Sabrina and the Gargoyle

by Marie Dry

  Chapter 17

  She kept saying “Go away, evil” in Klingon, and each time she said it, she saw Kratos jerk. She tried some other phrases. “Die, ancient evil, and die, enemy of humankind.”

  Each time Kratos jerked, but didn’t seem to weaken.

  “You tried to kill me many times, hunter, and you failed. You will fail again. As your father failed. I cannot be killed by such as you.” His taunting laughter could raise the evil dead.

  “Guess again.” The gargoyle that spoke with Mark’s voice swung the sword and axe while he spun in a fluent graceful circle, striking at Kratos.

  Kratos spoke in that strange language and purple fire came out of his hands. He threw it at Mark, and it bounced off harmlessly. Mark laughed, and, even frightened out of her mind, Sabrina thought he was sexy as a gargoyle as well.

  “Chant, Sabrina,” Mark shouted at her and she quickly took up the chanting again.

  “Die evil scum, go back to the viperous pit you crawled out of,” she screamed at Kratos in Klingon.

  “There’s a reason I’m the one hunting you, asshole. And thanks for coming out in the open where I can kill you.”

  Mark swung again at Kratos who trembled with fury. Mark’s axe was strange looking, almost as if it was made of crystal. Except it wouldn’t be that strong. Whenever he missed and struck the wall, instead of Kratos, it reverberated, but didn’t break.

  “You cannot defeat me. I am more powerful than you can ever imagine.” Kratos turned and threw a purple bolt at Sabrina. She saw the flames on his hand and only had time to murmur protect in Klingon before the bolt struck. She staggered back, pain attacking her body.

  “Don’t stop chanting,” Mark shouted while he swung the axe at Kratos’s neck. It cut through the odd looking neck as if through clay.

  “You cannot stop me. I will have her back,” Kratos said and then crumbled.

  There was something sad in his wish to get the goddess he thought of as his mother back. Apparently, even monsters needed to be accepted.

  Sabrina sat rocking herself, still mumbling Klingon, staring at the gruesome sight in front of her. Kratos’s head had rolled away from his body and, though he had arteries and blood like a human, he also had some strange looking patches. She nearly screamed when she saw the eyes in that severed head blink.

  “Keep chanting, Sabrina,” Mark said and took out a phone. He said something into the phone and then came to her. He held her. “The gargoyles are on the way. Keep chanting until they get here.”

  At last the Gargoyles burst through the windows and stood staring down at Kratos. She had the insane urge to laugh because this time at least it wasn’t her windows getting broken. Without a word they collected his body and flew away with it.

  Mark crouched next to her and cupped her head. “You can stop now.”

  “Is it over?”

  “My father cut off his head and he came back. It took him a hundred years, but he came back. This time, we will make sure.”

  She shuddered at the thought of Kratos coming back. “What will they do with his body?”

  “They’re going to throw it into the volcano in the Congo. If that doesn’t kill him, nothing will.”

  “Why did you pretend to be Simon? Why didn’t you give me a sign that it was you? I felt so lonely and afraid.” It hurt that he kept her in ignorance. On top of that her head hurt and she was so tired from concentrating on chanting in Klingon all the time, she could barely stay upright.

  “Let’s get out of here. It’s safe to go home now. Once we’ve both had a bath and something to eat, we can talk.”

  Never had she been so glad of his ability to move them from one place to the other as if by magic.

  She didn’t want to talk. It hurt that he didn’t trust her enough to let her know he was there when she’d been scared out of her mind.

  When they got back to the safe house, she walked up the stairs. “I’m going to sleep. Disturb me at your own peril.”

  He walked beside her, silent, and, when she went into the bathroom to take a quick shower, he joined her. He held a finger against her lips when she would’ve objected.

  “Shhh, let me wash you, that’s all I want to do. You need to rest.”

  He washed her quickly and efficiently, as if he knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep feeling as if she still had Kratos’s evil on her. He washed her hair and after shutting off the shower and toweling her dry he took the blow drier and dried her hair.

  He helped her get into bed and then leaned down and kissed her. “Sleep, I’ll be close.”

  Sabrina closed her eyes and was asleep, only vaguely aware of him lying down next to her.

  She woke, still feeling tired, but much better than when they arrived. Mark wasn’t there. She went to the bathroom in their room and closed the door. She’d had a shower, but it felt as if that awful evil still coated her body. Opening the tap Sabrina drew a scalding hot bath and got in. She scrubbed her skin, but still felt as if she’d never get all the evil off her body. She washed her hair and washed it again, feeling as if she was covered in Kratos’s oily evil. She grabbed jeans and a sweater and didn’t care what she looked like.

  Sabrina walked out of the dressing room and found Mark standing at the window, his back to her.

  “How long did I sleep?”

  “Two days,” he said. He turned as a knock sounded. “Come.”

  Simon walked in and Sabrina almost recoiled from him. He lifted a sarcastic brow.

  “What do you want, hunter?”

  “Mark, don’t be rude.” Simon wasn’t a traitor, but it was hard to forget seeing him at the drogge house. Even knowing it wasn’t really him.

  Mark smiled, more a baring of the teeth. “Would you be so kind to tell me the purpose of this visit, hunter?”

  “I’ve got pizza downstairs. Everyone is reporting in.”

  Vampire hunters ate pizza? Who knew?

  They all went down and sat on the large leather couches. Vampires appeared and reported no more disappearances or killing of vampires. The shifters arrived with the same news.

  “Have a seat, grab some pizza.”

  To her surprise, Simon sat down and took a slice of pizza. It was hard looking at him after believing he was a traitor. Now she knew why she’d been so attracted to who she thought was him. Some part of her must have recognized Mark.

  They ate in silence for a while. “I am prepared to extend a truce,” Simon said out of the blue.

  Mark appeared calm, but she could feel his body vibrate with tension. “Why so generous, all of a sudden?”

  “According to some ancient scrolls my scribe dug up--” Simon ignored Mark’s snort at his use of the word scribe. “--according to my scribe, the volcano will not dispose of Kratos’s body. With the beheading and the volcano, he probably won’t regenerate soon, but in a few decades, he’ll be back looking for his mommy.”

  Sabrina choked on her pizza. “He’s the most dangerous...thing I’ve ever seen, and you talk as if all he wants is his mommy.”

  “At his core that’s exactly what he was. A child looking for its mother. From what we know of him, the being that created him considered him a flawed experiment and, after treating him like her precious son for a few years, decided to replace him with a better model.”

  “That’s terrible.” She bit of another piece of pizza and chewed. “But I still don’t like him and I refuse to feel sorry for him. He’s done much worse to others since then.”

  “You haven’t seen a tenth of the horrific things he’s done,” Simon told her.

  “I’ve been hunting him for close to a hundred years,” Mark said, “and with my royal blood, I’m the only one capable of tracking him. My mind is closed to him so he can’t influence me.”

  “Why did you pretend to be Simon?” she asked, wanting to tell him how betrayed she still felt at him not letting her know it was him. Allowing her to think she desired another man. The almost hundred years comment she refused to think about
now.

  “He knew Simon is a vampire hunter, that I am half vampire. Originally, Simon would’ve been the one to go in undercover, but when Kratos grabbed you, I decided to go. We already had Simon’s initial contact with the drogge in place. Simon cannot be mentally coerced. All vampire hunters are born with that ability.”

  “And you could make yourself look like Simon and fool Kratos.”

  “Yes. The glamor is something all vampires and gargoyles can do. Mine is stronger because of my mixed blood.”

  “And because of your royal heritage,” Simon said.

  “I wasn’t sure it would work until I tried it.”

  “What would you have done if it didn’t work?” she asked him.

  “I would’ve killed him with the diamond axe and gotten you out of there. I’m the only one who can wield it and with my resistance to his control I had to be the one that killed him.”

  “Diamond axe?”

  “The diamond axe and ruby sword was created during an alliance against Kratos centuries ago. It was bespelled and only someone from my bloodline can use it against Kratos.”

  “Wait, you had the means to kill him and you left me in there. Sitting on that bed chanting when you could’ve gotten me out of there at any time.”

  “I needed to know his plans. Where he had his lairs. I wanted to finish him off once and for all.”

  “And if I got hurt in the process, so be it?” She clenched her hand around her glass. Tempted to throw it at him. Her head ached from having to concentrate on thinking in Klingon all the time and she had this strange need to scream and scream until the world around her seemed normal again.

  “I watched over you the whole time.”

  “But you couldn’t be bothered to let me know? You knew how scared I was. You even let me think I was attracted to Simon.” She should wait until they were alone to have this discussion, but the hurt spilled over her lips.

  “I’m flattered, truly but you’re not my type,” Simon said.

  She knew he was taunting Mark more than her.

  “Shut up, Simon,” Mark said.

  “Let’s get back to the real issue,” Simon said.

  “Which is?”

  “Kratos’s probable brothers and sisters and the need for our continued alliance.”

  “Oh, fuck me,” Mark said and jumped up. He paced up and down. “Do you think he has any? No one has seen any sign of them.”

  “No one has seen any sign of Kratos for a century either. According to the documents my scribe found, he rises faster and stronger each time he is killed.”

  “He told us he ate the creature this Jahi made to replace him. What stopped her from making more creatures?” Sabrina asked.

  “I agree, we need a coalition, but for now I want to spend time alone with Sabrina.”

  Simon stood. “Well, that is my cue to leave you. Mark, as long as there’s no victims with your teeth marks found in my territory, I will let you live.”

  Mark stood as well. “You can’t take me in a fight, hunter, and I sleep with one eye open.”

  The two men clasped each other’s arms, nodded, and then Simon left as quietly as he came.

  “I hate the way the whole lot of you walk without making a sound,” Sabrina said.

  “It comes in handy, whether you are hunting or the hunted,” Mark said.

  “What about the drogge?”

  “Most of them died when Kratos was killed, and Bastian went after the two who escaped.”

  “I see.”

  “Were you chanting in Klingon? At the last when you chanted out loud, I could’ve sworn it sounded like some of your Klingon swear words.”

  “Yes.”

  He stared at her for the longest time with a strange expression on his face. Then he threw back his head and laughed. “Centuries, for centuries everyone has tried. They made the diamond axe and the ruby sword, and you hold him at bay with a made up language from a television show.”

  “I don’t think it’s that funny.” She’d slept for a whole day and night and she still felt tired and found it difficult to focus.

  “Yes, it is. Warriors have gone on quests to kill Kratos through the centuries and failed. You learn Klingon so you can swear without your granny knowing and defeat him.” He kept laughing.

  “Why didn’t you let me know it was you? You knew he couldn’t get into my mind.”

  He sobered. “I couldn’t take the chance. I had to be Simon, think like him, act like him. If I’d slipped my guard even once, the drogge would’ve found a way in. I could feel first them and then Kratos pound at my mind the whole time. If he knew you were my wife, he would’ve used you against me.”

  “Could he use me against you? You didn’t marry me for love, after all? Not that we’re even married.”

  He stared at her, a strange expression on his face. “Don’t you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “You are everything to me. Without you, I don’t want to go on. I would go to ground for a century if I couldn’t look into your eyes every day.” He studied her. “Sabrina, I can sense you want to accuse me of something. Get it out.”

  “I was so scared. That was three times I’d been kidnapped. Not to mention when Simon and his people invaded my home. I was petrified. I kept calling out to you. I knew you would come and rescue me. I never doubted it. What I cannot understand is why you would ignore my need for reassurance. One touch, a whisper and I would’ve felt safe. I thought I was attracted to Simon, and on top of every other horrible thing in that house, that was awful. I’m not the kind of woman who can betray the man she loves. You kissed me and I didn’t know it was you. I thought I responded to Simon. Do you have any idea how awful I felt? I deliberately didn’t try to block you and you ignored me. As if you didn’t care that I was terrified.”

  “Sabrina, you think you know how dangerous Kratos was, but you have no idea. I’ve been hunting him for a long time.”

  His dark eyes were intense on her face. He held his body as if he was bracing for an impact.

  It took her a long time to make the connection. When she did she stepped away from him. “You used me. You wanted to see what would happen when I met Kratos. You wanted to see if I could resist his mind control. I was bait, after all.”

  “I was close by the whole time.”

  “Could you have gotten me out?” she whispered. He stepped closer but she moved away. Holding her hand up. “For now, please stay away. I know this is war and you would do what needs to be done to defeat the drogge. But right now I cannot accept the fact that I am not the most important thing in your life.”

  “Sabrina--”

  “No, I don’t want to talk about it anymore. At least I can’t be kidnapped anymore. Literally every player on the board has had a shot at me.”

  “I made sure you were safe and would have given my life for yours.”

  She shook him off, still angry. “Are the drogge truly gone.”

  “I doubt it. We killed every one in South Africa, but if he has brothers and sisters, who knows if they can create more? We will be on the lookout for them.”

  “That’s awful. I can’t stand the thought of more of those creatures killing women.”

  “For now at least, it’s over.”

  “And Mikaela is safe.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think this coalition will hold?”

  He hesitated. “I doubt it. Gargoyles are too arrogant to go into coalitions with anyone, even if they are killed off, one after the other. You saw the younger vamps, the ones who don’t care as much about tradition, but most of them are arrogant. If it wasn’t for Christopher, they’d have challenged me over each and every order.”

  “Do you trust Simon?”

  “No, but I can’t afford not to have him as an ally.”

  “He always seemed as if he has an agenda of his own.”

  He nodded. “From now on, Klingon will be mandatory for all the immortal races. When Kratos’s siblings appear, the
y might not find it that easy to elude us.”

  “What if it doesn’t work on them?”

  “Then we try something else, but we cannot afford to ignore such a useful tool.”

  “Do you think it’s the truth? That he was created before the continents broke up into their present form.”

  “It’s true. He’s made from something more than any organic creature. We’ve never been able to figure out exactly what he was.”

  “And he has the ability to control any minds, even vampire and gargoyle, that’s why all of you were so afraid of him. If he was just harming human women, none of you would’ve cared.”

  “He was evil and I would never have stood by and allowed him to hurt those woman without trying to stop him.”

  She stared at him and saw truth in his eyes. “I don’t know how to get past this feeling that I need to be the most important thing in your life. I know it’s not something you can prove to me.”

  He looked at his watch, seemed torn. “We will talk about this later. For now we are going to see your friend.”

  They went to see Mikaela at the Gargoyle farm. Sabrina’s friend was still thin and sickly looking but much less stressed. Thailog insisted she stay a while longer so they could monitor her and, to Sabrina’s surprise, Mikaela agreed with him.

  “Let’s go.” The leader walked out without once looking at Mikaela who sat cross legged, meditating again.

  Before Mark made them disappear, Sabrina took one last look at her friend, remembering the little girl who’d tried to knock out little Tommy Jensen when he said Sabrina was ugly and getting a black eye for her trouble. Her excitement when she told Sabrina about her first date. Going out on double dates. Being there for Sabrina when her parents passed away.

  “She looked so thin and sick. And she’s so scared, and I’m still mad at you,” Sabrina sobbed against Mark’s chest.

  “Sabrina, if they scanned you while I was in your mind, they would have a direct path to mine. They’d be able to manipulate me, and who knows what they could make me do before I regained control?”

  “You could have given me a sign. He couldn’t get at my mind.”