by Jen Pretty
A fat one had almost wiggled his way out of a narrow basement window when I caught sight of him.
I slid past Lila who was holding two angry gargoyles and grabbed the chubby demon's feet, plucking him back into the basement. I squished him into the cold storage with his angry friends. Gregor had a gargoyle latched onto his arm by the teeth as he held another away from his body. It swung and tried to bite him too—the little demon.
I grabbed the one clamped onto him and tried to pry it off as gently as possible, but it remained latched on like a lamprey on a salmon.
“Sorry, Gregor.” I pulled hard bracing myself against Gregor to pry them apart. Gregor let out a yell as the teeth pulled free. I deposited the angry grumbling gargoyle with his friends. When the sun was up, we could transport their stiff bodies to wherever they belonged. If they turned to stone, that is.
All the gargoyles put away in the cold storage, I collapsed on the cement floor and counted my fingers. Yup still got ‘em all. It’s a good day.
Both Gregor and Lila had bites, but they still had their limbs.
“Nobody possessed by a demon?” I asked. As if a demon would admit to having escaped his stone prison.
“All good,” Gregor said from the stairs.
“That was fun.” Lila shot me a smile.
I shook my head. Fun. Some people didn’t understand the word.
The door at the top of the stairs opened, and Julian’s face peeked through. “You guys okay?”
“Nope, I’m dead,” I said to raucous laughter. Okay, no one laughed, but Julian’s lip ticked up. I’ll call it a win.
Blood was dripping down my calf and pooling in my boot. I knew the gargoyle had bit through the leather; I’d felt his teeth crush into my skin. My stomach churned thinking about it, but at least I had a match set now. Gargoyles had munched on both legs. I closed my eyes and took a deep cleansing breath to force the vomit down. A shadow blocked out the small amount of light that had been hitting my eyelids, and I looked up to find Julian standing over me, staring down at my leg. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and had a look myself. It tore my pant leg and punctured the skin. A pool of blood grew steadily on the bare floor beneath me.
“That’s not pretty,” I said before collapsing to the floor again.
Julian scooped me up off the hard floor.
“I can walk,” I complained.
“You can do a lot of things, I’ve heard,” Julian replied as he climbed the stairs with me in his arms, apparently having no interest in letting me walk.
Whatever, I didn’t want to walk, anyway. I relaxed in his arms, and he strode through the house, setting me down on the retro couch. He tore my pant leg up past my knee—so much for my pants—then went into the kitchen and came back with a cloth and a bowl of warm water. The other two half-demons sat at the kitchen table, drinking.
“Pass me some of that,” I called. Lila, the dear, brought me a bottle of gin. Not my favourite, but it would do. My calf was throbbing in time with my pulse.
Julian wiped down my leg, but the blood spurted from a couple of the tooth marks.
“This is bleeding too much.” He wrapped it tightly with some gauze, stole my bottle of gin, and scooped me up off the couch again.
“Wait, I need my net!”
Julian looked down at me and raised an eyebrow. “You are bleeding profusely.”
“I paid good money for that at the thrift shop. I’m not leaving it behind.”
Julian set me back down and disappeared for a minute before returning with my net. He handed it to me and then scooped me up again. I felt light-headed from the gin or maybe the blood loss.
I waved goodbye to Lila and Gregor as Julian strode out the door with me. He perched me on the bike and flew across town to the emergency room.
CHAPTER NINE
I tried to convince Julian I was fine, but he wouldn’t let me leave urgent care until I had stitches. When I explained I couldn’t afford it, he put it on his credit card. That thing was handy.
The doctor sent me on my merry way with a course of antibiotics after I assured him the dog that bit me was vaccinated for rabies. I was glad it was on the opposite leg of my previous bite or the doctor probably would have had a few more questions.
Julian let me walk to the bike on my own two feet. My leg hurt with each step, but I sucked it up. Being carried was super weird.
“You saved that woman?” I asked. There had been too many people around in the hospital, but I had been dying to ask and make sure the woman was okay.
“Yes, she’ll be fine. Lila and Gregor are taking the gargoyles to a storage locker. They should be fine there until we figure out what's happening.”
“Demons are summoning the gargoyles and controlling them somehow. Those demons in the basement didn’t go crazy till the woman stopped screaming.”
“Interesting.” Julian popped my helmet on my head. “Let’s talk about it at the hotel. You should lay down.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Mom.”
Julian didn’t respond, just swung onto the bike and waited for me to get on behind him. I had to lift my leg with my hands to get my foot on the little peg, and it screamed at me the whole way back to the hotel — stupid gargoyle. I was going to get Lincoln to stop giving them teeth. Who thought giving them teeth was cool in the first place?
Back in the suite, housekeeping had tidied and made the bed. I limped into the bathroom and changed into my yoga pants, glad I had brought them with me. Feeling dirty and gross, I stared at the bathtub with longing, but, with stitches in my leg, it was a big no. So, I returned to the room, still smelly but in clean clothes, and collapsed on the bed.
Julian took the pillows from the other side of the bed and wedged them under my leg. I stared at him. He was weird about stuff like this. I wasn’t used to someone taking care of me, and I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. So, I did what I always did. “I don’t need help, you know. I’m capable of doing things on my own.”
He nodded and sat down on the chair on the other side of the room with a newspaper.
“I’m not a child.”
“Mhm. I heard you.”
My glare could have lit him on fire, but I was too tired to maintain it for long enough. Guess he could live for another day. “Whatever.”
I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but it was noon, and the sun was blaring through the open curtains. I threw my arm over my eyes and then tried a pillow, but nothing blocked out the UV rays trying to force me to stay awake.
“You could ask me to close the curtain,” Julian said, not looking up from his newspaper.
I dropped the pillow and looked at him. “Could you please close the curtain?” I said in a snide tone.
“Was that so hard?” He stood up and closed them, blocking out the burning rays. I didn’t reply. I closed my eyes again and this time, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was all alone in the hotel room. I staggered up to use the facilities and found a note on the table. It said Julian had gone to meet someone and would be back. It also recommended I get food and the menu for room service was sitting on the table beside the note. I hadn’t had time to eat my pizza the other day. Someone from the diner must have taken it home and eaten it for dinner, so I ordered a pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni and waited for it to arrive.
Holy crap, that was a good pizza. The cheese was stringy and delicious, and the crust was perfect golden brown. I wondered if they used a brick oven. Probably not; most places didn’t.
I was finishing the last piece when the door swung open, and Julian walked in with a tall, elegant woman. She was laughing and had her hand on Julian’s arm like he was the wittiest man alive. I’d never heard him say something witty, but he was smiling at her, and it turned out he not only could smile, but he had a freaking dimple. I looked down at myself and realized I had pizza sauce on my shirt. I spun to dash to the bathroom, but it was too late.
“Harlow, I’d like you to meet Angelica,” Julian sai
d.
“Nice to meet you,” she said in a British accent. She was not only tall, nearly as tall as Julian, but she wore a summer dress and shawl that made her look put together and stylish. Her long slender legs stood on high heels which she looked comfortable in, and they matched her tiny purse that hung on a thin strap over her shoulder. Her make-up was simple, but rounded off her look. I realized I had been staring at her.
“Sorry, nice to meet you. I didn’t realize I would be seeing anyone or I would have changed or something.” I shook her hand.
“Don’t worry. Jul explained that a gargoyle bit you and you’ve been resting. Such a dangerous job you have, but so vital.”
Damn it. She was nice too. Of course she was. Some women won every lottery.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said. “I’m just going to go change.”
I hurried into the bathroom before anyone said anything else. I looked at myself in the mirror. I hadn’t brushed my hair, and I had pizza sauce not only on my shirt but on the corner of my mouth. Someone kill me. I found a hairbrush and tamed my wild mass of hair back into a ponytail and then washed my face and brushed my teeth. I changed into leather pants even though sliding them over my calf hurt like hell. I kept the swearing to whispers and hoped they didn’t hear me. I didn’t have nice clothes, but pulled on my “slayer” hoodie to remind myself I was bad-ass and took a few deep breaths. I stepped back out into the suite feeling slightly more confident.
Julian and Angelica were sitting at the small table where I had eaten my pizza, and they were laughing again. I guess that’s all they did.
“Angelica saw gargoyles on the west side of town around the wharves. I think we should check it out,” Julian said as I sat down on the end of the bed to pull on my slightly bloody boots. The laces were stiff. Gross.
“Sure. Why don’t I go look, and you two can catch up?”
“That sounds like a marvelous idea. I haven’t seen Julian in a long time.” Angelica’s hand reached across the table to lie on Julian’s arm. It was clear she had the hots for him. The only way she could make it more obvious was if she humped his leg.
“It’s not safe. You don’t know how many are hiding there,” Julian said.
“I’m sure she can handle it, Julian. She is demon-touched after all.”
“Exactly—demon-touched.” I grabbed my net and headed out the door, not waiting for anything else from the two lovebirds.
I ran down the fire escape and out on to the street, scolding myself for whatever I was feeling right now. It was ridiculous to be jealous of a woman fawning over Julian. I needed to give my head a shake and remember why I was here.
The river ran on the north side of the highway, and we hadn’t crossed it when we came into town, so north was straight ahead. Or... whatever. I marched on through town. It was newer than Humber Falls and had lots of small-town features I loved. There were flower boxes on the street corners and antique-looking street lamps that curved at the top.
Julian probably knew all kinds of women all over the place. He was handsome and had lots of muscles. Maybe he was a player. He seemed too uptight for that though. Hmm.
I tracked through town, passing people walking dogs and kids racing down the quiet roads on their bikes. I found a sign that said beach with an arrow, so I followed that.
My leg hurt, but I ignored it and continued on. Maybe Angelica was just a long-time friend. Or a friend of the family. I started to wonder about Julian’s mother, she would have had to sleep with a demon to produce him. Gross.
The sounds of kids playing and splashing drew nearer and finally I found the river. I walked past the sun umbrellas and people tanning on the beach, to the edge of the water. I looked both ways and found the long piers a few miles downriver, so I passed the kids in swimsuits and a family barbecuing in the shade. An overgrown footpath cut through a treed area. I had to duck under some branches and brambles snagged on my hoodie. Beer bottles were lying about as if kids used this area to party.
I came out on the other side in an industrial area. Large warehouses with tall fences stretched down toward the river. Boats drifted past, heading for the wharves that reached out into the water. Someone had pulled the fence up in one place. Handy. I crawled under with my net and walked along the fence toward the water. Waves lapped at the stony shore as I walked along, hopping from boulder to boulder.
I closed in on the wharf; it stood twenty feet tall at the shore but quickly met up with the land, making a perfect hideaway for gargoyles. I climbed the bank and up toward the narrow space. It was dark, but I thought I saw movement. I climbed in closer, on my knees now. The sound of rocks crunching together was the only warning I had before a group of gargoyles jumped out, knocking me backwards. I tumbled down the hill toward the shore, losing my net along the way. A gargoyle latched onto my arm, and I cursed the fact I ever took up this job. When I tipped over the rocks, scraping my back, I cursed Julian and Lincoln and my stupidity. My head slammed down on a rock, and it was lights out Harlow.
I coughed and choked, then vomited water. “Shit,” I said through my burning throat.
“Hang on, Harlow.” Julian’s voice whispered as he tipped me on my side.
Great, so Julian was here to witness the puke on my face. I could feel the water vomit running down my neck and across my face into my hair, but I realized I was completely wet. I pulled my knees up to my chest in the fetal position and stayed like that. Whatever happened, I felt like I’d died.
Julian’s strong hand gently brushed back my wet hair.
“You okay?” he asked.
I shook my head slowly because every movement seemed to bring up the nauseous feeling.
“You hit your head pretty hard. I found you face down in the water. Do you know what happened?” His voice was soothing and calm.
My head was still spinning, but I tried to think back. “A pack of gargoyles all jumped me at once,” I whispered. At home, the gargoyles ran from me. This new aggressive gargoyle business was not funny. The little bastards. I moved to get up, and a wave of dizziness washed over me. The world went white for a second, and I froze.
“Just relax for a few more minutes,” Julian said.
“This is crap.” I tucked my arm under my head in the grass. Where was I? I glanced around, but I wasn’t under the wharf anymore. It was more like an open field. The sun was setting though, and it had thrown the sky into shades of pink.
“How many were there?”
“I don’t know. A lot probably. One of them bit me.” I looked down at my arm, but it was barely a scratch. Thank God. I was not interested in any more stitches. “They’re way more aggressive.”
“I agree. Lila and Gregor checked the area around the wharf but didn’t find them. They must have flown off.”
I pushed to sit up again. This time I didn’t see stars, so I continued up onto my feet. Julian held my arm, steadying me.
“This is annoying. Someone must be doing something to the gargoyles. They should be on their damn buildings.”
“Yes. We need answers. Sooner rather than later.”
“The gargoyles in the basement of the house were overly aggressive too,” I said. Julian led me through the grass to where I could see his motorcycle parked. “The demon possessing that woman must have summoned them somehow. Is that possible?” I looked at Julian.
“I’m not sure of anything now. I didn’t think the demons in the gargoyles could interact or communicate. Something is going on though.”
I tripped over a stick hidden in the grass, but Julian caught me and held me up.
“Fuck. I won ‘t be much good if I keep getting hurt,” I staggered forward, my anger lending strength to my legs.
“Well, maybe you should stop trying to do it on your own. Gregor said you handled ten gargoyles in that basement and one that was chewing on him before they could even help you. Today you should have waited for me.”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, you were busy making doe eyes at the pretty girl.” I cont
inued toward the motorcycle; my wet pants were chaffing and the evening breeze was cooling me. I wanted to go take a hot bath. After a dip in the river, I wouldn’t be surprised if my various bites were infected, anyway. Thank God for antibiotics. At least my leg didn't hurt; it was probably full of gangrene and about to fall off.
I stopped at the bike and realized that Julian wasn’t behind me. I turned to find him standing in the field looking at me.
“What?”
He walked forward until he stood in front of me. His face was unreadable though. I tried to step back when he got close, but the motorcycle was there.
“There is nothing between Angelica and me,” he said.
“Uhm, okay. I believe you,” I said with sarcasm. “Can we go now?”
His intense stare held me in place for a moment longer, then he brushed past me and grabbed a helmet out of his bag. I squished it on my wet hair and snapped it up.
“Sorry,” I said as I climbed on behind him and wrapped my wet body around his.
“It’s okay.” He started the bike and peeled off the loose gravel on the shoulder, onto the paved road. We weren’t too far out of town, far enough though that I had to wonder how I was still alive. Was I dead? Maybe I was dead now. If I was, this was all in my imagination. The rush of the motorcycle flying down the highway was intense. I let go of Julian’s waist and let my arms out like a bird. If I was dead, I could probably fly away. I closed my eyes and waited, but all that happened was Julian slowed the bike and came to a stop. I opened my eyes to find we were at a red light.
He turned his head and flipped up his visor. “Stop being weird. You don’t need another injury today.”
Weird? Huh. Rude.
He took off again, and I held on in case this wasn’t a dream, and I was actually still alive and on the back of a motorcycle. My head was pretty sore. I probably had a brain injury.
