Chapter 6
Six
Cairn
“Do I get a say in this?”
I'd been straining to hear their words, but that sentence struck something deep inside. My tail slapped against the tiles as my brain struggled to understand why it affected me so.
I'd been so overwhelmed by waking, finding my mate and touching another living being that I had treated the bond as if it settled everything. My instincts recognised Georgie. They demanded I keep her close, protect her and make her mine. That's what a mate bond was.
But Georgie hadn't chosen me.
Not yet.
And from their conversation, it had become clear that humans did not mate in the way gharrgoils did. Did they truly not feel the same bonds to their mates? I knew they took mates. I had watched them from the castle walls, couples, males and females, females and females, males and males.
I shifted on the wet stone. My fingertips were growing stiff again, but slowly. I could wait here without becoming fully petrified. It gave her the distance she wanted while allowing me to remain alive.
The onyx-haired female moved towards the window. She looked out at the street, turned away, then stopped.
Georgie's head snapped in my direction.
I stayed very still as her eyes met mine through the glass.
The females said something, but I was no longer listening. My attention was fixed on her, only her. The way her chest rose when she breathed. Her hair framing her face, highlighting her delicate features. Her baggy clothes, waiting to be torn off her body to reveal what waited underneath.
No. I had to go slow. She didn't feel what I did. Instead of trusting in the mate bond, I would have to woo her like in the stories of old. I'd have to convince her that I was the gharrgoil for her. I had to show her that I was worthy of her affection.
But was I? How could I be? I'd done everything wrong. Put her in danger. Acted like a cloching fool.
She pushed the window open. I could barely believe it. She was giving me a second chance. This time, I wouldn't ruin everything by acting without thinking. I was going to be calm, collected, rational.
I shook my wings and leapt off the roof.
The street was narrower than I had estimated. I was out of practice. And I was distracted by her.
I crashed through the open window. My horns caught on the frame, I tripped over a low table and crashed onto the floor in an unceremonious heap.
So much for my grand entrance.
Georgie stumbled back. I dared a quick peek at her face. Her lips were pressed together, her eyes narrowed.
I had angered her. Maybe I should fly away, let the stone take me.
Her shoulders shook. Was she about to cry?
I really was the worst gharrgoil in existence.
A laugh broke from her chest, loud and sparkling.
“You know how to make an entrance.” Bouts of laughter interrupted her words. “How did you manage to crash again?”
“I can assure you, my flying skills are usually excellent,” I replied testily. “I graduated with top marks from the academy. I am a warrior. My body is a honed weapon. I... Yes, I crashed. Again.”
“You dropped me.”
“Only once.”
“You nearly dropped me twice.”
“But I caught you both times.”
Georgie closed the window behind me. She stayed beside it, leaving several steps between us.
I rose to my feet, curled my tail around my ankle, folded my wings up neatly. I wanted to cross the distance, touch her, feel her warmth, but I resisted the urge.
“You followed me,” she said.
“Yes.”
“All the way from Stirling?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The question had an obvious answer, but telling her that I was unable to let my mate out of my sight would be another mistake. I was learning.
“I tried to leave,” I said. “I did not get far.”
I raised my right hand. The fingers had softened when I entered the room, but the tips were still darker than the rest of my skin. I tried to bend them. The movement was slow and painful.
Georgie stepped closer. “What happened?”
“Petrification. It began as soon as you moved too far away from me. I almost fell into the forest.”
Her smile disappeared. “What does that mean? You can't be away from me or you'll turn back to stone?”
“I don't know. This is not normal. Gharrgoils don't petrify unless we're very unwell or in environments hostile to us.
Like on this planet. Petrification started as soon as I'd climbed from my escape pod.
It's a protective trait evolved over many generations.
We get to live, but we're unable to move until rescue arrives. In my case it never came. Not until you.”
“I am not your rescue,” she said softly. “You can't be by my side at all times. I have a job. I have a life. I am not a gargoyle sitter.”
I went cold inside. “Is that what you think of me? As someone who will stop you from living your life? As a burden?”
“No... I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. But... This is hard. I have no idea what to say. Are you really not able to be away from me?”
“I can try.” I shrugged. “We could experiment just how far I can move before petrification sets in. It's not a pleasant feeling, but it will be good to know.”
I moved towards the door, but she held up a hand.
“Not now. We have to talk. I have questions.”
I pointed at the squishy looking furniture that I had almost pushed over. “Would you like to sit?”
She nodded and took a seat on one side of the purple monstrosity. She patted the space next to her.
“Join me. Let's talk like grown-ups. So... You followed me all the way from Stirling. Did anyone see you?”
“I think so. I stopped caring the moment my hand turned to stone. It kind of distracts you from thinking too much about people walking into lamp posts underneath you. At least one person did.”
A strangled noise escaped her. It took me a moment to realise she was laughing again.
Warmth spread through my chest. I had made my mate laugh. Maybe I wasn't entirely hopeless.
Her amusement faded when she looked at my hand again. “Does it hurt?”
“The return of the stone does not. That is the worst part. I stop feeling anything.”
I had not meant to tell her that much.
I closed my eyes for a moment, not wanting to see her reaction. Her scent filled my lungs, warm skin mixed with stone dust and rain. Desire crowded every thought. I stepped on my tail, put pressure on it. The pain felt good.
“Can I see?” she asked.
I held out my right hand.
Georgie hesitated before taking it. Her fingers slid beneath mine, soft against my palm, while her other hand traced the darkened stone at my fingertips.
The petrification vanished as if it had never been there in the first place.
She moved her thumb across one of my knuckles. Every instinct urged me to close my hand around hers. I left it open, letting her decide how long the contact lasted.
“Your skin is warmer now,” she said.
“Because of you.”
Her eyes met mine. “Because I'm your mate?”
“Because we have the potential to form a mate bond.”
“That sounds slightly less terrifying.”
I took a deep breath. “I heard what you asked the other females.”
Her hand went still. “You were listening?”
“To most of it. My hearing is good, but sometimes the sound of the vehicles got too loud. This is a noisy city. Makes eavesdropping harder.”
I was proud of my vocabulary. I remembered the moment I'd first heard that word. Eavesdropping. A male had accused a female of listening to his conversations with his friends.
“Pervert.” She sighed. ”A potential to form a mate bond. What does that mean? Do I get a say in it? Or is it a done deal?”
“Yes, of course you get a say.” I lowered my head so I wasn't towering over her quite as much.
“I have handled this badly. Among my people, finding a mate is celebrated. I have wanted one for most of my life. When I woke and recognised you, I thought only of what the bond meant to me. And I admit, the long rotations of petrification clouded my mind. I was reduced to my base instincts.”
“And what does it mean to me?”
“Whatever you decide.”
Her eyebrows shot up.
“The bond gives us a possibility,” I continued. “You choose what happens next. I should have explained that before I carried you away. I should not have touched you without permission. I am sorry.”
“You're actually apologising.”
“Yes.”
“Without grabbing me and flying off into the sunset.”
“I am capable of learning.”
“Good.” She folded her arms. I instantly missed her touch. “Because there are going to be rules.”
I inclined my head, then remembered her lesson and stopped before my chin reached my chest.
“No grabbing me when you're jealous,” she said. “No carrying me anywhere without asking. No deciding you know what's best for me. And absolutely no dropping me.”
“I did not drop you on purpose.”
“Cairn.”
“I agree to your rules.”
“All of them?”
“I may need clarification on how I am supposed to protect you without deciding what is best.”
“You ask me.”
That sounded inefficient. It also sounded safer than everything I had tried so far.
“I will ask. However. Until I find a way to stop the petrification process, I will have to be near you. It's not a choice. It's not of my doing. And I apologise if it will impact your life in a way you don't find satisfactory, mate.”
She stiffened. ”Stop calling me your mate as if it's already settled.”
That one hurt, but she was right. “What should I call you?”
“My name would be a good start.”
“You have not introduced yourself to me.”
Her arms dropped to her sides. “Seriously?”
“I learned your name by listening to your conversation with another person. That is hardly the proper way to begin a courtship.”
“Neither is kidnapping someone.”
“I have apologised for that.”
She sighed and held out her hand. “I'm Georgie MacLeod. Stonemason, reluctant ladder climber and apparently the first human to wake an alien gargoyle.”
I looked at her offered hand. Humans often touched hands when they met. I had watched them do it from the castle wall.
“May I?” I asked.
Her expression softened. “Aye.”
I wrapped my fingers carefully around hers.
“Cairn of the Grey Warrior Caste,” I said. “Former ship captain, excellent flier and apologetic abductor.”
“Formerly excellent flier.”
“I am still recovering.”
“Of course.”
She was laughing at me again, but I didn't mind. This time, she was still holding my hand.
A knock sounded from the door.
“Georgie?” the red-haired female called. “Can we come back in? I need to talk to Cairn before the Authority starts shouting at me.”
She let go of my hand and moved away slightly, as if she didn't want the other females to see that we had improved our relationship. I had to ask her about that later. I had watched mates... couples hold hands in public in the more recent rotations. Public displays of affection had become common.
“Until we work out just how far away from me you can go,” she whispered, “I suppose you'll have to stay close to me.”
Hope rushed through me. ”How close?”
“Don't push your luck.”