Gargoyle Huntress

by Jen Pretty

  I hid behind a bookshelf as the grumbling stones collected themselves. I didn’t want to use my super new fire powers, in case it wiped me out like last time. The dragon gargoyle I had used them on still stood frozen in the middle of the room. A smaller gargoyle was perched on its back bobbing its head up and down like a chicken. There were several gargoyles lined up on the librarian's desk. This was going to suck.

  I peered across at Nicholas. He was scanning the room too until his eyes locked onto the librarian's desk and his mouth formed a silent curse. The half-demon underground said this was the easiest way to access the basement below Collin’s tower. I was doubting his definition of easy.

  I gripped my net like it could save me and made my decision. I sprung out from behind my hiding place and bolted toward the desk. I leapt over the frozen dragon gargoyle and dodged a few chairs. The gargoyles on the librarian's desk turned to look at me, their eyes widening as I let out a huge battle cry. The last few steps turned into a dive as I attempted to knock the desk over with a body slam.

  I hit the solid wood hard, my shoulder ringing with sharp pain and my body slammed to the ground. The gargoyles flew away at the shock of my attack, but the desk hadn’t moved at all. I writhed in pain and moaned pathetically holding my shoulder. I looked at the desk and realized someone bolted it to the floor. A string of curses spilled forth until Nicholas’ face came into view. He looked chill, just standing there, staring down at me.

  “How you doing?” he asked with a smile on his face.

  “Not great,” I replied.

  When I finally sat up and surveyed the room, I realized all the gargoyles were lined up on the shelves with a look of horror on their faces. Ha. Take that.

  “It’s a little frightening that you scared a bunch of demons by throwing yourself bodily at a desk. But I guess if that's what it takes, you’re the girl to do it.”

  “Thanks for your support. Where’s this access to the tunnels or whatever?” I asked, looking around the floor. I spotted a glint of steel under the desk and staggered up to investigate.

  I kept glancing back at the gargoyles, but my attack on the furniture definitely stunned them and they were still staring at me from their perches. Under the desk was a steel plate with the little treads on it. I didn't see any way to lift it, but it must be what we were looking for.

  I dug around the edges with my fingernails, but I couldn't get a grip.

  “Here,” Nick said from behind me. I turned, and he was holding a pocket knife. He offered it handle-first. I took it, praying I wouldn't cut off a finger or leg.

  The knife slid under the plate, but it still wouldn't budge.

  “Something is holding it down,” I said. It wasn't anything on top. I slid the knife along under the edge of the plate until I hit something and couldn't move any further. I wiggled it but no joy. I looked at Nick and shrugged.

  “Let me try,” he said. I scooted out of the way and handed him the knife.

  It was cramped under the desk, and Nick swore a lot, but he eventually jimmied something and the top released like the hood of a car. He pulled the sheet of metal up and beneath was a dark hole. Super.

  “Hold the top,” Nick said, and I squatted beside him while he took out a flashlight and shone it down. There was a steel ladder going down. It was just thin steel bars. Not up to code or fire safety or whatever governed the contrition of secret passageways.

  “After you,” Nick said, holding the top up with one hand and the flashlight with the other.

  I took one last glance at the gargoyles who still looked nervous of the crazy lady. I put my arm through my net and slipped past Nick. The ladder seemed to go down forever. Probably twenty feet or more until my boots touched down on the concrete floor. It was dark and spooky and only got worse as Nick came down the ladder with the flashlight in his mouth and let the steel cover slam back into place. I waited in the pitch black, listening to the ring of Nick's boots on the steel rungs as he descended. My heart slammed around telling me there were monsters in the dark, but I told it to shut up. I was a tough demon fighting warrior and not afraid of the dark.

  “What was that?” I whispered, scolding myself for being a scaredy cat.

  Nick’s boots hit the cement floor, and the flashlight flicked around, displaying a dark tunnel with smooth walls. There was nothing there, and the beam disappeared into the distance.

  “Let’s go,” Nick whispered.

  We strode along the silent passage; it looked new and was completely sealed like a bunker. If the world went to hell, I would feel safe down here, but right now I wanted to get out. My mind was playing tricks on me, and the hairs on the back of my neck rose like eyes were glaring at me from behind. I stopped and turned around, staring into the darkness.

  Nick rotated the flashlight to look back too. There wasn’t anything there, but it sure as hell felt like it. Stupid brain. I gave my head a shake and took a deep breath. We were at least a mile from the office building Collin was in. I assumed it was his building, but maybe he rented space. Like that even mattered. I was going crazy with the tension of being here.

  “Idiot, calm down,” I whispered to myself. Nick flicked the light up to my face, blinding me. “Jesus, Nick. Point that thing somewhere else.”

  “Stop muttering to yourself. It's creepy.”

  “This place is creepy!” I said.

  We shuffled along for a few more minutes. It seemed like we weren’t getting anywhere because the walls were all the same and there was no end in sight.

  The longer we walked, the more relaxed I got. Nothing jumped out and attacked me. I was cool. My steps echoed down the tunnel, and occasionally a tremor of a subway car below or maybe a truck on the road above rattled through the concrete.

  Finally, a door came into view ahead. It was the same curved shape as the tunnel and had a bolt lock on this side. The door was steel and looked thick, like a bank vault except for the fact that it thankfully didn't have some elaborate locking mechanism.

  As we approached, Nick reached out and pulled the lock open with a metallic thunk. Then he pushed, and the door swung open.

  Blinding lights seared my retinas after the darkness of the tunnel. But through my squinted eyes I could see we were in a church except not the God type, more the Satan type. There was a pentagram on the floor, and a stone fireplace at the far end. The only other thing in the room was candles. A ton of black candles all half-burned down.

  “This is creepy,” I said.

  “You say that about everything,” Nick replied. That was categorically untrue. I didn’t think care bears were creepy… well, okay, maybe a little.

  “Whatever,” I muttered. A closed door stood on the side of the room. I aimed for it, with my net at the ready. I swung open the door and before me was the grossest thing I have ever seen in my life.

  The monster was 7feet tall and black as night. His eyes shone red and wings peeked up above his shoulders. I took a step back, and the demon took a step forward, a smile creasing his face. His teeth were nothing but sharp points, like shark teeth.

  “You look delicious,” the demon said in an echoing voice. It was like the rock demons, and their rumbling except it wasn’t rocks grinding, it was human voices screeching in agony. He opened his mouth and hissed at me, making the screams so loud I was sure my ears were bleeding. I fumbled my net and held it at the ready in case he stepped closer. That was the moment I realized it wouldn’t help me.

  I dropped it and slid one hand around my amulets.

  “You think your amulets will stop me?” he roared.

  Nick bolted forward, his sculptor’s stone in hand, and slammed into the demon. He shouted the words, but the demon just flicked him off like he was a bug. Nick flew across the room and hit the wall. He slumped down in a heap to the ground and didn't move.

  “Shit,” I said, swinging my eyes back to the demon. I took a few more steps back and wondered if I could run to the tunnel and lock the door. I glanced at Nick again. He was gr
oaning and moving, so at least he wasn’t dead. When my eyes moved back to the demon, it was in time to see him flashing toward me. His hand went around my neck tearing my amulets from me and then he pinned me to the ceiling by my throat. I was staring down at the grossest monster I had ever seen.

  “Did you believe your little stones would protect you?”

  My skin was tearing apart. I looked down, and it was fine and whole, but it was excruciating. A scream tried to rip from my throat but the ugly ass demon’s hand was choking me. His nails pierced my skin, trailing blood down my neck to wet my shirt. I kicked my legs uselessly and finally clasped both hands around the demon's arm. Though the room was getting hazy, I felt a tiny bubble of heat in my stomach and focused on it. Suddenly fire blazed to life inside me and filled my body with lava. It travelled down my arms to my hands where I latched on to the giant demon.

  “What -” he said before his scream blasted my eardrums out. Everything after that sounded like I was underwater. Noises were more like mutters from far away. But even as the demon fell to the ground, my grip on his arm didn't falter. I focused my energy and fire, pushing it into the demon. Whatever I was doing, it was working because before long I had frozen the demon solid, and I could breathe again as his thick hand released my throat.

  I took a giant gasping breath and collapsed to the floor beside the ugly bastard. I put my hand on my throat. The blood didn't seem to be gushing out, so that was probably good.

  Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention as Nick pulled himself up to standing and limped across the room. He pulled his sculptor’s stone off his neck and pressed it to the demon‘s ugly, scaled forehead.

  His mouth moved, his eyes set with determination. He kept repeating them over and over again until finally, I felt a snap, and Nick fell back to lie on the floor.

  A siren screamed. I could hear it over my blown-out eardrums and about 20 guards stormed the room with rifles aimed at me and Nick.

  They were yelling, but I couldn't hear what they said.

  I pushed myself up in time to see Collin and Julian walk through the door. Collin looked angry, but Julian had no expression at all.

  Collin said something, and suddenly I found myself in handcuffs and being carried down the hall.

  I stared at Julian as I passed, but he didn't meet my eyes.

  Asshole.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  The armed guards each had demon features. I could put them together now that I’d seen a real demon. I wished for my ignorance to return.

  They dragged Nick and me through the corridors and into a conference room. There was a long desk in the center of the wide room, but plenty of space around it. This conference room came with a handy feature though. Someone had anchored steel rings into the wall and the guards produced chains which they used to hook me up like I was a dog.

  I still couldn’t hear, but Nick was yelling and fighting against the soldiers. One of them punched him in the stomach, and he collapsed to the ground. Another chained him up, too.

  “Can you hear me?” Collin asked in a loud voice from beside me. Creepy demon snuck up on me.

  I nodded, my throat still burning from the assault of the demon.

  “You’ve been a very bad hunter. That was my demon. Now I have a big problem.” His clawed finger slid down my cheek, and I moved my face away, disgusted. “What am I going to do with you?”

  My eyes slid past his shoulder to Julian whose blank face was the most annoying thing I’d ever seen in my life. Asshole half-demon. I knew I should have never trusted him. Why did he even come to get me if this was the plan? Should he have just left me where I was, happy in Humbert Falls?

  “I hate to kill you,” Collin went on. “But I can't have you running around ruining my plans, can I?”

  The demon leader crossed the room and gave Nick a swift kick. His body shook in convulsions. That was not good. I struggled against my chains trying to break free and go to Nick, but the chains were heavy, and I didn't have much strength left, anyway.

  Collin raised his hand in a shoo motion, and the guards left. Julian stayed put, and Collin didn't seem to mind.

  “Tell you what,” Collin said, suddenly right next to me. “You agree to stay with me, and I won't kill your friend here.”

  “No fucking way,” I spit. Literally. Bloody spit sprayed as I spoke, my throat screaming in agony.

  Collin took a handkerchief out of his pocket and whipped my spittle from his face.

  “Very well, how about you stay with me, or I’ll kill you both?” His voice was hard now, not the mocking tone he was using a moment ago. I wished I could wring his neck. He had caused so much suffering. I laughed. I would rather be dead than stay with him.

  His dark brow lowered and his hand shot out so fast I didn't see it move. My already damaged throat seized, and all air stopped moving. My eyes burned with anger as I pulled my foot back and kicked him as hard as I could. It had no effect. The man kept squeezing until it felt like my eyes would pop out of my head. I dropped to the floor, but the demon followed me down.

  The room darkened, and then a light lacy pattern appeared at the edges of my vision. I hoped I was going to heaven. I’d done bad shit, but I had helped people, too. Probably.

  I didn't want Collins ugly face to be the last one I saw, but I couldn't turn my head, so I pictured Linc's smiling face. And Len. A tear rolled down the side of my face to get lost in my hair. I would miss Len the most. He would be so disappointed in me.

  Suddenly the pressure released my throat, and the sound of a battle dimly hit my ears. I rolled onto my side, facing away from the noise and tried to swallow the coughs that were burning my throat. Even air passing my lungs hurt and I wasn't sure living was worth it. The room fell to silence. I pulled enough oxygen in that my vision returned, although it was hard to see past the tears. I blinked several times and rolled over to find Julian standing on the far side, besides Nick. Jagged tears crossed his face as if a bear had mauled him.

  His lips moved, but I couldn't hear what he said.

  Movement at the door caught my attention as soldier flooded in.

  “Get out!” Julian yelled, and the soldiers backed away. I couldn't see Collin anywhere but hoped this wasn't some sick game.

  Julian crossed the room and gently unlocked the handcuffs on my wrists, but he left me laying on the floor as he did the same for Nick.

  I felt no safer with Julian than I had with Collin. Julian's face remained cold and distant. I pushed off the floor, but standing was dumb, so I crawled to Nick. His eyes were open, but he didn't focus on me for a long moment. I was seriously worried he had brain damage, but then his eyes met mine, and he smiled, which was weird in the circumstances. I gave him the universal “what the hell” face, and he reached up and pulled me down to his mouth. He kissed me with this crazy passion I was not expecting. I was disgusting and bloody and probably smelled bad, but when I pulled away, I smiled down at him and got it. We slew the dragon and lived to tell the tale. So far.

  I glanced back at Julian, but he was looking at the door. His jaw ticked, and I wondered if he was a bad guy or not. He must have pulled Collin off me somehow. I lay down beside Nick and just rested for a few minutes. Everything hurt.

  Medical professionals surrounded me. They put me on a backboard and strapped me down to a gurney.

  They rolled Nick and me out of the room and into the elevator. Nick's eyes stayed trained on me the whole way. I had never felt so alone and vulnerable. Even when my mother ran off and left me, I still had someone around. Len never left. He was the family I chose.

  Too bad we couldn't have just taken the elevator down here in the first place as I suggested. Would have saved us from the spooky tunnel and the library full of angry gargoyles.

  Outside they pushed us into different ambulances, and I lost sight of Nick. The paramedics poked and prodded me, asking me questions I could answer in a yes or a no. I tried to stay focused on the questions but my mind was spinning,
and I probably told them I was pregnant or had a heart condition. Who knows?

  I realized when the paramedic rolled me into the emergency room, I had left my net behind. Damn it. There was no way I was going back there to find it. I would have to get a new one.

  I was in so much pain that my body shook from shock. The paramedics layered blankets on me, but it didn't help. Even the heated ones the nurses brought in the emergency room weren’t doing the trick.

  They rolled Nick into the room beside me, only a curtain separating us, but he asked the nurse to open it. Then he told me stories like they were fairy tales, but they sounded like actual adventures in gargoyle hunting. They wheeled me away for x-rays, and Nick promised he would be right there when I got back.

  Sure enough, he was. They wanted to take him for an MRI, but he made them wait. I waved to him as they rolled him out. They moved me to a room before he came back. I asked them to wait, but they said they needed the room.

  I cried into my pillow once I was alone, but the drugs kicked in and it wasn’t long before I was asleep.

  “How are you feeling honey?” a familiar voice whispered the next morning. Tears sprung to my eyes so fast I had no time to wipe them away before Len’s wrinkled old face appeared above me. “Awe, shit, sugar. You are in rough shape, huh?”

  He grabbed a cup of ice chips the nurse had brought me and adjusted the bed, so I was sitting up. “You know, when I was a young man, many years ago, there was a beautiful woman who came and fed me ice chips. She was so tiny, but so tough, living in the war zone to help wounded soldiers.” His eyes were wistful and a smile creeped in with the sadness in his voice. He took a deep breath before he continued. “I remember her brown hair was always perfect and her eyes sparkled with the sweetest warmth you could imagine. I wish you had someone like that. Maybe a nice handsome boy, but instead all you got is me. So here, eat up the damn ice chips before they melt all over me.”