“If the demon was never here, then we never had the chance to do so,” Spar reasoned. “It appears that the cell here was funneling power to the Defiler through a remote connection. The demon itself remains in hiding and guarded by the cult. While that means we did not force it back to the abyss, it also means it still lacks the strength to confront us. Believe me, if it had been able, it would have joined us on that island and attempted to consume us all. With so much magical power gathered in one place, it would not have been able to resist. That means we still have time.”
Kees nodded. “Time to continue locating the rest of the brethren and to gather whatever Wardens might still remain to our sides.”
Ella glanced at Wynn with a sympathetic expression. “No leads yet on your brother, I’m afraid, but I promise I won’t stop looking.”
Wynn offered a crooked half smile. “I know, Ella. Thank you.”
“On a more positive note, I do have some interesting information about a statue that sounds very familiar.” Kees and Spar looked at Ella hopefully. She just continued to grin at Wynn. “How do you feel about checking it out for me?”
The witch looked surprised. “Why me?”
“A little birdie told me you’re not from around here, that you actually live in Chicago,” Ella said. “Don’t you think it would be a good time now to take a trip home?”
“You think there’s a Guardian in Chicago?”
“I think that’s just exactly what I want you to find out.”
* * *
Fil enjoyed seeing everyone, especially seeing them all alive and unhurt, but she didn’t protest when Jamie returned to shoo them out. They had made their plans—Wynn would tie up the loose ends of her position at the university and head back to Chicago as soon as possible, while Kees and Ella returned to Vancouver to pick up the trail of the missing Wardens—but Fil needed time alone with Spar. She needed to have him to herself for a little while longer.
And she needed to tell him what was really in her heart.
She waited while he closed the door behind her visitors, smiling at him when he returned to her side. Rather than perch on the narrow slice of mattress at the side of the bed, he pulled up a chair and sat, leaning forward to clasp Fil’s hand in his.
She squeezed his fingers and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. She had so many things she wanted to tell him. She wanted him to know that her heart was his, that it didn’t matter how much or how little time they would have together, that it didn’t matter that she knew he would have to leave her one day. Fil needed him to know that she was tired of being afraid of what life would be like without him. All she wanted to do was savor each moment they had together and store up the memories to keep her warm when they had to part.
None of the words would come, though. All she was able to manage was a whispered, teary, “I love you.”
“And I love you,” he murmured, “sweet little human. I will love you until the end of time. So why do you cry? Does love not make you happy?”
“Of course it does,” she sniffled. “It makes me ecstatic, but it also makes me miserable, because one day you’re going to be gone, and my heart is going to shatter into a billion tiny pieces that will never fit back together again.”
Already feeling the cracks, Fil turned her face into her pillow and wept.
“Felicity. Felicity, sweetness, no. Hush.”
She felt his arms come around her, felt him gather her up and slide into the bed to cuddle her in his lap. She clung to him like a kitten, curling her fingers into his skin and holding on tight. Her tears soaked though the material of his shirt, turning the light-gray color almost slate. He held her gently to him and pressed his cheek against her hair. He crooned soft, soothing nonsense words and simply stroked and petted her until she lay limp and exhausted, but quiet, in his arms.
“Now,” he murmured, shifting to lean back until he could look into her swollen, red eyes. “What is this ridiculous belief you have that makes you think I would ever leave your side? I have claimed you as my mate, Felicity. You are mine, and I will be by your side for the rest of our lives.”
A fresh wave of tears threatened, and Fil had to bite her cheek to force them back. “You know as well as I do that’s impossible, Spar,” she said, forcing the words past the tightness in her throat. “You might be immortal, but I’m not, and one of these days you’re going to win this battle and go back to sleep until the next time you’re summoned. I love you, and I’m going to keep loving you even while you’re sleeping, but I’m going to get old, and eventually I’m going to die.”
“As will I, my sweet mate. I will not return to sleep, not now that I have found you. Like the first of my kind, I will remain with you until we each have grown old, and we will pass from this life together.”
Hope made Fil lift her head, but confusion made her shake her head at Spar. Then, of course, pain made her grimace, but she was too tough to let that keep her from dragging an explanation from her cryptic Guardian.
“Spar, what are you talking about? Since when do you get a choice about sleeping and waking? I thought Guardians could only wake when they were summoned, and that they had to go back to sleep as soon as the threat they were summoned to face had been defeated. For Pete’s sake, you’re the one who explained it to me! Well, you and Ella.”
“And did Ella not explain to you the story of the first Guardians?”
“What. Bloody. Story?” She gritted the words out through clenched teeth.
“Ah, perhaps this will make everything clear.”
Pulling her back against his chest, Spar cradled Fil in his arms and proceeded to blow her mind. He told her the story of the first Guardians, about how their stony hearts had not cared about the humans they had been summoned to protect, and about how after many battles, their apathy had led them to ignore the summons of the Wardens. He explained how the Darkness had threatened to take over the whole of the earth until one day a woman of power had knelt at the feet of a Guardian and prayed to the Light to wake the protectors of humanity once again. He explained how the Guardian had broken free of his statue-cage and claimed the woman as his mate, and he explained how the same thing happened until nine Guardians had claimed nine human women of power as their own.
Then, while her jaw practically bounced off her knees, Spar explained how when the battle was won, those first Guardians refused to return to sleep and be parted from their mates. He told her how the Guild had been forced to release them from their service and summon new Guardians to take their place.
“From that point on, anytime a Guardian has found his true mate and claimed her as his, the magic has released him from his service and granted him a mortal life to live with his beloved.”
Fil heard the words, but she could hardly believe them. After all the time she’d spent trying not to love him, fearing the pain she would feel when he left her, now he was telling her that he didn’t have to leave? That they could be together for the rest of their lives?
“Are you serious?” she asked, her voice trembling almost as hard as the hand she lifted to his face. “Can you really stay with me? Can we really be together like normal people and have a life together? No crazy naps and stone sleeping bags?”
Spar chuckled and pressed a kiss to her palm. “I am serious. You are my mate, Felicity, and even the power of the Light must bow to the ultimate magic of love.”
She felt a smile begin to stretch her lips as her heart threatened to burst inside her chest. “You love me,” she breathed, and she wanted to laugh with the sheer, encompassing joy of it.
“And you love me,” he answered, his own smile wide and bright and full of promise for their future together.
Their wide-awake future.
“I do,” Fil said. This time she did laugh, the sound bubbling up like springwater, fresh and pure and clean. The look in her eyes, though? She had a feeling that might be just the slightest bit dirty. “Want me to show you how much?”
Spar chuckled a
nd a glint of fang peeked out from between his lips. “I do, but I want you to get well even more, little one. That way, once you have recovered from your injuries, you can show me with great—”
He stole a heated kiss.
“—attention—”
Another, and this one had her toes curling inside her hospital-issued gray socks.
“—to detail.”
His final kiss left her breathless, with her head spinning from more than a simple, if pesky, concussion. Only the way the pain of her injuries bit through the blessed veil of her mediation when she reached to wrap her arms around him returned her to sanity.
“Fine,” she pouted, seeing the way his eyes narrowed when he detected the signs of her discomfort in the lines around her eyes and mouth. “But if I’m going to have to wait, I expect you to be coming up with some creative ways to show me how much you love me back.”
Spar chuckled and rose, shifting to deposit her gently back on her hospital bed. “Oh, sweet little human,” he purred, bracing his hands on either side of her head and leaning over her with his expression full of love and heat. “I have existed for more than a thousand years. I have ways of showing you that you couldn’t possibly have dreamed existed.”
“Hm, I can hardly wait.”
He kissed her softly, his mouth lingering on hers for a moment before he brushed his lips across her cheek in a touch full of tender promise. “Patience, my love,” he whispered. “We have a lifetime together to explore.”
“A lifetime,” Fil echoed, sighing happily. “That might do. To start.”
Don’t miss these novels of The Others from New York Times bestselling author
Christine Warren
Hungry Like a Wolf
Drive Me Wild
On the Prowl
Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale
Black Magic Woman
Prince Charming Doesn’t Live Here
Born to be Wild
Big Bad Wolf
You’re So Vein
One Bite with a Stranger
Walk on the Wild Side
Howl at the Moon
The Demon You Know
She’s No Faerie Princess
Wolf at the Door
And look for her novellas in the anthologies
The Huntress
No Rest for the Witches
From St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Also by
Christine Warren
Heart of Stone
Hungry Like a Wolf
Drive Me Wild
On the Prowl
Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale
Black Magic Woman
Prince Charming Doesn’t Live Here
Born to be Wild
Big Bad Wolf
You’re So Vein
One Bite with a Stranger
Walk on the Wild Side
Howl at the Moon
The Demon You Know
She’s No Faerie Princess
Wolf at the Door
Anthologies
The Huntress
No Rest for the Witches
Praise for the first novel in this sizzling new series from New York Times bestselling author
CHRISTINE WARREN
Heart of Stone
“The opening of Warren’s hot, new paranormal series is a snarky, creative, and steamy success that delights new and longtime fans alike.”
—RT Book Reviews (4 stars)
“The sexual attraction … is palpable.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Steamy scenes, mixed with an intriguing story line and a hearty helping of snarky humor.”
—Reader to Reader
“A rousing first act that sets the boundaries of this engaging urban fantasy.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Fast-paced with characters you’ll love, and even some you’ll love to hate, Heart of Stone is another winner for author Christine Warren!”
—Romance Reviews Today
Praise for New York Times bestselling author
CHRISTINE WARREN
and the Others series
DRIVE ME WILD
“Warren is back with another sexy, sassy romp, focusing this time on the oh-so-sensuous Rafael De Santos. As always, there is a great deal of humor, sizzling sex, and off-the-wall adventure in Warren’s Others series, which makes for a truly lively, amusing read.”
—Romantic Times
“Christine Warren sets the pages ablaze once again with Drive Me Wild!”
—Joyfully Reviewed
ON THE PROWL
“Christine Warren brings her blend of humor, romance, and thrilling mystery to On the Prowl.”
—Fresh Fiction
“Christine Warren has created an incredible, alluring world and then populated it with the most amazing heroes and heroines. Never a disappointment, Christine Warren continues to dazzle our senses with her books of the Others.”
—Single Titles
NOT YOUR ORDINARY FAERIE TALE
“Warren has made a name for herself in the world of paranormal romance. She expertly mixes werewolves, vampires, and faeries to create another winning novel in The Others series. Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale showcases Warren’s talents for creating consistent characters with strong voices and placing them in a fantastical world.”
—Romantic Times
“Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale is a delightful read from the first word to the last. Christine Warren has created two amazing characters, given them an incredible plot, and laced the story with witty conversations, lots of snark, and a hefty portion of danger.”
—Single Titles
“Christine Warren merges lust, laughter, and intrigue magnificently in her latest installment of The Others. Not Your Ordinary Faerie Tale is a fun and fast faerie adventure.”
—Joyfully Reviewed
BLACK MAGIC WOMAN
“Excitement, passion, mystery, characters who thoroughly captivate, and a satisfying romancemake [it] a must-read.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Will capture your senses and ensnare your imagination. Another great novel from Christine Warren.”
—Single Titles
“Sexy, action-packed romance!”
—Joyfully Reviewed
PRINCE CHARMING DOESN’T LIVE HERE
“Christine Warren’s The Others novels are known for their humorous twists and turns of otherworldly creatures. Like her other Others novels, Prince Charming Doesn’t Live Here is an excellently delicious story with great characterization.”
—Fresh Fiction
BORN TO BE WILD
“Warren packs in lots of action and sexy sizzle.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
“Incredible.”
—All About Romance
“Warren takes readers for a wild ride.”
—Night Owl Romance
“Another good addition to The Others series.”
—Romance Junkies
“[A] sexy, engaging world … will leave you begging for more!”
—New York Times bestselling author Cheyenne McCray
BIG BAD WOLF
“In this world … there’s no shortage of sexy sizzle.”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
“Another hot and spicy novel from a master of paranormal romance.”
—Night Owl Romance
“Ms. Warren gives readers action and danger around each turn, sizzling romance, and humor tolighten each scene. Big Bad Wolf is a must-read.”
—Darque Reviews
YOU’RE SO VEIN
“Filled with supernatural danger, excitement, and sarcastic humor.”
—Darque Reviews
“Five stars. This is an exciting, sexy book.”
—Affaire de Coeur
“The sparks do fly!”
—Romantic Times BOOKreviews
About the Author
Born and raised in coastal New England, Christine Warren now lives as
a transplant in the Pacific Northwest (she completely bypassed those states in the middle due to her landlocking phobia). When not writing (as if that ever happens), she enjoys horseback riding, playing with her pets, identifying dogs from photos of their underbellies, and most of all reading things someone else had to agonize over. She enjoys hearing from readers and can be reached via email sent to [email protected].
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
STONE COLD LOVER
Copyright © 2014 by Christine Warren.
All rights reserved.
For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
www.stmartins.com
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
eISBN: 9781466841802
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / September 2014
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Stone Cold Lover Page 26
