Page 15 of Heartsong
“You keep saying that, but I don’t understand.”
“The fae are who cursed us. They are cruel and devious. You cannot be anywhere near them.”
Anna shook her head. She remembered him talking of them before, but in the whirlwind of last night, in the face of a gargoyle statue coming to life, it just hadn’t sunk in. Between gargoyles and now fae apparently being real, it was a large coffee kind of morning.
“If they’re the ones who cursed you,” she reasoned, “then it would make sense their magick would be all around you, wouldn’t it?”
Sense and magick don’t belong in the same sentence.
Frey frowned, considering, but just as quickly shook his head, making his fall of dark hair shine in the burgeoning morning light.
“It felt different. Not the same.”
Anna threw up her hands. “I don’t want to argue about semantics. I need to get ready.”
She pushed past him to scoop out Captain’s breakfast as the little void monster made figure-eights between her legs and then hurried to her bathroom. Frey followed a step behind, that thunderous frown carved onto his brow.
“You willnot,my Anna. I forbid it.”
She pointed her toothbrush in warning. “Tone it down, buddy. You don’t get to boss me around.” She was barely accepting he was real at all; she certainly wasn’t going to accept him giving her orders.
“I am not, I am simply concerned over your safety. You cannot—”
An odd sound escaped his throat, making Anna jerk in his direction—something like a gurgle or a groan, it was followed by a vicious hiss as Frey’s gaze whipped to the windows. A rare clear San Francisco morning, Anna watched as dawn light spilled into the room, the sun climbing over the Coastal Range to the east.
Frey’s great body shuddered, and he staggered forward, reaching out to her as if through water. His wings stiffened, his hands froze, and his eyes—
Anna shrieked in horror as his eyes bled of all light and life, going cold and dark as stone.
In a few mere moments, the apartment was bright with morning sun, illuminating the gargoyle statue in the middle of her apartment.
“Oh my god!” She lurched toward him, reaching out with trembling fingers to gently touch his cheek—and immediately recoiled when she only felt cool stone.
“Oh, no.” Anna gazed up at him, desperate to see any signs of life, but he remained motionless. “Are…are you there? Frey?” she whispered, heart clenched with dread.
He didn’t answer, as imposingly silent as he’d been in the museum.
That silence echoed through the apartment, as loud as a thunderstorm and just as devastating.
Anna’s face scrunched with tears, sadness sudden and crushing bearing down on her. She couldn’t explain it, she barely knew this mythic monster, but seeing him returned to stone…
Would he wake up again?
When it became clear he wouldn’t, Anna finally backed away, catching herself on the bathroom doorframe. Splashing cold water and scrubbing her face barely did anything to the shock gripping her tighter than a fist.
She numbly went through changing her clothes and gathering the few things she had. Every few seconds, she looked at Frey, hoping to see that stone crumble away to reveal him again. But he was always where she’d left him, frozen and lifeless.
Shaken, Anna scooped Captain into her arms and hugged him tight. His warm little body and purr gave her some comfort.
Kissing his soft black forehead, she whispered, “Watch over him today, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
The Milton Building wasn’t the hive of activity Anna thought it’d be. It wasn’t that she wanted to navigate police tape and journalists to get into work, but the sight of the quiet street front was nearly as unnerving as the statue in her apartment.
A pair of squad cars were parked outside the building, but otherwise, it was the usual fare of people on their way to work. Anna wove through them across the sidewalk and hurried down the little alleyway between the Milton and its neighbor, using her fob to unlock the supply door.
Inside, the museum was eerily quiet. The wide heels of her boots clacked overloud on the stone tile as she made her way to the lobby. No other staff or docents loitered in the breakroom. No visitors shuffled toward the bathroom or side stairs up to the second level. It wasn’t until she made the lobby that she finally spotted anyone.
Carrie and Gavin Gwyneth stood with two uniformed police officers as well as a suited detective near Anna’s usual front desk.
