Page 42 of Monster Daddies

A way to sever the stonebound curse completely during the day.

My Daddies could be fully human while the sun shines. They could walk with me, talk with me, laugh with me. Hold me in their arms without stone separating us.

My eyes fly over the page, taking in everything on it, and my heart sinks at what I see at the bottom.

A warning.

As always, with magic there is a payment.

If they become fully human during the day, their gargoyle selves will only exist at night. And if they have no magic during the day... neither does the manor.

"Oh…" I let out a soft sob as my hand caresses the walls of the small space. "You'd give up your magic for me?" I quietly ask the manor.

I could never ask it to do that.

Nor could I ask my Daddies to be willing to give up their gargoyle selves. Even if it was only for the daylight hours.

I closed the secret door and sink down on the soft carpet of my safe haven, Arabella cradled in my lap.

"I don't know what to do," I whisper into the quiet room.

The house hums again, and the door pushes against my back, as if the manor is trying to tell me what I should do.

But I don't know if I can.

Chapter Eighteen

Jodrick

It's been three days since Avalon started carrying that sadness in her eyes.

Three days of watching her laugh and dance through the halls like nothing's wrong, while something deep in the bond between us tugs and frays at the edges.

I know the bond is new. Raw and shining, stitched into our souls with something finer than what my gargoyle nature is used to.

And as new and fragile as it is, it's coming across clear enough that something is wrong.

"You're overthinking it," Viraat grunts beside me as we haul another crate of welcome gifts up the main staircase.

But his scowl says otherwise.

He feels it too, the cranky fucker.

"I'm not," I mutter, shifting the box against my hip. "You feel it too, don't deny it."

He doesn't argue. Just drops his crate with a thud heavy enough to rattle the floorboards and scrubs a hand through his long messy hair.

The air between us vibrates with unspoken worry.

"Okay, fine. She's hiding something," he growls under his breath. "It almost feels like the bond isweak."

I flinch at the word.

I've been trying to avoid it, even in my own thoughts, because it feels like a brand burning into my heart.

"It's notweak," I bite out, "and whatever it is, we can fix it. We just have to reach her."

Viraat grunts again, but there's an underlying emotion he's trying to hide.