Stone Solitude (13 page)

Roman watched from across the street and silently cursed. She wasn’t just anyone’s daughter; she was the daughter of someone who had the ear of the local government. It was the only explanation for why there were helicopters and police cars and a horde of people looking when she had only been missing for a few hours. Several wolves were there in their human skin, of course, and he was fairly certain they were from three or four different packs. To command one pack was impressive, to command several was an impossible feat. Also, her father was obviously the Alpha and not a man to be trifled with. Had he not seen the way everyone else acquiesced to the man, Roman would have known it by the way the man carried himself, the confidence he exuded without even trying.

When he had been flying with Daisy, he had forgotten about the world and the reasons why he was pursuing her. It had simply been him and her and the night sky. He hadn’t meant to abscond with her but the moment he had her in his arms he hadn’t wanted to let her go. If he didn’t change into a statue once the sun rose, he probably wouldn’t have let her go.

She was dangerous.

Skulking into a dilapidated building, he struggled to climb the stairs to the third floor. Not a moment too soon, he found a dark corner and hunkered down, shuddering as his body transformed and he lost mobility. The memories started almost immediately.

“A virgin will set you free,” a craggy voice whispered in his stone ear. Unable to move, to speak, Roman just stood there as the stranger taunted him with hope. “But you will need more than the virgin’s blood to fully break my sister’s curse. A sacrifice will be necessary.” At that, the man chuckled, “Of course, a sacrifice is
always
necessary. A heart for a heart.”

Roman had no idea how many years had passed since he became a statue. Long enough that he had forgotten what it was like to move beneath the sun as a gargoyle, to enjoy the nights as a man. He frequently thought about his brothers, if they remembered him or if they ever wondered where he had gone. Maybe they had looked for him but gave up when they didn’t find him or maybe they thought he burned up when Mount Vesuvius took out Pompeii. Maybe they were still looking only they didn’t know they were supposed to be looking for a statue in every sense of the word.

“This time I have hidden the pieces far and wide,” the stranger continued. “It will take centuries for her to find all of them, which will buy you some time. Of course, you’re very aware of my sister’s progress, aren’t you? You can feel the ticking of the clock as you slip further and further into oblivion.

“My sister has always been ridiculously devoted to our brother,” the man continued. The Egyptian god Set. Of course. Roman wondered why it had taken him so long to figure it out but then he hadn’t really paid attention to the Egyptian family tree. With a sneer, Set continued, “He’s dead; she should just let him go.”

There were many myths surrounding Isis and Osiris but Roman wasn’t sure what was fact and what was fiction. He had no idea how many pieces Osiris had been cut into, either thirteen or fourteen or forty-two, though he could feel another part of his soul slip away with each piece of Osiris found. No, it had to be closer to forty-two because she had already found fifteen pieces and he was still there. Once she found the last piece, he knew that his time would be at an end. Isis would return for him and take what little remained and he would disappear as if he had never been born. He wondered if his brothers would mourn him.

Not that it signified since he himself was trapped in stone until the end of time whether or not the bitch completed her search. He would just as soon disappear than continue living a non-existence.

“If the virgin frees you,” Set continued in a tantalizing whisper. “You can thwart my sister’s plans, Romulus. You can make her pay for using you so heartlessly. All you need is one little virgin that is willing to spread her legs for a beast and my sister will lose her gargoyle. The virgin will have value because she had you. She may be valuable enough to trade for your freedom.”

Set had promised him freedom but he hadn’t mentioned how long Roman was going to have to wait for the virgin or how very important the virgin would end up being to him. Throughout the years, many people had touched him but it had been Daisy who had wakened him, brought him back to life. It had been Daisy who made his heart beat and gave him hope. And it was Daisy who was going to be the sacrifice that Set spoke about.

He had to remember that the only way he would ever be completely free is if he gave her up, if he gave her to Isis. He’d take his place among his brothers and be a true gargoyle once again. He’d be alive and he’d be remembered and the last two thousand years could just be swept away like a bad memory, a living nightmare.

All he had to do was give up Daisy.

To be free, to have his family once again, he had to do it, no matter how much it cost him.

“So, you scared the shit out of mom and dad last night,” Dominic smirked as he joined her by the pool. Laying back on the recliner next to Daisy’s, he grinned, “I got to experience what it was like being the responsible one for a change. I didn’t like it.”

Daisy grinned at her brother’s words, keeping her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feel of the sun on her skin. “They’ve grounded me… well, as much as they can, considering I’m twenty.”

He let out a low whistle, “Geeze, sis, when you decide to go bad, you really go bad.”

“I went flying with a gargoyle, Dominic,” she said dryly. With a shrug of her shoulders, she added, “I just didn’t tell anyone where I was going.”

“Well, you’ve always been the favorite,” he said teasingly, though there was a hint of resignation in his tone almost as if he believed the words to be true. When she opened her mouth, he interrupted, “Don’t deny it, Daisy. Except for that minor incident your freshman year, which had more to do with alcohol than it did with your singing, you never did anything wrong until last night. You do well in school, you help out with everything and you never complain.”

“That doesn’t make me the favorite,” she grumbled, dismayed at how boring Dominic made her sound. “Just the easiest to deal with.”

“You don’t sing, Daise,” he said, looking at her over the top of his sunglasses. “You have an amazing voice and you don’t sing.”

She felt the heat in her cheeks that had nothing to do with the sun. “You know why I don’t sing, Dominic. That minor incident freshman year led to several unexpected pregnancies, a few STD’s, and more than enough broken hearts to last a life time.”

“But no one fell in love with you and isn’t that the whole deal with a Siren song?”

“That’s the theory,” she grumbled morosely, recalling the event that had shaped so much of her college life.

“Then it wasn’t your song and you can’t be blamed for fools having unprotected sex,” he scoffed, not seeing the problem. “You should be on stage performing. You could be famous.”

She laughed out loud at that, at the image that popped into her head of what would happen if a Siren became a rock star. “That’s not going to happen and you know why it can’t.” When he opened his mouth to repeat his argument, she shook her head and said, “I won’t take the risk. Besides, I have no desire to be famous.”

“Well, you could sing at dad’s bar,” he offered instead. “The wolves have far more control over their libidos.”

That only made her laugh harder because wolves, her brother included, enjoyed copious amounts of sex with a variety of partners.
The Black Wolf
was as much a place to hook up as it was a bar. But her brother had a point. Wolves probably weren’t too affected by a Siren’s song and if they were, they’d be able to handle the lust. It would give her a chance to sing, which she loved, and it would prove that she could get a little wild without the world crashing down around her. She knew her mom sang the song of the wolves while in wolf form, which some might call howling, and nothing bad ever happened. “Fine. If it will make you happy, I’ll get up on stage tomorrow night and sing. But you get to explain to mom and dad that it was your idea.”

“Sis, you’re already in so much trouble you can’t really sink any lower,” he grinned. “You might as well take full blame for what you’re going to do because as much as it sucks being the responsible one, it’s kind of nice not being the disappointing one. But don’t worry because nothing is going to happen.”

“You’re full of shit,” she growled, knowing he wasn’t a disappointment. But maybe she understood what he meant because hadn’t she just realized that her feelings of inadequacy were mostly in her head? Maybe Dominic was outgrowing the role he created for himself when he was just starting to shift and experiencing the joys of being a wolf. He
had
gone a little wild and then he had embraced his reckless reputation. “I’ll sing and take all of the blame if you promise to keep your dick to yourself for a month.”

“Daisy!” he gasped in a scandalized-almost-to-the-point-of-pain voice. “A man has needs and a wolf has a great many needs. You can’t ask me for the impossible.”

“Whore,” she grumbled, turning her head and glaring at him over the top of her sunglasses. He was grinning from ear to ear, looking far too handsome for his own good. “You’re very lucky wolves are immune to the diseases that plague humans. Fine, a week. Abstain from sex for a week.”

“What if I meet my soul mate and I have to fuck her?” His eyes sparkled with laughter and she wanted to smack him.

“Dominic, if you met your soul mate, you’d probably run in the other direction,” she said as gently as possible. With a sigh, she conceded another factor. “But, fine, if you meet your soul mate, you can do whatever. However, you can’t just claim some pretty girl is your soul mate just so you can have sex with her before the week is out…. Jesus, Dominic, no, you can’t have sex for a whole week whether or not you meet your damn soul mate.”

He laughed, a deep rumbly sound that made her laugh as well. Closing her eyes, she settled back in the chair with a smile on her face. She heard her brother’s chair squeak and figured he was going to jump into the pool. What she didn’t expect was to be scooped up into his arms and tossed into the cool water. With a screech, she splashed into the water, losing her sunglasses in the process. Coming up sputtering, pushing her wet hair out of her eyes, she glared at her laughing brother, who stood dry as can be on the edge of the pool. “A month, Dominic. An entire month!”

For a response, he leapt up into the air, grabbed his knees and cannonballed into the pool, sending a wave of water over her head. As they were splashing each other, Daisy getting far more water in her face than her brother, the French doors opened and a heard of children came screaming out of the house, jumping into the pool and joining the fun. Okay, her eighteen-year old brother was technically an adult now but he was just as exuberant as the others.

Since there were so many more boys, Daisy, Roxie and Lila were far outnumbered. Daisy was even more hampered because Lila insisted on being held since she was just a little thing and yet she wanted to be a part of the fun as well. And there was no way Daisy could resist her youngest sister.

“She spent the day playing in the pool with her family,” Xerec said the moment the sun went down and Roman once again regained his mobility and his gruesome face. Now that he and Daisy were speaking again, Xerec had resumed with his spying reports. As much as the Wayfarer demon annoyed him, he was grateful for the little bastard. Xerec had made his existence almost tolerable. “I’ve also learned that instead of staying in her bedroom in the mansion she is staying in the pool house.”

Roman nodded his head in acknowledgement, plans already whirling in his head. He could fly to her and abscond with her again. Only, he didn’t think that was a very good idea because her parents would freak out even more if she disappeared from the safety of their property. They’d probably put a missile defense system in place to shoot down any flying gargoyles that might want to steal away their eldest daughter.

But he could go to the pool house and spend time with her. Because he was stone, he didn’t have much of a scent and the wolves wouldn’t think twice of him being there. He could spend the night giving her such pleasure that she would beg him to fuck her and then he’d be a real gargoyle once again, not this hideous beast. As long as he flew away before the sun rose, it was a decent plan.

“I’ll go tonight,” he said out loud, running his hands over his bumpy, lumpy head.

“Are you going to seduce her?” At Roman’s shrug, Xerec asked excitedly, “Can I watch?”

And that’s why he disliked the little creep. Xerec was a voyeur, always had been, always would be. But there were some things Roman wanted to keep private, even if it was Xerec’s ability to spy on people that Roman had utilized to the utmost advantage. With a glare at the demon, Roman stood up and threw his kilt on and then his cloak. He had nearly an hour long flight in front of him and figured it was a good idea to keep his cock covered. Not that anyone was going to pay attention to a dark creature flying against the night sky but he still had a smidgen of modesty. Before Daisy, he hadn’t cared enough to bother.

With his hand on the door, Roman paused, “Why is she staying in the pool house?”

Xerec shrugged his scrawny shoulders, “She told her parents she needed some space to think.”

Roman’s brows drew together as he wondered what Daisy was thinking about. Did she regret going flying with him? With a frown, he absently walked through the door, not caring if Xerec followed or not. His thoughts were already on the night ahead and the things he was going to do to Daisy to coax a sweet response from her body. He knew he could probably press his advantage and fuck her tonight but he didn’t want to rush her. If he was being honest, he just wanted to spend time with her doing whatever she wanted to do, though he wouldn’t say no to sex.

But he was nearly out of time and she wasn’t in the city at the moment.

As he walked out, his eyes automatically went in the direction where his brothers lived. Soon he would be able to join them on the roof of the castle and get reacquainted with what it was to be a gargoyle. Adjusting the hood around his head, making sure his face was hidden in the shadows of the folds, he almost walked past the hulking man coming up the stairs. But then Roman recognized the fair haired man as Leo, one of his brothers and quite possibly the biggest gargoyle he had ever seen. As the gargoyle looked up and saw him standing there, he froze where he stood and held his breath.

Leo cocked his head to the side, his clear eyes assessing Roman with the scrutiny of a gargoyle assessing a potential threat. Clearing his throat, the man murmured in a deep voice, “Excuse me but I’m searching for someone… some
thing
and I’m hoping you might be able to help me.”

Roman’s chest ached with the breath that he couldn’t release. “I doubt I could help,” Roman finally managed, his voice rocky rough as he carefully kept his face hidden while trying to steal glimpses of his brother. “I tend to keep to myself.”

“Are you quite certain you cannot help?” Leo pushed. “We fear a young girl could be in grave danger and any help you give would be much appreciated. We’ve tracked him to the area and then lost his trail. Perhaps you might have seen him?”

Oh, sweet Zeus, the gargoyle was tracking down the creature that had flown off with Daisy. They were tracking
him
. Even if she explained that it had been a gargoyle, his brothers would still hunt the creature down to determine its threat. No, they would scour the city for this creature, because Daisy was the daughter of a prominent wolf and no avenue was going to remain unexplored in their search for the beast who had stolen Daisy for a few hours. But Daisy wasn’t a girl and she wasn’t in danger. Well, not the kind of danger his brother was worried about. Grinding his teeth together, trying to keep his wings from stiffening in anger, Roman growled, “I haven’t seen anything. Now let me pass.”

“A creature pretending to be a gargoyle took her flying last night,” his brother continued, undeterred by Roman’s unwillingness to help. Crossing his arms over his enormous chest, he narrowed his eyes, “But gargoyles can’t fly at night; we don’t have wings when the sun is down.”

“I am aware,” Roman bit out, feeling his wings twitching beneath the cloak. He saw the suspicion in Leo’s eyes as the man’s gaze moved to the uneven material near Roman’s shoulders. “I’m running late so if that is all?”