Page 11 of Sins of the Stone

Finally, I can see it up close,he thought.

And it was just as alluring as it was from the shadows, if not more. It was a color he wanted to drown in.

“I appreciate your generosity. Not many people would be so willing to allow a stranger into their home.” Ramuz gave her a clever smile, hoping to one day melt her heart with it as easily as she did his.

“Iam not a person, I am a gargoyle.”

Chapter 10

Ramuz

Afew days later, Ursulette was wandering back and forth, nibbling her lip. It wasn’t a negative expression. It was more like deep pondering. Ramuz’s gaze followed her gentle steps, wishing nothing more than to read her thoughts. She didn’t seem distressed—except for her pacing—but of course, the situation would be quite overwhelming. He didn’t want to think about the flurry of considerations flooding her head.

He tried to appear busy while she reflected, but there were only so many things he could do before being unable to uphold his mask. After some time, he realized he may have been contributing to her unease, so he headed off to pretend to do some cleaning. It wasn’t that the house needed it—he had plenty of time to keep it organized—but appearing busy and distracted would be better than giving her googly eyes while she fought a war with her thoughts. He wondered what sort of horrible images she was being bombarded with.

Ramuz had lost track of how many sweeps of the room he had done. He was too distracted fantasizing about all the wonderful things he and Ursulette would do, even little events like late-night conversations and strolls in the sunlight. She would no longer have to worry about being a victim in this world. She would have him at her side, and he would protect her with his dying breath.

Late into the evening, Ursulette went to the bedroom, stopping Ramuz in his tracks. Her hands were clasped in front of her chest, but that look ofworry mostly left her expression. Ramuz breathed a sigh of relief, knowing her discomfort had subsided, at least somewhat.

“Um, hello,” she murmured, playing with the string crisscrossing the front of her dress. His eyes fell to her movement, again grateful that the gods had blessed him with unblushing skin. The collar of her garment drew his attention, his eyes gliding down her curved form. Before he could get lost again, his gaze connected with hers.

“Hello, Ursulette.” He tried his best to keep his composure, but she made him weak. Never before had he felt so at the mercy of another being. He was an apex predator at the top of the food chain, and yet, one little, blushing human was enough to make him crumble. She was the most powerful entity in his world, and she had no idea.

“Can we talk?” she asked. He felt his heart drop. He hoped—prayed—that she wasn’t thinking of leaving. If that was what she wanted, she would not stop her, but one human with no ability to defend themselves would mean certain death. Ramuz swallowed the lump in his throat.

“What do you want to talk about?” he questioned, setting the duster down. Ursulette shrugged, allowing him to finally take a breath.

“Anything,” she said. “I just want to feel normal again.”

Oh.

His heart shattered with one simple sentence. He couldn’t imagine what she had been through, losing everything and everyone in one fell swoop. It was nothing short of an extermination. Of course, she would want to feel normal again. Ursulette strolled over to the bed, placed herself on it, then laid back. She entwined her hands over her stomach, her eyes glued to the ceiling.

“It’s a lot to process,” she said in an empty tone. “But that’s how it is, I guess.” Ramuz frowned. She was right, but it wasn’t something he wanted to acknowledge. He sat at the other end, his hands atop his lap, not wanting to ponder death anymore.

“But I don’t want to think about it right now,” she said, flicking her hands before returning them to their previous position and glancing at him. “Tell me about yourself. I’ve never met someone like you.” A gentle heat crawledacross his cheeks. With eyes leering to the side, he tapped his fingers together.

“Well, I’m not sure…” He trailed off, never before needing to talk about himself. He didn’t know what he liked—excepther—but he couldn’t say that. Not yet. A lingering silence hung in the air. Ursulette picked up on it and remedied it.

“Do you build this place yourself?”

“No,” he said. “The people that lived here before fled when demons encroached on their home. I made it my own soon after.” Ursulette let out a slight hum, her hands still over her stomach. Her eyes tore away from the ceiling, her head tilting in his direction.

“How long ago was that?”

A solemn smile appeared on Ramuz’s face. “About seven hundred years.” Had it been that long? He wasn’t positive, but that sounded about right. He’d heard humans moan about forgetting their age all the time, but they only lived a few decades. It was almost laughable.

“Wow, that’s a long time,” she breathed. “How old are you?”

Ramuz hummed. “More than seven hundred years,” he said. “But, unfortunately, I am not sure. How old are you?”

“Twenty-five,” Ursulette said. “Where’d you come from?” Ramuz let a puff of air out of his nose. He wished he could give her an answer. For him, there was one moment he was not there, and the next he was. As much as it disgusted him to think about it, he often wondered if he was just some sort of geneticallywrongdemon. It was as if those flesh pools that spawned them were feeling merciful and created him. Ursulette’s lips pinched together.

“That’s kinda sad, Ramuz,” she said, a hint of sorrow in her voice. It was almost amusing to him—she just had her entire village decimated and was expressing sympathy forhim?For something that hadn’t affected him much? Perhaps it had in the past, but he couldn’t allow it to plague him for eternity. That would surely result in insanity.

“Yes, I suppose it is,” he said, “but it does not burden me anymore.”

“I’m jealous,” she mused. “Maybe one day I’ll be able to say that, too.”

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