Stone Solitude

by A C Warneke

  Feeling safe, she closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them again, she was flying through the air, no longer in Dima’s office. Dominic’s familiar smell filled her head and she leaned further into his embrace as he carried her through the back door. The fresh air wrapped around her, clearing her head a little more. A soft whimper escaped, only she wasn’t the one who whimpered. Dominic must have heard it too because he froze.

  “What is it?” she mumbled, looking at his watchful face as he scanned the alley. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground, making sure she was firmly leaning against the wall before he straightened. She opened her mouth but he held up his hand and she quickly closed it, understanding the need for silence. Squeezing her eyes shut to stop the world from spinning, she concentrated on listening. Of course, her hearing wasn’t as good as Dominic’s but she wanted to help.

  What happened to the stranger who peed his pants?

  “Oh, fuck!” Dominic cried out from a few feet away. Prying an eye open, she saw him leaning over a lump on the ground. At first she didn’t understand what was happening until he carefully smoothed his hands over the mass and she recognized Jeanette’s hair, a rich shade of plum this time. “Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.”

  “What happened?” she asked, her mouth dry, her words still slurred.

  Dominic raised his head and there were tears streaming down his face, “She was attacked. I don’t know how bad it is.”

  Daisy licked her lips and slid down the wall, closing her eyes as a new kind of agony tore through her. She had been drugged and her best friend had been attacked. She hated this date.

  Daisy blinked her eyes open, squinting when the morning sun nearly blinded her. Holding her arm over her eyes, she looked around and realized she wasn’t home. The steady beep of a machine next to her head and the antiseptic smell made her quickly realize she was in a hospital. Turning to the other side, she saw her mother and father sitting there, wrapped up in one another’s arms. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out because her mouth was absurdly dry. Clearing her throat, she tried again, “Mom? Dad?”

  They startled awake, their eyes filling with tears as they smiled and started hugging her. Everything from the night before was kind of a blur but it felt good to be in her parents’ arms, even if she wished they were Roman’s arms. But it was day time and his arms weren’t available even if she knew where he was, which she didn’t. “What happened?”

  “You’re okay,” her mom said, sniffling. Pushing Daisy’s hair off her face, her mom just looked at her and cried.

  “Dad?” she asked, looking at her father with just her eyes since her mom was holding her head still. It was difficult seeing the tears in his eyes as he reached out and cupped her cheek.

  “There were attacks all across the world last night,” he said gruffly, unwilling to keep anything from her, even the ugly stuff. In their world, it was as necessary as air for survival to be aware of what went on around them. “A small group of humans decided it was our fault the Rapture happened ten years ago and they attacked any supernatural creature unlucky enough to find themselves alone. It was an… ugly night.”

  A vague image fluttered through her head and she gasped, “Jeanette.”

  “She’s here at the hospital and she’s alive,” her dad said. “Dominic is with her.”

  “I want to go see her.” An overwhelming sense of relief flooded her at the news her best friend was alive, though perhaps she should wait until she found out how Jeanette was doing before she started celebrating. Struggling to sit up, she found herself being held down by her parents. With a low growl, she glared at her mom and dad, “I’m fine. Let me go see Jeanette.”

  “What do you remember about last night?” her mom asked carefully, stroking Daisy’s hair, her face, as if she had to touch her.

  She tried to focus but everything after her conversation with Michael was pretty much gone. With a gasp, she managed to sit up and look at her parents with wide eyes, “There was a guy at the bar and he was flirting with me. I think he put something in my drink.”

  Her father’s expression hardened, focused, and he looked ready to kill someone. “What did he look like?”

  Biting her lip, she dragged an image through the muck of last night’s lost memories and slowly said, “Blond hair, like really blond, almost white, and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. He was good looking, I remember that, but he made me… uncomfortable.”

  Her dad’s eyes closed and a pained expression crossed his face, “It wasn’t him.”

  With a glower, she looked at her dad, “How could you possibly know that? He sat down and talked to me and the next thing I know I’m waking up in the hospital.”

  “Because the man you just described is a… friend I asked to keep an eye on you.” He ground his teeth together and Daisy was sure his jaw was about to snap. “Who else could have drugged your drink?”

  She shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the fact her father had hired someone to keep an eye on her while someone else had drugged her. “Um, the only other person who had access to my drink was the bartender, the new guy. Kevin?”

  Her father’s fist was through the wall before the name was out of her mouth and she flinched, not out of fear of her father but by the sudden, explosive violence. “Goddamn it.”

  Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he dialed a number and started barking into it as soon as someone on the other end picked up. “Find the bartender from last night, Kevin something.” He turned to Daisy, “What did he look like?” After she gave him a brief description, he repeated it before hanging up and turning back to his wife and daughter. “As soon as you get the all clear, you can go see Jeanette.”

  It surprised her that he was leaving. “Where are you going?”

  His lips were pressed in a tight line as he turned away and ground out, “I’m going to gather the wolves and then we’re going to go hunting.”

  “Dad,” she said softly, catching her lower lip between her teeth. When he raised his head and looked at her, she saw the anguish in his silver eyes and she wanted to comfort him and tell him she was safe. “Don’t do anything foolish.”

  “When have I ever done anything foolish?” he asked smugly. His eyes darted to her mom and color climbed up his throat as her mom laughed. With a rueful smile, he murmured, “We’re just going to find him and ask him a few questions.”

  “Can I go see Jeanette now?” she asked, knowing it was impossible to argue with her father especially when she wanted answers as badly as he did.

  “Has the doctor come and gone without my realizing it?” he returned, his silver eyes flashing with humor.

  Despite the awfulness of the night before and the fact that her best friend was in the hospital, Daisy smiled at her dad, “He slipped in and out while you were on the phone. Didn’t you see him?”

  He snorted, “That didn’t work when you were a little girl and it certainly doesn’t work now.”

  “It was worth trying.”

  Daisy stood in the doorway watching her brother with Jeanette, whose face matched her plum colored hair. Dominic was holding Jeanette’s hand, pressing it against his forehead, his lips, his heart, and back to his lips. At first she didn’t want to interrupt but then she didn’t want her brother to be alone in his vigil. Clearing her throat, she gave him a moment to compose himself before she went in and sat down on the other side of the bed.

  “How’s she doing?” she asked softly, taking Jeanette’s other hand, avoiding the tubes and needles sticking out of her pale skin.

  “She’ll live,” he rasped, not taking his eyes off Jeanette’s face. “Her parents were just here but I sent them home to get some sleep. They couldn’t handle seeing her like this.”

  “Understandable,” she murmured, forcing herself to focus on the cuts and bruises on her friend’s face. Jeanette’s nose had been broken and there was a riot of color beneath her closed eyes. Her lip was split and still oozing blood and there were untold i
njuries beneath the hospital gown. Her wolf would take care of most of the injuries but it was going to take some time. Even so, it must have hurt a great deal. But there was something that didn’t make sense. “Why didn’t she shift? As a wolf, she could have ripped out anyone’s throat.”

  Dominic huffed out a cold laugh, “Whoever did this to her gave her something that suppressed the primal instinct that allows us to shift. I doubt she could get her body to do anything she wanted last night.”

  Daisy swallowed, realizing how close she had come to being where Jeanette was. God, she wished Roman were there, that she could curl up in his arms and feel safe even though the danger had passed. But she still hadn’t heard from Roman since they had sex. It was even worse because she was in the freaking hospital and she really wanted to see him. “I see.”

  “I’m going to fucking kill the bastard who did this to her,” Dominic vowed. “She shouldn’t have even been there last night. She said she was going to go to The Black Wolf. God, I’m such a fool.”

  “Yes, but what made you realize that just now?” she asked, trying to tease him into cracking a smile. When he glared at her, she reached out and put her hand over his, the one that was holding Jeanette’s. “You love her.”

  “I don’t know about that but I do know she is my mate. I knew it when we lost our virginity to each other when we were fifteen.” At her soft gasp, he cringed, “Don’t say a word, Daisy. I was fucking fifteen years old and I didn’t want a fucking mate.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything,” she said softly, not realizing he had known Jeanette was his mate as well, which was stupid considering they were wolves. Moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue, she murmured, “She’s going to be fine, Dom. She’s strong and her wolf is already healing her. Look.”

  “I know,” he said mournfully, finally raising his head and looking at Daisy. Fury burned in his eyes as he growled, “I didn’t want a mate so I fucked anything with two legs and tits. I’ve ignored her for five years and I’ve spent my entire life being a fuck up and last night I almost lost her.”

  “You’re twenty,” she said wryly, arching a single eyebrow at his self-flagellation. “Dad didn’t even meet mom until he was in his thirties so don’t give me this shit about being a fuck up.”

  “Says the girl who’s already imprinted on a gargoyle,” he snarled, his lips almost curving into a smile.

  His words stung because the evil doubts were growing, making her think it had all been a game to Roman, that he wanted to seduce a naïve fool just because he could. She had made it easy for him because she was a Siren and she knew he was her mate and she had stupidly thought he wanted the same thing. Unfortunately, it was starting to become apparent to her that he had only wanted sex and she had been all too willing to give it to him.

  The alternative reason for his disappearance was too awful to even consider. As much as it would suck to live in a world where Roman used her and abandoned her, it would suck even more if he was gone. She was determined not to think about him because either option hurt too much.

  “Yeah but I don’t think it means the same thing for him,” she said lightly, hoping her brother didn’t hear the hurt in her voice. At his raised eyebrow, she explained, “I haven’t seen him since Saturday night.”

  “Ah,” Dominic said, a world of understanding in that one sound. “You told him about kissing all of those wolves and he couldn’t deal.”

  “Something like that,” she muttered, not quite meeting Dominic’s eyes. Luckily, his thoughts were on Jeanette so he didn’t question her evasive answer. “If I was his mate, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

  He nodded his head as he brought Jeanette’s hand up to his lips and kissed her fingers. “That is true. I mean, look at me and Jeanette.”

  Daisy nodded in understanding but wolves were a different breed altogether. “Do you think you’ll give up the other wolves and bond with Jeanette?”

  He dampened his lips with his tongue as he seriously considered her question. After a moment, he slowly answered, “I’m not sure if either of us is ready for that but I’m willing to try monogamy.”

  “It’d be easier if you were bonded,” Daisy murmured since monogamy was the only option for bonded wolves. But being bonded also meant children, especially since birth control didn’t work on wolves, so she understood Dominic’s reluctance.

  “As you said,” he returned with a wry grin. “We’re only twenty.”

  “I’m glad you can laugh while I’m lying here dying,” Jeanette’s voice rasped from the bed.

  “Jeanette!” Dominic said, all levity immediately disappearing from his voice. Leaning over Jeanette’s prone body, he brushed her plum hair out of her face and asked, “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

  “Like I was run over by a truck,” she grunted, looking up at Dominic with equal parts curiosity and lust. “What happened and why are you here?”

  “You’re in the hospital,” he said softly, giving her a quick and sanitized version of the previous night’s events. “Why were you even there?”

  “I was at Skin to either seduce you or make you jealous, Dom,” Jeanette growled, anger giving her cheeks some more color, the red complimenting the purple and green. Glaring at Dominic, she added, “I’m tired of getting my itches scratched by other wolves, Dom. It’s you I want and I’m tired of settling. I want you.”

  “Did Daisy tell you the terms of the agreement between us?” he asked with a hint of suspicion, glancing at his sister, making Daisy wish she was elsewhere. Standing up, she moved towards the door as Dominic continued, “I mean, you know that I’m abstaining from sex for at least three more weeks, right?”

  Jeanette arched an eyebrow, “Do I look like I’m up for sex, even with you?”

  Daisy slipped out the door as Dominic the idiot said, “The doctor said there were no signs of rape.”

  Daisy wanted to slap her brother on Jeanette’s behalf but her friend surprised her by chuckling, “Yeah, we’re not going to bond until you can think with something other than your dick.”

  “But we’re going to… date,” Dominic murmured, a hint of nervousness in his voice as if he were afraid Jeanette would deny him. Foolish wolf.

  “Yeah,” Jeanette returned and Daisy could hear the smile in her voice. “We’re going to date.”

  Chapter 17

  Daisy sipped at the beer, cringing with every swallow. She had commandeered one of the comfy couches in the dark and quiet corner, her uneaten dinner sitting on the low table in front of her. It was another busy night at The Black Wolf, which was the perfect place to be alone in a crowd. Just in case anyone thought she wanted company, she had brought along a college text book, one of the bigger ones from the new semester. In the three weeks since she woke up in the hospital, she was still adjusting to having no one while her brother and Jeanette made moon eyes at one another. As happy as she was for them, it was a painful reminder of what she had lost so she had avoided them.

  Childish but effective.

  It was easy enough now that she was living in the dorms. Coming to The Black Wolf was her way of appeasing them for the way she had been avoiding them. It was difficult to pretend everything was okay when everything was completely fucked up and the noise of the bar was the only thing keeping her from screaming. The beer kept her hands from curling into fists and punching the nearest wall.

  Who knew it was even more difficult to deal with a broken heart in a crowd of people than it was alone in one’s dorm room? At least she had no distractions at night to keep her from throwing herself into her school work and her grades had never been higher. Unfortunately, two weeks into her junior year and she was ready for winter break. Maybe she’d take a trip to somewhere far away and possibly tropical. Goodness knows she could use some time on the beach just soaking up the sun since the moon no longer held any appeal for her.

  “Daisy!” Jeanette squealed, ignoring the invisible barrier Daisy had erected as she threw her arms around Daisy’s
shoulders. “Just the best friend I was looking for!”

  “Hey, Jeanette,” Daisy said, managing a slight smile. It hurt to smile. God, ever since that night, it hurt to do anything. At least Jeanette looked good, really good. If she didn’t know any better, Daisy would never have known the girl had been in the hospital just a few weeks before. One of the benefits of being a wolf. “It’s been a while.”

  “Hey, you’re the one who’s become a recluse,” Jeanette protested, grabbing a fry from the plate and making a face when she realized it was cold. Tonight her hair was red, bright, cardinal red and suited Jeanette very well.

  “I wanted to give you and Dominic time to… come to terms,” Daisy murmured, using the toe of her shoe to push the plate further away from them. “And I’ve been in school.”

  “But you’ve always had time for your friends.”

  “It’s my junior year and I have been super busy with school work,” she offered, knowing it was a lame excuse, especially since she spent too much time not doing her school work since there was only so much school work assigned each week. “But I’m here now.”

  “You’re barely here,” Jeanette huffed. “I mean, we’ve been playing pool for at least an hour and every time I looked over here you’ve been staring off into space.”

  “I just have a lot on my mind,” she murmured, guilt being heaped onto her misery. Pushing her sorrow down as deep as she could, she turned in her seat to more fully face her friend. Even though she wasn’t willing to share the source of her anguish, she owed her friend some sort of explanation. Clearing her throat, she started, “It’s just getting… hard being around all of you.” As Jeanette’s face started to twist in guilt, Daisy held up her hand and shook her head, “It’s nothing you’ve done! It’s me, it’s all me.”

  Jeanette’s expression softened as she leaned in and asked in a low voice, “Are you talking about me and Dominic?”

  “What?” She was stunned Jeanette went there but it made sense. Shaking her head no, she said, “No! I’m so happy for you and my idiot brother, you have no idea. No, it’s not that.”