He slid out of the bed, stretching, tying his black drawstring pants and running a hand over his flat abs. “I put her room next to yours. Follow me,” he said, holding his hand out.
He waited, and he inwardly smiled as she quickly entwined her hand with his. He slowly walked toward a wooden inlaid wall, pulling back a red-and-gold woven tapestry. He pushed, and a click then a pop sound drew in Sanna's attention.
She watched as the wall opened and he slid it to the side, walking forward. He reached out to gently pull her with him.
Sanna could see Kyo lying in a massive canopy bed, curled in a ball. The room was huge and beautiful, fitting her eclectic style. She wondered how Khamun knew. She quickly recalled everything he'd shared with her last night, and she shook her head. That's why he knew.
“Kyo?” Sanna whispered. She walked forward, flexing her hands at her sides, fear and uncertainty eating at her stomach with each step she took.
“Baby, she's in stasis. She won't wake up until five,” Khamun gently replied as he stood back, his arms folded across his barrel of a chest. He knew she had to do this on her own, so he gave her space. He was going to be by her side through her education, even if she had to learn it herself.
Sanna shook her head as she pulled back the curtain, a slight smile playing on her face. She was ready to shake Kyo awake before she gasped. Blinking, she saw Kyo lay curled up, a bundle of sheets wrinkled around her. Her eyes were closed peacefully, but from her legs, her chest, and part of her upper arms was nothing but granite that seemed to fuse with her skin and clothes.
“What is this?” She quickly turned and looked at Khamun.
“Her nature. She's in her awakening too. You both haven't gone through the final stages yet, so right now, she is partially in her Gargoyle stasis.”
“What does that mean, Khamun? My sister is half of a statue! What does that mean?” Sanna reached out to touch Kyo, jerking back in shock at the hardness of the granite.
“It means, as the sun rises, her kind goes into hibernation, turning into stone as a means of protection, to rise again as the sun sets. Some rise at midnight, others earlier or later. Kyo is in the early phases of changing, so she will be up early.”
“That is not acceptable. Wake her up!” Shaking Kyo's sleeping body, Sanna cried, scared and confused.
“Baby, I can't. It's their way. Not all Gargoyles are the same, though. She may sleep later than others, because of her connection to you, or she may rise early. I don't know. But I can't change it. Sometimes when they are anxious they âstone,' so just be aware, baby.”
Sanna glanced over her shoulder and clasped Kyo's still human hand. “This is crazy.”
Heading to the door, Khamun scoffed, “Wait 'til she gets her wings. I'm getting you some lunch. I'll be back.”
She watched him disappear, and she dropped her hands in her face. All of this was too much. Yeah, last night all calculated in her mind, and it made sense. But that didn't mean she understood or accepted it all of the way. It was too out there, too unbelievable.
Her father had sacrificed himself for his family. He didn't die in some obscure war while serving in the Air Force like she had been told. No, he died a different warrior's death. It was strange. A part of her was pissed about all the lies, but after having gone through fighting for her life, not once but three times, due to demons called the Curse, she could understand it. Hell. She could rationalize it all and put herself in her mother's shoes. If it was her and Khamun . . . She had to stop herself and smile. No. If it was her, she would do whatever she could to protect her children.
Exhaling, she studied Kyo's sleeping form. She looked beautiful in her peaceful rest, and exhausted. Sanna knew if she was awake, Kyo would have some colorful commentary for it all. She'd probably joke and ask why Khamun wasn't between her legs right now. Not that she didn't want him in that way, because she did. It just scared her how much she wanted him.
When she touched him, she saw how hard it was for him to watch over her and want her at the same time. She also saw that he was dealing with something more with his personal life. Something in relation to dealing with what he really was. And she was still curious about it.
Angels with fangs?
That wasn't anything she had ever been taught angels looked like, but here he sat. Hell, she was one of them. Idly touching her lips, she felt him enter the room. She could sense him as he studied her.
“Will I get fangs?” she quietly asked as she ran the pad of her thumb over her straight teeth.
“Yeah. All of our kind have them.” Khamun sat opposite Kyo. He held three sandwiches, two Caesar chicken salads and ice cold water on a tray.
Sanna's stomach growled as she licked her lips. “So do you all, like, drink blood and whatnot?” She reached for the salad Khamun offered. She smiled. “Thank you. Did you make this yourself?”
“Yes and no to both questions. I had to fight my personal chef to make your lunch. He forgets that I had to fringe for myself for a while because I chose to and I like to eat, so I learned how to cook like an Iron Chef.” He handed Sanna a glass of water. “Some of us feed from other willing Nephilims, some of us don't, so I can't answer if you will have the Thirst or not. Some in Society feel that it's beneath them to feed, but we have these things for a reason, you know.”
Throwing down on the salad, Sanna closed her eyes. It was so damn good. It wasn't a traditional Caesar salad. Lightly seasoned grill chicken sat on top of spinach leaves, with red, yellow, and julienned green peppers and onions. The sauce was out of this world, with parmesan cheese on top. She almost cried over how good it was.
She tilted her head in realization. “When you say you learned to cook like an Iron Chef, do you mean I taught you? Or were you there while I was in school?”
Khamun smirked as he slowly chewed his sandwich, pretending he didn't catch what she said. The free crinkly strains of his locks spilled over his shoulder. Like fingers wanting to touch him and get as close to his smooth, dark cinnamon brown skin.
“Khamun!” Sanna's eyes widened as he continued to smile, and he nodded with a slight shrug.
“Yes to both. I told you I've been around you for a long time. Sanna?”
Flushing red, Sanna looked down at her bowl as she quickly glanced up. It was something in the way he said her name that had her feeling cherished and desired. Something she hadn't felt in a long time, or ever, from another man.
“Yeah? I like how you say my name, baby.” Biting her lower lip, she almost kicked herself as she blurted out, “I want to go home as soon as Kyo wakes up.”
Silence filled the room, and Sanna's heart began to pump a thousand times a minute as she realized how that must've sounded. “IâI mean.” She looked up.
Khamun softly smiled. “It's all good. I know you can't stay here forever. I'll take you both home as soon she wakes up and eats.”
Staring at her lap, Sanna felt tears well up as she slowly breathed in and out. “I didn't mean to offend you. It's just. You. I want, I want you so bad. But, like you said, I need to know you, and all of this is insane. I need to feel my world. My home.”
Khamun just watched her as he nodded and ate.
Silence felt like the best thing for both of them as they waited on Kyo.
Tension made Sanna shift uncomfortably as she ate a chicken salad sandwich that had her shaking her head again at how damn good it was. She kind of felt a little jealous of his skills, but she kept it to herself, or so she thought.
She looked up when he chuckled. “What?” she raised an eyebrow and watched him shake his beautiful locks in a “nothing” motion.
“Khamun!” Her breath hitched in her throat as his eyes flashed, and she saw a glint of fangs cresting.
For whatever reason, she instinctively knew he wanted her, and his fangs showing had nothing to do with a need to feed in the literal sense.
“I imagined myself working with you in the kitchen sometimes. I'm very good with my hands, and I wanted to just be in your world for a while and show you just that. I enjoyed watching the relationship you and Kyo had in the kitchen. You both are very good at what you do. So I watched and I learned, and I went to the compound and impressed my team. Hell. Sometimes they watched you too, and they learned as well. You both are talented.”
That tripped her out. They all watched her and learned from her? The very meaning of guardian angels took on a whole new meaning for her. She smiled. Good with his hands? I bet he was.
She jumped when Khamun growled, “Stop.”
Blinking, she raised an eyebrow. “Stop what?”
“What you are thinking? I'm having a fucking hard time, as it is, with you in my presence like that, and you want to go home. So if you don't stop, you are not going anywhere.”
It was so calmly stated, she had to grab a drink of water and compose herself and glance at the clock. Five o'clock was taking forever. Just sitting was going to drive her crazy, because the need to taste Khamun's mouth hit her every second it could.
“I'm sorry? Are you purposely in my mind?”
Standing and sitting Kyo's food on the nightstand, Sanna watched Khamun pace before he stopped to stand at the bay window, arms crossed over his chest.
“No, not on purpose. It's just habit. We Guardians don't go through your personal thoughts. We just link so we can know all is okay. But, with you, habit has turned that simple act into a mate thing.”
Raising an eyebrow she watched his back. Her eyes slowly running over his solid rear, looking at his huge hands. “Explain.”
“A'ight, but then I'm leaving you to yourself. There's a TV over there, some books on the right of Kyo's bed, and if you need assistance, the intercom connects you to the attendants. One day I'll give you a tour, but if you need to go to the bathroom or something, use mine. You know the way back to my room.”
Sanna nodded. She felt bad for making him feel some type of way as she waited.
“When a Nephilim woman finds her mate, or a partner she wants, biology kicks in, and she sees if his pheromones match hers, and if they do she tries a mind-lock. If the person she mind-locks with syncs just right, then she knows that's who she wants. Ours happened last night. But if you didn't want me, instinct would have you attacking me or calling your Gargoyle or closest Protector to go after me, if I was a threat. If not, it would be a standard rejection or shunning.”
“Oh,” was all she was able to get out before he walked out. She blinked. “Well, damn!” With a shrug, she sighed. Guess that's why she didn't attract many men. She just ignored them like Kyo said because they weren't the man in her dreams. They weren't Khamun.
That had her thinking things through as she remembered him saying she could call her family anytime. So she did just that.
“Hello? Baby girl?”
Sanna smiled at her mother's comforting voice. Silent tears spilled down her face. Damn, if she wasn't tired of crying. “Yes, ma'am. Are you okay?”
“Oh, Sanna! Yes. I'm on my way to see you. Khamun told me everything. I wanted to sit and talk to you and tell you it all, baby. Baby, I am so sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know how.”
“Momma, it's okay. I know why you didn't get to tell me, and I understand. Did you talk to Darren and Amara?”
“I spoke with Darren. Luckily, he was with me when it all went down. Baby, he collapsed and blacked out. I didn't know what to do, but he quickly woke up and he knew you were in danger. Khamun wouldn't let him come, but he stayed to protect me, so yes, we spoke. And I quickly called Amara. She wants to come home but can't until next weekend. Then she has to go back.”
“Oh, man. I know Amara feels confused by this as much as me.”
Kyo's sleeping body was so quiet. Every now and then splashes of sunlight would kiss her granite skin, kicking off iridescent sparkles that reminded Sanna of thousands of starlight. It was calming and beautiful in itself.
“Yes, baby. You all are confused, and I hope I can help answer your questions in the flesh, instead of all this mental crap. I'm still learning about this world myself. Your father told me as much as he could, but even he didn't know the true workings of Society. Baby, are you okay truly?”
Sanna played with a strand of her shoulder-length crinkly 'fro and bit her lip. She was choking on her own tears as her mother's love and support hit her full-on. It wrapped around her like a blanket. “Yes, ma'am. Daddy was brave, huh?”
“Yes, baby. Your Daddy was a brave, good man. I miss him so much.”
They talked and talked, pulling Darren and Amara in on four-way as they tried to sort out what all of this meant.
Sanna almost choked when Darren told her Take was frozen on their mother's couch. He was partially granite and snoring like a hog.