by Price,E A
He waved a huge hand. “I have a cut and just wanted something to ease it.”
“Oh! Yes, I can help with that.” Annis dropped the vegetables again and flew to the shelves, selecting a salve for him. “Where is the cut? I will apply it.”
Castor’s lips twitched for a second before he nodded and dropped his loincloth. Annis froze, staring at his chest.
“The cut is lower than that,” he whispered.
“I… ah…” Her tongue did not appear to be working.
He reached out and took the jar from her hand. “I shall apply it myself,” Castor said kindly.
Annis nodded and turned around, ignoring his soft chuckles. “I am sorry,” she said.
“No, I am sorry for taunting you.”
“No, no…”
She felt a large hand on her shoulder and caustically allowed him to turn her to face him. Thankfully, he had donned his loincloth again. He thought she was shy and naïve about the male form. He was wrong – as Calliope’s assistant, she had seen more nude males up close than she ever wanted. She was just concerned about what the sight of him would do to her. Her womanhood ached at seeing him covered. Uncovered, she worried about her reaction.
“Thank you, Annis.”
“You are welcome, of course,” she murmured.
Castor peered down on her. “There is no shame in being innocent, or of saving yourself for your mate. I find it admirable.”
Annis inhaled as she met his gaze. Castor smiled, heat in his expression and wordlessly left the hut.
Did that mean… Warmth spread through her body. She had always believed in the idea of gargoyles having fated mates – even when her mother tried to beat such ‘whimsical nonsense’ out of her. But she could not deny the way Castor made her feel. It started when she was younger, and he showed her kindness while the others made fun of her. Her affection grew and grew as they grew older.
He admired her – he was proud of her innocence. Surely he was trying to tell her that he wanted her for his mate. For the first time in her life, hope soared within her.
*
A few months later
Castor the chief. All hail the new chief! The old chief decided to step down and Castor challenged for leadership. He beat seven other males, including all the old chief’s sons, and he was their new chief. He could have banished the other males he beat, but he chose not to, he chose to let them stay. He will be a good leader thought Annis fondly.
She gathered along with the other gargoyles, unable to hide her excited smile for Castor. He stood before them, a towering, powerful gargoyle.
Castor held up a hand for silence. Gargoyles weren’t known for their rousing speeches; they preferred grunting and growling. But Castor told them how proud he was to be their new leader.
“My first act will be to take a mate.”
Annis gasped. He hadn’t said a word. Would he really… no, a small, sad voice told her he wouldn’t.
“Danya has agreed to be my mate,” declared Castor.
There were roars of satisfaction and approval as the lithe female stepped forward, a smirk on her face. She was the daughter of the last chief – the chief Castor had just replaced. It was a smart move; he was in some way appeasing the defeated sons of the old chief, while finding a way to keep them in line. They would be unlikely to try and challenge Castor for leadership again if their sister was his mate. Through her, they would have a high rank in the clan.
Annis stepped away from the group. She had been wrong. All the years of Castor’s kindness had meant nothing. The time he gave her the flower after she failed on her first hunting trip – how could that mean nothing?
She managed to accost Castor after the meeting. He smiled at her benignly, as if he hadn’t just broken her heart.
“Castor, I thought…” Her words tumbled out of her, not all coherently. “I thought that you and I… that we… but you and Danya.”
Castor looked at her as if she were mad. “You did not believe that I would mate you?”
Annis looked at the ground, ashamed of herself.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and her treacherous body still ignited in heat. “Annis, I bear you no ill will. But the idea of us mating is ridiculous. I must have younglings who can fight. My bloodline must produce warriors. I could not risk that any children would be tainted by your deformities.”
Annis stilled. It shouldn’t have hurt. How many times had her fellow clan mates, had her mother, told her she was deformed. It was a word she heard repeatedly, and yet it had never hurt so much until now.
“I thought you did not care about such things,” she mumbled. “I thought you cared... about me.”
Castor placed a claw under her chin and raised it, forcing her to look at him. His expression was not unkind, but it had taken on a harder gleam, more predatory.
“For the good of the clan, I must mate with Danya, and she must bear my young. But that does not mean that we cannot enjoy each other’s company.” He ran a claw over her cheek almost tenderly.
Annis inhaled as she realized his meaning. Surely he couldn’t be suggesting that he would lay with her while mated to Danya?
“I must go,” he murmured, and left her watching him dumbfounded.
She’d known for many years that her clan considered her as nothing more than a creature to use, for tasks they did not want to do themselves. But was she really a gargoyle unworthy of mating and bearing young? Did Castor really see her as nothing more than a whore?
Was this all life had in store for her? Concubine to the chief and drudge to the rest of her clan – a creature to be used over and over until she had nothing more to give. She’d never felt smaller or more worthless. How could she live her life like this?
Chapter One
Present day
Carlton Hunter peeked through the blinds of his office. Yep, they were still there.
“Dirty hippies,” he muttered.
Animal rights activists were going to be the death of him. It was eleven at night, and they were still marching and waving their placards outside his compound. Bastards had even brought sleeping bags and portable stoves. They were in it for the long haul.
They were trying to annoy anyone who wanted to get in. Fat chance. The type of people who came to Hunter’s Lodge were not the type to scare easily. They came to hunt and kill live animals in a semi-controlled environment – it wasn’t quite the wild, but it wasn’t entirely safe either. They were people who didn’t suffer from a lot of fear but did suffer from exceedingly fat wallets – which were a heck of a lot thinner after their visit to the Lodge.
The problem with creating realistic hunting experiences was that he needed realistic prey. Deer and elk just wouldn’t cut the mustard with his elite clients. They wanted something exotic, something unusual, something they wouldn’t be allowed to hunt in the wild. Endangered species – who gives a whoop? It was survival of the fittest and humans were winning. If those dumb animals were dying out, it was their fault. His clients wanted something impressive to hunt, kill, stuff and mount on their walls - which was why he kept a taxidermist on staff and why he had to get a little creative when it came to acquiring new species.
Carlton hitched up his pants as he crossed the room to his selection of drinks – kept in a globe of course. Nothing classier than keeping your booze in a globe. A gift from his third wife – a treasure and well worth the double Ds she got for her birthday. She was a big improvement on wives number one and two – all they gave him were headaches and huge alimony bills.
He poured himself a scotch and tried not to think of his looming legal bills. Carlton was currently under investigation by several government agencies for illegally importing live animals. His lawyers reassured him he was not going to be charged. The cases against him were all based on hearsay and would, eventually, just fall apart. None of his clients would blab, even if they hadn’t signed a non-disclosure agreement, they didn’t want to be on the hook for killing endangered species. However,
when the cases were dropped, he would still be footing the bill for four overpriced lawyers.
Carlton needed money. He needed a bigger draw for his clients. Something they hadn’t seen before, something they could get excited about. Something they were prepared to empty their wallets for.
Sadly, it seemed unlikely he would be able to get any more tigers – the white ones went over big, but the shipping company he used were playing nice because they were being watched by the feds. Once upon a time, he had managed to procure a liger – huge, damn beast stolen from a zoo. The thing made him mountains of cash.
Hmmm, maybe he should start scouring zoos.
The phone on his desk bleated. He grabbed it, thinking it could only be one person.
“Hey, sugar, what you wearing?”
“I do not see that is any of your business, and I am not your sugar,” replied a cold, hard voice.
Carlton gripped the phone. “Who is this? How’d you get my private number?” The number only known to his clients and his wife. Not even his children had this number.
“One of your clients was happy to pass it along.”
“Which one?”
Carlton considered his privacy to be of the utmost importance. If this client was handing out his details to just any crazy…
“One who thought you might be interested in what I have to say.”
Carlton swirled the scotch in his glass. His clientele was slender, and he only gained new clients through word of mouth. Perhaps he should not be so hasty.
“Talk,” he barked.
“Go to your computer. I have just sent you an e-mail.”
Carlton harrumphed, but he did, putting the stranger on speakerphone and typing with his index fingers. He pulled up his most recent message.
Clicking on it, and opening the attached file with ill-concealed impatience, he scanned through the photos one by one, his jaw dropping a little further with every image.
“Impressed?” asked the smug voice.
“They’re probably fakes,” he snorted. “Any kid with a computer can knock out fake images.”
“They are real,” hissed the voice.
Carlton looked through every image more slowly, taking in the wings, the tails, the horns and the deadly looking claws. All the images were a little on the blurry side, but he could make out the fact that there was more than one of these beasts. Each creature appeared unique.
He leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers against the desk.
“Why are you showing me these?”
“I thought you would be interested.”
He was. The creatures although animal like in many respects, appeared very human as well. They would certainly be interesting prey, and they would certainly garner some interest from his regulars.
“If they are real,” he began.
“They are!”
“Then where are they? Why haven’t I ever seen these creatures before?” He wanted to believe he’d been shown a mysterious new species, but disbelief lingered.
“That does not matter. Are you interested in obtaining one or not?”
“Yes,” he admitted wearily.
“Then I can help you, but there will be a matter of a small finder’s fee…”
*
A few days later
Annis yawned as she awoke, stretching her arms and flapping her wings. She felt a twinge in her broken wing. The cold weather was not her friend. Perhaps she should sleep in the house. It was not the gargoyle way, but she doubted Luc would mind. Not much, anyway.
Her eyes slid to the other gargoyles. Gracchus and Ric were stretching and joking with one another, while Ingrede and Cai fussed over their son. The four newest gargoyles, Lief, Grey, Tristan, and Brom, were still wary in varying degrees and kept to themselves.
Dragoslava paced restlessly, breathing heavily. Out of all the awakened gargoyles, he struggled the most with his re-awakening. He still had trouble on waking after his enforced slumber. He was getting better, especially since Luc now trusted him enough to sleep in the open with the other gargoyles. Unlike Annis, Drago did not feel comfortable sleeping undercover.
Luc strode through the gaggle of gargoyles, nodding at them in turn and saying a few words to each. He was easy with all of them, confident of himself, confident in his ability to lead them, and confident that they would follow. There was no room for self-doubt in Luc’s head. Annis was all self-doubt – a bundle of insecurity and fretfulness. Luc had even committed one of the most grievous acts a gargoyle could – taking a human mate. Annis dreaded to think what that would have meant to her old clan. Just talking to a human meant a flogging. Instinctively she clenched her wings as the memory of her mother thrashing her burst across her mind. She pushed it away. Her mother couldn’t hurt her anymore. She was gone.
Through sheer force of will, Luc’s mating with Kylie was accepted. He was a gargoyle who could do whatever he wanted, and nobody would call him on it. Or at least, nobody could stop him from doing what he wanted. Annis was merely a gargoyle made to do what others wanted.
She watched as he finished marveling at how big baby Wolfe was, and agreeing that he was the smartest gargoyle youngling in the world – a mantle he probably won by default. Then Luc flexed his wings and flew to the house, straight to the balcony of the room he shared with Kylie.
The other gargoyles scattered to go about their own business. Annis sighed and started making her way to the kitchen. She had not been asked, but she would be expected to cook the evening meal. She did not mind; truly she had given up minding much of anything when she resigned herself to her life back in her old clan. She was a drudge. A female no male wanted as a mate and was simply there to do the jobs others did not want.
But tonight she did not mind at all. Annis shook her head at her silly thoughts. No, she did not care a jot that the male was coming tonight.
Chris. The human. The human who incited some very strange feelings in her that she was trying her best to ignore. Feelings she hadn’t felt since Castor.
She didn’t know what it was about Chris. Castor, she could understand. He was a big, strong, gargoyle, with magnificent wings, dark purple skin, long horns and vicious claws – he was the perfect male gargoyle. But Chris… He was larger than her, but he was all wrong. Yes, his body was hard and muscled, she had felt that when he had lain on top of her, trying to subdue her. His skin was all pink and peachy and… well, yes, her own skin was pink – she’d never met another gargoyle with skin like hers. But his features were softer than a gargoyle's, even, dare she think it, pretty.
Prettiness wasn’t a quality gargoyles usually looked for in other gargoyles. They were considered desirable because of their strength and skills as a warrior. Pretty eyes and a bow-shaped mouth were never considered attractive in a potential mate. Yet, she couldn’t help but admire them on Chris.
She supposed that Luc’s attraction to Kylie, and Ric’s to Brenda, proved that gargoyles could find humans attractive. Her feelings weren’t wholly incredible. But it didn’t matter. She had long ago learned that her emotions could not be completely relied upon. Annis had once thought that Castor was destined to be her mate and look how that turned out! No, it was nothing. He was just the first, unattached, younger male she had met and she was intrigued. There was nothing more to it than that.
Nothing. At. All.
Annis held still as Brom approached. The male was having trouble adapting to modern life. His clan had been based in Iceland and were reputed to have been quite vicious. Rumors abounded back in the day that they ate humans when they could not catch animals. It was not something she wished to bring up with the burly male.
He grunted at her, which she supposed was meant to be hello. The pale purple male was shorter than Luc but his chest and stomach much wider – like a barrel with arms, legs and wings sticking out. Unlike the others, he wore animal skins, perhaps due to the coldness of his clan’s home. A strange abnormality was how short his tail was. Apparently, all his clan were
born like that. While tails usually dragged along the ground, his only just reached ground level.
Ric had made a joke about ‘length’ that Annis did not really understand, and then Brom attacked Ric and the two males spent over an hour fighting. It only ended when Kylie returned and insisted Luc put an end to it.
“There will be humans here tonight,” he growled.
“Yes,” Annis replied amiably.
“Humph.” He huffed and flicked his short tail.
“Humans are not so bad.”
“Humans are the reason we were forced to sleep for a thousand years.”
Annis rolled her shoulders, still achy from her long sleep. “Not these humans.”
“The only good human is a dead human,” he snarled.
“I would not let Ric hear you speak like that.”
She met his black eyes and forced herself not to look away. Something she never would have done in her previous life. No, she would have cowered and averted her gaze before a warrior like Brom. But this was now. The world was different, and although she was not physically strong, it did not mean that she had to cringe before those who were. It was difficult; it went against everything she had been taught, everything that had been beaten into her from a young age. But with Kylie, Maggie, and Bea’s encouragement, she was trying. She was sure there were a lot of bad humans in the world, but there were also a lot of good ones - like Chris. The thought rose unbidden, and she blushed away from Brom’s annoyed expression.
“Humans and gargoyles don’t belong together.”
“I definitely would not let Luc hear you speak like that either.”
Annis would not bother arguing with him. Luc knew of his dislike for humans and believed Brom would come around in time. Actually, his first plan had been to beat some sensitivity into Brom, but Kylie vetoed that plan. Luc was just as surprised as Annis to learn that Kylie had vetoes, but Kylie assured them that she did, and Luc was loath to disagree with her about anything.
