Heart Of Stone

by Cynthia Eden

  He knew.

  “I was so happy to be free of Simon. And Eric seemed happy to be back with me, too. But then…then I found out just how he was punishing me for my absence. How he’d been punishing me every single day that I’d been gone.”

  Adam knew this part wasn’t going to be pretty. “How.” Not a question, a demand.

  “He hunts. He stalks. He kills.” Her voice was soft and sad. “Eric picks women that have some sort of similarity to me…maybe it’s the hair color or the shape of the woman’s face. Maybe it’s the sound of their voices, but each woman possesses some characteristic that reminds him of me. He takes those women. He hurts them. He kills them.” A tear leaked down her cheek. “Women are dying in my place because…”

  Adam stepped toward her. Touched her. He had to do it. His hand lifted and he wiped away that tear. Then his fingers lingered against her cheek. I don’t fucking like her tears. “If he’s so pissed at you, why not just kill you?” Adam hated asking that question.

  “I don’t know. He had the chance.” Her gaze held his. “The first night I went back to him, he could have killed me then. I was defenseless. Trusting.” Her chin notched up. “I slept in his bed.”

  The beast inside of Adam clawed harder. It wanted freedom.

  “He could have killed me while I slept. He didn’t. Instead, I woke up and I found myself walking through his house. It was like I was being pulled. It’s, uh, hard to explain, but I found myself in his study, and there…that’s where I found them.”

  Shit. She’d actually found the bodies?

  “I watch those crime shows on TV,” she murmured. “The agents say the killers collect trophies. That was what he’d done. Eric had made a trophy collection. He took jewelry from each woman. He put the jewelry in his safe.”

  “How did you get into his safe?”

  She gave a faint laugh. “The combination was the day we met.”

  Because you obsessed him.

  “Next question,” Adam growled. “Just how did you know the jewelry belonged to murdered woman? Maybe the guy had just bought it for you.”

  Sabrina shook her head. “I took a necklace from the safe, and as soon as I touched it, I had a flash of the victim’s aura. For just a moment, I could see it so clearly. It was bright with her pain and her fear. So much fear. I knew she’d been murdered. I touched a ring next. And I saw another woman’s aura. Bright with the same fear and pain. Horrible to see. It was the same thing with every piece of jewelry that I touched.”

  “Did he know what you’d found?”

  “Yes. Because I turned around, and Eric was there. Watching me. And smiling.”

  ***

  “That is a gorgeous ring.” Eric lifted her hand closer so that he could admire the ring. “Topaz…so distinct.”

  She didn’t speak. She did whimper.

  “Someone very special to me has eyes that match this ring. The London Blue Topaz…that’s what it’s known as in gem circles. Did you realize that was what you were wearing?”

  She tried to tug her hand free.

  He tightened his grip. “It’s a very rich and deep blue topaz color. Very, very desirable. Sabrina’s eyes are just like this…incredible.” He looked up at the blonde. A pale imitation of Sabrina. The woman staring so fearfully at him just didn’t burn with the fire—the bright light—that shone from within Sabrina. The light that always seemed to push him to do more. To be more. “I’ll be taking that ring.”

  She whimpered again. Blood had mixed with the red of her dress. He’d been very careful with her wounds. He hadn’t hit anything vital, not yet.

  “I saw her first tonight, before I came to the ball and met you. I gave her a little scare, just to remind her that I was close. I’m always close to her.”

  “Pl…please…let me go…”

  “Soon.” When he was done. “But let’s try a few things first.” The limo had slowed. A few moments later, the back door opened. If his driver caught the scent of blood filling the car, he didn’t so much as blink.

  Eric unfurled himself from the back of the limo. He turned back to the woman—

  She burst from the car. Shot out, screaming for help.

  He rolled his eyes. They were in a warehouse. His warehouse. There was no one around to help her.

  The driver didn’t move. Eric smiled at him. “Tony, I think I have a runner.”

  Again, the man’s expression didn’t alter. Not so much as a blink.

  “Gonna be a big night.” Eric rolled back his shoulders. The hunger for blood, for violence, swelled within him. He looked down at his hands, and for just an instant, he thought he saw claws where his fingernails should have been. But no, he didn’t have claws. He wasn’t a monster. “One hell of a night…”

  Eric gave chase. There was nothing like the thrill of the hunt.

  Sabrina had taught him that.

  She had taught him so many things…

  Chapter Four

  “How did you get away from him that night?”

  Sabrina’s lips trembled. “I still hold some sway over Eric. I convinced him that he needed to let me go, but I barely did it. My power over him had weakened, and I don’t know why or how. I couldn’t control him. I couldn’t inspire him.” There was no mistaking her fear. “So I fed him a line of bullshit that he bought. I lied my head off. I was able to convince him that by hurting me…by killing me…he’d lose all that he’d gained. I was his key. I had to stay safe.”

  Adam gave a grim nod, but he said, “You were—still are—playing with some serious fire.”

  “And I’ve been burned plenty of times. My magic held long enough for me to get the hell out of there but…” She shook her head. “He’s been following me. Always following me. Wherever I go, no matter how fast I run or how far, he’s there. And he lets me know…just like he did tonight. Attacks that aren’t fatal. More like taunts. But…right after each one…” Her gaze fell. “Another woman dies in my place.”

  Adam had his target’s name. He could get a picture of the guy off the Internet. If he had the man’s scent, though, fuck, yes, that would help even more. He could track Eric Foster so easily.

  “He’s about six foot two, two hundred pounds. Eric likes to work out. A lot. Says it clears his head. He has blond hair, hazel eyes. He looks…I don’t know. Normal. All-American. Harmless.” Her gaze lifted once more. “Charming.”

  “It’s the pretty faces that hide the worst monsters.”

  She sucked in a breath.

  Fuck, did she think he’d just called her—

  “I didn’t mean for him to become this way. I never imagined…look, the inspiration goes wrong, okay? I learned that early on. If I’m around someone who isn’t exactly, ah, stable, then things can get bad.” Her hand lifted and she tugged on her ear. “Like a freaking artist who thinks his ear is blocking his creative powers and it has to go.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “Or a poet who takes so many drugs his whole world goes dark. Don’t even get me started on the rock star who thought the needles would help him to feel his music better…”

  Adam cleared his throat.

  Her shoulders straightened. “I learned the signs to watch for, all right? The cracks in the auras. When I see those, I steer clear.”

  The same way she’d tried to steer clear of him at the ball? Because she was so sure her inspiration would go wrong with him? His eyes narrowed.

  “But you can’t see everything,” she told him with a sad shake of her head. “You can’t predict everything.”

  Fuck, no, you couldn’t. He knew that. And, sweetheart, yours wasn’t the pretty face I was talking about a few moments ago. Your pretty face isn’t hiding a monster. That was another woman, a very long time ago.

  A woman who’d made him into a monster, too. “Get some sleep.” He turned away from Sabrina.

  “Excuse me? That’s it? I give you my big confession and you just say for me to ‘get some sleep’ after that heartfelt reveal?”
<
br />   “Yes.” Because now he had a starting point. He went to his computer, typed on the keyboard, and a moment later, Eric Foster’s face appeared.

  I see you now.

  “Where—exactly—will I be sleeping?”

  “Pick a room.” Adam paused. “Mine’s the first one on the right.”

  “Okay…are you asking me to sleep in your room? Or telling me not to?”

  He didn’t fucking know. A muse in his bed…he was sure that would be something pretty unforgettable. So unforgettable she drove one sonofabitch absolutely mad.

  Madness. Was that a risk he wanted to take?

  Adam glanced back at her. The dress hugged her perfect body, her eyes were so deep…

  Dammit. He yanked at his shirt, sending buttons flying.

  Her eyes widened. “Um, Adam?”

  “You might not want to watch this part.”

  “Watch you stripping?” Her tongue swiped across her lower lip. “It’s not so bad…so far.”

  He dropped the shirt. His hands lowered.

  She kept watching.

  He stripped in front of her. And maybe he liked it when her eyes were on him. His cock sure liked having her staring. It grew even bigger for her.

  “What exactly are you—” Her voice was a bit husky.

  He marched for the French doors that led to the balcony. There was a reason he’d gotten this floor. Not just the fucking view. He yanked open the door and the scent of salty air hit him. For just a moment, he remembered sinking so fast beneath those waves…sinking like a stone.

  Fuck.

  “Adam, something’s wrong with your back.”

  She’d followed him, her steps silent since she’d ditched those sexy heels.

  He lifted his hands up toward the sky. The change was already sweeping over him. “Go back…inside.” His voice was guttural. Watching a man strip…yeah, she might have liked that part.

  Seeing a man become a beast? That was more the stuff of nightmares.

  Only she didn’t go back inside. He felt her coming closer and then her soft hands were on his back, brushing right along his shoulder blades. “Something is growing out of you.”

  He turned his head so that their eyes met. “Wings.”

  Her lips parted, dropping into an O. “What kind of shifter are you?”

  He hadn’t said he was a shifter, not exactly. He just hadn’t corrected the woman. He didn’t turn into a werewolf. Or a panther or even a shark.

  His beast was a different sort…

  “It feels…” She was running her fingers over the growing wing on his right shoulder. “Almost like stone.”

  Because it was. Because he was. He’d told her before that her power wouldn’t work on him…and it wouldn’t. Because inside, the heart that she said would get broken? It was stone. He was stone on the inside, but sometimes, that stone came out, too.

  “Go back…” His voice was deeper, almost booming. “Inside.”

  “Adam?”

  “I’m…hunting…”

  It happened then. He gave a deep, wrenching cry as the stone erupted, spreading to cover all of him. And as that stone spread, his body became something different. His face contorted. His teeth became fangs—a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. His back arched, curved, and his wings grew spikes along the edges. Soon the man he’d been was but a memory, and a big, stone monster stood in his place.

  “OhmyGod.”

  Adam shot off the balcony, taking flight into the air, and he didn’t look back.

  He didn’t want to see the horror on her face. He’d already seen it too many times with other people.

  ***

  She should close her mouth. Stop gaping. She should step away from the balcony and the thundering waves that she could hear below and she should get her butt back inside.

  Sabrina knew that. She also knew that she couldn’t take her gaze off the gargoyle that had just flown away from her.

  Holy hell. Holy sweet hell. Just…damn. An actual gargoyle. She’d never seen one of those before. Not in her very long life, and there were few creatures who’d lived as long as she had. Maybe a handful of vamps held that claim to fame…Luke…and his asshole twin brother, Leo. But not many others.

  The Greeks had put her on a pedestal so long ago. She’d lived the high life.

  Then she’d fallen off that pedestal. Fallen pretty hard. That happened, though, when you inspired the wrong warrior to attack and ransack the country.

  A gargoyle. She had not seen that one coming. But it would explain a few things. If the stories were true, gargoyles didn’t feel. Their hearts were truly locked in stone. And a heart that was locked away…

  Sabrina smiled. Adam hadn’t been bullshitting her. She didn’t have to worry about her power working the wrong way with him. He’d be immune to her charms.

  He’d be safe.

  And I’ll be safe with him. Finally, someone I don’t have to worry about.

  Except…the gargoyle had just flown away. He’d said he was going hunting, and she knew exactly who he was after. “Be careful!” Sabrina screamed after him. “Eric is more dangerous that you realize!”

  She’d wanted a hunter, wanted a guard but…

  I don’t want Adam hurt because of me.

  Then she blinked. He was made of stone. Literally. What could Eric do to him?

  Luke sent me the perfect protector. And she’d doubted him.

  Crap. She was going to owe the Lord of the Dark for this. Owe him big time.

  ***

  The scent of blood hit Adam…blood and fear. Fear was a particular favorite of the gargoyle’s, and it always drew him close. As Adam circled the city, that scent pulled him away from the bright lights. It pulled him away from the busy streets. It had him turning toward the warehouses.

  Not the prey I seek. Not—

  He heard a woman’s scream. It barely reached him. But his hearing…as the beast, it was so much stronger than any other paranormals. He maneuvered his body toward the sound, and a few moments later, he saw the building. And the name on that big, fat warehouse. Foster Technologies.

  Well, hell. Was he the greatest hunter in the world or what? A screaming woman, Foster Technologies…it didn’t take a genius to put those pieces together, not after the story Sabrina had given him.

  Eric hurt her…and then he killed a woman in her place.

  Looked like the guy was in a killing mood right then. Too bad that Adam was going to interrupt his plans.

  Adam slammed his heavy body down, breaking right through the roof of that warehouse. Wood and dust fell around him as he shot straight to the floor.

  His wings spread up around him. His gaze shot to the left, to the right.

  Guards came running at him. Men who were shouting. Humans with their guns. They lifted them up. They fired.

  Idiots. They were firing at stone. What kind of damage did they really think they were going to do? He swung out with his right wing, hitting two men. The impact was the equivalent of those fools running straight into a brick wall. They fell and didn’t get up.

  The third man kept firing at him. Firing, but backing away.

  The guy shouted, “What in the fuck are you?” Spittle flew from his mouth.

  Adam locked one claw-tipped hand around the fellow’s throat and lifted him high into the air. “I’m a delusion, obviously. A creation of your fear-riddled mind.” His voice echoed. “Because you are afraid, aren’t you?”

  The guy had pissed himself. A rotten odor.

  But only to be expected when a human confronted a monster face-to-face.

  “L-let me go.” A weak gasp. Probably all the human could manage because Adam was squeezing his throat.

  “I heard a woman scream. Where is she?”

  The guy’s eyes rolled to the right. Toward the door there.

  “Good job.” And he tossed the man back, barely hearing the thud as the human hit a nearby wall. Adam stepped forward and the floor broke a bit beneath him. That shit always ha
ppened. As a beast, he was too heavy to maneuver easily in any building. Still, he marched toward the door, cracking the floor as he went. Then Adam yanked that door open, ripping it right from its hinges.

  The woman wasn’t screaming any longer.

  And the scent of blood was very, very strong. Still alive? Or was I too late? Fuck. He hadn’t wanted to be too—

  He heard the squeal of tires. Someone was fleeing the scene…someone thought he was getting away.

  Wrong. Adam whirled toward the squealing tires, ignoring the coppery odor of blood, but he didn’t see a doorway or a hall. Just a wall. So Adam crashed right through that wall. Then another. Then—

  Outside.

  A limo was fish-tailing away from the warehouse. Driving hell fast, but still not fast enough. Not fast enough to escape me. Adam bounded into the air. His powerful wings flapped around him. Stone could fly…yeah, fucking amazing. In seconds, he’d caught that limo. He caught it by landing on its long hood, slamming down into it, and the impact of his body hitting the hood made the limo’s rear fly up into the air. A moment later, the vehicle crashed back down with a shuddering impact.

  The windshield cracked. The driver’s side door flew open, and a man in a black coat and pants—a driver’s uniform—burst out. He ran, screaming.

  Adam didn’t let him get far. Adam flew back into the air and came back down in front of his prey. “Boo.”

  The human screamed again. Louder. It was the response that Adam expected. “Where’s. Your. Boss?”

  “I’m right behind you, freak.”

  Adam spun around, dropping the driver. He hadn’t heard Eric Foster approach, but suddenly, the guy was right there. Impossible. My hearing is too strong. He couldn’t have gotten the drop on me. No way. No—

  Eric’s gaze swept over him. “Aren’t you something new? Made completely of stone? All the way inside? Or is that just some kind of hollow shell?”

  Eric’s face and voice showed no shock. It was as if he saw paranormal creatures every single day. What’s happening here? Then…screw it. So what if the guy had snuck up on him? Eric was about to die. “Ready for hell?” Adam lunged toward Eric. His hand raked toward the guy, claws out and—

  His claws went right through the other man. Right fucking through him. “What?”