Stone Passions Trilogy by A. C. Warneke Page B

ha,” Melanie murmured, not really feeling the humor. She turned away, unable to meet her friend’s gaze. Oh, it had been an interesting, scary, night. Feeling more uncomfortable, she stood up, smoothing her sweaty palms down the front of her flannel pajama bottoms.
    “Mmm,” Vanessa said, her moan sounding suspiciously like last night’s sex fest. “Other than a headache I feel fantastic – like I had just the most incredible sex. God, I wish I remember what happened last night. Did I get lucky?”
    “Uh, not that I know of,” Melanie said, fudging the truth a bit. Did Simon count as getting lucky? Either way, she could feel the heat of a blush staining her cheeks.
    Vanessa moaned again, this time with an edge of pain, “Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever had a headache this bad before!”
    “Maybe you need some fresh air,” Melanie suggested, picking up her discarded shirt from the night before and absently folding it.
    “Oh, God, yes,” Vanessa said enthusiastically. Melanie heard Vanessa moving around on the bed and figured out her friend was probably getting up. “I think the sooner I get out of here the better off I’ll be. No offense, Mel, but your apartment kind of creeps me out.”
    “I heard that the building was haunted,” Melanie laughed nervously even as she knew the real reason why Vanessa was in such a rush to get out of there.
    Vanessa gasped in true horror, “Ghosts?”
    “Well, I think it was just a rumor,” Melanie offered with a shrug.
    “I love you to death, Lenni, but I don’t think I can stand being where ghosts might live,” Vanessa said forcefully, not realizing the apparent irony of her words. “Please, just take me home. And from now on, when we get together, we’ll do it at my place.”
    “Okay,” Melanie said slowly, figuring it was best to let Vanessa leave in such a manner. It was most likely that she wasn’t going to remember her apartment building anyway. Not if it was meant to fade away like a dream. That kind of sucked.
    It also made Melanie wonder if she was going to be allowed to bring any of her friends over or if they would all get the memory-wipe treatment of Vanessa. Would Jenna and Ferris be able to hang out with her? The possibility that her sister and niece would be unable to visit gave Melanie pause. Staying in the cool apartment building with gargoyle guardians might not be worth giving that up.
    Of course, she could always go home and visit Jenna and Ferris. It wasn't like she didn’t still have a bedroom of her own and she didn’t get along with her parents. She had just moved out less than a week before. It would all work out, even if no one else would be able to visit her apartment. Besides, there really wasn’t that much room to host a gathering anyway.
    While her mind had been wondering, Vanessa managed to get dressed in her slinky outfit from the night before. “Ready to take me home?”
    “Sure,” Melanie said, grabbing her car keys and heading for the door. At Vanessa’s laughter, she paused, “What?”
    “Don’t you think you should get dressed first?” she asked, pointedly looking at Melanie’s pajamas. “I don’t think the world is ready for your yellow kitten pants.”
    “Right,” Melanie smiled, dropping the keys and going over to the dresser and pulling out a t-shirt and pair of jeans, and whatever else she needed to get dressed. Heading into the bathroom, she paused, “Give me a moment.”
    Closing the door before Vanessa could say anything, Melanie sat down on the toilet and pulled her top off. Something caught her eye and she looked up, frowning when she saw the lion gargoyle standing guard over her sky light. She had a pretty good sense of direction and she was fairly sure that the gargoyle had been nowhere near her bathroom. Absently, she put her clothes on, wondering how the gargoyle moved.
    Which was ridiculous, of course, because the gargoyle didn’t move. She must have misjudged her position when she went up to