by Price,E A
Back in their day, gargoyles had honor and the challenge for leadership was met in hand-to-hand combat – one on one. But things were very different now. What if the other gargoyles decided that honor no longer mattered?
It was a worry for her. She felt sure that Gracchus would stand by Luc. He was slightly older than Luc and Castor, and would likely cling to the honor code. Ric would too, for the sake of his mating, and perhaps Cai would. With Luc’s ties to the humans, he could perhaps provide the most stable environment for Cai and his family – particularly as in a few months there would be another addition to it.
But the others were anyone’s guess. It was a reason why Annis was trying to spend time with Castor - to calm him and make him see the importance of their continued low profile. It also distracted her from the disappointment she felt over Chris.
Castor was not interested in anything she had to say at first, but slowly, she believed she was swaying him. Either that or he was biding his time.
Annis found Castor with Grey and Brom. They were practicing archery. Castor hit every target. Grey was not bad either, but Brom missed each time - which made him even angrier. He constantly muttered that bows and arrows were not gargoyle weapons.
Castor heard her coming and stopped to grunt hello at her. Grey nodded, and Brom groaned.
“Another distraction. This is all I need. Shouldn’t you be bothering someone else?”
Annis did not answer that. She did not even consider it an insult. At first, she had thought of Brom as a typical gruff gargoyle, but she was actually warming to him. For all his bluster, he was actually quite kind. She had found him patting and cooing at Bob the other night. He leaped away as if scalded when he saw her and completely denied it, but she knew what she saw. Plus, the insults he hurled at everyone were not nearly as venomous as they could be. Annis had been insulted by the best – her mother, and Brom was not nearly as bad.
Grey, on the other hand, scared her somewhat. He was quiet and watchful, but she could sense viciousness in him that she did not feel present in the others. Even in enormous Drago.
“Kylie informed me that the gargoyle Maggie and Andrew found was half-destroyed. They are planning on burying it.”
The three males hung their heads in respect. Bea, Gustave, Maggie, and Andrew were all away at that moment, in search of the gargoyles. Although, she supposed Maggie and Andrew would be returning soon, given the outcome.
Castor growled in annoyance. “The humans had a thousand years to wake us, and now that they finally have, we are all but dead.”
“It is not their fault.”
“Humans cast the spell over us,” he sneered.
“We were betrayed by another gargoyle. Were it not for her, we would not be here,” argued Annis softly.
“She was led astray by humans.”
“I doubt Ophelia could be led anywhere she did not wish to go.” Annis had never met the female gargoyle in question, but her fearsome reputation preceded her.
“Humans turned us to stone,” Castor said stubbornly.
“Our human enemies, not our allies.”
Annis knew that their allies, the Blanc Clans, had spent years searching for a way to wake them, all to no avail. Without the original spell, and with dwindling magical abilities in every generation of magic users, the gargoyles were stuck. It was not until Kylie accidentally awoke Luc, and they managed to obtain a modified version of the original awakening spell that the situation changed.
Although, she did wonder about the Noir Clans. They had recently discovered their enemies had also been trying to wake the gargoyles. For how long and how many they had awoken was unclear. She supposed they could have been waking her brothers and sisters for their own devices for centuries… or not. Her only contact with magic had been through Calliope – the clan healer, and that had not been much. Mostly, it was just about which herbs could be used for healing. From listening to Bea talk to a few select friends who were permitted to come to the house and meet them, people with strong magical powers were rare. Kylie was one of them, though she seemed nonplussed by her own abilities, and at times struggled to make them work.
Castor did not see it that way. “Humans cannot be trusted. A clan that allows humans as clan members should never have come to pass. There can be no alliance between the two species.”
Annis worried at the stirring interest Brom and Grey showed for what he was saying. “Gargoyles have always allied themselves to humans. We fought alongside the Blanc Clans.”
“We?” sneered Grey. “How much fighting did you do?”
Her broken wing twitched involuntarily, and she fought back a spasm of pain.
“Annis is a gargoyle,” rumbled Castor, “that is what matters. Damaged or not, she is still one of us.”
Grey shrugged but did not bother to apologize – that was not the gargoyle way either.
Suddenly restless, Castor started pacing. “I cannot abide to be held here like this.”
“Perhaps Luc will allow you to hunt,” suggested Annis.
“Allow me to hunt?!” he snarled. “Since when should I need permission?” Castor looked up into the night sky. “I will not be treated like a prisoner by a human lover.”
“But, Luc…”
“I am going hunting. Any of you who wishes to join me, can.”
Castor turned on his heel and started striding towards the woods. Grey curled his lip at Annis before leaping after him. Brom gave it a moment thought before inclining his head almost apologetically and following the other two.
So much for calming Castor. Should she tell Luc?
Part of her felt loyalty to her former clan leader, but a larger part of her realized Castor was potentially putting all of them in danger. Yes, she needed to say something.
Chapter Sixteen
Chris looked up as he heard someone coming, the telltale claws confirming it was a gargoyle. He let out a long breath and sank back into his chair as Twenty-Six sashayed into the room. She started impatiently sifting through piles of books.
“What are you looking for?” sighed Gracchus as she started grumbling.
“My magazines.”
“If you mean those garish publications filled with nonsense and gossip, I threw them away.”
Twenty-Six bared her teeth, and she put her hands on her hips as her wings flapped menacingly behind her. “You better not have.”
Gracchus gave her a grim smile, and her eyes narrowed. He chuckled. “No, I did not, but I probably should have. Look in the library, although while you are there, perhaps you can find something more interesting to read.”
Twenty-Six stuck out her tongue and flounced away, tail whipping behind her.
Chris looked at his watch again. “Any idea how much longer he’s going to be?”
“Gargoyles aren’t much for timekeeping,” Gracchus said, rubbing his jaw and eyeing the timepiece on Chris’ wrist. “Although I can see how it would be useful.”
“I have a spare watch at home. You can have it.”
“Yes, I believe I would like that.”
Gracchus carefully flipped through the local newspaper Chris brought for him. The male gargoyle while not that big on reading, was interested in news and finding out what humans considered important. He was grateful for the selection of newspapers Chris occasionally brought him.
Chris held his breath as he heard the distinctive claws again. His eyes sought the entrance, and he deflated as one of the new gargoyles, Lief appeared. The male caught his eye and looked away almost guiltily before scurrying away. He thought nothing of the male’s behavior. Lief was probably unused to humans. Despite fighting alongside humans, the two species did not appear to be very integrated.
He stood and started pacing. Chris didn’t much care for being summoned by Luc – who did not particularly like phones and preferred to speak in person. But he came, and he was not relishing being made to sit and wait for Luc to appear and tell him what the hell he wanted now. All the while he was jumping a
t every noise, expecting to see Annis at any moment. Part of him was excited at the prospect. The other dreaded it. It had been hard enough to tear himself away from her huge, sad eyes last time. If she looked at him like that again, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.
When Luc finally arrived after what felt like an age – but was actually more like five minutes – he was tugging Kylie with him. A huge arm encircled her waist, with a large, clawed hand resting on her waist. She was tucked against his body in such an intimate way that Chris almost felt like an intruder for seeing them like this. Seeing Kylie and Luc together stirred up something strange inside him. He realized it was the first time he had really witnessed a moment of intimacy between a human and a gargoyle. He had seen Ric and Brenda hug, but then that had not seemed much more tender than when Brenda hugged Kylie – and he certainly did not want to see Brenda doing anything more intimate.
Distracted by his mate, it took Luc a few moments to notice Chris. When he did, he let out a perfunctory growl and tried to shield Kylie with his wings.
Kylie in turn chuckled and smiled at Chris. “You got here quickly.”
Chris folded his arms, feeling a wave of peevishness. “I’m pretty busy right now; I don’t have time to spare.” A barefaced lie. He was technically on call, but his plans involved vegging in front of the TV with a six-pack of root beer and an extra-large pizza.
Luc grunted in acknowledgment while Kylie deflated a little. “Then you’re probably not going to be able to help us.”
Chris cocked his head. “With what?”
“You know that we’re collecting the gargoyles and bringing them back here,” she stated.
He nodded. He had wondered why Kylie simply could not travel to them, but apparently the logistics of traveling with a live gargoyle were much thornier than traveling with a stone one. Besides, when they woke, they were apparently very agitated and prone to attack. Luc needed to be there when they did. That would mean getting Luc to them, and then getting Luc and the new gargoyle home again – too much of a headache.
“Well, we’re kind of running out of people to do it. We’re on a deadline, and we want to get as many here as possible, but Maggie, Andrew, Bea, and Gustave are kind of running themselves ragged and since I’m not allowed to go…”
“No, you are to stay here,” Luc boomed.
“We need more people. I know it’s an imposition…”
Chris grunted in agreement, his crankiness growing by the second. Here he was trying to distance himself from a certain gargoyle, and he kept getting swept back into her world.
“But we wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t desperate.” She gave him a puppy dog pout and added, “We are talking about saving gargoyles’ lives. Unless you don’t value them as highly as humans…”
Gracchus and Luc both shuffled in irritation while Kylie flicked him a calculated look.
Chris scowled at her. “You’re more ruthless than I gave you credit.”
She positively beamed like it was a compliment. “We don’t want to interfere too much with your job, so we were thinking you and Brenda could collect the gargoyles who are only a drive away.”
He held up a hand. “I have plenty of vacation days I can use,” the last time he took any time off was when Mara died, “but I won’t allow Brenda to miss School.” Although the thought of peeling her away from Ric for a few days was enticing.
“It can be at the weekend, but we also thought that perhaps you might be able to take one of the gargoyles with you.”
Annis jumped to the forefront of his mind, and he dismissed her quickly.
“Is that wise?”
“Kylie needs to be here to wake the others, and to gather her strength,” said Luc, clutching his mate a little closer. From what Brenda told him that was true. Apparently, after each waking, she was nearly wiped out. “But I see no reason why one of my gargoyles need not go with you.”
“You can take one of the vans,” piped up Kylie. Andrew had purchased two new ones for the purpose of transporting gargoyles. “The gargoyle can ride in back, and they can help with moving the new gargoyle. If you need to stay anywhere, they can sleep in the van.”
“When Brenda cannot travel with you, Gracchus will,” said Luc.
Chris looked over at the large male. Gracchus put his newspaper down and gave him a toothy smile. Although not as alluring as Annis, Chris couldn’t help but like the male. Gargoyle age was hard to pinpoint, but he put Gracchus at maybe just a few years older than him. Briefly, he wondered how old Annis was. She still seemed so young. Twenty-five, maybe? Too young for him. Another reason to stay away.
“Road trip?” quipped Chris.
“Indeed,” chuckled Gracchus.
Chris reflected that his chosen partner could have been a lot worse. Or a lot better hissed a voice inside him.
“So, you’re okay with this?” asked Kylie uncertainly.
“Sure,” sighed Chris. It wasn’t like he had any life to speak of anyway, and he could imagine the hell Brenda would bring down on him if he said no. Teenagers were the worst.
“Great, because we actually have two new ones – one is only a five-hour drive away and the other a two-hour drive and…”
“Whoa, already?”
“We thought you could go tomorrow night. Since it will not be a school night, we thought maybe Brenda and Ric could collect the gargoyle two hours away and that you could get the other one.”
Kylie whipped out the puppy dog pout again, and he groaned.
“Okay, fine, but are you sure you trust Ric and Brenda?”
Luc grinned. “We trust Brenda to keep Ric in line.”
Gracchus carefully folded the newspaper and ambled over to Chris. The male gave him a sound slap on the back he was sure to feel for the next three months at least.
“As you say, road trip,” said the gargoyle.
“Okay, I’ll talk to my deputies and get them to cover.”
It probably wouldn’t be too bad. His day off was approaching and in dire circumstances, he could always deputize someone in town to cover for him. He used to use Gary, the fishmonger – but he was currently out of town. The poor guy had a bit of a breakdown after he thought he saw Kylie being abducted by a monster. It was Luc, naturally, and Chris felt bad for Gary, but the guy had always been a little off to begin with.
“Chief!” called a sweet yet agitated voice.
Chris inhaled and found his senses drowning in a soft, floral scent.
Annis padded into the room; her forehead creased in worry. Her eyes sought Luc but when she saw Chris, her cheeks turned a dark crimson, and she looked at her feet.
“What is it?” demanded Luc impatiently.
“I, well, I…”
Chris could hear the nervousness in her tone and fought the urge to try and comfort her.
Kylie placed a hand on Annis’ arm. “What’s wrong?”
Annis breathed in and out and fixed her gaze on Luc. “Castor, Brom and Grey left the grounds to go hunting.”
Gracchus snorted angrily. Luc’s wings grew and quivered behind him. “And you did not try and stop them?” he snarled, eyes flashing.
Annis’ orb-like eyes widened, and she placed an arm over her face protectively. Chris gave in to instinct and placed himself in front of Annis, daring Luc to try anything. He balled his fists and glowered at the male. He may not be able to stop him, but he wasn’t going to stand around and allow him to work out his anger on Annis.
Luc stared at them both in surprise, as if seeing them for the first time. Clearly, he hadn’t expected either to behave in such a way.
“I do not see that she could have stopped them,” said Gracchus carefully.
“Not many of us could,” murmured Kylie uneasily.
Luc huffed, which was as close as any of them were going to get to an apology. “Gracchus, fetch Cai. We will bring the males back.”
The two males marched away with Kylie following.
“You okay?” asked Chris. He turned to look at her
.
“Yes, I… for a moment I thought…” Her face clouded, and she looked away again.
A flash of Annis’ life before now came to him. Ric mentioned in passing that other gargoyles would look down on Annis for her small frame and damaged wing, but he had not considered that being unlike other gargoyles might have been very dangerous.
“I should go.”
Annis nodded sadly.
A surge of protectiveness rose in him. “If any of them hurt you, let me know.”
If possible, her eyes widened even further. “What would you do?” she asked curiously.
His jaw ticked at the thought of anyone touching Annis with malicious intentions. “I’d make sure they couldn’t hurt you again.”
Chapter Seventeen
The argument between Castor and Luc waged from the moment he, Brom and Grey had been forced back from their hunting expedition right until an hour before sunrise when Luc decided he would not listen to Castor ranting anymore. All of the clan had been listening to the argument. Annis feared too many of them might agree with Castor. Given their precarious position in the world, the last thing they needed was a war within their new clan.
Luc stormed away followed by Kylie. The others soon trickled away, including the furious Grey and grumpy Brom. Annis waited until it was just her and Castor. His mood could perhaps be best described as volcanic, but she did not fear him. Although she considered Luc to be a good leader, she did not trust him not to strike her or punish her if the mood took him. But in spite of everything, Castor had never done anything physically harmful to her. The other younglings had taken delight in tormenting her, picking fights she could not hope to win, but Castor stopped them, forced them to show her mercy. It was no wonder she had mistaken his behavior for affection – it was the only kindness she had ever been shown.
Castor may have his faults, but he was loyal to all gargoyles. Well, maybe up to a point. He had little love for humans, and if a gargoyle fraternized with a human, Annis considered he might see that as a betrayal of their kind.
The way Castor viewed Kylie was perhaps a little worrying. If Annis could see his disgust, there was no doubt Luc could as well. Although she credited Castor with enough honor that he would not hurt someone so physically inferior, and with enough sense that he would not be foolish enough to harm the one person capable of waking the other gargoyles, his attitude was not particularly encouraging.
