4 - We Are Gathered by Jackie Ivie Page A

toward her, giving her a perfect glimpse of his profile. The man was absolutely beautiful. He should be up on a billboard somewhere, showcasing something. That’s what he should be doing. He shouldn’t be here, at her doorstep, trying to leave her.
    “When you became a…vampire. Did it hurt?”
    “I’d already taken a sword to my belly, Friudil. It takes a powerful long time to die with a wound like that. Anything else was secondary to that pain.”
    “So…you don’t remember?”
    “I recall it perfectly. I was lying on the sand, looking up at a star-filled night, surrounded by dead, and almost dead, while the creatures who feed on carrion sniffed about. We’d lost the battle hours earlier, but nobody came to check for wounded. There wasn’t a sound anywhere other than my own heart, slowing with every beat. There’s an odd sense of being out of sync with your own body. It’s akin to being a circling vulture, watching your own body die. And then Akron was there, asking me if I really wanted this, or if I wanted an eternity he could grant me. It was an easy choice.”
    “So…it does hurt, but it’s worth it. Is that what you’re saying?”
    “Oh, tell him to take you, Rori! Put the man out of his misery. It’s obvious he loves you. And it’s just as obvious you love him. Isn’t it obvious, Naomi?”
    Tristan whirled to face her, pulling Rori against him for protection, while they both looked up to the second-story window. Both her roommates were there, leaning out over the windowsill.
    “I’m just glad to see you’re back. And in perfect condition.”
    “Well, I need more. We can’t, like, listen to this much longer. We’re going to march right down there and accept the man for you. What do you want? Him to get on bended knee?”
    Rori flicked a hand and not only did the blind come rippling down, but the sound of doors slamming was easily heard out in the street.
    “Bended knee? Would that help?”
    The whiff of air from Tristan’s whisper sent a shiver racing her, and when it reached the ends of all her limbs, it just restarted again. Rori pivoted, put her arms about his neck and drew his head to hers.
    “I love you, Tristan. I want you. And I need you. There isn’t any life without you. I don’t even care if it hurts. It’ll pass…right?”
    “You’re saying yes?”
    “What else do you need, Tristan?”
    “She wants me!”
    He put his head back and crowed it. Loudly. And with such volume it echoed down the street. Her roommates clapped, and she didn’t hear much after that since Tristan had her locked in his arms with such strength she could only take small whiffs of air.
    “Go on, you two! Get a room. And don’t worry about us. We’ll make all your excuses when we report you missing.”
    “Yeah. If anyone asks, we’ll tell them, like, our roommate turned into a witch, and then a vampire came and took her away. That should work.”
    “You’re going to get us locked away, Elizabeth. I swear.”
    “How so? It’s the truth. I’ll take a lie detector test. Think of it! We might even make the tabloids!”
    The voices faded as they pulled back into the room, and shut the window.
    “I think I’ll miss them.”
    Tristan was laughing as he said it, and then he was rising, soaring, and gyrating to music that was carried on the wind. And he took her with him.
     -o0o-
    Keep Reading for a Sample of Lori Devoti’s When Gargoyles Fly .
    Chapter 1, When Gargoyles Fly
     
    She touched him. Her fingers were warm, soft and undeniably human. Mord Gabion blinked, slow painful movements of his eyelids. They creaked like stone scratching stone, like a gargoyle coming to life while his body was still frozen in its sleep--which he was.
    He shouldn't be awake, shouldn't be aware of those supple fingers, or the scent of ginger and spice drifting toward him. Shouldn't be aware of anything--ever again, but he was.
    Her fingers ran down the planes of his chest, traced the line of bone that formed the