Putting her jeans and sweatshirt on, she grabbed her jacket and the gun. Waving down a cab, she headed to the museum, and in no time, she was standing before the statue of the gargoyle.
Reaching for his hand, she said, “Hey, you.” She waited for him to respond. When there was nothing, she continued, “I’m sorry, okay? I was just shocked. You can’t blame me, right? I mean, who would have thought gargoyles were real?”
But the gargoyle didn’t react nor respond.
“So, I’m going to get the silent treatment?” She leaned her head onto his chest. “Okay, I’m feeling really foolish right about now talking to a statue. If somebody saw me, they’d for sure think I’ve lost my mind.”
When he remained silent, she hit him. Then she hit him again, but he didn’t budge.
“Damn you, Damien! What do you want from me? Why are you doing this? We have to talk. I’m sorry I shot you and then kicked you out. Now, would you give me a break?” With one last shove, she headed to the ledge. Standing on the edge, she said, “I see how stubborn you are, but I’m just as stubborn. You better not let me reach that ground. I love you, Damien!” With that, she took a leap of faith.
The ground was coming fast, and her heart leaped to her throat. She closed her eyes, preparing for whatever fate had in store for her. Right before the impact, she was lifted up in air within a split of a second.
“You’ve got to be the craziest woman I’ve ever met.”
Kelsey opened her eyes to see the gargoyle version of Damien holding her securely in his arms as his wide wings flapped and brought them higher into the sky.
“I’m not crazy. I knew you’d save me,” she said, smiling in victory. She held him tight with her arms while he soared through the darkness. She squealed in delight as the wind rushed through her hair. Never had she felt this exhilarated…this free.
When Damien dove down and spun her, she held him tighter as she savored the thrilling ride through the silence of the night. When she glanced down, she saw the lights of the cars and buildings fading as they flew higher. Not once was she scared. She knew no matter what happened, Damien would always protect her.
Eventually, he took her back to the rooftop of the museum, carefully lowering her. She stared up at his massive form, the power radiating out of him. When she was shocked earlier, she hadn’t realized how beautiful he truly was. Every muscle was defined and even his face had the same striking features as his human form. She leaned up to his face, but he needed to kneel down so she could reach him. Tenderly, she kissed his cheek, closing her eyes.
When Kelsey opened them, the human form of Damien was standing before her. Noticing immediately that he was stark naked, she quickly turned away.
“What’s the deal with you being naked?” Earlier in her apartment, she was too shocked to say anything. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t noticed his perfect, nude body.
Damien laughed. “You’re shy, Kelsey?”
“Don’t you have any clothes?” She still refused to face him, not trusting herself.
She heard Damien walking a few steps away. After several minutes, he said, “Okay, I’m fully clothed now. You can turn and talk to me normally.”
When she did, she noticed he had his black jeans and a black hoodie on. “Where did you get your clothes?”
“I keep a pile of them in a bag up here. You know, so I have something handy when I take my human form.”
“But your clothes rip every time you become a gargoyle?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah, it’s very inconvenient, trust me. I normally just strip my clothes off before transforming into a gargoyle. Now, come here. I need to hold you in my arms.”
Kelsey buried herself into his embrace. “This is crazy. You know that, right? Are there more gargoyles like you?”
“Come on, let’s sit. I’ll tell you everything.” He led her to the ledge, and both sat down with their feet dangling off of it. “Yes, there are others. But, they’re not all like me.”
“What do you mean? And where are they? Where do they live? How about you? Do you live up here?”
“Okay, one question at a time. First of all, as you probably can guess, we turn into stone during the day. We can’t control that. And like I said, not all gargoyles are similar. For example, not all can transform into humans. And some gargoyles are not so nice. Actually, they can be evil.”
“How come you can turn into a human?” she asked, frowning.
“That trait runs in my family. That’s very rare actually. There are only a few of us who can do that,” he answered, playing with her hair.
“So, how is it possible?”
“Somehow, human blood runs in my family line. The theory is that a gargoyle and a human mated hundreds of years ago and produced a baby.”
Kelsey could feel her face turning beet red. Clearing her throat, she asked, “Is that even possible?”
Laughing, he answered, “Well, anything is possible I suppose. But it’s highly forbidden. Gargoyles and humans are not supposed to interact at all. It’s one of our strictest laws. Humans are not to know of our existence.”
“Uhh, you guys have laws? And you’re breaking them?”
Damien sighed. “It hasn’t been easy, Kelsey. Trust me, I’ve fought my feelings for you for years. I stayed away from you even, but I finally just gave up. I have no more fight in me. I know I’ve waited my entire life for you.”
Kelsey’s heart skipped a beat. Could that be true for her as well? Was he the reason for her still being alive? Clearly, he was her savior. All these years, something kept bringing her to this rooftop, where she would have long conversations with a statue. Was there something so powerful between them that they were drawn to one another?
“Speaking of your entire life, how old are you?” she asked.
“We don’t age as fast as humans. I was born fifty-one years ago. That makes me almost twenty-six in human age,” he explained.
“Wait a minute. I’m technically older than you?” Kelsey laughed, teasing him.
“How did you come up with that? I just said I was born fifty-one years ago.”
“Yeah, but in human age, you’re only twenty-five. And since I’m human, that’s what we’re going by.”
Damien kissed her. “Is that so?”
“Mmm hmm,” she said, smiling through his kisses. Pulling away, she asked, “So, what does all this mean? What if you get caught? What’s the punishment?” Kelsey suddenly was worried, not understanding his society and culture.
“My clan already knows. I’ve also been meeting with The Council about this for a long time now.”
“The Council? Clan?”
“The Council basically makes the major decisions. I’ve told them everything, including my feelings for you.”
“They know? What did they say? How long have they known?”
“Kelsey, when you used to come here years ago, I was intrigued by you. I used to watch you night after night. When you’d cry up here, I felt your pain. All I wanted to do was to pull you in my arms and tell you it’ll be okay. I would then follow you home every night when you’d leave from here. I told myself it was because I was just curious. Then, one night, you slipped on ice and got hurt. I knew you needed help. I resisted at first, but then convinced myself I’d get you to your place safely and walk out of your life again. But, it didn’t work out as planned.” He laughed as he remembered.
“You kept coming back. In a way, I was scared of you. Oh, and Tom hated you.”
“He probably sensed that I was different…not a human. And that night when you told me about your family…Kelsey, I wanted to take all your pain away. It felt like my heart was breaking to watch you suffer like that. Instead of comforting you, I practically attacked you. What a selfish bastard I can be!” Damien rubbed his forehead, frowning.
“Um, I kinda enjoyed that attack,” Kelsey confessed, smiling mischievously. “Then you disappeared. Like literally, I didn’t see you until four years later.”
“I did. I had to. I felt like I took advantage of your vulnerability, and I also realized I had fallen hard for you. So, I purposefully stayed away, but that didn’t mean I didn’t always keep an eye on you. I was always there, Kelsey. And then you had to go and get one of the most dangerous jobs out there! What the hell were you thinking becoming a cop?”
“I told you! I was trying to find you and find some answers! I knew there were things happening around me that I just didn’t understand. How come I couldn’t remember anything that night when you saved me years ago?”
“Oh, about that…yeah, some of us gargoyles have powers like that. I was able to put you to sleep so you wouldn’t recollect anything.”
“Wow! That’s just wrong. How are you gonna mess with my mind like that?” Kelsey teased.
“I don’t typically use those powers. I only do it when I have to, trust me. That night, I wasn’t going to let you die, so I had to make a choice.”
“All these years, I’m sure I sensed your presence.” Kelsey paused, thinking about various incidences. “Wait, so when I was chasing suspects, and they said they saw a monster, were they talking about you?” Kelsey asked, finally putting everything together.
“Possibly…” Damien flashed a guilty-as-charged grin.
“Wow, I thought I was just a badass cop.” She punched him on his shoulder.
“You are pretty badass. I mean you shot me couple of hours ago.”
Kelsey searched his shoulder for the gunshot wound which was completely healed. “You caught me off-guard.”
“Yeah, you kicked me out. What made you change your mind?” Damien narrowed his eyes at her.
“Could you give me a minute for the shock to register? It didn’t take me long to realize I loved you for who you are on the inside. Period. Besides, Tom kinda sorta helped as well.”
Damien lifted his head to look at her, immediately curious. “Tom?”
“Guess my little buddy likes you now. He literally brought me that note you wrote to me years ago and wouldn’t budge until I read it again.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. Guess I owe him big.”
“You never answered about The Council. What did they say about all this?”
“So, this is the human you’re willing to give everything up for?” A voice echoed into the still of the night.
Kelsey flung her head to see another gargoyle as he landed on the ledge. She felt Damien tense immediately next to her.
Twenty-two
“What are you doing here, Shane?” Damien asked as he stepped off of the ledge and onto the rooftop. He then held his hand out to help Kelsey come to safe grounds.
“I was curious, Damien. Why wouldn’t I be? After all, I’m about to lose my one and only brother to this human.”
Brother? Kelsey was puzzled and turned to face Damien. “You have a brother? And what is he talking about?”
“Keeping secrets from her, brother? Really? I thought your love for one another was strong.”
“Would you shut up, Shane! Of course, I was getting to all that. Ignore him, Kelsey.” Damien stood tall, fists balled at his sides, and his posture hard.
“No, I won’t ignore him, Damien. What is he talking about? What does he mean?”
Shane took his human form and a gorgeous, naked male strolled toward them. He had similar features as Damien, but a younger version of him. Quickly turning away, Kelsey wondered if good-looking genes just ran in their family.
“Show some respect, Shane, and put some clothes on. I have my bag back there,” Damien ordered.
“I’m sure your human has seen you naked plenty of times. I’m not changing my ways for anybody. I’m actually quite comfortable in my own skin.”
Damien sighed in frustration and threw Kelsey an apologetic smile. “Sorry about his behavior.”
Kelsey shook her head, facing both of them. “I don’t care about his nakedness. Just tell me what he’s talking about.”
“Allow me. It’s Kelsey, right? You see, Damien has been meeting with The Council about all this. At first, he was punished—severely, mind you—for even suggesting he had feelings for his human. Finally, when the stubborn fool wouldn’t give in, they gave him a choice. Either he agrees to forget about you and never go near you again, or the Master Gargoyles can turn him into a hundred percent human. But that would mean he would have to leave his gargoyle life. It would be as if that part of him never existed. He would leave all of his family and friends for you, a human.”
“Shut up, Shane. Stop being so dramatic!” Damien yelled.
Kelsey turned toward Damien, not understanding the information. Was he trying to sacrifice everything that defined him? His very existence?
“How am I being dramatic, brother? It’s all true, after all. You could have had your pick of the females from our clan, but you had to make it hard on yourself. As a human, you know damn well you’ll be vulnerable. You’ll age faster, you’ll get hurt, you’ll have to get a job and live a monotonous life, full of responsibilities. Is she really worth all that?”
“Damien…” Kelsey reached out to touch him. She didn’t want him to give it all up for her. When was he going to tell her?
“She’s worth it to me. I’ve already told you that, Shane,” Damien replied. Taking her face in his palms, he said, “Stop listening to him. I was going to explain all this to you. I’m actually excited about this decision because I can see you during the day as well. Plus, I worry about you when I’m not with you. How can I possibly protect you?”
“Damien, you can’t always be my protector. That’s a lot of burden to carry. No, I have to protect myself.”
“Baby, let’s talk about this when we’re alone. You’re upset because of the way he threw the information at you. I know it’s a lot to take in.”
“Yes, it is. You’re giving up your entire way of living because of me. What happens if something happens to me? Then what?”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Are you listening to yourself? You can’t control everything. You’re not God! Who knows what our future holds.”
Damien sighed, frustrated with the situation.
“Yeah, brother, what happens if something should happen to your precious human? I can easily crush her right now, and you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”
Uneasy with the direction of the conversation, Kelsey’s hand crept to her gun, ready to protect herself if it came to that. But she didn’t need to worry because as soon as Shane said that, Damien lunged toward him.
“Don’t you ever make threats like that!” Damien was beyond furious as he pinned him down.
Shane immediately turned into his gargoyle version, shoving Damien off of him. Because of his strength, Damien was thrown in air. But he also changed into a gargoyle before landing hard on the other side of the roof.
“Stop!” Kelsey yelled as she helplessly watched the powerful beings battle.
Completely ignoring her, they leaped into the sky and grabbed one another, both trying to overpower the other.
Pulling her gun out, Kelsey aimed at Shane. Maybe if she wounded him, they would stop this fight that could potentially be fatal. Both were flying too fast, though, and she wasn’t willing to take a chance and end up shooting Damien.
Soon, the two were so high in the sky that she could barely see them. She was sure they were still trying to knock the other down, though. Her fear turning into annoyance, Kelsey decided she would head home and let the boys fight it out. Just as she almost reached to the stairs, both came crashing down onto the rooftop, making her jump.
“See you later, boys. Good luck with the wrestling match,” she yelled and squeezed past them.
That must have gotten their attention because both stopped fighting and pulled themselves up. Immediately turning into human, Damien said, “You’re leaving?”
“It’s boring out here watching two grown adults fight like some beasts. And damn, the no clothes thing again?” She turned he
r back to him.
Shane must have turned back into human as well because she heard him laugh under his breath. “She’s a feisty one, huh?”
Turning to face him, Kelsey said, “A feisty one with a gun. So watch you back.”
This made Shane laugh even more. “I guess I can see her appeal, brother. Tell me, Kelsey, doesn’t he scare you? He’s a monster after all. He can split you in half if he wanted to.”
She rolled her eyes. “Guess I’ll have to take my chances with the big, bad monster. Now, I suggest you two either turn back to your gargoyle form or put some clothes on before you freeze out here. In the meantime, I’m out of here.”
“Nah, I’m the one who’s leaving. I’m hungry. Gotta go hunting. See you around, bro.” With that, Shane turned into a gargoyle and leaped into the night sky.
“Hunting?” Kelsey spun toward Damien, but as soon as she noted he was still completely nude, she quickly turned away. “Can you please put some clothes on so I can have a normal conversation with you?”
“How come you can talk with Shane just fine while he’s naked?” Damien inquired.
“Because he doesn’t stir up weird sensations in me, that’s why! Now, please, put some clothes on!”
After a few moments, Damien said, “Okay, it’s safe to turn around now.”
Satisfied that he was standing before her in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, she asked, “What exactly does he hunt? What do gargoyles eat?”
“So, umm, I stir up some weird sensations in you, huh?” he teased, strolling toward her.
“Stop,” she ordered, taking couple of steps back. “Don’t you try to distract me. There’s a lot to discuss here.”
“The only thing I’m interested in discussing are these sensations.” Before Kelsey could dodge away, he had her pinned against the wall. “Now, where were we?” He lowered his face, his lips inches from hers. Inhaling deeply, he said, “God, I love your scent.”
“I smell?”
“Mm, you have the sweetest scent. I can pick you out miles away. How do you think I can always track you down? How do you think I was able to track you down in Virginia?”
Fate's Cry Page 12
