When A Gargoyle Dreams (Gargoyles Book 5)

by E A Price

He hung up, and she stared at the phone, uneasiness, and fear wavering inside her. She feared for Martha, but she feared for herself more. Perhaps she ought to have a contingency plan, just in case something happened. She wouldn’t put anything past Blackthorne.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Do you think it is a good idea?” asked Annis uncertainly.

  “I think it’s a terrific idea,” agreed Brenda, brightly.

  Kylie furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure. I don't think that Drago and Ryia are well suited. They don't really go together.”

  Maggie let out a snort. “We’re not talking about Romeo and Juliet or even Danny and Sandy here. We’re talking about two gargoyles who both need to get rid of some sexual tension. That’s probably why they’re such miserable douches.”

  Annis had divulged the gargoyles’ plan to encourage a mating between Drago and Ryia, but Kylie feared it would only end in disaster. Or at least mutually assured destruction – in short, they would kill one another.

  “I’m not sure that is what Drago needs.”

  “What he really needs is a good female,” said Ingrede, “she will set him straight.”

  Cai rolled his eyes.

  “I saw that,” growled Ingrede at her mate.

  Cai chuckled and tickled his son’s stomach. Wolfe was lounging on the floor playing with his toys while Daphne – enraptured by the tiny gargoyle – pandered to his every whim.

  “Why is it mated couples are always intent on the rest of the clan mating as well?” grumbled Grey before stomping away.

  “To ensure you both suffer and enjoy mated life as much as us!” called Ric after him before yelping as Brenda slapped him.

  Ryia made her way into the room, sneering at them all, eliciting a mixture of growls and sighs. “Why are you all in here when you could be out hunting and fighting? It makes me sick to see gargoyles so fat and lazy.”

  “Fat?” hissed Ingrede.

  “Lazy?” snapped Brom.

  “Oh look, Ryia, look who it is!” cried Annis before either Brom or Cai could lunge at Ryia. Ingrede was having a devil of a time holding onto Cai, and there was no way Joely could stop Brom.

  It was fortuitous that Drago was indeed entering the room at that time. All eyes swiveled in his direction, including those of the less than impressed Ryia. He paused on finding himself under such scrutiny and grunted in discomfort.

  “If you are bored, perhaps Drago could take you hunting,” suggested Annis.

  Ryia stroked her chin and curled her lip at Drago. “I am keen to hunt again.”

  “Ask Gracchus,” rumbled Drago.

  “Gracchus is away somewhere with Luc. Maybe you…”

  “Not interested.”

  Ryia snorted impatiently and left, her tail and wings flapping violently causing mayhem with all the furniture not nailed down.

  Kylie sighed and started picking up the pieces of a destroyed lamp. “We lose so many lamps in this house,” she muttered.

  Drago looked around the room until his gaze fell on Joely. Joely’s eyes widened on finding herself the object of his intense, red gaze. Brom clutched his mate tightly and growled.

  It was true that they had all been surprised when Joely arrived. Mostly because none of them possibly imagined that he had managed to woo a human without her flipping out. But he had, she was there, and she was going to keep their existence a secret. Luc was worried about Daphne telling people, but Brom stubbornly said she wouldn’t, while Joely assured him that no one would believe her anyway.

  Luc naturally had to chastise Brom for ‘revealing’ himself to a human – a statement that earned him a snicker from Joely. But Joely and Daphne were welcomed with little fuss. It helped that Daphne was unbearably cute and that Joely could pretty much get along with anyone and enjoyed teasing Brom.

  Drago shifted from foot to foot, his wings twitching and agitation pouring from him.

  “Your youngling is well after her accident?” he asked finally.

  Brom narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the other gargoyle’s interest, but Joely smiled before giving her daughter a calculating look. “She’s fine, no matter what she says.”

  “Mommy!” pouted Daphne.

  “I let you stay up late last night. It’s not good for you to stay up every night. You have ten minutes before its bedtime, and that’s final.”

  Daphne’s bottom lip quivered dangerously. “But…”

  “Listen to your mother,” rumbled Brom.

  Daphne nodded sagely and stopped arguing. Joely gave him a narrow-eyed look, and he grinned.

  “This ability you have to get her to comply won’t last forever.”

  “Ummm hmmm.”

  They realized Drago was still watching them and Joely squirmed uneasily. Brom was large, but she never found him scary. This male, however, was huge, and his eyes, they were red and fiercely wild.

  “There were no injuries?” Drago asked.

  “Well, the driver of the car hit his head…”

  “Serves the dumbass right,” commented Maggie.

  “Dumbass,” parroted Daphne and Joely glared at Maggie while she mouthed the word sorry.

  Drago scowled impatiently. “The… the female who saved your youngling.”

  Joely scrunched her nose. “Martha?”

  His gaze seemed to deepen. “She was… uninjured?”

  “I tried to go see her this afternoon, but she was out of town – Daphne made her some Rice Krispie squares. But we just left them on her stoop with a note. I’m sure she was fine; the doctor was there and took care of her.”

  “I am glad,” he breathed, and some of the tension did seem to leave his body.

  Everyone looked at him in mild confusion.

  His eyes flared. “Glad of your youngling’s safety, given that she is now clan,” he clarified.

  Daphne beamed at him, and he looked startled before turning to leave.

  “Wait,” called Annis, “are you sure you don’t want to go hunting with Ryia…”

  “Give up, he’s gone,” murmured Kylie.

  “He’s… intense,” said Joely, relaxing a little after he left.

  “We usually go with bat-shit crazy,” said Maggie.

  “Bat-shit,” repeated Daphne and Maggie slapped a cushion over her mouth.

  *

  Drago trailed kisses down her huge stomach. The baby gave a responding kick.

  “Don’t, I’m all fat, and I have stretch marks,” Martha complained.

  “You are beautiful,” he told her roughly, daring her to disagree.

  “Yeah, tell that to my swollen ankles.”

  “Would you like me to rub your feet again?” he asked seriously.

  “I wouldn’t hate that,” she murmured.

  Martha felt her grumpiness evaporating as he watched her with his usual adoring intensity. He never lied to her, never took her for granted and no matter how emotional she became, he was as solid as a rock for her. He would never be the life of the party, but she never feared that he would ever let her down. Just that look on his face reminded her of the one truth that always kept her grounded.

  She cupped his face, feeling him shudder slightly at her touch.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “I love you, my angel.”

  *

  Martha awoke, panicking. She stumbled out of bed, stepping on Timber’s tail and banging her knee twice as she made her way to the bathroom.

  She splashed water on her face and stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes didn’t so much have bags as a set of matching luggage. Her skin was pale, her cheeks were starting to look gaunt and her hair limp.

  She needed to stop this.

  Enough was enough. Three months of strange dreams and she barely recognized the woman in the mirror.

  Three months ago she had been… well, not happy, but content? Yeah, she had been content, but now she was all over the place.

  She needed to get back to normal. She wasn’t the type of person who believe
d in psychics, or had premonitions or met strange, flying creatures. She. Was. Normal.

  Whatever the hell was happening with her ended now.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Martha had been ignoring her messages – she had many messages from Valerie, her mother and numerous people wondering whether she was organizing the town New Year’s Eve party again. She was supposed to be, but she hadn’t done anything for it.

  She should do it. She had been letting things slide, and she needed to get back to normality.

  It would certainly help her feel normal again. Honestly, she liked organizing things, and she kind of liked being in charge. Or maybe she just liked it whenever everyone made a fuss over her and thanked her for doing it. Hmmm, that seemed like a character flaw for another day. For now, she was more concerned about getting her train wreck of a life back on track.

  The dream was the last straw. How could she have told him she loved him? Even in a dream. It was absurd. She’d never told any of her exes she loved them. Only ever her mother and father. But even in her dream, she wanted to say it; the words were dying to get past her lips, she couldn’t prevent them from slipping out.

  No, this was all wrong. This isn’t the way her life was supposed to be. She didn’t want to fall in love with a winged creature. She didn’t have dreams of the future.

  She. Was. Normal.

  Words she kept repeating to herself over and over. Maybe if she did it enough, all of her misgivings would flutter away, and she could believe it.

  After another agitated night, she got dressed, packed a bag, making sure to take the Rice Krispie treats provided by Daphne and Joely, ensured her new kindly neighbors would feed Timber and set out in her mother’s car. Her own car was a complete write-off, and she was driving her mother’s enormous sedan – it was about the size of a boat – but it was better than nothing.

  That was something else she needed to sort out but had been ignoring – a new car. If it hadn’t been for her mother, her old one would probably still be sitting forlornly on the side of the road, propping up the remains of the now pulverized tree.

  In spite of the butterflies doing battle royale in her stomach, she was going to see Phillip. Maybe it wouldn’t be too late for the two of them.

  She was going to marry a normal guy; they were going to have two kids and a dog. They’d vacation at the lake and go skiing in winter, just like her mother…

  Panic had made her resolve her life plan, but with every second she was becoming tenser about seeing Phillip again.

  The thought of his thin-fingered hands on her, of his cold mouth on hers – they made her cringe.

  But this is what she wanted, right?

  She pulled up in front of his house and forced herself to go in, using the key he had given her.

  The house was dark, but she could hear movement and the sound of that awful jazz music that Phillip considered to be mood music. Always just sent her mood into a funk.

  “Phillip?” she called entering the living room.

  Candles were dotted around, but in the gloom, she could still make out the figures of Phillip and Valerie making out on the couch.

  “Martha!” cried Phillip, standing up too quickly and dropping Valerie to the floor.

  Martha flipped on the light to find a scowling Valerie on the floor and Phillip giving her a guilty expression, the like of which she hadn’t seen since the last time she caught him with another woman. Though at least his pants were still on this time. Whatever they were doing was still over the clothes.

  She stared at them both in surprise. Honestly, she had no other reaction to reach for. Sure, Valerie and Phillip had met a couple of times when he came to Devil’s Hang to attend events Martha had organized, but she would have been less shocked to walk into Phillip’s house and find him making out with the Easter Bunny.

  After a couple of moments, Valerie managed to overcome her irritation at being dumped on the floor and her expression toward Martha turned triumphant. Yep, she’d stolen Martha’s boyfriend, and clearly, she was damn proud of her achievement. Some prize thought Martha huffily.

  Phillip grimaced. “Look, Martha, you can hardly blame me, Valerie was concerned about what was happening between us and well, one thing led to another…”

  Martha looked between the two of them, between Valerie’s smugness and Phillip who was trying to be self-righteous but looked as shamefaced as a little boy trying to smuggle a frog into his bedroom.

  “I don’t blame you,” Martha said with a calmness that amazed even her. “I’m just surprised.”

  She wasn’t angry, she was… relieved.

  Phillip looked at her warily, as if he was expecting her to explode any second. She didn’t know why he would. She didn’t even go ballistic when she caught him with his secretary; in that situation, she coughed to get his attention, and while he was fumbling to get dressed she just walked away. She was raised too well to be anything but polite, no matter what circumstances she found herself in.

  Martha held up the keys to his house, and gingerly, Phillip took them from her. Now he was looking at them like they might explode.

  “You should really have them back,” she said while looking around the room. Phillip had a nice house, but she’d always hated being in it – it was cold and the furniture boring. It wasn’t her type of place at all.

  “I don’t think I left anything else here, but if you left something at my house, let me know.”

  Phillip eyed her suspiciously. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  He was probably just worried she was going to key his car on the way out. Nah – he might have deserved it, but she really couldn’t be bothered. Valerie almost looked put out by the lack of fireworks on Martha’s part.

  Martha nodded. “I’m sorry I butted in like this, I had no right. Enjoy your evening.”

  She meant it too. Martha walked out, got into her car and let out a long breath.

  She’d rushed over to Phillip’s house out of fear and almost made a huge mistake. Thank heavens she was thwarted from doing something insane like asking Phillip to marry her!

  She looked up at Phillip’s large house, but she couldn’t summon any regret about the end of their relationship. Nor could she think of a time she had been happy there.

  Honestly, the only place she’d really been happy was in her dreams, with him. Her mystery gargoyle.

  “I love you, my angel.”

  Her whole body shivered. Maybe she wasn’t meant for normal.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Martha reclined on the couch and watched as the stormy waves lapped at the shore. After leaving Phillip and Valerie – who honestly deserved each other and would make a better couple than Martha and Phillip ever could – she decided to drive up to her mother’s beach house.

  It was only a couple of hours drive, and since she already had her bag packed, she thought a change of scenery might do her good. Her mother spent weekends there with Martha’s stepfamily and sometimes rented it out. At that time of year, it was empty, and she knew her mother wouldn’t mind if she used it for a few days.

  It was a lovely house, and she did enjoy being near the beach. Never a beach bunny – swimming and surfing required far too much coordination - she preferred staying in the house, reading with a glass of wine and occasionally looking up to watch the thundery skies. She actually preferred it in the winter to the summer. Stormy weather and huge lapping waves were much more beautiful than a clear blue sky.

  She had made a last-ditch attempt to get back to normal, but in the end, she realized that the normal she was used to didn’t make her happy. She hadn’t been truly happy since she lost her father, except in her dreams with the gargoyle.

  Maybe it was about time she just enjoyed her dreams, rather than trying to fight them.

  Martha sipped on some wine and read a cozy mystery as her eyelids started to droop.

  *

  “There you are,” grumbled Ryia.

  Drago lamented the fact tha
t he had been distracted by his thoughts and hadn’t scented the disagreeable female’s approach.

  “I have been trying to find you for near to an hour!” she chastised with the subtlety of a mace to the head.

  Drago merely grunted, trying to discourage any further chatter from her. The other gargoyles understood he wasn’t a talker. They didn’t go out of their way to find him and talk to him – even the new male, Leo had already figured it out. Yet, everywhere he went this quarrelsome female sought him out. He had been dodging her and had thought the roof – his sanctuary – would be safe. Looking back, he had no idea why he would think that.

  Ryia scowled at him in an accusing manner. “Ric insisted I find you to practice sparring.”

  Damn Ric. He would have a few choice words for the young male. Or perhaps a few choice punches.

  “Not interested,” he rumbled and turned away from her, continuing to stare into the moody night.

  She didn’t leave and her presence grated against his nerves. He did not like anyone being too near him and certainly not for long. It made him uneasy, made him angry, and Ryia with her aggressive stance, and short fuse immediately aggravated him.

  Though he hadn’t felt anything like that when he met Martha. Her soothing presence and lightly lilting voice did the opposite of every other creature on the planet. Whether through design or accident, she made him want to spend more time with her.

  Ryia looked out at the human town and snorted. “Human technology has come a long way and yet, the humans have not changed.”

  He grunted, uncaring to be drawn into any discussion about humans. He was not a human lover, though he had no great affection for his own kind either, but he did not want to waste his time speaking of it.

  “The clan seem to be under the impression that I would make a good mate for you.”

  Drago almost fell off the roof at that. “What?!” he roared, sending a few roof tiles flying as he leaped to his feet.

  Ryia shrugged unconcernedly. “They have not been subtle in their attempts to throw us together. How you could have missed the fact that they keep pushing me in your direction I do not know.”