Stone Romance (Stone Passion #2) (40 page)

Jenna recoiled against the scratchy, inhuman voice. As she stared past the arm, she saw a pair of large gooey-green eyes staring at her from a face with too many teeth.
Too many sharp teeth.
It shook the phone a little,
snarling,
“
Call.”

Slowly, she took the proffered phone, keeping her eyes on the creatures. “
Th
…
thank
you.”

“We’re sorry,” it said, its eyes remorseful. “But it worked out.
So, all good, yeah?”

“Um, yeah?”
Jenna managed, not sure what worked out or what she was agreeing to. The creature grinned and its eyes gleamed before it released the phone and disappeared. With a shaking hand, she dialed Melanie’s phone number and listened as it rang, snuggling closer to her gargoyle.

“Hello?” Melanie
answered groggily.

“Melanie!” Jenna cried, tears welling in her eyes for some strange reason. “God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“Jenna?” her sister, the confusion apparent in her tired voice.
There
was
some bumping noises and she murmured an apology to Vaughn, before she asked in a somewhat panicked voice, “Why are you calling so late? Are you all right? Is something wrong?”

Jenna laughed, “I’ve just had a really weird night is all.”

“Who is it?” Vaughn’s roughened voice asked.

“Wait, why are you sleeping?” Jenna asked, realizing it was only 1 or 2 in the morning; with Vaughn back, Melanie should be wide awake and having sex with her mate.

Melanie was quiet for a long moment, “Um, it’s the strangest thing, Jen; I have been
so
exhausted. I can sleep all day and it’s not enough. I would swear that I was coming down with something but Omari tells me that I should be the healthiest I’ve ever been.”

“I know about what you did, Lenni,” Jenna breathed, cupping the phone as if it were Melanie. Anger suddenly flared up in her belly and she ground out, “How could you do that? Don’t you know you could have died? What were you thinking?”

“Ah, Jenna, I didn’t know the risk,” she admitted. Jenna could picture her snuggled up against Vaughn, a sleepy smile on her face. The image juxtaposed with a similar
scene
of Armand bursting into the room with murder in his green eyes and she shuddered involuntarily. “Omari handed me the vial and told me that if I drank it
it
would help get Vaughn back and that was all that mattered.”

“You’ve got the Devil’s own luck, Lenni,” Jenna sighed, trying to banish the image of Vaughn and Armand pummeling one another, of Melanie breaking Armand’s heart. She squeezed her eyes to shut out the memory, pressing her forehead against Rhys’s chest
. S
he was back in her world; Melanie was with Vaughn, she had always been with Vaughn. “Maybe the exhaustion is your body adjusting to whatever the blood did to you.”

“Probably,” her sister agreed. “Tell me about your trip, Jen; what’s Medusa like? Is she anything like the myths? What have you been doing that you haven’t been able to talk to us when Rhys called?”

Relaxing against the hot and hard stone body of Rhys, Jenna got into the conversation, studiously avoiding any mention of alternate realities and being asleep for nearly a month. That was a conversation to have face to face, if it was to be had at all. For now, she was content relaxing against Rhys’s stone body and listening to her sister talk; it was exactly what she needed.

Melanie told a few stories about Ferris, how the little girl followed Armand around and talked his ear off, how he occasionally replied, which only encouraged Ferris to talk more. Apparently, her daughter decided Armand didn’t smile enough and so made it her mission to make him smile more frequently, telling him silly jokes and sharing her favorite toys with him. Melanie wasn’t sure if it was workin
g but Armand didn’t run off as hastily
as he used to
when Ferris showed up.

“Poor Armand,” Jenna chuckled, her heart tightening in her chest as she pictured the gorgeous, stoic man. Closing her eyes, she rubbed her cheek against Rhys’s sculpted chest, taking comfort in the warm stone, the faint beat of his heart deep within his hard chest.

“Poor Armand is right but not for that reason,” Melanie snickered. “He got a little drunk the other night and had a
momentary lapse of judgment; he slept with a succubus.”

“He slept with
Toulia
?” After what she had witnessed in the alternate reality between Armand and Melanie, Jenna wasn’t entirely surprised Armand did something so foolish. She could almost bet that Armand slept with
Toulia
shortly after Vaughn returned to Melanie. She could only hope that there was someone out there for Armand; he had so much passion within
him
, buried deep inside and desperate to escape.

“How do you know
Toulia
?”

“I met her once in an elevator,” Jenna explained.

“She declares he is the best lover she’s ever had and has become even more persistent,” Melanie informed her. “Poor Armand has taken to hiding out on the roof whenever she’s around.”

After talking for an hour, tears were streaming down Jenna’s face as laughter made her stomach ache in the most pleasurable way. As she was saying her goodbyes, a tide of longing washed over her and she knew that she had to tell Melanie something. Softly, Jenna murmured, “You were meant for Vaughn, Lenni; you’ve always been meant for Vaughn.”

Melanie was silent for a long moment and Jenna heard a sniff. “Lenni; are you crying?”

“No,” she denied even as more sobs escaped. Then she was laughing because she was crying. “This is ridiculous, Jen; I cry for no reason. I was watching a commercial for a candy bar the other day and I just burst into tears
when the voice over started describing the gooey caramel
; it’s ridiculous.”

Jenna laughed, “Are you sure you’re not pregnant, Lenni?”

Melanie laughed even harder, “You know that is impossible. Now, good night, Jenna; give your gargoyle a kiss from me.”

“Get some sleep, sweetie,” Jenna smiled, hanging up the phone. As she turned the phone off, she looked up to see Rhys’s stone eyes on her, a smile on his face. “You’re awake. How long have you been awake?”

“Not long; it’s good to hear you laugh” he murmured, touching her cheek with his fingers, drawing a long line down her neck and over her ribs. “I’ve missed you so much these last few weeks.”

“It only felt like a few hours,” Jenna murmured, her fingers toying with the amulet around her neck
, surprised to discover that it was still there
. Touching her finger tips to his face, feeling the carved stone beneath her fingers, she trembled. “Where ever it was that I was at, in only felt like a few hours. I was turning thirty and I had a son and a daughter and there was no darkness in me.”

Lying within the arms and wings of Rhys, she haltingly told him about the other life, laughing at a few of the memories and in tears by the end. In the cozy hollow he had created she told him everything, sometimes repeating herself as her emotions got the better of her. And as she talked, the lighter she became, feeling the burden of long forgotten regrets and dark and bitter grief lifted from her soul.

As the sun set, Rhys shifted back to his human form and stared out over the sea, lost in thought. He was in awe that after everything Jenna had been given in the other life she still chose to remain with him. He wasn’t too proud to admit that he didn’t care why she chose him just that she did. Throughout his life he had been the youngest, the one who didn’t take life too seriously because his oldest brother was too serious by half. All he cared about was pleasure, receiving as much as possible and sharing the wealth with all of the beguiling beauties he could lure to his bed. It wasn’t that hard to find willing women and over the years he had enjoyed far more than his fair share, sometimes more than one at the same time.

But then along came a delicate, raven-haired beauty and he was lost. From the first moment she stepped foot on the roof all of those months ago he had been drawn to her, even as a gargoyle. She made him want to be a better man; she made him want eternity with one woman, something he never thought would happen for he simply enjoyed women and variety too much. Now he couldn’t even get it up for another woman.

His m
other’s words echoed in his head,
Do
you not find it odd that both you and your brother have found love in such a short period of time?
In truth he hadn’t thought about it; he had been too deliriously happy to question his good fortune.
It’s just strange; that’s all.

She had also told him that everything was changing and after listening to Jenna’s experiences on the other side he was a little alarmed. As far as he knew threads didn’t just magically appear; they came from existing threads. And they sure as hell didn’t glow. What the heck was coming? He wasn’t sure he wanted to know even if it meant he would be able to fly during the day.

A slender hand slid into his and he looked down to find Jenna standing there looking a little wan in her white gown but still so beautiful it made his heart ache. She looked like a Greek goddess, the material hugging her body and hinting at the charms beneath. Squeezing her hand, he asked, “How are you feeling?”

She laughed nervously, pressing her hand against her stomach, “Better.”

Draping his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her into
a hug
, just needing to hold her and keep her near. As she rested her head on his chest he once again had that overwhelming sense of rightness; they fit together seamlessly. Kissing the top of her head, he murmured, “We should think about getting home soon.”

She let out a long sigh, “I feel so bad: I’ve slept through most of our time here.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” he assured her. “Besides, it gave me a chance to spend some time with my
m
other.
And my newest brothers.”

Jenna pulled back and looked up at him, her lips parted in surprise, “There is another group of gargoyles? Will I get a chance to meet them?”

Rhys felt the color flood his cheeks as he looked down into the face that he loved, “Actually, M
edusa
has asked us to take them home with us; they’re of an age and it
is our turn to foster a pod. Would you be okay if we took them with us?”

“Of course,” Jenna agreed readily, without even having to think about it. “Where are they? What are their names?”

“Um,” his face flamed hotter as he thought of the three young scamps.

His mother’s sparkling laughter filled the air as she strolled into the room, her body barely covered
by
her latest filmy gown. “They’re named after an adorable cartoon I once saw: Michael, Leo, and Raphe.”

“Michelangelo, Leonardo and
Raphael,” Rhys muttered under his breath. Jenna slammed her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter but her giggles still escaped. Her laughter was like a drug and he would never get enough of it.

“They’ve been in and out these last few weeks,” Medusa explained. “They are just like their older brothers, wandering off for hours at a time, exploring the island and pretending to be mighty warriors though they are but small little gargoyles. I think it will be good for them to live in the city.”

Rhys heard the twinge of sadness in his mother’s voice; it had to be so difficult to relinquish her children not knowing when she would see them again.
If she would be seeing them again.
His mother looked up and caught him staring at her and she offered a slight smile, “Perhaps when the walls come crashing down I will be able to get off the accursed island and visit my boys where they live.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Jenna gushed, not knowing that when the walls came down his mother would probably be going straight to Mt. Olympus as the gods and goddesses tried to reestablish their order
through besting the others through a series of challenges
. It was something he had discussed with Medusa while Jenna lay sleeping. Of course, it was all just a theory since neither of them knew what was coming. His brothers would be growing up in a whole new world.