a blur of sensation and then peace...

  She stirred against me, moving to her back and rubbing her eyes. “What’s wrong?” she muttered. “You’re tense.” She opened her eyes and went still beside me. Oh fuck. “Atticus, what is on my arm?”

  She didn’t remember either… Shit, shit, shit! Vows were binding, and I had no memory of what I promised.

  “Atticus!” she demanded, moving to sit up with her back against the headboard. I turned to find her holding the sheet to her body, her eyes wide.

  “It’s alright,” I said calmly when I felt anything but. I reached over and took her left hand to examine it. Thin branches moved up the inside of her forearm. There on one of them sat a white ball of cotton. Cotton? I sighed. Yeah, that was me. I wasn’t pretty or anything a female would want. I swallowed hard. What the fuck had I promised? My thumb ran over her markings gently, knowing that they wouldn’t change.

  “Atticus, what is this?” she asked again, her voice shaking.

  I met her eyes and told her. “Sometime last night we promised something to each other and now we’re… Mated.”

  Her face grew white, her mouth gaped. Her breathing became rough. “What?” she asked, panic filling her eyes. I wanted to join her but both of us couldn’t lose it. I sat up next to her and wrapped my arm around her. I focused on calming her down. Perhaps it would help push back the tightness forming in my chest.

  I brought my arm around to show her. Her marks on my skin were feminine, beautiful. Her fingers ran over the vines. “These marks are Mate marks. Vows and promises we make to each other get burned into our skin by magic. It also enforces those promises.”

  “I don’t remember what I promised Atticus!” she said, her voice high. “We were so drunk it could have been about making you pancakes every morning!” She got out of bed, wrapped the sheet around her and searched the floor as if to find her clothes from last night.

  “I vaguely remember tearing your dress,” I admitted, scratching my eyebrow. She straightened and let out a breath. Then she started blinking fast, her hand covered her mouth as she took another shaky breath. My chest tightened even more. She didn’t want me… I climbed out of bed on her side and wrapped her in my arms. She hid her face in my chest. “It’s going to be alright.” I whispered. “I know I’m not the male you deserve-”

  She shook her head then lifted to meet my eyes. “Atty, we got married and I don’t remember what I promised you. I don’t remember getting married.”

  She was upset she didn’t remember her promise? Relief filled me as it sank in. She wasn’t upset she was Mated to me. Just that she didn’t remember. The vise in my chest loosened.

  “Well, it looks like we only promised one thing,” I tried to reassure her. I had no idea how. “When we are ready to promise more we can… have a wedding? Humans do that, right?” She smiled through the tears threatening to fall.

  “I don’t want a wedding. I want to remember getting married,” she explained.

  “I… I can’t give that to you. I don’t remember either,” I admitted. I looked at the bed. “I remember coming in here, tearing your dress, and...us.” I met her eyes, my own panic threatening to rise. “And that’s it.”

  Her eyes stopped watering, she took several deep breaths, then she gave me a small smile. “Well, it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

  Relief filled me as I grinned down at her. “I don’t mind.” I pulled her close and kissed her forehead gently. My panic disappeared with that kiss. She rested her head on my chest and let me hold her. We were Mated. That was it. There was no divorce, there was no turning back. A part of me was thrilled that she was mine. Another… terrified of what she’d say when I told her about Cyrus. I kissed the top of her head. “Let’s get dressed and get some coffee.” She nodded then pulled away. I dressed in my suit slacks and my usual white dress shirt. I was rolling up my sleeves while she pulled on her hunting gear.

  By the time I was dressed, she had closed the bathroom door behind her. I opened the bedroom door and bit back a curse. Shit! Everyone was in the kitchen. Falk was at the fridge pulling eggs out. Coffee, I needed coffee. And tea, Eve liked tea in the morning. I closed the bedroom door behind me and went into the kitchen. I was filling the kettle at the sink when Falk stopped making breakfast. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him turning and signaling to the others. I mentally cursed him. I put the kettle on then started making a pot of coffee.

  By the time I turned around Ranulf and Zahur were grinning like hyenas.

  “So, Atticus,” Zahur said, his eyes on my left arm. “Anything exciting happen last night?”

  “Shut it, Zahur,” I bit out through clenched teeth. Ranulf snorted and went back to texting on his phone.

>   “So, it only took getting her completely plastered to agree to be your Mate?” Ranulf asked, obviously distracted.

  I had enough. “If any of you try to tease her this morning, I’ll rip your wings off,” I growled. Eyebrows went up around the kitchen. “She’s already upset-”

  “Why is she upset?” Zahur asked, frowning.

  “Because neither one of us remembers what we promised,” I bit out. Eyebrows went up again.

  “Oh… yeah. That’s kinda important boss,” Ranulf said, cringing.

  “No shit,” I growled. “So back off the bullshit with her today.”

  Everyone nodded. The bathroom door opened. Evelyn came out with her hair in a braid over her shoulder and her face freshly washed. She looked up and hesitated.

  “Look, it’s the Mrs,” Ranulf greeted cheerfully.

  Fury boiled in my veins as her face turned red. She turned and walked back into our bedroom, closing the door behind her without a word.

  I met Ranulf’s eyes. “Run.” Ranulf didn’t waste time, he took off out of the apartment. I let him run.

  By the time the tea was ready she came back out of our room and moved into the kitchen. I handed her the mug.

  “Thanks,” she muttered.

  “Are you alright?” I asked quietly.

  She nodded. “It just kind of hit me when he said that.”

  “Don’t mind Ranulf,” Zahur told her. “He’s currently running for his life from Atticus for that.”

  She looked up at me with an eyebrow raised. “Are you chasing him?”

  “I just made him think I was,” I admitted. She chuckled as she sat down. Everyone made conversation as we ate. Zahur kept glancing at the markings on her arm. I made a note to talk to him later about it. Breakfast was almost over when I decided to call Ranulf back in to get ready for the hunt today. We had several demons to take out and my Match, no… my Mate was going with us. I was thankful for the agreement with the others to keep her out of the fighting as much as possible. My eyes ran over her as she sharpened a blade. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  Evelyn

  One tracking spell and a lot of driving brought us to the Pride demon’s day hide out. It wasn’t a warehouse or a high-rise. This one was hiding out in a mansion in the poshest neighborhood in the city, which meant getting in might be a problem.

  “We could just hop the fence,” Ranulf suggested while we all stood at the mouth of the alley near the estate’s back gate.

  “In this neighborhood? The police would be called the second our feet left the ground,” Atticus pointed out.

  I gestured at the alleyway. “I could-”

  “If Evelyn can hide us we could jump the fence or even fly over,” Atticus said, talking right over me.

  I tried again. “Or I could simply-”

  “That’s still risky, the demon could feel the energy being used,” Zahur offered.

  Giving up, I turned and walked down the alley toward the back gate of the property.

  “Evelyn,” Atticus called as he began to follow.

  I ignored him. I reached the gate, opened my jacket and pulled out my tools.

  “What are you doing, lass?” Ranulf asked, his smile in his voice.

  “I’m getting us in without alerting the demon,” I said patiently as I opened the combination lock box and looked at the wiring.

  “You know how to do that?” Zahur asked.

  “Yes. I was trying to tell you, but I kept getting talked over and ignored.” I found the circuit I wanted. I slipped my tool in and bridged it with the power source. It shorted out the circuit board. There was a small click of the gate unlocking. I slipped my tools back into my jacket breast pocket and turned to the speechless males.

  I met Atticus’s eyes, then Zahur’s. “Stop ignoring me when I have a suggestion. Otherwise, I’m just going to do what I was trying to suggest in the first place.” I turned and headed through the gate. Ranulf and Falk both bit back chuckles as they followed.

  The backyard was lush and large. It even had a long, modern in-ground fountain. We moved between the bushes and the fence toward the house. Atticus took the lead. I somehow ended up in back, again. Their concern was sweet, but on a hunt it was starting to irritate me.

  In the tall brush halfway to the house Atticus stopped and crouched. He made hand gestures to the others. They moved off across the lawn and further down the side of the house. I assumed I was to stay with Atticus since he didn’t give me instructions. He gestured for me to stay where I was. Was he seriously leaving me here? Outside?

  “You want me to stay out here?” I whispered.

  He moved closer, his lips going to my ear. “We need someone to keep an eye on our escape route. Keep it clear.”

  I pulled back and met his eyes. He was lying. It was a good idea, but still a lie. My temper sparked. I bit back my response because of where we were. “Fine.”

  The relief in his eyes was obvious. Of course, he didn’t know about the argument we were going to have later. He squeezed my hand before he moved on to the back of the house.

  I was mad and worried about him at the same time, it was an odd feeling.

  I stayed in the brush and waited. And waited. I checked my phone. Ten minutes had gone by. Shouldn’t they be done by now?

  A small shuffle in the dirt to my right caught my ear. I went still. There it was again, this time from my left. I took a deep breath and got a lungful of rot. Ghouls.

  I pulled my blade from my back and split it into two.

  Ghouls rushed me through the brush. I took one head, spun, and took another from the ghoul behind me. Others came through the bushes. I needed more room.

  I moved out of the bushes to the center of the lawn. The ghouls burst from the bush-line and charged me. It wasn’t hard to take them down one by one as they reached me. I moved quickly and smoothly, taking heads or setting them on fire, whichever was needed. The ring of dead ghouls grew. At least they were coming after me and not after the others while they were busy with the demon. There was a loud crash from inside, multiple voices shouting. I focused on killing the supply of ghouls that never seemed to end. One tried to jump tackle me - I blasted him so he flew overhead and into the fountain. I threw a ball of ice. The fountain instantly froze trapping the ghoul where it stood, waist high in ice. I went back to dealing with the others. Finally having enough, I focused on blowing them apart before they could reach the ring around me. The explosions were silent but effective. Black blood and body parts flew around the yard.

  When the last ghoul dropped I was breathing hard and surrounded by a ring of dead ghouls. A ring of black blood and limbs encircled that. I rested my hands on my knees as I got my breath back.

  The back door of the house opened. The others strode out smiling and laughing, no one looked injured. I straightened. Everyone turned to the yard and stopped dead in their tracks.

  I began cleaning the blood off my short swords. “How was the demon?”

  “Atticus almost killed Ranulf, but otherwise it was your typical demon fight,” Zahur answered as he walked onto the black grass.

  I nodded as I put my blade back together then slid it back into its sheath. “I think there is a large basement somewhere.” I began to make my way out of the piles of ghoul bodies. Atticus was there in an instant, his hand taking mine to help me keep my footing. When I stepped onto the black grass he didn’t let go.

  “Are you injured?” he asked, his voice hard.

  “No, they were easy,” I told him.

  Ranulf pointed behind me. “Think ya missed one.”

  I turned and found the ghoul in the fountain. “Oh, whoops.” I pulled energy, then threw a blast that blew the ghoul apart in a macabre firework display.

  “Holy…” Zahur muttered. I ignored them as I set fire to the pile of bodies and the black grass. We were on our way out of the alley when smoke started pouring from the house.

  I was quiet until we reached the SUV. I turned to Atticus and met his eyes.r />
  “Do you still want me to stay outside?” I asked pointedly.

  His eyes were hard as they met mine. “No. But stay in the back.”

  “Fine.” I turned and got in the SUV. Everyone else piled in, we had more demons to hunt.

  We were at the crime scene of the Rakasha. Being cannibals that enjoyed blood more than flesh, it wasn’t a pretty sight. I did my usual tracking spell, only this time it didn’t work.

  “Huh, that’s new,” I muttered as I squatted on the spot and ran my hand over the area. The energy above the blood was thicker. Only by a fraction, barely there, but enough. A cloaking spell.

  “What’s wrong?” Atticus asked.

  I closed my eyes and ran my fingers over the energy, finding its shape. “This one has a cloaking spell. Interesting…” I focused on finding the energy connection, what was fueling it. Certain magic needed to be performed and powered only once. Cloaking spells were different. They needed a constant stream of energy, and that energy was usually from the one it was attached to unless someone else wanted to power it. Since we were dealing with demons here, I doubted one of them would be that accommodating. I could blast the spell, overload it, or even cut it off from its energy source, but then it’d know and could go on a killing spree. I wanted this one to stay in hiding and away from people. There. I found the energy line. I stood, focusing on it.

  “We’re going to have to feel this one out. This is going to take some focus,” I warned. “Please don’t let me walk into the street.”

  Atticus was beside me in a heartbeat, his hand taking mine. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the energy line. I started walking, following the line.

  It took time, more time than I’d like. When I lost it we had to turn back and find the trail again.

  “This is taking forever,” Ranulf grumbled.

  “What? You have a hot date?” I bit out.