Ash and Stone (Hidden Truth Book 1)

by Rose Alexander

  Flecks of dust catch in the light, suspended in the still air as I make my way down the staircase. When I reach the bottom, I gaze longingly around the corner, hoping to run into the man from yesterday. I’m not sure why I thought he would be up this early.

  I shake my head as I step into the cool morning air. I shiver as goosebumps erupt on my arms. Will I ever get used to this colder world? And Lilith said this is their warm season. Songbirds twitter from the trees, welcoming the rising sun with their song as I cross the empty street.

  Pausing on the sidewalk, my spine crawls as if someone is watching me. I glance around, but not a soul is in sight. The songbirds and I share this early morning alone. Straightening my back, I march forward, determined not to let fear hold me back. I approach the doors and push on the handle, finding it locked. Damn, I didn’t consider a church could be closed.

  I slump my shoulders as I plop down on the step and rest my elbows on my knees. What was I expecting? I have no direction… no help.

  Get a hold of yourself. You are strong and have never needed help a day in your life. This is just another challenge to conquer.

  “Can I help you?” A tenor voice with a thick Irish accent flows over me.

  I twist around and find a short elderly man wearing all black with a small white collar showing in front of his neck.

  “I was going to look around the church, but I didn’t realize it was closed.” I stand up and brush off my pants.

  I must look a mess. It hadn’t even occurred to me to clean up before I left the apartment.

  “You look like a lost soul.” He holds the door open. “Why don’t you come in and we’ll see if we can sort you out. My name is Father McKinnon. What’s yours?”

  His kind blue eyes meet mine and I can’t help but smile back. He seems so different than the souls I’ve met previously. I’m a perfect stranger, yet he’s being kind. He would run screaming if he knew what I really am.

  “My name is Ash. Thank you.” I step forward into the church, cringing as I cross the threshold.

  Although nothing happens, I was afraid something would prevent me from entering, or God would smite me for daring to enter his house. A rich spicy scent washes over me as my eyes adjust to the dimly lit room. Rows of wooden pews stretch out to the front of the church, ending at an altar with a giant crucifix on the wall. Stained glass windows filter the light, casting rainbow hues across the floor, each one depicting a different scene. Our footsteps are loud and echo in this giant silent space.

  “I’ve not seen you around these parts before. What brings you here?” He falls into step beside me, subtly leading me towards the altar.

  “I’ve never been inside a church before. I was curious what it would be like.” I run my finger over the rich wood in front of me.

  “Is that all?” His patient voice breaks through my walls, making me feel like I could confess everything to him, though I know I shouldn’t.

  "I moved into the apartment building across the street yesterday." I bite my lip, unsure of how much I should share. "I was hoping maybe someone here knew my mother. I was told that she had either lived around here or maybe visited some time back."

  “I’m sensing you lost her recently.” He lays a hand on my shoulder and directs me to the pew in the front row.

  I sit down as he perches next to me. His kind eyes and words bring up the ache in my chest. I fight to hold back the tears that are threatening to fall. Everything about this feels wrong but right at the same time. What did I think I would find here? My mother is a demon, for Lucifer’s sake. She wouldn’t be caught in a church.

  “She passed away recently, leaving me with a lot of questions.” I choke out, finding I want to unload all of my burdens.

  But I can’t possibly do that here. This priest is a man of God. He would be mortified to find he had invited a demon into his church.

  “Losing someone suddenly often does. The best thing we can do is remember them as they were before. I’m sure she loved you very much and that’s something you can always carry with you.”

  “Part of the reason I moved here…” I pause trying to work out how to explain my situation. “Is to learn who my father is. My grandmother seems to think she met him in this area. But I don’t know anything about him. It feels like an impossible task.”

  “That would be difficult. What was your mother’s name?” His blue eyes gaze at me expectantly.

  “Danya… but I don’t know what last name she would have given.” I stare at my feet.

  He looks up to the ceiling as if searching his memories. “I can’t say that I’ve ever heard that name.”

  “Thank you, anyway. I just wish I had a starting point. A way to figure out where to at least begin to look.” I drop my head into my hands.

  “When in doubt, put it in God’s hands. He is always listening and will guide us if we only ask.” The priest pats my back. “I’ll leave you to your prayer.”

  “I don’t think he would listen to me,” I mumble.

  “He’ll listen to anyone who seeks his aide.” The priest smiles as he shuffles away.

  I watch as he exits through a small door behind the altar then contemplate his words. Would God really listen to me? I am half demon… half I have no idea what. Maybe that other half is enough?

  I close my eyes and whisper. “Dear God. I know I have no business asking you for anything since I was raised in hell, but could you do me a solid and point me where to go? I’m lost.”

  Opening my eyes, I stare up at the altar, straining to listen for an answer. My shoulders fall when silence greets me. I’m not sure why I got my hopes up. I didn’t think it would work in the first place.

  I slide off the pew and make my way down the aisle. I will never give up on finding my father, but until I figure something else out, I have no other choice but to throw myself headfirst into this new life. No more excuses, it’s time to assimilate. Now it’s time to go home and figure out what humans do with themselves. If it’s going to take time to figure this out, I can’t stand out. The sun has risen in the sky when I step outside. I wince at the bright light. Hopefully, I’ll get used to it before too long. As I step down the pathway, a stench permeates the air. It’s the sickly sweet stench of rotting meat mixed with a floral perfume. I cover my nose and rush across the street, the smell dissipating the further away from the church I get. By the time I reach the apartment doors, thankfully, it’s gone.

  The door swings open and the man I ran into yesterday wears a surprised look on his face.

  “We really should stop running into each other.” I wince at how lame my voice sounds. Since when do I care what I sound like?

  “You’re mistaken. We’ve never met.” He shakes his head.

  I stand staring at him with my mouth hanging open. Does he really not remember me slamming into his chest yesterday?

  “My name is Josiah. I believe you ran into my brother, Gideon yesterday.” He reaches up and rubs the back of his neck, his cheeks flushing red.

  “I’m Ash. I just moved in on the sixth floor.”

  “I know.” His brown eyes are locked on me as if he can see into my soul.

  I squirm under his appraisal, unable to tell if it’s friendly or not. Something about this feels dangerous and it’s exhilarating. Don’t throw yourself at the strange man, Ash. He might want to eat you in the wrong way. My nose wrinkles as the stench returns. There isn’t a breeze, so I turn and survey the area.

  “You can smell that?” His deep baritone brings my eyes back on him.

  “Well yeah. It smells awful. Do you know what it is?”

  His skin ripples, revealing a granite tone underneath for a brief moment before returning to normal. I blink my eyes hard and examine him carefully. Had I imagined it?

  “You’re too observant,” he growls, his eyes tracking back and forth on the street behind me. “Come with me. It looks like we both need answers.”

  I follow him into the building, the air conditioning causing go
osebumps to break out on my arms.

  Josiah stops next to the staircase and glances down the hall before pivoting to face me.

  “Would you feel more comfortable in your own apartment or in ours for this conversation?” He cocks his head to the side as he waits for my answer.

  “Oh.” My eyes widen. What is considered normal for this situation here? “Um, yours would be fine I guess.”

  “Very well. Follow me.” He nods and continues down the hallway.

  7

  Josiah

  Gideon was right. This woman, Ash, is an enigma. My brain wants to analyze her, to figure out exactly what makes her different… what she is. But there’s something else there. Something in her blood sings like a song to my soul… a song I can’t ignore. I’m treading on dangerous territory being this close to her. My brothers and I vowed to never let anything come between us. If one of us has something, we all have it. We never took into account meeting our destined mates.

  Our parents told us the story of their meeting… but with us being triplets we assumed somehow it wasn’t in our cards. We are an anomaly among our kind. Why would anything work out for us? Yet the evidence is plain as day. She was born to be mine… but she’s not gargoyle, or human even. Hell, I don’t even think she’s celestial or demonic. She’s something entirely new and different.

  It takes every ounce of self-control I possess to not turn around and grab her in my arms. Her presence at my back as I lead her to my apartment is almost painful. Though it bothers me that she doesn’t have a scent. Everything has one, even gargoyles. But it’s as if she’s a vacuum.

  “Brothers, our new neighbor is visiting. We’re going to have a long talk with her. She can smell angels.” I mentally send out as we approach the door.

  “Is this wise?” Gideon’s concerned voice flows through my mind.

  “She saw me partially shift. It wasn’t intentional.” I hold back a growl.

  “Maybe we’ll find out what she is. She must suspect you’re not human. Since she isn’t either, maybe she’ll tell us.” Donavan is always the optimist.

  I roll my eyes as I open the door. Inviting her into our inner space is dangerous, but I couldn’t help myself. She’s mine, even if she doesn’t know it yet. It is going to be difficult to break the news to my brothers. We have always shared everything.

  I step aside and allow her to enter before me as I hold the door open. Donavan and Gideon watch her enter from the couch as I close the door behind us.

  “How the hell did you find my mate?” Donavan screams in my brain.

  “No, she’s my mate, brother.” I glare at him.

  “I think she is for all three of us.” Gideon growls. “How did I not notice yesterday? It’s so apparent.”

  “Well, fuck.” I say out loud.

  “We can’t scare her off. We need to keep this to ourselves.” I raise an eyebrow at both of them.

  “Fuck what?” Ash looks at me, her blue eyes searching my own for an answer.

  “Nothing, sweet cheeks.” I chuckle. “I just remembered something I forgot.”

  “Oh smooth.” Donavan rolls his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips.

  “So… who’s going to tell me what’s going on here?” Ash puts her hands on her hips and inspects the three of us, her eyes widening. “And why didn’t you warn me there was a third?”

  “Eh, sorry about that. I guess I’m just used to being a triplet.” I rub the back of my neck. “Have a seat and we can tell each other what we are. Because I can’t for the life of me figure you out.”

  She scrunches her eyebrows together but saunters over to the couch and perches on the end. I follow and plop in the soft brown leather armchair facing her.

  Donovan is sitting next to her and a concerned look crosses his face. He leans closer and sniffs her shoulder, causing Ash to jump up.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” She glares at him.

  “Uh sorry. It’s just…” He runs his hand through his neatly cropped brown hair. “You don’t smell of anything. You’re not a human, witch, angel, or demon. What the hell are you?”

  “You can smell the difference?” Her glare fades as she sits back down and points a finger at him. “Smell me again and I’ll smack you.”

  “If you knew what I was, you wouldn’t threaten that.” He grins cheekily.

  “What are you?” She cocks her head to the side and leans forward and sniffs him.

  “Hey!” Donovan covers his chest and appears thoroughly offended.

  “Fair is fair.” She crosses her arms over her chest.

  “What did you smell?” I ask, curious if it’s the same as with the angel.

  “Earthy, like an old forest. Though I don’t know why that image came to mind. I’ve never been to a forest.” She smacks her mouth as she covers it. “Ignore me.”

  “We are gargoyles.” I meet her eyes to judge her reaction.

  Her skin blanches and she stands up suddenly. “I should go. This is too much.”

  “Wait!” Gideon jumps up. “We told you our secret, now it’s time for you to share yours. What are you? I promise, we won’t hurt you.”

  “You can’t promise that.” She shoots daggers at him. “What if I’m something that disrupts the balance? Then you have no choice but to kill me.”

  Donovan slips off the couch and blocks her exit. It feels wrong trapping her here, but we need to know. She brings up an interesting point. What if she’s something that shouldn’t exist? We can’t harm her… she’s our mate, though it’s apparent she doesn’t have the same pull we do. What would that mean for us?

  “Ash, there’s nothing you could be that would make us kill you.” Gideon meets her eyes.

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” She turns towards the door and growls when her eyes land on Donovan. “Fine. We’ll do this the hard way.”

  Thick black horns sprout from the top of her head as her eyes bleed to an inky black. She launches herself forward as Donovan shifts to avoid being harmed.

  She’s a demon? But she doesn’t smell like one… that can’t be right. “What are you?” I ask. “I don’t want to scare you further, but I can promise on everything we stand for there is nothing in the world that could make us hurt you.”

  “Stop lying. You’re gargoyles. That means you are bound to protect the balance.” She crosses her arms over her chest and eyes me warily.

  “What could you have done to mess with the balance?” I push a little harder. “From the way I see it, all you’re doing is living here. There’s nothing that says you can’t do that.”

  “I can’t say.” She shakes her head, her eyes hardening.

  “Ok, cut the shit.” Gideon steps forward. “You don’t smell like a demon. That classic sulfur smell isn’t there at all. We know you can’t be one. So what are you?”

  “I don’t know what I am, but Lilith kicked me out of hell because I shouldn’t exist.” The fight rushes out of her as confusion flashes across her face.

  She crumples to her knees and my chest begins aching. I want to rush forward and profess my undying love to her. But it isn’t the appropriate time. We need to approach this wisely. We can’t scare her away.

  “Don’t look at me!” She covers her face. “These stupid emotions are making me appear weak.”

  “You’re a halfling?” Donovan drops to his knees in front of her. I didn’t even notice he shifted back. I was so consumed with her.

  “Apparently my mother was meeting someone in this area around the time I was conceived. I passed for demon for the first part of my life, but when she died…” Her voice trails off and tears fall down her face.

  “Emotions don’t make you weak. There’s strength in them. Have you not felt them before?” Donavan reaches forward and she swats his hand away.

  “Not until my mother died.” She wipes at her face.

  That confirms it. Demons can’t cry. They also reek of sulfur. How did she hide that? It doesn’t matter, but it does compli
cate things. She’s right. Ordinarily we would be tasked with erasing her existence. What a mess we are in. There’s one thing for sure, fate has strange plans. A being who isn’t allowed to exist mated with the ones who should erase her existence. The one thing that would ensure she could stay safe.

  “The universe obviously has big plans for you, darling.” Gideon approaches her from behind. “You came to the one place that would ensure your survival.”

  8

  Ash

  How do you fight stone? These men can shift at a moment's notice. We were all taught about gargoyles growing up. They are the keepers of balance. A halfling shouldn’t exist because it will affect that balance. Neither side can be allowed to grow too powerful and they make sure of it. Yet here they are saying they won’t hurt me.

  “Why would being with you ensure my safety?” I pivot and meet Gideon’s deep brown eyes.

  “If I told you, I’m afraid you would run.” His voice grows husky, causing my core to clench. Why do these men affect me so much?

  “Now you have to tell me.” I raise an eyebrow. What could he possibly say that would make things any worse than they already are in my life?

  “Gideon, stop.” Josiah growls.

  I stand up and stalk towards him. Who does this man think he is? My emotions start swirling between fear and anger. Hell, the worst they can do is kill me, and Gideon is insistent they can’t do that.

  “Why don’t you want to tell me?” I stop inches in front of his face. “Scared I won’t be able to handle it? Or are you protecting some weird gargoyle secret that halflings can’t know about?”

  “Ash, you don’t want to provoke him.” Donovan pulls on my arm. “We all have secrets here. I mean, we did just meet. Why don’t we change the subject? So, did you know it was an angel you were smelling outside?”

  “Wait what?” I pivot around to face Donovan. “When?”

  “The rotten meat smell was an angel. Unfortunately, we can’t see them until they make themselves visible. But the smell they can’t hide.” He winks at me before sauntering over to the couch and plopping down.