11. Angela

CHAPTER 11

Angela

H e's gone. He's turned to stone and I'm here alone.

I glance around, confused. It's still dark out. Why the hell is he stone?

"Because you cursed him as well, foolish child." A dark shape shifts in the corner and then a tall figure steps out of the cloaked shadows.

I back away at the malevolence in her dark eyes. She's tall and willowy. The exact opposite of me in every way. Right down to the anger and evil in her ebony eyes.

"You thought you could keep him but yet you curse him? What kind of fool are you? You tell him you don't love him but I can feel it. He's a foolish male so he let you convince him otherwise but we both know it's not true. You love him. And you pushed him away." Her white throat goes back and she roars with laughter, an ominous cackle in the darkness. "You're a bigger fool than I was, child."

I move away from her, my hands reaching behind me for anything. I'm naked and standing in front of a woman who would gladly slit my throat. I can see it in her eyes. I finally find the corner of my dress and lift it in front of me, a flimsy barrier at best. Yet the soft silk and lace makes me feel slightly better.

"Why would you want a man who doesn't want you? That seems rather foolish to me."

She hisses, her red lips trembling. "I'm no fool, child."

"I'm not a child."

Her dark eyes skim my body and she huffs angrily. "You might as well be."

Her eyes dart longingly to Granite's stone visage. She moves towards him and touches his cheek lovingly. My heart clenches and I struggle to breathe through the anger and disgust warring within me.

"Who could help wanting Granite Zephyr? He's a beautiful soul. That darkness in his soul wars with the good in him. It's mesmerizing." Her dark eyes dark towards me and her red lips tip. "And it would have taken just one tiny thing to tip him over the edge and into that darkness that clings to him. We would have been the power couple of our time."

She's completely unhinged. There's no way in hell that Granite could ever be convinced to be anything but what he was. A beautiful, complicated, loving male.

I close my eyes and she laughs. "Now you know."

"I love him," I whisper.

"Yes." Her dark figure comes closer and the anger in her expands, growing until it suffocates me, taking over the room, ripping the breath from my lungs. "You," she spits out, "you carry his seed and even now you carry his child. A measly little bit of a human that's barely fit to breathe the air amongst magical beings. You think you have the right to love a male like him and carry his child?" Her hand lifts and I screech as I'm shoved backwards into the wall. I try to move but I can't. Air is sucked from my lungs and I struggle to reach up and claw at my throat.

"You're not going to get him or that child," she hisses, her dark eyes flashing with malice. "I'm his mate. I'm the one that will carry his offspring. Not some simpering little female who doesn't deserve one look, one thought," she spits out through her teeth.

"One dark, twisted night. One small second. That's all you got and all you will get. You don't deserve to even breathe the same air as we. So now you will lose that breath, lose the memory of his love. You are banished to the nether regions where I've been dwelling and I will take your place."

My mouth opens and a gust of breath flows out, green and glowing. Her eyes flash with triumph and with a tremendous effort I look down and my hands lift. I can see the floor through my own skin and I feel tears in my eyes. I reach out and try to touch my belly but my hands slip through.

"No," I whimper breathlessly. "Granite…". My voice is barely louder than the air moving around us.

But her eyes flash again. "Not even Granite can save you, human."

I shrink inwards, the pain and loneliness and love washing over me like a dark tidal wave dragging at my heels. I can't see anything anymore. It's all a dark void and I struggle to stay here. To stay in this moment. In this world.

But all I see is space around me. Empty space as empty as my soul without Granite.

Without my mate.