Bound by Stone

by Jenna Wolfhart

  I pursed my lips. “I thought you hated the witches.”

  “I was being paid to do what I did,” he said. “Hate had nothing to do with it.”

  “So, why are you helping them now for free?” I asked, glancing up at him.

  He shrugged. “I don’t have anything better to do, and those magic hunters can kiss my ass.”

  “You really have a way with words, Sebastian,” I said.

  “Don’t you know it?” He flashed me a grin. “Anyway, just keep this in mind. Just because you can’t fix the gargoyles now doesn’t mean you can’t come back later. Save the witches, save the world.”

  I glanced up at Sebastian and sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

  Chapter 25

  The evacuation required a lot of moving parts, and everyone had to come together to make it happen, except for Zoe, Dorian, and Belzus, who decided to return to their coven in America. The witches helped keep everyone hidden under the cover of heavy shadows while the gargoyles flew each resident from the cliffs to the boats. There were far too few gargoyles for everyone to fly all the way to Mont Circeo, so we were forced to make most of the journey by sea.

  It was imperative that we move fast. The magic hunter ships had retreated when night fell, but we needed to be far, far away by dawn. Otherwise, their cannons could take us out in a heartbeat.

  It took days to reach the Italian coast, so when we finally climbed the side of the mountain, every single one of us was bone-weary and in desperate need of food, water, and sleep. But we’d made it. The mansion loomed before us, the home that had once been my mother’s, the home that stood for what I truly was.

  Kipling took charge as soon as we stepped foot on the grounds. He swept through the mansion and the guest homes, counting the number of rooms and the number of beds. And then with the efficiency of someone who hadn’t spent the last two days drifting along on a wind-swept sea, he began showing each witch to her new room.

  Despite my protestations, Kipling insisted that I take the master suite. It held a bed that was three times the size of any king-sized mattress I’d ever seen with floor-to-ceiling windows spreading across the entire outer wall. It provided a perfect view on the coast in the distance, and I couldn’t help but stop and stare. Somewhere, far in the distance, the City of Wings stood. Perhaps the hunters were attacking now. Perhaps they’d already dropped in from their helicopters, and they were setting up base where we had once eaten breakfast and dinner each day.

  My heart squeezed. After Silas had discovered that Alaric had changed back, he was even more determined to stay with his people. He couldn’t be swayed, and I prayed to the goddess that he was safe. One day, we would return. I had promised him that. I just hoped he’d still be able to shift into man by the time we made it back.

  Footsteps echoed behind me, but I didn’t turn. The scent of stone and mist filled my nose, one that was laced with violets.

  “Marcus,” I said. “Do you think we did the right thing?”

  A soft hand on my shoulder. And a squeeze. “I don’t believe we had any other choice. We’ve tried everything we could to make the city safe for everyone, but it’s impossible now that the hunters can find it without needing to see it with their eyes. It was only a matter of time before hundreds of them descended into our streets. It’s probably already happened, to be honest.”

  “I know.” I let out a heavy sigh. “But I hate that we had to leave Silas behind. And the others. Especially after what’s happened with Alaric.”

  “I know, love. I know.” He leaned down to brush his lips against my neck, and I shivered against his touch. “Neither one of us are built for leaving our people behind.”

  I whirled to face him, and he cupped my cheek with his hand. “Promise me we’ll go back to get them. And I don’t mean after years have past us by. I mean soon.”

  “I promise, my love. We will go back.”

  Another set of footsteps echoed down the hall, and Eli appeared in the doorway. “Kipling told me to come here. Seems there aren’t enough beds to go around, so he’s putting all of us together.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “All of us?”

  “Yep, me too,” Jasper said as he sauntered up behind Eli. “Told me I was to come here to stay with my mates.” He glanced at the bed. “Looks like there’s plenty of room, but thankfully, there’s only three of us.”

  Three mates. I still hadn’t been able to wrap my head around it, despite the fact I’d now been intimate with two out of the three. Each of these men was mine, and I was theirs. And they seemed thrilled with the arrangement, as if it were as normal to them as breathing air. Or shifting into stone, I had to remind myself. These gargoyles had spent their entire lives in a different kind of society, one where multiple mates was more common than monogamy. It was all still so new to me. And the truth was, I had no idea what they expected me to do.

  I swallowed hard as I watched Jasper pull his shirt over his head and fling it onto the floor. He slid under the covers with an ease and confidence that I certainly didn’t feel myself. Marcus dropped his pants, leaving him in nothing more than a pair of tight black briefs that highlighted the large package between his thighs.

  Did they...expect me to be with them all? At one time?

  My heart charged around my chest like a bull that had escaped from its pen. It wanted to run, and run fast, to anywhere but here. I cared so much for these gargoyles, my mates who had pledged to follow me to the ends of the earth. I maybe even loved them. And as much as I wanted to share my body with each and every one of them, sharing it all at once made me tremble in my boots.

  Marcus caught me staring. “Rowena, love. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What’s wrong?”

  “Er...” What could I say? What did they want me to do? Was this a normal part of having three mates? Would they be disappointed if I said I wasn’t quite ready to take things that far?

  My cheeks flamed when Eli climbed into bed. Now they were all three in there, waiting for me.

  Jasper’s eyes widened in realization. “Ro, are you worried that we’re all going to try to make love to you at once?”

  “Well, you’re all in my bed, and you’re not wearing very many clothes.”

  Marcus let out a low chuckle. “We’re not expecting anything of the sort. In fact, we wouldn’t all be here in the first place if Kipling hadn’t insisted we share. We would have taken separate rooms. Now, come to bed, love.”

  Shyly, I tiptoed toward them and slid under the covers, taking the spot on the very end next to Eli. I perched there, facing them, unsure what to do next. “I guess I don’t know what’s normal in a three mates situation. I mean, I don’t even really know what’s normal in a one mate relationship either. I’m sorry. I don’t want to let you guys down.”

  “You couldn’t let us down if you tried, Ro.” Eli shifted to face me. “This is new to you, and it’s new to us. Our relationship can be what we decide it to be. It doesn’t have to follow typical patterns, but it can if you want. And we can go as slowly or as quickly as you want.”

  “So...” I trailed off, swallowing hard. “Does that mean there is typically a group thing?”

  From behind Eli, Marcus let out a chuckle. “For someone who seems so terrified of the idea, you sure are curious.”

  Eli smiled as well, crinkling the corners of his mossy green eyes. “Sometimes, the mates share the bedroom at the same time, though only to pleasure the woman. It’s up to you when or if you want that to happen.”

  My heart pounded in my chest, and a delicious fire burned through my gut. The idea of having each of my mates at once was terrifying, but it was also exciting in a way I never would have expected. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine how it might feel. Eli’s mouth on my throat. Marcus’s hand pressing between my thighs. Jasper’s tongue on my breast. An ache between my thigh began to grow, burning a red hot need through my core.

  My breath caught, and I opened my eyes to find Eli watching me. The look he gave me was one t
hat only intensified that need. But I wasn’t ready. Not yet.

  “We’ll see,” I said in a teasing voice. “Maybe if you’re lucky.”

  Though that was wrong. I would be the lucky one, to have them all at once. One day, I thought. One day soon.

  Chapter 26

  A loud screech cut through the night, and I blinked open heavy eyes. It was dark and warm, the room full of the heady scent of man. Eli had his arm wrapped around my waist, and my cheek was pressed against his chest. His heartbeat was rhythmic and loud against my ear, but it was nothing compared to the screech that followed.

  Jasper was out of the bed within seconds, before I’d barely registered the noise.

  “What in the name of sanity is that?” Marcus rubbed his eyes and frowned at the windows, though that did little to illuminate the source of the screech. It was dark. Almost too dark. It was as if all light had been sucked into a black hole, never to be seen again. Even I had trouble making out the shapes beyond the window, a fact that made a finger of ice slide down my spine.

  “I’ve heard that sound before.” Eli shifted out from underneath me and padded across the room to stand next to Jasper by the floor-to-ceiling windows. “It’s the same sound the Fury made when we were fighting her.”

  I gasped and pressed my hand to my throat. “Why is she still here? I thought we defeated her.”

  “I guess she decided that she wasn’t going to give up that easily,” Marcus said, his mouth a grim line. “Not that there was anything easy about dodging flaming fireballs.”

  “Listen,” I said as I placed my bare feet on the cool marble floor. “She’s here for me. Not you. I’m the one who took her blood. I’m the one who ruined the oath. I’ll go talk to her, try to reason with her. You stay here.”

  “No,” my mates all shouted, in unison.

  “We’ll do no such thing, Rowena,” Marcus said. “She’s here for revenge, which means she has no interest in being reasoned with. If you go out there alone, she might try to kill you.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yeah, well, she can go ahead and try.”

  The door suddenly burst open and Sebastian strode inside with nothing more than a towel slung around his waist. Water clung to his skin and hair, dripping down his chest in rivulets. My mouth parted in shock. “Good. I see you’ve heard the lunatic outside. Seems our little pal has come back for another round.”

  “Why are you wearing nothing but a towel?” Jasper growled. “You can’t fight like that. Go and get changed.”

  “No,” I said, but Sebastian didn’t listen. He disappeared out the door without a moment of hesitation. All around me, my mates were throwing on their clothes and grabbing their weapons from the rack beside the door.

  I looked at each of them in turn. “I command you to stay in here while I go and talk to the Fury.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” Marcus grabbed my arm and pulled me out into the hallway, jamming my scabbard into my hands. “Silas told me you tried to pull that command thing with him, but it probably went down better then than it will now. We are not letting you talk to the Fury alone. We’re tackling this thing head on, together.”

  “Damn straight.” Sebastian fell into line behind us as we hurried down the hallway. Some of the doors we passed were open, and witches peeked out with a combination of fear and curiosity on their faces. Guilt clenched my heart. We’d come all this way after I’d promised them safety, and already they were facing another attack.

  The gargoyles were right. We had to take care of this here and now and as quickly as possible. Only this time, the Fury didn’t have an oath hanging over our heads.

  When we stepped through the archway, the piercing screeches vanished into a hiss. Swallowing hard, I pulled out my sword and held it up before me. The light of the blade filled the darkness, illuminating the thick shadows that seemed to creep in from every direction. My gargoyles surrounded me in a circle, each shifting their backs into powerful wings.

  We stood still, waiting, and nothing about this felt right to me. The Fury had the advantage. In fact, we’d likely walked straight into a trap. There was always a point to anything she did. Some kind of trick. Some kind of trap. She lured people into doing whatever she wanted, and it had worked until we’d taken her blood.

  And then we’d made the mistake of coming back, thinking she was done with this place for good.

  “As the granddaughter of Hecate, this is my home,” I called out, my voice echoing all around us. “You’re not welcome here, Fury.”

  Another screech shot through the night, a piercing sound that cut deep into my bones. She was close, but it was impossible to pinpoint where, even with my blade casting a halo of light around us. I realized far too late what that meant. We couldn’t see her, but she could definitely see us.

  Wings flapped overhead, and the Fury shot down toward our huddled group. Her feet had transformed into sharp claws, ones so thick they sliced through Sebastian’s arm. He let out a cry of pain and of rage, dropping his sword to the ground.

  “I thought she couldn’t fly here!” I shouted, whirling toward Sebastian. Blood poured from the wound, thick and deep red. He needed a bandage and fast, or some of Kipling’s healing salve. If he didn’t get help soon, this cut might very well end up bleeding him dry.

  I grabbed his unwounded arm and looked deep into his eyes. “Go to Kipling. Now. Do you understand me?”

  “No fucking way,” he grunted, grinding his teeth against the pain. “I’m not running with my tail between my legs.”

  “Listen to me.”

  Sebastian glanced away, refusing to meet my eyes any longer. With a frustrated sigh, I did the only thing I could think of in that moment. I hauled back my hand and slapped him on the face. The shock of it got him more than anything. He blinked at me, eyes wide, lips parted.

  “Go to Kipling now,” I repeated. “If you don’t get him to treat this wound, you’re going to die.”

  Behind me, steel clashed against steel. Eli’s grunts mixed with Jasper’s shouts, the two of them taking on the Fury while Marcus eased under Jasper’s arm to help carry him back inside.

  “I’ll be right back,” Marcus said, flicking his gaze beyond my shoulder at the fight. “Be careful. Don’t let her get ahold of your sword.”

  I knew the unspoken words that followed that sentence. Because if she gets her hands on your weapon, she won’t hesitate to use it to kill you.

  Sebastian and Marcus shuffled back inside. When I turned toward the fight, my heart leapt into my throat. Jasper was down on the ground, his eyes closed. Eli was locked arm in arm with the Fury, their heads pressing together as they fought for control and dominance. I glanced from Jasper to Eli back to Jasper again, heart torn in two. What should I do? Make sure Jasper was okay? Or try to knock the Fury away from Eli?

  I rushed at the Fury, my sword raised high. She let go of Eli and ducked low to dodge my blow. I jumped back a few steps and bounced on my feet, mentally flicking through everything that Jasper had once taught me. It had worked against the king of the fae. It could work against this creature of darkness.

  The Fury’s wings spread out wide behind her, each one ablaze with golden flames. She smiled when I widened my eyes, taking delight in my shock.

  “I thought you couldn’t fly on Mont Circeo. I thought it was forbidden.”

  She shrugged and danced a step closer, darting her wings closer to my skin. I jumped out the way just in time.

  “It was forbidden, and now it’s not,” the Fury said. “It’s amazing what you can do when you have the power to control the world.”

  “How?” I demanded, jumping to the right when she tried to brush her fiery wings against me once again. “The last time we saw you, you were broken. And we reversed the oath.”

  “Oh. That.” Her smile grew larger, darker. “It seems the gods don’t take kindly to demigoddesses who think they’re above following the rules of the ancient world.” She stepped closer and sneered. “By reversing the
oath, you ended up helping me far more than you could have realized. They took pity on me and restored me with greater powers than I’ve ever had before. You see, the rules of this place still apply to everyone else. Everyone but me.”

  Blood roared in my ears. “You’re lying. Hecate wouldn’t turn on me like that. I’m her—”

  Her granddaughter. But she had never cared before. Why would she care now? She’d never helped, in all the years she could have. She’d known about me, and she’d done nothing. The magic hunters had been trying to kill me for months, and yet she’d merely watched from another realm, determined to do nothing to help. And when I’d begged...when I’d pleaded...she’d just turned me away.

  Marcus, Eli, and Sebastian had believed that she’d blessed me with the light of the realm, but they’d been wrong. Now, she’d betrayed me.

  “That’s right,” the Fury said as she watched the horrible realization crash over me. “The gods are not on your side but they are on mine. My revenge will be the sweetest kind. You did all this to bring your beloved mate back into the world. And now? He’s going to be gone from you forever.”

  She grabbed Jasper’s arm and shot into the sky. The scream that ripped from my throat was loud enough to wake the dead.

  Part IV

  A Fight of Fury

  Chapter 27

  “Eli, go after her!” I yelled as tears streamed down my face. Nausea bubbled up in my throat as I helplessly stood watching their bodies disappear into specks of dust against the night sky. The cloying shadows had gone, leaving behind nothing but an emptiness, a gaping chasm that beckoned me for me to fall.