Carefully, she rotated her body, trying to ignore the pain that moving caused her. Finally, she came to a seated position and assessed her surroundings. She’d been placed on a step covered in worn carpet and before her, rows of dust-laden pews sat in silence. A large wooden cross was mounted high up on the wall behind her and four tall wooden beams supported the arched ceiling. She was in a church, abandoned by the look of it.
Her clothing and hair were still damp and a chill ran over her. She was also alone. She looked at her watch and realized that she’d been out for hours. She wasn’t certain which gargoyle had brought her here or what he intended to do with her, but if the tight binds chafing her skin were any indication, she needed to find a way out and fast.
Her fingers began to work at the firm knot at her ankles, pulling and tugging at the frayed ends. It didn’t yield. Whoever had taken the time to bind her had no intention of letting her leave.
She was still working at the knot when a dark figure leaped down from the wooden balcony, coming to land in the shadows near the rear door. She froze. She was helpless. If this creature had returned to kill her there was nothing she could do to save herself!
He emerged from the darkness and drew a knife from his boot. Alexandra realized that her captor was Marius. And he was human again. Naked from the waist up, he was still garbed in tight-fitting black pants and heavy boots, and his wet hair fell about his shoulders. He stalked toward her.
Alexandra’s breathing quickened and her eyes focused on the long blade in his hand. Had he had a change of heart? Did he intend to harm her after all?
“No, please! Stay away from me!” she cried.
He said nothing. He looked exhausted, as if some great and invisible burden was strapped to his shoulders. He bent before her, ignoring her screams, and took hold of her wrists.
Alexandra tried to pull away and failed. She screamed again just as he brought the knife between her hands, severing the rope. She fell back onto her elbows and watched as he did the same for her ankles. Then he scooped her up in his arms and headed toward the left rear corner of the church.
She didn’t fight him—didn’t have the strength to. The heat from his body seeped into her, sapping any resistance that may have lingered.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
Without responding, Marius used a foot to thrust the door open then proceeded up a narrow flight of stairs. The old wood creaked beneath their weight and the smell of aged dust was heavy in the air.
Alexandra tried to banish the fear that was still creeping over her like spiny tentacles. She told herself that if he’d wanted to kill her, she’d be dead by now. Yet she couldn’t shake the realization that he wasn’t the man she’d come to know. He was a stranger. She had no knowledge of who he was, where he’d come from or even what he was. Nor did she understand her connection to him or the strange power she seemed to possess.
At the top of the stairway, they entered a room that was aglow with candlelight. It looked to be an old office that had been fashioned into a temporary bedroom. There was a desk on which two tall candles were lit, an oval mirror hanging above it. Against the rear wall, a bed sat beneath another boarded-up window. The bedding was identical to what she’d seen in Marius’s apartment. Even the fur pelt that lay near the pillows looked familiar.
He stopped at the foot of the bed and lowered her feet to the wooden floor. She noted that the room seemed devoid of any dust. It was obvious that it had been cleaned—had he done so for her?
“Remove your clothing,” he said as he went to the door and eased it shut.
“What?” Alexandra quickly adjusted one of the thin straps of her dress that had slipped from her shoulder.
Marius turned to face her.
“I said, remove your clothing. It is wet.” When she continued to stare at him, he pointed toward the wolf pelt. “You may drape that over yourself until your clothes have dried.”
She hesitated for a moment then pulled it from the bed. “Thank you,” she said quietly.
He was polite enough to turn his back. She moved toward the mirror and looked at her reflection. She was a mess. Her long hair was nearly dry and had twisted into a tangle of curls that hung around her in disarray. The soft, damp material of her dress clung to her curves, displaying the very suggestive outline of her underwear beneath it.
She stripped off the dress and draped it over the desk, removing her phone from the pocket. She briefly considered taking her underwear off as well, but decided that she needed more than just the length of fur between her naked body and Marius. She wrapped the heavy pelt around her, covering her red lace bra and matching panties.
Marius must have guessed that she was done for he turned around. “Are you hungry?” he asked, his tone solemn.
Her brows puckered. Food was hardly at the forefront of her mind. In the last six hours she’d discovered that the man she was growing to trust was capable of sprouting wings and a tail, she’d been attacked with medieval weapons and practically thrown from a second-story balcony and she’d realized that she could speak fluent Romanian while casting fire spells. She wanted answers, dammit!
“Marius, what happened out there?” She pinned him with a determined look.
He sighed and motioned toward the bed. “Sit.”
“I don’t want to sit! I want you to tell me who or what you are, why I’m being hunted and what happened to my parents!” she demanded.
His head fell a measure. “First of all, I had no part in your parents’ deaths. Everything else I told you about my name and origin are true. I am the third and last son of Lord Victor Drakon. Five hundred years ago, a witch cursed my family to avenge her cousin’s death. It was the curse of the gargoyle. Five years passed before it manifested. But when it did, all the members of my clan who had been living at our castle when the spell was cast and anyone born to them after was afflicted. I was but an infant at that time. Since then we have been condemned to an eternity of suffering. The other gargoyles you saw tonight are my brothers, Simion and Nicholas. We were born in the early 1500s.”
Alexandra had to take a moment to absorb what she’d been told. It sounded insane, like some elaborate gothic script, but after all she’d seen, there was no doubt in her mind that his spoken word was indeed the truth. And if so, he was hundreds of years old and should be stone as it was early morning. She looked at him more intensely then.
“I read that gargoyles are stone during the day. How is it that you have the ability to become human?” she managed.
“The Spring Equinox,” he said simply. “It occurs annually when the sun crosses the celestial equator. For centuries this season has been deemed sacred by all witches and the use of sorcery of any form is prohibited before sunset. So, the spell has no effect on us during the day.”
She thought about what he was saying—he wasn’t permanently a man! He had only a limited time to be human—a season. “How long does this last?” she asked.
Marius looked away. “Twenty-nine days,” he replied in a sad voice.
Her head spun. Twenty-nine days! She counted the days since their meeting and realized that his human existence was nearly done. “What will happen when this time is over?” Her voice trembled.
“We will become stone during the day and will remain gargoyles at night. The way it has always been. The way it will be for the next year.”
Her legs weakened and she sank to the edge of the mattress. A frown pinned her brows together and she blinked back the mist of tears. She fought the disappointment that raged within her, then the anger that quickly joined the torrent to rival for precedence and won.
She locked a livid gaze upon him. “If you knew all this, how could you start a relationship with me? You knew you had only twenty-nine days to be human! What, did you think I would simply accept everything you’re telling me now when the month ended?”
He approached to tower above her. “I never expected any of this, Alexandra. My only purpose for coming to New
York was to end my family’s curse.”
Some of her anger seeped away and her eyes widened with hope. “There is a way to break this curse?”
“Yes,” he replied solemnly. “But I am searching for another.”
“What’s wrong with the option you have now? I can help you. What do you need, potions? I know where a few Wiccan stores are in the city.”
He shook his head and his beautiful eyes were somber. “To break this curse, more than simple potions are required. Blood has to be spilled.” He inhaled a deep breath and continued. “And for this reason we sought you out.”
“So your brothers were going to sacrifice me, like some kind of cult?”
He shook his head and sank onto the bed next to her. “Alexandra, the only reason I came to New York was to find you.”
She was assailed by confusion. He was talking in circles and dragging her into it. “What do I have to do with all of this?” In her mind she wondered if her ever-developing gift was somehow linked to witchcraft. When Marius looked away, she knew that it was far more than that.
“The witch that cursed my family was called Necesar,” he told her reluctantly. “Necesar Dancescu. And the only way to end the curse is to end her bloodline.”
At the mention of her mother’s maiden name, Alexandra’s stomach clenched and understanding flooded her mind. She was the descendant of the witch! The last descendant! That explained the spell she’d cast in the apartment. It also explained why her parents had been killed. And why Marius’s brothers were trying to kill her.
Tears welled in her eyes and she suppressed the urge to scream. “Who killed my parents?” she gritted out.
Marius didn’t look at her—it seemed he couldn’t. “My family caused the accident,” he spoke softly.
She blinked, dislodging a stream of tears, and she stood suddenly. “Your family! All this time you knew that your very own family was responsible for killing my parents, for taking everything away from me and yet you pretended to listen to me when I talked about them! You pretended to care!”
He was on his feet, too. “I never pretended with you, Alexandra.”
She continued as if he hadn’t interjected. “Why should I even believe that you’re innocent? You obviously conspired with them to come and find me!”
Her tears were flowing freely now. Rage and disbelief flashed through her body. She was angry at herself for trusting him so fast, allowing him to make a fool of her. How could she have not seen through his facade? How could she have been so blind? She was a journalist, for God’s sake!
Marius tried again, his eyes beseeching. “Please, listen to me, Alexandra. I came here with the intent to kill you, but after meeting you I found I could not. My family, however, refused to listen to reason and I knew I had to get you to safety, but I was too late. My brothers followed me to your apartment with the intent of taking up the task themselves.”
She didn’t want to hear any more of his excuses. Nothing he said could bring her family back. Nothing! She wondered if she would have met the same fate if he hadn’t found himself desiring her body. The memory of what he’d done to her in her bedroom was still etched clearly in her mind. She remembered the large knife he’d brought with him. Perhaps he’d intended to end her life that very night.
Marius’s jaw tightened. “Alexandra, I know this is hard for you and I do not expect you to trust me. All I ask is that you believe me. I will never lift a hand to harm you and I will try everything in my power to find another way to solve this problem.” He reached a hand toward her as if to brush away the trail of tears that lingered on her face.
She’d heard enough and slapped his hand before it made contact with her skin. “Don’t touch me!” she spat. She marched around him and headed toward the door. She had to get out of there, away from him.
Marius leaped over the bed and barred the way. “I cannot allow you to leave.”
She fastened a scowl on him. “Get out of my way!” she demanded. She wondered if she could summon the powers she possessed once again.
He folded his arms over the thick muscles of his chest. “It is not safe, and I intend to keep you here until it is. Once my father hears news of what happened during the night, he will attempt to find you himself and bring a conclusion to this insanity.”
She marched toward him. “I don’t care about all that! I’m going to the police, the FBI, the military—whoever will listen and I’ll put a stop this insanity!”
“You are going nowhere.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not your prisoner and I refuse to be held here!”
“Alexandra, I am thinking only of your safety—”
“I don’t need your help!” she interrupted. “I think you’ve done enough damage. I can handle things from here, thank you. Now move out of my way.”
He sighed. “You are many miles from the city, deep within the woods. How do you intend to get back?”
“I don’t care. I just need to get away from you. I would sooner brave the elements than spend another moment here waiting to be killed.” She moved to step around him and immediately found herself snatched off her feet. “Put me down!” she screamed as loud as her lungs would allow.
He cradled her in his arms, moving his head to avoid her flailing limbs. “No one can hear you, Alexandra. We are alone for miles and miles.”
She twisted in his arms, prying at his fingers and pushing at his chest. “Get your hands off me, you murdering bastard!” Her tears returned.
She continued fighting and the wolf pelt slipped to the floor. Garbed now only in her very revealing underwear, Alexandra pushed away from him as she frantically tried to separate her body from the searing heat of his. She struck him twice in the face before she noticed he was moving toward the bed, his face taut with checked impatience. She screamed again as he landed her on the mattress and then she struggled wildly, but he pinned her in place.
“Leave me alone!” she cried. “I hate you! I hate…” Her voice trailed off as a sob rose within her throat.
Images of her parents flashed in her mind—her mother’s soft smile as she would sing sweetly, and the way her father’s eyes would crinkle at the corners when he laughed. Their lives had been stolen from them, snatched away before they even had a chance to say goodbye to the ones they loved. She turned her head away from him. She didn’t want him to see her cry.
He lifted her shaking body from the bed and cradled her in his arms, rocking her gently. Surprisingly, she didn’t resist. Instead, she found herself drawn to the warmth his body offered and curled into him and wept.
Alexandra found the strength of his arms and his tender whispers comforting. She cried until her energy all but left her and a numb feeling replaced her sadness. Only then, when the shaking of her body ceased, did he release her. He lowered her onto the bed, and when she would have reached for the comforter to cover herself, he stilled her hands.
She watched as his gaze combed her tight body and anger seemed to overtake him. “Did my brothers do this to you?” he asked as he examined the bruises that marred her skin.
The dark look in his eyes sent a shiver over her—he seemed sincerely infuriated by the knowledge that someone might have harmed her. “I fell,” she told him.
He took a moment to look her over again then stood and left the room. Alexandra used what little strength she could muster to drag the bedding over her. Something at the back of her mind told her to run while she had the chance, but now she didn’t want to leave. She wasn’t sure she could fend off the dangers that awaited her beyond this sanctuary alone. She also didn’t know if she could trust Marius, but sensed she would be safe with him, if only for the night. He had yet to lay a wounding hand upon her, and he’d comforted her when she’d needed it. Such weren’t the actions of a man who intended to cause injury. She would stay with him, but tomorrow she had to head back to the city.
Lifting her wrist, she looked at Mady’s bracelet. Coupled with her anxieties, she could feel a pang of desp
eration rising within her. Mady’s time was running out. She had faith in April though. Her friend would do whatever it took to lead the authorities to the killer’s address.
When Marius returned, he held a bowl of water and a strip of cloth. He sat on the bed and placed the items on the floor. “Let me tend to your wounds.” Slowly he pulled the comforter away, revealing her near-naked body.
Alexandra lay still as he carefully cleaned the blood from the scrapes on her knees then moved to brush at the purple bruise that had formed on her rib cage. She watched him silently. His touch was gentle, like the feathery kiss of the first spring rain, and when he looked at her, a promise reflected in his silver eyes—a promise to protect her at all costs. Her heart clenched with a new emotion, a compilation of feelings and wishes, and she desperately wanted to trust him.
Yet one question remained unanswered. “Why?” she whispered. “Why couldn’t you bring yourself to harm me?”
Marius’s hand paused over her rib cage and he met her questioning stare. “You are an innocent,” he admitted simply. “I could never lift a hand against you.”
Alexandra experienced a sudden flush of sentiment. The intensity of his stare drew her in and before she could stop herself, she was reaching for him. His large body covered her, lending warmth and strength, and their lips met in a soft, brushing kiss.
Her grip tightened on his neck. “Hold me,” she breathed.
Too much had happened too soon already. Yet, in this moment, she yearned to be near him, to be embraced by his warmth. She needed that comfort.
Marius watched her for a few seconds before he placed the washcloth aside. Then, silently, he drew her into his arms. Seeing her in so much pain was tearing at him. Sadly, his plan to reveal everything to her in slow and careful degrees had been dashed and now he suffered the guilt of having her learn the truth in such a crude manner.
Heiress to a Curse Page 15