Chapter 25
Stone
“Can we talk?” Camilla asks as I’m about to push a piece of wood through the band saw. Having spent enough time sidelined from injuries, I stop until I can turn my full attention back to the task at hand.
“It’s not a good time,” I answer, glancing at Erik and then back at her. I feel terrible about not being more attentive, but having expressed to Erik the urgency of getting the work completed for Camilla, and then losing three days to heal, he’ll have my ass if he deems me slacking on the job.
With a huff, she hugs her arms around herself, shakes her head, and heads into the kitchen, slamming the recently designed door separating the rooms behind her.
“Trouble in paradise?” Erik asks. I shoot him a look. “Do I need to remind you that Ms. Ramos made it perfectly clear that she didn’t appreciate being babysat by me or your friends?”
“Maybe that wouldn’t have been an issue if you weren’t walking back and forth in front of the store swinging a damn mace as if it were a pocket watch.”
“Come on, now, you never want me to have any fun,” he teases. Seeing that I don’t appreciate his humor, Erik continues. “She doesn’t know, does she?”
“What? That the creep that occupied this place before her made a deal with the literal devil to feed him souls in exchange for money and sex before disappearing into thin air, causing a hit man to come searching for him? No, she doesn’t.”
“That, yes, which you need to tell her for her own safety, and the other part.”
“What other part?”
“That if your girlfriend doesn’t marry you, and soon, you’re going up on that bank for the next decade.”
I shake my head. “She doesn’t need to know, either. If I’m up there, I’ll be able to watch her and make certain no one hurts her.”
“Unless they do it a few blocks in another direction,” Magnus adds.
“The elf is right,” Erik agrees.
“Dwarf! confounded man, I’m a damn dwarf!”
Erik chuckles. “I love pushing his buttons,” he directs to me. “Regardless. How do you expect this relationship to work if you’re not honest and you put off anything meaningful for ten years?”
I shrug. “Maybe I’m not expecting it to work.”
“Why the hell not? You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
Why does Erik insist on rubbing salt in my wounds?
“I’ve been allowed to live in full animation for most of my days. In return, I’m bound by duty to watch over and protect the people of Erie Cove.”
“Have you not realized there aren’t any younger male gargoyles to take your place at the moment? You’re looking at a lot longer than a decade. If she marries you, then you can join in the rotation with the currently serving gargoyles.”
“Ms. Ramos,” I say, starting the saw up once again, pulling my goggles over my eyes, and pushing the wood into the saw, “doesn’t feel the same. She doesn’t love me enough to spend forever as my mate.” That shuts him up.
“HEY CAMI,” I KNOCK on the door separating the customer-facing part of the bakery from the kitchen. Not hearing a response, I turn the knob and open the door.
“What?” Cami snaps with a death glare.
“I wanted to tell you we’re finished for the day, and that I’m leaving.”
“You’re leaving?” It’s more of an accusation.
I nod. “It’s my first day back, and I’m...well, I’m spent. I need to rest some more to recoup my stamina.”
“How long are you going to avoid me?”
“What?” I snigger. “I’m not avoiding you.”
She tilts her head to the side, silently calling bullshit.
“I promise,” I reach out to cup her cheek. She lets me, and I wonder if she misses me as much as I miss her. Even in my petrified state while healing, I felt her absence.
“I need to know what the hell happened? All I know is that some psychopath smashed the front window looking for the previous owner, hit you with a sledgehammer, and I’ve had an army of your friends watching me ever since.”
I shrug. “That’s really all there is to know.”
“Really?” I hear hurt in her voice. “How come I had to hear about it from everyone but you?”
“Oh.” I look down at the floor. “I was hurt—”
“And I could have helped you if you’d given me the chance.”
I shake my head. “That’s not how it is for gargoyles. I didn’t need help; I needed my inanimate sleep.”
“You called Drake. You called your boss, who, by the way, is absolutely terrifying. It seems like you had time to call everyone but me.”
I reach for Cami’s hands. They’re so soft and warm compared to mine. “I couldn’t be here, and I needed to be sure you were safe. I have to go, but if you’re not too mad at me, maybe we can have dinner together tomorrow night?”
It takes a minute, but eventually, she nods.
Filled with relief, I pull her into my arms and hold her tight.
I might only have a few weeks left to be with her, but I plan to spend every minute that I can holding her close.
My lips meet Cami’s for a long, desperate kiss before I pull myself away and walk out the door.