"Another harpy? There was another harpy in Denver? I thought one was enough," he commented hoarsely.
I nodded grimly. "I'll fill you in on the details later. But the harpy wanted me in exchange for Mim. She wanted my rune and my venom. I was willing to do the exchange as long as she released Mim unharmed. But during our…negotiations, Mim took matters into her own hands."
Reason smiled faintly as if he wasn't surprised. "What did she do?"
"She reached for my barbs and poisoned herself."
Reason narrowed his blue eyes on me. "You have barbs? When did that happen? How…long have I been gone?"
"Not that long." I made a fist and stared at the stubby cartilage sticking out on my knuckles. Ever since I'd destroyed them in the fire, I'd thought it would be wonderful to get my barbs back. But it had turned into a crapstorm. "My feelings for Mim were so strong that my barbs cut through the old scar tissue."
"Interesting," Reason murmured. "So Mim tried to take herself out of the equation. She figured that if she was dead or dying, the harpy couldn't use her against you."
"She sacrificed herself for me," I muttered. "Or at least she tried to."
"But you cut off her fingers before the venom could harm her. And what happened to the harpy?"
"I left a knife in her throat."
He nodded solemnly and swallowed some more tea. "Good lad," he said.
"Your turn," I reminded him when he didn't volunteer anything right away.
Reason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I startled her," he said, then started his story.
Evidently, when Reason had arrived at the mansion in Texas, the millionaire buyer wasn't home. His two teenage daughters were, however. They broke into Reason's crate and set him up outside on the patio, beside the huge covered swimming pool. A few days later, they threw a party that spilled outdoors. The event was as wild as the two sisters and Reason turned out to be the life of the party. By the time the sun came up the next morning, he was covered with various shades of lipstick, ranging from pink to black, from his knees right up to the roots of his hair. A red lace bra hung from the tip of one wing.
Reason sighed before continuing.
The days passed and the kisses became a nightly ritual. Almost every evening, the sisters would stop and kiss the statue beside the pool before they went inside to bed. And every morning, a young maid wiped away the lip-gloss that was smeared on his face.
"The maid was the daughter of the mansion's only live-in employee. She got to the house early each weekday morning to help her mother." Reason smiled wryly. "Between the daughters and the hired help, I think I preferred the maid."
After a particularly wild party that left the house and patio in shambles, the Hamilton girls took off with their friends. Reason never saw them again. In the morning, after she'd finished cleaning up the beer bottles on the tables around the pool, the young maid stopped and gave him a long look. At the time, Reason had thought she was checking him for any lipstick she might have missed earlier. But after a furtive glance toward the house, she rose on her tiptoes and kissed him.
"I couldn't resist it," Reason explained in a low voice. "There was no one around. I changed back to my living form. Just for an instant. Just to mess with her."
"And?" I prompted him.
"I did a good job. I startled her. She jumped away from me and dragged me with her as she lost her balance. I was back in my stone form when I started tipping. The edge of my wing sliced through the blue pool cover and together we sank into the water."
I rubbed my fingers against my chin. "What happened next?"
Reason shook his head. For a long moment, I thought he wouldn't be able go on. "I made the change again as we went under and tried to help her back up to the surface. But my damn wings were open and I couldn't move them through the water. They were dragging me down. I shoved Elaina toward the rip in the pool cover then tried to follow her through."
"But you couldn't make it?" I asked softly.
Rees shook his head. "I couldn't get my wings through the hole. I started sinking again. I barely reached the light one more time to make the change back to stone."
"And Elaina?"
"I think she made it out okay," he muttered. "But I'd like to know for sure."
"You didn't see her again after they fished you out of the pool?" I asked, knowing that his eyes were open when he'd made the change to stone.
"I must have lost consciousness as I made the change. I don't remember anything after that until I woke up here." He shook his head mournfully and lifted his gaze to mine. "It was meant to be a prank. I thought it would be funny to leave the girl wondering if I'd really come to life, or if it was just her imagination. Instead, I almost killed her…and myself. On top of that, I risked revealing our secret to the whole modern world."
I reached up and dragged my hand back through my hair. "I wonder how we dodged the bullet on that one."
Reason's expression turned thoughtful. "Well, I never saw the buyer—the girls' father—so I guess the first time he saw me I looked…"
"Like a relic," I finished for him.
"I guess so," he agreed and blew out a breath. "And if the girls never came home again before he shipped me back here, they couldn't have told him anything different."
"So only the maid knew about the change in your appearance?"
"And maybe her mother."
"I wonder how they managed to get you out of the swimming pool," I mused.
"That's a good question," he sighed.
"Mim dreamed about you in the pool," I told him. "MacKenzie reckons her gypsy blood showed her what had happened to you. She saw you trapped in the water beneath the blue cover."
Reason's swift response surprised me. "Did she…see anything else? Did she mention a girl?"
Huh. I got the impression that Reason was more worried about Elaina than he was willing to admit. "She didn't say anything about a girl, but maybe we can ask her…if we ever hear from her again. Or maybe MacKenzie could follow up with a phone call to the buyer's home. If she called there and asked for Elaina…"
"How is Mac?" he asked tentatively.
I narrowed my gaze on him. MacKenzie had been up to bring him cough medicine and tea and she'd spent an hour healing him as well, so he'd spent some time with her. She'd even made him open his Christmas present—a set of drawing pens. But I knew what he was asking. Before he left for Texas, Reason had been just about as taken with MacKenzie as Valor was. "She's wearing Valor's rune," I told him gently, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to see it beneath the long-sleeved hoodie she was wearing.
"That's good," he murmured evenly. "They belong together."
He took the news better than I expected and I couldn't help but wonder if he was really only "messing" with Elaina when he'd decided to make the change. I wondered if maybe he'd wanted to feel her kiss on his lips. But he looked tired so I didn't give him a hard time about it. I said goodnight and headed back downstairs to see if I could complete Level Nine before the sun came up.
The sound of Mim's voice the next morning brought me sharply to my senses and I woke on the couch with a start. It sounded like she was in the kitchen or maybe the family room. My heart took off like a wolfhound chasing a deer. Mim was here. I had to see her. Pushing up to my elbow, I rubbed my knuckles into my eyes and tried to get them to focus while I tuned my ears to her voice.
"It all happened so quickly," Mim murmured.
"I would have hesitated," Victor said. "Because…you might have survived."
I realized they were talking about my decision to cut off Mim's fingers. Smothering a groan, I dropped back down to the couch and burrowed beneath the blanket again.
"But I might not have lived?" she asked.
"You might have died," he answered quietly.
Again I heard her voice as she asked, "Would you have hesitated, Valor? If it was MacKenzie?"
Fantastic. Everyone was there to offer their opinion on the biggest mistake o
f my life.
"Nay," Valor replied right away. "I'd have cut off her fingers in a heartbeat. I wouldn't have risked the alternative. I wouldn't have risked her death."
"Do you understand, now, why he did it?" Victor asked gently.
"Yes," she answered slowly. "I think I understand. He did it because he loves me."
"That's right," Victor confirmed. "And you should tell him that you understand as soon as you can, because he's tearing himself up over it."
I pushed out a deep sigh. My family just couldn't stop taking care of me. 'Course that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I figured I just might have to learn to live with it.
Mim's light footsteps echoed in the entry before she crossed the living room toward the couch. She dropped to her knees beside me and pulled back enough of the blanket to see my face. I got a heartwarming glimpse of violet eyes and glossy pink lips.
"Good morning," she whispered, smiling slightly.
I reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear. "It is now that you're here," I answered softly.
Her gaze searched my face. "You look tired."
"I'm fine," I muttered as I shifted a few inches and tested my side. It felt a little stiff but I didn't think the wound was going to open up again. "Where have you been?"
"Mom's upset about my hand. She won't let me drive. She won't let MacKenzie come over to get me. She won't let me out of her sight. She even took away my cell phone! It's been pretty brutal," she complained with a soft smile.
"How did you manage to escape?" I asked.
With her good hand, she pulled her hair in front of her shoulder and twisted it into a tight coil. "Mom had a dancing class this morning and left me with strict orders to stay home. She even unplugged the home phone and took it with her! But I walked to the grocery store and called MacKenzie. She and Valor picked me up and brought me here." She looked back over her shoulder at the clock on the wall in the dining room. "I…can't stay much longer."
"What are we going to do?" I asked her soberly.
Bringing her gaze back to my face, Mim lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. "My mother can't watch me forever. Eventually, she'll get over it."
That was all well and good but I wasn't sure I could make it between now and eventually.
Her expression turned serious. "I want to tell you something that I probably should have said sooner. But I didn't think it was important."
"Why was that?" I asked as I carefully pushed myself up into a sitting position. I tugged Mim onto my lap. I needed her close to me. As close as possible. Reaching for her hair, I pulled a few silky strands free from the thick coil and twisted them around my finger.
"Because I didn't think that I was important, especially not to someone like you."
"Someone like me?" I snorted. "Mim, when I met you, I was a gargoyle with no wings and no barbs. You've given all of that back to me. How could you possibly think you weren't important to me?"
"I don't know," she answered. She shook her head and looked into my eyes. "But I know now that you feel the same way about me as I feel about you."
I reached for her hand and her dark twist of hair came loose. "Are you finally admitting that you love me?" I asked, my chest feeling tight.
Her hair fell around her face like a dark veil as she nodded.
Well that wouldn't do. I wasn't going to settle for a nod. I parted her hair with both hands and held her face as I growled, "A nod isn't gonna cut it, Mim. I want to hear the words."
"I love you," she said a little breathlessly.
"That's good, because I love you too," I whispered and angled my face to kiss her. As soon as my lips touched hers, a sharp wave of pain raced though my knuckles as the remaining six barbs cut through the scar tissue on my hands. Venom poured from my hackles and over my wrists. I grabbed the blanket and pressed it against my knuckles before the mess could spill on Mim's turtleneck.
Mim laughed softly and lifted her bandaged hand. "Together, we're a complete mess."
"I don't care," I murmured. "At least we're together and complete. That's all that matters." 'Course that wasn't quite true. I still had a lot of guilt to deal with. My gaze glanced across her white bandages. "I'm sorry about your hand," I said. As far as apologies go, it wasn't enough. It would never be enough. But I had to start somewhere.
"Maybe you could offer me something in exchange for my injury," she suggested before I could get all morose and maudlin.
"What were you thinking of?" I asked tentatively.
She lifted her chin and considered me. "I'll take your rune to make up for the loss of my fingers."
"Really?" I breathed, rocked by her offer. "You'd…wear my rune?"
"You owe it to me," she pointed out with a careless little shrug.
"Do you even understand what you're asking for? If you wear my rune, Mim, you'll be stuck with me…forever."
Don't get me wrong. I wanted to share my rune with Mim. I wanted everything with this beautiful girl. But I was afraid it might not be the best thing for her. The same instincts that were urging me to mark her would bind me to her for the rest of my life. Even if Mim grew tired of me, I wouldn't be able to leave her. I'd hang around like a tenacious watchdog—picture a pit bull—right up to the end. That might not be convenient if she changed her mind and decided she wanted someone else.
"You're too young," I told her, my protective instincts dominating my other urges as well as my common sense.
"Too young for what?" she questioned me.
"Too young to make a rest-of-your-life decision like this. You have to be sure about this thing."
"I'm sure about the forever thing," she insisted quietly and watched me from behind her thick lashes. "But it's okay if you don't want to share your rune with me. I shouldn't have suggested it." She tried to hide her disappointment but her shoulders dropped and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.
Despite my good intentions, I realized I was screwing things up. If I wasn't careful, I was going to blow her confidence right out of the water. Rubbing two fingers over my jaw, I pretended to reconsider her offer. "Okay, I'll give you my rune on one condition."
"What's that?" she asked, eyeing me cautiously.
"That you agree to always be mine."
"I thought you said I was too young," she said, a tiny smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.
"Changed my mind," I told her like it wasn't the biggest decision of our lives. But what could I do? I could protect her future or I could protect her right now. I chose now. I'd deal with the future when it got here…and make myself such a good deal that she'd never question her decision to hook up with me for the rest of her life.
"Then I think we have a deal," she conceded shyly. Her eyes were shining as she offered me her good hand for a shake. But I grasped her arm, pulled her close and gave her a hard kiss to seal the bargain.
Ouch. The pain in my hackles was pure agony. Okay, it was worth every second of the suffering but I was looking forward to the day when my barbs healed and Mim was wearing my rune. After I'd marked her, at least my barbs would stop bleeding all over the place.
The truth is, even if I never gave Mim my rune, I'd always be hers. Heart and soul. Better or worse. Good time and bad times. Hell or high water. But I didn't tell her that because I figured a modern girl like Mim would think all those sentimental ideas were insanely old fashioned.
"Did you hear about Reason?" I asked after a few more intense kisses.
"He's in the kitchen," she exclaimed in a quiet whisper. "I just talked to him. He looks really good."
By really good, she probably meant he was on his feet and moving around. Of course, anything would have been an improvement. "Did he ask you if you saw a girl when you dreamed about him in the water?"
"No-o," she answered, as if my question surprised her. "He just asked if there was anything else I saw in my dream."
I chewed on this for a few minutes. "Well, did you happen to see a girl?" I asked for his sake, since it
seemed like he didn't have the nerve to ask himself.
Mim shook her head then touched her lips to mine for a long, lingering moment. "I guess I'd better get going," she whispered, her mouth moving softly against mine.
I set her on her feet and stood beside her. "I'm going with you," I told her as I headed for my coat in the entry. "I'm going to talk to your mother."
Mim's brow creased in a troubled frown. "I don't think that's a good idea, Dare. Mom's really upset. She's suspicious about what happened and she doesn't…trust you."
"The longer we ignore her suspicions, the worse it will get," I pointed out, feeling like I had a little experience on the subject and knowing I'd been wrong when I'd tried to keep the truth about MacKenzie's injuries from Mim.
"Okay," she gave in unhappily. "But let's wrap your knuckles first. The blood is bad enough. I don't know how we'd explain that blue stuff to my mom."
As I steered MacKenzie's jeep down the mountain to Pine Grove, I knew it was going to be hard to face Mim's mom but I figured if I didn't show up soon, she'd think I was either a coward or I just didn't care about her daughter. She'd have been wrong on both scores. And I was right about one thing.
It was hard.
Hell, it was hard just waiting for Mim's mother to get home.
"Sit down," Mim insisted and disappeared down the hallway toward her bedroom.
"Where are you going?" I asked. The house was empty and I didn't want to be alone. I looked around the living room then sat on the edge of the couch with my elbows resting on my knees and my bound hands locked together. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I worried…and carefully rehearsed in my mind what I would say when her mother got there.
Mim reappeared with her guitar and a couple of music books, thinking she'd give me a lesson. As she sat down on the couch, I was stricken with a fresh wave of guilt, realizing that Mim couldn’t play with her injured hand.
"Don't look like that," she said sternly.
"Like what?" I asked with a sick feeling in my stomach.
"Like you've ruined my life. I can turn the strings around and learn to play left-handed."
I focused my gaze on the guitar. "I'll learn with you," I told her. "Left-handed."
The Greystone Bundle (Books 1-4) Page 37
