Stone Sentinel (Beautiful Monsters, #3.5)

by Jex Lane

Jet had heard Rage-Boulder mutter “fucking rock star wannabe” under his breath a few times. Unsure what a ‘rock star’ was, Jet decided it must be a good thing. Rocks were the best.

Jet had heard Rage-Boulder mutter “fucking rock star wannabe” under his breath a few times. Unsure what a ‘rock star’ was, Jet decided it must be a good thing. Rocks were the best.

“Goddess, I wish my father would finish his transformation already. I want to drink from you so bad. Maybe we could try that thing where you teleport away…” Gavyn pressed his hand to his neck. “Fuck no. You ripped open my jugular last time we tried. We’ll wait for the Blood Prince.” She frowned. “But—” “No.” Her little growl grew louder. “You want me to stake you? Don’t think I won’t.”

“Goddess, I wish my father would finish his transformation already. I want to drink from you so bad. Maybe we could try that thing where you teleport away…” Gavyn pressed his hand to his neck. “Fuck no. You ripped open my jugular last time we tried. We’ll wait for the Blood Prince.” She frowned. “But—” “No.” Her little growl grew louder. “You want me to stake you? Don’t think I won’t.”

Sometimes Jet would try to guess how Devak appeared to them. To date, he’d deduced that the guardian looked like a vampire. Attractive, based on how others reacted to him, and around the same height as Fate-Pebble. Oh, and Rage-Boulder enjoyed Devak’s cock and butthole quite a bit. Jet didn’t understand the appeal, but fleshlings enjoyed all sorts of strange stuff. Especially when it came to sex. But how the guardian appeared to them didn’t really matter. Devak was light and blood and power.

Silva placed her hands on her hips. “Enjoy yourself?” “You could have warned me he was in the middle of feeding. I didn’t really need to see that.” “What’s the problem? Don’t you find Warlord Tarrick attractive?” Fate-Pebble leaned against a pillar. “He’s the third strongest incubus in the world. Anyone with eyes would find him attractive. But he’s my father’s…uh…I can’t say that yet because you don’t know.”

Silva placed her hands on her hips. “Enjoy yourself?” “You could have warned me he was in the middle of feeding. I didn’t really need to see that.” “What’s the problem? Don’t you find Warlord Tarrick attractive?” Fate-Pebble leaned against a pillar. “He’s the third strongest incubus in the world. Anyone with eyes would find him attractive. But he’s my father’s…uh…I can’t say that yet because you don’t know.”

“You should also let my father know that you forgave him ages ago. It’s been eating at him.” “I haven’t forgiven him.” “You totally have. You’ll tell him, then you’ll get back together with Bryson. And really, with as stuck up as you are, you could use his big black co—” “That’s quite enough, Oracle,” a deep voice said.

The world whispered around the Fate-touched son of gods, and gargoyles could hear it.

“You need to stop ditching your hunters,” Tarrick said, closing the door behind him. “If anything happens to you, your father will rip out my spine, along with anyone else who has the misfortune of crossing his path while he frenzies.” Fate-Pebble shrugged. “Guess I better not die then.”

“I’m not joking. There’s a threat and I’m going to stop it.” Not wanting to be forgotten, Jet licked her hand. “With Jet. He’s going to help me. And if you send me back to the bunker, I’ll find another way out. Christmas is only four nights away and if we don’t stop Krampus, my father will never get the help he needs.”

“Blood.” She blinked hard several times. “The dark presses in. So much red and black. It’s endless. You won’t be able to stop it. They watch and they come. The bloody night. It’s coming.” Her eyes turned white. Jet felt helpless as the powerful visions flooded her. “Please, the knife. It hurts my back.” “I know, child.” Tarrick grabbed something out of his desk drawer and crossed the room to her. She swiped tiny claws at him. He dodged the attack with a lazy sidestep and lifted her shirt in the front. “The world cries, corrupted by the black. Magic turns purple. The eyes see all.”

Rage-Boulder suffered more than he should have at the hands of the incubus king. Many times, Jet had wanted to try and save his stone, but the king could command gargoyles. As could gods and some vampires. Annoying. Jet resented the ones who could manipulate his will. Except Rage-Boulder. Jet forgave him. Mostly because his stone asked rather than demanded.

“Have you told Matthew?” “Told him what?” Fate-Pebble tossed the bag of blood at a trashcan and did a little victory pump with her fist when it made it in. Her skin pinked and her eyes returned to silver. “That he’s the one who kills you.”

She looked down at Jet then looked over to the clothes then back at Jet. No. She looked to the clothes again. No. “Jet,” she said; stern. No. Anything but that. “They won’t allow you into where we’re going.” He’ll wait outside. Her face softened and her big silver eyes began to water. To use Rage-Boulder’s favorite word: fuck. Jet grumbled.

“Not everyone is ‘massive’. I’ve heard that the pleasure guardian is on the smaller side…” Tarrick said. “Did you just—” Fate-Pebble regarded Tarrick for a moment. “How do you know how big Devak is? Did you order someone to tell you his dick size?” Tarrick shrugged. “It came up in friendly conversation.”

“Don’t. You can’t walk around naked.” “Unless you’d like to stay here. We can cancel Krampus hunting and”—Tarrick’s eyes flicked up and down Jet—“learn more about gargoyles. Tell me, are you disinterested in sex in general or is it me?”

“Does Asper have a stone name for me?” “Yes.” “And?” Jet stopped, Tarrick along with him. “Hard-Amethyst.” “I like that. And Matthew, are you his familiar also? I know you’re Samantha’s…” “He’s my stone as well, but requires less care.” “Less care? Matthew?” He laughed, and the two of them continued after Fate-Pebble, who led the way past bowing hunters and incubi warriors. “What do you call him?” “Rage-Boulder.” “Fitting.”

“Goddess, wait until I tell my dad that you can’t drive.” “You’ll do no such thing,” Tarrick growled, but Fate-Pebble kept right on cackling. “He’s going to laugh for days.” “Oracle…” he warned. “There’s literally nothing you can say that’ll stop me. But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure once he’s done laughing he’ll want to teach you.”

Fate-Pebble nudged Jet. “Pick one.” He looked at her. “For the gift,” she said. “You have to get her a gift.” Asper. Yes. She deserved a gift. What a wonderful idea. Jet pointed to a grey rock with white banding. Gneiss.

“Are we going after Krampus now or was there someone else you needed me to fuck tonight?”

“Nah, don’t bother. I won’t go into it again. For an incubus, your email is boring. You ever send out dick pics?” “No.” “You should send one to my father. He’d like that.”

“Devak has informed Warlord Bryson that Matthew’s transformation is proceeding normally.” “Devak doesn’t really know. He’s never seen one of Ilertha’s children escape the Judge long enough to go through a transformation. I think—” she paused for a moment. “I think my father doesn’t want it to end. Right now, he doesn’t have to worry about the war or his responsibilities. He gets to be with a man he loves all day long. He gets to fuck and feed with no troubles or concerns. After everything he’s been through the past few years—everything you and the High King put him through—can you blame him? I can’t. But, I need him back. I’ve been without a sire way too long. I’ve been alone most of my life…and you need him back too. If only so he can be your weapon again.”

“He loves you.” “He shouldn’t.” “I agree. You’re a terrible person.” “Terrible is relative.” “Not in this case. You’re awful and I hate you,” she said, looking up at Tarrick. Blood tears collected in her eyes. Jet didn’t like seeing her cry, but Fate-Pebble would yell at him right now if he tried to comfort her. She’d let him know when she needed him. “I hate that you beat him. Imprisoned him. Lied to him. Used him. I hate that he probably only loves you because you manipulated him. And that his love is a near obsession now. I hate that he was raped and you did nothing but watch it happen from a window.” “If I had stepped in—” “Malarath would have killed you and I don’t care. I think you should have tried to save him. You stood at that window and watched, heard his cries, and did nothing. You only finally stood up for my father when you learned what he is. Who he is wasn't enough for you.”

“It’s just sitting there…but, it knocked…” “Gargoyles don’t knock, ma’am.” “This one did. Can you send some hunters? Please…?” Jet decided to knock again to mess with her a little. He wouldn’t usually do such a thing but Rage-Boulder’s playfulness had rubbed off on him. “There! It knocked again,” the woman said. Jet could only imagine her wide eyes.

“Sting a little! I hate you,” Fate-Pebble said. “You’re alive, aren’t you?” “Undead. And I’m telling my father how painful that was.” She turned and stomped to the waiting SUV, slamming the door behind her. Jet went and sat outside the car door. Silva laughed. “She knows how to throw quite the tantrum, doesn’t she, sir?” Tarrick stood, brushing sand off his suit and from his hair. “She’s a child.”

“Thank you for the call, but I’ll be declining the High King’s mercy at this time. Anything else I could do for you tonight?”

“My father would love this place.” Looking up at the tall stone buildings, Tarrick nodded. “Perhaps you should bring him here.” “He’d like it better if you showed him.”

“Oh,” Fate-Pebble said, “I was talking about his literal cock. Seriously, it’s ridiculous. He’d probably whip it out and show you if you asked.”

If someone had asked Jet a few months ago if he ever thought a group of vampire hunters could be in the same area as three vampire lords without fighting, the answer would have been no. But things had changed. Rage-Boulder had done it. And a little bit Tarrick too, but mostly Rage-Boulder. Jet beamed with pride for his stone.

“It seems I was mistaken. It is not a xarlar,” Tarrick said. Fate-Pebble sighed dramatically. “It’s Krampus. And that’s five.”

“They didn’t lose their parents, live on their own as a teenager, get turned into a vampire, lose their sire, then get tossed into a war that won’t end until I die…”

“To change even the smallest thing takes a near impossible effort.” “We live in a time of impossibles. A demigod walks with an oracle at his side.” She frowned. “Don’t call him that. You know he’s not a demigod, not really.”

Jet lowered himself and crept forward. Coming around some boxes, he saw her. Asper. Curled up and unmoving. In front of her, six other gargoyles. These ones smaller than a human’s hand. Only a few days old. Her pups. His babies.

Asper nuzzled Jet a few times before lying back down. She pushed one of his sons towards him. Jet sprung to his feet and began sniffing and licking each one of them. They began to wake and wiggle. Fate-Pebble couldn’t hold back anymore. She rushed forward and picked one up. A daughter, with tiny wings and a fierce face, squirmed in her hands. Joy filled Jet’s being. He and his mate had brought six new protectors into the world.

“Do you know why I keep him as far away from you as possible?” “Jealousy.” “No, Tarrick. Other lovers have never bothered me. I keep you away because everything I do is to exalt him and everything you do is to exalt yourself.” “That’s not true. I do all this to protect my people.” “I was Malarath’s mate and I serve Ilertha, do you think I can’t tell when an incubus is lying? Your actions are motivated purely by self-interest, and you won’t stop until everyone is calling you ‘Your Majesty’. Matthew’s love is a gift, and you are unworthy of it. I hope one day he sees that. But…” Devak paused, looking down at Tarrick. “I’m only his servant. It’s not my choice. You’re right: he needs what only you can do to him.” Devak turned to leave, pausing to say, “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“You’re an extremely aggravating child.” “And you’re a grumpy old man. But seriously, he’s probably going to rip the suit off the moment he sees you anyways. Stop stressing.” “I am not stressing.”

“We did it,” she whispered in his ear. “We saved Christmas from Krampus.” She released Jet and looked at Tarrick. “From the evil, grumpy Krampus who finally agreed to help my father.” “I’m hardly Krampus, Oracle.” “If you say so.”