Heart of Stone

by Aislinn Kerry

  "No—“

  "Damn it, Kes," Amber said. "For two years in a row now, you've ditched us on Halloween. I don't see what could be so much more important than your friends." She opened the car door, and Dan gave Kestrel a small shove inside. Amber glared at her stubbornly. "You're not ditching us again."

  They manhandled her into the car, while Kestrel struggled, swore, and lashed out with elbows, knees, and heels, digging them into whatever she could manage. They evaded her attacks and stuck her in the middle of the back seat, flanked by Eva on one side and Brad on the other.

  "Honestly, what's your problem?" Amber demanded, frowning at Kestrel over the back of her seat. "You used to like going to these parties with us."

  Kestrel opened her mouth to respond, but snapped it shut without saying anything. Even if she tried to explain about Damaris, they'd never believe her. "Forget it," she muttered.

  "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Eva squealed and bounced in her seat. "What are you dressed up as, Kes?"

  Kestrel sank low in the seat, glowering through the windshield and resisting the urge to wring Eva's perky little neck.

  They drove for what seemed like ages, and Kestrel's mood only grew bleaker and more desperate. Each mile that passed beneath their tires was another mile further from Damaris. Each minute that slid by on the clock was another minute closer to midnight, another minute closer to dawn.

  Dan eased the car to a stop behind a line of other cars. Kestrel saw her chance and took it. She threw her seat belt off and lunged across Eva's lap, ignoring the other girl's yelp. She threw the car door open and dashed across the street to the bus stop at the corner. Once she'd reached it, she clung to the pole as though it offered her salvation and watched the uproar her escape had caused in the car. Eva stared through the rear window at her in shock, and Dan's face twisted with anger, but to Kestrel's intense relief, they continued forward at the green light and disappeared down the street. She dropped onto the bus stop bench with a lengthy sigh.

  More minutes passed by, and Kestrel watched every one of them disappear while the hands of her watch circled around the face. At last, a long bus approached from down the street and came to a noisy stop in front of her. She leapt to her feet and took the steps into the bus's interior at a run.

  "Are you going to Galesburg?" she demanded, clinging to the handrail with her heart in her throat.

  The bus driver looked her over with a skeptical frown. He quirked an eyebrow, shrugged, and nodded. "Yes."

  Oh, thank God. Kestrel fished a dollar bill out of her purse and passed it to him. She collapsed into the first seat and dragged her hands through her hair, fisting them at her nape. The driver closed the door and resumed their lumbering pace along the route.

  More minutes passed, and each one felt like an eternity. The quiet tick of her watch sounded deafening to her ears, and each second wore on her nerves. She gripped the handrail and pressed her forehead against her fists, swallowing the desperate screams that welled up within her.

  Midnight passed. Its approach weighed down on her, and when she glanced at her watch for the hundredth time and saw the minute hand angled just beyond the mark of twelve, she had to press her fist to her mouth to stifle the frustrated sobs.

  The driver gave her a dubious look over his shoulder. "You okay, miss?" he asked. "You look a little...tense."

  "I'm fine," Kestrel whispered unsteadily. She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. "I just need to get to Galesburg, please."

  "Well, it's a long route, miss. It'll be another hour, at least."

  Black despair crashed over her, caught her in its violent undertow and dragged her under until she drowned in it.

  Somehow, she endured the interminable ride, although by the end of it, her heart hammered so hard she was half certain it would tear itself free from her chest, and the tension that had insinuated itself through every muscle left her a quivering, raw mass of nerves.

  At last, the driver brought the bus to a stop, opened the doors, and announced, "Galesburg, L Street and Fifth." Kestrel leapt to her feet, jumped down the steps, and tore across the street without a backward glance.

  She threw the gate open and ran to the back of the cemetery where Damaris waited for her. She clambered up onto the pedestal and clung to Damaris, sucking in great, sobbing gasps of air. She opened her penknife with hands that trembled, but fumbled and dropped it in surprise at the feel of him already warming against her touch.

  Kestrel stared up at him, confused, then at her hand, still clean and unblemished. How...?

  A trace of old conversation drifted through her memory.

  I can be summoned many ways... by strong emotions...

  A bubble of delighted laughter rose within her. She pressed her hand to her mouth to contain it and leaned in against Damaris as he softened against her. His arms wrapped around her and held her gingerly against him. "You came," he said softly, in a voice tinged with awe and wonder.

  "I said I would, didn't I?" She dashed tears from her eyes, but more dripped down her cheeks.

  "Yes." He spoke carefully, like he wasn't certain. "But it's so late. Kestrel, we've lost so much time."

  "I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close, shuddering against him. "I tried. Damaris, I tried, but they—“

  "Shh." He tucked a knuckle beneath her chin and tilted her face up toward his. For a long moment, he simply stared down into her eyes. Finally, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her. "I'm glad you came. I heard you, you know. All those days, when you came and kept me company. I heard you."

  She stared up at him and blinked tears out of her eyes. "You did?"

  "I did." He carefully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I can't thank you enough for that."

  Her heart swelled until it threatened to burst. Another cascade of tears welled within her eyes, blurring her vision. She wiped them away, wanting every chance she had to see him alive and mobile before the curse claimed him for another year. "I didn't want you to be lonely," she whispered.

  "I wasn't with you here." His hands skimmed over her shoulders, left bare by the dress. Heat rose within her at his lingering look. He met her gaze again, and the frank approval she saw there made her flush. "You are so beautiful, Kestrel. I wish I could..." He trailed off into a thoughtful silence and left his wish unspoken. His hand rose to trace a feather-light caress along her arms. She shivered and stepped closer to him, letting his heat wash over her and dry her tears.

  He knelt in the grass before her and gazed up at her with a rapt expression. His palms slid up her legs and pushed the dress's edge up. He kissed each inch of flesh that he bared, starting at her knee and creating a meandering path up the inside of her thigh until she quivered for him.

  His breath brushed through the curls between her thighs. She yearned for the touch of his lips upon her, but he left her unfulfilled. Instead, he kissed the base of her stomach and continued up to her navel. He inched the dress higher, far enough to bare her breasts; Kestrel stretched her arms overhead so he could draw it off completely. He cast it aside and brought his hands to the small of her back, urging her towards him.

  She let her hands fall gently on his shoulders as he suckled at her breast. His lips and tongue made small movements on her flesh that had much larger repercussions on the writhing mass of heat that gathered between her thighs. A soft sound passed her lips, and she pressed herself into his mouth, urging him to continue.

  His hands slid over the curve of her ass to her thighs and back again, gently kneading. She pressed her hands more firmly against his shoulders and fought a wave of dizzy desire.

  Damaris kissed along the curve of her hip and nuzzled the curls at her thighs. Beneath his gentle guidance, she inched her feet apart to create space for him. He knelt between her feet and, with his hands curled around the backs of her thighs, leaned forward and lightly stroked his tongue along the sensitive folds of her labia.

  She jerked,
startled at the intense sensation, and gave a broken moan when his tongue returned, circling and gently teasing her clit. His fingers made subtle movements upon her skin, a counterpoint to the incredibly tender stroke and glide of his tongue between her legs. The intensity of the sensations that rose within her suffocated her; she gasped for breath.

  "Oh, please," she murmured, and stroked a hand through his hair.

  His tongue eased between her folds again and glided over her slick flesh in long, lazy strokes that nearly sent her over the edge. So soon, she thought dizzily, clinging to him. Her head spun from the rush of pleasure.

  There were no more power plays between them, no battles for dominance or expectations of submission. There was only pleasure and touch, and the consuming need for both. He caressed her with his tongue in a gentle, undeniable rhythm until she sucked in her breath and rocked against him, shaken from the power of her orgasm and the pleasure that ripped through her. Damaris caught her as her knees failed and eased her onto the grass. He gazed down at her with an expression of aching tenderness.

  "Damaris..." She ran her fingers over his cheeks and drew him into her kiss. "I've waited so long, and it's nearly dawn. Don't make me wait any longer."

  He nodded and braced his arms on either side of her head. She wrapped her legs around his waist and arched her hips towards him. He sank into her with a single thrust and held himself still, staring at her and shuddering. She gazed up at him in turn, staggered by the intensity and intimacy of the connection after everything that had come before.

  "Oh, Kestrel," he murmured. He threaded his fingers through her hair and guided her mouth to his for a long, slow, tender kiss.

  She cried out into his mouth at the feel of him moving within her. It expanded through her until he'd touched every last, lonely recess and filled it with his warmth. She shuddered and pulled him tight against her, steeped in his touches and still needing more. He pressed light kisses against her throat and shoulder and built the fire higher until it seared her. She could neither breathe, nor speak, nor think. Wordless, primal sounds spilled from her throat. Still, the need built, drawing tighter until it threatened to rend her in two.

  Damaris groaned and drove into her with a final, powerful thrust. He spilled himself into her, and his heat spread through her body. She convulsed around him, crying out and reaching for him. His hand found hers and gripped it tightly. She gripped back just as tight and clung to the one eddy of sanity and salvation in the midst of a world that had become tumultuous and disoriented.

  He dropped his head onto her breast and shuddered against her, gasping for breath. Languor settled over her, aching in its sweetness. Kestrel wrapped her arms about his neck, and would have been content to lay with him for days, but nearly as soon as their sweat had cooled, he rolled off of her. She looked up at him through a curtain of tousled hair, uncertain. He wouldn't meet her gaze.

  Kestrel sat up and reached for him. "What's wrong?"

  "I must go."

  Her heart lurched painfully inside of her chest. "No. Oh, please, don't."

  He turned slowly and frowned at her over his shoulder. "Kestrel, I must. I have no choice. Dawn is nearing."

  Pain blossomed within her. She pushed herself to her feet and moved towards him, trembling. Foolish words spilled from her lips before she had a chance to stop them.

  "Damaris...Damaris, we can fight this. We can find a way. Please, there must be a way—“

  He gaped at her as though she had suddenly begun to speak in tongues. "Fight it? No, Kestrel." He shook his head. "It is a nice thought, but there is nothing to be done. It is my curse, my fate."

  "No!" Hot, angry tears spilled down her cheeks. "No, we can—“

  "We cannot," he said gently. "And I'm sorry for it. This is how it has always been. Never before have I longed for more." He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. "I thought I'd come to accept my fate, but now it is different. I don't want to have to watch you from a distance, telling me about your life instead of sharing it with me. And you, spending your life waiting for me, instead of going out and living it..." He took Kestrel's hands in his own and bent over them. Searing tears fell from his cheeks onto her hands. "You've given me more in these three nights than I had any right to ask of a lifetime. I wish I didn't have to leave you, Kestrel."

  "Then don't." Her heart pounded a desperate beat within her chest. She spoke in a babbled rush of words. "Don't leave. Stay with me, Damaris." She slid her arms around his waist and clung to him. "Stay with me."

  "I can't." More tears traced paths down his cheeks. "There's no choice. Wherever I am, whatever I do, when the sun touches the horizon on the morn of All Hallows', I return to marble. Nothing can change that."

  She shook her head frantically. "How can you endure it? I'm not strong enough. I've done two years, Damaris, and I can't do another." There was a way. Somehow, they would find a way around his curse. She hadn't found the love of a lifetime only to lose him to the fates.

  "Millenia have passed since this curse was set upon me, Kestrel, and it has never altered. Millenia will follow, and it will still be so. It is more than you or I have the power to change." He twisted, casting a fearful glance over his shoulder at the gray smear of light on the horizon. "Go, Kestrel. You must go, and you must not think of me again. I cannot bear to see you do this to yourself. Go!"

  "I won't. I won't leave without you. Not again." She followed him back to his pedestal and tried to climb up with him. "If you won't fight, I will."

  "Kestrel. No." He braced his hands on her shoulders and pushed her down. "This must be. Accept it."

  "Like hell." She twined her fingers through his, locking their palms together. "You don't have to come with me, but I'm not leaving you."

  "No. Kestrel, don't!" He pulled against her hold, his eyes frantic as he tried to untangle their hands. "You'll be trapped."

  "I know." Dawn was moments away, and the moment the sun peered above the horizon, Damaris would return to the stone statue he had been before. With her fingers still entwined within his, she would be trapped in that moment, until next All Hallows' Eve, or death. Despite her brave words, she didn't want that. She wanted more. She wanted eternity.

  It was a gamble. But it was one she had to make.

  "I'm staying, Damaris." She tightened her hands. "It's my choice. You can't make it for me." She lifted her chin. With her decision, calmness descended upon her. She met his frantic gaze with her own, calm and steady.

  A cascade of tears slid across his cheeks. "Kestrel, leave. Please. There's no more time—“

  It was already too late. The first thin sliver of the sun rose above the horizon, marking the beginning of All Hallows' Day. The morning's first rays spread across the land. Damaris's flesh hardened and cooled beneath Kestrel's palm. His movements stiffened. Panic etched a permanent place on his face.

  And as the infant rays of the new day blanketed the earth, Damaris made the only decision that Kestrel had left him.

  * * * *

  Epilogue

  The days and months accumulated into another year, and she never regretted her choice. She could think of worse ways to spend her life than in her lover's embrace. A year passed, and Halloween came again. The strength of their love returned them their freedom, and they spent every moment of it in one another's arms.

  That night, the ice that had held them both frozen melted away, and she blinked her eyes open and gazed up at him. She found him staring down at her with an expression of sheer joy. It was the first time she'd seen Damaris truly happy, and she knew she had made the right choice.

  A curse, he had called it, but she never felt cursed, no matter how many years passed. She felt blessed. The real curse would have been to live without him. And he told her, in bits and pieces throughout the years, snatches of conversations after their passion had cooled and before the dawn reasserted its claim, that he no longer felt as cursed as he once did. It wasn't so hard to endure...together.

  And sometimes,
when the wind sighed through the trees above them, she could almost hear his voice on the breeze, telling her he loved her.

  ###

  About the author:

  Aislinn Kerry wrote her first romance on a whim and hasn't been able to stop since. She has always been fascinated with the misfits, the misunderstood, and things that go bump in the night. She blames it on an unnatural obsession with Beauty and the Beast at an impressionable age.

  You can drop her an email at aislinnkerry@gmail.com, or follow her on Twitter.

  Aislinn currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with two cats who think they own the place.

  Top

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Epilogue