Malakai (Stone Society #13) - Faith Gibson Page 0,25
against the arm of the sofa. Her phone beeped, indicating a voicemail. Groaning, she pushed up to sitting and reached for her phone. Five missed texts and three calls. Scrolling through, she rolled her eyes. “Screw you, Presley.” Josie tossed the phone on the cushion next to her without responding. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. How had her day gone from one of elation to one of misery? And why did her chest hurt so bad?
After stopping off in her bathroom to pee, Josie didn’t bother washing her makeup off. She didn’t need to look in the mirror to know her face was a wreck. Between her red, puffy eyes and streaked mascara, she was bad enough to scare small children. She grabbed the hand towel off the holder as she walked by it and placed it on her pillow. If this kept up, she would need to buy darker sheets.
Josie lay on her side with her knees curled up and closed her eyes, but the wounded howl she’d heard wouldn’t stop running through her head. She felt an inexplicable need to call Malakai and check on him, but it was after three, and unlike her, he was probably asleep. After a few minutes, her body began shivering like she had a fever. Josie pulled the comforter up over the sheet, tucking it tight under her chin. Maybe there had been something in the fish after all.
Josie was too hot. She moved away from the bonfire, searching for the breeze coming off the ocean. The farther away she got, the higher the flames licked. She turned toward the water, but a line of men stood in her way. Dressed in loin cloths, Malakai and six other men stomped their feet in time with tribal drums. Josie was mesmerized, frozen in place as the heat scorched her skin. She needed to get to the water, but with every step she took, the dancers moved with her. The drums thundered louder, the beats reverberating in her chest.
“Kai, I need the water!” She waved her arms, but it was as if he looked right through her. “Kai, please!” He didn’t respond. The men, in synchronized formation, pumped their arms down, palms up, and sharp claws extended from their fingers. The men advanced on her, a stomp at a time, and Josie backed up with each step they took.
“Joselynn.”
“Malakai, please,” Josie begged, her voice lost in the night.
“Josie, wake up. She’s too hot. We gotta do something.”
Josie turned to see who was talking to her, but she was surrounded by wings. Seven pairs of leathery wings stretched out, tip to tip, in a circle of Gargoyles. Something cold touched her forehead, and Josie shivered. She tried to reach up, but her arms wouldn’t move. Her body shook violently, and she fell to her knees. The six men with Malakai disappeared as if they’d never been there, and Kai, the man, dropped to his knees in front of her.
“Josie, can you hear me?”
“Not Josie,” she muttered as her teeth chattered. “Sunshine…”
Chapter Seven
Family Day at the manor was getting underway, and Frey leaned against one of the posts on the patio, watching Amelia and Rain dancing in circles. He was amazed at how much the boy had recovered from being held by Dr. Craven. The kids fell down, dizzy, and Frey grinned at their antics. When the glass door slid open, Frey looked over his shoulder to find Rafael stepping outside with Sebastian in his arms.
“How’d you manage that?” Frey asked, tilting his head toward his nephew.
Rafe grinned. “I pulled the King card.”
“Rafe?” Julian came around the side of the house. “Good, you’re out here.”
“What’s up, Jules?”
“It might be nothing, but someone was searching for Kaya on the internet. I didn’t get the alert until this morning, or I would have called. I traced the IP address to Joselynn Pierson. No worries on that. She’s possibly Kai’s mate,” Julian elaborated.
“Why would Kai’s mate be searching for Kaya on the internet?” Rafael asked, patting his sleeping son on his diapered bottom.
Frey turned, giving them his attention. “Kai had a date with Joselynn last night. Maybe it went well and he was talking about mates?” Frey couldn’t think of any other reason. His phone rang in his pocket. When Frey saw it was Lawton, he frowned. Frey excused himself, and as he stepped away from his brother and cousin, he put the phone to his ear.