Heart of Stone - Book 1: Fighting Fate

As if sensing her fear, he said in a low voice, “You don’t have to accept it. You don’t ever have to see it. Just know that I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe so you can live a normal human life.”

A normal human life.

Did that even apply to her anymore? How could anything ever be normal now?

She looked up to see his eyes looking out the sliding glass door to the backyard, clouded over with emotion. His hands were clenched into fists again at his sides, and she could tell that his own words were hurting him.

Her hands gripped the chair as her palms grew sweaty. She wanted to comfort him. To ease his own fears, but how could she do that when she was as terrified about what he was as he was to show her?

“And the vampires?” she asked. “What happened last night exactly?”

His face hardened as he set his jaw. “I got the answers to my questions.”

Her eyebrows arched up. “Your questions? What were you trying to find out?”

“Whether or not they could spare your life because you’re a human.” His steely gaze remained fixed on the backyard.

“And?”

He exhaled a breath he’d been holding, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down in his throat as he swallowed. His fortified stance broken, he closed his eyes. “It is as I thought. Even though you are a human, you are my soulmate, and they will do whatever it takes to kill you.”

His voice seemed detached like he was disconnecting himself from the meaning of those words.

“Oh,” was all she could say as she turned her gaze to the sliding door.

In other words, she told herself, you’re screwed. Everything is screwed.

“I should have killed her when I had the chance,” he muttered under his breath.

The thought of him killing anything was appalling and she grimaced at the thought—even if that being, undead or not, wanted to kill her first.

“So, why didn’t you?” she asked.

“I lost my temper,” he said, frowning. “I had her in my hands and I...”

He growled as he unclenched his fists and clenched them up tightly again.

“I took care of Adranus though,” he stated. “And Gunner got the other one, so it wasn’t a complete waste of effort.”

“That’s good, I guess,” she mumbled, not sure who these characters were exactly, but it was probably in her best interest not to know.

“Not good enough,” he said before he turned to face her now. “Though Adranus would have avenged Carina, she’s the one we needed to take out, and she escaped.”

Well, shit.

He let his words settle as he rubbed his face.

She pressed her own hand to her forehead before brushing her damp hair back.

“So,” she said, heaving a sigh. “What do we do now?”

“That is your decision to make.”

Aubree didn’t know what to do.

Glancing at the cell phone on the table, she asked, “Can I call my parents and let them know that I’m okay?”

“Go ahead,” he said, motioning for her to help herself to the phone with his hand. “Let them know that you’re safe. Don’t answer any of their questions about the attack. We need to discuss where we go from here and the next steps to take to ensure your safety. The less they know, the better.”

Right, because my parents would totally believe me if I told them I was attacked by a vampire and was saved and being protected by lycans, she retorted to herself.

She knew Stone wouldn’t appreciate her sarcasm, but she knew he was right. She didn’t know what she would tell them either if they asked. Best to avoid answering.

Picking up the phone, she handed it to Stone to enter the passcode and unlock the screen. A hint of a blush reddened his cheeks before he handed the phone back to her. She gave him a funny look when he looked away but once she glanced at the screen, her cheeks grew hot and her heart fluttered.

The background was a picture of her at the café.

She looked up at him with wide eyes.

He cleared his throat. “Guinevere did that.”

A shy smile tugged on her lips and she pressed them together to try and hide her embarrassment. The tension that hovered over them slowly slipped away and she couldn’t help but feel a little twist of glee in her heart at being able to see him all flustered.

“I think it’s cute,” she said. His eyes widened before she added with a blush, “That she teases you, I mean. I think that’s cute.”

She quickly pulled up the dial pad and tapped in her mother’s cell phone number as Stone huffed under his breath as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“She’s always teasing me.”

Aubree ran her teeth over her bottom lip as she pressed the call button and regarded Stone’s reddening cheeks. She liked this side of him. She couldn’t help but want to see it more often. He looked up and caught her gaze, making her breath hitch in her throat.

Her mother picked up, breaking the moment they shared.

“Hello?”

“Mom? It’s me,” she said, trying to speak through the lump forming in her throat.

Dammit. Stone got her all flustered now.

“Aubree? Oh my god, where are you? What happened? We were so worried and when you didn’t answer your phone—”

“I’m fine,” she said, forcing the words out of her mouth despite choking back the emotion that now held her hostage.

She hated upsetting her parents and she hated lying to them but she knew she had to.

“Thank the Lord above, but where have you been? Everyone’s been looking for you. Dan’s worried sick—”

“Where is Dan?” she asked, her stomach twisting in knots. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, thank goodness. He has a concussion and some cuts and bruises. He was sent to Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul yesterday morning after spending the night in Eau Claire. I spoke with his mom last night. She said he might be discharged tomorrow, but right now they’re keeping an eye on him to make sure nothing else pops up that should concern them,” she rattled on before shifting gears. “But tell me, what happened to you? You just disappeared! We’ve all been so worried, especially Dan. Where are you? Haven’t you gone to check up on him yet?”

Guilt washed over her as pain gripped her heart. While Dan had been suffering on his own, she’d been out gallivanting with lycans and kissing one of them.

“Sorry, Mom, I gotta go. I’ll call you later. Thanks. Love you,” she said before quickly hanging up to avoid her mother’s worried interrogation.

She felt like such a train wreck. A no-good, heartless, lying, despicable, cheating bitch.

Taking a seat at the table, she set the phone down and helped herself to a drink of water before burying her face in her arms.

She didn’t know what to do now. She knew she had to go back home and see Dan at the hospital. She should go back to her normal life as much as she could, despite everything that had happened in the last day and a half.

What of the dangers though? Of the vampires? It wasn’t right to drag Dan into this mess.

Love dictated that you had to do what was best for the person you love. Sometimes, you didn’t always like what you had to do, but you did it anyway because you had to.

So that he could be safe, so that he could continue to live a normal life, she had to let him go.

Letting the weight of this decision sink in for a moment, she took a deep shuddering breath. Then another.

Then the floodgates opened as her heart began to shatter.