Bound by Stone

by Jenna Wolfhart

  All the gargoyles stood from their chairs when I strode to my seat at the head of the table. Even Sebastian was on his feet. He gave me a nod when I passed. Kipling still took the seat to my right while Silas was on my left. His dark eyes flashed when I glanced his way, and a strange kind of guilt took shape in my heart.

  Silas had been so kind to me when I’d first arrived in the City of Wings, but we’d drifted apart since then. It was one thing and then another, pulling us in opposite directions. First, it had been my trip to the Blood Coven. Then, it had been the fight with the fae. And now, it had been my trip to Mont Circeo. He always insisted he stay here while I always insisted I go out into the world. He understood me, in a way not even Marcus did, but we were still so very different. I hated that he probably no longer considered me a friend.

  I would have to try to speak with him later when the entire city wasn’t staring at me.

  When I sat in my chair, everyone else followed. Even the Queen was showing me a smidgen of courtesy for once. She gave me a nod from the opposite end of the table, and I nodded right back.

  “Welcome back, Rowena,” she called out, her voice still as icy as ever. “I trust you got some answers from Hecate?”

  Ah, now I understood why she was showing an interest in my return. She’d hoped I’d convinced Hecate to help us out with the fight. Not that I could blame her. I’d hope the same thing myself.

  “She gave some answers, but it’s not the ones you wanted.”

  She frowned and poked a fork at her food. “I do not understand why she cannot assist us. Those hunters are growing in numbers. Perhaps you did not properly communicate the threat to her. Maybe someone else would have been better equipped to—”

  “Enough.” Kipling held up a hand and squinted his eyes. “Do you hear that?”

  I cocked my head and listened. After a moment, a faint boom shook through the dining hall. It was distant and low, but I’d heard it all the same. The hall fell silent, every single witch and gargoyle frozen as they listened with bated breath. Another boom, quickly followed by another.

  I stood and dropped my fork onto my plate. “I think we’re under attack. Everyone, stay here until you hear otherwise. It’s daylight, and the sun was shining just a second ago, so your access to shadow magic is going to be pretty limited right now. Plus, we don’t know what they’re doing, and we shouldn’t all rush out until we know what we’re dealing with.”

  I grabbed my sword from where I’d slung the scabbard across the back of the chair, and I strode toward the dining room door. The Queen stood, along with the gargoyles, Kipling, and Tess.

  “We’re coming with you.” Sebastian’s wings exploded from his back as his heavy boots stomped on the stone floor.

  “Fine, but someone needs to stay with the witches,” I said.

  A low melodic voice echoed from behind me. “I’ll stay with them, Rowena.”

  It was Silas. Again. Truth was, I wished I could have him by my side, but someone did need to stay with the witches in the hall. If anything, someone needed to be here to stop them from panicking and running out into the streets. But he seemed so much less interested in fighting alongside me these days, and there certainly was no time to argue. So, I gave him a quick nod and disappeared through the door.

  When we ventured outside, the city appeared to be nothing but normal. It was eerily quiet. Birds chirped as they darted overhead, and the whistle of the ever-present wind slid through the empty streets. There were no magic hunters. No booms. We were alone here, or so it seemed.

  Another boom sounded from somewhere to our left. We all whirled in the direction, heads cocked to better locate the source.

  “Is it me or does that sound like a cannon?” Marcus asked in a quiet voice. “And it appears to be coming from the direction of the southern cliffs.”

  Eli let out a low whistle and nodded. “I thought I’d heard that sound before. You’re right. It’s a boat cannon. I remember the noise from when pirate ships came through these waters.”

  I turned to Eli with raised eyebrows. “Pirate ships? When the hell were there pirates near England?”

  “I think you’re forgetting that we’ve lived a very long time, love,” Marcus said with a wink. And then his expression turned serious. “I suppose we now know what the new plan of attack is. Bomb the hell out of us, even if they can’t see where we are.”

  “How the hell are we supposed to stop some fucking cannons?” Sebastian said, curling his hands into fists. “I swear, these hunters have gotten on my last damn nerve.”

  “Well, I won’t stand for it.” I slid my sword from its scabbard and strode down the alley, aiming my feet toward the southern cliffs. Logically, I knew my sword was useless in this situation, but the weapon gave me a burst of power that hummed underneath my skin. It was far more than just a sword. It enhanced that magic within me. It called that magic alive.

  When we reached the cliffs, it was clear the magic hunters had been doing a hell of a lot of brainstorming. Several boats were in the waters surrounding the city, each pointed in the general direction of the island. They kept shooting off cannons, and then inching closer before hurtling another in the air. It was clearly not a long-term strategy because they would quickly run out of ammo this way, but they did have a plan.

  I glanced at Eli. “They’re using the cannons to locate our exact position, aren’t they?”

  “That’s what they appear to be doing, yes,” he said as he leaned forward to point down the coast. Further along, several more boats were clustered together, lodging more cannonballs in our direction. “They know we’re here. They’re trying to get the correct coordinates by spotting when the cannonballs disappear. My guess is that they don’t plan to use the cannons in the eventual full-on attack. We’re far too high up for them to do much damage to the city.”

  “So, they’re going to find us and then drop more hunters in via parachute,” I said.

  “That’s what I’m guessing,” Sebastian growled. “If I didn’t hate them so much, I’d say it was clever.”

  Frowning, I scanned the horizon. There were at least a dozen hunter ships, and they were all coming for us. As soon as they had a lock on our position, they would attack. We probably didn’t have more than a day or so to prepare. It wouldn’t take long for those cannons to do their work.

  “We’re outnumbered,” I said. “And outmanned. You know they won’t attack at night. They’ll make sure to wait until the sun is so bright that the witches won’t be able to do a damn thing. We’re sitting ducks.”

  “You’re not wrong, Rowena,” Kipling said with a heavy sigh. “And I don’t know how we can manage to stop it.”

  “I do,” I said suddenly, blurting out the words before I’d had a chance to think it through. What I was about to say would not go over very well with...well, with anyone. Sebastian would probably be pretty happy about it, but many would refuse to go along with it, mainly Silas.

  Kipling pursed his lips. “Go on, my dear.”

  “I think it’s time that we evacuate the city,” I said, words tumbling over each other. “We’ll have to wait until nightfall, of course, and we’ll have to do it quickly. Otherwise, they’ll probably try to shoot us down.”

  “And where will we evacuate to?” he asked. “There’s nowhere safer in the entire world.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s just not true anymore,” I said. “The magic hunters are going to keep coming at this place until there’s no one left alive. We’re going to have to go somewhere else, and Mont Circeo has a huge mansion with several smaller guest houses. Plenty of room for all of us.”

  Kipling’s face clouded over. “I see.”

  “I know it isn’t your home,” I continued. “But it’s safe. The hunters have no idea it’s even there.”

  “For now,” he said. “And what do you propose we do about all the ones we aren’t able to move? You aren’t suggesting we just leave them behind?”

  “If we plan this right, we should
be able to get everyone out in time.”

  “He means the other gargoyles, my love,” Marcus said quietly. “The ones who are currently stuck in their stone forms.”

  “Oh.” The word died on my lips. Of course. Kipling would never want to leave the gargoyles behind, even if they were stuck in their stone forms forever. Silas wouldn’t, either.

  “We’d come back for them later,” Sebastian said. “The hunters can’t hurt them with their human weapons. They’ll be fine on their own for a little while.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, Sebastian,” Kipling said, his voice going hard. “You haven’t had to suffer through an existence where you can do nothing but stand and watch the world go by. Jasper told me what it was like for him when the curse took over. He was aware. He was awake. He was alive in there. So are all of the others. And if we leave them, how much worse will that existence be for them?”

  My heart hurt at his words. It was exactly as I’d suspected. Life hadn’t left the gargoyles, not even when they’d become permanent stone. They were still alive in there, watching and waiting for the moment they might once again be able to break free.

  “Well, we certainly can’t stay here either,” I finally said. “Because if we do, they’ll be left alone regardless. The hunters will come and kill every last one of us, including me. And then there will be no hope for them at all.”

  Chapter 24

  I pressed up on my toes to reach the next shelf. My fingers slid around the smooth leather as I pulled the book into my hands. I coughed as dust swirled around me. It had been a very long time since someone had read this book, one that was labeled simply with the word Mates.

  “Hello, Rowena.” Silas strode up behind me, his hands slung into the pockets of his black jeans. “What are you doing up here?”

  After watching the cannons make contact with our shores, I’d made up my mind. We were moving everyone to Mont Circeo, and I’d pull the goddess card if I had to convince them to go. It was the only way to keep them safe.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” I said, suddenly feeling very shy. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a moment with just the two of us.”

  “Yes.” He nodded. “It seems you’ve outgrown me.”

  My heart flickered with hurt. “Please don’t say that. It’s not true. You know everything has been crazy recently. Between the fae, the furies, and the hunters, I’ve barely had time alone with myself.”

  “I know about your three mates, Rowena. Everyone does.”

  “Please don’t be upset with me about that,” I said, striding toward him.

  “I’m not,” he said, eyes flashing. “But when you said you’ve been too busy, you know that’s not the case at all.”

  “Silas,” I said.

  “It doesn’t matter. Anyway, I know why you’re really here. It’s written all over your face. So, before you ask, I’ll give you my answer. I’m not leaving the City of Wings.”

  “I’m not asking,” I said. “As your goddess, I am commanding you to leave, along with everyone else. Jasper and Sebastian have gone to round up some boats. We’ll be making our move at midnight.”

  I spoke with as much strength and determination as I could muster. Ordering people around didn’t come naturally to me. In fact, it felt more than a little wrong. I’d complained for so long about the restrictions the Queen had put on me, how she’d made all my decisions without asking me what I wanted and why.

  But this was for the best, I told myself. Silas needed to evacuate, just like the rest of us. I wouldn’t let him stay and risk his life.

  “Rowena, this isn’t you,” he said, his words reflecting my own thoughts that I tried so hard to push aside. “You’re not the kind of goddess to order her subjects around. Or to even consider people as her subjects at all.”

  “If you stay here alone, you’ll die.” My voice cracked on the last word. “I refuse to let that happen.”

  “You’re forgetting one very important detail, Rowena,” he said with a sad smile. “They cannot hurt me if I’m in my stone form. When the hunters arrive, I’ll shift. And then I won’t shift back until they leave.”

  I fisted my hands and stalked toward him. “And what if they never leave? What if they decide to make this place a base? Holding out here for months or years, hoping that eventually we’ll return?”

  “Well, then I will never shift back.”

  “Don’t do this, Silas.” I grasped his hand in mind and squeezed. “I don’t want to leave you here. I don’t want to go somewhere else without you. You were there for me in a way that no one else was, right when I needed it the most.”

  He gave me a sad smile. “I thought you were going to order me to obey. How quickly the truth of you comes to light. I knew you weren’t that hard, cold goddess, Rowena. Please don’t ever change, no matter how hard this life might become.”

  “Stop it,” I said, whispering through the tears. “Stop talking like this is goodbye.”

  “Oh, but it is goodbye, Rowena.” He brought my hands to his lips, and they whispered against my skin. “For now, at least.”

  My heart was aching and raw when I dragged my feet through the doorway of the Scriptorium. I’d tried everything to convince Silas to leave this place behind, but his stubbornness to stay knew no bounds. He wouldn’t leave his home, he insisted. But, most of all, he wouldn’t leave behind the gargoyles who had fallen to stone.

  “Well, Alaric,” I called out to the ever-present statue by the door, “looks like you’ll at least have Silas to keep you company. Sorry the rest of us can’t stay.”

  “Actually, I’ll be coming with you.”

  A scream exploded from my throat as I jumped halfway across the room. My legs collided with the sofa just as I saw a blur of movement out of the corner of my eye. I curled my hands into fists and whirled toward the movement, only to find that ever-present statue? Was no longer a statue anymore.

  It was a living breathing man. And he was completely naked.

  My heart galloped in my chest as I gaped at the man. At Alaric, I was guessing. It wasn’t the first time the gargoyle had attempted to shift into flesh, though this time...well, he’d actually done it. There was no more shimmering scaly skin. No more expression of pure agony.

  Instead, he was a sculpted tower of pure muscle that rippled underneath his olive skin. His eyes were hooded, casting the brilliant stormy blue in shadows. With a strong jawline peppered with dark stubble, he smiled, displaying two rows of perfect teeth. A shiver ran down my spine. He was utterly gorgeous.

  “Hi.” That was all I could manage.

  He strode toward me, and my eyes dropped to his thighs despite myself. I swallowed hard and glanced back up, hoping he hadn’t caught me looking. But of course he had. He quirked his lips and stopped close enough for his scent to envelope me. Like the others, he was stone and mist, but he was also something else that was uniquely him. Something soft and seductive, like the scent of wildflowers after a heavy rain.

  “Rowena. It’s nice to finally meet you. My name is Alaric, though you know that already.” He extended a hand, one that was calloused and strong. Weakly, I slid my fingers into his and shook, my cheeks flaming like they were caught in a firestorm. How had I end up in the middle of the Scriptorium, shaking hands with a naked stranger?

  But the truth was, this was no stranger. Even though we’d only just met face to real face, I felt as if I knew Alaric. He’d been a constant these past few weeks, always present, always waiting.

  When he dropped my hand, I breathed out a sigh of relief, though I didn’t know why. “How are you like this? I thought you had turned to stone for good?”

  “Well, it didn’t take,” he said with a grin. “When you first showed up here with the others, I knew I had to fight to get back to my fleshly body. You’re what the city has been waiting for, Rowena. You can change us back. All of us.”

  The door swung open. Marcus strode inside the Scriptorium, followed closely by Eli and Sebastian. They
all stopped short when they saw the naked man standing before me.

  “Who the fuck is this?” Sebastian barked. “Don’t tell me she’s got another goddamn mate.”

  Eli’s eyes widened as he slowly stepped forward. “Alaric? Is that really you?”

  Alaric spread his arms to his side and grinned. “I’m back, boys.”

  The room exploded into activity. Soon, it was full of light and noise. One of the shifters disappeared for a moment to find Alaric some clothes while others alerted Kipling and Silas. Everyone buzzed around, desperate to say hello to their old friend or gawk at the man who had returned to life. He’d spent months trapped as a stone man, and questions and exclamations of surprise filled the vaulted room.

  “You’re quiet, princess. That’s not like you.” Sebastian found me perched in the corner, watching the festivities with a heaviness in my heart. As happy as I was that Alaric had returned to his living form, it had highlighted a very important fact.

  “I’m just thinking,” I said.

  “No shit, Sherlock.” He elbowed me in the side. “About what?”

  “Alaric came back because of the magic I brought with me to the city. What happens when we leave here? There’s not enough time to move all the gargoyles before the hunters attack.”

  “Ah, I see,” he said with a gentle chuckle. “You’re making yourself feel guilty because you can’t save everyone with the snap of your finger.”

  “Oh, come on.” I shot him a frown. “It’s not like that.”

  “Here’s a little piece of advice from yours truly, and I hope you’ll listen to it even though you think I’m no better than scum.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic. I’ve never said I think you’re scum.”

  “Actually,” he said with a smirk, “I think you’ve said much worse. Either way, I’m not the heartless asshole you think I am. Yeah, this place is a shithole, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. It’d be nice if you could bring everyone back. Hell, you probably even can. It’s just not going to happen right this minute. You’ve got to get those witchies safe first.”