Stone Lover (37 page)

    “I love you, too, Aunt Mellie.”

    Deliberately letting Ferris go, Melanie wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled, “Now, why don’t you run downstairs and see if there are any donuts for breakfast while I get a shower?”

    “Okay!” Ferris beamed, running out the door, admiring the necklace at the same time.

    Tonight was the new moon; all Melanie had to do was get through the day and then it would be over. But how was she going to get through the rest of her life?

     Vaughn had woken up that morning not knowing how he had fallen asleep. It was his final day of being a man, of being animate, and he didn’t care. After all, it was hard to care when there was a hole in his chest where his heart used to be. Instead of spending the day with… her, he had sat on the roof and just watched the world pass by, trying to memorize as much of the hours of daylight as he could. He was never going to give up his nights again; it hurt too much knowing… just knowing.

     The normal sounds of the city had filtered through his numbed senses; the distant sound of traffic on the interstate, the roar of engines and the honking of horns on the street below; the far off wail of an ambulance taking some poor bastard to the hospital. It was leaden and dull without… her, and he didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as he would have if… she was with him.

     As the day gave way to night, he knew that she wasn’t going to come. By the time the sun sank completely, his spirits disintegrated; he hadn’t realized that he still had hope that she would return. Until the sun set and she wasn’t there; in that moment, he had lost all hope and wished he could become stone immediately instead of having to wait until dawn.

     Somehow he managed to get through the night. Having his brothers around helped; they made the interminable waiting bearable. The three of them stayed on the roof, talking about times long past and drinking copious amounts of alcohol. By the time dawn approached, Vaughn was numb; either from too much alcohol or too much pain.

     Shaking his head, Rhys pulled Vaughn into an embrace, hugging him tightly. “I’m so sorry; I had hoped….”

     “No, don’t apologize,” Vaughn slurred, keeping his eyes open as the sky began to lighten. It was going to happen soon; he could already feel the tightening of his body. Strangely, it felt the same as all of the other times he had returned to gargoyle form. “I asked for too much.”

    He knew what to expect when he turned to stone completely; Armand had talked about it throughout the years, but even more so in the last couple of days. Sound would be muted, like he was listening to someone whispering under water; there were no colors, no vision; he wouldn’t be able to feel anything with his body but he would remember. He was going to be with… her always but it was going to be vague, like a fading dream.

     Armand told him that the time would pass quickly, that it would seem as if only a few days had passed when he woke up. And… she was going to be gone. Vaughn struggled to catch his faltering breath; the next time he woke…. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of his brother’s embrace. Swallowing painfully, he entreated, “I want her to live a long, happy life, guys; I want her to fall in lo…,” he swallowed painfully and had to take a moment before he could continue. “Love, get married, have children.

    “Please keep an eye on her,” he continued, feeling the despair wash over him as he thought of… her. Blinking a few times to keep the tears from falling, he added, “Remember everything about her life so you can tell me after… afterwards.”

    Moisture glistened in all three sets of eyes as the sky continued to lighten to a dull gray. Looking out over the city and the dawn about to break, he gulped down air. “Tell her I love her.”

    “Of course,” Rhys answered, glaring at Armand to keep his thoughts to himself, who thankfully didn’t say he had been warned.

    “Be there for her until….” He had to catch his breath but it was caught in his chest, painful and cold. “Until she dies.”

    “For what it’s worth, I think she truly loved you,” Rhys offered, tightening his grip. His words caused a well of panic to surge through him, in spite of the alcohol. In a few minutes he was going to turn to stone completely and he was never going to see her again.

     “Oh, God, I don’t want to do this,” Vaughn panicked, looking wildly from one brother to the other. His heart pounded erratically in his chest and he was going to be sick. The reality of the situation was crashing around him; she was going to be dead when he woke up and he was never going to see her again. “I don’t want to be stone; I don’t want to give her up.”

    Armand hugged him tightly, his own heart breaking on his brother’s behalf. “Hush.”

    “Forgive me, Armand,” he rasped, feeling the tug of dawn. “I finally understand.”

    “Hush,” Armand repeated, the word catching in his throat. “It’s all right; it’ll be all right.”

    That wasn’t true but Vaughn appreciated the words; it was better than Armand’s condemnation. Why couldn’t he have had more time with her? Two months wasn’t anywhere near enough; he wanted a lifetime, a gargoyle’s lifetime, with her. He wanted eternity. God, time was going to pass so quickly for him and she was going to be gone and he was never going to see her again.

    He hadn’t had enough time with her.

    How had Armand survived when Katrina didn’t accept his gift? At least she had shown up with tears streaming down her face to tell him she couldn’t live as a gargoyle; why hadn’t Melanie shown up to at least say good-bye? Where was she? Why did it have to hurt so much, knowing that he would love her for all eternity and she hadn’t even come to say good-bye?

    Swallowing his pain and tears, Vaughn forced himself to step away from his brothers and face his fate; she didn’t choose him and it would be over soon. There was no turning back; when he awoke she would be gone and he would have to learn to live without a heart, just as Armand had done. He would survive.

    As the final vestiges of night fell away, he stood on the edge of the building and looked out in the direction of Melanie’s house. The first rays of the sun spilled across the gray sky and all of Vaughn’s thoughts fell away until there was nothing left; nothing at all.

* * * * *

    Air rushed back into Melanie’s lungs as she struggled to remember where she was, what she was doing. She had been on her way back to the castle, back to Vaughn, when everything fell apart. She had stopped to get gas in her stupid SUV and when she went to start the damn thing, the engine wouldn’t turn over. Somehow, she managed to convince Jenner to pick it up after he got off work, telling him that he would find the keys with the store manager.

     Anxious to get to Vaughn, she had called the cab company and was picked up less than twenty minutes later. Her nerves were strung way too tight and she was going to be sick but she knew that she was doing the right thing; she was going to be with Vaughn. He was just going to have to deal with the fact that she was still going to visit her family; she was just going to limit her visits to night time.

     It had all made sense at the time.

     So why did every inch of her body hurt and where the hell was she? Glancing out the generic window, she saw that the sun was still hovering in the sky. She could still make it. Sitting up, she cried out in pain as needles pulled at her arm, her hand. With a vicious tug, she pulled the damn things out, not caring about the blood; she had somewhere she needed to be.

     Slowly, she struggled out of the bed, wondering why everything hurt so much before realizing that she was in a hospital room, and her lower left arm was in a cast. She frowned as she caught a glimpse of her reflection. At first, she wanted to look away because she didn’t want to get caught staring at the bloodied stranger. It wasn’t until she turned her head and the stranger did as well that she realized she was looking at herself in a mirror.

     And wondering what the hell happened since there was a row of stitches along her left eyebrow, her lip was split and looked like it was still oozing; she had two black eyes and various other bruises coloring her face, the shade a mishmash of greenish-yellow and purple. Unable to move faster than a snail on a cold day, she ran a hand beneath her breasts, feeling the band around her torso, the wrappings around her ribs; she wondered if they were broken or merely bruised. It didn’t matter, they still hurt like hell.

     Unable to remove the hospital gown, inconveniently tied in the back, she could still see the bruises that covered her body, including some that felt like they were bone deep. What the hell happened to her?

     Winded, she leaned against the bed, letting her eyes close for a moment while she tried to get her bearings and figure out what to do next. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a lot of time; the sun was setting and she had to be joined with Vaughn the moment the sun set….

     She had been sitting in the backseat of the taxi, nervous and excited and scared. The driver had tried to start up a conversation but it was impossible for her to concentrate on what he was saying, let alone try to reply coherently. That was when she saw a group of green imps, their smiles impossibly wide as they jauntily waved at her from the side of the road. She slammed her hand against the window, a silent no on her lips as the taxi came to a stop at the red light.

    Unfortunately, the car behind then failed to stop, forcing the taxi into the middle of the intersection, into oncoming traffic. She didn’t know what hit them, just that she had been tossed around like a rag doll and then everything went black.

    And now she was in the hospital. Briefly she wondered why none of her family was there but there was no time to worry about it too much; she had to get to Vaughn.

    Taking a breath to steady her shaking, aching body, she opened her eyes and took a tentative step towards the wardrobe, hoping to find her clothes. Unfortunately, the wardrobe was empty; she only had the hospital gown. With a sigh, she realized it would have to do; it wasn’t like it would matter once she got to the castle; she’d be able to put on some of her clothes. She glanced around the sterile room one last time to see if there was anything of hers she needed to take. There wasn’t.

    Slowly, painfully, she made her way out of the hospital, briefly curious as to why no one stopped her or asked her where she was going. In fact, nobody seemed to notice her at all, which was odd because she was obviously a patient. Dismissing the bizarre behavior of the hospital staff, she walked out through the main entrance. It was maybe a mile, mile and a half, to the castle and at the rate she was walking, she was never going to make it before the sun set.

    It didn’t matter; she had to try. Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the pain – and the cold – she started off towards downtown. Each step was agonizingly slow and she couldn’t seem to get enough air into her bound lungs, making her wheeze as she trudged along in bare feet. She managed to make it to the sidewalk that ran in front of the hospital before a car pulled up. The passenger side window rolled down and the driver was leaning across the seat, “Do you need a ride?”

    Melanie looked up and saw Omari smiling at her and she could have wept with relief and gratitude. Without any second thoughts, she opened the door and climbed into the blessedly warm car. “Thank God you found me, Omari; I need to get to the castle immediately.”

    “Of course I found you; I shielded you when you made your escape.” His smile never faltered but his eyes darkened with sympathy when he added, “But I’m sorry, Melanie; you’re too late. Your gargoyle is stone.”

    She shook her head, denying his words. “I’m not late, I can’t be! Look! The sun is still up; if you would only drive I could make it in time.”

    “It’s been a week,” he said gently, his voice heavy with compassion.

    Her mind rejected the truth of his words and her body screamed in protest; her lungs couldn’t get enough air, her heart couldn’t keep a steady rhythm and her head felt stuffed with cotton. “That’s impossible; if I’ve been in the hospital for a week my family would have come for me; it’s only been a couple of hours.”