Stone Solitude
Authors: A.C. Warneke
STONE SOLITUDE
Copyright©2014 Andrea Warneke
All Rights Reserved
ISBN-13: 978-1502443304
ISBN-10: 1502443309
Cover designed by A.C.Warneke
Images:
"Daisy"
Credit/Copyright Kiselev Andrey Valerevich/Shutterstock
"Roman"
Credit/Copyright Guiseppe Parisi/Shutterstock
Dedication:
To all of those who love gargoyles
Acknowledgement:
I have an amazing group of Beta readers who are more than generous with their time and support throughout the entire process of writing a book. When there are days when the doubts are louder than the story, they are there with words of encouragement and love. Even though I have yet to meet any of them in the real world, I adore these women and appreciate all that they do ♥
Lakecia Gassett ♥ Christina Gwin ♥ Jacque Burford ♥ Paris Lemos ♥ Jessica Gentile ♥ Jodi Negri ♥ Celita Collins ♥ Colleen Reilly ♥ Lindsey Armstrong ♥Karen Arnold ♥ Lauren Arnold ♥ Angela Sanders ♥
Table of Contents
The
Stone Passions Trilogy
: Gargoyles are introduced in
Stone Lover
: Vaughn and Melanie’s story. Melanie has always been a little different, able to see things that others cannot. She falls in love with Vaughn, a man who becomes a Gargoyle when she sun rises.
Rhys and Jenna’s story is
Stone Romance
: Melanie’s sister Jenna has experienced great sorrow in her life. Rhys is the gargoyle who brings love, laughter, and passion back into her life.
Stone Destiny
is Armand and Ferris’s story. Ferris was raised in the world of magic and fell in love with Armand when she was sixteen. Five years later, she decides it’s time to take matters into her own hands.
Siren Song
is the story of Daisy’s parents, Lexi Darling and Duncan Tremain. Lexi Darling is vibrant, bold, and a Siren and she has her heart set on Duncan. Duncan is a wolf who is determined to avoid Lexi, no matter how much he wants her.
STONE SOLITUDE
A cursed stone Beast
Isolated and alone, without family or fortune, Roman Nosuntres is a gargoyle forgotten by the world. He just wants to get back what once was lost and his only hope of breaking the curse that binds him lies in the unconditional surrender of an innocent. He just never anticipated someone like Daisy, who slowly brings color into his black and white world.
An innocent & beguiling Beauty
Born into a life of love and privilege, surrounded by friends and family, Daisy Tremain doesn’t quite fit in. She’s a wolf who can’t shift and a Siren afraid to sing. Not broken or damaged, just a little lost, Daisy’s life finally starts to make sense when she meets the mysterious Roman. Imperfect apart, they are perfect together.
rologue
Roman stared at the woman in horror as she smiled down at him, a triumphant gleam in her black eyes as she continued to rock her hips against him.
The dagger in her hand flashed in the candle light but she didn’t stab him. Instead, she slid the blade across her palm until blood welled, crimson against her bronze flesh. He tried to buck her off his body but he couldn’t move, could only watch in terror. Chanting something in an ancient language, she slid the blade across his chest in a shallow cut. Then she pressed her bleeding palm against his fresh wound and he could feel her blood mingling with his, possessing him, changing him, altering him.
The last thought that flashed in his head as he turned to a stone statue, was
The fucking bitch!
“We’ll be passing by the old Zenith Castle in a few minutes,” Mr. Rothman said from the front seat, his nearly bald head gleaming in the afternoon sun. He winked at the two girls in the rearview mirror before he continued, “The castle was brought over from Europe stone by stone by an eccentric millionaire sometime in the late nineteenth century. Every artifact inside, every statue, every little bauble, was carefully crated up and shipped over. The Castle is filled with some of the rarest and most beautiful works of art ever created but it is not open to the general public which makes our invitation so exciting. Of course, it took a great deal of begging and pleading on my part to arrange our tour for tomorrow.”
Daisy exchanged a smile with her best friend in the whole world, Amanda Rothman, before the two little girls fell into a fit of giggles. Mr. Rothman had been giving them little bits of facts and trivia about the various historical sites they had visited throughout the entire weeklong trip. But it was the Zenith Castle he was most excited about since so few were allowed within its walls. It was in the middle of nowhere on a road that was rarely traveled but it didn’t matter because it was another castle, the last castle, on their ‘Castles in the American Midwest’ tour.
Despite her mixed heritage – Daisy was a Siren and a wolf – she was still fascinated by fairy tales surrounding castles. Before they embarked on this trip, she had assumed all of the castles were located in Europe and had been surprised and excited to learn about the castles in America. Despite their histories not being as extensive as the castles in Europe, they were still fascinating and visiting them had been a huge treat. Of course, she always thought that castles were portals to other realms and the princesses that lived in them were Changelings who needed to be rescued by a fairy prince so they could return to their real home. Sometimes, it was the prince who needed saving from a horrible curse and the princess would rescue him and they’d fall madly in love and live happily ever after.
There
was
a castle in Saint Paul that she saw whenever they went into the city but none of her friends had ever seen it because it was enchanted. Daisy had asked her mom about it once and her mom explained that the castle was magic and it was hidden to protect the fairy tale creatures that lived inside from the humans. Then she had asked her mom if they could move into the castle and live with the fairy tale creatures and her mom had laughed her tinkling laugh and shook her head no. Wrapping Daisy up in her scented hug, her mom said that wolves were meant to run free, not be cooped up in some stuffy building.
Her mom hadn’t been born a wolf but she had embraced her wolf from the very first time she changed. Probably because her mom and dad were madly, passionately in love and had been from the moment they met, a story that Daisy loved hearing no matter how often she heard it. Her mom had been working for her dad and they were determined to keep their relationship professional but their attraction was too strong. Even now, after eleven years of marriage and five children, they couldn’t stand being apart for more than a few hours. Their passion for one another explained why Daisy had so many siblings.
She loved her brothers and sister to pieces, she truly did, but it was still nice to have a best friend like Amanda, who was human and an only child. They had met in kindergarten nearly five years ago, though it almost didn’t happen. Daisy had begged and pleaded to be allowed to attend a normal school. She had just wanted to be a normal girl, not a wolf or a Siren, and she definitely hadn’t wanted to go to the same school as her twin brother who was the biggest pest. Her parents had compromised by sending her to a private school that was nearby while her brother went to the pack’s school.
From the first day when Daisy had sat down next to the little girl with pale blond hair during snack time and shared her juice box, they had been inseparable. Spending nearly every weekend at one another’s houses, the two made quite the pair: Daisy with her dark brown hair and silver eyes and Mandy with her pale hair and big, blue eyes. Daisy loved visiting Mandy for the peace and quiet and Mandy loved visiting Daisy for the noise and chaos. This year was the first time that the Rothmans had taken Daisy on their end of summer vacation and next year, the Tremains were going to take Mandy on their vacation.
Over the last couple of days, as Mr. Rothman went on and on about the men and women who had built each castle and the history of each estate, Daisy noticed an odd smell coming from her second family. At first, it wasn’t too noticeable, just a hint of something her wolf picked up on. She was a little concerned because it was slowly getting stronger and more rancid, like diseased prey that had been left behind. The Rothmans were probably just coming down with the flu or a cold. She didn’t have to worry because, well, she was a wolf and wolves didn’t catch human diseases.
“There’s the road we will be turning down tomorrow,” Mr. Rothman said from the front seat, pointing out the side window. A small, barely visible dirt road peeked out from beneath overgrown trees and Daisy knew that it would be impossible to find unless one was deliberately looking for it. Although, there was a little… gnome standing there. He was only a foot tall and he was wearing a bright red hat that matched his shorts. Daisy wasn’t sure what color his shirt was because it was hidden beneath a big, bushy white beard and she smiled at the little ceramic figure.
Her eyes widened as the little creature smiled back and waved, letting her know he was real. Her head snapped around as they passed and a small smile curved her lips as he blew her a kiss. She wished she could tell Mandy about everything that was out there but her mom told her it wouldn’t be fair since Mandy would never be able to see them. When Daisy did tell Mandy something, her friend laughed and said Daisy had the best imagination and that was why they were such good friends.
There were a lot of things humans couldn’t see.
Up ahead, something strange was happening. Squinting her eyes, Daisy tried to figure out what was wrong. Without meaning to, she interrupted Mr. Rothman, “What’s that?”
“What’s what, sweetheart?” Mrs. Rothman asked, turning around in the seat and giving Daisy a soft smile.
“That.” She pointed her finger out the front window. A wall of… light was coming towards them, covering the entire horizon so that there would be no way to avoid it. As she stared at it, she realized that it didn’t behave like light. It coiled and writhed and seemed to consume everything in its path and since it was so bright, Daisy wasn’t sure if there was anything left behind it.
With a look of concern, Mrs. Rothman turned her head and looked out the window and shook her head, “Nothing’s there, sweetie.”
Daisy’s eyes widened in alarm as she rasped, “Slow down the car.”
Looking into the rearview mirror, Mr. Rothman turned on his turn signal and pulled onto the shoulder but he didn’t come to a complete stop. Squinting his eyes, he shook his head, too. “I don’t see anything, Daisy.”
They can’t see it, my little flower
, her wolf whispered in her head. The wolf was pacing back and forth like the caged wolves she had visited at the zoo and that worried Daisy more than anything. Her wolf was always calm, keeping Daisy company during storms when the thunder shook the house and the lightning lit up the sky.
They are human
.
Daisy cringed at the reminder, unable to tear her eyes from the oncoming wall of light.
What
is it
?
The wolf shook her dark head,
I don’t know
.
The living light was racing towards them now and Daisy pushed back against the seat in the hopes of getting away from the ball of light but there was no place to go, there was no escape. Without thought, she grabbed Mandy’s hand and squeezed her eyes shut as light slammed against the car. When it slammed against her, she screamed.
Slowly, Daisy swam back from the darkness. She could hear birdsong and a slight hissing sound that she couldn’t place. Hoping to feel Mandy’s hand in her own, she curled her fingers but she held only air. Her throat hurt and when she tried to say her friend’s name it came out as a croak. “Mandy?”
There was no response and her little heart nearly burst in her chest. Not wanting to see, knowing she had to, she pried her eyes open and discovered she was alone. Clearing her throat, she whispered, “Mandy? Mr. Rothman? Mrs. Rothman?”
For what seemed like an eternity but was only a few minutes, she screamed their names, begging them to answer her but there was no one else in the car with her. At first she thought that they had left her behind but then she realized the seatbelts were still fastened. They had simply disappeared and tears welled in her eyes because she was all alone. Blinking back the tears, she looked out the front window and realized that the hissing sound was the smoke coming from the front end, the end that was crumpled against a tree trunk.
“Mandy?” she called out again, knowing her friend wasn’t going to answer. With shaky limbs, she unfastened her seatbelt and crawled into the driver’s seat. Numbly, she turned the ignition off, tossing the useless keys onto the passenger’s seat as she thought about what she was going to do.
Was her family safe? Had they been sucked up into the light, too?
Spying Mrs. Rothmans’ purse on the floor, she grabbed it and dug out the cell phone. It was password protected but she knew the password. Mandy told her that her mother never remembered her passwords so they were always really simple, like a-b-c-d or 1-1-1-1. Her finger shook as she punched in 1-1-1-1 and the screen unlocked. Scrolling through the recent calls, she found her mom’s number and hit call. Instead of hearing her mom say
Hello
, she heard an automated voice drone, “We’re sorry but all of the circuits are currently busy. Please hang up and try again. If this is an emergency, dial 9-1-1….”
She lost track of time as she sat there and stared at nothing. All she could think about were the summers she spent swimming with Mandy and her brothers, of playing tag and running around after dark catching fireflies. Mandy and she spent hours and hours playing with her mom’s clothes and make up, pretending to be mermaids or rock stars or space aliens. Often, her mom would play with them, applying glittery lipstick or pretending to be the princess that had to be rescued from the castle tower. Of course, by the time Mandy and Daisy made it to the tower, really a small gazebo in the back yard, Daisy’s dad would already be there kissing the princess awake.
Daisy always turned bright red when she saw her parents kissing but inside it made her glow. Not all of her classmates were lucky enough to have parents that even liked one another.
We need to get out of here, little flower
, her wolf whispered, a hint of urgency in her voice as she brought Daisy back to the present.
It’s almost dark and I don’t want you to be out here all alone.
“Where should I go?” she asked out loud, looking at the world around her, a world that on the surface appeared to be just the same as it was before the light swept over the land. She knew that it wasn’t the same, that everything had changed, but she wasn’t sure how or in what ways. The only thing she did know was that if her parents were still out there, they would find her.
Unless she got eaten by a monster.
The Castle
, her wolf said.
A gnome wouldn’t be there unless there was sanctuary for our kind.
With a brief nod, Daisy slid the phone into her pocket and then pulled on the handle, opening the car door. Fresh air filled the small vehicle and Daisy took a deep breath. The air had never smelled so sweet, as if all of the darkness in the world had been cleansed away. No, that wasn’t quite true because there was still darkness. It was as if
humanity’s
darkness had been swept away, at least temporarily.