Chapter 14 – Thorne
I’m smiling.
I can’t remember the last time I’ve smiled this much.
It’s been five and a half months since I assumed the role as Layla’s head of security. Five and a half months since meeting these two beautiful creatures.
Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to spend much time together.
Despite Vara taking a step back from her clubs, she still has responsibilities with her new role on the committee.
She’s out nearly every night making connections.
Layla has been busy attending functions as well, and that’s on top of tending to her royal vampire duties.
As Layla’s head of security, and now mate, I’ve had to limit my time around her again. All I want to do when in her presence is give her multiple orgasms, which takes away from my role to protect her, so I’ve assigned my next best guard to escort her to the majority of her public events.
Any chance the three of us has had to fuck has been quick, mostly happening in the back of a car or on the table after a SUC meeting. We’ve been careful not to come simultaneously since the one time that happened, we all passed out.
Tonight is the first night in a month that none of us have obligations. We’re at Layla’s penthouse where I’m cooking dinner for Vara and myself, and Layla is sitting at the kitchen island sipping on wine.
“I love your smile,” Layla says dreamily. “You’ve been doing it more.”
“It’s true. You have,” Vara says, glancing up from her laptop. She’s always working, even when she’s off, but she never misses a word we say. “Unfortunately, I find it rather endearing.”
“You just hate to admit you like us,” Layla teases.
Vara shrugs. “Sphinxes are very loving creatures. I just didn’t have anyone to offer my love and care to until now.”
“Love?” Layla asks, her voice slightly higher with a hint of panic.
“Please, don’t be so human about this, Lollipop. We’re mates. Of course we’ll fall in love.”
I must have made a face or some sort of noise because Vara turns to me.
“You have doubts too, Thorne?”
While it’s true Layla and Vara are awakening something inside me, love is something I never imagined I’d experience. Not since my entire family was killed by hunters.
It’s been almost a hundred years.
It feels like it’s been a thousand.
When I don’t answer, Vara continues with caution.
“I see the haunted look on your face anytime you look at us. You hide it well from others, but I recognize that mask you wear because I wear the same one. You’re scared to love us because you’re worried you’ll lose us.
We’ve all lived long lives full of loss.
It’s understandable to be hesitant to accept this. ”
She’s absolutely right. I’ve suffered too many losses… too many heartbreaks in my life.
Gargoyles are born to protect. We know that many of our kind fall to an early grave, mostly through battles against evil, but that doesn’t make it easier to mourn the losses.
I fought alongside my brothers. I protected cities my father and mother once protected.
They all suffered many life-threatening injuries, but it wasn’t a battle that ended their lives.
We might be immortal and can live for centuries, but we can still die.
For me, it’s by decapitation or a warspear to the heart.
“Voice your thoughts, Thorne. We’re here to listen,” Layla says, placing her palm on my forearm. I’m cutting up vegetables for the stir fry dish I’m making, and pause, sighing with my entire body at Layla’s touch.
“I was just thinking about the time I nearly died.”
“Is that how you got the scar?” Vara asks, closing her laptop and folding her arms over her chest.
“It is. It happened during a battle against a demon trying to kidnap humans to enslave them. He sliced me on the face with a warspear. The weapons are made with iron which is toxic to gargoyles. I was poisoned and ill for months. But I lived.”
I glance up at Vara, her brows pinched while listening to my story.
“My family, however, was not so lucky. I lost them in 1922.”
“I’m so sorry, Thorne,” Layla says, sorrow claiming her voice.
“Rumors of our existence began spreading amongst the humans in Europe. Hunters formed to seek us out. They tracked down and killed all supernatural beings, but some of these humans focused on gargoyles after believing our horns would bring good luck and ward off evil spirits. It’s clear the legends of our species have been misinterpreted poorly. Our horns do no such thing.”
I stop speaking as an ache forms in my throat. Tears threaten to fall despite it being decades since I’ve mourned my family.
I pick up a pile of cut vegetables and turn to the pan heating on the stove to toss them in.
“My parents were taken one night while on patrol. The hunters... they knew how to incapacitate gargoyles and used an iron wrought net to trap them. I was the youngest amongst my siblings, so I was ordered to stay and protect the small village in France that my family had been assigned to watch over. My brothers left to save them.” I swallow hard.
“None of them returned. They were all murdered. I found their bodies. Their horns were taken.”
Layla wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head between my tucked wings.
I relish her touch. It’s cold yet warms me throughout.
Vara stands off to the side, her tail caressing my arm.
I smile because it’s such a Vara thing to do.
She’s keeping her distance while letting me know she’s here for me.
Clearing my throat, I continue. “The Council of Gargoyle Elders ordered me to leave the village immediately for my safety. They said there had been similar incidents of gargoyles being killed by hunters. That prompted the Council to change the rules.”
I let the veggies simmer and peel Layla off my back, making sure to give her a quick kiss before she sits down at the kitchen island.
“Entire families could no longer protect villages or cities together. There are exceptions. If the city is large like Paris or New York, then up to three relatives can be in the same army. Only towns with populations of at least ten thousand will be guarded and there must be at least two gargoyle guards on patrol so one is never left vulnerable. And we must stay masked around humans at all times.”
I check on the egg rolls baking in the oven. Satisfied they’re done, I turn off the heat and keep them in there to stay warm while waiting for the stir fry to finish.
“When I joined Xander’s army shortly after my family was slaughtered, I hadn’t expected anything more than the camaraderie of my fellow fighters. I wasn’t looking for replacements. Though Locheran treats me like a brother, and he’s annoyingly loud and hyper like one of my older brothers had been.”
I frown at the thought.
Locheran and Xander are the closest I have to brothers now.
Locheran drags me out to human bars and clubs, sometimes Xander even goes.
Or, at least, he did before meeting his mate.
We’ve had plenty of poker nights or nights where we talk about the battles we’ve fought and compared our goriest kills.
Everything’s changing, though, with me in this new role and Xander focusing on his mate.
And me focusing on my mates.
“So, I don’t trust easily, and I don’t offer my love often. That being said, what I feel for the both of you is nothing like I’ve experienced before.”
“Have you ever been in love? Not the love of family or friends but romantic love?” Vara asks, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
She opens it with ease and hands it to me. She knows I don’t drink often, but tonight I need it. Even if it’s just one or two to relax me.
I shrug. “I suppose not. Is love supposed to hurt? Because that’s how this feels, especially when you two aren’t here.
I know it’s the bond, tethering us. But I also feel protective and jealous.
I can’t even count how many times I’ve had to stop myself from tearing someone to shreds anytime they got too close to either of you. ”
“I know what you mean,” Layla laughs. “Teddy and Millie have a crush on you, Thorne, and I want to rip their eyes from their heads anytime they check you out.”
I stand taller.
“They think I’m cute?”
She shakes her head. “The words they used were hot. Godly.”
“I’ve met Gods,” Vara scoffs. “They’re beautiful but assholes. Thorne is beautiful and kind.”
“I think you mean dangerous and sexy,” I say, puffing out my chest.
“Please,” Vara chuckles. “Don’t be toxic. Besides, I have no doubt you could rip a spine from a body. But you’re also delicate and considerate, especially when it comes to pleasuring us.”
Vara waves her hand toward the stove.
“And you can cook.”
“A lot of immortals can cook,” I say, amused. “We have time to learn to be great at a lot of things.”
“Then please share with the class the other talents you have.” Layla’s face lights up at the prospect.
My cheeks warm because it’s been far too long since I’ve shared such personal details about myself. I’ve already talked more tonight than I typically speak in an entire week.
But with Layla and Vara, it comes naturally.
“I like to sing, and I think I’m decent at it. I can also play several instruments: piano, guitar, drums.”
Layla gasps. “Well now you have to sing for us. I have a piano in the sitting room.”
My phone dings with a text from a guard letting me know someone is here at the entrance of the penthouse.
Layla’s dinner.
“After we eat,” I say, giving the vampire a wink.
I leave to retrieve the human. This donor is a tall and slender man with pale skin, which means he donates often. When I bring him to the kitchen island, Layla’s eyes darken, and her fangs drop.
“Thorne,” she whispers. “You got me dinner?”
“Of course, Bunny,” I say, palming her cheek.
I point at the stool next to Layla and the human sits. I return to the food on the stove. The stir fry is done so I scoop it out of the pan into two waiting bowls, then retrieve the egg rolls from the oven, dropping two on each pile of food.
I bring the dishes to the island where we all like to eat, instead of at the dining room table, which feels far too formal. After refilling Vara’s wine glass, I grab my beer and sit down.
I relish the sweet sounds Vara makes as she tastes the food I cooked. Typically, my meals are quick, an afterthought. Or I order takeout from a restaurant. I can’t even remember the last time I prepared dinner for someone I cared about.
Despite Layla not being able to consume human food, I didn’t want her to feel left out, so I contacted her assistant, and she ordered the donor.
Layla takes the human’s arm and drinks from his wrist. She sighs as she locks eyes with me.
Desire and appreciation look back at me.
Contentment.
This must be what love is. It’s a strange feeling. Different from loving my friends and family. I would die for friends and family, but for my mates, I would lay waste to the world.