Are you craving a WILD SHORT READ to kick this year off right? Me, too!
I've got gargoyles on the brain. Get to know the smoldering trio who're making a play to join the KNIGHTS OF DESTRUCTION... and nab some goodies while you're here!
Happy New Year’s, friends and fellow book devourers.
Who’s ready for some smoldering shifters aka gargolyes? I know I am. (Keep scrolling to read this exclusive MIRI AND THE MUSE morsel a bit further down.)
First up, I have a BLISTERING book for you…
Before we get cracking, I want to introduce you to my crazy talented friend—
.Mariah is offering a FREE COPY of her freaking awesome shifter MC romance, CAGE, to my subscribers. I absolutely DEVOURED this book as soon as I got the chance—so nab your copy, stat, and get reading.
Thanks for sharing your awesome book with us, Mariah!
Before we get started… What is a WILD SHORT READ?!
Back in November, I introduced the WILD SHORT READS by re-publishing a Halloween-inspired piece of mine, written as part of the WILD AT HEART - PNR FLASH FICTION writing circle. (You can read that Halloween-inspired story here.)
In a poll asking what my next piece should be, you voted for smouldering shifters.
Ever since then, I’ve had gargoyles on the brain when I’m supposed to be writing KITTY’S CLAWS, so I declare the only way to appease the Muse is to get this #wildshortreads done and dusted!
(And yes, like all of the misfits who pop into my head, these pushy gargoyles are clamoring for a piece of real estate on Fontaine’s rooftops, so who knows when we’ll be seeing this deadly trio and their troubled succubus again?!)
CURSED TO WATCH
By Miri Stone
The rain crawled down my face and along my stubbly chin—covered in perpetual five o’clock shadow—before plummeting to the pavers thousands of feet below. These days, I didn’t stay in my human form long enough to grow a beard, nor to be bothered with shaving it clean. My appearance hardly mattered now.
Once numerous, the three of us were the last of our clan to breathe this dank air. The rest slumbered, dotted about the rooftops like boulders, all covered in moss and pigeon crap.
Lucky bastards.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Went the endless passage of time.
Each toiling raindrop dangled from the crooked end of my warrior’s nose, severing our connection in a single weightless moment before embarking on a short, sharp trajectory of defiance. Destined for naught but their own destruction.
I knew how they felt.
What was I doing, hanging out on this rooftop like a numb-nuts, watching over the sobbing girl as if my fierce attention was doing her a lick of good?
A fated mate? For me and my kin? What mighty victory had the three of us ever achieved to warrant such a boon? The notion was completely laughable. My clan leader would’ve had a field day tanning my hide for even entertaining such an impertinent idea. Only the greatest of our kind were ever blessed with a mate. Luckily, that elder had long since succumbed to perpetual slumber, so I didn’t have to endure their ire.
The fact remained, my kin and I had been called forth from our final rest by this devastating beauty. I’d come to the conclusion we were not being rewarded with a fated mate, but rather cursed with the knowledge of what we could never have.
Gargoyles didn’t mate outside their own kind. Period. Hell, we didn’t even interact with warm-blooded creatures much anymore, not if we could help it. We certainly did our best to avoid the undead—conniving, self-centered creatures that they were. Vampires had no honor and the glory days of the former kings and queens of the shifter world were long since over.
The slow demise of my kind would have been easier to endure if my kinsmen and I had been able to join them in obscurity, but I wasn’t in my stone form. Not tonight. Once more, I had been wrenched from that blessed sleep by her lonely torment. Doomed to experience every moment as flesh and blood. To feel the dreaded thud-thud-thud of a heart not used to beating—my own—drumming in tandem with hers, wailing out its own gloomy lament.
She was right there.
Right. F*cking. There.
And I was forbidden to touch her.
Forbidden to comfort her.
Forbidden to even acknowledge this exquisite monster as my own.
All I could do was watch.
A flutter of wings was the only warning I got as my kin alighted—none too gently, I might add—on the precipice beside me. “Bottom’s up.” Salvador cracked the beer and nudged me sharply in the ribs to take the offered drink. I acquiesced but only to shut the guy up. No such luck. “How’s our girl doing tonight, Atticus? It was feeding night, right?”
I growled, low in my throat.
My kinsman didn’t give a shit that his easy-going banter pissed me off.
Why waste our breath jabbering? What new f*cking thing did we have to talk about?
By pure chance, an angel of the night had moved in across the way from our perch, and now her sorrow etched itself upon my stony heart like acid. I needed to go to her. Every fiber in my being yearned to bridge this infernal gap and comfort her as she lay sobbing on the carpet just inside her own front door. Yet how could I ease her suffering when I could do nothing about my own cursed existence?
“Oof. She doesn’t look good,” huffed Salvador. “Is it just me or are those panic attacks getting worse?”
“Worse.” Gravitas’ dry growl was the embodiment of a crypt, sending goosebumps across my flesh. “Her monster side grows reckless. The demon is at war with the human side. If it weren’t for the assist tonight, she would’ve been spotted by the humans for sure.”
“Assist?” I snarled at the newcomer, still not able to tear my gaze away from her frail form. “What assist?”
Though I could feel him coming, my eldest kinsman had alighted next to us in complete silence. His shadow magic was the strongest, wrapping him in a seamless cloak of night and rain, and making him the perfect chaperone for our ill-fated mate on her outings. I had never hated him for his gift at shadow magic as much as I did this night.
My mate’s desperation was changing me. Changing my gargoyle. Making me crave an enemies blood. It didn’t care if that enemy was friend or foe. I simply wanted to shred, tear and maim anything or anyone standing between me and my fated mate. Did my kinsman know that even this simple duty made the beast inside me want to bathe in his blood?
Thankfully, until driven half-mad with the urge to feed, our succubus stayed in her self-imposed turret of an apartment, refusing even the most incidental of contact with the denizens of the city who surrounded her like a smorgasbord.
“It won’t be long now,” Gravitas continued. “Before she garners the wrong sort of attention. Perhaps she already has—”
While he was talking, Gravitas handed me the business card he’d been palming. It read—
Fearsome gargoyle kinsmen three,
We, the Knights of Destruction, have need of your services.
Therefore we humbly invite you to a pizza party at the Dragon’s Den to hash out the particulars. Don’t worry. The dragon hasn’t BBQ’d anyone in ages and we have his support hog on hand. Just remember to ring this number and order the pies before you come.
My mate is a real Grinch when he’s hungry ;-p
Signed,
Judge William xox
P.S. Oh, and if you accept our generous offer, your succulent mate will be under our protection. Fabu-freakin-licious, amiright?
“What the f*ck is this? A joke?” I snarled. “Who gave this to you?”
“A human in a leather jacket accompanied by some shifters,” Gravitas shrugged, then added, “And a hedgehog.” He seemed as perplexed at that addition as I was. “All of them were on bikes and wore the same cut. Knights of Destruction MC. They didn’t bat an eyelid at our mate feeding, either. Said the rodent had it coming.”
“Delphinia,” I growled handing back the business card. “Our mate has a name. Use it.”
Gravitas’ didn’t bother to acknowledge the deadly menace in my tone. He continued to stare at the object of our undivided attention, fingering the piece of thick card stock as he turned it over and over in his palm.
Salvador’s jaw dropped before he fist pumped the air. “Lo and behold, the great Atticus speaks! I thought the pigeons had pecked out your tongue along with your—”
Over it, I turned and plowed my fist into his nose.
Salvador smirked as blood gushed everywhere before calmly popping the cartilage back into place, however his muscles popped as his gargoyle rushed for the surface.
Challenge!
Gravitas was already on his feet, trying to hold back the inevitable, but I only had eyes for the insolent idiot on the other side of me.
Salvador’s gaze was the roiling dark of a breaking storm as he rose to his full height, staring me down and calling my beast to battle. My easy-going younger kinsman turned into an absolute berserker in battle and tonight my gargoyle welcomed him with a manic gaze of his own.
I sprang to my feet, heedless of the drop, as my beastly form shredded my clothes. Feeling fantastic, my wings snapped free from my back to whip out into the night behind me, effortlessly catching my balance against the currents. I was born for this. To battle and maim. To tear my enemies limb from limb. Fierce talons burst from my nail beds and sharp canines dripped with saliva as I let out an inhuman roar, accepting the duel.
Salvador was about to echo the sentiment when a terrible knowing rent the air, freezing us in place.
Danger.
“Too f*cking late,” Gravitas cursed. “They’ve already found her.”
“Who?” I snarled as my stomach dropped.
But the time for words had passed.
Transforming into his gargoyle form, Gravitas drew his twin swords and called on his shadow magic. Sinking effortlessly from view, I could feel him waiting for my cue as battle commander. A terrified scream tore our attention back to Delphinia’s apartment. Her door was kicked open with enough force to send it careening across the tiny studio. It exploded through the window toward us—hurtling, end over end, down onto the busy street below.
Taking a long sniff, I tasted the stale tang of iron and acrid death even across the divide between the high-rise buildings.
“Vampires,” I growled, low and full of menace.
Salvador moaned in terror. Not for himself, I knew. But for the fate of our mate who had indeed caught the wrong sort of attention. Without a thought for his own safety, Salvador launched himself across the void arrowing for her apartment.
Gravitas and I were not far behind.
Hold on, my mate, I whispered in time with my thundering heart and furiously beating wings. We’re coming for you. Just hold on.
[ Copyright © 2024. “CURSED TO WATCH” written by Miri Stone and first published in Miri and the Muse Newsletter. All rights reserved. ]
A note for my readers…
I hope you enjoyed this smoldering character introduction set in the KNIGHTS OF DESTRUCTION world. Each month, I plan to host new and original works on MIRI AND THE MUSE as part of my ongoing series #wildshortreads. Other fabulous authors are joining in this writing circle with their own stories, too. So make sure you check out some of my amazingly talented friends right here on Substack like
& .DROOL-WORTHY BOOK FAIRS
Before you go, I’ve got some sizzling reading recs for you… Come play “spot my book” and stuff your ereaders with LOADS of juicy temptations while you are there!
Each visit and view of my books in these book fairs helps boost my books as an indie author, putting them in front of new-to-me readers, so I really appreciate you taking the time to visit these tasty offerings.
Romantic Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Paranormal Sale
January’s Spicy Fantasy & Paranormal Reads in Kindle Unlimited
LAST CHANCE TO JOIN THIS FATED MATES GIVEAWAY
Join Michelle A Bailey’s giveaway to get your chance at over $150 worth of prizes…
WHAT’S UP NEXT?!
Claim your exclusive advanced reader copy below (*gasp*)
Are you dying to learn more about how Jasper and Tobias first met before the events in LONELY KITTY unraveled? Then keep your eyes peeled because BIKER BEAR, the steamy enemies-to-lovers prequel to my KNIGHTS OF DESTRUCTION series, is dropping soon.
As this novella was previously published as part of a paranormal romance charity anthology, I’m going to be loading it straight up to the Zon (forgoing a preorder) and pushing the book live THIS MONTH.
Can’t wait to get cracking?! Download your exclusive subscriber copy now and drop a comment below so I know you’re diving in!
Happy reading, friends and fellow book devourers.
With love,
M.S. xox
Happy New Year! I know I’m totally biased, but I freaking LOVE Cage. I think I’ve read it 4 times now. I don’t think I’ve read any gargoyle books before, I’m clearly missing out. I am a little peeved that you drew me in like that and left me hanging. That taste was not nearly enough! I’m a huge fan of the Knights of Destruction and can’t wait to see where the series goes. You know I totally scooped up Biker Bear, those shifters are so got! Thank you for the opportunity!
Lots of good reading here!