Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Jodrick
::She came to see us this morning. Greeted us.::
Viraat's voice brushes through my mind like a cool draft through old stone halls. He sounds so... confused that I can't help but send an internal chuckle his way.
::Yes, I'm aware, as I was right here, on the roof, with you.:: I keep my words measured, though I can't deny the flush of pleasure at knowing she couldn't wait to see us this morning.
::She kissed us.:: If I'm not mistaken, he's in awe.
Poor bugger.
::She's made for us, Viraat. Now that she's met us, touched us, she'll feel the draw just as much as we do.:: I tell him something he already knows.
The pause that follows carries the weight of centuries
::She will die, Jodrick. If not by our hands, then centuries before we do. We will watch her wither and age as we did Ichabod.::
I grit my teeth, the cracks in my stone skin groaning in protest. ::I shall not think of it. I cannot.::
::It doesn't help to hide from the obvious, my brother. We are immortal creatures. Immortal stone creatures. Her life is but a frail, fragile facsimile of ours. Should we allow ourselves to fall for this young girl we are setting ourselves up for further heartbreak.::
I growl in response, the pent-up emotions within me so overwhelming that the sound could almost be heard out loud.
::There's no point in getting aggravated with me for telling you the truth, brother,:: Viraat scolds me. ::What happens when she comes to the realization she'll only have us for a scant few hours each night? That as she ages, we stay the same?::
::We'll figure it out,:: I bite out. ::I refuse to believe the fates would finally bring us our mate only to steal her from us within a few decades. Yet even if that's the case, I'll take what little time I have with her and cherish it forever.::
Viraat's quiet for a long time after that, and I've almost let go of my anger at him, at the situation when he speaks up again.
::It's not like we have a choice. I'm already half mad for her.::
We pass the rest of the day in the usual silence. After centuries of this, Viraat and I have long since stopped feeling the need to fill every waking hour with inane conversations.
Soon, the sun begins its descent and twilight paints the horizon in bruised golds and purples, and I feel the ancient ache stir within me. The shifting. The awakening.
And there, I hear it, the faint sounds of our human mate’s feet on the steps.
She's coming.
The hunger to move surges in my chest.
My limbs scream for release.
The stone begins to hum beneath my surface, fissures glowing faint and ready. Every instinct inside me howls to break free, to greet her, to wrap her up in my arms and never let go.
The moment the last sliver of sunlight slips beneath the horizon, the cracking begins.
Stone shatters in slow motion, like ice thawing after a deep freeze.
I stretch my wings first, flexing them wide before pulling them tight to my back.
Beside me, Viraat exhales, the sound low and guttural, like a lion waking from slumber.
His first movement, as always, is to take in our surroundings. Searching. Assessing.
And then there's the soft scuff of a foot slipping on a step.
She quickly rights herself, and then I hear her break through the door on the rooftop.
Clearly barefoot. As she was this morning.
That should go over real well with Viraat.
Avalon bursts into view, her hair flying behind her, cheeks flushed from the climb and curls wild from her run. She lights up the rooftop like a sunrise in reverse, her joy as loud as a drumbeat in my chest.
She wasn't lying. She's bright enough to make up for any missed time.
Viraat moves first—uncurls from his crouch with purpose.
"Where are your shoes?" he barks.
Avalon skids to a stop in her stockinged feet, blinking up at him with a sheepish smile. "I... forgot?"
He growls low, stalking toward her with his arms crossed, his wings making an imposing picture behind him.
"You didn't forget. You kicked them off this morning and then failed to put them on again after slipping.
Again. The manor told me how many times you've nearly slipped down the staircase this week. "
Her mouth drops open. I can't say I'm surprised, because I did not expect Viraat to share with her the deep connection we have with the house.
"It told you?" she cried incredulously.
"Yes," he snaps. "Because you clearly have no self-preservation instinct!"
She laughs nervously, bouncing on her toes. "Okay, well, maybe there's been a few close calls... and I've kind of felt like the manor has saved me a couple of times. But you're saying it actually talks to you? Like how?"
"That's not important, Avalon," he growls.
She opens her mouth to continue arguing with him, but from what I know of him, and what I'm learning about her, we'll probably be stuck on the roof for the rest of the night if I allow that.
"As the guardians of the manor, we have a special connection with it. And as it's a magical house, it has a bit more..." I explain to her as I grab hold of her hand and pull her into my embrace, unable to stand the distance between us a moment longer.
She falls into my hug immediately and tucks her head tight against my chest.
We stand there for a bit, Viraat scowling at us, but I'm not helping him out of the hole he dug himself. Even though he's right, and she needs to slow down, he did not handle it the right way.
"But," I say after Avalon's warmth has seeped into my stones, "little human, you do need to be more careful. We've only just found you, and it would be a real letdown if we lost you so early in our courting."
She pulls from my embrace to stare up at me, her gaze filled with awe.
"You're courting me?"
Unable to control it, I kiss the tip of her nose. "You did break things off with your Daddy Drè, didn't you?"
Her adorable face bobs up and down with a nod.
"So then we shall start the process of making you ours, and that starts with courting. And rules."
At first her nose scrunches up adorably, but then she nods again. "Okay, Daddy."
I freeze for just a second. She joked around with it last night, but the sound of that title on her lips, directed at me, warms me even more than her arms wrapped around me.
Viraat grumbles something unintelligible and stalks to the edge of the rooftop, his wings flaring slightly in agitation. But I see it—the way his jaw clenches, the way his eyes soften the moment he looks back at her. He may not say it yet, but he feels it too.
The pull.
The need.
The inevitability of her in our lives.
"Don't think you're off the hook just because you batted your lashes and said the magic word," he calls over his shoulder. "You're still being punished for being reckless with your life."
Avalon squeaks, half-horrified, half-delighted. "What kind of punishment are we talking about here, Daddy Vee?"
"That," he says softly, "depends on how many more times we catch you running through the halls of the house."
She pouts. "But I need to be places. And it's a big house, so if I didn't run it would take me forever."
I brush a strand of wind-tossed hair from her cheek. "Your safety is more important than time management, little one."
She sighs dramatically, then grins up at me. "Fine. But only because I really don't want to piss off the house."
Viraat makes a strangled noise from across the rooftop, but he doesn't argue any further.
I draw her back into my side, wrapping a wing around her as the wind begins to pick up.
"So what have you got planned for us tonight?" I ask, and she wiggles with glee before pulling away slightly so she can look at me again.
"You can eat dinner with me, right?"