Stone Solitude (14 page)

Leo bowed his head and let Roman pass. In the next moment, the cloak was ripped from his upper body, exposing the gargoyle wings on his back and his twisted face. Leo stumbled back a step and looked at Roman in surprised horror, “What the hell are you?”

“I’m your fucking brother,” Roman growled, pulling his cloak back onto his shoulders and the hood over his head. Pushing past the behemoth, Roman stormed down the stairs, fury and confusion making his limbs shake. How had they tracked him to this dump? Who had seen him?

A large hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. Leo was staring at him in bewilderment and anger as he worked his mouth a few times before growling, “What do you mean you’re my brother? I’ve never seen you before and you’re sure as hell not an imp.”

He didn’t say anything about Roman’s fucked up face so there was that. Shaking the hand off his arm, Roman scowled, “It doesn’t matter. You’ll forget me the moment I’m out of your sight.” He huffed out a desolate laugh, “I might as well admit that I’m the one chasing after Daisy. She’s mine.”

A thunderous expression twisted the man’s handsome face, “Leave the little wolf alone.”

A mocking smile curled Roman’s lips, “I will not. Oh, and good luck tracking down a ghost.”

With that, Roman walked out, leaving his brother behind, knowing that the man would wonder what had just happened. In a few minutes, he wouldn’t remember anything at all. This was the only time Roman was grateful he was so forgettable though it gave him pause to realize they were able to track him to the dive he was living in. Eventually, they would send someone who wouldn’t forget him and he’d be screwed.

There was even less time to secure Daisy’s affections…. No, her affections were secure. It was her virginity that he needed and he was certain he could have it that night if he wished it. Strangely, that didn’t appeal to him and he wasn’t sure why. Oh, he meant to have her but he didn’t want it to be desperation that drove him. Hell, he was desperate but he didn’t want…. Fuck, he didn’t know what he didn’t want.

He didn’t want to lose Daisy.

“Fuck,” he growled, pressing his hand against his inexplicably aching chest. Wait, where was Xerec? Shit, the demon probably got waylaid by his brother. Shit shit shit. Turning around, he stomped back to the building. Clenching his jaw, he prepared himself for the unrecognition in his brother’s eyes as he saved his demon from an unwanted interrogation. The little bastard would probably break within seconds and the gargoyles would have their culprit even if they didn’t remember him.

Just as he suspected, Leo had the demon cornered. Poor Xerec was looking wildly about the corridor, looking for escape. He practically sighed in relief when he noticed Roman. Ignoring the gargoyle, Roman grabbed the demon by the shoulder and hauled him out of Leo’s grasp. Plopping Xerec down in front of him but keeping a hand on his shoulder to steer him forward, Roman pushed onwards, trying to get out of there before anything else happened.

“Hey!” the massive gargoyle shouted a moment after he realized his suspect was no longer there. “We were having a discussion. Who the fuck do you think you are?”

Grinning, enjoying himself in spite of the circumstances, Roman turned around and said, “We’ve discussed this. I’m your brother.”

He watched as the confusion washed over the other man’s face but the satisfaction was short lived. It hurt to be so easily forgotten no matter how opportune the forgetting was. Keeping a tight grip on Xerec, Roman barreled out of the building once more. Luckily, Leo had forgotten him the moment they turned the corner so they were able to escape further questioning. When they were safely away, Roman bit out, “How much did you tell him, Xerec?”

“Nothing,” the twerp said quickly, too quickly. At Roman’s glare, he cowered. “I might have mentioned a curse. And the girl being the key to breaking it.”

Roman swore under his breath. There was no way they were ever going to let Daisy out of their sight again. They were going to lock her in the highest tower and throw away the key…. With a grim smile, Roman reminded himself that he could fly and should they lock her up in a tower he’d be the only monster that could get to her. “Anything else?”

“Not really,” Xerec muttered, a sheepish expression making him look even more pathetic. “Well, I might have mentioned you’ve fallen in love with the girl but I can’t be sure.”

“I haven’t fallen in love with her,” Roman bit out, ignoring the worthless little voice in his head that called him a liar. He’d be a fool to fall in love with her because she wasn’t meant for him, not for all eternity at any rate. She was just the poor girl who woke a cursed gargoyle. “Now, I’m flying to Daisy’s and you’re going with so I can keep you out of the gargoyles’ path.”

With obvious relish, Xerec grinned maniacally as they flew through the night to Daisy’s side. Even if he wanted to take Daisy’s virginity, he couldn’t very well do it with the Wayfarer demon hanging out close by. Roman knew that Xerec would have no qualms about hiding in the bushes and spying on the couple. The next time he flew out, Roman was going to have to leave Xerec behind and hope the demon managed to avoid further interaction with the gargoyles. When Roman took Daisy’s virginity, there weren’t going to be any demon witnesses.

Daisy paged through the magazine, not really paying attention to any of the articles. It could have been a fashion magazine or a gardening magazine or a treatise on the nature of a quark, it hardly mattered. Her thoughts were a million miles away and there was nothing she could do about it. Despite the fact that she wasn’t actually grounded or under house arrest, she didn’t want to worry her parents so soon after her latest adventure. It was unfortunate that Dominic hadn’t been lying when he said she didn’t get into trouble and she finally realized why. Every time she tried something new or daring, she got smacked down in the worst way possible, starting when she was ten and went on vacation with her best friend.

Was it any wonder she was so cautious? One moment her best friend had been there and the next she was gone, along with her parents and millions of other humans. Logically, Daisy knew that it wasn’t her fault but her ten-year-old brain had internalized it and afterwards she was the perfect, albeit slightly boring child.

The second time she did something – singing at the frat party – she had slinked away with her tail between her legs, and not her literal tail because she was still a latent wolf. Maybe that was why her wolf refused to talk to her: she was deadly dull. Whether or not she was responsible for the orgy was irrelevant because she still blamed herself. It didn’t matter how active and slightly lecherous her imagination was if she never acted on it… or, rather, hadn’t acted on it until Roman. 

A naughty smile tilted her lips as she thought about her gargoyle.

“I would give anything to know what you’re thinking that put that smile on your face,” his low, rough voice came from the shadows.

With a squeal of delight, Daisy tossed down the magazine, leapt off the bed and jumped into Roman’s arms, knowing he’d catch her. “Roman! What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you,” he murmured with a smile in his voice. Shrugging his broad, broad shoulders, jiggling her in the process, he added, “So here I am.”

Wrapping her arms around his thick neck, she hugged him, so happy that he was there. “Have you come to take me flying again?”

“No, my little flower,” he chuckled, freely returning her hug. “I don’t think it would be wise.”

Hadn’t she just realized how dull she was? With a frown, she pulled back and looked at his face, realizing that he had left his hood down and taking great pleasure in that fact. “It would be better than staying here in my bedroom. I mean, what could we possibly do?”

Roman’s too-wide mouth spread into a wicked grin, which was quite a feat since it was also terrifying. “I could think of several things we could do.”

As the meaning of his words sank in, burning color flooded her cheeks and she looked away from him. The trouble was that it wasn’t just embarrassment making her cheeks turn red. A knock on the door saved her from throwing herself at Roman and begging him to keep the promise that was in his words. As she untangled her limbs from his body and crossed the room to the door, she watched as Roman pulled the cloak up and slid into the shadows. Oh, he didn’t actually disappear but if one wasn’t looking for him, they wouldn’t see him.

Smoothing her hand over her hair, she smiled as she opened the door only to frown when she saw who was standing there. “Dominic. What do you want?”

“I want you to rescind our bargain,” he practically panted, leaning against the doorjamb as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. “Please, Daisy.”

A wicked smile curved her lips as she crossed her arms beneath her breasts and shook her head no, “I don’t think so, Dominic. It’ll do you some good to abstain for a few weeks.”

“Daisy,” he groaned, closing his eyes as if he was in genuine pain but she knew he wasn’t. “A new wolf just came to town and I want her.”

“You’re pathetic when you whine,” she taunted.

“Oh, well,” he sighed, an easy smile curving his lips, all pretense gone. “It was worth the shot. One of the other wolves will probably get her on the ground with her ass in the air before the week is out anyways.”

“Probably,” she agreed. He made a move to enter her room but she countered him, keeping him out. At his look of suspicion, she tried to act innocent, “I don’t want you to get your dirty paws on my things.”

He arched a brow at this because she had never barred him from entering her personal space. Ever. Besides, she was staying in the pool house and she didn’t have a lot of personal things with her. Suspicious, he asked, “Daisy, have you gone to the dark side? Are you watching porn?”

“Yes,” she dead panned. “Yes I am. Now leave before I miss the good parts and I’m not reneging on our bargain. I’ll sing tomorrow and you’ll abstain from sex.”

“You’re a cruel sister,” he sulked, straining his neck trying to look behind her, which was ridiculous because he towered over her by a foot. “What’s really going on, Daise? What are you hiding?”

“Nothing,” she ground out, hoping the color in her cheeks wasn’t giving her away. Then she had a brilliant idea. “Actually, I have a favor to ask.”

“After barring me from sex for an entire month?” he shook his head in mock regret. “I think not.”

“I’ll take a week off your sentence,” she wheedled. “And you wouldn’t really have to do much, just tell mom and dad that you’re hanging out here and that I’m with you.”

He gasped, widening his laughing eyes. “You want me to
lie
to our parents?”

“Just a little white lie,” she pleaded, glancing over her shoulder and catching Roman’s frown before he stepped back into the shadows. “I want to go out with my, er, boyfriend.”

Dominic’s eyebrows shot to his hairline as his eyes widened even further in surprise. “He’s here? Can I meet him?”

Without waiting for an answer or an invitation, he pushed into Daisy’s temporary room and came to an abrupt halt. Daisy turned around in time to see Roman step out of the shadows, looking massive in the small room, material covering his face and most of his body. Letting out a low whistle, Dominic breathed, “Holy shit, he’s huge.”

A horrified giggle escaped Daisy’s lips before she clapped a hand over her mouth. Still, her eyes danced with laughter as she made introductions. “Roman, this is my twin Dominic. Dominic, this is Roman.”

She could tell by the stiffness of Roman’s shoulders that he wasn’t happy meeting any of her family but he was polite as he held out his hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah, of course,” Dominic muttered, staring at the gray, stone hand before taking it and giving it a firm shake. Glancing at Daisy, his brow furrowed, he whispered loudly, “You weren’t lying when you said you went flying with a gargoyle.”

“Of course I wasn’t lying,” Daisy said in exasperation, moving over to Roman’s side and sliding her arm through his. He really was huge, not just height wise but width wise as well. “Will you cover for me?”

“Daisy, introduce him to mom and dad,” Dominic said logically, standing with his hands on his hips and staring at her as if she had gone mad. Perhaps she had because she didn’t want to share Roman with anyone just yet. He was hers and she just wanted to savor him for a little longer without the chaos of her loving family. “They’ll welcome him with open arms.”

“I know,” she said, her lips twisting into a wry smile. “Can’t I have this, Dominic? Just for a little while?”

“Daisy,” he growled.

“I promise I will introduce them… just not yet.”

“Daisy, it’s okay,” Roman said softly. Turning to face her, he ran his hand over the side of her face, resting it against her cheek. “I don’t want to worry anyone, least of all your parents.”

She offered him a smile, “I kind of want to worry them, Roman, just a little bit.” That made her sound like an awful person but it wasn’t like that, not exactly. “It’s just that I’ve always been well behaved but I’m not a little girl anymore and I kind of want to… misbehave. At least a little.”

“Daisy,” Dominic growled but she was ignoring him because Roman was smiling at her with mischievousness and understanding. Knowing he was defeated, her brother heaved a dramatic sigh, “Take another week off my sentence.”

“No,” she said, still grinning like a loon at Roman. “Three weeks without sex and your silence.”

“Jesus, Daisy, you do not play fair,” Dominic grumbled. “I should just tell mom and dad that you’re running off with your gargoyle.”

“And I’ll tell them about the time when you were seventeen and you told them that you were going camping with the guys but instead you took Felicity to a concert in Madison. How you went bar hopping with your
fake
ID’s. How you got into a bar fight, and nearly had your head ripped off because you went up against an ogre,” she countered, shaking her head in feigned disapproval. Unlike her brother, she had never had the guts to break any of the rules. Until now. “How do you think mom would feel knowing how close she came to losing you?”

“That’s ancient history,” Dominic shot back. “Besides, the guy was making Felicity uncomfortable and at the time I hadn’t known he was an ogre. I just thought he was an extraordinarily foul smelling man.”

“I know,” she agreed with a dismissive shrug of her shoulders. “But then you and Felicity spent a week in bed as she, ahem,
nursed
you back to health. Well, her and the entire UW cheerleading squad.”

Dominic’s forehead furrowed as he suddenly bellowed, “How the hell did you find out about Felicity and the, um, cheerleaders?”

“Dominic,” she said calmly, a hint of reproof in her voice. “I’m actually friends with all of the wolves you screw. I think they forget you’re my brother because they tell me everything, Dominic.
Everything
. There are plenty of stories I could share with mom and dad….”

“You’ve a cruel streak, sister,” he whispered, sounding impressed. Pressing his lips together, he looked away and swallowed. “So, three weeks and my silence?”

Throwing her arms around her brother’s neck, she gave him a hug, “Thank you!” Turning back to Roman, she grinned, “Ready?”

“You’re a dangerous girl,” Roman said, shaking his head but she heard the smile in his voice. Turning to Dominic, he murmured, “It was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dominic grumbled, throwing himself onto Daisy’s bed and crossing his arms across his chest. Apparently, he had already forgotten his original purpose in knocking on her door and Daisy wasn’t going to remind him. As he said, one of the other wolves would have fun with the new girl. “Just don’t stay out too late.”

With a chuckle, Daisy pulled Roman out of the pool house before turning to him. “So? Can we fly?”

He laughed, the rocky sound making her skin tingle and her heart skip a beat in her chest. “Yes, Daisy, we can fly.”

Pushing the cloak off his massive shoulders, his fantastic wings stretching out, he wrapped his arms around her and pushed off the ground. Within moments they were soaring over the vast wildness of her parents’ estate. “Where do you want to go, my little flower?”

She hadn’t thought that far ahead but she didn’t care where they went as long as they were together. “Let’s find someplace far away from everything and see where it goes from there.”

“Your wish is my command,” he murmured, flying higher until clouds covered the ground and she had no idea where they were going. She should have blackmailed Dominic long before now only she had never had any reason to do so.