by E A Price
“Come to the abandoned gas station on Freemont in eight hours or we kill him.”
The phone clicked.
“No, wait, don’t…”
Annis stared at the phone, trying to stop herself from panicking. Oh lord, where was everyone? What had happened to Amalric? Clenching and unclenching her fists she walked into the kitchen and found a human she did not know, standing with his back to her.
Instinctively, she grabbed the first thing she could – which happened to be a ladle - and brought it down on his head.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ric groaned.
“Holy shit, the ugly fucker’s waking up.”
“Hurry up then, dickless, or do you wanna be trapped in here with this big-ass son of a bitch? Took fifteen tranqs to take him down, and each of them had enough juice to down a fucking rhino. Not to mention the fucking tasers.”
“Reckon Pike’s gonna be pissed when he wakes up.”
“Yeah, but at least he now has a scar to match the one that dumb bitch Ophelia gave him.”
Ric growled, and the men whimpered slightly before tightening his restraints and running out of the room. His whole body ached. He could feel where they had electrocuted him, the skin burned.
Well, at least, he wasn’t dead. No, he was restrained by a chain to the ground in a gray room with a hard slab bench, and a huge mirror. He forced his limbs to move – it wasn’t easy. He had taken quite a beating. Undoubtedly he had put down many humans in the fight, but they had been persistent, and their weapons painful.
On the plus side, they still sounded scared of him – even if he had lost the battle. He walked around the room, as much as the chains would allow, and they certainly wouldn’t allow him to the door.
Ric peered through the mirror but could not see anything. Suspicion and a healthy marathon of NCIS TV episodes told him that someone was behind there watching him.
Not important.
What was important was making sure Brenda was safe and getting himself the hell out of there. He hoped that Brenda’s call had just been a ruse to lure him out. Ric didn’t believe for one second she had been an active participant in his capture – she would never do that. He may not know every detail of her life, but he knew her. His heart knew her.
Lord, he was getting sappy. Must be all those tranqs they shot him with – they were impairing his ability to think without sounding like a total dickless wuss. Some of Maggie’s colorful words.
No, Brenda wasn’t willingly involved. But the idea that they may have kidnapped or hurt her to get to him… A snarl escaped his lips; his muscles quivered, and the chains creaked at the effort of containing him.
He looked at the mirror. Whoever’s behind there should definitely be afraid.
*
Annis looked down on the large human body lying on her kitchen floor. She dropped the ladle.
What should she do? He hadn’t seen her yet; the knowledge of her kind was still safe from him. But… what could she do with him? Where was someone capable when she needed them? What was the point of being on the bottom of the hierarchy if no one domineering was around when you needed them?
The male groaned.
Heavens. He was still awake.
Maybe she should hit him again. The thought was not appealing. While gargoyles butted heads and horns like rams – especially when fighting over a female – she understood that humans were more delicate. At least, they were if that TV show, ER was anything to go by. She might have watched it a few times with Gracchus before he decided he preferred Columbo. If she hit him again, she might cause him brain damage.
No, she couldn’t hurt him. He groaned for a second time. Or at least, she couldn’t hurt him again.
She would tie him up, and wait for Luc to come home. He would deal with the male. Oh, why hadn’t their alarm gone off? Why was she put in this position?
Shaking off her whines, she grabbed a kitchen chair and found some rope – they had a healthy supply in case they needed to restrain any new gargoyles. They tended to be angry and disoriented when they woke. She wasn’t. She just curled into a ball like a timid little kitten. Why change the habit of a lifetime she thought wearily.
She pulled him onto the chair, panting with the effort. She wasn’t a strong gargoyle, and he was large for a human male, and heavy. He was slimmer than gargoyle males but still muscled and taller than her small frame.
Annis found herself inspecting every inch of him. His dark eyes were framed by long lashes; his nose was straight and his lips full. Annis ran a talon down his cheek, ending on his stubbly, square jaw. He was handsome by human standards. Of that she was sure. Or by any standards really. Maybe he came there by accident; maybe he did not mean them any harm. Maybe he should just be allowed to leave.
What on earth was she doing?
He was a human and with some distaste, she noticed he had one of those human weapons strapped to his hip. Gingerly, she picked up the gun, afraid of what it would do. She had seen Gracchus’ TV shows; she knew what these things were capable of. Unsure of what else to do, she put it in the refrigerator. Out of harms way.
He had come to hurt her clan, maybe to take them away, to test them, to cut them open… Luc thought she did not listen, but she knew about his worries. There were humans who would be fascinated by the gargoyles, who would want to know about their insides, of what made them tick. No, she couldn’t let that happen.
She was a gargoyle; she had to defend her clan. She looked down at the stirring male. If she were a real gargoyle, she would kill him.
Protect the clan.
But no, she couldn’t. She had never killed anything in her life. She had never even wielded a weapon. She had shamed her mother by being weak and deformed; she would not shame her with pitiful displays of weaponry.
No, Annis was not able to really hurt anyone. But she could not allow this male simply to get up and hurt her or worse, the youngling and Ingrede or even Dragoslava.
His eyelids fluttered open, and she froze to the spot. He looked at her in surprise for a few moments before his mouth gaped. His eyes roamed over her body and Annis felt a pang of self-consciousness. She should have brushed her hair, or worn her purple dress, the one that matched the lavender of her eyes. She must look a state. Her thoughts had taken an odd direction.
“What are you?” he asked, wondrously.
Annis tried to smile, although it was probably more of a grimace. “It is a long story.”
He looked around the room, tugged at his bonds and then scowled. “Where is my niece?”
“You are Brenda’s uncle?” The one Maggie called Chief Tight Pants.
“Yes,” he said gruffly. “Where is she?”
“She is fine; she will be back soon.”
His eyes narrowed, and he gave her a hard look that made her shiver. In her experience, human males were not dominant. This one was. “What’s going on?”
“It is complicated. Would you like some water?”
He cocked his head to one side. “Okay.”
Annis filled a glass and with shaking hands pressed it to his lips. He looked into her eyes as he drank, and then as she pulled the glass away, he leaped at her, knocking the glass out of her hand and pinning her to the ground. The ropes she had bound him with floated to the ground. Hell, she should have made them tighter, but she was afraid of hurting him.
She screamed and snarled at him and tried to ruffle her useless wings beneath her. She was stronger than a human female, but this male was bigger and stronger than her.
“You didn’t tie the ropes very well,” he said softly.
Her heart pounded as his large body pressed against hers. He took her wrists and dragged them over her head, holding her down, keeping her at his mercy.
Some conflicting thoughts and emotions battled for space in Annis’ head. One of them being that she had never been so close to a male before. His touch, his nearness was almost intimate.
She lowered her eyes. “I am sorry; I
was scared. You may do as you wish to me, but please do not hurt the others.”
“You gave in pretty quick for someone who was clobbering me with a… what was it?”
“A ladle.”
“Jeez, taken down by a ladle – I must be getting old.”
“I’m expendable,” she whispered. “The others are not.”
“Damn, lady, I don’t know what the hell you are, but you’ve got some real problems.”
Annis frowned.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on here, but right now, all I care about is making sure my niece is safe.”
“Brenda is a wonderful female, strong and courageous. She will be okay. I promise you that.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Annis.”
“I’m Chris, and I…”
“Annis?” growled a deep, tortured voice.
Annis gasped as Dragoslava came into the kitchen, his massive frame filling it completely.
Chris gaped at the sight of the huge male, chains that had once been attached to the floor of the basement hung from his wrists, clunking along behind him. Annis imagined she, a female with dark pink skin, purple eyes and small wings was an unusual sight to a human. Dragoslava must have been terrifying.
“Drago, please, it is okay,” she said hurriedly
“Hurt Annis?” he rasped, his wild eyes boring into Chris.
“No, Drago, he didn’t… no, Drago, don’t!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ric looked up as a wizened old human entered his cell, followed by Chloe. At first, he thought she may have been abducted because of him, but that thought turned to fury on seeing the sneer on her face.
No, she was part of all this.
The old man gave him an approximation of a smile. It was what Ric technically supposed was a smile, but there was no warmth or feeling in it.
“Ah, good, you’re…”
“Where’s Brenda?” Ric snarled.
The old man paused before clearing his throat. “I am…”
“Where is Brenda? What have you done to her?”
The old man looked mildly amused. Chloe, on the other hand, looked entirely put out.
“Your little girlfriend’s fine,” she hissed. “I’d be more worried about yourself.”
“As I was saying…”
“If you have hurt her I will tear every last one of you to shreds.”
Chloe reached for the taser strapped to her hip, but the old man put a wrinkled hand on her arm.
“No, my dear, I find his attitude commendable. Here he is in a strange place, chained and at our mercy. He finds he has been betrayed by someone he befriended,” he inclined his head indicating Chloe, “and yet all he can think of is his beloved human girl. Gargoyle loyalty is really remarkable, and something that should be preserved… as long as they are loyal to the right people.” He added the last part after a pause.
The man looked at the Ric. “She was not hurt or involved in your acquisition in the slightest. All we wanted was you. I believe Chloe and her colleagues used a listening device to record her voice and then used the words they needed to entice you out of your hiding place. I suppose that must be ingenious to you, but it is quite old hat to us.”
“You better not be lying,” rumbled Ric.
“I swear on my Hippocratic oath; I will never lie to you.”
Ric didn’t fail to notice Chloe rolling her eyes. Yes, he would take that promise with a pinch of pepper. Or was that Chili flakes? Or whatever the human saying was.
“I am Dr. Adler, and you already know Chloe.”
Ric grunted but did not take his eyes off the old man. Chloe may be younger and packing weapons, but this man held all the power.
“You are here to help us with the next generation of gargoyles.”
Ric snorted.
Adler held out his gnarled hands. “Do you not want the gargoyle race to continue?” he asked in a suspiciously reasonable voice.
Ric snorted again.
“He’s not much of a talker,” snapped Chloe.
He ignored her and continued to watch Adler, although he couldn’t fail to hear her loud and exaggerated huffs.
“There are so few of you left, isn’t that right?”
Ric said nothing.
“We know of you, and Lucifer and Ophelia…”
Ric said nothing.
“You do not wish to tell us of any others?”
Ric said nothing.
“No matter. However many there are, it won’t be many. Which is why we are fortunate that we found you.”
Ric broke his silence finally. “Abducted me.”
“If we had asked, you would not have come.” His tone was unbearably reasonable and did not match up with the crazy words he was saying. Ric was almost tempted to believe Adler was doing the right thing. The old man was almost hypnotic.
“We had to take a more direct route. But now that you are here, you can be assured that you are doing your part in the continuation of your race. And as long as you show us respect, your time here can be very easy.”
“And if I don’t?”
The awful smile returned. “It will make the last two hours of your life seem like a very pleasant dream.”
Adler clapped his hands together. “Now, the bathroom is through that panel. If you need to go, indicate this to the mirror. Dawn is still hours away. You must be hungry. I will have someone bring you something, but first maybe we can introduce you to our other inhabitant.”
Ric slowly walked towards them. Adler didn’t flinch, but in spite of Chloe’s cocky glare, he scented her fear. Of course, the chains stopped him before he managed to get anywhere near them.
“Welcome to your new home, Amalric,” said Adler. “You’re going to be here for a very long time.”
*
Annis rolled Chris away from her and threw herself over him, covering him with her body and her wings
“No, Drago, calm down.”
“He was hurting you,” snarled the huge male. “I heard you scream.”
“It was a misunderstanding.”
Chris had gone still under her, understanding the danger the enormous gargoyle posed. “My gun,” he mumbled.
Annis whipped her head to look at him and growled lowly. “No, I won’t let him hurt you, but I will not let you hurt him either.”
“And who’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt you?”
She looked at him in shock. “You are worried he may hurt me?”
“Annis!” Drago pulled her away from Chris.
“No!” hollered Chris.
Drago roared, and he charged at Chris. Another creature, the same species as Annis and the one she called Drago hurled himself at Drago, pushing him back, forcing him out of the kitchen, snarling and clawing at him.
“Chris!” exclaimed Kylie running into the room. “What happened?”
“What the hell is going on?” he yelled.
“Uncle Chris!”
Brenda stared in shock at him. She was flanked by two more male creatures of the same species.
“Brenda, what the fuck is going on?”
Chapter Thirty
“Gargoyles are real it’s a long story we don’t have time for at the moment but these are all gargoyles Kylie is mated to one of them and Ric one of the gargoyles has been kidnapped, and we need to help find him right now!”
Brenda blurted it all one long breath. She was panting at the end of it.
Chris gave her a ‘huh’ look as he clambered to his feet, helping Annis get to hers. She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment before blushing and allowing him to help her.
“One more time,” he said.
Kylie stepped forward and placed a hand on Brenda’s arm. “What was that about Ric?”
“He’s been kidnapped! We need to do something!” she cried, barely able to contain her trembling worry. “There was blood on the ground and… and he’s gone!”
Annis bobbed her head. “Yes, just be
fore… ah, Chris arrived, there was a phone call.” She recited the details, her face flushing in embarrassment as everyone stared at her in increasing horror.
Brenda gasped. “Oh, no.”
Kylie put her hands on her cheeks. “Oh god! Luc? Luc, we need you.”
“I’m a bit busy, little one,” he called in return.
“I will calm Drago,” said Annis.
Chris stood in her way. “Are you sure you’re safe with him?”
“I will be fine… thank you.”
She flitted out the room.
Brenda arched an eyebrow as Chris retrieved his gun from the refrigerator.
“Okay, guys,” he said, “I think we need a few explanations.” His eyes, tinged with disappointment, rested on Brenda.
*
Chris was taking the news that gargoyles existed better than Brenda could ever have expected. Perhaps meeting Annis first had softened the blow for him.
With edgy movements, Chris paced the room. As did Luc. They were almost mirrors of one another. Except one was huge, red and possessed horns and wings.
The huge gargoyle she had not met before, Drago, was sitting quietly, trying to drink water out of a glass. He seemed to be having difficulty. The only thing keeping him quiet was Annis rubbing his arm. Chris flicked glances in their direction every few seconds.
“We’re running out of time,” said Brenda. Every passing moment got them closer to the time when they were supposed to meet with Ric’s kidnappers. It was a trap. They were sure of that. And with every passing second, they still had no plan for getting Ric back.
He better be okay. She dreaded to think of what was happening to him.
“I have a lot of questions,” said Chris, “but if you’re saying your friend has been kidnapped, then we need to do something about that. Maybe the FBI…”
“No,” said Kylie firmly. “We’ve already had to deal with a lunatic who wanted to turn gargoyles into slaves so he could take over the world.”
“We are taking things one step at a time,” said Luc. “And the step we are on right now does not include telling the government that gargoyles exist.”
Chris shook his head. “We need to…”
Brenda took his hand. “Please, Uncle Chris. Ric defended me from Kevin. He’s… ah, special.”
