Chapter Fifteen

August

"Are your sulking?"

I kick my brother's shin. "No."

"Liar."

We both look up as a couple pebbles fall onto Delaney"s balcony, as if in support of my brother's claim.

"See? Even the balcony agrees with me," my brother says like an idiot.

I stare out the window that we just got fixed yesterday after it was splintered. "Doesn't that thing freak you out?"

He shrugs. "You know your girlfriend has sex magic and there are shifters all around us, all kinds of who knows what type of supernaturals within the walls of this school. Does an eccentric statue that may or may not be alive freak me out? No."

"That's actually a good point. I"m going out there."

I lift up the window that's way too quiet for my liking, thinking I should throw some sand on it so we'll be able to hear when it's being opened. We've gotten down to having to sweep this little balcony multiple times a day, because Delaney loves it out here so much and it's always full of sharp rocks now. I'd be worried about the integrity of the stone fa?ade, if all the stone refuse wasn't just superficial damage.

I snap a picture as I bark out a laugh, because the gargoyle is now flipping me off. "You know," I tell him "You're obviously made of stone, but you could be a little sweeter. What did I do to earn your ire?"

"You actually talking that to that thing?" my brother asks as he pokes his head out.

I show him my phone. "Look, he's flipping us off."

My brother studies the picture "Huh. I guess it is alive. Do we know anything about the gargoyles on this school?"

"Bring her to me."

The words that sound inside my head catch me completely off guard. "Did you—"

"Imbecile. Bring me what's mine."

"Are you hearing this Jackson? Or is it only me fortunate enough to be insulted and commanded by a stone man?"

"She does not trust him. Therefore he is useless to me. You however, well. I'd rather she didn't trust you either, but beggars can't be choosers. I require my mate. Please produce her."

"And if I don't?" I ask, just because I feel a little threatened by him.

The head on the gargoyle turns, but it doesn"t move like a normal, warm-blooded human moves. One minute his head is facing away from me, and the next it's just not. He"s now looking right at me with his creepy, pupil-less eyes. The tips of his wings poke out behind his shoulder blades, and they ruffle ever so slightly, sounding like a very minor earthquake.

"Whoa, did he just—" my brother asks, clearly as baffled as I am.

"Hey Jackson, do me a favor? Can you tell Delaney she needs to cut her study session early?"

"Not going to interrupt her study session, bro. Besides, I'm pretty sure she's sweet on that kid. They were kind of fucking cute together, I don't want to ruin whatever bonding they're doing."

"My window of activity is limited," the voice says again in my head. It sounds exactly like you would assume rock would sound if it had a voice. "It is vital that I see her before the sun sinks."

"Okay, okay," I tell the stone man. "I'm calling her, geez."

She picks up right away, but this is about to be a weird conversation. "August? Is everything okay? Usually you just text."

"Actually, we have a bit of a situation."

She pauses. "Oh no, what happened? Did your brother find my stash of toys and get something stuck up his ass?"

What the fuck? "Um, didn't realize that was something you were worried about. But no. Jackson"s literal ass is not in a medical crisis."

I wave off my brother's confused as hell face and it's silent for a beat as I process her concern, and then I have to shake my head and remind myself why I called her. "So, would it freak you out at all, if, hypothetically let"s say, I was to tell you the gargoyle on your balcony was speaking to me? And maybe demanding that I quote, ‘produce you or else'?"

I can hear her talking to her friend Wilford as they shuffle papers up and stuff them in bags. "We're coming. What do you mean you're hearing his voice? And if you're just trying to get me away from my homework session, you should know I'm bringing Will with me so that we can finish in our room."

I'm absolutely going to be an adult here and not turn that into a sex joke. "No, I didn't want to interrupt your work, and neither did Jackson." I pull the phone away from my mouth for a second. "Jackson, go meet her. They're heading up."

They're only a couple floors below us, but you never know.

"On it," he says, jogging out the door.

"Okay, Jackson's going to meet you just to make sure you guys are safe. And when I say talking, I actually mean talking."

"Tell her I have a glorious dick for her to sit on."

"Gross bro, no. I'm not telling her that."

"Tell me what?" Delaney asks through the phone, completely invested now.

"You will give her my words or I will stick my big toe somewhere very disagreeable while you sleep. You are the one conversing with our female, you will do my bidding."

"Fuck you, rock boy. Stay away from my ass."

"What does your ass have to do with anything? What do you take me for, a complete pervert? I was threatening to stick my toe in your jar of fruit preserves. As if I would enjoy having my toe in your arsehole!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," I tell Rocky. "I"ll tell her, but it"s on you when she feels as violated as I do and wants to move out. Delaney, he wants me to tell you he has a glorious dick for you to sit on."

"Thank you. I wish to smell her arousal fluids."

"We need to work on your dirty talk brother," I tell him before returning to my conversation on the phone with Delaney.

"Oh my gods. The gargoyle is actually taking to you? You mean he's actually talking to you? How?" Notice she doesn't respond to the whole ‘I have a glorious dick' thing. That seems condemning.

"Jackson and I heard some pebbles fall to your balcony so I went to check it out, and when I got out there, your stone perch was flipping me off, which I thought was funny. So I took a picture, and— you know what? He's just talking directly in my head. That's it. That's the whole story."

"Okay, I'll be right there," she says as she hangs up.

"You must have a glorious mating rod as well, if I'm to go by the sounds that emanate from our female when you are mating. The sounds from her are always quite complimentary of your skill."

Yeah, I"m not touching on that topic. "How long you been stuck up here, man?"

"We do not need to talk about why I'm up here. It involves a witch and a very large anal plug. Also a large quantity of mashed potatoes. I do not wish to discuss how I came to be cursed. But having my mate nearby is slowly breaking it."

"Yeah, there's a lot to unpack there."

The bedroom door crashes open but even discounting the fact I heard it, I can just feel that Delaney's closer to me. She doesn't wear my mark yet, but my whole soul is attuned to her.

It"s only been a couple of hours since I saw her last, and maybe it makes me really lame to need her so badly already, but I can't help but to yank her through the window and pull her to me, taking her mouth in a possessive kiss because I won't be able to talk about anything until that's out of the way.

Like always, she's panting instantly and clawing at me, wrapping an arm around my neck to pull me tighter to her. She presses her chest against me so I grab her hips, and we're two seconds away from stripping just like we always are.

That's when I recall that we have an audience.

"You smell delicious, my lady."

Delaney"s eyes open in shock and she pulls away from me, whipping her head so fast to look at the gargoyle that her hair gets me in the eye and renders me blind momentarily.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

My eye tears up as I rub it. "Fine, fine. I'm assuming you heard that wanker too?"

"My queen, I would never forsake you for a cauldron full of mashed potatoes. That is my most sacred vow. Or frogs. Frogs are included in that promise."

"…Thank you?"

"You're most welcome, my queen. May I see your breasts now? I've been wondering what color your nipples are since you moved in."

Her jaw drops open, clearly not okay with the way this strange being talks, but I"m still stuck on the potato thing. "I feel like you want to talk about the mashed potatoes," I say once I"m able to see again.

"How is this possible?" she asks, completely not addressing any of the weird and inappropriate shit he just spewed like cheap taco diarrhea.

"You are my mate, and there"s a slight window of time every day that I may converse with you before I freeze again. You are just usually asleep or not in the room when it happens so I have been unsuccessful in conversing thus far. Also, the curse makes it so that the time I am allotted is unpredictable. I do not know it will happen until I'm suddenly free."

"What the hell is happening right now?" Jackson asks, looking so damn confused that it's actually hilarious.

"Rotting penis for brains does not get to hear me," the stone man says.

"He says you can't hear him," Delaney interprets for Jackson.

"Because his brains are like spoiled semen," the stone man insists.

"I'm not saying that to him!" Delaney says, amused, but also exasperated.

"He hurt you, did he not?"

"Well yes, but—

"Then I will call him what I please until he grovels and fixes it."

"He's talking to us," Delaney tells Jackson, and now Wilford, who's hovering a few feet behind Jackson, completely unsure about absolutely everything right now. Then she does an about face as the rest of his words sink in. "I'm sorry, did you say I was your mate?"

"Yes. That is why I can talk to you."

Delaney considers this and then nods like it might be the most obvious thing she's ever heard. "Right, then." She climbs up onto the gargoyle's lap like she's done so many times already, cozying up to him.

It's this really weird moment for me, because up until now I thought I knew everything I needed to know about this woman in order for me to be a good, supportive partner for her. I've spent a lot of time with her, read all her body language cues, asked her every question I could think to in order to have a good grasp of who she is as a person, but I seem to have overlooked something vital.

She wants some fucking romance.

That heart-stopping, will-die-if-I-can't-have-you romance.

Watching Delaney sink her forehead against the gargoyle's as she rises to her knees, she doesn't need any of the intangible stuff I've been giving to our relationship. She has heard his claim that she's his, and she's responding.

This is a woman that just wants to belong.

Tears burn in my eyes a little at everything I've taken from her, at all the stupid shit I pulled because I didn't understand this very important thing.

Thinking about it now though, it's obvious.

With whom her parents are and how she grew up, where true love was completely shoved in her face at every angle, I realize now she's been waiting for someone to step up and just pledge themselves to her.

I look around at my brother and Will, mentally place Cory, Adam, and Wilder in this room, and I realize that with the exception of Wilford whom she's just getting to know, every single one of us has given her some sort of partial claim, or expressed a desire to claim her without a follow through, and then pulled away or hurt her.

We've made her hope enough to produce a mark that could be ours, but all of us have been so gods damned selfish and narrow minded in our dealings with her.

She acts tough, but I think she's actually really fragile.

I move to the side of Delaney and this odd gargoyle that I was honestly just making fun of in my head, watch as the sun shines through the small cracks of air that separate them as it sinks, lighting them with a corona.

It's magic in more ways than one, even though all they're doing is holding each other.

Delaney's arms are on his shoulders, his are on her hips, and both of them have their eyes closed and mouths partially open, feeling way too much. And suddenly, I get it.

"I have waited many turns of the world for you, my treasure. I've sat here through thunder and lightning, scorching sun, wind, people moving in and out and on with their lives. Silently. Always longing for someone to be mine and to allow me to live again. To give me something to live for.

"I have sat and waited without the ability to move, dying every day, with naught but a promise of you. And I must tell you, you far surpass every fantasy I've had all these years to perfect. I couldn't have imagined one like you, because you're beyond comprehension.

"When you took up residence here, my heart stirred. It woke me from my stupor, and for the first time in a long time I felt the joy of life, real life, flow through my veins. That first night was only a few minutes perhaps, the next day longer, and tonight is the longest yet, and I know we must spend time together and learn of each other, but I must know if you'll be mine.

"Not because you can break my curse, but because my heart feels what we could be. Only my true mate could wake me like this, and the way I've felt watching you sleep, the rush I get every time you sit upon my lap, one could live forever on those small bits of happiness.

"So I beg of you to take me as yours, even knowing that it will be some time yet before I can fully detach from my roost and be a permanent part of your life. I wish to turn back to true stone with the knowledge that when the sky deems it is time for me to wake once more, I can reach out for you and feel this connection I've needed."

Not sure if he meant to project that in my head or just Delaney's, but it's a pretty fucking hard act to follow. Delaney deserves someone that will be absolutely devoted to her, and I think I know now how to win her back fully. I know what I need to do, what all of us need to do really, in order to get things right.

I take another step towards them, and the air feels almost effervescent around the gargoyle, as if the magic that animates him surrounds him and is shared amongst those close to him.

Delaney's hand reaches up and lands on his cheek, her eyes staring straight into his. She's breathing somewhat heavily, in sync with his chest rising in fact, completely swept up in the moment.

"In what ways do you wish to be mine?" she asks on a whisper.

It feels as if this is one of those rare moments we spend our lives waiting to experience; the hand of fate bringing two people together that somehow find a way to instantly connect and find comfort and acceptance with no questions asked, trusting in the goddess to guide them.

"In all ways. For now, for tomorrow, forever. We have years to become informed of each other's ideas and preferences, but you need to understand that my devotion for you will only grow stronger each day. There is nothing that shall separate us, nothing that is big enough to turn me from you."

"And if I need time to decide?"

He pulls her closer and kisses her, and her exhale is incredibly loud as she gives into the kiss. I don't know what it's like to kiss stone, but the surprised squeak she lets out must mean it's more than fine.

They kiss with their whole bodies, all the refracted sunlight disappearing as they nearly become one.

The sun is sinking lower, and it feels like he's running out of time.

"Do you really need time, or have you been conditioned to believe I will change my mind and let you down? Can you feel my heart? Can you see what I see when I look at you, mate?"

He pulls her hand to his chest and something pulses, a rush of light flows under her palm and sinks into her body. She wavers a little bit, but his hands are sure on her hips, keeping her from harm. Something I haven't quite been able to achieve.

I watch a lone tear fall languidly from Delaney's eye as I take one final step towards her, resting a hand on the top of her calf. She turns her eyes to me briefly enough to acknowledge me, and the smile on her face is one I haven't seen since our early days together.

It's sweet and pure and full of so much goddamned hope that it breaks my heart.

Then her eyes return to her other suitor, uncaring about any and all obstacles they clearly face, because I know her mind is made up. Whatever he was able to just convey to her with that yellow light sealed his fate.

"May I know your name?"

"Leo, my queen. Do you accept my suit and my heart? I fear I am about to turn back. Please don't make me wait until tomorrow to know your answer."

She links her fingers with his so they're palm to palm, using the arm with her conduit marks on it, while her other hand rests where his heart at one point must have beat. "With the things you have shared with me tonight, I see you, Leo. My heart acknowledges your claim on me and responds with one of its own. You are my mate; may we never have reason to part."

"May we spend our necessary time apart thinking of each other and our minds reaching out. I accept your claim and vow to cherish and honor you the rest of my life. I name you mate in truth and practice."

Delaney's eyes close briefly, a line of effort appearing on her forehead before they snap open again. The gargoyle, Leo, continues to watch her like she is his entire world. "What do you need from me in this moment? There's something preventing my magic from fully reaching you and making you mine."

"Though I never wish to cause you pain, I must ask for you to create a small cut on your palm with which to bless our union. I need only a few drops of your blood to be forever tied to you. But do so with the knowledge that once you complete this step, there is no living apart from me. It will mean that our lives are from this minute forward intertwined, our hearts as one. I shall endeavor to deserve you and find out how quickly I can help you to love me as I already do you."

"This is crazy. But every time I've tried to be logical about what I instinctively know to be true and good for me, things go very wrong. I have gotten nowhere in playing the caution game, so I think maybe it's time to see what I want and simply reach for it."

She reaches a palm to the bit of crumbly stone at his feet that he's been slowly breaking apart to gain her attention, finding a particularly sharp piece that she lifts to her palm and makes a slight cut with. A few drops of blood well out and she places her palm on the gargoyle's chest, and a look of wonder overtakes him. Delaney's eyes close and then a pulse of magic flows from the two of them, and then below the lion mark that Wilder claims reveals a new image of a stone heart, a vein of blood escaping from it.

Delaney looks to me and a flare of panic paints her face as the gargoyle once more becomes immobile, kneeling with his head bowed and his hands covering his heart. Delaney sways, and I thank the goddess I was near enough to catch her, because we are still several stories off the ground.

I pull her into my arms and bring her inside, carefully laying her on her bed, brushing the hair off her face.

I remember that my brother is still here and has missed out on the other side of Delaney's conversation with Leo.

Will is wide eyed and on his knees as well, quite possibly hyperventilating, but I can deal with him later. It's Jackson I need at this moment, and he comes to me like he does every time I truly need him.

He looks down at Delaney's new mate mark and takes in my expression, and he breaks.

He climbs onto the bed next to her and wraps himself around her, finally seeing clearly as well.

"Do you get it now?" I ask him. "We are meant to have this, to be so such a part of her mind and her heart that she wears permanent visible proof of us. See the spots we should have already claimed?"

He does, I know he does, he doesn't need me to point them out. The hollow mate marks call to me, call to him, maybe call to the others they are intended for, but a plan starts to form and I know it's going to take more than just me to make it happen.

"She doesn't trust us," I tell my brother. "With good reason. We need to…fix that. We need to remind her how perfectly we all three work together and win her back, for real, because a life in which I don't wear her mark is no longer possible."

"We need to get Adam in on it, too. She needs him."

I look at her arm and start really thinking. I don't know about Wilford because they haven't spent much time together, but when he interacts with Delaney it feels like the future is trying to spin around them and tie them together. But I think it's too early for them to feel that, so I must focus on the ones I know for a fact have a claim and a need to be with her. I'll even include the gargoyle because now that they've officially claimed each other, he comes with her and I must accept him if I want her.

"There are six of us. You, me, Leo, Adam, Wilder…Cory. I think…she needs all six of us. She's been hurt and twisted, and we need to paint over all those scars with fresh paint, to break down her walls. We need to be the mates we are destined to be, to grow up and claim our mate."

"Six. Six opportunities to make her happy," My brother says, agreeing and instantly on board.

"Six ways to break her. To blast apart every fear of rejection, every bit of sadness we've caused and lift her up, support her. Six ways to break the bad feelings and replace them with adoration."

Jackson looks at Delaney as her eyes start to flutter open, and I know my way forward is clear. She's the only future I need.