by E A Price
Joely let out a groan. “It’s Chuck. What the h… holly bush does he want?”
Brom grunted. “Your former paramour?”
Joely frowned and looked down at Daphne who was all innocent big eyes. “My, my, someone’s certainly been sharing. Yes, and obviously, he can’t see you.”
“No,” he agreed reluctantly.
“Daffy, you run upstairs to your bedroom.”
“But, why?”
“Do as your mother asks,” rumbled Brom.
She nodded and scampered away.
Joely gaped at him. “How the… you know what, never mind.”
“Joely!” More banging.
“Coming!” she called.
“Just… stay here and stay quiet. I’ll get rid of him.”
*
Annis waited for the credits to roll before she rounded on her fellow gargoyles.
“So, what did you think?”
She was trying to get a second, third, fourth and even fifth opinion on the movie. Chris was obliged to attend a party in town that evening, so she decided to make good use of her free time.
Twenty-Six shrugged her shoulders. “I prefer romantic comedies, but I actually thought it was really good.”
“It was most enjoyable,” declared Castor. “This John McClane is quite an impressive warrior for a human. I wonder if he has any more exploits for us to watch.”
Annis’ brow furrowed. “Tristan? Gracchus?”
Tristan who had been described as a bookworm (which Kylie assured her was not some kind of insult about him being as lowly as an insect), smiled slightly and with a little embarrassment. “I too found it riveting.”
Twenty-Six snorted. “Mr. I-Never-Watch-TV liked it.”
Gracchus gave her a benevolent smile. “I would not say it was a wonderful Christmas movie, but it was entertaining.”
Annis’ shoulders slumped. “Am I the only creature on the planet who does not like Die Hard?”
Twenty-Six shrugged. “So you don’t like it, no biggie.”
“It is a biggie as you put it. Chris adores this movie. You did not see how hopeful he was after we watched it together and he asked me whether I enjoyed it or not. It is very important to him.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing,” she admitted shyly, “I kissed him, and he was soon distracted…”
Twenty-Six snickered. “Well done. If in doubt distract him with your feminine wiles.”
Annis looked at her doubtfully. Up until recently, she would have argued that she did not have any. But Chris could be very easily distracted sometimes. He apparently saw something in her.
“I was hoping it was not just me who disliked the movie so much. What do you like about it?”
The males had already drifted away, crowding around the computer that Tristan was ably using.
“I thought it was both funny and full of action,” replied Twenty-Six. “It was never dull. What don’t you like about it?”
Where to start? “It was incredibly violent, and there were so many curse words, and the idea that there are people out there who would ruin something as lovely as a Christmas party to steal something and kill people…” Her hands flew to her cheeks. “It horrifies me. The ending of the movie suggested it was happy, yet lots of people were dead – their families certainly would not enjoy a very merry Christmas.”
Twenty-Six cocked her head to one side. “Are you sure you’re a gargoyle? You know, some My Little Ponies have wings, too.”
“Aha!” cried Tristan. “According to this worldwide website, there are five movies in total.”
“We must watch them all!” declared Castor.
The three males descended into happy growls and Annis groaned. What had she started?
*
An extremely drunken Chuck stumbled into her living room. He made a desultory effort to paw at her and kiss her. Joely easily rebuffed him.
“Don’t start, Chuck,” she grumbled in irritation.
Chuck stood in the middle of the living room, weaving on his feet. She folded her arms, ready to hurl a bunch of insults at him, but as Brom appeared at the kitchen door, she came up short.
She mouthed at the gargoyle to get lost. He shook his head and glowered at Chuck.
“What do you want, Chuck?”
“I don’t want to break up, Joely…”
She waved her hand at Brom, trying to signal him to get back in the kitchen. Elfing hell, all Chuck had to do was turn slightly, and he would see him!
Chuck blinked at her waving arm.
“Oh, ah, there was a fly,” she explained.
Luckily, Chuck was already drunk – anything sounded reasonable to him at that moment.
“Please, Joely…” whined Chuck.
Brom folded his huge arms, mirroring her stance, and darting murderous looks at Chuck.
Chuck noticed she was looking over his shoulder and tried to turn around. Joely slapped him across the face – hard – to keep his attention. Brom grinned gleefully while Chuck gaped at her.
Joely tried not to appear flustered. “I’m sorry, but you can’t deny you deserved that.”
He stared for a few more moments before nodding slowly in agreement. “You’re right, what I did was…”
He stopped speaking, so she tried to fill in the blank. “Unforgivable? Nasty? Something that will haunt my dreams?”
Chuck winced. “Bad, but that’s no reason to throw away what we have.”
“Chuck,” she sighed. “You’re the one that threw it away. I hope making it with a nineteen-year-old tramp was worth it.”
“Jo-Jo, please!” Chuck collapsed back onto her sofa and rested his face in his hands.
Joely moved from foot to foot. She gave him a moment to compose himself, but that was all he was getting.
“Chuck, it’s late, you should go.”
His only answer was to start snoring – deep, grunting snores.
Joely tapped his shoulder, and he slumped on his side.
“Wonderful,” she groaned.
Brom edged out of the kitchen. “You have interesting taste in males.”
Joely eyed him. “Really? What was your honey bunny called again? Dugga?”
The shudder returned. “Point taken. He cannot stay here all night.”
She was about to ask him what the elf it had to do with him, but Brom was already dragging Chuck over his shoulder. The gargoyle lifted Chuck’s large frame as if he were nothing but a rag doll. Those huge muscles barely flexed – and Joely was really looking.
“You can’t take him home – you might be seen on the street.”
“I was merely intending on returning him to the street.”
“You toss him out on his ass in the snow, and he’ll freeze to death.”
Brom’s square features scrunched in thought for a moment. “It is a risk I am willing to take.”
He tried to move to the door, and Joely stood in his way, laughing in disbelief. “Well, I’m not. Toss him back on the sofa; I’ll call my boss, Marv and have him come get him.”
Brom grumbled and was none too gentle as he dropped Chuck back on the sofa. At least it stopped the snoring.
Joely couldn’t help the smile. She called Marv and insisted he come get Chuck.
“You should go before he arrives,” she said.
“Hmmmm. I could stay in the kitchen.”
Joely gave him a ‘yeah right’ look. “No way am I trusting you to do that again. Skedaddle.”
“Ske… never mind. It is not right for you to be alone with a male in your house. Your virtue…”
Joely flung back her head and howled in laughter. Brom scowled at her.
“Seriously? You’re like fifteen years too late for that. C’mon, man, I have a kid.”
Brom stepped closer to her, crowding her so she could feel the heat of his large body against hers.
“Your honor, I mean,” he purred softly. “I would not like you to be at the mercy of a male.”
Joely could feel her nipples tightening and heat pooling in her womb. “I’m at the mercy of you, aren’t I?”
“I would not take advantage of you.”
“Wouldn’t you?” She flickered with disappointment.
A corner of his mouth tugged upwards, and he raised his hand to her cheek, grazing a claw across her skin.
“Santa!”
Joely jumped away from him, and Daphne jumped towards him.
“Daffy, I said to stay upstairs,” scolded Joely, though without much verve. The redness of her cheeks certainly wasn’t due to anger.
Brom caught the flame-haired imp and chuckled. Idly, Joely wondered if he would catch her quite so easily if she jumped at him. Only one way to find out.
Daphne wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of eau de Chuck – which was particularly potent given all the alcohol he had drunk. “What’s he doing here?”
“Leaving soon,” responded Joely, curtly. “As must Santa, I mean Brom!”
She gave him a significant look, and after trying his best to ignore it, he finally sighed and gave in.
“Indeed I must go, it is a busy time of year for me.”
“Jiminy Christmas,” she muttered under her breath. He was really milking the Santa thing.
“Wait, Santa, I didn’t tell you what I want for Christmas,” said Daphne.
Brom beamed at her. “Tell me now.”
Christmas crackers. There was bound to be a long list of unnecessary, overpriced toys that Joely had no hope of affording.
But Daphne surprised her. Rather than spouting an impossible list, she leaned towards Brom and whispered something short and too quiet to hear in his ear.
Brom frowned at her for a moment before nodding. “Be a good girl now.”
“I will, Santa.”
Brom gave her a smug look, and Joely had the urge to slap him in the face. Slapping Chuck had felt good – too good. She had the urge to slap more people.
He set Daphne down on the floor and inhaled as if he was going to say something, but he just gave Joely a nod and left. She stared at the space he vacated for a long moment. The tiny house seemed so vast and empty without him.
“What did you ask for?” Joely murmured.
“Can’t tell you, or I won’t get it.”
Joely closed her eyes. Kris Kringle, she hoped it wasn’t a pony.
*
Brenda and Chris left the party as early as possible. They didn’t want to admit it, but both were more eager to spend time with their gargoyles than with their human friends.
It had been a nice party; there was no denying it. Martha outdid herself in organizing it, though she looked thoroughly depressed the entire time. But without Ric or Annis, it wasn’t enough. Santa himself could have arrived, and it wouldn’t have enticed them to stay.
Brenda gave Chris a wary look. She wasn’t the only one who heard the noises on the roof. Someone else had made a joke about it being Santa, while she tried to suggest raccoons. In reality, she knew it was Ric up there. She just hoped Chris didn’t know who was up there. He didn’t exactly like Ric, and this would give him more ammunition.
“I’m going to see Ric,” she said.
“Surprised everyone didn’t see him tonight,” grumbled Chris.
Brenda frowned at him.
“Surprised the roof managed to hold his weight,” he explained. “I expected him to come crashing through any moment.”
“Oh, you…”
“Yes, everyone damn well heard,” he snapped. He stomped through the snow with angry steps.
“They didn’t know what was making the noise,” she argued weakly. To be fair, no way would anyone guess it was a gargoyle.
Chris gave her a savage look. “You know, if it were just him, I wouldn’t mind. If he was the only gargoyle in town, I could live with him taking stupid fucking risks. But he isn’t, and him getting caught would put Annis in danger, and the others. It’s not okay.”
Brenda nodded wearily and was about to reply when she felt a whoosh behind her. “Eep!”
One moment she was on the ground, the next she was flying through the air, just catching the look of furious disbelief on Chris’ face before he disappeared out of sight. Course she was too distracted to worry about Chris at that second. No, her main concern was not plummeting to her death.
She clasped Ric tightly as he chuckled. She might just have a teensy weensy itty bitty little fear of heights. Meaning she was absolutely terrified. Ric knew this, and he found it hilarious. Damn gargoyle.
Brenda wanted to berate him, yell at him, scold him – anything. Instead, she shut her eyes and waited for it to be over. Which, mercifully it was pretty quickly.
Within minutes, they landed in the grounds of the mansion with a soft thump. Ric placed her on her feet, and Brenda staggered around, resisting the urge to kiss the ground.
Finally, feeling like herself again, she slapped his arm. “You scared the hell out of me!”
Ric’s smile only widened like he was enjoying himself immensely.
“I’m serious, Chris is already pissed at you and to then just pluck me up off the street…”
His smile dimmed marginally. “How was the party? Did you talk to anyone interesting?”
Brenda frowned. That last question sounded very accusing. “It was fine, and not particularly.”
“Humph.”
“Don’t ‘humph’ me, what the candy cane and gum drops are you talking about?”
Ric’s eyes narrowed. “Through the skylight, I saw you talking to a male.”
“And?”
“A young male. He seemed extremely interested in staring at your bosom.”
Brenda scoffed. She didn’t exactly have much of a bosom to speak of, so she doubted anyone was looking at it, covered as it was by a baggy Santa Claus sweater. “Puh-lease.”
“He seemed to be riveted by you.”
She sighed. “Was this guy like a few inches taller than me and wearing a bow tie?”
Ric rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “He had indeed adorned himself with a bow around his neck.”
“Then that was Dean. He owns an antique store with his husband – Greg.”
“But Greg and Dean are both…” Light seemed to dawn in his eyes. “Ah, I see.” He looked at her unrepentantly. “I still believe he was staring at your chest.”
“I don’t think I have anything he’d be interested in.”
“Humph.” He looked at her doubtfully, and she chuckled.
Brenda grasped his hand. “C’mon, crazy, let’s go inside, it’s cold out here.”
*
“Kylie?”
“Don’t look, don’t look!” The small human looked up and sighed in relief as she saw it was Brom. “Sorry, for a second I thought you were Luc. I’m just wrapping his present.”
Brom peered over her shoulder and scowled. It was not a custom for gargoyles to give gifts, and he certainly wouldn’t be pleased to receive a book.
“What can I do you for?” she asked brightly.
He noticed she was wearing a colorful sweater that sporadically lit up. It was… interesting to say the least. Like a few of their new gargoyle clan, he had balked at being introduced to his new chief’s mate. Not understanding what a gargoyle could see in a human, or what the benefit of mating one could be. But then, he had not met Joely at that time. Humans as a whole, he could take them or leave – preferably leave them. Joely was different. Daphne, too.
“I need your help.”
Kylie nodded encouragingly while sticking pieces of tape to her fingers.
Brom took a deep breath and succinctly explained about Joely and Daphne.
Kylie stared at him mid-wrap, her eyes and mouth were both wide in shock. “Does Luc know?” she asked in a faint voice.
Brom grinned at her toothily. “I would not be walking around injury free if he did.”
“How much does Joely know?”
“I have told her some of the gargoyle culture, but not of where
we live or our human allies.”
“Brom, this is very serious…”
“It was an accident that the child saw me, however, when I met them, I…”
“What?”
In truth, he did not know how to finish that sentence. He had no excuse for what he had done. No excuse for returning to see them, other than the fact that he really, really wanted to.
“I believe they are struggling. They have little food, and their house is small and shabby. I am concerned about this Christmas tradition of giving gifts that all of you humans are so obsessed with.”
Kylie chewed on her cheek. “I guess Joely is raising Daphne on her own. I heard about her breaking up with Chuck – poor woman.”
Brom growled but quickly reeled it in when Kylie gave him a strange look.
“I’m not sure what we can do – I doubt Joely would accept it if I walked up to her and gave her money.”
“No, she is somewhat stubborn. However, I have an idea…”
*
Annis jumped up as she heard the front door. She had managed to persuade Gracchus to fly her down to Chris’ house. She wished to be there when he returned.
She flicked her tail nervously. Maybe she was concerned over nothing. Surely Chris realized they would have some differences and some parts of them would not be compatible – they were different species after all.
Chris beamed when he saw her, and her face automatically creased in a smile. She had not thought humans attractive until she met Chris, but for any species, he was handsome. She was not the only female to think so; she knew many humans in town desired him too. She felt somewhat triumphant that this desirable male belonged to her.
He shook off his coat and strode towards her, grasping her in his arms and twirling her around. She giggled as her wings knocked over a couple of lamps.
“You are a sight for sore eyes,” he said.
“Your eyes are sore? I am sure I could make some kind of salve…”
Chris chuckled and put her back on her feet. “I meant I missed you. The party was dull, and I just kept wishing I’d stayed home with you.” He brushed his mouth over hers.
Annis blushed. “I have missed you too.” She always did when they were apart.
He looked her up and down, admiring her new candy cane pajamas.
“You look lovely,” Chris murmured, kissing her neck.
