Page 6

I watch her.

She climbs the first step.

The second.

Stops.

Slowly, April lifts her head. Her gaze travels upward. Past the porch roof and the second story. And just a smidge to her left.

Her gaze lands straight on me.

For the first time in more than a century, someone looks directly into my eyes. Not at the house. Not at the roofline. At me. I cannot breathe. Obviously.

But for one fleeting moment, I remember what it felt like to need to.

April shades her eyes with one hand. She squints. Her head tilts.

There is a strange sensation in my chest again. Faint this time. Barely imperceptible, but still there.

Her gaze moves over my horns. My wings. The clawed hands resting on either side of me.

The monstrous face that was never mine until the curse made it so.

I wait. Though I’m not sure what for.

April wrinkles her nose. “Oh, wow.” She takes one step sideways for a better look. “You are ugly.”

The sensation disappears.

I stare down at her.

She grins. “Sorry, buddy. But somebody should've told you.”

I hate this woman.

She unlocks my front door and disappears into my house. And for the first time in one hundred and forty-three years, I desperately want to follow someone inside, and tell her precisely what I think of her.

chapter

two

April

I have officially reached the point in my life where I’m drinking wine with a gargoyle.

Not my proudest moment.

Although, considering the last six months, it doesn’t even crack the top ten.

“You’re lucky you’re made of stone,” I tell Rocky. “Because let me tell you, being a person is highly overrated.”

Rocky doesn’t respond. He never does. Which is one of his better qualities.

I take another sip of wine and settle deeper into the ancient wicker chair I’ve dragged onto the third-floor balcony. It’s a surprisingly nice evening, considering the absolute shitshow that has been my day. The sun is setting behind the trees, turning the sky pink and orange, and there’s a breeze that smells like pine and something sweet I haven’t identified yet.

Screaming Woods is pretty.

I’ll give it that.