Gargoyle: A Reawakening (Briarcliff Series, #2) (30 page)

She could feel his pain, hurt, confusion,
the horrible vision, lingering in her mind. On some level, she knew
she should be freaking out from what she saw—but she wasn’t. She
couldn’t explain why she wasn’t shocked, appalled, or afraid—when
she was with him she felt many things, but none of those. Not even,
close.

Evie skirt slid higher
when he lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, like
she had with Colton. Except this was different… she felt hot and
urgent at the same time. Truthfully, she felt so many things, they
were all coming at her at once, things she couldn’t explain or even
imagine. They were all twisted in a giant knot in her belly and she
didn’t think she wanted to untangle them…
ever
. She jerked his shirt up
further with her hands, her fingers skimming over the jagged welts
on his back. He ripped her leggings apart wider, his mouth finding
hers again as their bodies melded to each other, his warmth
pressing in on her. The room began to spin. She couldn’t keep her
eyes open. They were all that mattered now.

The doors creaked loudly
as their bodies pushed against them. She could feel him throbbing
against her flesh, pressing in, but he wasn’t inside of her yet.
Reality came crashing in…from the pressure.
Was she really doing this right now
?
She looked down into his eyes. They were black, shadowed, haunted.
She was terrified, but determined too. She wanted to let him know
that she wanted him, no matter what. Somehow, she knew he needed to
see she was not afraid.

Adriane’s body shifted under her hands, he
was pulsing just beneath the surface. The coolness of the air
around them mixed with the heat coming off their bodies. He shook
his head back and forth. “No, we can’t,” he warned, knowing they
needed to stop but couldn’t stop himself.

“
It’s okay,” she soothed,
kissing him back.

Adriane throbbed to be
inside of her, knowing somehow it would make everything all right,
just like she always said she would. His mouth seized hers again,
tasting her sweetness on his tongue as it delved deeper, savoring
all she was offering so freely to him. He could feel her heat
emanating from between her legs as he pressed in further. Groaning,
he pressed in closer, unable to get enough of her. “You feel so
good…smell so good…” he breathed, kissing her hungrily, like he had
been starved a lifetime and she was what he needed to survive. The
only thing he needed.

Again, he thrust
forward…nearly inside...

The doors gave out,
swinging open, banging forcefully against the walls.

The momentum carried Evie
backward…weightless, still wrapped in his embrace, the doors no
longer holding her in place. The floor rose up to meet her, sending
a jarring swell of pain through her body, taking her breath with
it. On her back, she stared blankly up at the invisible ceiling
struggling to pull air back into her lungs but the action was
caught. She felt like a large boulder was pressing against her
chest.

Adriane shook his head. His frantic need
ebbing. “Evie,” he said, quickly rolling off her body, pulling her
up to sitting.

He shook her. “Evie
breathe…”

She wanted to breathe. She
wanted to tell him not to worry but she still couldn’t get the air
she so desperately needed to come back into her lungs.

A heavy object slammed into her back…

Once…

Twice…

A burst of air surged through her chest. She
took gulping breaths. The warmth of his hand rubbed her aching
back. “What did you hit me with?” She sounded like she had been
sucking on sandpaper lozenges.

He moved his hand. “Sorry. I didn’t
mean…”

“
No, it’s okay.” It was dim
in the room; she couldn’t even see his face.

“
No it’s not. I could
have…” He scrambled to his feet and practically ran across the room
to put some distance between them both.

“
I saw what happened to
you,” she blurted into the darkness. He was silent so long she
wondered if he had even heard her. She started to worry she had
said the wrong thing and struggled to stand, pulling her skirt back
into place. Her mouth felt swollen from their kisses, her body
still heated.

“
What did you see?” he
asked barely above a whisper, his voice sounding as haunted as his
eyes had.

“
I saw them, the people
drag you to the pyre…” she trailed off not knowing how much she
should reveal. She wanted to tell him it was all right, she
understood it was not his fault, but couldn’t find the words she
needed to say.

She heard him move further away, his heavy
steps muted on the carpet. “It’s not your fault,” she said trying
to keep the quivering edge from her voice.

He laughed. It was full of defeat.

Evie didn’t know what to
say to make it better; she wanted to take the pain away. Make him
see she wasn’t repulsed by what he had gone through. She felt
desperate to make it better for him, but she didn’t know how. She
took a few steps toward him, her eyes adjusting to the
darkness.

“
Evie
don’t…
please
.”
He backed away, lifting his hands to stay her.

“
Why?” Her voice shook, “It
doesn’t matter, not to me.”

“
How can you say that?” he
asked the bitterness in his voice palpable.

How can I say that?
“I don’t know…but I swear it doesn’t
matter.”

He ran his hands over his
face, and then dropped them limply to his sides. “You say that
now…you’re in shock. Once you come back to your senses you will be
repulsed by what I am…what I have become.”

Silently she debated the
truth of his words, turning them around in her mind.

Nope.

She didn’t care.

Not one whit.

It just didn’t seem important. Not now…

“
Evie, you can go,” he said
just above a whisper taking her silence for something completely
different.

“
I am not leaving you alone
Adriane.”

“
Evie
please…
just go,” he said sounding beaten.

“
I am not going anywhere,”
she stated stubbornly.

“
Oh, Evie, don’t you get
it?” He raked his hand through his hair. “I am little more than a
monster.”

“
Yoou
…you are
not
a monster!” she argued, her
voice shaking.

“
I am,”
he exhaled. “I am no better than
them
…the creatures we are running
from. I am no better than the Degare’.”

“
That’s
not
true,” she protested. “You are not like
them.”

“
Really?
” he asked with incredulity.
“What would you call someone who has been turned to stone, has
superhuman strength, and comes back to life when the moon is full?
What would you call a person like that?” he asked his voice
desperate, pleading, filled with so much anguish and bitterness it
wrenched at her heart and twisted her insides.

“
I guess I would say you
are…” she paused searching for the right word. “ Complicated,” she
blurted. “Yes I would say you are complicated.” She nodded her head
up and down for affirmation.

A look of astonishment crossed his face as
he stared at her in the darkness. “You can’t mean that,” a tinge of
hopefulness in his voice that had been long vacant.

“
Yes. I. Do.” She moved
forward and placed her hand on his arm. Again, he flinched but this
time he didn’t back away. She took that as a good sign.

“
Evie…” He shook his head.
“Don’t you understand?”

“
Understand
what?”

“
I am not normal,” he
stated the obvious.

“
I told you,” she stepped
closer. “I am not normal either.”

“
Evie you are human,” he
argued.

“
So are you.”

“
Not really.”

“
You were.” She was
adamant. She knew he was she had seen it in the vision.

“
But I am not now,” he
forced the words out, trying to make her see.

“
So, what difference does
that make?”

Again his eyes widened in
disbelief. “Evie, it makes all the difference in the world…can’t
you see that.”

“
Adriane…” her voice shook,
trying to swallow back the sob trying to come out of her throat.
She was losing the battle she could feel it.

He exhaled and walked
across the room. He lifted his hand and pulled a latch hidden
behind a stack of books. The door slid, moving silently. Damp cool
air filled the room along with a smell of wet dirt… it reminded her
of when she was in school and her art teacher Mrs. Brewster had
them work with fresh clay to make pots and vases.

“
We don’t have much
time…you need to get out of here,” he said, stepping away from the
bookcase.

“
Me?” She gaped. “By
myself?”

“
Yes.”

“
WH-what do you mean?” she
stammered, feeling her heart begin to pound
uncontrollably.

“
I can’t go with
you.”

“
Why not?” she asked, her
voice sounded strangled forced.

“
There are things you do
not know…things about me…”

“
I told you I don’t care.”
She was desperate now, desperate to make him see. She grabbed hold
of his arm.

“
It’s
more than that.” He pulled his arm away. “You
have
to leave.”

“
I don’t understand?” and
she didn’t. Why was he asking her to leave? Her chest felt tight,
she wanted to cry. This was so much worse than what Colton had
done. She bit her lip to stop from crying out loud, her vision
clouded. It didn’t matter she couldn’t see anyway. What in the hell
was the world coming too? She was being dragged along on a ride she
didn’t sign up for, kicked to the curb by a statue. Now that was
epic.

Finally, everything from the day came
crashing in on her, and at first she didn’t think she was going to
be able to handle it all. Then just as suddenly calm spread over
her body, bringing her resolve with it. He was not like Colton, he
was different and yes, he was kind of a monster, but none of it
seemed to matter as long as they were together. She took a deep
breath, prepared to fight if she had to.

“
I am not
leaving without you, so just get that foolishness out of that thick
rock- head of yours,” she tossed out angrily, not ready to give up
on him yet. It took a moment for what she said to register fully.
Thick …
rock
…”
She covered her mouth with her hand appalled at what she had just
said. And then she laughed, it was a low rumble at first, from her
belly, but it bubbled upward and out. Her callous words; they
resonated with her, making her begin to laugh even more. It was
utterly ridiculous. Rock…he was a freaking statue. Shit. This was
good—epic even, she laughed harder, she couldn’t stop, she sounded
bonkers, completely, unequivocally bonkers and it didn’t matter,
not any longer.

Adriane stood there
clearly in shock. The heartlessness of her words ringing out loud
and clear in his mind. He wasn’t sure what to feel.

She kept laughing.

And then suddenly the
humor hit him too. The corners of his mouth began to lift. The
unfamiliar sensation of laughter bubbled up to the surface— pushing
the desperation away, replacing it, with the warmth of her
laughter. She was making it better, like she always said she
would—her laugh was contagious. So he laughed with her, feeling
much better than he had in a very long time. Sure, they were
still-hunted and would most likely be killed, but at that moment,
he felt like he was given back a little piece of himself that had
been taken away so long ago. He felt
almost
… human, and it was all thanks
to the girl standing not ten feet from him. Maybe she
was
the answer to all
his prayers. He had hope for the first time, in a very long time—a
very long time indeed.

***

WANT TO GET
NOTIF
IED WHEN MY NEXT BOOK IS
RELEASED

SIGN UP
HERE



DEGARE’

A RECKONING

The next book in the
Briarcliff Series

COMING 2014

They were
trapped
.

Blood smeared across the
expanse of the room, coating the stone floor underneath a dark
shade of red. A lone Degare’ hell dog tore apart the last
recognizable body in the corner. The steam rising up from the fresh
kill released an acrid stench into the unusually cool
room.

“
What is in there?” Evie
panted, pushing up beside Adriane, trying to see around his broad
back into the dimly lit chamber, her heart still pounding
uncontrollably from her sprint down the darkened
passageway.

Adriane turned and wrapped his arms around
her, holding her in place. “Don’t,” he warned when she tried to
pull away from him.