by E A Price
“Time,” said Kylie and then chuckled. “I know how you feel. Just don’t do anything hasty.”
Brenda nodded, and Kylie retreated into the house. She cocked her head at Ric, but he didn’t follow. He was making sure the hell dog was off the property. No one was safe until the animal was gone. Or his owner for that matter.
“I will walk you to the gate,” he said gruffly.
“You sure it’s safe?”
“I will not hurt you,” he grouched, angry that she thought he would.
But no, that wasn’t what the blasted female meant at all. She flicked her hair over her shoulder. The fact that she had twigs in her glossy mane didn’t really detract from the effect.
“I meant for you. I can’t protect myself and you at the same time.”
She smirked and hurried away with Ric gaping after her.
The nerve of the female speaking to him that way! A hundred retorts leapt to mind, but they leapt too slowly, and she was already out of sight. He was left looking like a fool standing in the driveway, his mouth hanging open and staring at her.
How dare she question his abilities as a warrior? She just got lucky earlier. That’s all it was.
Ric balled up his fists. She was by far the most infuriating female in the entire world!
*
“Hey!” called Uncle Chris as she closed the front door behind her.
Bob skidded into the kitchen.
“Ugh, Bob!” yelled Chris.
She decided to bring Bob home with her, thinking he might be a familiar comfort after all the revelations she’d heard that night. Her first instinct was to tell her uncle; he’d know what to do. He was always calm and collected. But she’d promised Kylie she wouldn’t say anything. And her uncle, as kindhearted as he was - wouldn’t he feel the need to report this to the authorities? Although, who it would be reported to, she wasn’t sure
Chris, with splotches of red sauce on his shirt – courtesy of Bob, no doubt - found her standing by the door.
“You okay?”
“Umm hmmm.”
“You ah, get all your girl stuff out of the way?”
Brenda pressed her lips together to stop herself from bursting into laughter at the distasteful expression on her uncle’s face. He apparently wasn’t brought up to believe that PMS and menstrual cycle were words that should be mentioned above a whisper.
“Yeah.”
He looked pained. “You know if you need to talk to anyone about…”
“I know where to find you, but I also know where to find Maggie or Kylie.”
He nodded, looking relieved. “Yes, good.”
“Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner.”
“Smells yummy.”
Chris gave her a look of concern. “You sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”
“Yep, just tired. You’d be surprised at the amount of energy Bob has.”
“Tell me about it. How one dog can get so much exercise and never lose weight is beyond me.”
“I might just wash up before dinner.”
“Sure.” He paused. “As much as it pains me to admit it, Kevin called while you were out.”
“Really? Maybe I’ll call him back tomorrow.”
Chris’ eyebrows almost shot off his head. He looked like he was about to comment and then shook his head. “Dinner in five.”
“Sure.”
Brenda sat on the edge of her bed. Gargoyles. That was something she’d never have guessed. Sure there were books and stories about gargoyles coming to life, but there were also books and stories about invisible men and vampires and aliens and werewolves… the list went on and on.
It was all unreal. She was having a hard time believing it was even true. Part of her considered that maybe she was dreaming. Although her imagination had never been quite so inventive before. She struggled to believe it was true even as she sat and talked to the gargoyles, as she watched Bob licking Annis’ hand, as Luc touched Kylie’s shoulder, as Ric glowered at her… Yes, she couldn’t deny some amusement about that.
When he’d caught her in the garden, she’d reacted instinctively to defend herself, but the look of surprise on his face when she’d kicked him in the unmentionables had been priceless. Shame she didn’t have a camera to catch that look. The same could be said for his sulky scowl afterwards.
It was strange, but he didn’t scare her. Neither did Annis, but then she’d never met a human who emitted such a strong sense of harmlessness as that female. On the other hand, Luc terrified her. She had the feeling from him that if their secret weren’t safe with her, she would be in real danger.
But Ric amused her. She didn’t feel like he would really hurt her. She wasn’t sure if that was a feeling she should rely on, but it was there. The pout he had given her over the bite mark on his arm was too much.
She wondered how old he was. He was large and well muscled. She’d guess fully grown, but he seemed younger than the other males she saw. And he could certainly sulk as well as any teenager.
Brenda recalled the way Kylie had looked up at Luc. It was with adoration. And what had he said? That he had taken her as his mate.
They had sex! They must do. Tiny, curvy Kylie was having sex with that huge creature. Brenda blushed at her thoughts and considered that maybe her times with Kevin and being raised by a strict, prudish grandmother hadn’t really given her the imagination for things like this. But surely Kylie would be too small for him. Surely he would hurt her…
The violence she’d seen in Luc’s eyes when the other male attacked him made her shiver. Their growls made her ears hurt…
Kylie made it sound as if they were just like humans, but they weren’t. Humans could be vicious. But when those gargoyles clashed, they had been more animal than man. Did Kylie know what she was letting herself in for?
“Brenda!”
“Coming,” she called absently.
Maybe she should tell her uncle after all. But then she thought of Annis’ sweet smile and Ric’s petulant pout – both somewhat endearing, and she was torn.
Chapter Eleven
Ric dropped to the ground a few feet from Chloe. Perhaps he shouldn’t have flown, but it was a cloudy night, and he had left Chloe waiting for three hours…
At first, it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t leave while Brenda was at the house. And then she had infuriated him so much that all thoughts of Chloe had left his mind, and he had spent the next hour practicing his sword skills. Accursed female, anytime she wanted a rematch he would be ready. It was only when he dropped the cell phone Chloe had given him that he remembered their promise to meet.
Chloe rose to her feet from her perch on a fallen tree. “Where the hell have you been?” she snapped.
“I could not get away,” he said slowly. “I have told you my situation is difficult.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you call me? Or even text me?”
Ric was taken aback at her tone. Until that moment, she had been at turns teasing, coquettish and amused. But never angry. And the expression on her face turned him cold. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was loathing.
Chloe blanched and then hung her head. “I’m sorry, I was just… I…” She pressed her hands to her face and sniffled. “I thought you weren’t coming. I thought something might have happened to you. I was really worried.”
Unease poured through him. His experience of comforting a crying female was limited to his younger sister when she was a baby. She soon grew out of it – she grew out of it within three weeks of her birth. He understood that human females cried at all kinds of things. Kylie did. She cried when she was happy. She cried at movies. He once saw her cry over a particularly poignant TV commercial. Female gargoyles did not go in for that kind of behavior. Kara had generally liked to punch things whenever she felt any kind of emotion.
Unused to having to comfort an emotional female, Ric awkwardly patted her on the shoulder. She turned towards him and wrapped her arms around him, letting out deep sobs into his chest. H
e froze for an instant before he gently rested his hands on her back, willing himself to relax.
Her body felt strange against his. Her wiry limbs seemed to clash against him. It did not feel… natural. But then he supposed they were two very different species.
After a few moments of discomfort, she pulled back and gave him a watery smile. “I really was worried,” she murmured.
“You need not worry about me,” he said gruffly, wishing for the conversation to end.
“But I do worry, what if… if the government or someone came and took you away. You wouldn’t be able to stop them. What protection do you have?”
“We are well protected; we are adept at taking care of ourselves.”
“But surely with modern technology…”
“We will be prepared.”
Her brow creased slightly, before she dabbed at her eyes. “If you’re sure.”
“I am. But, ah, thank you for worrying about me.”
“I can’t help it,” she said shyly.
Ric grunted in assent. “I must go now, I… I cannot be seen out in the daytime.”
“Oh. What about tomorrow night?
He hesitated. With Cai and Ingrede and the youngling, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to get away without being missed. Then there was that female Brenda – what if she came back to the house? He would not want to miss that.
He almost balked at the thought before managing to rationalize it. The female was a menace, and he would be needed to protect the clan. He almost dismissed that excuse as flimsy, but then he rubbed his bite mark. No, she really was a menace, displaying fierceness that would have even have made Kara pause before attacking.
“I am not sure I will be able to come.”
Her face tightened. “The night after?”
“I will try. Goodbye, Chloe.”
“Bye.”
He left her pouting as he leaped into the sky, soaring through the clouds, enjoying the brief, artificial feeling of being free as he flew the small distance to his new home.
Chloe was concerned for him. Perhaps her feelings for him were growing; perhaps she was starting to feel affection towards him. He wasn’t sure he was entirely happy about that. But hadn’t he been considering her as a mate just a few hours earlier?
His father had told him of his first meeting with his mother. As an arranged mating they did not meet until a week before their mating ceremony. His mother hated his father on sight. His father found his mother attractive, but could not help goading her fiery temper. They went through with the mating out of loyalty to their clans, but they fought like dragons for months after their ceremony. Until eventually, the fighting became less frequent, and affection bloomed between them. His father remembered it happened so gradually that at first he barely noticed. It started with his mother preparing his favorite meal for him. With his father sharpening her sword. This was akin to gargoyles giving each other flowers. Until eventually they laughed together, rather than argued. And they realized they loved one another. He didn’t like to admit it, feeling it was somehow unmanly, but he always loved hearing that story. He had pictured himself and Kara taking a similar route once upon a time.
But Chloe’s affection, that was… fast.
Perhaps he was just irresistible and interesting, charming. While his ego would like to believe that, the females in his clan had disabused him of that notion many years ago. Arrogant, sometimes irritating – those were words that were bandied around by the females. While they had been happy to slake a need with him, they certainly weren’t interested in talking to him.
He had not cared. He was young. He wasn’t interested in anything more at that time, even with Kara. He had wanted to mate her, but anything tender hadn’t even entered into his consideration. That kind of thing would happen later.
Chloe had hugged him.
When had he last been hugged? Probably as a baby, and that wasn’t hugging – that was being held, and his mother had put a stop to that as soon as he could walk. She loved her younglings in her own way, but she hadn’t been the most maternal creature on the planet.
Perhaps he was just scared of what his relationship might turn into with Chloe. Then he shot that thought down. He did not get scared. Men like him did not get scared. Grudgingly he could admit to a little loneliness – but that really was pushing it.
No, he was just wary of the difficulties of mating a human. That had to be it. He needed time. Mixed matings were new territory, and it would be hard. Although, Luc, and Kylie didn’t make it look particularly hard.
And just why did his thoughts keep returning to that insufferable female Brenda?
*
“We couldn’t just keep her here!”
“The security of the clan comes first over one female. And we need to look into why our alarm did not work when she came onto the property.”
“I think it’s because she’s been here before and the magic recognizes her as a friend... Don’t give me that look – I’m new to magic, I’m still learning. And as for Brenda, she’s eighteen. She’s not even out of school yet. We couldn’t keep her here as a prisoner.”
“We should have ascertained that she was not going to tell anyone of our presence.”
Gracchus gave Ric a brief smile and turned the TV up to cover the arguing between Luc and Kylie. Clearly Luc did not like the way she had handled the situation with Brenda.
Their loud argument could be heard through the ceiling. Gracchus continued watching TV while Annis was fiddling with some type of garment. What was that he was saying about Luc and Kylie making their relationship look easy?
A bang sounded, and Ric tensed. Are they…
Then Kylie laughed, and the volume of her voice increased even more. “Really? You’re putting your foot down – that’s hilarious.”
Luc growled.
“I would not worry,” said Gracchus, managing to watch Starsky and Hutch while listening to the argument and talking to Ric. Impressive multitasking. “He will not hurt her.”
“Are you sure she will not hurt him? Human females are surprisingly fierce.” Again his thoughts returned to Brenda. What the hell was wrong with him?
Gracchus grinned, showing his fangs, knowing exactly who he was referring to. “Yes, she was spirited.”
Ric rolled his eyes. “Not the word I would use.”
Dragoslava let out a roar that drowned out even the arguing.
Ric cocked his head at Annis. “You should see what he wants.”
Annis put her sewing down, nodded and left.
Ric was gaining mastery over computers and phones, but Annis had made herself useful in learning how to use things such as washing machines and dryers and a sewing machine in order to make them new clothes. Bea had bought them human clothes, but they were too awkward to wear, so Annis had set about making them some. She was a useful female thought, Ric.
The argument had died down, either Kylie had knocked him out or… or they were indulging in their favorite past time. A noisy, ceiling shaking past time and he definitely did not want to listen to that… again.
Gracchus turned the TV off and yawned. “The dawn is nearly upon us.”
Annis decided to spend the day in the basement with Dragoslava. Ric considered that while they were stone, Drago would have no idea she was even there, but he couldn’t be bothered to argue.
Gracchus and Ric wandered outside to find Cai and Ingrede huddled with their child. Gracchus spoke to them in hushed tones. Ric retained his distance and nodded at them. Cai returned the nod.
Luc strode into the clearing, scowling. He said a few words to Cai and Ingrede before standing next to Ric.
“Kylie heard from her aunt and Gustave,” he rumbled. “The gargoyle statue they found was broken in half; there is no point in trying to revive her. They are on their way home.”
Anger and sadness washed over him. Another sister lost. Wordlessly, Ric slapped Luc on the back. The larger male grunted.
“There will be others.
”
“Thank you for saving Kylie when Cai…” Luc growled and hunched his shoulders making his wings tense.
“Of course. She is clan. You believe this Brenda female can be trusted?” he blurted.
Luc folded his arms, rustling his wings in disapproval. “It would appear I have no choice in the matter,” he said stiffly.
“You trusted Kylie and look where that led you.”
“Kylie is my mate, not some random female. She found me for a reason.”
Ric stepped away as he felt the first rays of sunshine on his skin. Sleep started overcoming him. Maybe Brenda found them for a reason, too.
*
“We still don’t know how many gargoyles there are,” said Bell with a sigh. “You’re not pushing him hard enough.”
“I let the fucker hug me,” snapped Chloe. “What more do you want from me? I’m sure my aunt would agree I’m doing all I can.”
Bell let out a shuddering breath as he struggled with his temper. He wished Chloe had never made contact with the gargoyle. Sure, it sounded like progress, but Chloe was a pain in the ass. She was impatient and bullheaded and got the job because she happened to be council member Marsters’ niece. She only let him know it about ten times a day.
“We have less than two weeks here. I want those gargoyles taken alive by then. You need to find out how many there are.”
“What does it matter? Why not just take them by force – they’re not invincible. You have the resources to take them down. My aunt…”
“The council want to maintain a low profile.” Including her blasted aunt. He didn’t imagine that Marsters wanted her face and name plastered all over the news for her connection to a massacre in a small Maine town. “If we go in there, guns blazing, the gargoyles will fight back, we are sure to attract attention, and civilians may get caught in the crossfire. The last thing the council want is for anyone to know about the existence of gargoyles too soon.” He paused. “Or to hurt innocent people.” Though, he imagined some of the council only cared about that insofar as how it would reflect on them.
Chloe huffed. “I’ve tried being nice to him, and it is killing me.”
