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“Shit!” I rolled out of bed and ran for the window. The sun was almost up. I only had seconds.
I leapt for my stone circle, landing with one foot as the sun hit my face. I turned to stone immediately, in the strangest position I’d ever been frozen in. Standing on an angle, one leg up in the air.
It didn’t matter really. I’d made it. And wouldn’t need to spend the day writhing in pain, which is what happened if we didn’t make it back to our stone circle in time.
Rafael was the only one of us who’d ever tried such a thing. After he was attacked in gargoyle form, he’d been terrified of it happening again. So, he’d hidden in our apartment one day. That night he told us that he’d screamed for most of the day, his whole body feeling as though he was being dipped in hot oil. Not something I ever wanted to experience.
The punishment did not fit the crime, but everything about our curse was unfair. Except maybe the immortality part, that was awesome. We were nearing one-hundred and thirty years old and still looked the same as we did the day we were created.
The legend went that as long as our Beloveds and us were linked, they would share immortality with us also. And as long as I had Angelique by my side, I would be happy to live forever.
The day stretched on until midafternoon, when Jenni popped her head into the room and walked around the front of me.
“Um.... You look different today.”
She was pacing and fidgeting, unlike the confident 16-year-old I knew.
“I have to tell you something,” she said. “I’ve been listening in on your conversations with Mom, and well... I can’t believe it’s really you... but it is. Isn’t it Gabriel?”
She stared at me long and hard and even though I couldn’t respond, I wanted to. Desperately. Poor kid must have been so confused.
She went on, “I wondered where you all went in the day, and I started snooping, don’t tell Mom. But you know that there’s a stone gargoyle in every adult’s bedroom during the day, but none at night? I was shocked. Like... how and why would someone move a heavy stone statue? But I think I’ve worked it out. And I’m going to ask Mom, I promise, I just.... Can you move?”
I couldn’t and I hated that I couldn’t tell her that.
“Never mind,” She said, “Even though it sounds totally cray cray, I know I’m right. So... I’m gonna ask mom. Okay? I’ll be back.”
She was gone for what felt like hours, then she bounced and skipped into the room like bunny rabbit.
“I knew it!” She cried. “I knew it! I mean... mom told me I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone, or the other kids yet, but this is awesome! Like... so cool. So, you can hear me, but you can’t respond, right?”
She waited a long moment, then giggled. “Sorry, that was stupid. Anyway... I’ll see you at dinner, okay?”
If I’d been able to nod and grin, I would have. But instead, Jenni walked up and put her hand out. She didn’t seem to know where to touch me, my claw or my ugly face. But in the end she just waved, and left again.
Laughter bubbled up inside me, unable to get out. I would never have thought, in a million years, that I’d end up a stepfather to seven kids. I’d also have put money down on a bet that I’d never look forward to leaving New York. It was our home after all.
But here I was. Ecstatic with the way my life had turned out, and I couldn’t wait for our future to begin.
Chapter 9.
ANGELIQUE.
The children had all finished their dinner and Sharon had taken them upstairs for bath time and stories. Only Jenni remained and she wasn’t going anywhere.
