Shadows of Stone

by Jenna Wolfhart

  I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my eyebrows. “You thought that you could pack up my things and send me off somewhere alone so that it would be harder for her to find me.”

  “Well...” Jasper frowned. “I’ll admit that it isn’t a perfect plan. For one, the three of us would have one hell of a time letting you go. Our mating bond is strong. It would basically feel like torture.”

  “Then, it’s out of the question,” I said.

  “I think we’re all ready and willing to feel that kind of torment if it meant you’d be safe, Rowena.”

  “No.” I stood from the leather armchair, fisting my hands by my sides as I glared at each of them in turn. “I’m not going off to some remote village just to save my own skin. I have to stay here and fight. Eris will never lose if I run and hide. I’m not a coward. And I’m certainly not going to leave you either.”

  Chapter 10

  Alaric had been the only gargoyle who had skipped out on the little meeting, a fact that probably made him the smartest of them all. He’d decided to spend the day with Tess instead, learning more about the shadow witch powers, though I had a feeling he was trying to learn more about Tess herself than her magic.

  In fact, I was still fuming about my mates and their suggestion when I knocked on his bedroom door. The absolute nerve of them all. I couldn’t believe they actually thought I’d choose to run instead of fight.

  Surely they all knew me better than that.

  Gods could kill gods. Nothing else came even close. If Eris was going to be defeated, I was the one who had to do it.

  “Well, you don’t look any happier now than you did when I saw you in the bathtub.” Alaric sucked in a sharp breath and glanced away, almost as though his words had shocked him. “I didn’t mean I saw you in the bathtub. Well, I did see you, but I didn’t see all of you if you’re worried about that. There were too many bubbles. My god, I’m so sorry, Rowena. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

  I let out a light laugh, the first one I’d had in what felt like days. “Stop blubbering. I knew what you meant.”

  “Okay, good.” He laughed and shook his head at himself. “You ready to go?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Although it would be helpful if you told me where we’re going.”

  “You’ll see. Trust me, Rowena. You’re going to be over the moon when we arrive.”

  The flight was much shorter than the trip Sebastian and I had taken to the Blood Coven’s castle. Our destination was only a few hour’s away, time that passed quickly while we spun through the clear night sky. Alaric’s wings were the widest and thickest of them all, and he beat a heavy rhythm against the rush of the wind, pumping us further and further across the sea.

  When we were only half an hour from our destination, I suddenly understood what he’d meant and where he was taking me, though I still didn’t understand why.

  Up ahead, squatting in the middle of a circle of pure blue, was the City of Wings. The dead City of Wings, according to Eris’s magic hunters. A heavy sadness settled over me as we approached the silent stone city. I still felt terrible about how I’d left things with Silas, and now he might no longer be the walking, breathing gargoyle I’d grown to care so much about.

  He might be gone.

  And yes, my growing magic had brought Alaric back from stone, but I didn’t know how or why it had happened. Part of that had been Alaric himself. He’d fought to return to his flesh and bone form. He’d been determined. He’d kept fighting through. Silas, on the other hand...he was loyal and quietly caring, but optimistic was something I definitely couldn’t call him.

  One day, I might be able to bring him back, but how and when I didn’t know.

  “Alaric,” I said, twisting to speak the words into his ear. “I’m not sure I’m ready to see the city again. Not when it’s like this.”

  “Just trust me,” he said.

  Moments later, we landed on the southern cliffs, the side of the city that had been thrashed by the ships that had launched an all-out attack. Chunks of the rock face had crumbled down into the sea below, creating a wall of rubble. Much of the southern side had remained, however. Word had it that the hunters had ceased their unrelenting attacks when they’d realized that the witches and the gargoyles had fled.

  With a deep breath, I turned to gaze up at the tower that poked up from the cluster of stone buildings and at the winding streets that cut through the heart of the city. It was where Silas had lived, keeping an ever watchful eye out for intruders and attacks. It was where he’d put his emotions to canvas, painting hours upon hours until the entire world dropped away.

  Would he be in there now, frozen with a brush in his stone hand?

  The rush of wings drew my attention away from the tower, and I almost stumbled back off the cliff from the shock of seeing three ebony-winged gargoyles touch down on the cliffs just in front of me. My heart thundered hard, and my entire head filled with the sound of it. Two of them were female, and one was male. I could scarcely believe my eyes when their dark wings folded into their backs.

  How could this be? I shook my head, voice gone, thoughts muddled.

  And then they bowed.

  “What?” I finally whispered. “Alaric?”

  “Rowena, I’d like to introduce you to three of my oldest friends. Sasha, Leona, and Kent. They shifted back from stone shortly after we left, and they’ve been keeping an eye on things here, along with Silas.”

  “Silas.” My heart pounded. So, he was still okay. He hadn’t turned to stone. He was here. Alive and breathing and in the flesh.

  “He’s going to be happy to see you,” Sasha said with a slight smile. “He hasn’t stopped talking about you since we shifted back. Said you’re the savior of us all, and I have to agree with that.”

  “Savior?” I shook my head. Surely that couldn’t be right. Silas had been unhappy with me when I’d left the city. He’d wanted me to stay. He’d thought my place should be here with the gargoyles instead of across the sea in Mont Circeo. And if it hadn’t been for the witches, I probably would have stayed. But their lives had been at risk. I’d had no other choice.

  “I don’t understand how this has happened,” I said, turning to Alaric. “I thought the only way you were able to shift back from stone was because I was here in the city with you. But I’ve been gone.”

  “Your magic is growing stronger every day, Rowena,” he said. “So strong that you don’t need to be here anymore. The city is waking up. The gargoyles are becoming alive again.”

  “Silas,” I said when I stepped inside the hall where we’d eaten dinner night after night when I’d called this city my home. He was bent over a map, his spine curved, his dark hair curling around his ears. My heart swelled at the sight of him. Even if I hadn’t realized it, a part of me had felt as though I’d never see him again, and yet here he was.

  He stiffened and lifted his chin to glance over his shoulder. When he saw it was me, he dropped his pencil to the map and was across the room in an instant. He scooped me up into his arms, pulling me close to him in a rare display of emotion. His lips pressed against my hair, and I closed my eyes, losing myself in the scent of him.

  “Rowena, I can’t believe you’re here.” His voice was barely a whisper, and the lyrical tone was like a soft caress. “Every single day, I’ve regretted how we said goodbye. Please forgive me.”

  I pulled back and searched his eyes, shaking my head. “Are you kidding me? I should be the one apologizing to you. I just left you here. You and the gargoyles.”

  “And you had a very good reason, as much as I didn’t want to admit it at the time.”

  “But you could have turned into permanent stone. You could have been killed in the attack.”

  “The choice to stay was mine, Rowena.” A ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “And you needn’t have worried. As you can see, I am very much flesh and bone, and so are dozens of other gargoyles because of you. Your magic has brought the city back to life. Slow
ly, of course. There are still many who have yet to change back. But they will. I am certain of it.”

  With tears in my eyes, I gave a nod.

  Kent and Sasha stepped up beside Silas and they each gave a slight bow before me. With wide eyes, I glanced from them back to Silas, who merely gave me a strange, mysterious smile.

  Kent took my hand and knelt. “We know a war is coming against the goddess, Eris. We vow to fight for you.”

  “Aye.” Sasha took my other hand and knelt. “The magic hunters are many, but so are we. And we have been raised knowing how to fight. We’re strong warriors who know how to wield swords and bows. Against us, the hunters will have no chance.”

  My heart thumped hard as I stared at these two gargoyles. For the first time in a very long while, it felt as if our side in this fight finally had an edge. We’d been taking hit after hit for too long. Now, we had the forces we needed, and Eris had no idea at all that they existed.

  Silas lifted his lips into a smile, reached out, and trailed a finger down my cheek. “We’re here to serve you, Rowena. Tell us what it is you’d like us to do.”

  That was the million dollar question.

  Chapter 11

  Our two forces were split across a churning sea. Within Mont Circeo were my gargoyle mates, and the last remaining shadow witches on the earth. And within the City of Wings, the ever-awakening gargoyles were just waiting for instructions. Silas showed me around while we filled each other in on the past few weeks apart. He and Kipling had been keeping each other apprised via their raven system, something the old steward had neglected to mention to me. Silas knew about everything that had gone down within the caves, and he was even aware of my little trip with Sebastian to the Blood Coven’s castle.

  “He said you went with Sebastian.” He pursed his lips and lifted his eyebrows. “Surely you do not trust him after everything he has done.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “No. Well, I don’t know. Sometimes, it seems like he truly is trying to make amends. He’s risked his life to help me on more than one occasion.”

  Of course, had he truly been risking his life? It wasn’t until recently that I’d learned he was more invincible than I’d originally known.

  Silas gave me a sad smile. “You always try to see the good in people, and you always have. Queen Selene is lucky you have such an optimistic view of the spirit.”

  “Queen Selene treated me terribly. You won’t hear me denying that.” I shrugged. “But I understand why she did it. I can’t hate her, Silas. And I can’t hate Sebastian either.”

  “And this is why you’ll end up Queen of us all.”

  I blinked, caught off guard by his words. “Eris might want to rule this realm, but I certainly don’t.”

  “I don’t mean the humans, Rowena. I mean us. The gargoyles.” A pause. “We need a ruler here, and there is no one else the gargoyles would rather have than you, particularly since you’re practically one of us now. You have three gargoyle mates last time I checked. But this is not a conversation for here and now, I can see.”

  Indeed, my face had transformed into something I imagined resembled shock. I couldn’t rule over the gargoyles. Hell, I hadn’t even known gargoyles existed until a few months ago. To imagine me on some kind of throne, ordering people around...it was ludicrous.

  “Let’s focus on Eris,” Silas said, taking my elbow in his hand and steering me back toward the hall. “Kipling and I have been comparing notes, and we think we’ve found the perfect solution. The gargoyles want to launch an all-out attack, of course, but she will likely be expecting some sort of offensive move from our side, even if she doesn’t yet know that many of us have returned to our normal forms.”

  “Kipling hasn’t told me about this.”

  “No.” He pursed his lips. “I daresay he meant to keep you uninvolved. I told him not to approach it this way and that you were strong enough to look after yourself, but he’s terrified that you’ll end up getting yourself captured or killed.”

  I stopped abruptly and turned to face him. “Tell me what he has planned, Silas.”

  “There’s an object of legend. We don’t know exactly what it is or what it looks like.” He took a deep breath in through flared nostrils. “All we know is that the object’s one power is to trap the gods. It creates a cage around them, one they can never leave. If you can find that object, we can lure Eris in by giving away your current location. Basically, you can be the bait for the trap.”

  I found myself nodding along, excitement and hope rising up within me. This was good. Far better than any other plan we’d had so far. If we did this, not only would we be one step ahead of Eris instead of the other way around, but we could minimize casualties. On both sides. No need for a long, drawn-out battle where both sides suffered heavy losses. Because as much as I wanted to beat the magic hunters, I didn’t want to see hundreds of humans die, especially not when some of them weren’t even in control of their own actions and thoughts.

  “Right. How can we find this object?”

  He twisted his lips into a strange smile. “Ah, and therein lies the problem. The origin of the object is from...well, I’m sure you can guess. It came from the realm of the fae.”

  I groaned out loud, but Silas held up a hand to stop me.

  “Luckily, or unluckily, they made a deal with another group a long, long while ago. That group got the goddess trap while the fae got a year’s worth of blood.”

  My face drained as his words sunk in, and I knew what he was going to say before he spoke the words.

  “The vampires have the trap,” he said in a tight voice.

  That night, I stayed in my old room. It had only been a few weeks since I’d been here, but stepping into the familiar old place with the four-poster bed and the stone window seat that looked out onto the crashing sea below...well, it felt like stepping back in time. Silas hovered behind me, and I could feel a strange uncertainty punctuate the air.

  “Rowena, I’m so sorry I didn’t come with you.”

  I whirled to face him, heart in my throat. “I was scared you’d hate me forever.”

  His eyes widened, and he shook his head. “I could never hate you. I can’t imagine feeling anything but...”

  He fell silent, as if he were stopping himself from speaking any further. And with a new bold determination, I stepped up to him, dropping back my head to stare up into his ice blue eyes. “But what?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” He clenched his jaw and flicked his gaze away. “I know that you are already spoken for. You have three gargoyle mates. Jasper, Marcus, and now Eli.”

  “I didn’t realize three was the maximum.”

  He cut his eyes back to me, and he reached up to place his thumb softly against my cheek. “Surely I’m not lucky enough for you to want to add me to your harem.”

  “I don’t want to add you, Silas,” I said in a soft whisper. “I need to add you. It’s just not complete without you in it.”

  He shuddered and traced his thumb along the curve of my jaw before tugging at my bottom lip. His eyes searched mine for confirmation of my words, but I didn’t want to wait for him to find whatever he needed to see. Instead, I pressed up onto my toes and caught his lips with mine. A slight gasp whispered from his mouth, and his hands found my waist, pulling me closer to him.

  His mouth was hungry and fierce, full of a passion he’d never dared show me before now. There was a fire inside of Silas, one he didn’t dare let anyone see. Until now.

  He pulled my shirt over my head and dropped his mouth to my breasts. Fire flickered between my thighs, and I dropped back my head to moan. Pure unbridled pleasure poured through me as his tongue teased my nipples, making me ache for him.

  I pulled back to yank his shirt over his head, and I splayed my hands across his smooth chest. My eyes drank in the curves of his muscles and the strength he rarely displayed. His mouth dropped back to my chest, his tongue trailing lower and lower until he reached the waistband of my pants. Slowly, and al
most shyly, he unbuttoned them, slipping the material down my thighs.

  My entire body trembled when he pressed his fingers inside of me. I had ached for Silas all this time, and now I ached even more. Closing my eyes, I dropped back my head and pulsed against his hand, desire building within me like a crescendo.

  I came with a crash, my body quaking as he brought me past the brink of pleasure. Breath ragged, I dropped back on the bed and opened myself to him. His eyes were dark and full of lust as he climbed on top of me. With a gasp, I curled my leg around his waist and brought him closer.

  He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck, his dark and soulful eyes boring deep into mine. “I love you, Rowena Mortensen. I’ve loved you since the moment we met, as crazy as that sounds. And every single day that passes, I love you even more.”

  My heart swelled as tears pricked my eyes. “I love you, too, Silas.”

  And then the hard, thick length of him pressed inside me. I gasped and arched my back, eyes widening at how perfectly our bodies fit together. His thrusts picked up speed, and my heart rattled in my chest as our desire for each other hit its peak. My second climax came harder than the first, while my arms were wrapped tight around his neck, while his eyes were locked on mine, and while the word ‘love’ whispered from our lips.

  Silas was mine now. And I never wanted to let him go.

  Chapter 12

  Jasper, Eli, and Marcus arrived in the city at dawn. They strolled into my room, their eyes lighting on the bundle of limbs and twisted sheets that Silas and I had become in the night.

  “Right,” Marcus said, pushing his eyebrows to the top of his forehead. “I can’t say I saw this one coming.”

  Eli let out a light laugh. “You are the least observant person ever, Marcus.”

  Jasper crossed his arms over his chest, his body vibrating with intense energy. Quickly, I grabbed the sheets and pulled them around me before easing out of the bed. My heartbeat was frantic, even though I knew my mates wouldn’t fight Silas. Or would they? When they’d first explained the rules of the whole multiple mates thing, they’d said that any new mate had to be accepted by all the others. What if they wouldn’t accept Silas as one of them? What if they decided to fight him instead of welcome him into the pack?