by A C Warneke
She could still remember how it felt to hold her two phantom children in her arms and she wondered if the guilt and sorrow would ever go away or if they were going to be another thing she had to pretend didn’t exist. She knew that she had asked to retain the memories she just hadn’t realized how vivid they would be once she returned home. How long was it going to take before she was able to forgive herself for making an impossible choice?
Her mind also raced with the other events of the last weeks and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t shut off her brain and fall asleep. While she had been with Rhys it had been so easy to believe a future together was not only possible but simple to achieve. But she had a child, a job, she had responsibilities that she just couldn’t turn her back on. God, she hadn’t even been home for more than an hour and the doubts were starting to eat away at her.
She wasn’t like Melanie, able to take a leap of faith on no more than the promise of a possibility. Jenna needed more than the words whispered in the darkness, no matter how enticing those words were. Of course, the gods smiled upon Lenni, gifting her with immortality because she drank the poison without question. Jenna simply couldn’t do that, especially if she knew it was poison. It was bad enough that she was planning to imbibe a drop or two of Medusa’s blood every couple of weeks to remain young.
Did that make her a vampire? She shuddered at the thought, still not sure if it was such a great idea to be drinking blood at all. What if they were wrong about the dosage and she accidentally OD'ed? Maybe it would be safer to not take the blood and simply accept Rhys’s gift when she turned forty. As long as she kept herself healthy and in shape she should still look decent and only a little bit too old for the forever young Rhys.
She could hear the imp breathing. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and flinched when she saw the imp standing there, just standing there. “Go to sleep, Ajreis.”
“We need no sleep,” he said in that creepy voice of his. “We guard little Ferris with our lives and we do not sleep.”
That freaked her out until she reminded herself that the imps were also the sons of Medusa and she had adored Medusa. As long as she remembered that… she would still be freaked out. “Can you do me a favor, Ajreis?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation, surprising her. Most people preferred to know what the favor entailed before agreeing to do it.
“Can you bring me a phone?” she asked softly, needing to hear Rhys’s voice. Maybe if she heard his voice she would remember how it was to be in his arms and have far fewer doubts. If she heard his voice maybe then she would be able to go to sleep.
A moment later Ajreis silently put the cordless phone in her hand and she smiled, “Thanks.”
He bowed his head in acknowledgment, which was old-fashioned and disconcerting. Punching in the numbers to Rhys’s phone, she hoped that there was someone there to pick up. As the phone rang, she watched the imp in the low light, his stillness just as eerie as his voice but his breathing oddly comforting, in a strange, welcome to the world of mythology way. He never took his eyes from Ferris’s face and Jenna wondered how her daughter could sleep with a nightmarish creature watching her.
“Jenna,” Rhys’s voice answered the phone and the ball of stress that had been tightening in her chest eased. “I was hoping you would call.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she murmured as the tension began to seep away once more. “I just needed to hear your voice.”
“I’m here, love,” he said softly, fervently. “I’m right here.”
Her eyes grew heavy as memories of the last couple of weeks played in her head. She wasn’t the same person as she was a few months ago: she had seen things, experienced things, few humans had. She had partied in London with a group of bored aristocrats, she had been to an orgy in Greece, she had talked with Medusa. She had fallen in love with a gargoyle.
"I love you, Rhys."
Chapter 21
After work, Jenna rode the elevator up to the fourteenth floor, nervous and giddy to be seeing Rhys again, excited to see her sister. Going into work had been difficult, especially after getting only an hour or two of dream-plagued sleep during the night. Her job had been deadly dull and it had been damn near impossible to concentrate but her boss had been grateful she had returned in time to help out with last minute tax filings.
It had taken a lot of concentration to get back into the rhythm of crunching numbers but by midmorning she had gotten into the zone where she didn’t think about Rhys or her journey at all. It was as if it had never happened.
Until lunch time hit and she impulsively called Rhys, even knowing he wouldn’t be able to talk on the phone in his gargoyle form. Melanie had answered and she gave it her best effort to bring the phone to Rhys as he sat on the roof with his brothers. Jenna had heard the little ones chattering in their rocky voices as Melanie told her the phone was simply too small for Rhys to be able to have a conversation.
“What are the youngest Nosuntres brothers’ forms?” Jenna had asked, needing that link to the supernatural world.
“Michael is a white lion,” Melanie told her. And Jenna wondered how they determined how he was a white lion since he was a stone statue and there wasn’t really a way to determine fur color, which wasn’t even fur at all but carved stone. “Leo is a liger, not to be confused with a lion or a tiger I have been told, and little Raphe is a black panther. They are all really rather spectacular and so damn cute. I wish you could see them.”
“I will this weekend,” Jenna had promised. “Um, do you think it will be okay if I come by tonight after work?”
“Of course,” Melanie had said and the promise of seeing Rhys had been enough to get Jenna through the rest of the day.
The doors slid open and for the first time in almost six weeks Jenna saw her sister and the weeks had been really good to Melanie. She had gained back most of the weight she had lost and she positively glowed. Tears filled Jenna’s eyes as they hugged. Holding her sister tight, Jenna breathed, “You look beautiful, Lenni.”
“Thank you,” Melanie whispered, emotion clogging her voice. Stepping back, she wiped the tears from her eyes and laughed, “Look at me, I’m crying again.”
“So am I,” Jenna laughed, handing her sister the small bag she held, a little something she had picked up at the drugstore on her way over. “I brought you something.”
Melanie peaked into the bag and quickly closed it, blushing furiously and laughing, “I really don’t think this is necessary. I mean, he can’t… I’m not.”
“Humor me,” Jenna urged, taking off her jacket and following Melanie into the luxurious apartment. Giving her sister a kiss on the cheek, she left Melanie in the bathroom as she went to find Rhys. She quickly found him lounging in the den with all of his brothers and the six of them were laughing as they got to know one another. Not wanting to intrude, she simply watched from the doorway as the three large gargoyles interacted with the three small gargoyles.
A small, fluffy white creature sat on Armand’s knee, his long elegantly fingers absently stroking it as he gazed on his brothers with pride and affection. It was strange to see the large, divinely handsome man idly stroking a toy dog and she had to press her knuckle into her mouth to keep from laughing. Her heart twisted in her chest as she pictured him in the other life, full of love and not loved enough in return. It hurt to look at him and she let her gaze touch briefly on each of the gargoyles, lingering just a tad longer on Rhys.
The six of them were definitely brothers, from the almost six year old to Armand, who even had a hint of a smile as he sat there. Quietly, Jenna backed out and leaned against the wall on the side of the door where she wouldn’t be seen, clutching a bottle of red wine in case her suspicions proved to be true. She shouldn’t be there. It was their time to get to know one another.
“Couldn’t they have gotten you a real dog?” Rhys asked, his voice light with humor. “Like a Great Dane or a mastiff? Something that is larger than a cat?”
“They got him a small dog because we live in an apartment on the fourteenth floor,” Vaughn chuckled. “Plus, I think Melanie thought it would be funny to see Armand with a little dog.”
“This is not a dog,” Armand said imperiously, a hint of amusement in his cool voice. “This is a mop with legs.”
“You love it,” Vaughn countered.
Jenna could almost hear the smile in Armand’s voice as he murmured, “She has her uses.”
“Apparently Toulia is repelled by dogs,” Vaughn said for clarification. “Armand carries the mop with him everywhere he goes. It’s really quite the sight to see.”
Rhys’s laughter rang out and her heart trembled in her chest and she realized she was just a foolish girl. What had she been thinking trying to see him when he had been separated from his family for just as long as she had been? He needed this time with his brothers and as soon as Melanie got out of the bathroom she would leave.
It wasn’t so bad. She’d be seeing him in a few days when the weekend hit. She was just having difficulties returning to a normal life after everything she had been through with Rhys. She was just going to have to deal with it like a grown up and not some love-starved twit.
With a sigh, she headed back the way she came, bumping into Melanie as her sister came out of the bathroom. Melanie was very pale and her blue eyes were huge in her face and Jenna had to grab onto Melanie’s shoulders to keep her steady. “Lenni?’
Melanie looked up at her as if she didn’t recognize her own sister. Jenna shook her sister to keep her lucid “Lenni, what is it?”
Melanie held up the white stick, her hand trembling, “I’m… I’m….”
Then her eyes rolled back and her body went limp and Jenna was barely able to catch her as she fell. “Rhys! Vaughn!”
Heavy footsteps pounded down the hall and in a whir of movement Vaughn had Melanie cradled in his arms, brushing her hair from her face as he crooned her name. She found herself in Rhys’s arms, staring into warm chocolate eyes, “When did you arrive?”
“I, um,” she looked at Melanie who was slowly coming around, her eyelids fluttering. With a helpless glance past Rhys, she asked, “Is she okay, Vaughn?”
“I’m okay,” Melanie muttered, pushing her hair out of her eyes and laughing uneasily. “I just haven’t eaten enough today.”
Jenna frowned at her sister but Melanie made a negative motion with her head and frowned back. As Jenna watched, Melanie pushed the stick beneath a table where it went unnoticed by the others. She gave Jenna a limpid smile as she winked and leaned more fully into Vaughn’s embrace, sighing dramatically. “You can let me go, Vaughn. I’m all right, really.”
Ignoring her words, just as Melanie intended, Vaughn carried her into the den they had been lounging in before the excitement began, with Rhys and Jenna following quietly behind. Armand was still sitting there, as calm and as unruffled as ever. Seeing Vaughn with Melanie in his arms, he arched an eyebrow, “What happened this time? Did Melanie slip on a banana peel or something?”
“You know that only happens in cartoons,” Rhys said, slapping Armand’s knee to move him over. Reluctantly, Armand grabbed the dog and stood up from the couch, making space for Melanie, whose cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment over Vaughn’s concern. He was so solicitous of her, offering her all of the comforts he could think of until Melanie was laughing from some of his more ridiculous suggestions. Jenna couldn’t help but smile as they interacted with one another, their love so apparent a blind man could see it.
Jenna glanced at Armand and saw the longing pass over his face before he caught her staring and quickly masked it. She arched an eyebrow at him, smiling when he mirrored the image and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Of course, had she not seen the other reality than she would never have known he had feelings for Melanie at all.
The smile fell from her lips and her heart went out to the taciturn man who never had a chance, either in this life or the other one. Looking at Melanie she saw that her sister only had eyes for Vaughn. How on earth were they going to bring a child into the world if they only had eyes for each other?
A heavy arm was draped over her shoulders and she smiled as Rhys’s scent filled her senses. Who was she to judge her sister when she was just as hopelessly in love with Rhys? “What really happened, Jenna?”
“That’s kind of for Melanie to say,” she said, scrunching her nose, not sure how her sister wanted to handle the situation. Holding up the bottle of wine that she had somehow managed to hold on to, she grinned, “How about I pour all of us some wine and we can relax and catch up with everyone.”
“I’ll get the glasses,” he smirked, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. He stopped, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against his body. Taking her lips in a more passionate kiss, he breathed, “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.”
He was gone before she could reply and she found herself looking at three wide-eyed moppets staring at her with large grins. “Hello, Jenna.”
“Hello, boys,” she grinned. “How was your first night in the city?”
Their eyes grew even wider, “It’s amazing! There is so much to see here, to do.”
They spoke over one another, their voices combining until Jenna couldn’t understand a word any of them were saying. Armand’s quiet voice cut through the cacophony, “Boys.”
They quieted instantly, looking at Armand with worshipful eyes. Jenna had to chuckle because the man had a way with children whether he knew it or not. Well, there was at least one person who would be able to keep an eye on the spawn of Melanie and Vaughn.
Rhys appeared a moment later with five glasses and a corkscrew. Winking at Melanie, Jenna generously poured four glasses of wine and a little dribble into the fifth glass. With a grin, she handed Melanie the glass with barely anything in it. “Cheers.”
Vaughn gave her a funny look but simply smiled, his hand stroking Melanie’s hair as he drank his wine. Jenna had to bite her lip to keep from laughing but it was too funny and she had to set her glass of wine down. The two of them were unbearably adorable.
“Why aren’t you drinking?” Rhys asked, entwining his fingers with hers.
“I am just enjoying the show,” she said, nodding her head towards the couple on the couch.
He nuzzled her neck, “She has barely let him out of her sight. Armand says she is paranoid about losing him even though she’s much more powerful now and they’re fully bonded. I don’t think anything can come between them.”
Jenna let out an awkward laugh, reaching behind her to grab her wine. It wasn’t where she thought it was and she almost knocked it over before catching it with her fingertips. Holding Rhys’s eyes, she slammed down the thick liquid, needing something to hold her tongue until Melanie decided what she wanted to do, how she wanted to handle the news.
The taste exploded in her mouth, a cross between metallic blood and decay. Slamming the glass down, she wiped her hand across the back of her mouth, trying to erase the taste. With dawning horror, she watched Rhys and Armand bring their glasses up to their lips and she cried out, “Don’t drink it! it’s gone bad.”
As they lowered the glasses, Jenna felt the heat of humiliation in her cheeks. “I am so sorry! The wine must have been a bad batch or something, it’s vile.”
“It’s not the smoothest vintage I’ve ever had but for something that is one step away from being from a box it’s not bad,” Armand said smoothly, sipping the wine as he offered her a backhanded compliment.
Jenna looked at him as if her were insane, “I’m pretty sure it’s rotten. It tasted like… God, it tasted like death.”
“I don’t think you drank the wine,” Armand said carefully, standing up, concern actually etched on his gorgeous face. Worried by Armand’s show of emotion, she turned to Rhys only to find him drained of all color, his eyes wide in his face. Her worry became a living thing, crawling like maggots in her gut. “What is it? What did I drink?”
Jenna’s eyes widened in alarm as she turned her head and met Melanie’s gaze, who stared back in terror. “Lenni.”
“How did this happen?” Armand ground out through lips pressed together in a firm line.
Turning her head, she saw an imp standing in the corner looking shamefaced and resigned but he disappeared before she could point him out and she had to wonder if she had imagined him. Lifting a shaking arm, she pointed to the spot and turned to Rhys, “I think the imps thought they were being helpful.”
“Fucking imps!” Armand bellowed, throwing his glass against the fireplace where it shattered, spilling blood red wine everywhere. With a grim expression, he turned to the younger gargoyles, “Boys, go to your room and keep yourself occupied while we deal with this.”
“But,” one of them began to protest.
“Go,” Armand said, brooking no argument as he handed Michael the little white mop dog and the boys scampered off, apparently understanding the gravity of the situation.
“Um, I don’t feel so well,” Jenna muttered, pressing her hand against her stomach where streaks of pain were already spreading outwards. If she lay down and didn’t move maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Slowly, she sank to the floor, trying not to struggle too much and shatter the thin layer of skin that was holding her together. Rhys’s arm was around her, easing her down and she met his eyes and tried to smile, “I drank the poison but I didn’t mean to.”
Rhys took her hand in his, leaning over her, “Sweetheart, just hold on. We’ll figure this out.”
