by E A Price
“Let me go!” he bellowed.
The security guards quavered. Adler seemed mildly irked at best.
“We cannot do that.”
“I will break her neck if you do not let me go,” Ric warned.
Adler looked at Chloe and then smiled coldly. “If you must.”
“What?” croaked Chloe.
Adler sighed and nodded at the security guards to put their tasers down. Immediately, they did.
“Chloe, if you were foolish enough to get caught by him, you deserve all you get.”
“But… my… aunt…” she ground out, squirming against Ric.
“You think too highly of yourself. You are replaceable. Amalric is not, and he has already sustained enough injuries tonight courtesy of your ham-fisted colleagues. So, Amalric, either kill her or let her go, either way, suits me.”
Ric gave him a look of disgust before loosening his grip. Chloe slithered away from him, clutching at her throat, staring daggers at the two of them. It was hard to say who she hated more at that moment, although Ric guessed it was Adler.
Adler nodded. “Not quite as ruthless as I thought. I would have killed her. Chloe, I think you’re done for the evening – go home.” He toed the brown mush on the floor. “I apologize for her behavior. I’ll have some more food brought in. Real food this time.”
Ric watched as they all filed out, one of them casting resentful glances around her. He waited until the door locked and turned away from the mirror, inspecting the necklace he had taken from around Chloe’s neck. It was certainly sturdy enough for a lock pick. This would do nicely.
*
Chloe slammed her door shut. The nerve of that fucking old prick! How dare he treat her that way? The fucking monster could easily have killed her, and he was just going to let it happen. When her aunt heard about this…
She froze as a cool breeze hit her. The balcony doors were open, the curtains billowing around them. She had not left them open.
A small thump sounded behind her, and she ducked. A body came at her from the left, and she heaved with all her might, tackling him to the ground. He went down with an oomph, destroying her coffee table.
Holy fuck. It was the chief of police from Devil’s Hang. The patter of feet sounded behind her, and Chloe lashed out, sending a small, female across the room, knocking over a lamp and landing sprawled over a footstool.
“That’s enough,” panted the chief, training a gun on Chloe. She glared at him but slowly did not move. “Kylie?”
“Ugh, I’m fine.”
“Where is Amalric?” he asked.
Chloe snorted. “Like I’m telling you.”
Kylie brushed herself down. Her hair was a little disheveled and her cheeks a little red, but she was generally unharmed. “Let me try.” She chanted a few Latin words and looked at Chloe expectantly.
“I’m immune to your magic, bitch,” sneered Chloe. “Greater magic practitioners than you have made me immune. Although you do seem to have an impressive amount of magic… for such an klutzy amateur.”
Kylie harrumphed and crossed your arms. “Shame they didn’t do something about making your apartment immune.” She kicked over a lamp that had previously survived the tussle.
“There’s nothing you can say that will make me talk, and I doubt either of you have it in you to really torture me.”
“No,” agreed Chris. “Oh well, plan B it is.”
Luc dropped onto the balcony with a huge thump. He folded his wings around him and strode into the room. “Kylie?” he growled lowly, his eyes roving her body, looking for damage.
“I’m fine; luckily my hair cushioned the blow.”
He grunted and trained his stare on Chloe.
“Lucifer I presume.”
“Where is he?” he asked quietly.
“I don’t know.”
“You are lying.”
Chloe shrugged. “What are you going to do about it? Amalric had the chance to kill me, and he didn’t. Gargoyles are just as moralistic as these two fuckwits.”
Kylie opened her mouth to object, and Luc quieted her with a look.
Luc slowly unfolded his wings, stretching them. His huge frame suddenly seemed enormous, and Chloe’s smug expression flickered.
“No, we are not. We kill to survive and protect. And when we do, we do not feel guilt for what we have done. We rest easy in the knowledge that we did what we had to.”
“If you hurt me, you will never find him.”
“That is an unacceptable risk.”
“Wait, what?” cried Kylie. “But Ric…”
“Hush, little one,” boomed Luc. “You know of my kind; you are therefore a risk to my clan. If I must sacrifice Amalric, then so be it.”
“But…” whimpered Kylie.
“Hush.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Chloe, although she did not seem so certain of herself.
“Will you tell me of his location?”
She glared at him defiantly.
“Then you are of no use.” He looked at Chris. “Take her out of here,” he growled nodding at Kylie.
“No, wait, Luc, you can’t be serious,” whispered an increasingly alarmed Kylie.
“Hold on a second,” said Chloe.
Chris looked at him for a few moments before grasping Kylie’s arm.
“No, don’t, stop!” She tried to wriggle away from him.
“Just wait a…” started Chloe.
Luc drew himself up to his full, menacing height. “It is necessary.”
“No, Luc, please don’t!” babbled Kylie.
“Hold on!” yelled Chloe. She had no love for these creatures, but what exactly did she owe Adler? Thanks to him she was barely lucky to be even alive. Perhaps he deserved a visit from them. See how he liked being in the grip of monsters. She looked at them fiercely. “How do I know you won’t kill me after I tell you?”
Luc folded his arms. “You do not know. Not telling me means certain death. But as to your fate if you choose the other option – I have not decided.”
She looked down, disgustedly. “Like I owe him anything,” she muttered. “He’s at a lab. The Council agreed to let Adler have him for testing.”
“Council?”
“Yeah, the ancestors of the Noir Clans – reckon they can walk on water, and their farts don’t smell. My aunt’s one of them. They’ve been trying to bring your kind back for years.”
“Where is it?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“What are you going to do to Chloe?”
They had tied her to a chair and left Ingrede guarding her. The only people who had not made the trip to Portland were Drago, who could not be trusted out in the world and Annis, who was at home taking care of the baby. She had offered to come, but both Chris and Luc shot her down. Chris had tried to insist that Brenda stay behind, but she would not hear of it. He had her promise to stay out of any danger, but he wasn’t sure he believed her, and this was given with a stern warning that they were going to have a long conversation about everything later.
Kylie gave her mate an accusing look, and he sighed.
“I do not know, little one. But the safety of the clan…”
“I don’t know if I can agree to that.”
“I adore you, little one, but your disapproval would not stop me.”
“Luc! So all the stuff you spouted about us being a team, and making decisions together was just crap?”
“I am not sure I quite agreed to that. But would you really argue for that creature in there? She is vicious and deceptive.”
Her lips puckered, and her eyes took on a stubborn glint. “But she is still a person.”
“Kylie…”
“We need to get moving,” interrupted Chris.
“Yes,” agreed Luc, just a shade too quickly. “We are losing nighttime. Do you know where this place is?”
Chris nodded. “Kylie can just follow me.”
“Good, then we can finish our discussion on the jo
urney.” Kylie spun on her heel and stiffly walked back to the van.
“Yes, I feared as much,” muttered Luc.
*
Ric silently rumbled in triumph as he freed himself from the chains. He remained turned from the viewing mirror.
So technically he was free but still trapped in a locked room, which was likely to be just a small room in a much larger building with plenty more locks. He flicked his tail as a sliver of hopelessness trickled through him, but all hope was not lost.
It was not the first time he had needed to escape a prison. A thousand years ago he had been caught by an enemy and imprisoned. He had picked his locks in much the same way he did now. Back then he used the sick prisoner routine - it was still fresh at that time, and jailers still fell for it. The whole incident had been, as they say, a biscuit walk. Or perhaps that was cake walk. No matter.
It was just that humans had become much cannier at keeping people locked up. In his day, they had no such thing as two-way mirrors and cameras. Jailors tended to be members of an army who had become too old or rotund to fight. They were not hard to trick and escape from.
A part of him had hoped that threatening Chloe really would lead to his release, but in his heart of hearts he had known it never would succeed. Adler was not the type of man who could care about people. He dreaded to think about the things he had done to Twenty-Six over the years.
Twenty-Six. That was a terrible name. When they escaped together, because there was no way he was leaving her there, he would make her choose a new name.
As dire as the situation was, at least he believed Brenda was safe… for now. He didn’t think Adler was lying about that. But, they knew she was important to him – how long before they decided to use her against him? If he did not do as they wished, they might hurt her. That was unacceptable. Ric was leaving before they had the chance.
Now, he needed a plan to deal with the cameras, the automatic locks, the security guard and that damn viewing mirror.
Funny. The A-team never struggled this hard, and usually, their odds were much worse.
*
Brenda fretted as Chris drove them to the lab. God she hoped they weren’t dissecting Ric! Prison conjured up lots of awful imaginings. Somehow the ones a lab conjured up were worse.
Chris had borrowed one of his officer’s vans and had Cai and Gracchus hunched in the back. Kylie was driving the other van. Gracchus had wordlessly got in their van rather than Kylie’s van, which he rode in on the way down to Portland. The tension between Kylie and Luc was not pleasant, and they were probably yelling at each other at that moment.
Chris had noticed two black cars following them as they left town and had his officer – who was already awake from Chris banging on his door asking to borrow the van – intercept them for speeding. They hadn’t reappeared on the journey, and Chris was sure they hadn’t been followed by anyone else.
Brenda felt so useless.
Anything could be happening to Ric, and the most could do was wait in the car. She’d wanted to confront Chloe, but no, she had to stay in the car. She had complained until Chris and Luc gave her the ‘don’t fuck with me’ look, and not wanting to delay finding Ric, she had acquiesced.
She wasn’t the only one itching to get out of there. While Kylie, Luc, and Chris disappeared to talk to Chloe, Cai and Gracchus had practically been beating their chests, readying for battle.
Hopefully, they were going to be disappointed. Brenda just wanted to find Ric and get the hell home. She could do without the battle.
“You should have told me what was going on,” said Chris softly.
“Would you have believed me?”
“Probably not,” he admitted ruefully.
“Thank you for helping.”
He blew out a breath. “You and I are having a long conversation about this and what exactly is going on with this Amalric gargoyle when we get home.”
Brenda absently nodded and looked out the window. She didn’t know why, but being apart from Ric felt like a part of her was withering and her heart seemed to clench in pain. Her logical side told her it was probably heartburn after the chili, cheese fries. But no, it was because of Ric – she was sure of it. She didn’t know what he’d done to her, but somehow she knew she wouldn’t be happy without him.
As crazy as it sounded, she lo….
“We’re here,” said Chris.
Brenda blushed, both happy and displeased that her thoughts were interrupted. Kissing a gargoyle she barely knew was one thing – that was strange enough behavior – but admitting the L-word for one? Was she ready for that?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chloe tested her bonds. Fuck they were tight. But not unbreakable. This was her apartment, and she kept a few handy knives around in case of emergency. But those emergency scenarios hadn’t exactly taken into consideration being baby-sat by a terrifying monster.
She watched the lean, female gargoyle prowl through her apartment.
“What’s your name?”
The female flicked her tail but didn’t stop her scrutiny of Chloe’s possessions. She was currently inspecting a jar of honey.
“Quiet, human.”
“How long is this going to take?”
“I said quiet.”
“You only have a few hours left until daylight. You planning on turning to stone here?”
The female whipped her head to look at her, eyes gleaming.
“Quiet or I will gag you.”
“How many are there? How mmhm fhmmm uhmmm.”
The last few words were muffled as a cloth was unceremoniously shoved into her mouth.
*
Chris peered through his binoculars.
“You really come prepared, a stalker would be proud of you,” murmured Kylie.
He ignored her. She was tense from her argument with Luc, scared for Amalric, and she was trying to lighten the mood. Even a gargoyle wasn’t strong enough to lighten this mood.
“Do you believe this to be the place?” asked Luc.
“It just looks like a warehouse, nothing special. Except they have armed guards outside, and that looks like an electric fence.”
“This is bad news?”
“Well, warehouses usually do have guards, and yeah they usually have guns, but not automatic ones. And the electric fence isn’t exactly normal for this area.”
“Maybe that’s to keep whatever is in there, in there,” offered Gracchus.
“Around here there are warehouses for clothes and things like that. Most purses don’t try to make a break for it. So yeah, I’d say something bad is going on in there.”
“Ric,” murmured Brenda, shivering next to him.
Damnit, he’d told her to stay in the van! Chris controlled his temper, barely. Why he had allowed her to come, he didn’t know. He made for a terrible parent. Allowing his niece to run around with mythical beasts was hardly going to win him any parenting awards - that was for sure! It was perhaps lucky he’d never had kids of his own. He expected to feel the surge of grief that always assailed him when he thought of his late wife, Mara. But no, it was only a slight twinge this time. Huh.
Although he hadn’t won the argument with Brenda – who was headstrong beyond belief – he was glad that at least Drago had not accompanied them. The huge male had tried to offer, but Luc told him in no uncertain terms, no. He wasn’t sure the male was exactly stable and didn’t want to spend time worrying about what the heck he was up to. Chris imagined it was like setting the Hulk on the loose. Or at least, Frankenstein’s less civilized monster.
For some reason, he was also relieved Annis was left behind, although he was concerned about her being alone with Drago. He had hinted as much to Kylie, and she had assured him Annis would be safe. But he couldn’t help his worry.
This whole situation was crazy. He was a police officer; he shouldn’t be contemplating breaking into somewhere, he should be informing Homeland Security of the gargoyles’ very existence.
Perha
ps he was still in shock. Not every day you find out some statues come to life every night. He’d been to Paris on his honeymoon with Mara. Their visit to Notre Dame Cathedral might have been quite different if he’d had this knowledge back then.
Chris squinted at the guards. They looked like mercenaries. They looked tough, but they shouldn’t be too hard to get past. Hell, with any luck they’d just wet their pants and run away when they saw the huge male gargoyles advancing on them. Of course, he hadn’t done anything of the sort – even with Drago charging him. But then he had been concerned for Annis’ welfare. Which was also probably another reason why he wasn’t ringing up Sanchez and getting her to haul ass to Devil’s Hang with a buttload of gargoyle sized butterfly nets. The thought of Annis being strapped down and tortured filled him with a guilty ache.
No, he didn’t want to risk any of them being hurt. Maybe five years ago he would have - he would have followed the rules to the letter, but things had changed.
Changed so much that he was now contemplating breaking the law for the sake of some mythical creatures. Life can be really bizarre sometimes.
“We need to get in there,” he murmured.
“Yes,” agreed Luc, “we must lay siege to their fortress.”
Kylie stifled some giggles.
Chris wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that was about. “We don’t know what’s happening in there; they could have a hundred men.”
“We will fight them all,” declared Cai.
“Perhaps I should just approach them in my official capacity as a police officer.”
“And they’ll get suspicious and what if they kill him?” whispered Brenda.
“Perhaps if they were distracted, I could sneak in and poke around.”
Luc protested. “I should be the one to go.”
“I can go more unnoticed than you.” His eyes flicked to Luc’s horns, his wings, and his tail. “No offense.”
“I will not allow to you to risk your life for my clan mate without me.”
“Maybe if we called the FBI in. I could give Sanchez a tip and…”
“And what would they do if they found Amalric in there?”
“Somebody do something before I do!” exclaimed Brenda as quietly and with as much exasperation as she could manage.
