Gargoyle Huntress

by Jen Pretty

  I laughed and coughed and then moaned in pain. Len held out an ice chip for me, and I gladly took it. The cold water felt great on my angry throat and desert mouth but the swelling was so severe that I couldn't swallow. I let the water run down my throat, hoping I wouldn't drown on a stupid ice chip. The pain medication helped, but not much could really stop the pain, just dull it.

  Len filled me in on all the latest news from town. It wasn’t much, our towns biggest scandal was that old lady Gertrude forgot her teeth and walked around all day without them.

  “All right, you hang in there. I’m going home because the new kid is no good at dough and I don't want a whole ton of complaints tomorrow when the crust isn't right. You take care and come home soon.”

  I squeezed Len’s hand, and he gave me one last smile before walking out.

  I nodded off after Len left, thankful to have seen a familiar face. The hospital was busy, and the room I was in had four beds that were always full, but the occupants came and went like the changing of the guard. One entire wall of the room was windows that lit the space during the day, streaming light through the flimsy curtains that surrounded my bed. I wished Nick was in my room so I would have someone to talk to. Not that I could speak. okay fine. I just wanted someone I knew around. Nick and I shared a connection with a dark world we couldn't share with anyone else.

  I watched TV for a while and tried to read a magazine a nurse brought me, but what I really wanted was food. Nurses delivered trays to other patients three times a day, but I was still struggling with water. Half the time it came out my nose instead of down my throat.

  I slept off and on the rest of the day and into the night. Sometime around midnight I woke and turned toward the door. A tall, broad figure stood in the doorway, back-lit from the hall light so I couldn't see his features. I didn't need to though. I knew who it was. Julian stared for a moment and then turned and walked away. I don't know if I would have said anything to him or not, but I missed my chance, anyway. I lay awake staring at the doorway for the rest of the night.

  “How are you doing today, honey?” the nice nurse asked. I liked this one, she spoke kindly and called me honey.

  I cleared my throat a few times and whispered “fine.”

  Her laugh was like bells tinkling, and she set a green Jell-O cup down in front of me. My heart said it was food and got excited, but my brain knew it was just water with sugar.

  I valiantly made my first swallow and raised my plastic spoon in victory. A chuckle disrupted my happy dance, and I looked over to find Nick leaning against the door frame.

  “Shut it, I’m wonder woman,” I whispered hoarsely like I had smoked two packs a day for the last twenty years.

  “You certainly are,” Nick replied, walking across the room and collapsing into the chair beside my bed. His face was swollen and battered. He had two black eyes and a scrape across his jaw, his nose was twice it’s normal size, and a piece of tape covered his nostrils, but he seemed okay.

  “You look like shit,” I said.

  He laughed again and gently touched his nose. “Yeah, they reset my nose, but my brain is okay. I got a thick skull, apparently.”

  I laughed carefully. “You going home?”

  “They let me out, but said you would get out today too, so thought I might stick around and give you a ride.”

  I smiled at him and reached out to squeeze his hand. “Thank you.” I let go, but he held on to my hand, refusing to let me pull away.

  He looked around and then leaned in close to me. “The gargoyles all flew home.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “The ones in the library froze, and sculptors from all over the northeast came and collected them.”

  I nodded, that meant mine were all back home again too.

  “What happened?” I whispered harshly. Emotion filled the question, and Nick knew what I meant.

  “Julian stabbed him in the back with a giant ass knife and threw him across the room. He ran out the door. He’s gone.”

  We both knew he was out there somewhere, probably summoning demons and other dumb shit. Great.

  Nick told me stories in whispers so nobody else could hear. He told me about chasing gargoyles through cities and countryside.

  I was sure he made up some of them, but eventually, I nodded off and woke to the sound of my nurse's chirpy voice.

  “You ready to go home?” She asked. I opened my eyes and realized Nick was asleep too, his chair tucked into the bed and head on my stomach.

  I ran my hand over his head. His hair was so soft. I sighed, then I looked up at the nurse and said, “Yeah. That’s probably for the best.”

  She laughed as though it were a joke, but I had to get back to my life. Someone needed to keep the gargoyles in line, and I was the one responsible for Humber Falls.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Nick drove me to the train station after a quick stop at the mall to get a turtle neck and some make-up to cover the worst of my damage. I was not looking forward to the train ride home with people staring at me.

  In the train station, Nick kissed me goodbye in the middle of the busy terminal, and I felt a pang of sadness. Nick was a good man who I could get to know and have a relationship with, but he had his job here, and I had mine several hours away.

  “I want to see you again soon,” he said.

  “You live pretty far away, Nick.”

  “Just a train ride and I’ll call you.” He sounded sure that this wasn’t the last time we would see each other. I wasn’t sure about a relationship. Though it would be easier since we both had the same job, it still seemed a bit far fetched to carry on a long-distance relationship. I wasn’t in the mood to think about it, so I said goodbye and turned to board the train.

  A pair of dark eyes caught my attention near the other end of the platform. I searched the writhing crowd but couldn't find them again, and I had to board, so climbed the steps and found my seat. The woman sitting beside me smelled strongly of perfume and was laughing with someone on her cell phone; it would be a long trip. I glanced out the window once she settled in her seat and found those dark eyes again.

  Julian stood in the shadow of the train station, his face blank, but his intense eyes were boring holes into mine. I wanted to wave or smile or something, but I couldn’t. Too much had happened and even seeing him from this far away made my heart race with fear. It was possibly an unreasonable fear, but I was afraid of him. Maybe all half-demons would have scared me right then.

  The train pulled away, and I held his eyes until I couldn't see him anymore. I was comfortable telling myself it was for the best that I left the whole of New York behind. But somewhere out in the world was Collin and who the hell knew what he was up to.

  I got lost in my thoughts for most of the trip home. Then slept until a stewardess touched my shoulder and woke me at my stop.

  When I stepped off the train, the earth seemed too still. I had gotten used to the rocking motion of the train.

  “Hey, Har,” Lincoln called from across the small outdoor platform of Humber Falls tiny train station.

  That was the moment I remembered that Lincoln had been holding out on me and my anger surge. “Don’t you ‘hey, Har’ me, Mister. I know all about hunters getting paid and how I didn't need to be working.” I poked him in the chest with one finger. It kind of hurt actually. Was he made of stone too?

  He looked bashful but said, “Len wanted you to keep working for him, and you love that old guy. If you had all that money, you wouldn’t have needed to work for him or stay with me.” He looked away and sighed. “At first it was because you were under age. Then you went through that rough patch,” he dropped his voice to a whisper as people passed by to enter the station. “I wanted you to have a family and connections.”

  Ugh, now how was I supposed to be mad at him? “Fine, but you owe me!”

  He laughed, “It’s in a trust fund. You can have it whenever you want.”

  “OK, let’s go home.�
��

  He turned, and we walked side by side through town toward his little, converted mechanic shop. The town seemed smaller as if I had grown. It was a beautiful day, the birds chirped, and the sun shone. The gargoyles were all solid statues on the top of the bank, but when we passed the library, and I looked up, there was a figure missing. The one who possessed me and started all this shit was missing from the back corner of the library. I looked at Lincoln.

  He frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

  Fabulous.

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  Gargoyle Huntress Copyright © 2019 by Jen Pretty. All rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Drop Dead Designs

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  First Printing: April 2019

  ISBN 9781775290681