by Tamsin Baker
I slow my breathing. I have to think with my head, not my fear.
Maybe I am acting too rashly? What am I really running away from? A man who would look after me sexually, financially, and if I allowed him to, emotionally as well.
Not that he is a man … and that is the problem.
Perhaps I need to wait, ask more questions. Running away from the prince just as the clock struck twelve was probably Cinderella’s greatest mistake.
I take a few more steadying breaths. I should have asked him more about his life last night. But the passion had simply overtaken me, and the need to sleep and rest had been unfightable.
The whole night had been magical, or something akin to it. I’d never felt anything like it before, and I am pretty sure I won’t ever feel the same thing again if I run away from this magical creature now.
But he turns into a stone statue!
I shake out my hands and roll my neck, the stiffness and pain in my body keeping me seated.
But at least he isn’t a real monster. Greg was a real monster. A fire-breathing asshole who liked to hurt me.
I somehow know that Roman would never hurt me. Of course, this doesn’t make any sense, yet my intuition is adamant. The way Roman looks at me … his very demeanor shouts “protector”. And after the life I’ve had, I could use some protecting.
Okay, maybe give it another night.
I force myself to my shaking legs once again, the pain constricting my ribs still there. Still painful, way too much to handle.
I take a step back towards the apartment and the pain eases a fraction. I straighten up taller, take another step, and the pain lessens again.
I force another step, then another, until I am back inside the brightly lit apartment building.
Happiness floods me as all the pain disappears and an artificial high floods my brain. I can breathe again!
Bill steps into the foyer behind me.
“Ma’am, would you like to return to the apartment?”
Oh, that’s right. I don’t even have a key!
“Thank you, Bill. I, I’m sorry about that.”
He inclines his head in an understanding way. “It’s fine. I found it quite confronting the first time saw it also.”
We ride up the long elevator ride, and Bill lets me back into the apartment.
I turn back around. “Oh … I, do you think I could order some food?”
He smiles properly this time. “Absolutely. Call room service on 202, and order anything you like. I know Roman and his brothers have a very limited diet, and I’m sure they’d like you to have all that you need.”
“Thank you.”
Yes, Roman hadn’t had much time to think about my needs yet. The way he told the story it was like he saw me, had to have me, and took me home without a second thought.
No time to think about what a human would need to eat.
A strange smile picks up my lips.
A human…
I never thought I’d be dating someone who wasn’t.
I pick up the phone and order whatever I can think of to eat and ask for the full menus to be sent up, too. There are still a few hours until sundown, and I need to eat and sleep.
Because tonight I have questions and I want them answered.
Chapter Five
Roman
She left me. Ran away as though I was the most horrible creature imaginable. Why would she do that? What had I done wrong?
As the hot, yellow sun fades into the distance amidst a splatter or red and orange hues, my heart aches from the day of regrets.
I should have done things so differently with Christiana. I should have wooed her, gotten to know her. She needed her questions answered, and I should have given her the time to get acquainted with what, and who I am.
Before I’d taken her to bed.
Instead, though, I rushed both of us into this life, this union, and I don’t even know if she wants me now.
My brothers stretch from their stony positions, and I stand up, strangely more comfortable than I had been yesterday. There is less pain, and I wanted to stand up and move around. Very unusual for me.
I jump up onto the roof and join my brothers in a circle.
“I need to go home.”
Nate grins. “Yeah, we know. You’re the one whose found his Beloved. I suppose your days of flying through the streets of New York with us are done.”
I force a smile to my face. I should be happy that I have Christiana, but all I could think about was the feelings that had flowed through me when she’d come to see me. So much pain, and panic.
From my own body? Or hers? I couldn’t tell. But she is calm now, and I believe she is in my home again.
“Yes. Back home tonight. No partying for me.”
My brothers smirk and head off on their night of carousing.
I step up onto the stone balustrade and stretch out my wings, hearing the cotton of my t-shirt rip as they expand and I lean forward, soaring through the air and climbing up, and up to my home.
I land, both feet on the balcony of my penthouse apartment, a strange caution-type feeling making me wonder what I will find when I get inside.
I step up to the glass door and push it open.
Christiana is sitting cross-legged on the couch, an array of food spread out before her.
“Roman.” Her tone is warm, her eyes soft, as she untangles herself from her blankets and makes her way over to me.
“Hi.” She smiles up at me, and I grab her with both hands, kissing her as passionately as I dare, sampling the sweetness of her mouth, all the while, a cold hand wraps around my heart.
Something is wrong.
“Are you all right?”
She doesn’t answer, but instead takes my hand and leads me to the couch, pulling me down beside her.
She looks me directly in the eye. “I’m not sure I can do this.”
I try not to laugh. “Do what?”
“Be with you.”
Now she is being silly. “But you are with me. What is hard about this?” I gesture to the room around us. “You have a beautiful home to live in, room service, personal guards. What else do you need, Christiana? Tell me and I will give it to you.”
She cocks her head. “I want to be able to see you during the day. Spend time with you.”
Did someone hit me in the head with a hammer? Because that’s what I feel like.
I open my mouth to answer, and nothing comes out.
I clear my throat and try again. “That is impossible, and not necessary.”
She looks down and away. “Then we aren’t going to work.”
Panic flutters in my heart, and yet I reach for the little bit of knowledge I have on unions. They were practically impossible to break, were they not?
“Christiana, we are linked now by something much stronger and greater than both of us. You cannot simply … stop wanting it to be there.”
She lifts her gaze, her eyes suspiciously shiny. “Is that what I was feeling today?”
Maybe all that pain and panic I was feeling had been hers. “What were you feeling?”
“When I tried to walk away from the library it felt like someone was squeezing my heart, trying to break my ribs. Shit, was it painful.”
I know what that felt like. I’d been experiencing something like that for most of the day.
I take both of her small hands in mine. “I don’t know if that was the union, or me. I could see you running away, and I was devastated. You may have been sensing my pain.”
Her eyebrows draw together in a furrowed frown. “What do you mean? How could you see me?”
I sigh. This is not good. I’ve hardly explained anything. “I really didn’t have time to tell you much about myself last night, did I?”
She shrugs. “Very little. I have so many questions.”
Questions are good. “Then ask them. That is the evil here, a lack of understanding and knowledge, not us. Not our union. We are meant to be, Christiana.�
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A tear drips onto her cheek, and she pulls her hand away from mine to wipe it away.
“All right. Tell me more about everything.”
“Well, to start with, I am fully conscious during the day. Even when frozen, I can hear and see everything going on around me.”
Her gaze snaps up to mine, obviously interested. “When do you sleep?”
“We don’t. The daytime hours are for our rest, and healing. We never actually sleep. We watch over the city. In the early years, we were like this city’s guardian angels. We would witness crimes during the day, and hunt down the culprits at night. But the city has gotten too busy, and my brothers and I are tired.”
She was nodding, obviously trying to absorb everything I was telling her.
“So I can never see you in the day. Ever.”
I run a hand through my hair. This is the one thing I could not change, even if I wanted to. It is what, and who, I am.
“I wish I could. Do you know how frustrating it is, to be locked inside a body that is frozen? To never feel the sun on your true skin? If I could take away this curse on my life I would. I promise. But it is the price I pay for immortality.”
She looks thoughtful, and far away. “But I…”
“Is being a creature of the night such a bad thing? In a city such as this? A city that never sleeps.”
“I suppose not. It’s just that I … am still struggling with all of this. A day ago I was a waitress and now…”
“You are my Beloved.”
She sits up straighter, shifting into her cross-legged position again. “Tell me about that.”
“Well, I will tell you what I know. It is a long time since I spoke to an elder about this. All Gargoyles are male, made through an ancient god. And everyone of us has a fated mate, a Beloved, a soul mate you called it last night. Well, you are mine, and I am yours. Last night while we united, our hearts were fused. Now, I cannot be without you, and you cannot be without me.”
Her large blue eyes grow wider, her mouth falling open. “So you’re telling me I’m trapped? I have no choice in this?”
Her eyes begin to well up, and my heart begins to pound. “No. Please don’t see it like that. We are all puppets in the game of Fate. You and I are destined to be, perfect halves of the one whole. Why can you not see how perfect that is?”
She begins to cry in earnest this time, tears rolling down her face.
I couldn’t stand it. My heart breaks for her. I pull her into my arms, kissing her face, her hair, anywhere I could reach.
She clings to me like a small child.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
She sobs and cries. I rock her, unable and unwilling to let her go.
When she finally quiets, I wipe the moisture from her face.
“Am I really such a terrible proposition?”
She shakes her head, still mopping up the moisture on her face. I stare down at the tears, unable to imagine what it would feel like to be able to show such emotion, in such a way.
“No, it’s not you. I just … don’t understand any of this. It’s all so new, and scary. And the fact that I can’t even get away if I want to…” She shakes her head, sadness and despair pouring off her in waves.
I hug her tight, and she grabs onto me like a life vessel in a storm. I reach for a partial truth, something to give us time enough for her to feel comfortable in this new life.
“How about this? You give me a month to see if you can love me, as I’m sure I can love you. If you are still not happy, and want to leave, I will go to an elder in Canada and ask how we break this connection we have.”
It would probably kill me to do so, but what would that matter? An existence without her would be a truly hellish existence.
She lifts her head, her sky-blue eyes filling with astonishment and wonder.
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course I would. I’d bring you the sun and the moon if it was in my power to do so.”
A ghost of a smile creeps across her luscious pink lips.
“Now, are there any more questions tonight?”
She shakes her head.
“Are you sure, because I am here, and I will tell you anything you want to know.”
She bites her lip, and she looks at me with a changed expression.
“Will you take me to bed again?”
A growl rolls through my chest as I scoop her up and walk into our bedroom.
I don’t answer her. The actions say enough.
I make love to her so many times I lose count. Until my heart beats in time with hers, and her soft moans and sighs were echoing in my head.
When I stagger out of the room in the early morning to my brother’s catcalls, I can only smile.
I will convince her she has to stay. I have to. Or die trying.
Chapter Six
Christiana
Sunshine fills the bedroom with bright, yellow rays.
It has to be past noon, and I don’t care. My life has no clock to run it anymore.
I roll over in the huge bed, beautifully sore from the most passionate night of my life.
The clock reads 1 PM.
Wow. I’ve slept half the day away.
I pull myself out of the warm bed, go to the toilet, then go to dive back under the covers. But my stomach is hurting from a lack of food.
I wonder if they stocked up at all.
Probably not. I’ll have to go shopping soon.
I pull on some fresh clothes, grabbing one of Roman’s many white t-shirts and taking a deep sniff.
This one is new, and smells only faintly of the man I love…
Wait, huh?
Oh, damn! I’ve fallen in love with him already.
A smile spreads over my face as I dance my way into the huge living room. So, I am in love with a man I’ve known two days, and who is a Gargoyle for half the day. No one had ever said I was completely sane, quite the opposite.
I ring down to room service, ordered up some brunch and headed out into the sunshine on the balcony.
To think, the man I’d spent the night making love to was over there, on top of the library, pondering life as a frozen statue.
On the rooftop was a telescope that I didn’t see yesterday. Either I was blinded by everything else going on, or someone had put it up here for me. If it was new, it was probably Bill. The security guard had been super nice to me since getting here.
I close one eye and look through the telescope. I can see only windows and buildings.
I move the scope around until I can see the top of the library, the grotesque Gargoyles protecting the city coming into view, at the center of the building.
A giggle escapes my lips. Who would ever believe me if I told them?
I pull back, and something catches my eye. Flashes of black, and movement.
I go back to the scope and gasp, a horrible picture before me unfolding.
Men are on top of the roof, shooting the Gargoyle’s daytime guards. There are three, four, no five of them.
Oh, one of the guards knifed the bad guy.
“Holy shit!”
I dash for the front door, and Bill is passed out, lying against the wall.
“No!”
I feel for his neck, and there is still a pulse.
“I’ll call an ambulance, Bill. I promise. I’ve gotta go.”
I unhook the gun from his belt and grab it, the weight of the gun heavy and cold in my hand. I bang at the lift button to come up to me.
“Come on! Come on!”
What had Roman said about their immortality? That they could be killed in statue form?
“Oh fuck!”
The doors open finally, and I run inside, hitting the ground button and holding my breath as the carriage descends.
Please no one stop me on the way down!
I grip the revolver in my hand hard and shift my weight from foot to foot. My dad had taught me a bit about guns before he died. I could shoot thi
s thing.
The elevator hits the ground floor, and I tap my foot in impatience as I wait for the doors to open.
“Hurry up!”
When they do, I run like a shot, straight over the busy road, into the library and up the stairs. I am not waiting for that stupid elevator while my man could be dying.
My heart pounds, my legs scream, but I keep running.
Then I am on the top floor.
I slow my breathing, though my heart is pounding like a jackhammer.
Shoot to kill. There’s no other way.
A wave of panic, fear, and then a strong wave of anger flow over me.
Roman. He could see everything that was happening, but he couldn’t do anything.
My poor sweetheart.
This is it.
I clench my teeth, raise the gun, flick off the safety, and push open the door.
There is a bleeding guard by the door, who sees me, then pushes a gun towards me.
I bend to pick it up and head out into the cold air.
There is still a fight going on, and half the guards are down.
Two of the bad guys are shooting at the Gargoyles, and I level both guns at them, aiming for their heads as they wear bulletproof vests.
I squeeze the triggers and bang, the recoil shoots right up my arms.
The man on the right’s head explodes, and the one on the left jumps down and whirls on me.
I level both guns at him and squeeze again, his face disappearing before my very eyes as the bullets set off his skull like an explosive.
There are still gunshots going off, and I run to the edge to see a smaller man shooting pieces off two of the Gargoyles and pushing Rafe to the edge.
“No!” I screamed and swing my right arm around.
The man’s gaze connects with mine, and we both fire.
Pain explodes through my left shoulder, but he falls backwards, off the building and away from the men I am trying to protect.
I clamp my hand down onto the fire burning in my arm.
“Fuck!”
There are sirens. The police or ambulance are getting close.
How is that possible? Did someone see the fight and call them?
I look up and see the guard by the door, slumped, but he raises his arm and gives me a thumbs-up.
He must have called them. Thank God.
