AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I went over to the kitchen bench and grabbed a grape from the fruit platter. “Any news?”
I glanced around the group, and everyone shook their head, except for Rose. I zeroed in on her. “Have you heard something?”
She glanced over at Nate, then back to me. “No, but I was talking to Bill about getting a message to my stepmom. Anthony is willing to take it for me.”
“Isn’t that dangerous for him?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yes, it is.” Rose said, chewing on her lips in a worrisome way.
Nate draped an arm over Rose’s shoulders, “But it could be the best way to keep Rose safe, for the long term. Because even if we get to Rose’s birthday and she legally inherits everything, her step mother is still a threat.”
He didn’t say it but that meant the threat could be around forever.
I turned towards Roman, the oldest brother and the head of the house. “Have you heard anything from the other gargoyle families? Does anyone know who could be behind these attacks?”
Roman shook his head, which I wasn’t surprised by, but I just thought I’d ask.
“I don’t know about any of you,” Gabe said, grabbing Angelique and pulling her close. “But I’m getting sick of this shit. We’ve been fighting, and hiding, and running now for, what? How many years?”
The guys all grunted and nodded.
My stomach tightened. “But what else is there to do?” I asked. “You’re doing everything you can. You keep us safe, and during the day the security team keep us all safe. What other choice do we have?”
“If only you all didn’t have to turn to stone through the day,” Chrissy mused. “That’s the problem. If you didn’t need to do that, they’d never be able to hurt you.”
I glanced back at my beautiful Rafe, his damaged face a testament to how vulnerable they were in gargoyle form.
Roman heaved a huge sigh, “We know, Chrissy. It is our only weakness, except for our Beloveds of course.” He stopped to kiss Chrissy’s golden hair, but his words had stirred something inside me.
“Roman, you said there are other shifters in the world, right? Wolf shifters? Bear shifters?”
He nodded. “Yes, and a lot more than that.”
“But they choose when they shift, right? They’re not like... werewolves that turn under the full moon?”
He stared at me for a long moment, as though trying to decipher what I was getting to. “Yes, that’s true.”
“Then how come you guys are the only shifters that don’t have a choice when you shift?”
Rafe answered from beside me, “But there’s others that have no choice. Like vampires in sunlight, werewolves... as you said.”
“We’re cursed,” Nate said.
I pointed at him and grinned, “Exactly. So, could the curse be broken? Do you think that’s possible?”
I looked around the group, hope flaring in my chest for the first time. If we could break the curse that forced our men to stand on a stone circle for the day light hours in a vulnerable, frozen state; there might be a chance to outrun the bad guys and disappear forever.
The brothers all exchanged glances which told me they didn’t believe a word I was saying. But I was convinced. If there was such a thing as wolf shifters and vampires, surely witches and curses existed too?
Bill walked into the room, dark smudges under his eyes. “Good morning, everyone.”
“Hey Bill,” I waved at the head of security and picked up one of the toasted cheese sandwiches Chrissy pulled out of the press. “Yum, thanks.”
The cheese was thick and melted, oozing out between the toasted bread and making my stomach rumble just looking at it. I bit into the sandwich and Bill placed a folder on the marble counter and began pulling out surveillance photos. “I managed to get into the police station and speak to the guy hired to shoot you guys. The police arrested him, but the lawyers were willing to let me make a deal, since he was just a hired gun and not the people responsible for the attack.”
I glanced up at Angelique who was frowning heavily, her arms crossed over her chest. “He didn’t deserve a deal,” she muttered.
“What’s with the photos?” I asked, gesturing to the black and white pictures that sent shivers down my spine.
