by Price, E A
Of course, the moment wasn’t quite perfect. Kylie felt a shrinking sensation when she looked at the female gargoyle. There hadn’t been much time the previous night, but now she grasped the opportunity to really look at her. She wasn’t nearly as big as Luc, but she was bigger than the average man. She stood at least six foot three inches tall, and over seven feet including her wings. Like Luc, she had long black hair. Unlike Luc, she was an orange, almost terracotta color. Kylie must ask him about the variations between gargoyles. Her horns extended back over her head, curling into points at the crown of her head. She was, undoubtedly, a daunting presence, but the scariest part of her were her eyes, which were deep blood red. She was wearing a loincloth similar to Luc’s and thankfully she was also wearing a bandeau over her depressingly impressive bust.
Throughout Kylie’s ‘feeding’, Ophelia hadn’t said a word, but neither had she tried to leave. She had simply stood and watched.
“I will get you some other food, little one. What do you desire? I know you enjoy your cookies.”
Ophelia huffed again and walked over to the window.
“I’m fine, thank you, I’ll let my stomach settle first.” Kylie flicked her eyes over the female gargoyle. “So, Ophelia…”
Ophelia spun to look at her with narrowed, accusing eyes. That was as far as Kylie got. She didn’t have anything to say further than that.
Luc didn’t look at the other gargoyle, and that seemed to annoy the female; his intense gaze was focused on Kylie. He brushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. “Ophelia was my second in command back in my time,” he explained.
“I remember,” said Kylie, in what was supposed to be a friendly voice.
“You remember?” repeated Ophelia, with just a hint of snark. So much for friendly.
“I remember Luc telling me.”
“Ophelia,” murmured Luc. “Naturally, I have told my mate much about my life before I met her.” He kissed the wounds on Kylie’s wrists.
“Naturally,” echoed Ophelia as she watched him.
Luc didn’t seem in the least embarrassed by his open affection, but Kylie blushed. Perhaps if it were someone other than Ophelia watching them, she’d be okay. Although probably not with Bea – making out in front of family members – even those who aren’t blood-related is a big no-no. But Ophelia was still a stranger to her, and she was getting a serious ex-girlfriend vibe from her. Perhaps she should talk to Luc about that later.
“How are you adjusting to life now?” asked Kylie.
Ophelia huffed. “Life is not so different. Humans are everywhere, and they control everything.”
Luc must have seen the unease on Kylie’s face. “Ophelia, leave us.”
The female’s nostrils flared, but she quickly smiled and walked over to Luc. She placed a hand on his arm. “Oh course, my Chief.” She left, pointedly not looking in Kylie’s direction.
“I don’t think she likes me,” grumbled Kylie as soon as the door closed. “She is okay with us being together, right?”
Luc lifted her and settled her into his lap, a much more comfortable position for him to touch her. He barely seemed to be able to keep his hands off her in some way. She figured that this gave him comfort, and she wasn’t about to complain. “This is just new to her. I expect our relationship must be a shock to her – given the taboo nature of a human and gargoyle pairing back in our time. She told me that Holling’s family revived her over a decade ago. She has been their prisoner ever since. She told me they treated her as nothing better than an animal.” Luc growled in fury.
“Goodness.” The thought horrified Kylie. Yet, she did feel a niggling of doubt. Ophelia seemed awfully well fed for a prisoner. But then what did she know?
“It may take her a while to become comfortable with humans again. I look to you to help her.”
“Oh! Of course, yes, I’ll do anything I can.”
He buried his face in her hair. “Thank you, little one. I see I chose my mate, wisely.”
“I thought fate chose me for you,” she teased.
“Fate may have shown me the way, but I chose you. I doubt if I lived another thousand years I would find someone as wonderful as you.”
“True,” she pouted, playfully.
Luc chuckled showing off his razor-sharp teeth. “And modest, too.”
Her stomach rumbled. It had a knack for bad timing.
“But mostly hungry.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Kylie dressed in fresh clothes that Bea had thoughtfully brought up to the house with her. She made her way down to the kitchen. Luc had left to see if Gustave required any help.
She found Bea in the kitchen with Andrew and Maggie, who were holding hands. She refrained from saying ‘aaahhhh’ and openly teasing them. Andrew didn’t look like he could even stand up to anything as invasive as mild playfulness. But, Kylie gave Maggie some waggling eyebrows when Andrew wasn’t watching. That was tit for tat.
Bea had managed to find food and was cooking up bacon and eggs.
“I’m sorry about your house,” said Kylie as she slid into a chair.
Andrew shrugged. He was looking slightly less alarmed. “It’s not your fault Kylie. I invited Holling here… sort of - he just kind of turned up without an invitation. But I allowed him into my life because of Lara.”
Maggie coughed in a way that sounded suspiciously like the word slut.
The breakfast for dinner continued in awkward silence for a while until Bea served the food, and everyone had something to talk about – how tasty the food was and how Bea was an excellent cook. When all their bellies were full, everyone was a little happier and more relaxed.
Kylie bit her lip. “So I guess you know everything now, Andrew.”
“Yes,” he sighed.
“I need to find what your uncle hid – I need to find those gargoyles.”
“I know, I want to help.”
“You do?” she asked, mildly surprised.
Andrew nodded. “Maggie and I have been talking, and we think that the gargoyles should live here.”
“Really?” Kylie looked at him incredulously. This was not the direction she expected the conversation to go. As far as the other gargoyles went, she always had visions of them all squeezing into her tiny apartment.
“Yes, I’m sure it’s what my uncle would have wanted. It was his house and his money, and I believe they should be put to use in a way he would have wanted.”
“That would be wonderful,” she gushed before hesitating. “I’ll need to talk to Luc about it.”
“Yes, and of course, you should stay here, too. I’m sure you don’t want to be too far away from him.” It was Andrew’s turn to blush.
“Thank you.”
“Gustave has agreed to stay, too.”
Kylie took her plate to the sink and smiled as she caught sight of Luc and Ophelia in the garden. They were talking and laughing, and then Ophelia hugged Luc before they spread their wings and disappeared into the sky. Her smile wilted. A pang of worry speared her, and she had the uncomfortable sensation that she was the odd man out in her relationship.
Idly, she supposed that Andrew would have to stop work on his garden – they couldn’t have workmen around while the gargoyles were there. Unless, they made sure the workmen left before it got dark, and they ensured that any gargoyles resting in the garden always rested in the same place.
“You’re taking this awfully well,” she commented to Andrew. And he was. In spite of his dazed appearance, he seemed to be pretty normal.
Maggie patted his arm, and he looked at her adoringly. “My uncle told me tons of stories over the years about magic and magical creatures. I never really paid much attention, and I’m sorry I didn’t now. But I should have realized that Holling was up to something, and all those mercenaries he brought into town… I had no idea.”
“I thought the quota for rough looking men in black had gone up recently,” said Maggie. “Oh, and by the way,” she pointed a finger at
Kylie, “you really need to put in an appearance in town as soon as possible. Gary’s going around saying that you were abducted by a giant bird.”
Kylie blinked at her. “What?”
“I’m guessing he saw you and Luc. At the moment, Big Bird’s in the frame for your kidnapping.”
“Crap factory!”
“Don’t worry. Our three intrepid police officers and Bob the dog aren’t taking him seriously, yet. But it’s probably best you show him you’re still alive. He’s hypothesizing that you were abducted to become food for some massive baby birds.”
“And here I thought he didn’t have an imagination.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
After parading herself around town – to make sure that Gary and the rest of the world knew she was alive - the next day, Kylie insisted that she try the finder’s spell again. The professor had hidden something specifically for her, and she was damn well going to find it. She wasn’t Camp Grin and Bear It’s second runner up hide and seek champion for nothing.
Luc wasn’t happy about it. He wanted her to rest for a few more nights and then, maybe try again. He was adamant that he would not push her to use magic, and she should not push herself. It was draining, and she wasn’t used to it, and she had been through so much.
She wouldn’t listen to his direct orders not to do it, even when he started muttering about disobedient mates. But she almost gave in to his sweet cajoling, and she would have if not for the anger she saw in Ophelia.
Ophelia had been alone for over a decade, without anyone – even a human - to turn to. Since Luc awoke, he at least had Kylie. Kylie felt bad for Ophelia and wanted to speed things up as much as possible. It had nothing to do with the fact that Kylie hoped that if there were a few more gargoyles around the place she would stop hanging around Luc so much.
It was a testament to how much Luc also wished to find his kin that he didn’t try to lock her in a room and smother her with kisses until she forgot that she ever wanted to try the spell. He did that the previous night when she wanted to go into town and collect some of her belongings. He lovingly subdued her, and Maggie went instead.
Kylie was beginning to understand a little about magic. Or at least she thought she was. It wasn’t just about turning around in circles and saying silly words. You had to mean the silly words. They had to come from your soul; you had to give yourself over to the magic. Which was actually a lot easier when she was being shouted at by Ophelia. She considered asking the female gargoyle to scare her witless again but doubted that Luc would go for it.
Aware of the eager eyes watching her, Kylie once again spun around and chanted the words. Her observers shouted out helpful suggestions. Sarcastic emphasis on the word 'helpful'.
She tried clearing her mind as Gustave suggested; she couldn’t help but think of the Stay Puft Marshmallow man. She tried some yoga breathing tricks as Bea suggested and nearly choked because she forgot to breathe out.
She tried both spells over and over, and nothing happened. She started to get frustrated.
“She can’t do it,” drawled Ophelia, with what Kylie uncharitably suspected was glee.
“Silence,” said Luc, calmly. He took Kylie’s hand. “You don’t have to do this. Don’t push yourself. It will happen when you are ready.”
Kylie ignored the look of boredom on Ophelia’s face. “I can do this.”
“I know you can, little one.”
His kind smile made her glow inside and, unless she was very much mistaken, she was cooking up some magic. “Stay close to me,” she whispered.
She tried the spell again; she gave it everything she had while trying to center her thoughts and feelings on Luc.
Maggie gasped, and Kylie dared to peek one eye open. She had closed them because failure was easier to take with your eyes closed.
One of the books on the bookcase was glowing.
“Do you think that’s it?” asked Andrew, wondrously.
“Hell of a coincidence if it isn’t,” muttered Gustave.
Tentatively and with sweating palms, Kylie grabbed the book and flipped through the pages. It was blank.
“She failed,” snapped Ophelia but wilted under Luc’s glare.
Kylie frowned. “No, she’s right, it failed.” It – meaning the spell - rather than she – she was still just a beginner, failure was permitted for beginners.
She pressed her fingers on the page and letters appeared. “Oh, look!”
Luc peered over her shoulder. Wherever Kylie touched, writing appeared and then disappeared after five seconds.
“Let me see that.” Maggie elbowed her way through the mini crowd and tried to do it, but it didn’t work.
Bea beamed at her. “You clever girl, I can’t wait to tell everyone how far you’ve come.”
“Ingenious,” commented Gustave. “Don’t know how Edwin managed that.”
“What is all this?” asked Luc looking at the series of numbers as they appeared under Kylie’s fingertips.
“They’re locations,” she said, excitedly.
“Do you think we really found them?”
“Yes!”
Chapter Forty
Kylie clasped her hands together and forced herself to be courageous. She could do this.
It had been almost a week since she discovered the book in the professor’s study. Since then, they had been working overtime to locate the other gargoyles and have them brought to the house. They had locations for nearly thirty gargoyles.
Andrew and Maggie were currently en route back to the house with the first one – they were all spread out across the country. The first was coming back from New York. Maggie had insisted she go – she was dying to see New York. They were driving it back to the house in a van. They considered the pros and cons of what to do and decided that they would bring one back and then work on waking it up before they moved on to the next. It wasn’t said, but Luc wanted Kylie to be as comfortable as possible while she tried to awaken the next one. He feared that surrounding her with gargoyles may overwhelm her. Not that it stopped her from being tense. The thought of failing hung heavily over her head.
“Ophelia?”
The female gargoyle turned and snarled, “What?”
Ophelia was training with a sword – which looked terrifying and sharp. Perhaps this had been a bad time to choose, but Kylie was feeling guilty. She promised Luc that she would try and help Ophelia learn about modern life, and she had barely spoken a word to the intimidating female since they met.
It wasn’t entirely Kylie’s fault. Ophelia seemed to go out of her way to avoid Kylie while purposefully putting herself wherever Luc happened to be. And if Ophelia was forced to be anywhere near Kylie, she sneered and glared at her. Honestly, Kylie was kind of creeped out by Ophelia. Kylie had tried to help her as she did with Luc, but Ophelia didn’t seem to need it – she seemed to pick up modern things as easily as breathing.
To be fair, Ophelia didn’t like any of the other humans either – but Kylie seemed to annoy her more than anyone else without even trying. And while Kylie felt bad for the female, she didn’t like the fact that Ophelia followed Luc around like a very scary puppy.
A primal part of Kylie was jealous and wanted to scream at Ophelia, to get away from her man, but she didn’t. It would have been rude. Again, Ophelia had been through a lot, and she needed the support of Luc. Plus, she couldn’t rule out the thought that Ophelia might just rip her to shreds.
Ophelia was clear that Luc was her leader, her chief. But Luc had said that as his mate, Kylie would be respected. Ophelia didn’t seem to get that memo.
Kylie was surprised by this. Out of all the people that knew about their relationship, the only one who seemed uncomfortable was Ophelia. Bea blushed, Maggie waggled her eyebrows leeringly, and Gustave just looked stoic whenever they shared a tender moment. Ophelia looked like she wanted to murder the closest thing to her. There were some chairs throughout the house that were lucky to have all their legs still.
“Hey, how’s it going?” said Kylie, aiming for jovial.
“How is what going?” asked the gargoyle in clipped tones.
“How are you?”
“I am fine, considering.” Ophelia gave her a meaningful look. Apparently Kylie was supposed to feel guilty just because she was human, and other humans had hurt Ophelia. Damnit, she kind of did, too.
Kylie tried for some common ground. “You must be excited, Andrew and Maggie will be back soon with the new gargoyle.”
“I will save my excitement to see if you can awaken it.” The accusatory tone was not lost on Kylie.
“I’ll do my best.”
Ophelia watched her through hooded eyes. “For Luc?”
“For all of you.”
She smiled, mirthlessly. “What will Luc do if you cannot awaken them?”
Kylie folded her arms and gave the gargoyle a stern look. Or as stern as she could manage. It seemed unlikely that this conversation was going to get any friendlier. “We’ll look for another way.”
Ophelia mulled this over for a few moments while polishing the pointy, pointy sword. “What will you do when you awaken them?”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “Things will be different for Luc when he has his clan back, he will be a leader again. Do you really think you will fit in with the clan? Do you really think they will accept you?”
Kylie could feel the magic burn within her. It was actually quite similar to heartburn. “I’m Luc’s mate; we’re meant to…”
Ophelia gave her a pitying, condescending look that could often be found on the ex-girlfriend’s face when talking to the new girlfriend. “You became Luc’s mate when he had no other choice. You were the only option available, but when he has all of his kind around him – will he still feel the same way? Female gargoyles are strong warriors; our kind is bred for this – it is what we look for in our mates so that our species will continue to be strong.” She looked Kylie up and down and apparently found the sight to be amusing. “Luc will want younglings one day; anything you give him will be half breeds. They may not even be able to fly; they may not even have wings!”
