Bound by Stone (Protectors of Magic Book 3)

  Bound by Stone

  Protectors of Magic - Book Three

  Jenna Wolfhart

  Bound by Stone

  Book 3 of The Protectors of Magic Series

  Cover Design by Covers by Christian

  Copyright © 2018 by Jenna Wolfhart

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also by Jenna Wolfhart

  Part I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Part II

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Part III

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Part IV

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  About the Author

  Also by Jenna Wolfhart

  Protectors of Magic

  Wings of Stone

  Carved in Stone

  Bound by Stone

  Shadows of Stone (coming soon)

  In the same universe as The Protectors of Magic Series…

  The Bone Coven Chronicles

  Witch’s Curse

  Witch’s Storm

  Witch’s Blade

  Witch’s Fury

  Part I

  A Bond of Magic

  Chapter 1

  Jasper had turned to stone. Every beat of my heart was painful, as if a boa constrictor had wrapped tight around my arteries. I stood on the stone passageway with my eyes locked on his steel gray body. The crescent moon half-hidden behind thick rolling clouds barely illuminated the skinny alley, and it felt as though the walls on either side of us were closing in like the jaws of a hungry shark.

  Every single inch of him was frozen. From the tip of the finger that stretched toward the night sky to his heavy boots now anchored to the ground. And his face...it was contorted into an expression of shock and pain, those brilliant golden eyes of his now dulled into gray.

  Tears slid down my cheeks, hot and painful. This was all my fault. Jasper hadn’t merely shifted. He hadn’t turned because of the disappearing magic that plagued this city either. No, this was my fault. I could feel it in my bones. We’d kissed. He’d broken his oath. Whatever bond that held us together had now forced him to turn into stone.

  I clutched the shirt around my heart as sobs shook my body, and I fell to my knees. How could I have let this happen? How could I have been stupid enough to give into a kiss when I knew what it would cause? All this time, I’d been fighting so hard to stop my gargoyle guardians from becoming permanent stone, and yet I’d ended up being the one to cause it. Regardless of all the battles. Regardless of all the pain. Regardless of all those lives we’d lost along the way.

  I pressed my hands against the cool stone and took deep breaths in through my nose. It was next to impossible to hear myself think over the roar of the blood in my ears. I couldn’t just stay here like this, weeping in an alley and watching my tears plop onto the dusty ground. I had to at least try to undo whatever it was I’d caused. I owed that much to Jasper, at least.

  With a shaky breath, I forced myself to stand and rip my gaze away from Jasper’s stone body. In the distance, a single light flickered in the Scriptorium. Was that Marcus, waiting for me? Or Eli, wondering where Jasper was?

  My heart lurched once again. I couldn’t bear to imagine what they would think of me when they found out what I’d done. Marcus had told me it didn’t matter that I’d once kissed Jasper, but he might not feel the same about this one. I couldn’t lose him, too.

  And Silas...broody yet sweet Silas. No way in hell he’d take it very well either. He didn’t like anyone to know he cared, and yet he was extremely protective over everyone.

  And Sebastian...well, I would never go to him for help ever again. He would most likely delight in the fact I’d accidentally turned one of them to stone.

  That left Kipling and Eli. Maybe they would know what to do. Eli had taken the same vow, the same oath. He was bound to me, my protector. If anyone in the world knew how to reverse this spell or curse or whatever it was, it would be him.

  With one hand curled tight into a fist, I reached out the other and pressed it to Jasper’s body. He was cold and hard and...lifeless. I swallowed hard, fighting back the new wave of tears that threatened to pour from my aching eyes. Only moments ago, he’d been flesh and bone. His eyes had been full of light. His smile had sparked a fire in my gut.

  And now he was nothing but a rock.

  “I’m so sorry, Jasper,” I whispered, though I had no way of knowing if he could hear me. But maybe he could. If he was somewhere inside that stone form of his, I needed him to know I’d try to save him. I would make my own vow, my own oath.

  Leaning forward and up onto my toes, I pressed my forehead against his, breathing in the misty scent of him. “I’ll do everything in my power to make this right. I will go to the ends of the earth if it means I can get you back. I promise you that.”

  And with that, I turned from my guardian and flew down the streets, my feet slapping hard against the stone ground. Tears poured from my eyes, but I didn’t bother to brush them aside. When I reached the Scriptorium, I was breathless. My cheeks were flushed and my hair was wild, a cascade of silver around my shoulders. But I didn’t care.

  Eli and Kipling were both inside the main lobby of the building, bent over a large tome that was spread across the antique desk. The flickering fire cast orange glows on their faces, and shadows danced on the walls. Alaric stood—as always—in the corner nearest the door, an eerie reminder of Jasper’s fate. If only it were the same. Alaric, though stone as he was, sometimes fought against the magic that prevented him from shifting back into man. If only Jasper could, too.

  Kipling and Eli both glanced up when they heard my feet shuffle against the floor. When they saw the look on my face, they were instantly on their feet. Kipling’s frown pulled down the corners of his ancient eyes, the lines on his forehead highlighting a weariness that he tried his best to hide.

  “Ro, what’s wrong?” Eli said, crossing the room in two quick strides. He took my arms in his gentle hands, his mossy green eyes searching my face for answers I didn’t know how to give. How could I explain this? How could I tell him I’d turned his oldest friend to stone?

  “It’s Jasper.” My heart squeezed tight, and I blurted out the words before I lost the courage. “He kissed me, and now he’s turned to stone because of the oath he made.”

  Silence crashed around us.

  It lasted several long torturous moments before Eli sucked in a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder at Kipling. The older man’s eyes flashed, and he sunk heavily into his chair.

  Eli turned back toward me. “Ro. We’re going to need you to tell us everything.”

  So, I blurted it all out. Every heart-wrenching detai
l. From our first kiss on the cliffs, to his agonizing rejection, and to my repeated attempts to claim his affection again. To the second kiss. And then to his horrifying shift into stone.

  When I was done speaking, my head felt light and fuzzy, as if I’d entered some alternate universe where the people I knew and loved kept dropping like flies.

  But it wasn’t some alternate universe. This was reality.

  “What can we do?” I asked, glancing from Eli to Kipling. The old steward leaned against the desk, his head in his hands. He merely shook his head in response.

  “Jasper is not the first gargoyle shifter to give into the temptation of falling for his...”

  “His assignment,” I finished for him. A word that still felt like a stab in the heart.

  “Yes, assignment,” Kipling said, finally glancing up from the desk. “That was what you were supposed to be to him, Rowena, and there is a reason the oath exists as it does. To create a bond between you, for your protection. When you add feelings and emotions into the mix, things get messy. Guardians need to remain uncompromised in order to do their jobs.”

  A flash of pain went through my gut. “Are you saying he deserved this? Are you saying he should be punished this severely for having a moment of...of caring?”

  “Oh, Rowena. Of course not,” Kipling said, this time a bit softer. “This situation here, in the city, with you and the gargoyles...it’s a lot more nuanced than that. But an oath is an oath, and he broke it. There is no going back from that, as much as it pains me to say.”

  Fury and frustration rose up within me, at the oath, at Kipling. Hell, even at myself. I refused to believe it was over. I couldn’t believe it was over. Not like this.

  “Eli?” I turned back to my other guardian. He’d spent three years by Jasper’s side, protecting me and keeping me safe. Surely he couldn’t give up on his partner that easily.

  He shook his head, his face crumpled. “I took that same oath, Ro. There’s no going back from it. It’s not the kind of thing you make in passing. It’s an oath to the goddess. The one who created us all.”

  To my grandmother.

  The one who had brought magic into the world. The one who had left the realm to fend for itself.

  She had caused this then.

  For some reason, that made it far worse.

  Chapter 2

  “You swore an oath to Hecate?” I asked, mind still wrapping around this new information. “How? I thought she didn’t live in this realm anymore.”

  “It’s difficult to explain,” Eli said.

  Kipling let out a heavy sigh, raising a finger in the air to interrupt my flurry of questions. “Where is Jasper now?”

  I frowned. Right now, all I wanted was some answers, but Kipling didn’t seem particularly eager to give me any. “He’s in an alley several streets over. The one just behind what used to be a bakery.”

  He gave a nod and pushed up from the creaking chair. “I will go take a look at him and see if we need to move him. When gargoyles freeze in the middle of streets...well, we prefer not to leave them there.”

  The thought of seeing Jasper again, in his cold stone form, made that boa constrictor squeeze tight around my heart again. “Do you want me to show you where he is?”

  He held up his hand and gave me a weary smile. “That’s not necessary, Rowena. I know the place you’re referring to. You stay here so Eli can answer any questions you might have. He’s the best one to do so.”

  And with that, Kipling was out the door, leaving me feeling as though I’d caused him great disappointment. He was usually so kind and so caring. And so patient. Now, he seemed as though the very sight of me caused him pain.

  Eli sighed and motioned for me to sit in the chair that Kipling had just vacated. “Don’t let his reaction get to you. He’s just...well, he’s sad, Ro. Kipling has been with us for years. He’s a father figure, I guess. There were only five of us left, and now there’s only four. It’s hard on him to see us go like this.”

  I winced and closed my eyes. “And it’s all my fault. He probably hates me.”

  “He doesn’t hate you.” A hand on my knee. Soft and gentle, so different from what I probably deserved. “And he doesn’t blame you. If Jasper turned to stone, then it wasn’t because you kissed him. It would have been because he kissed you, without caring about the damn oath. Hecate could feel the truth of his actions within his soul.”

  “So you don’t blame me?” I hated to ask, but I also had to know.

  “No, I blame Jasper.” He let out a heavy sigh. “He knew full well what he was doing. Hell, we just talked about it yesterday.”

  My heart squeezed tight. “You were talking about me?”

  That didn’t give me much of a thrill, not like it would have before. The thought of the two of them discussing Jasper’s oath and whatever was going on between us...especially knowing full well that Marcus and I were kind of an item. What did Eli think of me? This was all becoming so confusing.

  “He told me about the first kiss and how he pushed you away. That was why he didn’t shift then, you know.” Eli eased into the chair next to me and dropped his other hand on my knee. I swallowed hard at the touch and stood, desperately hoping that the closeness wouldn’t cause him to turn, too. “And then he told me he couldn’t stop thinking about you, and I tried to talk him out of doing anything stupid. I guess I failed.”

  I hated that something stupid was what Eli thought of me.

  “Anyway, you wanted to know about our oath.” He motioned for me to sit again, but I couldn’t manage. Not when my emotions were charging so furiously through my veins. Instead, I leaned against the desk and nodded for him to continue. “Whenever a gargoyle takes on a true assignment, we travel to Mont Circeo to swear an oath to the goddess. Underneath the mountain, there are some caves. She left a part of the veil open there, the one between the human realm and the realm of the gods. She can hear us through it.”

  I staggered back. “There’s an open part of the veil between our realms, and it leads straight to my grandmother? How come no one has told me about this before now? Where is it? How hard is it to go through?”

  “And this is why we thought it best not to tell you,” Eli said, raising his eyebrows in a knowing look. “You cannot go there, Rowena.”

  “And why the hell not?” I asked in a snap. “This is the solution to everything. If I can just talk to Hecate, I can tell her what’s going on here with the hunters. She could help us. And besides that, she could reverse what’s happened to Jasper. She was the one who accepted his oath. If she understands how terrible this is, she’ll reverse it.”

  Eli gave a quick shake of his head. “If only it were that easy.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Hecate doesn’t stand around on the other side of the veil waiting for gargoyles to make oaths to her.” He closed his eyes, his expression reflecting the same weary exhaustion that Kipling had sported. “She must be summoned. The only one who can do that is the Oracle, but no one has seen or heard from her in over two years. It’s why Marcus’s oath of protection to the Blood Coven was not binding. He never swore it to the goddess.”

  “Surely there must be some other way,” I said, refusing to believe that this new information wasn’t the very thing I’d been hoping to find. If only I could speak to Hecate, everything would be different. Even if she no longer wanted to be involved with the human realm, surely she wouldn’t want magic to disappear from the world. Surely she wouldn’t want an innocent gargoyle to remain as stone just because he had a moment of weakness.

  “I have searched all of these books.” Eli gestured at the hall filled with ancient texts. “Not a single one of them says anything about how to summon Hecate. Trust me, we have all tried these past two years. We’ve visited Mont Circeo on more than one occasion. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

  With a heavy sigh, I pushed away from the desk. Eli’s hand touched my arm, and I froze. His gaze was piercing, as i
f he could see every tortured thought spinning through my mind like a volatile tornado. This was all my fault. And I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.

  “Please don’t beat yourself up over this, Ro,” he said, the grip on my arm tightening as he pulled me closer to him. Suddenly, I was far too aware of how close our bodies now were. My chest brushed his, and his lips were so close that I could see every strand of stubble on his strong jaw. I swallowed hard, heat pouring into my stomach.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off. A siren blared in the distance, and Eli jerked his chin toward the sound. His eyes went dark and hollow. “We have visitors.”

  Chapter 3

  We didn’t have to wait long to discover who had dropped in to visit the City of Wings. Rebecca strode into the Scriptorium just behind Kipling, her long blonde hair swishing against her curvy hips. She spotted me and gave me a weird salute before turning toward the door. Three others strode through it. One girl and two men, all casting curious gazes around the room.

  I sucked in a sharp breath and pressed my hand to my chest. One of the men was undeniably fae. His golden skin glowed under the pale light of the lamps, and the tips of his ears were pointed, cutting through his pale hair. A pair of bronze wings fluttered behind him, and then they were gone, hidden under an illusion.