Stone Cold Lover Read Online Free PDF Page A

shock. It was a visceral reaction to the total annihilation of existence she’d just heard described.
    “That sounds … nasty,” she finally said, tugging her blanket tighter. “But, um, I’m not sure it explains how you managed to be a statue one minute and a—a—a … a you the next.”
    Spar didn’t get the chance to respond. Under the blanket, a chime started, a ringing of bells that wouldn’t have sounded out of place at the abbey they had recently left behind. Fil’s phone was ringing.
    Habit had her reaching into her pocket and glancing at the screen to see who was calling. When she read the name at the top of the window, she nearly laughed. Tapping the ANSWER key, she held the phone up to her ear and narrowed her eyes.
    “Well, well, well,” she purred, her gaze still fixed on her stony companion. “If it isn’t Miss Ella Harrow, my old pal. What’s new, El?”
    “Fil! Thank God I got you!” Ella sounded as if she’d just discovered a tornado was coming and her friend was her only ride out of town. “I just saw the news. They said there was an explosion at the Abbey of St. Thomas. They thought it might be a bombing. Isn’t that where you told me they had the gargoyle statue?”
    “Yup. That’s the place.”
    “Oh, God, Fil, please, please don’t tell me the statue was destroyed! Do you know? Have you heard anything?”
    Fil heard the urgency in her friend’s voice and felt something click into place. All her feelings that there was something weird about the statue had obviously been right on the money, and now she had a pretty good idea that Ella had known more than she’d let on. The other woman sounded more like she was trying to find out if someone she knew had been injured in an explosion than like she was checking up on a work of art she thought might be related to one she had formerly curated.
    “Have I heard anything about what, El?” she asked. “About the explosion? Well, I haven’t seen the news, but that might be because I was there when the bomb went off. Or maybe I was just distracted by finding out that the statue you asked me to locate turned out not to be a statue at all.”
    She heard her friend gasp and managed a narrow smile.
    “By the way, Spar says hello. And I say, Ella, you’ve got some ’splainin’ to do.”

 
    Chapter Three
    For a moment, the only sounds Fil could make out were the chirps of insects and the beating of her own heart. Then Ella let out a deep breath and whispered into the phone.
    “He’s awake, isn’t he?”
    Fil felt a flush of irritation. Since Ella couldn’t see her, she glared at Spar instead, which was almost as good.
    “Yes, Ella. He’s awake. He’s not logically possible, of course, but he’s up and moving, his name is Spar, apparently, and a few minutes ago he grabbed me and flew me across the city to what looks like one of the islands in the Saint Lawrence. So now might be a pretty good time to tell me what the hell is going on around here.”
    “This is really a conversation we should have in person.”
    “Well, I’m not exactly in a position to fly to BC at the moment, pal, so unless you happen to be paying an impromptu visit to my fair city, ‘in person’ is not going to happen. Now spill.”
    She heard a rustling noise, then what sounded like a muffled conversation in the background. After a moment, her friend came back with, “I need to see you, and there are things you need to see on my end, too. How soon can you get to a computer with Skype?”
    “It’s the twenty-first century, El, and I’m using a smartphone. You want to video chat, we can do that right here.”
    “All right. I’ll call you right back.”
    The call disconnected, and Fil blew out a breath of frustration. “This is not the night I signed up for,” she muttered, staring at her phone and waiting for the video call to come in.
    “You are taking a telephone call?”
    Spar asked the question in an even tone, but Fil could feel the disapproval