Stone Romance (Stone Passion #2) (44 page)

“What are the youngest Nosuntres brothers’ forms?” Jenna had asked, needing that link to the supernatural world.

“Michael is a white lion,” Melanie told her. And Jenna wondered how they determined how he was a white lion since he was a stone statue and there wasn’t really a way to determine fur color.
Which wasn’t even fur at all but carved stone.
“Leo is a liger, not to be confused with a lion or a tiger I have been told, and little Raphe is a black panther. They are all really rather spectacular and so damn cute; I wish you could see them.”

“I will this weekend,” Jenna had promised. “Um, do you think it will be okay if I come by tonight after work?”

“Of course,” Melanie had said. And that promise of seeing Rhys had been enough to get Jenna through the rest of the day.

The doors slid open and for the first time in almost six weeks Jenna saw her sister and the weeks had been really good to Melanie; she had gained back most of the weight she had lost and she positively glowed. Tears filled Jenna’s eyes as they hugged. Holding her sister tight, Jenna breathed, “You look beautiful, Lenni.”

“Thank you,” Melanie whispered, emotion clogging her voice. Stepping back, she wiped the tears from her eyes and laughed, “Look at me; I’m crying again.”

“So am I,” Jenna laughed, handing her sister the small bag she held, a little something she had picked up at the drugstore on her way over. “I brought you something.”

Melanie peaked into the bag and quickly closed it, blushing furiously and laughing, “I really don’t think this is necessary. I mean, he can’t… I’m not.”

“Humor me,” Jenna urged, taking off her jacket and following Melanie into the luxurious apartment. Giving her sister a kiss on the cheek, she left Melanie in the bathroom as she went to find Rhys. She quickly found him lounging in the den with all of his brothers; the six of them were laughing as they got to know one another. Not wanting to intrude, she simply watched from the doorway as the three large gargoyles interacted with the three small gargoyles.

A small, fluffy white creature sat on Armand’s knee, his long elegantly fingers absently stroking it as he gazed on his brothers with pride and affection. It was strange to see the large, divinely handsome man idly stroking a toy dog and she had to press her knuckle into her mouth to keep from laughing. Her heart twisted in her chest as she pictured him in the other life, full of love and not loved enough in return. It hurt to look at him and she let her gaze touch briefly on each of the gargoyles, lingering just a tad longer on Rhys.

The six of them were definitely brothers, from the almost six year old to Armand, who even had a hint of a smile as he sat there. Quietly, Jenna backed out and leaned against the wall on the side of the door where she wouldn’t be seen, clutching a bottle of red wine in case her suspicions proved to be true. She shouldn’t be there; it was their time to get to know one another.

“Couldn’t they have gotten you a real dog?” Rhys
asked,
his voice light with humor. “Like a Great Dane or a mastiff? Something that is larger than a cat?”

“They got
him a
small dog because we live in an apartment on the fourteenth floor,” Vaughn chuckled. “Plus, I think Melanie thought it would be funny to see Armand with a
little
dog.”

“This is not
a
dog,” Armand said imperiously, a hint of amusement in his cool voice. “This is a mop with legs.”

“You love it,” Vaughn countered.

Jenna could almost hear the smile in Armand’s voice as he murmured, “She has her uses.”

“Apparently
Toulia
is repelled by dogs,” Vaughn said for clarification. “Armand carries the mop with him everywhere he goes; it’s really quite the sight to see.”

Rhys’s laughter rang out and her heart trembled in her chest; she was just a foolish girl. What had she been thinking trying to see him when he had been separated from his family for just as long as she had been? He needed this time with his brothers. As soon as Melanie got out of the bathroom she would leave.

It wasn’t so bad; she’d be seeing him in a few days when the weekend hit. She was just having difficulties returning to a normal life after everything she had been through with Rhys. She was just going to have to deal with it like a grown up and not some love-starved twit.

With a sigh, she headed back the way she came, bumping into Melanie as her sister came out of the bathroom. Melanie was very pale and her blue eyes were huge in her face and Jenna had to grab onto Melanie’s shoulders to keep her steady.
“Lenni?’

Melanie looked up at her as if she didn’t recognize her own sister. Jenna shook her sister to keep her lucid “Lenni; what is it?”

Melanie held up the white stick, her hand trembling, “I’m… I’m….”

Then her eyes rolled back and her body went limp and Jenna was barely able to catch her as she fell. “Rhys! Vaughn!”

Heavy footsteps pounded down the hall and in a whir of movement Vaughn had Melanie cradled in his arms, brushing her hair from her face as he crooned her name. She found herself in Rhys’s arms, staring into warm chocolate eyes, “When did you arrive?”

“I, um,” she looked at Melanie who was slowly coming around, her eyelids fluttering. With a helpless glance
past
Rhys, she asked, “Is she okay, Vaughn?”

“I’m okay,” Melanie muttered, pushing her hair out of her eyes and laughing uneasily. “I just haven’t eaten enough today.”

Jenna frowned at her sister but Melanie made a negative motion with her head and frowned back. As Jenna watched, Melanie pushed the stick beneath a table where it w
ent
unnoticed by the others. She gave Jenna a limpid smile as she winked and leaned more fully into Vaughn’s embrace, sighing dramatically. “You can let me go, Vaughn; I’m all right; really.”

Ignoring her words,
just
as Me
l
anie intended, Vaughn carried her into the den they had been lounging in before the excitement began, with Rhys and Jenna following quietly behind. Armand was still sitting there, as calm and as unruffled as ever. Seeing Vaughn with Melanie in his arms, he arched an eyebrow, “What happened this time? Did Melanie slip on a banana peel or something?”

“You know that only happens in cartoons,” Rhys said, slapping Armand’s knee to move him over. Reluctantly, Armand grabbed the dog and stood up from the couch, making space for Melanie, whose cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment over Vaughn’s concern. He was so solicitous of her, offering her all of the comforts he could think of until Melanie was laughing from some of his more ridiculous suggestions. Jenna couldn’t help but smile as they interacted with one another, their love so apparent a blind man could see it.

Jenna glanced at Armand and saw the longing pass over his face before he caught her staring and quickly masked it. She arched an eyebrow at him, smiling when he mirrored the image and acted as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Of course, had she not seen the other reality than she would never have known he had feelings for Melanie at all.

The smile fell from her lips and her heart went out to the taciturn man; he never had a chance, either in this life or the other one. Looking at Melanie she saw that her sister only had eyes for Vaughn. How on earth were they going to bring a child into the world if they only had eyes for each other?

A heavy arm was draped over her shoulders and she smiled as Rhys’s scent filled her senses; who was she to judge her sister when she was just as hopelessly in love with Rhys. “What really happened, Jenna?”

“That’s kind of for Melanie to say,” she said, scrunching her nose, not sure how her sister wanted to handle the situation. Holding up the bottle of wine that she had somehow managed to hold on to, she grinned, “How about I pour all of us some wine and we can relax and catch up with everyone.”

“I’ll get the glasses,” he smirked, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. He stopped, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her flush against his body. Taking her lips in a more passionate kiss, he breathed, “I’m glad you’re here; I’ve missed you.”

He was gone before she could reply and she found herself looking at three wide-eyed moppets staring at her with large grins. “Hello, Jenna.”

“Hello, boys,” she grinned. “How was your first night in the city?”

Their eyes grew even wider, “It’s amazing; there is so much to see here, to do.”

The
y
spoke over one another, their voices combining until Jenna couldn’t understand a word any of them were saying. Armand’s quiet voice cut through the cacophony, “Boys.”

They instantly quiet
ed
, looking at Armand with worshipful eyes. Jenna had to chuckle; the man had a way with children whether he knew it or not. Well, there was at least one person who would be able to keep an eye on the spawn of Melanie and Vaughn.

Rhys appeared a moment later with five glasses and a corkscrew. Winking at Melanie,
Jenna
generously poured four glasses of wine and a little dribble into the fifth glass. With a grin, she handed Melanie the glass with barely anything in it. “Cheers.”

Vaughn gave her a funny expression but simply smiled, his hand stroking Melanie’s hair as he drank his wine. Jenna had to bite her lip to keep from laughing but it was too funny and she had to set her glass of wine down. The two of them were unbearably adorable.

“Why aren’t you drinking?” Rhys asked, entwining his fingers with hers.

“I am just enjoying the show,” she said, nodding her head towards the couple on the couch.

He nuzzled her neck, “She has barely let him out of her sight; Armand says she is paranoid about losing him even though she’s much more powerful now. And they’re fully bonded. I don’t think anything can come between them.”

Jenna let out an awkward laugh, reaching behind her to grab her wine. It wasn’t where she thought it was and she almost knocked it over before catching it with her fingertips. Holding Rhys’s eyes, she slammed down the thick liquid, needing something to hold her tongue until Melanie decided what she wanted to do, how she wanted to handle the
news.

The taste exploded in her mouth, a cross between metallic blood and decay. Slamming the glass down, she wiped her hand across the back of her mouth, trying to erase the taste. With dawning horror, she watched Rhys and Armand bring their glasses up to their lips and she cried out, “Don’t drink it; it’s gone bad.”

As they lowered the glasses, Jenna felt the heat of humiliation in her cheeks. “I am so sorry; the wine must have been a bad batch or something; it’s vile.”

“It’s not the smoothest vintage I’ve ever had but for something that is one step away from being from a box it’s not bad,” Armand said smoothly, sipping the wine as he offered her a backhanded compliment.

Jenna looked at him as if her were insane, “I’m pretty sure it’s rotten; it tasted like… God, it tasted like death.”

“I don’t think you drank the wine,” Armand said carefully, standing up, concern actually etched on his gorgeous face. Worried by Armand’s show of emotion, she turned to Rhys only to find him drained of all color, his eyes wide in his face. Her worry became a living thing, crawling like maggots in her gut. “What is it? What did I drink?”

“Sweetheart,” he said calmly, grabbing her by the arm and leading her over to a second couch. “I don’t want you to worry but I think you might have drunk all of M
edusa
’s blood.”

Jenna’s eyes widened in alarm as she turned her head and met Melanie’s gaze, who stared back in terror.
“Lenni.”

“How did this happen?” Armand ground out through lips pressed together in a firm line.

Turning her head, she saw an imp standing in the corner looking shamefaced and resigned but he disappeared before she could point him out and she had to wonder if she had imagined him. Lifting a shaking arm, she pointed to the spot and turned to Rhys, “I think the imps thought they were being helpful.”

“Fucking imps!”
Armand bellowed, throwing his glass against the fireplace where it shattered, spilling blood red wine everywhere. With a grim expression, he turned to the younger gargoyles, “Boys, go to you
r
room and keep yourself occupied while we deal with this.”

“But,” one of them began to protest.

“Go,” Armand said
,
brooking no argument as he handed Michael the little white mop dog and the boys scampered off, apparently understanding the gravity of the situation.

“Um, I don’t feel so well,” Jenna muttered, pressing her hand against her stomach where streaks of pain were
already
spreading outwards. If she lay down and didn’t move maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Slowly, she sank to the floor, trying not to
struggle
too much and shatter the thin layer
of skin
that was holding her together. Rhys’s arm was around her, easing her down and she met his eyes and tried to smile, “I drank the poison but I didn’t mean to.”

Rhys took her hand in his, leaning over her, “Sweetheart, just hold on; we’ll figure this out.”

“I might be okay,” she whispered, clutching his hand, truly scared. She didn’t want to die, not when she was finally learning how to live once again, not when there was so much worth living for. Her fingers tightened as she held onto Rhys, onto hope. “Melanie survived.”