by Scarlet Dawn
He hummed quietly. “That’s close, in a human’s point of view. But what you’re not viewing is the shifters or wizards side. What makes us uniquely us.” He raised both brows. “Like me for example. I am a predator. How do predators act in the wild?”
“This isn’t the wild. This is Woodland Creek, Indiana.”
“Exactly. Can you imagine an actual lion set loose in our town?” He shook his head. “Honestly, the way shifters behave is far better than what it could be. We have the intelligence of a human, but the instincts of a magical being. I think what you honestly don’t like is the fact that you’re not the top of the food chain.”
My lips pinched as I glared.
He merely shrugged a shoulder. “Tell me, Kennedy. Jonathan said you had found faith recently. Was this when you found out about the people really living around you?”
I ground my teeth together. “Yes.”
“Was it because you were scared?” A black brow lifted. “Were you afraid you would die with all of the wild creatures around you?”
I snapped, “I would be stupid not to think about that.”
He nodded his head, his fingers running over my skin in a soothing brush. “So tell me again. Why do you really hate shifters and wizards?”
I tapped my own fingers on the table in irritation. “You guys still kill innocents.”
He shook his head. “It isn’t as common as you think. Any real skirmishes that end with a dead body normally have a backstory that explains the situation—more times than not. Most of our kind are good people here. We protect what is ours, and if the humans can’t keep up with a fight they start, then it is their own misfortune.”
My nose crinkled…somewhat understanding that.
“This is the world you live in, Little One. You either adapt or get left behind.”
I dug a fingernail into the wood of the table. “I still don’t like it.”
“But that’s the way it is.” He leaned down and kissed my temple gently. “And you’ve done fine so far. Especially with the knowledge you hold. No one ever came to me with the worry of a human knowing about us. You hid your gifted power well.” Another soft brush of his warm lips against my flesh. “Just like we have to hide who we are.”
I tilted my face toward him, our mouths close together. My gaze ran over his plush mouth, unable to look away. “Why do you hate humans?”
“I don’t hate them. I just find most of them to be a nuisance.”
“Because you have to hide what you are?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” I leaned forward on auto-desire-pilot. “That makes sense.”
His Gargoyle huffed quietly. “Do you hate me?”
“No. You may play too many games for my taste, but I don’t hate you.” My lips curved up at the edges. “But you already know that.”
“Yes, I do,” he whispered. His head tilted forward the rest of the way. He pressed his lips against mine, kissing me sweetly. Smooth glides of heated caresses. He eventually tipped his head back. “I don’t find you to be a nuisance either.”
“That’s good to know.” My eyes lifted to his, my gaze twinkling in amusement. “But I’m still not telling you what else the wizard said.”
He snickered. “Not yet, anyway.”
Mrs. Stone cleared her throat. Loudly. “Do you two want bread with this?”
Our attention jerked in her direction. We blinked a few times, staring at her.
Finn whistled again, glancing between us. “Maybe Hanna had the right of it.”
“That’s bullshit!” Mandy griped. She pointed a finger at her chest. “I find a wizard I want to be with and the family says no. But a human walks into our home making googly eyes with Isaac and we all agree she might be a good fit for him? Hell no!”
Finn took a calm tone at her outburst. “It was Hanna, Mandy.”
“I don’t care!” Her chin trembled as she stood to her feet. “Vince isn’t a bad guy.”
I watched as everyone went mute inside the kitchen, not even glancing at her.
“He is not!” Her attention snapped to her oldest brother. “Isaac, tell them he’s not.”
Isaac’s head teetered back and forth. “He does have issues.”
“They aren’t that bad.”
His black brows rose. “He feeds on energy directly from the ley-lines.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “That’s not illegal.”
Slow words. “But it will make him go insane.”
Her shoulders sagged. She opened her mouth, but eventually closed it. She whispered, “I’m going to bed.” Her footsteps were silent as she exited the kitchen.
Mrs. Stone’s narrowed gaze followed her daughter as she left, but eventually, peered back to us. She broke the tense silence that had draped over the room. “Bread with your lasagna?”
I cleared my throat. “That would be lovely.” My stomach growled as she set our plates in front of us. My eyes gleamed at the delicious food before me. I peered up at her and stated gratefully, “I’m starving. Thank you so much.”
She stared…before her lips twitched. “Yes, I’m sure you worked up an appetite.”
“Mom,” Isaac muttered in exasperation.
I ignored their by-play and lifted my fork. But I paused with it in the air. I glanced at Isaac and covertly wiggled my nose at him.
He chuckled quietly. “It’s fine. Go ahead.”
“Thank God,” I hummed and dug in.
Mrs. Stone took her daughter’s vacated seat. She placed her hands on the table, clasping them gently together. “So Isaac has informed us all about you and how you came to see us as you do.” She tilted her head to me. “But what I would like to know is your family. What can you tell me about them?”
“That they’re shit and the only one worth a damn was my deceased grandmother.” She wanted honesty. I was going to give it to her. “I left home at eighteen and I haven’t looked back. My father’s in jail and my mother shoots heroin. I stay as far away from them as possible.” I blinked. “I also used to drink, but I no longer do. Before I knew about shifters and wizards, I got drunk one night and visited the clock tower.” I glanced at each one of them. “You may remember me. I fell off the side of the building.”
All three went as still as their posing Gargoyle.
Isaac asked delicately, “I do remember that night. How did you survive?”
“Well, since no Gargoyle swooped down to save me,” a flicked glare at him, “a wizard took it upon himself to catch my falling ass. It was the night I received my special gifts.”
Isaac blinked. “Sorry about that.”
I waved my fork in the air. “I actually understand. No need to save a stranger who had just accosted you.” I peeked up. “Please tell me that was you and not one of your brothers.”
His lips twitched. “It was me.”
I sighed in relief. “That would have been awkward.”
“Back to my questions.” Mrs. Stone rapped her knuckles on the table. “What made you pick Woodland Creek to move to?”
“Aren’t you going to ask first where I moved from?”
She smiled. It wasn’t nice.
I blinked. “Oh, you already did a background check.”
Isaac chuckled softly. “She is my mother.”
“I noticed.” I turned my eyes back to her. “Truthfully?”
She nodded. “Yes. I find it curious an eighteen-year-old would move to Woodland Creek from Miami. Our town isn’t exactly a hot spot for youngsters.”
I pointed at her. “That’s why I moved here. I wanted to get away from all the craziness. I had plenty of that at home.” I shrugged. “And the town is absolutely gorgeous. It’s where I always pictured a ‘perfect’ family living. Not that there is such as a thing as a ‘perfect’ family, but I wanted to start somewhere fresh that gave me good vibes.”
“And Woodland Creek gave you,” she sniffed, peering down her nose at me, “good vibes?”
“It did.” I ate a bite of her supe
rb cooking. “Up until I plunged to my death.”
She blinked, her words dry. “Yes, that would do it.”
I grinned at her. “Thank God for that wizard, right?”
Mrs. Stone actually chuckled, running her eyes over my features. “Nicely done, Ms. Kirk.” She glanced at her son. Shrugged a shoulder. “She’s not entirely ideal, but she’s not horrible either.” She lifted from her chair and walked from the kitchen.
I stuffed another bite into my mouth and turned my gaze to Isaac. With a mouth full of awesomeness, I mumbled, “I think I got your mom’s approval.”
He snickered softly. “I think you did, too.” He nodded to my food and waggled his black brows. “Hurry up and eat. I want to get back to bed.”
Finn groaned and jumped from his chair. “Where the hell are your earbuds at?”
“Where the fuck are you?” Rachel complained over the line. “You just disappeared and you haven’t answered any of our calls for a week!”
I held my cell phone to my ear and lifted a finger to Mandy. “Just give me a second.” Mandy nodded her head and continued flipping through the black, ancient book we were studying again. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t have my phone on me and I went out of town.” I hated lying to her but it just didn’t make sense to say I was holed up in the Mayor’s house. “I just got back into town and turned it on.” Really, Isaac had gone to my apartment and bagged up a few of my essential belongings…though I was still wearing all of his sweatpants. They were soft and comfortable.
Her exasperated huff filled my ear. “Where did you go?”
“To my grandma’s grave.” That would stop her line of questioning. “It had been a while.”
“Oh.” She paused. “I think you lost your job at the florist. They called me.”
Shit. “I had you down as an emergency contact.”
She hummed softly. “Well, do you want to meet up later? You won’t believe the news about Jackie.”
My eyes widened. “What news?”
“She has a boyfriend!” she squealed. She sped on, words just tumbling out. “The guy she slept with that night? Well, he found her and asked her out. And she said yes!”
“Oh, my God.” I smiled, hearing the glee in her voice. “What’s his name?”
“Michael something. I can’t remember his last name, but he is gorgeous!”
I laughed softly. “Good for her.”
“I know, right? Anyway, we’re going to a movie tonight. Come with us.”
My smile instantly faltered. “I can’t tonight. I’m exhausted from the trip.” I glanced at the book, praying it held the answers to our problems—soon. “Maybe next weekend?”
Rachel growled quietly under her breath, but she mumbled, “I understand. I’ll let Jackie know.”
“Thank you,” I murmured. “And tell her I’m excited to meet her new boy-toy.”
She laughed. “Will do.” A pause. “I’ve got to go. She’s calling on the other line.”
“Okay. I’ll call you later.” I hung up and placed my phone on the table. I leaned closer to Mandy, peering over her shoulder. “Find anything yet?”
She snorted. “All it talks about are silver and orange bringing permanent darkness.”
“Yeah, I read that, too.” I pulled my hair up into a ponytail. “Could it mean a shifter? There are tons of creatures that are orange.”
“But not many that are silver, too. And none that have the power to do this.”
Isaac walked into the living room, sporting a pair of running shorts and tennis shoes. His tan skin was damp with sweat. He smirked, catching me checking him out. “Did you discover anything new yet?”
“No,” I grumbled, more than grouchy on that topic. “Absolutely zilch.”
He hummed and sat behind me, pressing his heated side against mine.
My nose crinkled. “You smell like the outdoors.”
“Well, I just ran seven miles.” He chuckled softly. “You didn’t seem to mind how I looked when I walked in.”
“That was before you sat down next to me.” I pinched my nose, teasing him. “Thank goodness I don’t have a Gargoyle’s sense of smell.”
He sniffed in my direction, his lips twitching. “Ah, but I can scent how much you want me.”
Mandy grunted. Waved a hand in front of her face. “Quit flirting with her. It makes it worse.”
My jaw gaped and heat flooded my cheeks. “You guys don’t need to bring it up!”
Isaac snickered, leaning to kiss my rosy flesh. “But you blush so pretty when I do.”
I slapped at his hand creeping on my thigh. “Stop it. Or your sister will run away to smell daisies or some shit.”
Mandy choked on a laugh but didn’t glance in our direction. She did point at the page. “It says here that the owner of the book will know where to look.”
“The owner is dead, though. That doesn’t help any.” I sighed heavily.
She shook her head, peering at me. “You’re the owner of the book now.”
I stared. Blinked. “We’re even more screwed then because I have no clue.”
Her Gargoyle huffed. “Think. Where would you look?”
I snorted. “If it were shifters or wizards, I wouldn’t. You guys terrify me.”
She stared. “That doesn’t help much.”
The three of us sat silent for a full minute in thought.
“Wait…maybe it does.” My brows puckered. The wizard had said ‘When it’s time, you will hand over that knowledge.’ I lifted the book from Mandy’s hands and hesitantly turned to Isaac. Because if this worked, then what I was feeling for him was real—not just lust. I licked my lips and slowly held the book out to him. “I want you to have this.”
Black brows quirked. “Why?”
I shook my head. “It was something the wizard said.” I wiggled the book at him. “I want you to have it.”
A gradual blink. “Are you sure?”
“I have faith you’ll do what is right. I trust you. I kept it safe and now you can.” And I did. He was a good man—for a shifter.
“Okay.” He lifted the book from my hands, his green gaze on my blue eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I coughed in the uncomfortable quiet and quickly glanced down at the book and pointed at the page. “Do you see anything that might help us?”
“I’ve looked at it twenty times—”
“Just look again.” More finger pointing. “Do you see anything?”
His brows furrowed, but he peered down to the page.
I saw when his gaze sharpened, the slight narrowing of his lovely eyes. He tilted his head forward, muttering, “There’s a smudge. It wasn’t here before.” He ran the pad of his right thumb on the edge of the sheet. I couldn’t see the ‘smudge’ he was referring to, but his eyes scowled at whatever he viewed. “Holy fuck…”
“What?” I asked instantly, staring where he was and seeing not a damn thing.
His head gradually turned in slow increments. Until his eyes landed on Mandy. His lips thinned as he asked quietly, “Where’s Vince?”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Vince. Where is he?”
“Why?”
He snapped the book shut. “Because your boyfriend has finally lost his damn mind.”
Stone arms held me in the dead of night. The wind rushed hard, beating the back of my head. My face was pressed against Isaac’s stone throat as he flew through the air toward Running Deer State Forest. To the crossing ley-lines. His family flew behind him in a solid front against a wizard gone rogue, even Mandy in her heartbroken state of mind.
I kept my arms wrapped around his neck tight, my bag crushed between us. I occasionally gripped one of his small horns on his forehead, as I would turn to see if we were getting close. Mandy’s boyfriend had officially gone off the rails. She had suspected it, been worried about it, but hadn’t mentioned it to anyone. And, now, we were dealing with an insane, powerful wizard, thanks to him feeding off of the ley
-lines.
As we landed, I kept my grunt from the impact at bay. Isaac had agreed to let me go with him, but only if I kept silent until we found Vince. He hadn’t wanted me to leave the protection of his house, but I explained the wizard had stated he and I were going to take down the night.
I hoped that meant darkness because I sure as hell couldn’t twirl a finger and make night turn into day. I blinked as Isaac set me on my feet. I would have to ask him if there was a wizard actually powerful enough to do that. It would be good information to have for the future.
But I flinched as we started walking, the Stone family in full Gargoyle form. I gripped the strap of my red bag, heavy with the ancient book weighing it down, and waved a hand in front of my face as instant sweat began to bead my brow. The night was cool, so this wasn’t usual, the heat I felt radiating from the right…not the left where they were headed.
I waved a hand at Isaac, keeping my mouth shut.
His green, glowing gaze swung in my direction.
I lifted my hand and pointed to the right.
His ghastly head tilted in unspoken question.
So I rolled my eyes and pointed the way he was going. And shook my head.
Then I pointed to the right. And nodded my head.
I was playing a freaking kids game with a Gargoyle in a forest at midnight.
Yes, my life had flipped on its head when I had taken a nosedive from the clock tower.
When his family didn’t instantly do as I said, I turned on my heel and marched in the right direction. My lips twitched when Isaac was quickly by my side, walking so close our arms brushed. Smartly, his family followed along.
The farther we walked, the hotter I became.
Sweat drenched the back of my shirt, making me wish I hadn’t worn my light jacket. I watched where I stepped, careful not to snap any fallen twigs. The dried leaves couldn’t be missed, those crunching under my tennis shoes. Though the Gargoyles didn’t seem to have any problems with it, their footfalls silent—a true predator.
I peered down at my hands and crinkled my nose in pain. Blisters were popping up on my flesh. I placed a stopping hand on Isaac’s solid arm, catching his attention. With his gaze on me, I pointed at the clear evidence we were headed in the right direction…and that I couldn’t go any further without the risk of crying out in agony.
