Stone Solitude Read online

  Don’t shut me out, little flower.

  The frantically spoken words barely registered as she thought about her cousin who had made the transition and had gotten stuck. His parents had spent three days and nights whispering to the wolf, coaxing her cousin back from the abyss. Afterwards, he had told her how scared he had been. The wolf had been so strong and he hadn’t been able to wrestle back control until he heard his parents’ voices. For nearly six months, his mother and father had worked with him, trained him, until he was able to control the wolf.

  What if there was no one there to help her?

  She didn’t know why her thoughts were dwelling on what was going to happen when her time to change came, especially since her best friend had simply vanished. Probably because it was easier to deal with a distant unknown than acknowledge the fact that her friend was gone. Where did everyone go?

  Did their disappearance have anything to do with the smell that had been slowly building within them? The smell of death, of decay? She hadn’t realized how cloying the sickly sweet scent had been until she couldn’t smell it anymore, until the light had washed it away. Humans always gave off the strongest scents so she hadn’t really thought about it before. Now her mind whirled with the possibilities of what that might mean for her and her kind.

  Would the light think lycanthropy was a disease?

  She shook her head of the idea almost as soon as she had it. If lycanthropy was a disease, she would have been burned up by the light. Unless it was making a second pass, burning up different diseases as it went. Was it coming back? Was there anywhere she could hide if it did? If her family was gone, did she really want to avoid it?

  “Hello!” a deep voice boomed from knee level. Snapping out of her misery, Daisy looked down and found that she had almost tripped over the gnome. His belly chuckle eased some of the pain but only some of it because there was too much. Reaching up, he took her much bigger hand in his and led her down the dirt road. “I’ve been expecting you, little wolf child.”

  Daisy whimpered at the reminder of her nature, the fears roiling in her gut with unrelenting force. Unable to think clearly, she said the only thing that came to mind, “Our tour is scheduled for tomorrow.”

  His cheeks curved over his bushy beard as he smiled even wider, “Perhaps, but you are supposed to be here now and you are right on time.”

  His words made no sense to her addled brain and she couldn’t think of anything to say because they were supposed to be there tomorrow. “Is the castle far?”

  “Not too far,” the little gnome said in his deep baritone. Looking up at her, he winked, “Of course, we both have tiny legs so it might seem further than it is.”

  A reluctant smile curved Daisy’s lips at the display of humor. But then she remembered Mandy and the Rothmans and her family and her heart slammed against her ribs. Her eyes stung as she asked, “What happened?”

  “Hmm.” The little gnome’s face twisted up in contemplation as he considered her words. Scratching his beard, he pursed his lips and said, “I believe the veil was ripped away.”

  She understood what his words meant, having grown up straddling the human world and the supernatural world, but she still didn’t understand. Scrubbing the tears from her cheeks, she asked, “B…but what happened to my friend?”

  He shook his head in commiseration as he answered, “I don’t know, little wolf child.”

  “My name is Daisy,” she said, not wanting him to call her wolf-child anymore.

  He cocked his head to the side as he looked up at her, “You’re not a flower.”

  “No, I am not,” she agreed softly even though she felt very much like a flower at the moment, liable to break beneath the weight of loss. If the light was the veil being lifted away, why did it take her friend? Maybe Mandy’s disappearance was unrelated to the light….

  No, it would be an impossible coincidence if that were true, especially since humans didn’t just disappear. Likewise, wolves and Sirens couldn’t vanish on a whim either. Daisy only knew of a few creatures with that ability and most of them were not creatures you wanted to meet on a dark, deserted dirt road. Or anywhere else, really.

  The overhanging trees were starting to thin out and Daisy could just make out a large, wrought iron gate up ahead. With a start, she realized the little gnome had kept up a running stream of commentary and she hadn’t heard a word of anything he had said. Her fingers twitched and he came to a halt, looking up at her with a curious expression. “Is anything wrong, little wolf-child?”

  A slightly hysterical laugh slipped past her lips as she stared down at the little creature. Is anything wrong? Wiping a tear from her eye, she asked, “Am I all alone?”

  His fuzzy eyebrows drew together as he slowly shook his head no, “Of course you’re not all alone. I’m here.”

  Another burble of hysterical laughter burst past her lips as she shook her head. The gnome couldn’t possibly understand what was wrong. He was a gnome. “Will I be safe here?”

  Once again he paused before answering, stroking his beard with his free hand. “Most likely.”

  “And if the light comes back?”

  “It won’t be back,” he said with absolute conviction. “As I said, it was the ripping off of the veil. There’s no need to rip it off twice since it’s already gone.”

  Dropping her hand, he waddled up to the gate as he dug in his pockets. After a moment, he turned around and gave her a triumphant grin as he held up a large ring of keys that could not possibly have fit into his little pockets. Before she could think too much on it, he turned back to the gate and pushed a key into a small key hole that was at his arm level. Blinking, Daisy realized that it was the only keyhole on the entire gate.

  Blinking again, she looked at the little gnome and realized he could slide through the openings. She wondered why he used the key at all, except he was taking her to the castle because she had been expected. Did he plan on handing her over to a witch that lived there, a witch who enjoyed eating little children? Or maybe it was a dwarf who would put her to work digging for treasure. At ten, she was still small enough to fit into tiny crevices and reach the really hard to get gemstones.

  Hadn’t her mother and father always told her to be careful of strangers, especially supernatural creatures? It hardly mattered because she was alone in the middle of nowhere and she figured she was safer with the gnome than on her own. Even if he meant to give her to a dwarf.

  His deep, belly laugh startled her again but when she looked at him, he was shaking his head with a broad smile on his face. Holding out his hand, he simply said, “Come.”

  Automatically, she took his hand once again, surprised to see that the gate was open. While she had been daydreaming, the little man had unlocked it and it had opened up on silent hinges. A knot of fear or uncertainty coiled in her belly as the two of them walked through the gate. There was a subtle shimmer and she was certain they had just stepped past a magical barrier, something that would have kept humans away.

  Would the Rothmans have even been able to visit had the light not burned them up?

  Pressing a hand against her upset tummy, she strained to get a glimpse of the castle but there were still too many trees in the way. Now, however, the road was made of pretty, pale pink stones instead of the ugly brown dirt. Mandy would love to run down the lane…. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered Mandy wasn’t there with her anymore. It had only been a little while, so how had she forgotten?

  “It’s the magic,” the gnome said. She snapped her eyes to him and found that he was looking up at her with sympathy. Patting her hand with his free hand, he continued, “The magic helps hide the pain until it is easier to deal with.”

  “Then I don’t think I will ever want to leave,” she said softly, squeezing his hand in a silent thanks. Swallowing thickly, she wondered if she could live at the castle forever if there was nowhere else for her to go, if…. She couldn’t even think it because if she did, she was certain she wo
uld die.

  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the castle came into view and she had to stop and catch her breath. It looked like a castle from out of a fairy tale but not a happy fairy tale. The stone was dark, gleaming ominously in the last rays of the sun and Daisy was fairly certain there should be a dragon guarding the massive structure. The castle was monstrously huge, with at least three stone towers that she could see and perhaps a dozen more that were beyond her immediate vision. She counted six rows of windows from the ground to the roof and far more than six from side-to-side.

  Broad, stone stairs led to the enormous front doors and Daisy had to swallow back the urge to vomit. The gnome was taking her to the home of a giant and she was going to be eaten as an appetizer. A very small appetizer. Swallowing, she managed to rasp, “I don’t think I want to go in there.”

  “You’ve come so far, little wolf-child,” the gnome said, tugging at her hand and pulling her up the steps, making her stumble over her feet. For such a little creature, he was surprisingly strong and Daisy found herself being dragged closer to the doors that grew larger and larger the closer she got. A huge lion’s head was in the middle of each door, a large metal ring hanging from each of their mouths. The metal creatures seemed to follow her movement with their eyes and she wasn’t sure whether they wanted to eat her or welcome them to their home. “Just a little further.”

  Her eyes grew wider and wider with each step she took until the doors yawned open and she stepped into another world.

  The inside of the castle was unlike anything Daisy had ever seen before. The ceiling soared high overhead, almost all the way to heaven. The painted clouds looked so real that if she touched them, they would turn to mist and disappear. The walls themselves were painted a pale blue and sparkled in the low light. She was fairly certain that they would be blinding in the harsh light of day. The floor itself was white marble and the entire place simply glowed. While the outside of the castle looked foreboding, the inside was positively beautiful, which was all the more reason to be cautious.

  Curving staircases flanked either side of the entry with gilded double doors straight ahead. Mandy and she would have an amazing time exploring this place, getting lost in the secret passageways that were certain to exist, locking themselves in the library that must take up an entire floor, running through the ballroom as music played from a hidden alcove. She could imagine her brothers playing here as well, chasing one another around while shrieks of laughter filled the corridors. As a slight smile curved her lips at the image, tears filled her eyes and she wasn’t sure why she was so sad.

  No, she knew why she was sad: her best friend had been taken from her and her family might be gone as well. But in this place, it didn’t seem as awful as it did before. The sense of calm that washed through her made her believe that everything was going to be all right. If she was the only one left alive on this planet, she would find a place for herself in this strange and wonderful castle.

  “Come,” the little gnome urged, pulling her towards the left staircase. With no more hesitation, she followed, trying to take in all of the incredible detail. From the statues that stood on pedestals in the alcoves to the tapestries that depicted all of her favorite fairy tales, there was so much to see. A smile parted her lips as she recognized Little Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid. Lost in the magnificence of the place, she almost missed the little colorful lights that were zipping back and forth in the air.

  Stopping, Daisy stared at one as it hovered right in front of her eyes. A little burble of laughter floated out and she realized it was a little pixie or fairy or something. The little creature was only an inch or two tall with the most amazing tiny wings. Daisy opened her mouth to say hello but the creature buzzed away. There was so much more here than she had ever seen before and she wished she could have shared it with Mandy. Maybe now that the veil was lifted, her friend would be able to see everything that she hadn’t been able to see….

  No, her friend was gone.

  Shaking her head to clear the cobwebs, she continued on with a slight frown. It took her another moment to realize the gnome had stopped until he cleared his throat and she looked down at him. He beamed his brilliant smile, his beard twitching with suppressed laughter as he said, “I have delivered you to the place you need to be. Have a good life, little wolf-child.”

  “Daisy,” she said to thin air, the gnome disappearing without a sound, leaving her standing in front of a door. The urge to enter the room was strong and her resistance was practically non-existent. Without a reason to stay out, she turned the knob and entered. In the low light, she saw that there were statues and boxes strewn throughout and she briefly wondered why she was brought there. Wouldn’t they put her in a bedroom with frilly curtains and a lace-covered bed fit for a princess?

  Walking further into the room, dragging her fingers over the smooth face of a cherub, she tried to puzzle out what was happening. Her mom always told her it was important to keep a clear head, especially around other supernatural creatures, but Daisy wondered how that was even possible when her brain felt so fuzzy she could barely remember her own name.

  Rubbing the back of her head, she winced in pain. She must have bumped her head when the car hit the tree and hadn’t realized it until she touched the sore spot. Pulling her hand away, she was dismayed to see traces of blood on her fingertips. No wonder why she couldn’t think clearly. At first she wondered what she could have hit her head on but then she remembered the books that she and Mandy had placed in the back window, books that they had had every intention of reading while they were riding in the backseat but had never gotten around to reading.

  There was something in the room that called to her, that made her believe the gnome wasn’t demented for dropping her off at the wrong place. Cautiously, she walked around the piles of books and broken furniture, going deeper and deeper into the room. In the dim light, she couldn’t make out a lot of detail but she could see well enough to not walk into anything. Strangely, the dim light seemed to move with her, illuminating the area around her without providing much light anywhere else.

  Well, it was an enchanted castle. Her mother warned her about those, too, but always with a smile.

  She missed her momma, with her warm laughter and her sparkling eyes. Daisy often wished she had her mother’s beautiful green and gold eyes but her momma always told her how lucky she was to have her daddy’s silver eyes. Her twin had momma’s pretty eyes and her brown hair but he didn’t get any of momma’s Siren-ness because he wasn’t a girl. Of course, her two younger brothers both had their dad’s black as night hair and silver eyes while her little sister had their dad’s dark hair but momma’s beautiful eyes. Plus, little Roxie had momma’s Siren-ness but she was two and still wore diapers.

  Daisy shook her head, trying to concentrate on finding somewhere to sleep until her daddy came for her. If her daddy was still around.

  Pulling the phone from her pocket, she looked at the screen and frowned when it didn’t even have a signal. Of course, she was standing inside a bubble of magic and modern technology and magic didn’t get along very well. If she wanted to make a call, she was probably going to have to leave the castle, walk back down the pink road, and leave through the gate. As badly as she wanted to hear her momma’s voice, it was unwise to leave the safety of the castle, especially at night with everything that had happened, not without knowing what had happened. Was her family okay?

  With a sigh, she put the phone away and glanced around the room, realizing she had no idea where the door was located. The light that had been guiding her had also made it easy to get lost because it only showed her a part of the room at a time. There! Over to her right was a square of light that was different from the light surrounding her. It had to be the moon, which was nearly three quarters full tonight.

  Had she been in the strange room for so long that the moon had time to rise?

  Making her way through the maze
of boxes and miscellanea, Daisy finally made it to the windows. Unlatching them, she pushed them open and breathed in the moonlit night, closing her eyes in bliss. If only she had wings then she could fly away and return home.

  My little flower.

  Startled, Daisy spun around, expecting to see her wolf standing there, which was insane because her wolf was inside of her. But there was a wolf there. Not her wolf, of course, but a beautiful statue of a wolf. Pressing her hand against her racing heart, she stepped closer to the stone creature and realized it wasn’t exactly a wolf, since it had the body of a man and the wings of an enormous bat. Cocking her head to the side, she studied the statue for a moment before it dawned on her….

  He was a gargoyle!

  Giving out a delighted laugh, she closed the distance between them and ran her hand along the rough snout of his wolfish face. He was snarling and she supposed he was meant to be menacing but to her eyes he was beautiful. His lines weren’t as smooth as a real wolf and his body was definitely not as sleek, but he was gorgeous. Even crouching, he was big, with massive shoulders that held the weight of his heavy wings. In his presence she felt safe. Protected.

  A wave of exhaustion washed over her, making her yawn until she felt it in her chest. With one last pat on his snarling snout, she slowly collapsed to the ground and fell asleep, a smile on her face. As long as the gargoyle stood watch over her, she would be okay.

  “Daisy!!” The deep booming voice broke through her dreams, waking her at once. “Daisy! Where are you?”

  Tears filled her eyes as her father crashed through the door, pausing for only a moment as he scanned the room until his eyes landed on her. His lips parted in relief as he rushed towards her, heedless of the mess, and scooped her up into his strong arms. Hugging him with all of the love in her heart, she cried, “Daddy!”