2. Xavier

Chapter 2

Xavier

S unlight heated my stone shell, though I didn't feel it. I never felt it. I spent my days perched atop the library's weathered roof, my granite form an eternal sentinel over the Beastly Falls Library only to emerge in the evening, when my curse lifted, allowing me the freedom to roam the town and speak to my fellow townspeople. I missed the sun, but that was my curse, to be stone until my fated mate set me free. Only, my mate was not in Beastly Falls and, since no one new could come into town or leave, I was doomed to be alone.

My curse was gaining strength, a foothold on my consciousness, taking more time from me, more of my waking time. I struggled to rise to wakefulness in the evenings and I feared the day when I would not waken and would remain a statue, a decoration on this library, forgotten by everyone as someone who once existed.

Most days, I sleep. It's easier that way, to let consciousness slip away like water through cupped hands. But today, something stirred me from my stony sleep. A tug to my very soul prodded me to wakefulness, though I could only rise so far. What could it be? There is only one other gargoyle in the town, Asa Graywing, who has been the town protector for several years. We may both be gargoyles, but the curse has affected us differently. We are both driven by our protective natures, driven by our duties, and have shared some of our curses. Asa recently mated with a newcomer to our town. I wonder if he felt this tug, this awareness when his mate came to town?

Hope flared inside of me, white hot and exciting, but like a flame, I worry it will burn me. If my mate is new to town, the curse brought her here. I know from Asa and my friend Rook's recent mating, their females were brought to town and trapped here by the curse, unable to leave until the curse had run its course. Fortunately, they accepted their mates and loved their partners, but that was not a foregone conclusion. And the consequences could be devastating.

When the curse took the town two decades ago, my mother was devastated. She couldn't handle been torn from her family and the outside world. She grew to resent my father, her mate, and her son. I watched her grow bitter and angry as the years passed until she finally died. My father passed soon after, unable to bear being in this world without his mate, despite the relief of no longer being a target for her hatred and vitriol.

I vowed never to force another female to suffer under the curse, even if I was doomed myself. But now, I feared my mate was here and I would have to confront my fears. Would she accept me and the curse, or would she reject me and doom me to stone forever?

I both longed for and dreaded nightfall. But I needed the answers. Who was my mate? Could I take the chance and pursue her, knowing the risks I took? Dare I doom her to life in Beastly Falls with no escape?