The Oath (11 page)

I scrunched up my nose. I hated the cold, and I’d bet anything he knew that. “Gran!” I yelled when I’d grabbed my coat. “I’m leaving!”

She poked her head out the kitchen door. “Oh, Xavier dear, you found her.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and pulled on his own coat. “You were right, she’s in a mood, but I’m sure my cheerfulness will wear her down.”

“What time will you be back, Meli?” Gran smiled. Xavier had her completely charmed too.

“I’ll get her back before bedtime,” Xavier promised before I could even open my mouth. I wanted to kick him. There was no way in hell I was spending all day with the guy who might potentially try to kill me. Why tempt fate by offering myself up?

Xavier grabbed my hand, and I barely held in my gasp as the electric current ran up my arm. He just winked at me and dragged me out of the house to where his motorcycle stood waiting. I balked. No way, no freaking way was I getting on that deathtrap.

“It’s not as scary as you think, Rose.” He laughed and proceeded to put the helmet on my head and buckle it. “It’s fun.”

“It’s death on wheels,” I said softly. “My best friend died a few years ago in a motorcycle crash. There isn’t a force alive that could get me on that thing.”

“I remember Amanda, and I’m sorry you lost her.” Xavier’s voice turned softer. “But I won’t let you get hurt, I promise.”

I laughed bitterly. “No, but you’ll kill me to stop me.”

His face blanched. “Who told you that?”

“My dad explained what Protectors are,” I said, my voice full of accusation. “He said you’d kill me to stop me.”

“You
told
your father you’re planning on committing mass murder?” he questioned.

My face blanched this time. He really
did
know what I was up to. I started to back up, but he reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me into him. His free arm wrapped around me, trapping me against his chest. He smelled delicious, soft and earthy, and again, I caught the distinct scent of stone. My breath hitched, and it took every ounce of will I had not to simply melt against him. I’d never reacted to anyone like this, ever. I hated it and I loved it all at once. Very disturbing.

“Did you tell your father?” he asked softly, letting go of my hand so he could wrap it around my neck and pull me closer to those luscious lips of his.

“No,” I whispered, licking my own lips. I’d never wanted someone to kiss me so badly in my entire life.

“Good,” he whispered, relieved. “I don’t want to have to hurt anyone to protect you.”

I frowned. “What?”

“Rose, your father is on the Council. He takes that role very seriously. It would kill him to do it, but he would turn you in. He would see it as saving your soul from becoming a dark witchling.”

“And you won’t kill me?” I asked, trying to ignore the truth of his words. My dad believed in the rules of the Council and had taught me growing up that none of us were exempt from those rules, including us.

“Not if I can help it,” he said solemnly. “I do plan on saving you despite your best efforts to screw your life up. You have a gift, Melinda Rose James, one you don’t even realize yet, but if you do this, all that is lost. You won’t be able to do what you were meant to do, and then we all get screwed over.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I almost shouted. What nonsense was he going on about now? And why hasn’t he kissed me yet? Dammit.

His nose found mine and rubbed alongside it. My knees buckled. If he hadn’t been holding me, I’d have fallen. The small gasp that escaped made him chuckle. “I have plans for you, Rose, that don’t include taking your head.”

“Plans?” I squeaked, trying to slow my breathing. Did he just say…take my head?

His lips feathered over my cheek. “Starting with getting you on this bike.”

Xavier kept one hand firmly around me so I couldn’t escape, and then sat on the bike, pulling me even closer. “Your turn, Rose.”

I eyeballed the spot behind him with dread. I did not like bikes. Amanda had been killed while riding behind her boyfriend, Max. Neither walked away from the accident. Just the thought of being on a motorcycle made me start to shake.

“Trust me, Melinda,” Xavier leaned in and whispered. “You’re safer with me than anyone else on this Earth.”

“Until you decide to kill me,” I reminded him, panicked. No way could I get on that thing.

He laughed. “Stop stalling.”

Gingerly, I threw my leg over the bike, and when Xavier released me, I slid in behind him. He showed me where to put my feet. “Put your arms around me and hold on, Rose.”

I barely had time to grab on before he started the bike and we were off. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing. After a few minutes, I was able to calm down enough and actually feel the power of the bike beneath me and the wind rushing at me. I never got up the nerve to open my eyes, but I did enjoy the wildness of the ride. It reminded me of when I used Elemental Magic. The power of the Elements tore through me, giving me this crazy rush. Riding the motorcycle was as close to that same rush as I’d ever come. It was amazing.

And sort of fun.

But I wouldn’t admit that to Xavier. No need to feed his ego.

When we finally stopped, I said a prayer to whomever was listening for keeping me alive. I opened my eyes and saw we were parked next to a cabin in the woods. That stupid movie popped into my head, and I shoved it aside. There weren’t crazy people ready to unleash horrors upon us to appease the gods. Nope, just one very sexy Protector who could kill me at any moment. How stupid did that make me to be here alone with him?

Xavier hopped off the bike, took off his helmet, and grinned like a little boy. “Didn’t I tell you it was fun?”

I took off my own helmet and scrambled off the bike, thankful for the solid ground beneath my feet. “Next time you decide to kidnap me, we are taking the Bug.”

“Admit it, Rose, you had fun.”

Not a chance. “Why are we here?”

He pouted, and goodness, was he adorable. I had to fight to keep the grin off my face. “Are we going inside or what? It’s freezing out here.”

He grabbed my hand and dragged me up the steps. The door wasn’t even locked. Who didn’t lock their doors? Crazy psychotics who are all about murder and mayhem. The inside of the cabin made me pause. It was cozy. Dark brown couches surrounded a massive fireplace. A wide screen TV was mounted to the wall above it. The kitchen dominated one whole side of the main floor, opening up to the living area where we were standing. A staircase ran up the wall to my left, and floor to ceiling windows spanned the entire right side of the room. The interior was made up of the same stone and brick as the outside of the small cabin. It was rustic, charming, and I loved it on sight.

“Shoes off,” Xavier said as he started on a fire. I did as he asked, and then ambled over to wall of windows. It looked out onto the woods, but a massive flower garden was directly in front of me. The flowers weren’t blooming because of the cold, but I’d seen my Gran’s garden enough to realize what I was looking at. Wooden benches were scattered around the area. This place had to be gorgeous in the summer.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Xavier asked, coming up beside me. “Peaceful, too.”

“Who lives here?” I asked and watched as the first snowflakes started falling from the sky. I wasn’t alarmed. It had been snowing flurries for days.

“I do,” Xavier told me. “Come sit in front of the fire and get warm. I’ll make us some hot chocolate.”

I frowned, but went to huddle on the big furry rug. The heat coming from the open flames enticed me. It was going to take forever to thaw from that ride. I put my hands out in front of me to soak up the heat. I loved fireplaces, and this one was amazing. The natural stone would soak up the heat the hotter the fire burned, and radiate heat long after the fire went out. This was the kind of fireplace I wanted in my own home eventually.

Xavier handed me a steaming mug and settled down across from me. He’d added marshmallows without my having to tell him. I snorted. He’d stalked me since I was born, he
should
know about my marshmallow addiction.

“Feeling warmer?” he asked, sipping his own drink and staring at the snow slowly falling outside.

I nodded. “This is yours?”

“Yeah, I bought it a few years ago. I love to come here in the winter. It’s my favorite season.”

It would be. He reminded me of winter. Maybe it was the stone smell. “So are we going to talk about you killing me?”

“Why don’t we talk about ways of keeping me from having to do that?” he countered.

“So you admit you’d kill me?” Damn the Fates, why send this gorgeous boy to me and make me feel like this, only to have him attempt to kill me later? It was so not fair.

“Your mother dedicated your soul to God,” he said. “You were given into His keeping whether you believe in Him or not. To Him, you are His and He will protect you, even from yourself. The path you have set yourself on will not only damn your soul, it will open you up the darkness that already resides in your soul, Melinda. You have a dark heart, you always have. That’s why dark magic is so easy for you.”

“You’re saying I’m already a dark witch?” I asked, alarmed. No freaking way!

“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he snapped. “All I meant is that you are more susceptible to be lured onto that path because of your predisposition for dark magic. Performing good magic, white magic, is harder for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” I asked, affronted.

“I’m not very good at explaining this,” he said with a sigh.

“Ya think?” I asked, my voice dripping sarcasm. He sucked at explaining. “Start with something easy. Tell me more about a Protector and why you smell like stones.”

He looked up, surprised. “You can smell that? Most people can’t.”

I shrugged. I’m not most people.

“Do you really want to know why I smell like stones?” he asked, his eyes suddenly twinkling, which set up alarm bells in my head.

“Yes,” I said warily, watching his grin widen.

“I’m a Gargoyle.”

Chapter Fifteen

~ Xavier’s Secret ~

Did he just say…Gargoyle? As in stone monsters Gargoyle? No freaking way!

“I’m being serious here, Xavier! Stop being stupid. You are not a statue that sits on top of a church.”

He laughed and extended a hand. It started to change. Clawed, paw-like hands replaced Xavier’s human ones and then started to turn to stone before my eyes. I scrambled back, my eyes wide. It only made Xavier laugh harder.

“That’s not funny!” I yelled, fear making me lash out. “I…you…what the hell, Xavier?”

“I did warn you that you didn’t want to know the truth,” he said, his hand now back to normal, his eyes a little more hooded.

Well, he had me there. He did warn me. Still…a Gargoyle? Those were big creepy statues that used to scare me to death when I was little. Dad teased me unmercifully about it.

“So…stone people, huh?” I asked after a moment, not sure what to say.

He arched a brow, but I could see that I’d hurt his feelings. He wasn’t smiling anymore, and the laughter had fled from his eyes. He threw me for a minute. I hadn’t been expecting stone creatures. After all the horror movies I’d watched about them growing up, who could blame me for getting scared at first?

“We’ve been around since the beginning of time itself,” he said softly, staring into the flames. “We used to be able to pick and choose whom we served, but after the Great War in Heaven, we were…enslaved.”

“Enslaved?” The horror of that one word went through me. No one should ever be a slave to anyone or anything. It wasn’t right.

Xavier nodded. “We became the pets of Angels. They use us to watch over their charges, but that is not what we are meant to do, only what we have become. It’s why you’re so important, Melinda.”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You’re our salvation.” His black eyes turned to me. “If you screw this up, we lose any chance we have at our freedom.”

Well, damn. What the hell had I gotten myself into? I was supposed to emancipate the Gargoyles from the Angels? Nowhere in the job description of witch did it say I was supposed to do that! How in the world would I even go about it?

“Hold up, I’m confused,” I told him. “What do you mean by me being your salvation? How am I supposed to help free you?”

Xavier sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“I’m assuming we have the time, since you told Gran I’d be home tonight, so spill.”

He chuckled. “Not afraid of me anymore?”

“Terrified,” I said truthfully, “but you shouldn’t be anyone’s slave, Xavier. If I can help you, I will. Just promise not to eat me or anything, okay?”

A laugh burst out, and the sound vibrated through me. “We don’t eat people, Rose.”

“Then what do you eat?” I asked.

“The same things you do, pizza, burgers, gummy bears.”

Well, he certainly didn’t eat any healthier than I did. “So…is that why you smell like stones? Because you
are
stone?”

He gave me a bemused look. “No one’s ever picked up on that scent before. What do I smell like to you?”

“Very earthy, usually, but sometimes you smell like the rocks in our garden at home. I’m not sure how to describe how stone smells. It’s…well, it’s…hard, cold, but soothing too.”

“That’s an emotion, Rose, not a scent,” he said.

“Well, hell, I don’t know. You just smell like rocks!”

A smile flirted with his lips. “
You
smell like roses.”

I blushed. The way he said it made me think all sorts of things I shouldn’t be thinking about him. He was a Gargoyle, for cripes sake. That alone should make all these insane butterflies go away, but it didn’t. Dammit!

“So, Dad says Protectors are assigned charges from birth, and they watch over them all their life. Is that true?”