Myths and Gargoyles by Jamie Hawke (interesting books to read in english txt) 📕

She frowned, hand still on my leg, and said, “Aerona.”

I nodded, glancing at her hand on my leg, then back up at her captivating eyes, wondering what exactly was happening here and what the purpose of this whole experience was. Before I had a chance to find my answers, though, it all started to fade.

“He’s leaving us,” Irla said, as I felt my body fading.

A glance down confirmed this, just as a third woman entered the room. There was something special about this one, though. Somehow, I knew her.

Tall, slender, wearing a red robe drawn around her shoulders to cover the gold-plated armor beneath. Wavy black hair fell over her left shoulder. Her eyes met mine, and then I knew.

“Ebrill?” I asked, her eyes widening in surprise as I was pulled out from that world.

79

My eyes sprang open, staring into Ebrill’s closed ones.

“Was it you? Were you there?”

Only, she wasn’t moving. She was stone.

Shit, it was daytime. She had not only turned to stone but was still lying on me, arm draped over me in a way that made moving her off very awkward. In the process, I accidentally grazed her boob, only to realize how stupid a thing that was to be concerned about. She happened to be stone, it wasn’t exactly the same as when she was in the flesh.

I would have to wait until nightfall to ask her about my crazy experience, apparently. How had she gotten from that strange place to where we were now? She had been human, or, actually, now that I thought about it, her ears might have been unusually pointed. Was she an elf or something similar, once upon a time? My mind was spinning with questions, my nerves rattled with the thought that I couldn’t have my answers yet.

Even when night fell, for all I knew, she still wouldn’t remember.

I headed for the bathroom. My limbs were stiff, my bladder full, and morning wood raged like a motherfucker. Apparently, that happens when being cuddled by a hot gargoyle and going back in time to see her and other beautiful women as… elves? The thoughts were hitting me now that I was awake, and it all sounded so much crazier.

In a world where I’d been told I was crazy for thinking I could alter my surroundings with my mind, to finding out it was magic and there was so much more… did time travel via sleep seem so out there? Fuck it, I decided. Might as well go with the flow and see where it took me. Speaking of flow, damn, did I have to piss. I entered the bathroom, did my best not to make a mess, and then decided to wash off the sweat that had soaked right through the back of my shirt last night.

A result of the dreams, or travel, perhaps? Meaning, my body had likely stayed here, while my mind did some crazy astral projection shit. Or… something like that. Who knew?

I undressed to take a shower, pausing at the thought that Ebrill was lying right there on the bed. Damn, the way her loincloth fell back to reveal her ass was hot, and to think she had been sleeping next to me, curled up against me! Checking out a statue… an odd moment, for sure.

At least I didn’t have to worry about her sneaking a peek, although it wasn’t like that really would have been a negative. Her being awake in this scenario was by far my preferred choice. As I stripped and stepped into the shower, I kept imagining her shedding the stone as she had the night before and then stepping in to join me. Shampoo cascaded down my face and I closed my eyes, instead imagining her as the elf lady version of herself. Both were sexy in their way.

I was very confused about all of this. My aunt had died on my first night in Washington, D.C. Not some fantasy land, not some place where elves or gargoyles existed, and certainly not a world where it made sense for a girlfriend to suddenly become a demon with her own little evil army.

Speaking of which, I wondered why I didn’t hear any attacks. They had to know Ebrill was a gargoyle and would be asleep during the day, so this would be the best time to attack. I finished rinsing and dried off on my way to the bedroom window to pull the curtains aside and have a look.

It had to be midday, or at least late morning, judging by the angle of the sun. There were no attacks, no walls of fire or even burnt trees. Everything looked so… ordinary. Aside from the sleeping, stone gargoyle in my bed—creating a massive indentation in the mattress, I noticed—it was as if none of the night before had happened.

“Will you need breakfast?” a voice said, and my head jerked up as I realized at once that I had dropped my towel, and that Fatiha, the servant lady, stood in the doorway, staring with an amused smile.

“Yes, please.” I played it cool, as if this were normal, although in my head I was shrieking, covering myself, and running into the bathroom.

She nodded, gave my package another glance, and walked off. “It will be ready in the…” She paused as she turned back. This time, her eyes went to the bed, instead. “Oh. I see you, er, made a new friend.”

“The statue?”

When her eyes met mine, the smile gone. I had no doubt that she knew Ebrill was more than a statue. “Where is Gertrude this morning?”

“That…” My hands finally moved to cover myself, finding it much more awkward when she wasn’t checking me out, for some reason. “Do you mind if I dress, first?”

An intense sorrow filled her eyes as she apparently took my meaning from those words. She nodded and stepped away as she added, “Tell me over breakfast.”

My heart thudded as I