Page 49 of The Last Gargoyle's Christmas Wish
Why wasn’t Uzoth waking?
“Uzoth!” Grady’s fingers grasped rock-hard arms. Were they stone? “Uzoth!” he screamed. “Wake up!”
This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t lose Uzoth like this.
“Uzoth! I’m so sorry.”
He tried to shake Uzoth, but suddenly his fingers slipped free. With a cry, he tipped backwards. His feet kicked out. He began to fall.
CHAPTER 28
Uzoth’s hand snapped out and gripped Grady’s chest, clawed fingers digging in, stopping the man from plummeting off the roof.
Grady cried out. His arms flailed, and he clutched at Uzoth’s wrist with both hands. His nails dug into Uzoth’s skin. He made a choked noise, drawing himself towards Uzoth and casting a glance at the ground below.
“Grady?” Uzoth blinked slowly as awareness came back to him. “What are you doing up here? It is dangerous. You almost fell.”
He pulled Grady to him, holding him firmly with both hands around the waist. He tried to comprehend what had come to pass and why Grady was here.
Tears streaked down Grady’s cheeks. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“What is wrong?” Uzoth frowned. “Has something happened to your siblings?”
Grady shook his head. His lips moved. But no sound came out.
“Grady?”
“You wouldn’t wake!” Grady said hoarsely, voice quivering.
Uzoth stared at him. “Oh.” Over the past few days, Uzoth had felt himself slip deeper and deeper into stasis. “Yes. I have been moving slower the past few days.”
“I kept calling you. I yelled.” Grady’s eyes flicked over Uzoth’s face before fixing on his eyes. “But you wouldn’t wake. I thought you’d turned into a statue.”
“I apologise if I scared you.” Uzoth had not realised he’d stopped moving entirely. If he had not responded to Grady yelling out to him or climbing out on the roof, then Uzoth truly had been in the process of turning to stone. “But I am awake now.”
His heart beat far slower than it should in his chest. Blood still pumped. But it moved languidly through his veins.
Grady let out a breath. He nodded. “You are awake.” He closed his eyes, breathing heavily. “You are awake. You did not turn into a statue,” he said as if trying to reassure himself.
“I am sorry I distressed you.”
Grady took another deep breath and opened his eyes. He licked his lips. “Will you come down to the apartment?”
“Is something wrong?” Uzoth asked. “Do you or your family need my assistance?”
Snowflakes began to float down. Uzoth opened his wings, but at first, he struggled to unfurl them. He managed to wrap his wings around them, protecting Grady from the falling snow.
“No. Nothing is wrong.” Grady’s grey eyes stared into his. “Well, one thing is wrong.”
“What? If I can help in any way, I of course will.” No matter what had occurred between them, Uzoth would always assist Grady.
At least until he turned to stone and would not wake again.
Perhaps he should fly away so Grady would not have to see him as a statue. It would distress Grady to stare up at Uzoth’s ghastly frozen figure. But the idea of leaving Grady had noappeal to Uzoth. Even if he no longer lived, Uzoth wished to stay close to Grady.
But he would not condemn Grady to see his lifeless form gazing down at him for the rest of his life. He did not want to cause Grady that pain.
“What’s wrong is that you are not in my apartment. You belong in my apartment. With me, not out here in the cold.” Grady reached out and cupped the side of Uzoth’s neck, his thumb stroking. The warmth of Grady’s hand penetrated his skin.
