The Stars Never Rise (The Midnight Defenders Book 2)

by Joey Ruff

  Then I remembered gravity and freefell towards the ground.

  14

  For a moment, I panicked. My heart began to race, and I felt the onset of utter hopelessness, felt its crushing press against my chest greater than gravity. I grew nauseous, began to flail my arms, and for the briefest, fleeting moment, my mind began to race, flipping through my rolodex of options.

  I say a fleeting moment, because it doesn’t take any time at all to examine the zero fucking options I had. I wasn’t a bird or a wizard. I didn’t have a glider or a magic carpet or even a sodding parachute. In less than thirty seconds, I’d be a pool of liquid on the sidewalk.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the windows of the building racing up past me. For a split second, I thought I saw a winged shadow on the building, racing against the updraft of windows, coming towards me.

  I immediately thought of the thunderbird. I couldn’t get away from the damned thing.

  It didn’t matter, though. Whether the talons of the bird or the fall, I was dead either way. I took a deep, resigning breath and thought, Daddy’s coming, Anna. Then I allowed myself to feel some sick, twisted joy in my impending splatter. I willed myself to think only of Anna and not the fifteen stories I’d fallen already or the fifteen more that would be gone in the blink of an eye, not the shadow that loomed ever closer, the talons that were bared and coming for my head, the presence that I felt only a whisper from me.

  There was a sudden jolt, a sharp pressure in either of my shoulders, and I heard the flapping of wings. It took me a moment to realize that I should have hit the ground by now, but that I wasn’t still falling.

  “You are one incredibly lucky human,” said a voice above me.

  I had been operating under the assumption that the thunderbird was after me. Thunderbirds, as far as I knew, did not talk.

  “Lorelei told me to follow you. She feared for your safety. Now I see why.”

  “Kinnara?” I said, and when I looked up, I saw her intoxicating smile radiating down at me, the frosty warmth of her blue eyes, the pronounced cheeks, the wavy black hair that was bloody wild in the updrafts of air.

  It was Kinnara. Yet it wasn’t. While she wore the same red leather outfit from the night before, where her arms should have been were large, beautiful wings, red with black tips. Replacing her feet, eagle talons gripped me firmly. The claw on the end of each wrinkled, orange toe was the size of a small dagger and a polished ebony black. I didn’t doubt she could tear steel with those things, but the way she held me, the tips of each blade-like toenail only lightly pierced my shirt and pinched the skin without drawing blood.

  “You’ve, uh, done this before,” I mused.

  I felt a shadow pass over us, and when I looked up, I saw the hulking form of the gargoyle soaring away from the building.

  “DeNobb,” I said. “We’ve gotta go back for him.” Somehow, I was still holding Grace, and I tightened my grip on her.

  “Too late,” she said. I could hear the crackling of an open fire, and while I didn’t know how close we were, I could feel the heat from the flames. “If your friend is still inside, he is beyond saving.”

  “Fuck,” I said, and it came out like a prayer. I looked up, noticed the gargoyle in front of us. “What are you doing?”

  “Hunting.”

  “Just let it go. Why pick a fight?”

  “I’ve killed three this week already.”

  “Maybe you wanna drop me off somewhere first?”

  She didn’t say anything. I sighed, took a few deep breaths, and tried not to look down. I saw the gargoyle ahead of us, its huge wings holding steady, its tail waving absently in its wake. When I glanced up, I saw the determination in her face and the way her beautiful smile became fierce, hard, and scary.

  “Let’s fucking hunt, then.”

  Maybe a hundred yards ahead of us, the gargoyle approached an outcropping of large, glass office buildings. Five of them, right there together, each around forty stories or taller. It moved between the two nearest buildings, and Kinnara followed. It circled a rather large antenna, allowing us to get closer, and then it folded its wings around itself and dove, falling between two more buildings, and as Kinnara moved to follow, it came up suddenly in front of us, circled in the air, and darted off again.

  “I cannot match it in flight,” she said. “Not carrying you.”

  She flew a little higher and I saw the wide, open rooftop of the smallest building just to my right. It was empty. Perfect.

  “Set me down on the roof.”

  She didn’t say anything, just changed direction and brought me within inches of the rooftop. Then she let go, and I hit the ground, tumbling forward. When I was back on my feet, she was just a shadow dipping over the lip of the building.

  I thought about the last dragon I’d faced, the way we’d bound its wings to keep it grounded. Cracking Grace open, I fumbled her spent shells from the chambers and fished out a couple of bolo rounds.

  I moved to the edge of the roof where Kinnara had disappeared and looked over, seeing nothing but empty air and the street so far below. I scanned the air around me, saw two shadows streaking around the building to the right and disappearing again. She was fast, but somehow the gargoyle was faster. It was also heavier, harder to maneuver. Every few seconds, they would pop back into view, and every time I sighted the gargoyle, Kinnara appeared just behind it before I could take the shot. Don’t get me wrong. I was a pretty damn good shot, but at this altitude and with the wind currents up here, there was no guarantee I wouldn’t hit her instead. I couldn’t do that to Lorelei. Or myself – I’d be taking the stairs down.

  The gargoyle circled back, weaving in and out of the same buildings again. As it moved around a nearby office building, Kinnara – rather than chasing after the beast – went over the building, getting on top of the gargoyle. She struck it from above, forcing it lower, and it came within feet of me. If I hadn’t been watching, anticipating, I would have missed my shot. But as it passed right in front of me, I was ready.

  Two steel cables broke from the tip of the gun and spun, end over end, towards the gargoyle like a pair of buzz saws. As the gargoyle banked slightly to the left, the cable nicked the edge of one wing, tearing it slightly. The other bound its left foot to its tail. When it attempted to pull up again, it fell instead, dropping below the roof and out of my line of sight.

  I ran to the edge just as a crash heralded the vibration underfoot and looked over. The gargoyle clung to the side of the building about twenty feet below me. When it saw me, it narrowed its eyes and hissed. Then it started climbing.

  I popped Grace, chambered a couple of flares, and aimed over the edge. Before I could fire, I stopped. Just empty air. No gargoyle.

  The tail struck me in the shoulder, throwing me about thirty feet across the roof. I hit hard, losing Grace, and collided with the small wall that marked the roof’s boundary.

  The gargoyle roared. When I opened my eyes, it charged on all fours.

  Kinnara struck like a bolt of lightning, coming out of nowhere. Her talons raked across the gargoyle’s face, stopping it cold and spraying a fine mist into the wind. As it turned its attention to her, I pulled myself to my feet and found Grace lying across the roof. I came up, ready to fire, only to see the gargoyle throwing itself over the edge and disappearing.

  When Kinnara touched down, her clawed, wrinkly bird feet became smooth, slender legs again. Likewise, her wings shimmered and shook before they narrowed and the feathers retreated.

  She looked normal again, and apart from the dirt and perspiration, she looked damned good.

  I ran over to her, and as I neared, I saw the shadow dropping out of the sky toward her.

  “Look out!” I said, leaping at her, tackling her to the ground. We rolled as the yellow-grey mass of scales and wings fell through the air where she’d stood and hit the roof in a roll before colliding with a series of air conditioning units.

  A dull thunder filled the night, and as it
died away, I could hear Kinnara’s laughter under me as she moved my hand from her tit and pushed me off. She cast a glance that seemed to say, “Maybe later,” and then her face hardened as she turned to the beast.

  She took a fighting stance, arms out in front of her. Her fingers had turned the same wrinkly orange that her feet had been, and each one of her fingernails was a black dagger-like claw.

  It took the gargoyle a moment to right itself, and as it spun to face us, I’d taken a place beside Kinnara. She didn’t wait for it to get its bearings, however, before rushing it.

  I fired a flare towards the creature, bouncing it off its shoulder, and its attention focused on the lingering heat as Kinnara struck, her taloned hands slicing neatly through the gargoyle’s forearm, drawing blood. It swatted her with a wounded backhand, but she ducked it and countered with an uppercut from groin to sternum that sent the creature reeling back a few steps.

  As she advanced, it spun suddenly, hitting her in the side of the head with its tail. She rolled with the hit, and by the time she’d regained her feet, it had taken the three steps towards her and hit her solidly in the chest, the blow throwing her. She hit the brick perimeter wall with the middle of her back, but the momentum flipped her up and over the wall. She fell.

  I fought the instinct to go after her – what could I do? Instead, I brought Grace up against my shoulder and fired her rifle shell, tearing into the gargoyle’s left calf. It spun at me in a hiss. “Come on,” I said. “Come get me you big ugly fuck!”

  As it turned its whole body to me, I unloaded two rounds of buckshot in the general direction of its face and chest. It connected, but seemed to have no more of an effect than a buzzing fly.

  As it neared, I detached the machete that served as Grace’s shoulder stock and unsnapped the leather sheath. I tossed Grace to the side, realizing I didn’t have the time to reload, and readied the blade at my side.

  It threw an open hand at me, its savage, clawed fingers extended with the intent of rending my flesh from my bones, but I braced both hands against the machete and stuck the length of the blade in the flat of its palm. It pulled back, nearly pulling me with it, but I jiggled the blade free just in time.

  I rushed it, swung again, and it shielded its body with its wing. The blade tore the leathery fabric-like skin folds, and then the wing flexed against me, knocking me on my arse.

  Before I could move, it was on top of me, red eyes narrowed. One hand gripped me around the waist and began to squeeze. I hacked at the hand once, twice, and scales and tissue flaked from its knuckles to reveal the white bone underneath. It continued to squeeze.

  I tried to call out, but couldn’t. The pressure was too great.

  Then it was gone. The gargoyle reared back in a howl and reached for its shoulders with both hands. As it spun, its tail hit me with enough force to send me rolling, but not before I saw the red leather of Kinnara, wrinkly toes buried into its lower back as her clawed hands julienned the meat between its shoulders and neck.

  It continued to spin, its wings flapping back against her, its hands trying furiously, and failing, to reach her. It moved to the edge of the roof and threw itself off. Kinnara must have been expecting that, though, as she leapt from its shoulders. In the blink of an eye, her arms were feather-clad again and she glided across the rooftop to where I stood and landed lightly next to me. Her face was splattered with blood so deep red it was nearly black.

  I grabbed Grace and chambered some fresh rounds, taking a place beside Kinnara as the gargoyle appeared once more, clawing its way over the lip of the roof. It righted itself and came bounding towards us, wings spread behind it like the tattered sails of a ghost ship.

  As it charged from the front, I felt something come at us from behind, and my blood chilled as I heard the familiar, feral, bellowing roar of the troll.

  I spun just in time to see the red blunted arm swinging down in an arch and managed to sidestep as I brought Grace up instinctively and fired a flare into its face. Kinnara had noticed the troll as well, and had turned to the side, throwing herself backwards in time for the charging gargoyle to collide with the troll with such force that the pair went off the far lip of the roof with a smatter of crumbling brick.

  Kinnara was at my side in the next heartbeat. “You sure attract trouble,” she said. “Was that a troll?”

  “Uh,” was all I managed to say, but quickly added, “It’s kind of a long story, that one.”

  “Let’s go kill it then.”

  “If the fall doesn’t do it for us…”

  As we stood at the edge of the roof, there was only one form falling through the air: the gargoyle. Its wings were too shredded to be of any use, and it fell quickly before hitting the alley between two buildings and colliding against a large, green dumpster.

  The streets below were pretty empty, but if it had been any earlier someone may have seen. I watched the gargoyle for a minute, but it didn’t move.

  “I guess that’s it.”

  As we moved away from the edge, there was another roar, and the red mailbox clad arm of the troll pulled itself up onto the roof with a thud.

  “Bollocks.”

  It took the better part of a minute for the troll to pull itself onto the roof and stagger to its feet, but when it did, it turned to me and Kinnara who’d been watching it. Its pig nose snorted. Eyes narrowed in anger. Broken teeth gnashed together.

  “What is it with this guy?” I asked.

  A large, silver air conditioning unit sat next to it, and the troll picked it up and hurled it towards us with little effort. I rolled to the side, and Kinnara took to the sky.

  She bore down on the troll, wings up and back behind her, her toe-claws blazing into the creature’s face. It threw its hands up to cover its eyes, and its shoulders seemed to droop a little. As she advanced, it took several steps back, and she flapped her wings fiercely in its face. The troll began to shake, and then it just simply disappeared.

  Kinnara hadn’t been expecting that and she fell through the air with nothing left to oppose her.

  I moved to her side to help her up, and her claws and wings receded as she stood. “How did the troll vanish?” she asked.

  “No fucking idea.”

  “Enchantment. I intended for it to retreat, but I had not expected it so suddenly.”

  “Trolls are ridiculously tough. How in the bloody hell do you get one to retreat?”

  “Trolls live under bridges and in caves because they fear the skies.”

  “Okay?”

  “Gryphons and trolls are natural enemies, but the fear runs so deep that nearly anything with wings, if aggressive enough, will make it retreat.”

  “I’ll be damned.”

  “For someone who claims to know so much about these creatures, you know very little,” she said, moving closer to me.

  Her eyes ventured down the length of my body and stopped on my chest. I looked down to see that my shirt was torn and I was bleeding slightly.

  “It’s just a scratch,” I said.

  “Mmm.” She put a hand against my wound, and her eyes looked up into mine. She pressed her body against me, took me by the wrist, and placed my hand back on her tit.

  My heart was beating fast, and I glanced around. Maybe it was my imagination, but in the distance, I thought I heard the wailing sirens of the black and blue.

  “Kinnara. We’ve gotta get out of here.”

  “Do you not want me?” she asked, unmoving.

  I took my hand from her chest and began to pull away. My body was already beginning to react to hers, not to mention the hunger in her eyes, the tousle of her hair.

  “There is nothing like a union in the aftermath of a heated battle, Jono. The senses are already primed and alert. The body is fueled with adrenaline.” Her icy eyes pleaded with me. “I ache for you now.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to look everywhere but at her, thinking desperately of any reason not to give her what she wanted right there. I thought of Lorele
i. I focused on the pain in my body. For a second, my thoughts turned to Anna, to Nadia. I sighed.

  I looked Kinnara in her lust-drenched eyes and said, “No.”

  With a confused look, she said, “Don’t you want me?”

  “There are a lot of things I want, love. Doesn’t mean I can have them.”

  I walked away from her, to the edge of the roof, and stared down at the gargoyle in the alley. “Now, how about you give me a lift down there so we can toss that carcass in the dumpster?”

  15

  After disposing of the gargoyle, we hailed a cab. As we climbed in, the driver studied us for a minute in the mirror. We were dirty, my clothes were torn, and Kinnara was splattered with the dark, muddy-looking innards of the gargoyle that was thankfully too dark to look like real blood.

  The driver was a heavier man with loose, flabby jowls. He wore his thick beard cropped close and a flat cap on his head.

  “You can’t bring a weapon in here,” he said.

  I looked down at Grace and lifted it so he could see it in the mirror. “Does this look real to you?” I asked. When he didn’t immediately answer, I added, “It’s a prop gun. We’re on our way to a party.”

  The man snorted. “Some party.”

  “Friend of mine does a zombie apocalypse game or some bullshit, mate, wants us to dress like arses.”

  The man gave me an annoyed look through the mirror and said, “Where we headed?”

  I gave him DeNobb’s address, and he put the car in gear.

  As the cab pulled away from the curb, I felt the fatigue settle in, felt the aches solidify in my body. Damn, I was getting old. Beside me, Kinnara didn’t look a day over thirty, and I saw the driver’s eyes go wide as she cozied up beside me, leaning in towards me and positioning herself under my arm like a puppy.

  I held her. Part of me warned against it. Maybe that part was right, but I wasn’t in a mood to listen to it. It had been a long, lonely time since I’d been with a woman in that way. Apart from that kiss with Lorelei the night before, it had been nearly a year since I’d even been close enough to a woman to smell her perfume. And I had to admit, even finely glazed with gargoyle juice, Kinnara was soft and warm and all the right kinds of wrong for me.