Curse of Stone

by Nikki Lockwood

  Halting at the wall. The scent led me to the back corner of the club, near the bathrooms. Fuck. There was no door here. Fury ripped through me. My wolf growling with a vicious need to be in charge.

  My heart sunk. Heat filled every fibre of me. Nostrils flared, and deep gravelly breaths fumed. It was my job to protect her. I had to fucking find her.

  Every part of me went motionless as another smell accosted me. Foul and rancid.

  91

  “Are you hurt?”

  Long brown hair fell around me. Enigmatic eyes, greener than the first grass of spring once the snow lifted, stared at me, penetrating my soul. The captivating depths of his eyes stole my breath. Now, in short sharp gasps I tried to steady my breathing, but my heart pounded, echoing deep within me.

  Sune’s strength in that one hand behind my head was formidable. He stared at me with an expression far more perplexed than I’d seen on his face at Velkan’s house.

  “No,” I said, even though my knees throbbed, a dull ache spread across my butt cheeks, and my back had the warmth of being slapped.

  I sat up, steadied myself with his hand now on my upper back. “Thank you,” I said, because my head versus concrete, I would’ve come off worse for wear.

  I scanned the street, the alleyways, but Radu was nowhere to be seen. My eyes shifted to Harley. He was gone. Even though he’d been a right arsehole the last few times I’d seen him, it wasn’t really him, he wasn’t the Harley I knew. He must’ve been hypnotised or under mind control.

  Harley had no connection to my life anymore, he was my past, but still his life, a human life, filled me momentarily with great sadness.

  “That man, you need to stay away from him. He is dangerous,” Sune said.

  “Well, yeah. He just ripped Harley’s heart out.”

  “You knew this human?” Sune asked.

  “Yes, he was my—” I paused. “Ex-boyfriend.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, Sune’s posture stiffened. “He is gone. I am sorry for your loss.”

  “What do with him now?” I asked. Calling the cops seemed laughable. They would have me locked in a mental institution for telling the truth. An ambulance? Sure, but how did I explain his injuries? No. I had to walk away, as wrong as that was, and how bad it felt. I had to.

  I glanced up at Sune. “That man, that was Radu, wasn’t it?” I gulped.

  “That was no man,” Sune said with disdain. “And yes, that was he.”

  I scanned the dim lit vacant street; an eerie silence loomed.

  “He said I was the key to a prophecy and that people will try to use or hurt me. Do you know anything about that?”

  Sune’s brow curved downwards. “Do not believe anything he tells you. It is all a trick, manipulating you to get what he wants.”

  “He was rather insistent.”

  “He is a demon. You know this. Iktok spoke of this. His desperation for you, while expected, makes this attempt bold, with all of us in close proximity to you.”

  “He said my necklace belonged to Cassandriella, and it did something to him when he touched it. Zapped him.”

  Gabriel face drew into a hard line. “It protects you.”

  “Will it protect me from other things?” Like you?

  “No, it was bound by that which it was intended to protect.”

  Riddles, more fucking riddles.

  “What are you?” I asked.

  Sune didn’t answer.

  Of two things I was certain. One, Radu was dangerous and not because he had just ripped Harley’s heart out. And two, Sune intrigued me. There was a warmth in his eyes that he hid behind the disdain and hostility.

  “How did you know where I was?” I asked.

  “In the club, I saw you being dragged outside by this man with whom you have argued and punched before.”

  “Wait…what? How do you know that?” Images of two red eyes and the outline of a figure that night at Scarecrows sprawled across my mind. The only other person who could have seen that was Jay, unless… “It was you.” My eyes widened in realisation. “On the rooftop that night. What are you? Because you’re clearly not a werewolf.”

  Sune didn’t answer, he just stared at me. Tingling numbness washed over me.

  God, he was tall, well over six and half feet, taller than Jamie.

  My eyes darted to his belt. I gasped. No, it cannot be. “That,” I said, pointing to the sword holstered at his waist.

  The detailing on the blade, the curving interwoven lines and inscription. The head of a bird engraved each side of the blade, curved down into a sharp tip of a beak. The eyes on the bird faces were black.

  That sword, I’d seen it before. On a gargoyle. My eyes shot up. Oh, my fucking god. They were really real. A fine layer of perspiration settled on my body.

  “You’re a—” I gulped, hard. Frozen in place, my feet like led weights.

  Sune stepped close, our bodies almost touching. Warmth radiated off him. The loud banging of drums filled my chest.

  “Are you happy?” he asked, totally ignoring my revelation.

  Did he not care that I had figured out his secret?

  Too many emotions filled me, I didn’t know what I was feeling. My mind perplexed. “What sort of question is that?” And hell no, I wasn’t happy. Every crazy person in this damn city wanted to talk to me.

  “Danielle, may I call you that?”

  I shuddered nervously as his eyes searched every inch of mine. Sune looked troubled. My breathing hitched. Unable to move.

  With a flicker of gold around the outside of his iris, his green eyes lit up. Sune staggered backwards and broke eye contact. “Never did I think it possible,” he said. “It is you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  He muttered something under his breath. Then looked up with widened eyes. “I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you. I had to see for myself.”

  “See what?”

  “You.”

  92

  “Jay,” Stone said, but her voice barely registered.

  Fury crushed all rationale. It burned so bad, the fire lacing my veins, crept up my spine. My heart twisting and contorting in rage. An acidic desire to hate intoxicated me. Everything went red.

  “Get away from her,” I growled, snapping my teeth.

  The one they called Sune, had her alone, in a fucking alleyway. Stone’s face blurred into the background. It was his that I was focused on. How dare he think he could get to my mate. They always fucking interfered.

  “What the fuck is going on out here?”

  Sune pulled his mouth up at one corner. Stepping forward, he positioned himself between me and Stone. Blocking her from me. My eyes no longer human. The anger fuelling a deep possessive need to get her away from him. My vision blurred as the flames clawed at me. Fingers coiling into fists, claws drawing blood from my palm.

  Stone’s face came into view as she darted out from behind and stood in front of me.

  “Danielle, it is not wise to get between us,” Sune said, his voice calm.

  But I couldn’t lower my gaze from Sune to acknowledge her. His demeanour didn’t change at the threat of my presence and anger. According to our alliance, I couldn’t touch him, but every fibre of me, wolf included, wanted to sink my teeth into him, and tear him to shreds.

  “Don’t you talk to her,” I growled. “You have no right.”

  “Right? I have every right. Have you learnt nothing, young wolf? A healer cannot mate with a wolf, it is forbidden.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Even you must know the terms of our alliance. Or—” He paused. “It may be, you really don’t.”

  My foot moved forward. Clenching my jaw, snarling. Two ice cold hands stung as they pressed against my chest.

  “Jay.” Her voice was soft.

  I didn’t respond. She said my name again, coaxing me to acknowledge her. Stone was calm, her face had never been paler. She was frightened, her human heart racing. Magnificent emerald eyes, full a
nd earnest, stared up at me.

  “Don’t take your anger out on him, we weren’t doing anything,” she said.

  I pulled away from her, scoffing. “Now you’re defending him. This is just fucking priceless.”

  “I’m not and you know it, so cut it out.” She stabbed her finger into my chest.

  Looking back over her shoulder, Stone’s mouth dropped open. Sune was not there. I’d seen him fly into the sky, silent as a mouse, and she hadn’t even noticed while her back was turned to him. The bastard. Never was I letting him get to her again. No fucking way. The terms of our alliance, what a load of shit.

  “Well, it fucking looks that way? I’m going to kill him.” My anger still reeling.

  I’d just gotten rid of Velkan from the picture, now I had Sune to contend with. No fucking way. My fists tightened. Berating myself in thought. It was difficult to keep my composure when the threat of one of them taking her from me, was real.

  “Jay, calm down. I’m okay.”

  Her words shuddered through me, haunting me. Stone was mortal, and she’d already been through so much today, why did I have to make things worse? Fuck. I turned away from her, my anger seeking a release.

  Stone’s hands pulled my face back to her, clasping my cheeks. Holding her gaze, my body locked in place. Her eyes searched mine. Her face came closer. Stone pressed her lips against mine. They were cool and soft. A searing flash of heat burned in me. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I pulled her into me, kissing her back with ferocity, deepening it. I propelled her backwards, up against the building. Her lips parted from mine with the thud of her back hitting the wall, but I had my mouth back on hers in a split second. Her body shuddered under me, and a moan escaped. My tongue found hers, drawing on it with erotic hunger.

  She pressed her hands against my chest, leaning her head back, as she gasped to catch a breath.

  “Can you take me home now?” she panted. A light powdering of rose touched her cheeks.

  But I wasn’t ready to move, not yet.

  My heart exploded. Mate. My wolf howled. There she was. My girl. I kissed her again, this time softer, savouring every morsel of her being.

  When our mouth’s parted, finally, I couldn’t take my focus off her mouth. My body burned for her, to taste her again. Lingering my gaze down her neck, I imagined how delicious her skin would taste to lick and kiss. I halted all thoughts as a splatter of blood on the cusp of her collar drew my attention. “Whose blood is that?”

  Stone looked over my shoulder and gestured. “Harley’s,” she whispered.

  “What do you mean Harley?” I stepped back, letting her free from my embrace, and turned.

  A heart lay lifeless in a puddle of blood. No body though. Sune must’ve taken Harley’s body away.

  “He’s the one that dragged me outside. Then Radu showed up and ripped his heart out. Sune saved me from him.” Stone didn’t even blink.

  A bright slash of volcanic orange red engulfed my sight. “Radu?”

  93

  I stood at my window, looking up at the night sky. The stars seemed to twinkle brighter tonight, and yet somehow, after everything, they made me feel uneasy. Radu had gotten to me. He could’ve snatched me right there and then if he wanted to, I presumed. So why didn’t he? I was what he wanted. I couldn’t understand it.

  What he’d said about Gran’s necklace being more than that, and a prophecy – I was the key – what a load of shit. Psychobabble nonsense to get me to lower my guard and believe he was really trying to help me. In that respect the only person I truly trusted to help or protect me, was Jay, and that was fact.

  Jay. I had kissed him, on the mouth. But I’d only done that to calm him down, to snap him out of his rage. It’d worked. But lord have fucking mercy, he kissed me back with a raw strength that made my legs weaken. Fuck, no wonder women fell over themselves to hook up with him, if that’s how he kissed. It was wild, untamed, and full of hunger. Thank goodness I’d pulled away when I did, otherwise who knows what would have happened if my body took the reins.

  But now neither of us had uttered a single word, even though he’d driven me straight home and hadn’t left my side.

  Not long after we got back to my apartment, Velkan turned up. It was awkward as all hell.

  It’d been two hours since we’d left the club, and I was no less bewildered. Too many damn things were happening. I needed time to process it all, to catch my breath. Everything was coming at me too fast.

  I gazed at the crumpled rooftop across the road. There hidden in the canopy of darkness, a figure was little more than an outline. It was a man. Sune.

  I stepped closer to the window and stared at the figure. This was them, gargoyles. The creature that Gran had seen all those years ago. Iktok, Belvess, Sune, and all those men with them, they were all gargoyles.

  A car driving down on the street, honked, shattering my thoughts. I looked back up to Sune, but he was gone.

  I rubbed my necklace between my thumb and finger. Gran. I wished she were still here, so I could’ve told her that I’d finally found them, or they’d found me. I missed her terribly. It wasn’t the same without her. All her possessions were left to me. The house, I couldn’t bring myself to live there. Jay checked on it every few days to make sure no squatters ransacked it. He really was good to me. It was no wonder Gran adored him.

  My kitchen cupboards slammed. Jamie was opening and closing them, going from one to the next.

  “What on earth are you doing?” I asked.

  “Do you actually own any plates?”

  “Yes, of course I do,” I said, walking into the kitchen, and opening the cupboard where the plates were. I paused. It was empty. “What the hell? Move.” I pushed him aside and opened the next cupboard.

  “You know, you don’t have to pretend to lose something just to touch me,” he whispered.

  There was a knock on my front door. I jumped and spun around. My widened eyes darted to Velkan.

  “Don’t panic, it will just be Bayley, with food.” He walked over to the door and opened it. “See.”

  Bayley’s body flopped into the apartment. I screamed. Jay threw his arm around me, as he positioned himself in front of me, in a protective stance. Velkan stepped back to reveal a figure standing in the doorway.

  “Hello, moon angel.”

  94

  Gabriel’s entire life flashed before him in her eyes, the life he had led before becoming cursed. Then he saw her, with him, their life, together. They were happy, he was no longer cursed. He’d heard the legends of what happened when a cursed man met his destined healer, but he never thought it was possible. To see all that in a mere human female’s eyes, perplexed him. Humans were just too simple for something so complex.

  And he almost lost her to Radu.

  The demon’s actions were bold, even for him. Gabriel wasn’t about to go head-to-head with Radu in front of her. He was too powerful, and like them, made by the devil himself. No, numbers were what they had in their favour.

  Over all the centuries they had banished him a handful of times, thus saving the healers. Which meant that a few of Gabriel’s brothers had been saved from their cursed existence, given a second chance, to love, to be normal – as they could be. No longer of beast bound to stone, but able to change at will. He would never have to hide in the shadows of the night. But he would still be immortal, that part could never be undone.

  Gabriel’s heart beat faster, but he knew it was her heart beating.

  Hope for an end to his cursed existence always seemed like a dream, not a reality for him. But now that hope was a possibility.

  He stared into the window from the building where he was perched. The sight of her surrounded by wolves angered him. She was destined for him, not some wolf. His eyes narrowed, watching her as she wandered, in thought across her apartment to the kitchen. Her long black hair hung perfectly down to the arch in her back. Gabriel knew the consequences if he could not get her to love him back, or before Radu foun
d her again. She was now his number one priority, nothing else mattered anymore.

  When she’d touched him, electric sparks, like fireworks being let off, zapped throughout his body.

  Danielle and the two wolves all looked toward the door of the apartment. Had someone arrived? Cathwulf’s son came into view. Velkan opened the apartment door and a young wolf collapsed through the threshold to the floor in front of them, blood pooling out around him. Panic struck Gabriel. His heartbeat throbbed so much the vein in his neck pulsated.

  95

  Bayley’s lifeless body lay inside my apartment. Blood puddling around him. Velkan rushed Radu, but he’d predicted his charge, and Radu threw Velkan with effortless force into the hallway. The cracking of wood and a dull thwap rang in my ears.

  My body froze. Radu’s eyes, one blue, one green, found mine. The flittering black cloak that now adorned him, hid nothing from his well sculpted figure. Cool and calm as before. The fire behind his glare rendered an instinctual warning in my gut. He could kill me with the flick of his finger, with the amount of power that radiated off him.

  I trembled in place. My feet like led weights. A cool dew covered my body. Jay hadn’t moved. His body protecting mine, but I could still see, everything.

  Radu stepped forward. A growl reverberated from the hallway, and Velkan, in his wolf form landed on all fours back in my apartment. His heckles raised, canines snarling and snapping, white saliva frothing from his mouth.

  Radu spun on his heels, bending down, as Velkan leapt into the air, mouth open. A fist slammed into Velkan’s stomach mid-air, and a whimper escaped him. Sending him flying back into the hallway

  Radu refocused on me. “Moon angel, we can do this the hard way and your friends die, or we can do this the easy way, and I spare their lives.”

  My mind raced. I stared at Bailey’s limp body. I couldn’t let that happen to anyone else, I’d never be able to forgive myself. Casting a glance over Jay, I’d decided. He couldn’t die because of me. I sighed. My heart sunk. He would hate me forever.