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Souls of the Night

130.

I had been conscious for less than three seconds but I knew exactly where I was, what had happened last night and what I would see if I rolled over to the other side of the bed. And so I did not. My roar of awakening turned without ceasing into a shrill desperate screech as I put my hands in front of my eyes and curled up so that I was lying with my back to the statue of my beloved. I knew I would have to turn around eventually. But I couldn't. Not now. I still felt him! I could still feel his warmth. Not that of his magical heat but that of his real body, his loving hands, his thighs as they rubbed against mine, his insides as I was inside him. And now I would never feel it all again, never see his smile again, never hear his voice again. Every time he got excited, he lost hours. And what was that yesterday morning if not excitement? Whether the story about the gliding and fighting the criminal was true or not, I had no way of knowing if he would wake up later and how many meager minutes he would have left. IMPOSSIBLY enough to save him before he petrified completely. And that right now!

My vitreous prince had said he loved me! We had made love, had pressed our brows together - and my vow of love had been interrupted by petrification, making it worthless.

"Oh, Nate. My Nate!" I whimpered, wishing I myself were just a stone statue forever and ever because I thought my pain would tear me apart at that moment.

I froze and every muscle in my weakened body cramped painfully as a hand placed itself on my back. Then the voice that set my heart in motion again.

"Lex, hey. Please don't cry. It's all good."

I turned so abruptly that I was almost on top of Nate. He was awake! Lumps of stone crumbled from between his dreadlocks, and he shook his head, grinning and raising dust.

"You! You're-"

"Yeah?"

He grinned broadly, and if this was a delusion - which it HAD to be - it was the most beautiful one I could have dreamed up, and I never wanted to wake up again.

"You're awake," I whispered, grabbing his cheek. And that cheek was WARM! The horns hard, his breath on my skin as he laughed and the quivering of his chest on which I lay real. Too much realness to be a dream or the delusion of a madman.

"You are AWAKE! You're REAL!" I squealed shrilly, pinching him in both cheeks so that he squinted in pain despite the unchanged grin. I pushed my head so roughly against his that we both jerked back, but immediately I had my hands on his face again. On his majestic horns, on his beautiful one and a half ears, I ran my claws through his hair, along his neck, and finally I put my hands on his chest, through which I imagined I could feel his heart beating.

"You're awake, you're awake," I kept repeating, sounding and feeling like a maniac. He was here. He had to be here! Not a phantom my shattering mind had formed.

He laughed softly again and put his hands on mine, which rested on his chest.

"Feel my heartbeat, Lex. I'm real. I'm here."

"You-you-you woke up with me. With ME! In the same minute."

"Yes. Yes, I did."

He straightened up with me and I slid down him that I was almost in his lap. And we were both still naked, just a thin sheet between us. But that didn't matter. What did matter was that my partner just climbed out of bed!

I crawled after him and got a wing tip and a part of the blanket to grasp. I must have really lost weight that he just pulled me off the bed but the hell I would do to let him go.

He made a noise of amazement and dislike of my rough grip of his at the same time while trying to get to his dresser.

"Lex, let go of me."

"No! Where are you going?"

"We have to tell the others. We have to tell them I'm cured - even though I don't think I've ever been sick but whatever. We'll get dressed and tell the clan."

"No. How-how do you know? Thi-this could be our last moments together. Stay with me."

"I just know," he said doggedly and removed my hand from his wing, cutting the sheet with his claws so he could escape my iron grip of desperation. I mustered the last of my strength and crawled up him, clinging to him like the smallest hatchlings did to adults when they were taken on a flight. I would be able to stay in this position for hours even if Nathaniel's head turned purple with shame like an eggplant because my naked body was clinging to his and he felt everything- EVERYTHING.

"Please stay. I can't let you go," I croaked, feeling happy for his existence and unhappy at the possibility of his possible disappearance.

I shivered despite stone sleep because of the effort of climbing, and the clanking reminded Nathaniel for the first time again of the iron chain around my foot. He bent down (with me), put his hands around the metal and pulled. And where his gargoyle powers might not have been able to take on the solid links, the iron he held began to glow between his smoky hands, allowing him to break the crumbling chain. He seemed to have absolute control over his power, which was obviously still a part of him.

After standing up somewhat awkwardly because of my extra weight, he cleared his throat and managed to smile meekly.

"I'm not going anywhere. And I'm not going to continue to petrify or burn uncontrollably. I ... I have made peace with my inner demons. We have a truce."

"Truce?"

"Or even more than that. I can't explain it. All that matters is that, like you, I will only petrify from sunrise to sunset. You'll have that fake gargoyle in your face for many more nights until Alex undoes this."

"Are - are you COMPLETELY certain?", I asked as another tear ran down my cheek. His words were too good to be true. After all the sorrow of the last weeks, the problem couldn't just - poof- disappear. But Nathaniel smirked, lowered his head and kissed me on the wet cheek. "I'm sure," he said, and I saw no trace of falsehood in his face as he lifted his head after another kiss.

"I'll stay with you. But we have to tell your clan."

"I can te-text them," I offered, and he laughed even though it hadn't been a joke at all.

"And you don't think then everyone would rush over to see if this is just a trick of yours? And then everyone would see us ... naked."

"So what?"

He made a delightfully disapproving sourpuss face for a moment.

"Everyone fought for me, and they deserve to know as soon as possible. You and I ... we'll have time for ourselves later," he murmured, his voice becoming seductive and promising on the last words. But even though I felt my member twitch demandingly at the prospect, and I noticed Nathaniel felt it too because he was blushing again, I stubbornly shook my head.

"Th-that's not what I'm about. I - I believe you. But I can't let you go. I-I'm afraid that if I let you go, you'll disappear or petrify."

Briefly, my prince seemed nonplussed by my confession. I think it was the first time I had told him that I was afraid of something. A new illusion that I had to take away from him. But immediately his facial expression became again indulgent and affectionate.

"I'll make you a suggestion. Let's at least put on pants- and as long as I put mine on, you can hold my swing."


Lex needs therapy for fear of loss - poor guy. ^^

Thanks for reading, Q.T.