He brought her into a dining room that appeared more suited to a medieval castle than the penthouse of a modern tower. The long dining table could seat—one, two, three—fourteen.
“Do you and your sentries all eat here?”
“Not at the same time. We often take shifts since we don’t leave the city unprotected.”
“Who prepares the food?”
He brought her through a doorway that led to a large ultra-modern kitchen. “Sometimes, we’ll cook, but it’s rare. One of the conveniences in living in a city is the availability of food delivery. We have several caterers deliver.” He opened the door of an enormous stainless-steel refrigerator. “It looks like there’s almost a full tray of lasagna in here and a garden salad.” After he closed the door, he opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of menus. “Or, there’s takeout.”
She laughed. “Oh hell, no. I’m going for this lasagna.” It was from a family-owned restaurant in the North End, the Italian neighborhood. “Just try to keep me away.”
He laughed and then opened a cabinet to reveal dozens of bottles of wine. “Can’t forget this.”
After they heated up the lasagna and scooped some salad into bowls, they carried their plates into the dining room. The scent of the lasagna stirred her hunger. He went to pour the wine and returned with two glasses of a rich red.
“It’s a Cotes du Rhone that I think you like.” He offered her the glass.
“I’m sure I will.”
He raised his glass before his face and then peered at her from over the top of it. “A toast.”
“To what?”
“To a more peaceful journey ahead.”
His intense eyes sparkled with something, but she couldn’t place what it was. Since their relationship had begun during a night of terror and the danger hadn’t let up yet, she could only hope he was right.
“Absolutely.” She clinked his glass and sipped the wine as he did the same. The decadent flavor rolled down her throat. This might help take the edge off of the unsettling feeling that had slithered under her skin since the demons had infiltrated the city.
She forked a bit of the lasagna. The rich blend of tomato sauce and ricotta cheese melted over her tongue.
“Mmm, this is delicious. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.”
Roman said, “Yes, you need to restore your energy.”
It had definitely been sapped lately, especially after transferring some to Janie two nights ago. She tried not to dwell on that. Anxiety and guilt and grief had captured most of her thoughts for days. It would return. But, something about enjoying a meal with Roman eased the tension. They’d never had a dinner like this together. And for a moment, she wanted to savor the normalcy as if they were a typical couple. Except the vast dining room where they ate appeared like it was designed in another time. She glanced at the intricate dark woodwork. “What century are we even in?”
Roman laughed, a rich sound that always sent a ripple of delight into her core. “The twenty-first. I’m old, but not that old.”
When she’d asked him in the past about aging, he’d said that gargoyles don’t age the same way as humans.
She scrunched her nose. “Bear with me, Roman, but I only know how humans age. If we stay together, am I going to turn into an old woman while you remain forever young? Like a vampire or something?”
He smiled with warmth. “Larissa, no. That won’t happen. If you agree to be my life mate, our souls entwine. It is a very powerful, magical bonding. I believe it has already started with us since we were able to communicate telepathically after your grandmother was killed.”
Souls entwine? Holy shit, that was deep. “But we haven’t been able to communicate like that since.”
His lips tightened into a straight line as he appeared to consider that. “Our connection will strengthen with time. And if we bond, you will age like me.” With a grin, he added, “Being with me will give you a longer expected lifespan.”
She arched a brow. “Whoa. You’re full of surprises, aren’t you? So many more questions come up when I even think of that. How could I outlive the people I know? It seems wrong, like I’d be cheating death somehow.”
“No, we are not immortal. Our time will end one day.”
God, this talk turned heavy really quickly. It always seemed to be that way with him. Probably because the situations they’d faced together were mostly life and death ones, leaving little time for small talk.
After taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “I’m afraid to ask what becoming a life mate entails. I’m still coming to terms with all of this.” She motioned around the compound and the sky and then ended pointing at herself.
“And I will never rush you,” he promised. “Whatever you’d like to know, whenever you’d like to ask it, I will answer as best as I can.”
“Okay, what do you mean if I agree to be your life mate?”
“We have a ceremony in which we pledge ourselves to each other.”
“Like a wedding?”
He shook his head. “Many marriages end. Our vows are rarely broken.”
That seemed odd. Didn’t people break their vows all the time? They cheated and lied. Sometimes they were caught. Other times, guilt drove them to confession. And that was only one of the many reasons a marriage could fall apart.
She bit her lip. The question in her mind was a big one, not something you’d ask early in a relationship. Yet it was something she had to know.
“What about kids, Roman? Would we even be able to have them?”
Hell, why had she asked that question? She wasn’t even sure if she wanted kids.
“Yes, a human and a gargoyle are able to have children. And they can take on the form of either one of us, or who knows—maybe both.” He motioned at himself. “Physiologically, I’m human right now. Just like you.” When she arched a brow, he added, “All right, not exactly, but enough.”
She gulped before revealing a new tangled thread in the complicated web that was now her life. “Here’s the thing. I don’t even know if I want to have kids. I mean, I was engaged once, and that fell apart. It made me reassess my future and if I would want a life like that—the whole marriage and family thing. I’m only in my early twenties and I’m still not sure if I do. But, after my grandmother told me I’m the last in a line of witches, this opens a new weight of responsibility that presses on me.” She threw up her hands in the air. “Honestly, I don’t know what I want anymore.”
He took both of her hands in his. “Right now, the only thing you need to know is if you want to be with me.”
She searched herself for the answer. They’d had a deep connection since they’d met and their relationship had propelled forward at rocket speed. Some would say she was rushing into things, but it felt right. Now that she’d met him, she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it.
With a somber nod, she replied, “I do.”
Roman had never brought a lover to dine with him here at the compound. He rarely sat and enjoyed his meal here at the table. Typically, he ate a quick bite and returned outside or to his room to rest. It was strange how normal it felt with Larissa there—even while facing an active demon threat. He yearned to linger until the last possible moment before switching shifts.
“Roman, there’s still so much I don’t know about you,” she said, “and I don’t just mean you being a different species.”
“What would you like to know?”
She put down her fork. “Oh, you know—the stuff that people usually discover about each other when they started dating.”
He smirked. “Dating? Is that what we’re doing?”
Larissa gazed at him. “I would say, yes, but what we’ve gone through seems to have accelerated dating to some epic level. Normal couples don’t end up fighting demons the first night they meet.”
Roman laughed. “True. What do normal couples usually do?”
She glanced at the dinner table. “Well, this. They eat together. They might go
to a movie, or to a show. Go for a walk, or to the beach.”
“I’m happy to do all those things with you when we’re able. But, I must say, I enjoyed flying much more than walking.”
She raised her brows. “And that is something a typical couple would never say.”
“We’ll never be a normal couple. Are you all right with that?”
She grunted. “Since apparently, I’m not a normal woman with my witch blood, it’s only natural, right?”
He smiled. Larissa had only recently discovered she had witch blood—a fact he’d blurted out, not realizing she wasn’t aware of her true nature. She’d resisted it. She wanted to live a normal life. But, as the demons encroached upon the city and her loved ones, she was forced to accept her differences and act on them.
She’d been reluctant to work with her magic since she’d woken Janie. Not that he blamed her after the toll it had taken. She was magnificent, more powerful than she knew, but he couldn’t push her into embracing her abilities. She’d only resist them all the more. All he could do was be there for her.
Roman took another forkful of the rich lasagna. The sentries often ordered trays of Italian food from the North End, meals from Chinatown, or seafood from a nearby restaurant. When he glanced at Larissa, she was staring at him with a bemused expression on her face.
“Tell me about your life growing up.”
“I’ve told you some of this already.”
“You gave me an overview. I know you were raised in Portugal, in the Algarve region, and your parents died. But, tell me more about you.”
Roman thought for a moment. Her question was odd. Nobody had really asked him about this. He was a Stone Sentry. Where he’d come from didn’t matter. Duty was everything. But, Larissa wanted to know more about him. A warm feeling spread through his chest. She cared.
“I grew up in a small coastal town. It was a beautiful, peaceful area, with magnificent sunsets that accentuated the red and orange on the seaside cliffs. I grew up in a clan of gargoyle shifters. We had about seven or eight families there. Once the younger ones grew, they usually moved off and formed new clans, or joined an outfit, like the Stone Sentries.”
“Which is what you did, I’m guessing?”
“Yes. After my mother died, there was no reason for me to stay with the clan.” His chest tightened, the difficult memories constricting his ribcage. His mother was tough, yet caring. And she was gone. He hardened his jaw and continued. “I was a young gargoyle and had this desperate burning in me. I wanted to avenge my parents’ deaths, and I wanted to do something with all the restlessness that burned through me.” He nodded her way. “Something I recognize in you.”
She tilted her head. “Guilty. I can rarely sit still. But, you seem so calm. Centered.”
He shrugged. “Maybe I mellowed with age. More likely, it was being forced to learn to wait. I practiced warrior skills with my father and the clan when I was young, but I didn’t have the patience until I trained to become a Stone Sentry. Spending hours or even days guarding in stone form will do that.”
She eyed him with a keen look. “Tell me about the stone aspect. Have you always shifted into various forms? Or does that come later?”
“We have the ability to shift from birth, but, most spend more time in human form acting like children. There’s nothing exciting about resting as a stone statue across from your friend who is in the same form.”
She laughed. “But you can still communicate, right?”
“Yes. We are able to communicate telepathically with our clan in any form.”
“Where did you join the Stone Sentries?”
“In Barcelona. I started as a lower ranking sentry and was assigned to different units around Europe. After a few decades, I put in a request to come to North America for a change of scenery. I moved up and down the East Coast, and was then assigned as a deputy in DC, which is the position Arto has here.”
“And then you ended up in Boston?”
He nodded. He’d already told her how he had been assigned here as commander after the Boston Marathon bombings.
“That worked out well for me, since I’ve lived here my entire life.”
“You haven’t traveled much?”
“No, not really. I’ve only been to New York, DC, and Florida, but so far that’s as far as I’ve gone. I’d like to visit New Orleans next. And then travel more, since I’ve never left the country.” She scrunched her face. “Sad, I know.”
“Not necessarily. Perhaps you had a rich enough life right here.”
She let out a skeptical sound. “You know that’s not true.”
Ah, right. She’d lost her mother when she was young and had been raised by a father who was on the police force. That couldn’t have been easy. At least, she’d had her maternal grandmother—until the demons came.
She had to be hurting even if she wasn’t showing it. Although, he hated to upset her, he knew that when it came to grief, there were stages. She likely hadn’t even begun to go through them.
“How are you dealing with what happened with your grandmother?”
She brought her hands together and wrung them. “I’m not sure if it has hit me yet. In less than two weeks, so much has happened that I’m starting to turn numb. I’ve never had so much adrenaline rush through my system, and it’s leaving me drained.”
“I understand.”
She pursed her lips. “Maybe it’s going to hit me when—or if—this is all over. But I just can’t grieve, right now. I know it sounds horrible, but there’s only so much I can feel. She’s gone, but, maybe I still have a chance with Janie.” Her dark blue eyes glimmered with hope. “And that’s all I can think about now. I need to hold on to the chance that Janie’s alive, and somehow we will find her.”
His heart ached for Larissa and his soul yearned to ease her pain. All he wanted to do was cradle her in his arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay—but he couldn’t promise that. He had no idea how the situation with Janie would end up. The chances that she was alive slimmed with every passing minute. What did the demon want with her? Probably to steal her life force and discard her body, the way the demons had done to other victims at the dome. They didn’t have any respect for human life.
“Larissa, I promise you that I will do my utmost to bring her back safely.”
Her shiny eyes met his, filling his chest with warmth.
“I know you will,” she said. “I trust you and that if we have any chance of saving her, that it lies with you.”
For someone who didn’t put her trust in others easily, Larissa’s confidence impacted him like she’d uttered a sacred vow. Didn’t she know how instrumental she was in their fight against the dark magic invading the city?
“And yet, you were the one who broke through the dark magic inside Janie.”
She tilted her head and her lips curled into a smile. “And that’s why we’re better facing this together.”
He reached for her hand and kissed the back of it, keeping his gaze on her. “Always.”
Chapter 6
Larissa’s time with Roman rushed by too quickly. He’d said he only had a couple of hours before he switched shifts with another sentry.
“You need to rest. Come, I’ll bring you to my chamber.”
She followed him into his quarters, but she had no intention of sleeping. He held the door open and she entered, glancing around. It was a basic room, furnished in a masculine design with dark bedroom furniture. No art on the walls or any framed photos.
“Do you spend much time here?” she asked. It appeared barely used.
“Not much.”
She glanced at her overnight bag in the corner. “How did my bag end up here?”
“I had one of the sentries bring your car over, and he brought it up.”
Jeez, these sentries were like an invisible army guarding the town and taking care of people without them even knowing it. “Efficient.”
Roman strode over to a record pla
yer and turned it on. It was Nick Cave covering Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man.
“A record player, Roman?” She tilted her head. “With all the technology developed in recent years, you’re still using one of these?”
He grinned. “It works for me. It plays music that I like. I see no reason to change things simply because humans chase the latest technological gadgets.”
“But, you appreciate the modern food delivery service, I see.”
He flashed a devilish smile. “Naturally.”
Clasping her hand, he pulled her closer. “Come, let’s dance.”
Surprised by his invitation, it took her a moment to react. “But…” How could she dance with Janie out there and Arto recovering? It seemed wrong.
“Before you protest,” he said. “Just note, the best way for me to relax before I head back out is to be in the arms of my mate.”
“Oh, Roman.” Her heart fluttered. Whatever she could do to aid him in finding Janie, she’d do. And his suggestion to dance was hardly a sacrifice. She’d enjoy it just as much.
He led her in slow movements, keeping their bodies close. The music filled her ears, such romantic lyrics and a sensual sound. She leaned closer still, melting against him. Everything about him was so masculine and utterly disarming.
She raised her hand to touch the back of his neck and ran her fingers through his long, black hair. She’d never been into men with long hair before, but, on Roman it was natural. More fitting than any modern cut. Like a warrior from an earlier era.
Because he was the real thing.
He murmured along to the music, crooning in her ear. Hearing him sing the lyrics caught her off guard.
Pulling her head back to glance at him, she grinned. “Do you consider yourself a man? I mean, you’re a shifter, right?”
He pulled her closer so their bodies pressed together, the unmistakable outline of his erection against her. “Do I feel like a man to you?”
Captivated by the Gargoyle: Stone Sentries 3 Page 5
