Stone Passions Trilogy (Stone Passion 1, 2, & 3)

by A C Warneke

  “I might be okay,” she whispered, clutching his hand, truly scared. She didn’t want to die, not when she was finally learning how to live once again, not when there was so much worth living for. Her fingers tightened as she held onto Rhys, onto hope. “Melanie survived.”

  “Yes, she did,” Rhys said with a smile that wobbled, gently stroking her hair away from her face. The pain was worse than what she went through when she had Ferris. It wasn’t just her belly that cramped but her entire body.

  “I can help her,” Melanie said, pushing her way through the bodies to reach Jenna’s side. Naturally Vaughn was by her side, holding her steady as she trembled in the face of Jenna’s death. Framing Jenna’s face in her hands, she met Jenna’s eyes, “Jenna, look at me.”

  “Lenni, no,” Jenna breathed, trying to flow into the pain until it passed. Only it didn’t pass and it didn’t lessen. “You can’t.”

  “You’ve always been the strong one. Let me do this for you.”

  Jenna would have laughed at her sister’s words, knowing them for the lie they were but she couldn’t make a sound. The imps had promised not to hurt Ferris but didn’t they know that there was more than just physical pain? At least her daughter would be taken care of: she had a group of gargoyles who would guard her with their lives as well as the well-intentioned but ultimately misguided imps.

  She could die knowing she had finally lived and her daughter would be safe. Maybe she should have chosen the other path.

  As he held Jenna’s hand, Rhys watched in helpless despair as Melanie held her hands over Jenna’s body and closed her eyes, gathering her strength from within. Suddenly she was carefully but firmly pushed aside and Omari was there, cursing in languages that were long gone, his violently green robes fluttering around his body. He glared at Melanie and growled, “No, you are not to touch her.”

  “She’s my sister,” Melanie protested, glaring at the white haired man who held her away from Jenna. She struggled against Omari’s hold but it was futile. Even in her new incarnation she was no match for an ancient god.

  Omari shook his head, placing a hand on her flat stomach and gazing at her in empathy and meaning and Melanie stilled. “You cannot risk harming the baby.”

  Something shattered behind him and Rhys looked over his shoulder and saw Armand standing there with a grim expression on his face and a layer of dust on his knuckles. But Rhys’s concerns were on Jenna, who was no longer conscious, “Father; do something.”

  Omari scowled at him as he kneeled next to Jenna and held his hands over Jenna, much as Melanie had done earlier. Closing his eyes, he spoke through barely moving lips, “Before any of you ask, I need to determine how much she ingested and no, this was not how it was supposed to happen.”

  Ignoring Omari, ignoring Vaughn, Melanie crawled back to her sister’s side. Taking Jenna’s other hand, she shakily held her other hand over Jenna. Omari slapped her hand away, growling, “The baby.”

  Tears streamed down Melanie’s face as she lifted her hand once more, stubborn in the face of an even more stubborn Omari. “I can neutralize the poison, I know I can.”

  “The. Baby,” Omari repeated, looking pointedly at Melanie’s midriff. “Do not take any needless risks since I am here to fix this and I know what I’m doing and you do not. Now, sit back and let me work.”

  “Father,” Rhys whispered. “Will she live?”

  “Of course; the two of you love one another.” Omari glanced up at him as he held his wrist up to his mouth and bit down, puncturing his flesh with eerily sharp teeth. Holding the wound up to Jenna’s mouth, he made her drink a few drops. The room was stunned into silence as Omari took his arm away and brushed a few drops of blood away from Jenna’s mouth. “Why do you think it is so important for my blood to be in her system alongside Medusa’s? The imps weren’t supposed to give her the blood until after I altered it with my blood but I guess one of them saw an opportunity and took it.”

  Four sets of eyes stared blankly at him and he shook his head in mild disappointment, “True love and all of that rubbish, people. Do you think I’d foolishly put Jenna’s life in danger?”

  “Yes,” Armand bit out angrily. “You did it to Melanie.”

  “I took a calculated risk,” Omari clarified. “There was a sixty-two point three four percent chance of success and those were acceptable odds in order to get Vaughn back.”

  Rhys glanced at his golden brother and saw the color drained from his face as he was carelessly informed of how close he came to losing Melanie in order to be reunited with her. At least he hadn’t had to witness his love suffer.

  Melanie’s eyes were wide in her face as she simply stared at Omari. Moistening her lips, she cleared her throat and softly asked, “Does my sister have the same chances?”

  “Nah,” Omari said, his hazel eyes gleaming and Rhys felt a vice-grip clutch his stomach until Omari chuckled. “Her chances are much higher since she has already gone against the odds and chose him at Medusa’s temple.”

  Rhys exhaled slowly as he gathered Jenna in his arms, holding her as her body slowly stopped convulsing. But she was still so pale and she wasn’t waking up, what if Omari was wrong? What if Jenna had already used up her luck when she returned to this life? What if he lost her? “Jenna, you’ve got to stop doing this to me, sweetheart.”

  “This bond is permanent,” Omari said softly with a meaningful glance towards Armand that Rhys did not understand. “Unlike the accepting of a gargoyle’s gift this bond cannot be broken. There are no female gargoyles because the one that had accepted changed her mind almost a thousand years later and Abednago released her.”

  “I never would have changed my mind,” Jenna rasped, her voice scratchy. It was beautiful and Rhys let out a cry as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to his chest, rocking back and forth in his relief. “Why did you give me the poison?”

  “Don’t you know that you are also one of the gods’ favorite mortals?” Omari asked as she sat slumped against Rhys’s chest. Omari reached out and brushed a strand of black hair from her face and smiled tenderly, “Well, immortal now?”

  “You could have asked me,” Jenna said, unmoving in Rhys’s arms but he didn’t mind. He wanted to hold her, he had to hold her.

  “You would have refused,” Omari murmured and Jenna remained silent, her answer in the set of her mouth and Rhys couldn’t blame her. But now he didn’t have to worry about losing her, she was his….

  “Jenna,” he whispered, his mouth suddenly dry as he considered the possibility that she didn’t really want to be bonded to him. She had never actually agreed to accept his gift, telling him that it was something she would consider. “Are you okay with this?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes moving over the disconcerted expression he didn’t even try to hide. Suddenly, her lips curled into a brilliant smile and she cupped his cheek in her slender hand, “Rhys, it’s not how I planned on spending eternity with you but now that it is over I have no complaints.” She laughed out loud, her eyes dancing as she looked at him with all of the love in her heart, her soul, “I’m bound to you forever and there is nothing more I could want.”

  He closed his eyes in gratitude, hugging her tighter as love and ecstasy rushed through his veins. Resting his cheek against the top of Jenna’s head he looked at Omari, “What happens if we perform the ritual?”

  “I imagine the bond will be even stronger,” he answered casually. He chuckled as if he what he said was amusing. “Though I can’t imagine how much stronger it could possibly be.”

  “Will I become a gargoyle?” Jenna asked softly, looking at Melanie who retained her humanity even during the day. But Lenni had taken the poison after Vaughn had been turned to stone, she had died and been reborn in order to bring Vaughn back.

  Omari stared at her unblinkingly, a god caught in the headlights expression that was not comforting. “I… hadn’t considered that. I guess you’ll have to discover the answer to that one for yourselves.”
>
  Jenna’s head fell back against Rhys’s chest and she closed her eyes and groaned. She felt Rhys’s chest rumble against her back as he laughed and she couldn’t help but smile, “I guess we’ll still have to wait until I’m forty after all.”

  He pressed his lips to her forehead, lingering a little longer than a heartbeat, and gruffly said, “I guess that is all right just so long as I know we are together.”

  “Forever.”

  Epilogue

  Rhys carried the cake with the forty candles on it over to Jenna, who looked so damn sexy lying on the bed in nothing but a smile. Her black hair fell in waves to the middle of her back but her face remained unchanged since that day nearly sixteen years before when she drank the blood of Medusa. He loved her more than he ever thought possible. “Happy birthday, my love.”

  Sitting up, her breasts beckoning him to kiss them, she grinned, “Tonight’s the night.”

  After carefully setting the cake down on the nightstand, he sat down on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers along the smooth lines of her calf. They had spent their month in the Caribbean where he had been able to enjoy Jenna during the day and it had been phenomenal, the best month of his life. He had been awed by the blueness of the summer sky, the same blue as Jenna’s eyes. It almost pained him knowing it was going to end in a few hours, not knowing if he would ever get to experience such beauty again, even if he had reason to hope.

  It hardly mattered because Jenna was going to accept his gift, strengthening a bond that was already unbreakable. One of the incredible things that Melanie and Vaughn discovered was if they were joined when the sun rose, Vaughn would remain human during the day.

  Another interesting discovery was how Melanie became pregnant: by having sex with him while he was a gargoyle. Because it was a brutal process they only had two children. So far. But their children had some fascinating talents – they could change at will. And Rhys knew that Jenna would not be opposed to having another child or two with him, no matter how uncomfortable the conception.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked, brushing a strand of hair from her face, needing to touch her. Trailing his fingers down her throat, over her shoulder, along her arm, he captured her hand in his, squeezing her slender fingers.

  “Of course I am,” she said without hesitation, without a doubt. After drinking the blood mixture, she had blossomed even more than she had on their journey. For a while she continued working as an accountant, even though there was no need, but when her co-workers started to notice that she wasn’t aging she quit, deciding that she would manage the Nosuntres' fortune instead. In the years since she had taken over the books their wealth had grown even more, if such a thing were possible.

  Then there was Ferris, the little girl who was no longer a little girl. She had grown into a stunning young lady who embraced the supernatural world, unaware of her own beauty and allure. Her artistic abilities were astounding and she was one of the brightest lights of both his and Jenna’s world.

  “Do you think I will make a beautiful gargoyle?” Jenna asked, running her hand along his thigh, getting perilously close to his cock. He was already hard, but that was nothing new when he was in the same room as Jenna. She merely had to look at him and he grew hard.

  “If you become a gargoyle you will be gorgeous,” he assured her, leaning forward and brushing his lips over hers. “Now, make a wish and blow out the candles.”

  After the veil was lifted, his mother was finally able to return home to Mount Olympus and be reunited with her sisters. Her island remained as a vacation destination for all of her sons, both gargoyle and imp alike. Within the walls of her room she was able to interact with her children, keeping an eye on them even from the other side of the grave.

  Despite the chaos the human world had to endure after the veil was lifted, the supernatural world remained virtually unaffected. Their world hadn’t changed, it simply opened up. The humans were still learning to deal with a world that was no longer shielded from the things that went bump in the night. Of course, the ones having the most difficulties were the angels, who for so long had held themselves apart from all other creatures. That was no longer possible.

  Armand was having difficulties adjusting to a world that no longer required the same protection of the gargoyles. He had been cast adrift and that had to have been the reason why he gave up his nights for a virtual stranger when Rhys had given up his nights for Jenna. He even admitted that he didn’t love the stranger but it was something he had to do, that in time they would all understand.

  Melanie and Vaughn knew little about it either, having been in Greece with their children. The infuriating man had even kept the woman’s identity a secret, holding it close to his heart and smiling a sad smile when Rhys had confronted him about it when they returned and discovered what Armand had done.

  The worst part was the fact that Armand would be turning to stone because he had no intention of letting the woman accept his gift.

  “All of my wishes have already come true but I’m sure I can think of something,” she purred, dragging her nails lightly over his erection before leaning over and blowing out the candles. Looking up at him with those summer blue eyes, she whispered, “Will you grant me my wish now?”

  “Anything you desire,” he breathed, capturing her lips in a kiss as he climbed onto the bed. Slowly, he pressed his erection into the swollen folds of her sex, the sensation even more wonderful than the first time he had made love to her. He loved listening to the breath hitch in her throat as he nudged just the right spots with his cock and after sixteen years he knew all of the right spots. Resting his forehead against hers, he whispered, “Do you accept my gift, Jenna? Will you be mine for all eternity?”

  “For all eternity, Rhys,” she whispered as tears gathered in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him to her, hugging him close. “All eternity.”

  ~*~*~*~

  STONE DESTINY

  Copyright©2013 Andrea Warneke

  All Rights Reserved

  Dedication

  Stone Destiny exists because of the readers who wanted Armand's story. This book is for you, with my love and gratitude.

  *~*~*

  To my children who are growing up way too fast and to my husband: I love you!!

  *~*~*

  To the members of the U.S. Military:

  Thank you for all that you do.

  Acknowledgement

  Armand has not always been easy… okay, he's never been easy, and I want to thank everyone for their support while waiting for Stone Destiny.

  *~*~*

  I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who read Stone Destiny in its unfinished state, from the Gargoyle Virgins to the Gargoyle Lovers. Thank you for letting me see the story through your eyes.

  Prologue

  A Destiny Realized

  With a heavy sigh, Ferris Jacobs made her way through the elegant lobby, waving half-heartedly at Nod the lavender-haired sprite as she passed. Slinking into the elevator, she pressed the button for the fourteenth floor of the castle hidden in plain sight in the middle of Saint Paul. She wanted to escape her so-called real life for a while because it had been another day of Hell in high school and she wasn’t sure how she was going to survive one and a half more years of it. She would have thought that her classmates would have grown up by now, maybe matured some. Unfortunately, she wasn’t so lucky and her classmates remained immature and cruel.

  Her life beyond the walls of the castle sucked. She hated being the girl that everyone avoided. Well, everyone that was human. The creatures of the supernatural world adored her, just as she adored them. Yet it was because of her ability to see things that weren’t supposed to be there that alienated her peers. It wasn’t her fault the rest of the hairless apes couldn’t see beneath the veil so why did they have to torture her because of it? Even after she learned not to speak of it they continued taunting her, calling her Freaky Ferris for as long as she could remember
.

  The more they tormented her, the deeper she sank into the lives of her paranormal friends, from the imps that teased her and got her into trouble to the pixies that entertained her with ribald stories probably not suitable for young ears. Of course, her favorite supernatural beings were the gargoyles that lived in the castle in the middle of the city. From the time she was five or six they had been a part of her life, ever since her Aunt Melanie had fallen in love with the gargoyle Vaughn and her mother had fallen in love with Vaughn’s gargoyle brother Rhys.

  Ferris had grown up surrounded by magic, by mythological creatures and fantastical castles that the rest of the world couldn’t even fathom. Hell, her best friend was an imp named Ajreis, whose wide mouth full of sharp teeth, grayish skin and large, pointy ears had never frightened her, even as a small child. He made her feel safe while storms raged outside, he made her laugh when the kids at school had pretended she didn’t exist, he comforted her when she hid her tears from her mother because she never wanted her mom to worry. He guarded her with his life.

  But he couldn’t protect her from the verbal slings and arrows of her classmates. He could only comfort her after the fact, promising deadly retribution until she laughed, promising painful vengeance until she worried he might be serious and begged him to take no action. Unfortunately, he was currently spending some time with his imp brethren who were giving him a hard time for having a human friend. It left Ferris alone to face the wolves at school for the rest of the school year. Her aunt, her mother and their mates had gone to Greece for a supernatural festival, taking the three gargoyles that had returned home with Rhys and Jenna nearly ten years before.

  Vaughn and Rhys’s older brother Armand remained behind so the castle would not have to remain unguarded. Ferris knew that he was looking forward to some peace and quiet, especially after dealing with the boisterous trio of young gargoyles. There was also Vaughn and Aunt Melanie’s nine year old son, a golden-haired angel who had a small case of hero worship for the stern Armand. Young Alex had gone with his parents in order to meet his gargoyle relatives and his paternal grandmother, who happened to be Medusa.