Malakai (The Stone Society Book 13)

by Faith Gibson

  “Sunshine?”

  “What? Oh, shit. Forget I said that. Any of it. All of it. I’m just going to…” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder at the house.

  “Josie, stop.” Kai’s voice didn’t sound like his own. He pushed against his dick, and her eyes widened. “Fuck, Sunshine. There’s something I need to tell you, but it’s easier if I show you. I need you to keep an open mind. And sit down. Can you do that for me?”

  Josie nodded and sat on the top step, smoothing her dress around her. “Damn, that’d make a pretty picture. Hold still.” Kai pulled his phone out of his back pocket and snapped a photo of his mate. “I think I’ll take a picture of you on all our dates. Start a photo album.”

  “Then you need to be in the picture too. But, uhm, can you maybe put your shirt back on? Because my mom will want to see these, and I can’t have her trying to make moves on you. Presley is bad enough.”

  Kai slid his shirt back on but didn’t bother buttoning it. He pulled the two halves together and sat down next to Josie. He slid his free hand over her shoulder, caressing her skin. Holding the phone out, he framed them both. After he snapped the picture, Kai held it out so they could both look at it. He was smiling, but Josie was looking at him with something akin to awe. Kai hoped she still felt that way in a minute.

  “Okay, Love. I need to show you something. Please know I would rather die than let anything ever harm you.”

  Kai stood, dropped his shirt to the ground, and phased. His wings spread out behind him. Josie gasped then slumped over, unconscious.

  That’s one way to keep her from running.

  Chapter Six

  Drago clipped the end of a cigar and lit it. He took a puff, held it in, then blew the smoke in Hagen’s direction. The young man didn’t notice. His attention was focused on his computer, where it had been for the last two months. The kid barely ate or slept, working diligently trying to fix everything that had gone wrong. Drago didn’t blame Hagen; he blamed Arden. It was the Gargoyle who lost Matthew Hartley, and it was him who got caught.

  “That’s enough, Hagen.” The young man didn’t look up. His fingers continued flying over the keyboard. “Did you hear me?”

  “Yes, Sir. I need just a few more minutes.”

  “No. Whatever it is you’re working on can wait until morning. I want you to shower, then get a good night’s sleep. I don’t want to see you out of your room before nine.” Drago should take his own advice. Being a Gargoyle meant he didn’t require much sleep, but Drago had been getting none. His whole operation was going up in flames, and he was losing too much ground. He had been on track to take on the Stone Clan by the end of the year, but now…

  Hagen blew out a sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face. The normally put-together hacker was disheveled, and he needed to bathe badly. Drago might have noticed it more because of his shifter senses, but regardless, it was time to put his foot down.

  “Now, Hagen. Shower. When you get up, you will sit down and eat a full meal. One you haven’t fixed yourself. I’ll order in. Then and only then will you get back to whatever it is you’re working on.” Drago hadn’t bothered to ask what had the male losing hours of time sitting in front of the screen. Hagen would tell him whenever he had something to share. Hagen was taking Arden’s capture harder than Drago was.

  “Yes, Sir.” Hagen pushed back from the table, taking a few seconds before standing. He glanced over at Drago with so much weariness in his eyes Drago felt sorry for the male. With drooped shoulders, Hagen shuffled out of the room. Drago didn’t move until he heard the shower turn on. Then he rose, walking to where various bottles of liquor were spread out. He wished he could get drunk. He would down enough alcohol to drown out his thoughts for at least one night.

  Thoughts of giving up. Of moving on. Of saying to hell with all the work he’d done since coming to the States and hiding out for the rest of his long life. His mate was dead. His plan to get Kallisto out of the penitentiary died when Arden lost their bargaining chip. The women they had kidnapped to sell had been rescued, and most of the Greeks in Florida had been rounded up. A few managed to get away, but they had scattered. Craven was gone with Drago’s money. Whatever Hagen was working on didn’t matter at this point.

  “I can’t believe we’re going to have a baby.”

  What the hell? Drago looked around the room for the voice.

  “It still doesn’t seem real.”

  Drago walked over to Hagen’s computer. His mouth dropped open at what he saw on the screen. Had Hagen somehow hacked into the male’s security system? Was this what he’d been waiting on? If he could get into this property, it was possible he could…

  “Whoop!” Drago pumped his fist in the air. This! This was how he was going to win the war.

  A giggle escaped Josie when she opened her eyes. “I had the strangest dream.” When she looked around, she noticed she was lying on the sofa. “Shit, I didn’t think I drank that much. Was there something in the fish that made me sleepy?”

  Malakai was rubbing the back of his neck. “No, and you weren’t dreaming, Sunshine.”

  Josie sat up, eyeing Kai. “I am being Punk’d. Men don’t have wings.”

  “No, but Gargoyles do. I hoped to have this conversation much later, but you need the truth.”

  “You turn into a little stone creature? And what? I’m the heroine in the story who breaks the curse?”

  Kai blew out a breath. “No little stone creature, and it’s not a curse. Gargoyles were created by the gods to watch over humans. Over time, our nemeses have changed, while our role remains the same. Right now, we fight and capture the Unholy. I am the seventh son of a seventh son, seventh generation Palamo. Only our generations are thousands of years. I’m four hundred twenty-eight years old, and you are my mate.”

  Josie looked around the room for a camera.

  “Please don’t run,” Malakai begged.

  “Run? No. I’m looking for a camera. You’re trying to make a fool of me.”

  “Sunshine, I promise I’m not joking. Gargoyles are real. You saw my wings. I also have fangs and claws.”

  “Show me.”

  Kai held out his hands, and sharp claws extended from his fingertips. He raised a hand and pointed to his mouth. His canines extend over his bottom lip. Josie shook her head. This was crazy. She didn’t know how he was doing these tricks or why he was trying to pull one over on her. Josie stood and looked around for her purse. When she found it, she pulled out her phone, but Kai was there in an instant, taking it from her. She stumbled, her leg hitting the coffee table, sending her to the floor. She landed hard on her ass. Kai was on his knees in front of her.

  “Shit, Baby. Are you hurt?” The man before her looked normal. Had he put something in her food? Was she feeling the effect of some psychotropic drug? Kai reached down to help her up, but Josie shook off his hand. She pushed up from the floor as gracefully as possible. “I’m leaving now, and I’d appreciate if you lose my number.”

  “Sunshine, no. I’m sorry I sprang the truth on you. But you’re my mate, and I needed you to know. Look, I can prove it.” Malakai took his shirt off and pointed to his chest.

  “It’s a chest. All men have them.”

  “No. My birthmark. It’s in the shape of a seven. You have one too.”

  “How…?” No. There was absolutely no way he knew about her birthmark. Especially since it was somewhere he couldn’t have seen.

  “Are you telling me you don’t have a birthmark?”

  “What I’m telling you is I don’t believe in men with wings. Or your parlor tricks. Or coincidental birthmarks. Or curses.”

  Malakai looked like he was about to cry or lose his shit. Maybe both. Josie felt pain deep in her soul. Like if she walked out the door, it would be the biggest mistake of her life; but shifters weren’t real.

  “Would it help if you met some of my Clan? Maybe talk with another human mate? I can give you their names. Talk to them. Let them tell you their stories, and
you’ll see I’m telling the truth.”

  “You’re saying it’s not just your family from back home, but there are more of your kind here in New Atlanta?”

  “Yes. Hundreds more. Our King lives here. Do you remember Kaya Kane?”

  “The chief of police?” Kai nodded. “Of course. She retired shortly after she’d been kidnapped.”

  “She’s now our Queen. You could talk to her. Kaya’s a good woman. Honorable. She’ll help you understand all this.”

  “I’m still not sure what this is.”

  “She and Rafael host Family Day at their home most Sundays. Please, come with me. There’ll be plenty of mates you can speak to. And if you still believe I’m somehow tricking you, I can have my fellow Clansmen shift for you. Tessa will be there. She’s a half-blood and can shift too. Please, Sunshine. I’m begging.”

  “I’m going home. I need to call for a ride.” Josie had to get away from Malakai so she could think.

  “Let me drive you. Please.”

  “No. I need space to think.”

  “Then take my Jeep. I’ll come get it later.” Josie did love his Jeep, but that would mean him coming to her apartment to get his keys. “I have a spare key. I promise I won’t bother you when I come get it.” Taking his vehicle meant getting away from him immediately, which she needed.

  “Okay.” Josie went to the dining room where she’d left her shoes. When she returned, Kai held out a key.

  She hated the defeated look on his face, and she almost gave in and stayed. Something called to Josie. It was an invisible force pulling her to Malakai. Her heart was begging her to give him a chance. Take him up on his offer to meet others of his kind and their mates. Her head was telling her to go home and sober up. To think clearly away from him trying to persuade her all this was real. Her head won out. Josie took the key and walked out without looking back. She felt Kai’s eyes on her as she adjusted the seat and mirrors before starting the engine and driving away. When she got near the end of the driveway, she rolled down the windows, not knowing how to open the gate. She needn’t worry because the iron barrier slid toward her when she approached. While she waited, a soul-wrenching roar filled the air. The hair on her arms stood on end, but it was her heart that stuttered. Josie couldn’t breathe. She was suffocating at the anguish coming from the sound. She knew it was Malakai, but a human couldn’t make a sound like that. He’s not human.

  Josie eased off the clutch and drove away. She focused on shifting gears and not on the man she was leaving behind. The thirty-minute drive went by quickly, and when she pulled the Jeep into the parking spot next to her own car, Josie leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. She took several deep breaths, then made herself get out and go upstairs.

  Once inside her apartment, Josie flopped down on the sofa. For a moment, she allowed herself to believe what Kai told her was the truth. What he had shown her hadn’t been a trick. He was willing to introduce her to others of his kind. What if it was some sort of cult who pretended to be these Gargoyles? If they were humans pretending, they couldn’t go around sprouting wings at a moment’s notice. It would have to be an elaborate setup. But that didn’t explain Kai’s ability to run as fast as she had witnessed. That couldn’t be a hoax. Neither could his wings, now that she thought about it. She had seen him without his shirt on. There had been no hidden pack he was wearing where something that large was hidden, waiting for him to press a button or pull a cord to unfurl them. And they hadn’t been wings like you’d find on a bird. There were no feathers, only leathery appendages with spikes on the end, like a dragon would have.

  Kai had called her his mate. Josie read all types of romance books. Fated mates was nothing new to her, but before tonight, it had been fiction. Hadn’t she heard that all fiction came from some form of reality? Maybe not aliens or men who could turn into bears, but Kai hadn’t turned into something else. Not really. He still looked like the man who cooked her a delicious meal. The man who talked lovingly about his mama and his family. The one who made her body heat with only a brush of his fingers or a gaze upon her skin. It was like she was in one of the novels she loved.

  Kaya Kane was someone Josie admired. The former police chief had made a name for herself leading the New Atlanta police department as the first woman to hold the position. She was smart as well as tough. Surely, she couldn’t be brainwashed by a cult of shifter wannabes. Josie needed to talk to Miss Kane, but she didn’t know how to go about finding her now that she was retired. Yes, you do. In college, she’d been tempted to change her major to computer science, since she enjoyed it so much. Research was Josie’s job. It was what she did best. Every day, she dug around into people’s lives, finding those who didn’t want to be found. Figuring out the truth from the lies. Her mother once told her she’d make a good private detective.

  Josie rushed to her room and changed out of her dress into pajamas. She grabbed her laptop, leaned back against the headboard, and got busy. Two hours later, she was no closer to finding Kaya. It was like someone blocked any information on the woman once she retired. Josie turned her attention to the new chief – Dane Abbott. The former detective was a gorgeous blond with piercing blue eyes. In one of the photos, he had his arm around a pretty brunette Josie recognized. She was a waitress at the diner where Josie got her coffee. Now that she thought about it, Dane Abbott was there most mornings when Josie stopped in. Maybe Dane would tell her how to find Miss Kane, or at least get word to her that Josie wanted to talk.

  If Josie didn’t feel such a strong connection to Malakai, she would let this madness go and chalk it up to him being a creeper. But she did feel it. She also had a feeling what he said was the truth, and it was something Josie wouldn’t be able to ignore once she found someone to verify that Gargoyles were real. He said they were put on earth to protect humans, and they fought the Unholy. Josie had never seen one of the monsters up close, but she’d watched news coverage when the creatures were seen on the streets. If Unholy were real, why couldn’t Gargoyles be too? Gah, her brain was spinning. She wished she had someone to talk to, but she didn’t have any friends, and she didn’t want her mom to think she was crazy. Because if it turned out Malakai had been telling the truth? He’d eventually meet her mother, and Josie didn’t want her mom to have a tainted view of the man. Male. Shifter.

  Josie closed her laptop and set it on the nightstand. She usually read this time of night, but she knew anything she read now would remind her of Malakai, and she wasn’t sure she wanted that. Instead, Josie decided to watch TV. She padded to the kitchen and snagged a beer out of the fridge. Grabbing the remote, she sat down on the sofa and pulled the blanket off the back, covering her legs. She wasn’t cold; Josie just liked being toasty. Flipping through the channels, Josie found an action movie and settled in. She did her best to pay attention, but her mind kept going back to the sound of anguish that ripped through the air when she was leaving. If she found out Kai had been telling the truth, she would never be able to tell him how sorry she was for causing his grief. She rubbed her fist over her chest because her own sadness hadn’t abated since she walked out the door. That had to mean something.

  It was times like this she hated her job. Hated how she’d given in to her father’s demands she go into law and the family business. Yes, she would have student loans to repay, but she would have a life. Friends. Someone to call and talk to. Someone to commiserate with when life sucked. Naomi has a life. Yes, but the other paralegal also worked for one attorney. An attorney with a good heart. Neither Josie’s father nor her sister cared whether or not Josie had a life outside the firm. Presley went out all the time, and Josie hated her for it. Her sister was the one making a name for herself while Josie did all the legwork. Presley went out on dates. Hung out with Elise on the weekends. Took kickboxing classes and chased after Malakai.

  Josie laughed. Her laughter turned into sobs, and she slid down onto the sofa and clutched the throw pillow, letting years of pent-up grief flow through her. Josie ha
ted her sister. Hated her father. So why the hell was she giving up her life so they could have one? Maybe she should run back to Malakai and join his cult of Gargoyles. At least she’d felt wanted when she was with him. What did it matter that it had only been one night? She’d felt more alive with him in a few hours than she’d ever felt before, even when she’d been in a month-long relationship. “It’s not fair!” Her voice cracked through the tears as she screamed into her pillow.

  Josie woke with a crick in her neck from falling asleep with her head wedged against the arm of the sofa. Her phone beeped, indicating a voicemail. Groaning, she pushed up to sitting and reached for her phone. Five missed texts and three calls. Scrolling through, she rolled her eyes. “Screw you, Presley.” Josie tossed the phone on the cushion next to her without responding. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. How had her day gone from one of elation to one of misery? And why did her chest hurt so bad?

  After stopping off in her bathroom to pee, Josie didn’t bother washing her makeup off. She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know her face was a wreck. Between her red, puffy eyes and streaked mascara, she was bad enough to scare small children. She grabbed the hand towel off the holder as she walked by it and placed it on her pillow. If this kept up, she would need to buy darker sheets.

  Josie lay on her side with her knees curled up and closed her eyes, but the wounded howl she’d heard wouldn’t stop running through her head. She felt an inexplicable need to call Malakai and check on him, but it was after three, and unlike her, he was probably asleep. After a few minutes, her body began shivering like she had a fever. Josie pulled the comforter up over the sheet, tucking it tight under her chin. Maybe there had been something in the fish after all.