Stone Passions Trilogy (82 page)

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.”

“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.