Chapter 2
There’s a fire in Vieux-Montreal, my commander, Dumont, communicated telepathically, breaking into my thoughts.
Iwinced in my stone. Some of those beautiful old buildings in the original section of the city stood as magnificent pieces of architecture, and I ached to think of them burning.
Humans are trapped in the upper levels, he added. I need Sentries to help with rescue missions.
Ah, hell. A flash of a rescue effort many years ago came to mind. I hadn’t been able to save everyone within, and my failure haunted me.
I’m inside the library, I responded. Luc and Marc are perched outside. Shall we come? I prepared to shift into action. Leaving would mean Anya would be alone here after hours. I didn’t like that, even if the library was empty, but had to do my duty.
Don’t abandon the library, Dumont commanded. We can’t leave it unprotected. Hugo, stay there. Luc and Marc, fly to us.
Aye, Commander, I responded, conflicted by my relief. Just thinking of an experience with fire in my past made my stone twitch.
Someonehad to stay here and protect the library. Human technology could be tampered with, but not much could get by a gargoyle on watch. The witch who’d requested help from the StoneSentries had insisted on the importance of not leaving the library unguarded. Beyond the collectibles and fine art were secrets—likely more than we’d ever know. AndAnya was still here. I breathed easier at being able to stay and ensure she was safe. She’d gone downstairs into the special collections to shelve a book that she’d shown me while I watched from my perch. It certainly looked like a collectible with the brown leather binding and embedded gems.
Primarily, I alternated shifts with Marc and Luc as we protected this area in the outskirts of Montreal, most specifically, this library. Not much had happened in the six months I stood guard here—until a young reference librarian with striking, long, auburn hair began her first day four months ago. Something about Anya immediately captured my interest. I liked to watch her as she progressed through her orderly routines of lining books or papers perfectly parallel on her desk. When she began to stay after hours to have some quiet time to read, I grew to enjoy our time alone together—not that she knew I was there.
Myaffection for her grew as well as a need to protect her, and I requested more shifts inside the library. That was fine with Marc and Luc. They preferred to guard outside under the sun or moon with the breeze cooling their stone wings. But for me to be stationed outside or in another part of the city while I knew Anya was so close would be torment.
Overthe past couple of months, she’d begun to talk to me when she stayed after hours, even giving me a name. She’d revealed that she enjoyed being in the library surrounded by her stone friends rather than going home alone.
Iwished I could summon the courage to reveal myself to her as more than stone. As someone who lived and breathed and craved. The way she spoke to me, as if she knew me, gave me hope that one day a human and gargoyle could form an attachment.
Butthat wasn’t likely to happen.
Instead, I remained nearby, silent yet still enjoying the hours we spent together in comfortable silence. I’d experience her joy when something pleased her. Or her irritation about something that bothered her. I stood by, her quiet sounding board, as she released streams of consciousness, utterly delightful to my ears. The more time I was with her, the more Anya enchanted me. And that was a problem I didn’t know how to face.
Ahuman and gargoyle? That was unheard of in my clan. Yes, I’d heard stories of those pairings in other parts of the world, but I’d never seen it happen. The human world was one I observed from afar. How could I have grown so attached to a human?
Especiallysomeone who didn’t even know I existed.
Thatpredicament was one I didn’t know where to begin to tackle. How would Anya react to knowing the statue she talked to and joked with understood every word she’d said? Every story, every aggravation, every silly pun? And saw her excited little dances when something made her happy? She thought she was alone. I knew so much about her and yet she thought I was simply lifeless decor. An ornament. A mere statue.
Whatwould she do if she learned the statue near her desk could actually think, see, feel, and—yearn?
Thelonging grew more each day. And with it, so did my fear of revealing my true nature to Anya. Because if she recoiled from me, gazed at me in horror…
Therewas no if. That was the only possible scenario. No woman would embrace what she could only fathom was unnatural—a monster. That was why it was better to keep my feelings secret, buried under this cold, hard stone exterior. IfI kept my heart protected, it wouldn’t break, and I wouldn’t feel the anguish of her rejection.
Aloud thud sounded from below. I homed in on it. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs, from a different direction from where I’d last heard Anya. Was it a patron who had ended up locked in after hours?
Isearched in each direction from my stony eyes, as much as I could see in my vast peripheral vision, but didn’t see anything here on the upper level.
Andno alarms had gone off. Humans and their foolish reliance on technology, which had so many flaws.
Itcould have been someone working late, just like Anya, or returning to the building. It could have been a patron who’d missed the notifications about the library closing—or purposefully hid to stay in the library. Staff did sweeps of the stacks and the restrooms and other hidden nooks to ensure nobody would be stuck inside. ButI sensed it wasn’t quite so innocent.
Luc and Marc, did you see anyone enter the library before you left?
No, they both replied.
Be careful, I said. Even with magic to protect us, I’d never underestimate the destructive nature of fire.
Footstepssounded. They weren’t Anya’s. I knew the cadence of her steps. More than one person was moving downstairs, and with the way they rushed and spoke in hushed tones, it became clear that this wasn’t a simple case of an innocent human here after hours.
Someonehad broken in. Worse, it was while Anya was here.
Shit. I listened for the intruders’ movements, hoping—desperately hoping—they weren’t anywhere near Anya. But she was downstairs and they were downstairs…
Ihad to protect her, no matter what.