Stone Romance (Stone Passion #2) Read online

  She pulled Ferris onto her lap as she sat down on the couch watching the evening news with her family. Her parents had recently started watching the local news every weeknight because Jensen’s latest girlfriend was the weather girl, er, meteorologist. She was just as cute as a button with long, shiny blond hair and big brown eyes and big… other parts. She was so damn sweet, almost as sweet as Melanie, if that was even possible. It was obvious why Jensen was dating her; it was less obvious why she would date Jensen.

  As much as she loved her older brother, Jenna knew that he was kind of a player with a new woman on his arm every couple of weeks. The females of the world seemed to find him wildly attractive with his dark hair and blue eyes and dimpled grin; Jenna just thought he was put on the earth to annoy and torture her and Melanie.

  “I want to go see Aunt Mellie at the castle,” Ferris said, the same thing she had been saying every day for the week and a half that Melanie had been gone.

  The dull heaviness in her stomach hardened for a moment but Jenna ignored it and curled her lips into a smile, dragging her fingers through Ferris’s long dark brown hair. “Sweetie, you know that Aunt Mellie has gone on some grand adventure with Vaughn; she’s not at the castle.”

  Ferris heaved a dramatic sigh, resting her head against Jenna’s cheek, making Jenna’s heart quicken slightly in her chest at the sheer joy of holding her daughter in her arms and breathing in her clean, spring-fresh scent. “I know. I just miss her and want her to hurry home.”

  “Me, too, sweetie,” Jenna murmured, kissing the soft skin of Ferris’s temple. “Me, too.”

  “Well, the gargoyles are probably still there,” Ferris continued undeterred. “We could go and see them.”

  Jenna chuckled, hugging her daughter a little tighter. “Once Aunt Mellie returns we will be sure to visit her and the gargoyles.”

  “Promise?” The hopeful note in Ferris’s voice was loud and clear. The only problem was Melanie had been very vague about the details and if Jenna thought about it, so had Rhys. At the time it hadn’t bothered her because she had been distressed by the fact that Melanie was leaving but now, with the sense of unease that had been looming for nearly a week and a half….

  “Of course,” she murmured.

  “Have you heard from your sister?” her mom asked, joining the conversation.

  Jenna shook her head no, offering a slight smile, “You know how Melanie is; she probably lost track of time and has no idea that it’s been so long since she left.”

  Her dad chuckled at that, “True; if that girl’s head wasn’t attached I’m sure she would leave it behind.”

  “Jenner,” her mom scolded, a smile playing about her lips. “You know Melanie would never misplace her head; it’s too full of fantastical stories to lose. She might misplace a limb or two but never her head.”

  Jenna’s smile wavered as her parents continued to joke about Melanie. Her mom looked at her with sparkling eyes and asked, “Do you think everything’s okay?”

  Jenna nodded and started to answer but the words couldn’t get past the sudden lump in her throat and she was unable to ignore her intuition any longer, not when it came to her whimsical sister. Slowly moving her head back and forth, she admitted, “I don’t know; I think something might be wrong but I just don’t know. As absent-minded as Melanie can be, she’s never gone so long without calling home.”

  “She’s probably on some tropical island with that new boyfriend of hers,” her father offered gruffly, the laughter dimming slightly from his eyes to be replaced with worry. “It’s just that she moved out so suddenly; it’s hard to believe she’s left the nest.”

  “Yeah,” Jenna nodded. “You’re probably right.”

  “Yeah.” But he didn’t sound so convinced.

  They sat in silence for a few minutes, the sound of the television the only noise. Jenna barely paid attention to what the newscasters were saying, her thoughts a hundred miles away, or however far Melanie was. Was her sister in trouble?

  “Watch,” her dad said as both he and her mom leaned forward in their seats, broad smiles on their still attractive faces, “Lizzie’s coming up next.”

  But instead of Lizzie’s smiling face, the camera cut to an image of some poor soul whose face was unrecognizable beneath the lacerations and broken nose. Jenna’s heart stopped and the air whooshed out of her lungs in a painful breath; the timing was eerily coincidental but she still felt like she was going to be ill. Her father’s voice broke through her numbness, “Poor girl; I wonder who she is.”

  Jenna looked at him with incredulity as she grabbed the remote control and turned up the volume as Ferris slid off her lap. “Authorities have been searching for nearly three days for this girl, a Jane Doe, who seems to have simply vanished from the hospital early Thursday morning. It is unclear how she managed to leave without anyone being aware of her activities and there are no leads in what is now being called a missing persons case. And on a lighter note, here’s Liz….”

  But Jenna had turned the television off and was already standing up, ready to break down Rhys’s door to find her sister. A duo of protests pierced her racing thoughts and she stared down at her parents with a vacant expression, not understanding why they weren’t getting ready to go, too. “What?”

  “You turned off the television,” her dad grumbled, turning it back on and catching most of the weather forecast and Lizzie.

  “Of course I did,” Jenna said, frowning down at him. “We’ve got to go.”

  “But…” her parents exchanged a look, the bewilderment apparent on their faces. “Why?”

  “That was Melanie” she said slowly, wondering how they couldn’t recognize their own daughter and realizing that her intuition hadn’t lied to her. If she had been more like Melanie she would have went off on a quest to find her sister the first moment her unease hit instead of ignoring it like the practical woman she had become. Granted, she would have had no idea where to look but that wouldn’t have stopped Melanie, who would have consulted an oracle or some such to discover what was missing.

  But that was Melanie. And now that a week and a half had passed, Jenna had to go to her.

  The color drained from her parents’ faces as they clutched one another. “Oh, dear lord.”

  Jenna glanced down and saw that Ferris was looking up at her with wide, frightened eyes and she realized that it would be better if she didn’t see Melanie just yet, not if the photo was an indication of the severity of her injuries. Squatting down, she brushed a strand of hair from Ferris’s face, “I’m going to make sure she’s okay and then I’m going to bring her home.”

  Ferris nodded once before wrapping her arms around Jenna’s neck and hugging her. Still holding her daughter, she caught her mom’s eye, “I think it might be best if I go alone.”

  They nodded their heads, understanding their daughter’s need to be by her twin’s side, trusting Jenna to bring Melanie home where they would coddle her until she recovered. Kissing Ferris, she quickly made her way out the door and across town, implications frying her rational thought. If Vaughn had anything to do with Melanie’s busted face she was going to tear him apart with her bare hands. Her heart withered a little at the thought of Rhys knowing something like this was going to happen; he had tried to warn her but she hadn’t listened.

  There was a chance he didn’t know anything about Melanie.

  Then why did she speed over to his apartment if she didn’t think he knew anything?

  “Hold the elevator!” she called out as she stumbled through the outer doors into the atrium and saw the doors sliding shut. A hand shot out, the long and elegant fingers tipped with sharp and deadly looking black nails. But the stranger held the elevator and the doors yawned open.

  Jenna rushed through the opulent lobby of the apartment building and into the elevator, barely able to breathe as worry and anger gnawed at her gut. It was hard to discount the woman who shared the elevator. She was stunning, her vibrant red hair curling to her sle
nder waist, her breasts spilling over the top of her leather bustier. Large, iridescent fairy wings graced her back and Jenna immediately thought of Melanie and Ferris; those two would appreciate the woman’s elaborate costume.

  “Thank you,” Jenna wheezed, catching her breath now that she was so close to finding her sister. Her smile faltered when she met the woman’s unusual eyes. There was something not quite right about her eyes but Jenna couldn’t figure out what, exactly, was wrong. “Fourteen please?”

  The woman arched a regal eyebrow as she pushed the button and the elevator lurched upwards. “Are you visiting the Guardians, then?”

  The voice was melodic and ethereally beautiful… and a little eerie. And her words made no sense, “Pardon?”

  “There has been much to-do since the little human returned,” the woman said conversationally, as if Jenna knew what she was talking about. She had a slight accent but Jenna couldn’t place it; something European perhaps. “It is unfortunate that she was late; I would have enjoyed getting to know the girl. Nod is very fond of her; of course, Nod is very fond of humans in general, though she was the first he ever invited to live here.”

  Jenna inhaled sharply as she realized what was wrong with the woman’s eyes: the pupils were slits and the color was pale gold, like cat eyes. The contacts were amazingly well done; they looked like her natural eyes but humans didn’t have slits for pupils. The woman took make believe to the next level, perhaps even convincing herself that she was a real fairy. Melanie would adore the woman and by the end of the elevator ride the two of them would be bosom companions, exchanging phone numbers and making plans to get together and make costumes up for a comic book convention or something. Normally Jenna would be able to be polite but the woman’s words made the dull ache sharpen almost painfully.

  “What was the… human’s name?” But she knew, even if the woman who pretended to be a fairy did not have the answer.

  The woman heaved a melodramatic sigh that would have done Ferris proud. Her wings shimmered as she moved and Jenna had the fleeting thought that the wings were real…. “I have not been introduced. I do not believe the Guardians wish for me to know her name; they do not trust me.”

  Because she was bat-shit crazy, but Jenna kept that revelation to herself as she continued to talk with the crazy person. It took her mind away from what she might find when she reached the top floor. “Why?”

  “This I do not understand,” the woman’s pupil contracted to an almost perfect vertical line, making them appear even more catlike and how the hell did she get her contacts to alter like that? “If she is under the Guardian’s protection I cannot harm her, as they know. I just wanted to… taste her.”

  “Taste her?” Jenna repeated dumbly, her mind taken off the dire situation as she stared at the woman.

  “I’ve tasted humans before, of course,” she continued blithely, a dreamy smile curling her red, red lips. “But none who have been so aware of us before. It would be interesting to see if her essence would be sweeter for her knowledge.”

  Suddenly, the woman stilled and looked at her with narrowed eyes, “You’re human. And while the Guardian has placed his mark upon you he has not claimed you. Perhaps you would be interested in an exchange?”

  Jenna shook her head no, her heart thumping madly in her chest as the woman continued to stare at her as if Jenna were a juicy steak and the lady was a reformed vegetarian. Maybe everyone who lived in the castle was crazy; that was why Melanie fit in so well. They were all supernaturally beautiful and so different from the normal, everyday people who inhabited the world. God knows that Rhys was unlike any man she had ever known.

  The woman reached out and drew a black talon along Jenna’s jaw, her eyes closing as an expression of ecstasy twisted her features. Her lips parted and she inhaled deeply; when she spoke her voice came out in a low purr, “Yes; you would be delicious; though your belief in magic hides beneath a thin layer of cynicism. I could scrape away the surface and feast on the creativity below.

  “Ah, here is my floor;” she said abruptly, breaking the strange spell she was casting. The woman smiled suddenly, her teeth very white and very perfect and Jenna had the urge to become as small as possible to hide from the threat inherent in that predatorial smile. “It has been a pleasure talking to you, human; perhaps we shall have another chance to become better acquainted.”

  The doors of the elevator opened and the scary, beautiful woman stepped out, her wings fluttering in the wind. Except there was no wind and Jenna felt her stomach drop to the floor as she considered the possibility that she had been a real, genuine fairy, and not the sweet fairies of childhood tales but the terrifying fairies that drank the blood of virgins, or whatever fairies did.

  Pressing her hand against her lurching stomach, Jenna leaned against the wall and laughed at herself; Melanie was the one with the over-active imagination. Jenna was just under a lot of stress since seeing her sister’s busted face on the television and not being there for Lenni when she needed someone. She was also dreading seeing Rhys after they had said their goodbyes for a second time, knowing now that it was out of fear and her overwhelming attraction to him, which were really the same thing.

  Of course she would imagine fairies riding an elevator.

  The elevator lurched to a stop, opening to the decadent entry of the Nostuntres brothers’ home. Rhys was standing there with his arms crossed across his chest, his wonderful smile absent. As she took a hesitant step towards him, he opened his arms and all doubts disappeared as she flew to him. His arms wrapped around her and as he held her, as she held him and pressed her cheek against his chest and heard the steady rhythm of his heart, she felt as if she were home. “Rhys.”

  He kissed the top of her head, stroking a hand slowly up and down her back as he murmured, “Jenna. I knew you’d know to come here.”

  “Is she here?” she could barely get the words out in case she was wrong.

  “Of course,” he assured her, holding her up as her legs gave out completely and she began to cry. “Shh; it’s all right now, Jenna; you’re here now and it’s all right.”

  “But Lenni,” she sobbed, curling her hands into the material of his shirt, wanting to hold him close. She had to see her sister but she didn’t want to see her; she didn’t want to see the extent of Melanie’s injuries, she didn’t want to know how much Lenni had suffered because she had been unaware of all of it.

  After a few minutes of soft, comforting words and reassurances, Rhys took the heavy winter coat off her and dropped it on the table. Sliding his arm around her waist and leading her into a luxurious living room, he murmured, “Why don’t you wait here and I’ll go see if she’s awake.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?” She clung to his arm, not letting him leave her behind, not letting him answer her question. “I need to see her, Rhys; please.”

  He looked at her with compassion in his brown eyes but shook his head no, “Sweetheart, she’s been pretty out of it since she showed up here and she hasn’t wanted to see anyone.”

  “I’m her sister,” Jenna protested. “I don’t care if she looks like Frankenstein’s monster; I just want to see her.”

  “And you will see her,” Rhys promised, taking her hand and bringing it up to his lips. Kissing her knuckles, he looked at her with his melted chocolate eyes, “Just give her a moment to prepare herself.”

  “You love her,” Jenna gasped softly, seeing the emotion roiling in his eyes.

  “Of course,” he confirmed and a little piece of her soul shriveled up and died.

  “She is Vaughn’s other half,” he continued, unaware of her soul’s sudden death and miraculous revival. “She chose Vaughn and so she is my sister. Now, I’ll be right back.”

  He pressed a quick, hard kiss to her lips and then he was gone, leaving her to stew in everything that had happened since Melanie met Vaughn. And when her body stopped dancing from the brief press of his lips against hers she wanted to chase after him and demand to see Mela
nie now; it didn’t matter how awful Melanie looked, Jenna would promise not to react.

  “It’s been a week and a half,” a low, masculine voice resonated from behind her, scaring her. She had been almost positive that she had been alone… “A few more minutes aren’t going to hurt.”

  No, she had been alone. Spinning around, her breath caught in her throat as she saw a man with long, flowing white hair. At first glance she had thought he was ancient because of his hair but he wasn’t old; he was young, perhaps Rhys’s age, which was probably mid-twenties. He sat sprawled in the leather recliner, his body relaxed and overtly masculine with its long, lean lines. He was also unnaturally beautiful with twinkling hazel eyes, eyes that held the wisdom of infinite time. “Besides, I think you may want to stick around for a few minutes and hear what I have to say, since my plans have changed and they now involve you.”

  Jenna’s brows pulled together in confusion; was this gorgeous creature the elusive Armand? But hadn’t Melanie said Armand’s hair was short and black? Not almost as long as Rhys’s and white? He was as absurdly beautiful as Armand was reputed to be but… “Armand?”

  The man threw his head back and laughed, the sound rich and decadent with more than a hint of sexual promise. “No, my sweet one; I am Omari. And you are Jenna, my favorite human’s sister.”

  “Uh huh,” she nodded her head, taking in his loose-fitting clothes and the multitude of rings on his slender fingers. She had the oddest sensation that he was a wizard, but not a wizard; something more, something… powerful. Chaos was spinning out of control in her brain and she shook her head in bemusement, “You’re the second one to refer to me as human since I got here. Why is that?”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his sensuous lips turning down in a slight frown. “Damn; I had hoped since you were her sister that you’d be able to indulge me but it seems Rhys has staked his claim. I shall have to endeavor to get to one of you sooner if I ever have hopes of sampling a human’s delights.”