Stone In Love

Chapter 27

Vincent reclined on the couch, commanding his empire from his smartphone, while his laptop stood open next to him on the coffee table. I polished off the leftovers he fed me, which were leftovers from lunch he had catered. I didn't pass judgment. He made a point to serve my meal on fancy Pottery Barn dishware.

When he invited me to join him on the couch, I was eager to oblige, and Bonnie and Clyde pranced across the cushions, each one making their move for lap position. It was Clyde who claimed my lap first, digging his nails into my thighs like a cat before settling down. Bonnie feigned indifference and nosed her way between Vincent's knees, lowering her trim torso onto his stomach. Vincent appeared completely at ease with the arrangement.

"I have implemented an easy to read record of domus Valentino," he said as he pointed to the screen of his computer. "Our records date back to the eleventh century. That's a lot of family journaling to maintain. You can access everything from the cloud if you know the right passwords. I'll email them to you now. We share information with the other domi living in New York City. Births, deaths, partnerships, unusual incidents, etcetera. I'm sure the information will trigger plenty of questions, so don't hesitate to ask me anything."

While I had intended to plug back into the grid and forget about gollums and demons for a while, it was difficult to say no to Vincent. His smooth baritone could coax a fox out of his home. Clyde complained when I stretched for my duffel and pulled out my laptop, and there ensued an adjustment period as I moved to the loveseat to set up my work station. Clyde insisted he make the trip with me, balancing on my lap as I scooted around the coffee table.

When everyone had settled in, I caught Vincent gazing at me over his phone. I coveted the moments Vincent had his seductive eyes on me. Maybe I did want to be his number one. In less than five minutes, I was perusing a document titled History of Gollums. Vincent had suggested I read it to kick off my journey through weirdville. My words, not his.

One of the first subtitles to catch my eye was Breeding Rituals, and the entry read like a fantasy novel. 

Gollums were borne of demon and human. The demon aspects were bred out over the subsequent centuries, creating a beast who protects the innocent and battles evil.

I lifted my face from the screen, and my wide-eyed expression prompted Vincent to do the same. "Gollums were created from demons and humans?"

He cocked his head quizzically, which made me think he had not expected that to be my first question. "Yes. But many centuries have passed since then, and the gollum community maintains a strict policy that gollums breed only with each other to keep the race pure."

I bobbed my head as another question presented itself. "What would happen if a demon and a human had a baby now? Would they make a gollum?"

"No. Both species are far enough in their evolution that the result usually prompts a miscarriage, or produces an abomination. The same goes for humans and gollums."

"Oh." A shiver wracked my body, and I quickly proceeded to my next inquiry. "What about gollums and demons? Can they have offspring?"

Vincent offered a sour face. "Look under the title Demons and Their Weapons of Choice."

"Weapons of choice? Are you telling me demons use sex as a weapon against gollums? That flies in the face of everything you've told me about the enemy."

"One of their weapons is seduction, but a gollum rarely falls for it. We are bred to do battle with demons, which is a difficult obstacle to overcome, even to slake our lust."

Damn.

"Do you think Heath seduced me?"

"Yes." His response came swiftly and succinctly, and I raised my eyebrows at him. Part of me thought there should be something to argue about, but I couldn't think of anything.