Stoneheart

by Cate Corvin

  They hauled me back up and dragged me to the chair, forcing me into it. No matter what Nolan told me, I wasn’t going to lay back and surrender. I kicked and writhed, spitting curses all the while, but the fullbloods were so much stronger. Sebastian held me down as Nolan fastened straps around my ankles and neck, and finally clicked chains around the cuffs on my wrist. He flipped a switch over my head, and the familiar buzz of a hypersonic emitter radiated through the cuffs. The weakness spread through me once more, much faster than before since I still wasn’t back to full-strength.

  I was bound tight and going nowhere. They didn’t have so much as a hair out of place despite after all my struggles.

  “You might not believe this,” Kreslin’s voice rang through the room, and he stepped to the side of the table. I hadn’t heard him enter over my cursing and flailing. “But I have no intention of hurting you more than absolutely necessary. This is not a torture chamber. You will not spend hours suffering an agonizing death. There are, in fact, no grudges, ill will, or contempt I hold towards you. It’s not about you at all.”

  He placed his hand palm down over my chest, his pinky finger brushing my collarbone. Kreslin closed his eyes as my stoneheart sped up, as though he could feel that beat of magic through my skin, and a slight smile touched his mouth.

  “You just happen to be the vessel for the grand prize,” he said, opening his eyes again. They were shockingly blue under the clinical lights. “Victor Kyrillian’s stoneheart. No matter who carried that Ruby within them, the outcome would be the same. So, as I said… nothing personal.”

  “I don’t understand.” I pulled my gaze away from him and focused on the bright light despite the pain it caused. I couldn’t stand to see that plastic smile on his face while he told me how little my life meant. “All this effort just to crush out another lineage? You didn’t even have to hold me prisoner.”

  Kreslin thankfully took his hand off my chest, but I still felt the imprint of his palm and fingers. “Crush it? Oh, no, no, no. Another of the Kyrillian Rubies lives on in one of my adoptive sons. My other children carry other gifts in addition to their natural-born abilities.”

  He swept out a hand, and I turned my head. Nolan was watching me, but Sebastian’s eyes were focused on the wall beyond… and there were several others with them now. All fullbloods, with wings and horns, wearing the same dark tactical gear. Not one of them was under six feet tall, and all looked more than capable of wrenching apart another gargoyle. But a closer look at each of them showed color in their horns that was just… wrong. Purples, blues, greens, even what looked like a hint of opal.

  “But… they were all born with their own stonehearts,” I whispered. “How is that possible?”

  “You see, the evolution of technology has become quite interesting with human advancements,” Kreslin continued as though he hadn’t heard me. “Harvester tech and the hypersonic emitters were only the beginning. My father funded quite a few of the advancements in that arena, but naturally it occurred to us that we were designing our eventual demise. We needed to become something more if we wanted to outpace that.”

  He reached up and adjusted the metal arm with the drill attached. I finally felt a hot tear streak down my cheek, and it had nothing to do with Kreslin’s emotional magic.

  “So we developed tech of our own. More specifically, how to meld the natural magic of the stonehearts. It takes some very sophisticated equipment to carry out the fusion process. Fifty years of progress and hundreds of failures later… here we are.

  “We’ve created the first gargoyle hybrids, each bearing at least two individual stonehearts.” Kreslin gazed over his shoulder with pride. “Each hand-chosen from the Onyx and Topaz Orders, and hybridized with a secondary stoneheart. Obviously, Rubies were my first choice in the process. You can imagine how that might be useful to us.”

  I didn’t need to work hard to imagine it. The defensive killing machines of Onyx and Topaz, now equipped with the immunity of Rubies, would tear through the other Orders like a hot knife through butter.

  “And the Kyrillians had some of the most powerful stonehearts in the world. When the clinical trials were over, we’d lost most of them, unfortunately, but I knew exactly which one I wanted for myself.” Kreslin gazed longingly at my torso again as though he could see right through me to the Ruby beneath. “Victor’s. He was the strongest of them all. It only seems right that the father of hybridization would receive that particular stoneheart. So we perfected the process, and the time has come for the Ruby to come home.”

  My jaw clenched. “It doesn’t seem right at all. You slaughtered an entire House for them.”

  Sebastian dropped his gaze, and I wondered exactly how all these fullblood hybrids felt about the stolen stonehearts in their chests.

  Kreslin looked down at me with a gentle, almost fatherly gaze. “There is no progress without pain, Zara. Other Houses have been destroyed for less, and in time, the secrets of Harvester technology will come out in the open. Humanity will rebel against their coexistence with us, but hybridization will ensure that those Orders who remain after that revelation are equipped to stand against them. It’s the sacrifice of a few to save the many. There are plenty of disembodied stonehearts around to begin hybridizing with other gargoyles as soon as they understand the importance of this development.”

  Unfortunately, there was truth in his words. As soon as human governments knew exactly how to incapacitate gargoyles and spread the word to their citizens, there would be an outcry. Our coexistence was tenuous at best, and only the strongest and most cunning of both the humans and the gargoyles would survive that war.

  Having multiple powers would definitely be a benefit to a single fullblood gargoyle, especially a gargoyle embedded in the bedrock of human government. He’d have forewarning of any civil unrest when that time came. Kreslin Kobalt, Gargoyle Governor of New York suddenly took on an entirely chilling new meaning.

  Kreslin interrupted my thoughts as he adjusted the drill so it was pointed at my chest. A sharp tip gleamed at the end. “This is a diamond-bit drill,” he said. “Your skin will be soft enough by now for it to penetrate without fracturing the surrounding crystal matrix. During the early experiments, we used to put down the gargoyle before extraction, but in this case, I’m unwilling to risk any potential complications from euthanasia. I’ve waited many, many years for this particular stoneheart, and it will be perfect when it joins my Sapphire.”

  Another tear escaped. I wished with every fiber of my being that Sawyer would charge in to save me, that Gio and Damien were fighting their way through, but the only sound was Kreslin’s fingers adjusting the drill. We were alone, and no one was coming.

  “I know it’s probably not much of a comfort to you, but you won’t suffer for long after the procedure.” Kreslin rested a hand on my shoulder and I held back a sob. Even if he got no enjoyment out of this, I didn’t want him to see me blubbering right before I died. “The moment the stoneheart is separated from the rest of your physiology, you’ll die. It won’t be quick, but that part will be relatively painless.”

  Anger roared to life under the impotent regret and fear. “How would you know?” I rasped. “Have you ever been strapped to a table with a drill over your heart? Have you ever died?”

  Kreslin’s full lips pressed together in a flat line and he removed his hand. “Obviously not, but consider yourself an important contribution to furthering gargoyle science. Your death matters, Zara, to other orders and Houses. You might now consider yourself a hero of another kind. It’s more than most humans or gargoyles can claim.”

  With those uncomforting last words, he pushed the drill into place over my chest, and thumbed down a switch on the side.

  A humming roar filled the room as the drill powered up, the diamond bit spinning so fast it was a twinkling blur. I pulled against my restraints, but there was nowhere to go, and my stoneheart was beating so hard it felt like it was going to explode right out of me, making the drill seem alm
ost pointless.

  A thousand regrets welled up. I wished I could see my men again, or at the very least that I’d voiced all how I really felt about them before this. Now I would die with all those unspoken feelings still locked inside me.

  Kreslin angled the drill downwards, off-center of where my stoneheart was. If he really intended to cut around the entire thing before removing it, I’d be living through a hell of a lot of pain before I died.

  It was only inches from me, the drill bit ready to rip through my softened skin, when a sharp clacking sound cut through the roar of the drill.

  Relief and terror exploded through me when I saw Angelique Clarté’s willowy figure perched on her six-inch heels, a hybrid guard at her side. Her eyes widened a fraction as she took in the scene, me strapped to the chair and Kreslin operating a drill over my heart, and then her beautiful face was schooled back into a haughty, indignant mask.

  Kreslin’s fingers twitched and for a moment, I thought he was just going to jam the drill bit right into me. Instead he jerked it back up and flicked the switch. The motor whirred and died, leaving silence in its wake.

  Angelique stopped fifteen feet away, her hands on her hips. “Kreslin Kobalt. Honestly, I can’t say I’m surprised.”

  Really? I sure as shit had been.

  The hybrid guard on her heels stopped beside her, taking the same stiff pose they all had, like he was reporting for duty. “Sir, she refused to leave the premises without speaking to you personally—”

  “Yes, of course I refused.” Angelique tossed her hair over her shoulder, looking as cool as a cucumber despite the situation.

  I wanted to scream at her to run and save herself- her cover had been blown the minute Kreslin had used his emotional manipulation on me and gotten nothing. He knew she’d lied about the stoneheart I was given. But that would have only secured her death faster. At least she stood a chance of escape if she could get her ass out of this room. “And you’ll want to hear this, now that your lunk-headed guards have finally deigned to let me in. You know the terms of our arrangement, and you’ve put me off long enough. It’s bad enough that you’ve refused to do me the courtesy of meeting face-to-face, but you’re done stringing me along. Honestly, now that I know which gargoyle my money was financing, I’m quite disappointed in you. All those pretty promises for what you’ll do as governor when you can’t uphold our agreement in a timely manner.”

  “Pleasure to finally speak with you in person, Miss Clarté,” Kreslin purred. “You know I hold myself to certain standards. My promises will be kept.”

  Angelique gave a jerky nod of her head. “Will they, Kobalt?” she asked impatiently. “I’ve been extremely lenient on the timeline for this project, and a good portion of my House funds are at stake in this venture. I’ve been more than generous in allowing you this long, given the promises you made, and how desperately I need them fulfilled now.”

  To my shock, tears shimmered in her blue eyes. One cascaded down her cheek, gleaming like a diamond, and there was nothing fake about it. Whatever Angelique wanted from him, she was genuinely in distress.

  Kreslin glanced down at me, his eyes glittering with anticipation, then that cold gaze flicked back up to Angelique. Tension was visibly humming through him.

  “Why don’t you make yourself at home upstairs.” From the tone of his voice, the suggestion was more of a command. “When I’m done here, we’ll have a discussion about the finer details of her procedures.”

  Angelique crossed her arms over her chest. The look on her face was just a hair away from an outright scowl. “I don’t think you understand, Kreslin. If I don’t have an answer in the next twenty minutes, I’m pulling my support and the investments. Your little science experiment can wait unless you want to lose three quarters of your funding. You know it’s not nearly as important to me as she is.” Nolan’s eyes were boring through Angelique like the drill over my chest, his face cold.

  A muscle twitched next to Kreslin’s eye and his plastic smile took on more of a wooden quality. I closed my eyes, relief flooding through me. If I was unbound, it would’ve been tempting to fist-punch the air. I swear if I make it out of this, I will never say anything bitchy about Angelique again for as long as I live.

  My eyes popped open at the sound of a small growl. “We don’t need twenty minutes, Angelique, my dear,” Kreslin said, striding across the room. “We need ten. Come, let’s get this matter sorted out.”

  He raised a beckoning hand, and the hybrids followed him, leaving me alone in the lab. The door slammed shut behind them and the locked clunked into place.

  For a moment I just laid there in shock. Was he really that trusting that he was willing to just leave me here unguarded?

  In the next few minutes I realized why. With the emitters at my wrists channeling hypersonic sound straight into my body, I wasn’t going anywhere. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I yanked and tugged, but the straps at my ankles and throat were so tight I couldn’t move so much as an inch.

  Without a clock, I had no idea how much time had passed, but the minutes felt like seconds with every useless thrash against my restraints. Any second, they’d be back in here and I’d be facing down a drill about to tear my chest open.

  Finally, I allowed my body to relax. The jig was up. Angelique had done what she could, but there was no way I was making it out of these bonds by myself.

  I was that close to tearing up again, then the squeal of metal filled the silence in the lab. I strained to see them coming back, but it wasn’t the door Kreslin and his hybrids had used.

  Another large vault-like door across from the surgery area bent inwards, pummeled by stone fists. Hope bubbled in my chest and filled my throat, an almost painful sensation of relief as the metal crumpled and twisted aside, ripped right off its hinges. A hand with a gun poked inside and fired once, blowing through a security camera and reducing it to a tangle of broken plastic and wires.

  I barely breathed as Gio slipped inside, sliding along the walls like a shadow. Damien and Sawyer were hot on his heels, but they both broke away the second they saw me lying on the operating table.

  Damien smoothed a tangle of hair back from my face, his bronze eyes blazing. “Have they hurt you?” he whispered.

  I knew what he meant. “No more than you see now,” I said, my voice raspy. “You… did you turn Sawyer?”

  “Hey, pardner,” Sawyer said, but he didn’t have his usual grin for me. His face was white and drawn, fury snapping in his eyes as he took in the straps holding me down. “Let’s get these bracelets off.” He reached under the machine, and the omnipresent hum of the hypersonic emitter shut off. I couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief.

  Damien set about slicing the straps open while Sawyer picked at the cuffs around my wrists. Pressure emanated up my arms as he yanked and tugged, twisting the cuffs off and shattering the acrylic panels in the process.

  I sat up shakily and Damien slid his arm behind my back. A moment ago I might’ve thought I’d be up and running, but instead I wrapped my arms around their necks, burrowing between them for comfort and holding back gasping sobs.

  I’d been so sure I was invincible and instead I’d come that close to having my second life ripped away from me. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted it until it was almost torn away.

  “He was going to cut my heart out,” I gasped, and swallowed hard past the lump in my throat. “We might die, and I realized I never told you I loved you all. I can’t die without telling you first.”

  Damien buried his face in my hair. “That’s not going to happen,” he said, his voice hard. “Let’s go, Zara. You’re safe now, and he’s not getting his hands on you.”

  I slid off the table and stumbled on the way down. My knees felt like jelly, and it’d be another twenty minutes until the crystal matrix of my body solidified again. Strangely, I’d never felt so vulnerable in my entire life as I did there in that den of hybrids.

  Both of them looped their arms around my waist and al
most dragged me to the broken-down door. Gio was examining several documents laid out on a metal table, and Damien jerked his head sharply towards the door.

  I met Gio’s eyes, knowing mine were red-rimmed and still teary. I’d never seen Gio like this before, not even after Robert had launched a grenade into my apartment and Gio had flown across the city with me in his arms.

  He was a gargoyle ready to kill, every line in his body tense but full of predatory grace. “Take point, Damien,” he murmured, and handed the gun over to the Emerald. I immediately missed Damien’s warmth, but Gio slid into his place, holding his wings out around me like a shield.

  A moment later, the buzz of his magic slid over my skin. I breathed out, knowing that if someone snuck up on us, his shielding magic would prevent any bullets from ripping right through me.

  We spilled down an austere concrete tunnel and I got an unpleasant shock as we stepped over a body. A gargoyle guard had been stationed down here, but his uniform was shredded to pieces, and his body was in even worse condition. Most of his upper body and head were nothing but bits of colored rubble, and the gleam of a crushed Topaz in his chest gave away what he was.

  “How did Kreslin get ahold of so many Topaz and Onyx gargoyles?” I asked as we stepped over him. I shuddered when my bare feet crunched on bits of rock.

  “Several smaller Onyx and Topaz Houses have dissolved over the years,” Damien said grimly, looking around a corner before he moved on. “We had no idea it was Kobalt taking them in, but… I’d be willing to bet that more than a few of them didn’t come here of their own accord at all.”

  We followed, passing several more savaged gargoyles. They obviously weren’t hybrids, and I had no doubt my guys had gone after them with absolute feral rage.

  Which begged the question of exactly where the hybrids were, and what they were doing with Angelique at that moment.