by E A Price
Twelve
“Maybe one of these things killed her,” said Colt peering at one of the pictures on his phone.
Frankly, he sounded delighted at the prospect. Melissa was just a jangle of nerves at the prospect.
They had photographed everything but had left it intact so that the crime scene technicians could get in there and look for prints.
“I mean, these things look like they have claws,” he continued, almost excitedly.
Melissa managed a wan smile. She supposed he would be excited. He was cynical, but he did say he was a believer, and so proving gargoyles were real would be exciting to him. But, there seemed to be something else in his reaction. It was almost like he was… relieved. Like thinking it was a gargoyle was much better than the alternative. But then, he had been adamant it was merely a wild animal attack – so why be relieved if it wasn’t?
“Amazing,” he muttered scrolling through the photos.
“We don’t know that the photos are real,” piped up Melissa, in what to her sounded like a squeaky voice. “They could be staged.”
Colt nodded and then grinned. “Here I thought I was the cynic.”
Melissa rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying. How many people have ever managed to get any photos of gargoyles – so why does she have so many? And what was she doing with them?”
Yes, the latter question bothered her more. As well as the photos she had various notes books filled with scrawling writing that neither of them could make out. Perhaps she had been writing a book about gargoyles. Maybe she had been studying them, and one of them… killed her. But where was this gargoyle now? Why kill her after letting her take photos and possible make dozens of notes about him.
To Melissa’s eye, it appeared that most of the photos were of the same gargoyle. She believed that to be the case given the way the wings hung low on his back, and the curl of his horns. They were quite distinctive, and given the physique, it appeared to be a male.
Perhaps their victim and this gargoyle had met, and he allowed her to quiz him with dozens of annoying questions… That sounded too much like her own experience with Gracchus to be comfortable.
She desperately needed to speak to Gracchus. Maybe he knew of another gargoyle in the area. But would he give him up – now that he was a murder suspect?
“We need to keep this quiet,” she murmured softly as if anyone could hear them in Colt’s car.
Colt flashed her a dazzling smile. “Not my first rodeo. Whenever I think I’m actually onto something, I don’t tend to blab it around.”
Melissa smiled in apology.
“Can you imagine though, if it really was a gargoyle?”
“Yes,” she muttered.
“Not something we need to worry about yet.”
“No.”
“Hey, you want to get a drink?”
Melissa blinked at him, and he shrugged. His lips curled into an easy smile. “The techs can’t make it until tomorrow morning, and it’s getting late, so why not?”
She looked out the window. It was almost sunset, and she was sorely tempted to say yes, but she needed to see Gracchus, and she couldn’t delay that even for half an hour of getting to know her new partner.
Melissa yawned – and it was a genuine yawn given how she had been spending her past couple of nights. “Thanks, but I think I might actually try to catch up on sleep.”
“Rain check.”
“Mmm, rain check,” she agreed absently.
*
“Do you see the building?” asked Gracchus.
“No,” came the muffled reply.
A small chuckle bubbled out of his mouth before he could stop it. It appeared Melissa was a little afraid of heights.
After sunset, he had duly flown to Melissa’s apartment. He had found it empty and couldn’t deny a few troublesome thoughts about the reason why. His first thought was that she was away with some human male, and he found it concerning that firstly, he should assume that, and secondly, that it should make him angry. So angry that he had forced the lock on Melissa’s window and pushed his way into her apartment without invitation. Had he been thinking clearly, he never would have done that. To take such a liberty with an unmated human… But he had done it and was ashamed of himself for it. However, he seemed to be the only one who minded.
Moments after he made his way into her apartment, Melissa herself burst through the door. Her first words on seeing him were -
“Oh! Thank goodness, you’re here!”
Her words elated and surprised him in equal measure, almost as much as her flushed appearance and the brightness of her large eyes.
“I am sorry, I forced your window and…”
“Aha, yeah, look I need to talk to you about something.”
Melissa had quickly divulged what she found, and indeed, he had found it disconcerting. Though, perhaps not as much as the fact that she had been late due to her work, rather than any romantic entanglements.
She had tried to show him the pictures on her phone, but they were small and somewhat blurred. He had told her he would need to see them in person, and that being at the location would mean he could scent to see if any other gargoyles had been near. Melissa had been reluctant, but she complied. Then, when she realized that it would not be feasible to drive him in her car and that they would need to fly there, she really had been reluctant.
It had taken some coaxing, but finally, she agreed and had spent their short flight clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Which, given that he was carrying her, it kind of did.
“I am afraid you will need to lift your head out of my shoulder to look,” he murmured softly.
“I’m afraid I’ll throw up,” she grumbled.
“Not looking will only prolong our flight even more.”
Not that he particularly minded. He had always enjoyed flying, and Melissa was light as a feather. In fact, having her small, curvaceous frame pressed against him could only increase his enjoyment. Yes, he was a dirty old gargoyle, but he was trying to do the right thing and have her show him the building. Though, he was not trying particularly hard.
“Okay,” she muttered, “okay, I’ll look.”
She took a couple of deep breaths, pushing herself against him even more. Gracchus snarled lightly. Melissa whipped her head away from his shoulder.
“That tall building – straight ahead,” she breathed and then buried her head once more.
Gracchus grunted in acknowledgment and tightened his arms around her. His massive wings gently flapped through the air – he was trying his best to make their journey as painless as possible, but Melissa only seemed to become tenser.
“I will not drop you,” he crooned to try and ease her.
Melissa shuffled slightly in his arms. “I know,” she gasped.
“Then you need not be so afraid.”
“I’m afraid if I look down I might throw up all over you.”
Gracchus laughed softly. “I believe I would forgive you.”
“Yeah, well, I had three bags of cheese curls and two hot dogs for lunch – I’d rather not see it all again.”
“As you wish.”
It was not like he was complaining about their current state of affairs. He could happily continue as they were for an indefinite amount of time. Sadly, it did have to end.
Lightly, he dropped to his feet on the balcony and loosened his grip on her. She was so tightly wound around him that she didn’t budge an inch. He was sure that he could let his arms drop and she would still be clinging to him.
“Melissa,” he murmured, gently stroking his claws over her back, “we are here.”
With some cajoling, he was able to get her to release her vice-like grip and placed her on the balcony. He gripped her waist lest she should sway and topple over, and he wrapped his wings around them both, lest she should be cold, and he pulled her flush against his body, lest she… lest she… he did not really have a reason for doing that.
“You are well?” h
e asked.
She nodded somewhere in the region of his chest area. “I’m sorry I’m such a scaredy-cat,” she said with a smile in her voice.
“Flying can be daunting the first time.”
She pulled back from him ever so slightly and looked up into his eyes. Gone was the worry, and her eager curiosity had returned to her sparkling eyes. “Were you scared the first time you flew?’
“I…” He wavered. “Yes, I was.” He did not like lying, but he did wish to appease her. In truth, it had been exhilarating.
“You’re a terrible liar,” she teased.
Gracchus virtually blushed. “I am sorry. I admit I have always loved flying.”
“It’s probably different if you don’t have wings.”
“Indeed.”
“Maybe I’ll get used to it with practice,” she said and then looked at him uncertainly. A strange, awkward silence descended, and he wasn’t sure why. Was she uneasy because she was suggesting that they might spend a lot of time together in the future?
Melissa cleared her throat and edged away from him. He whipped his wings back and folded them behind him. She stretched her small body and made her way to one of the windows.
“I noticed earlier there were no locks on the windows.” She unlatched one of them. “Probably because no one could usually get up this high to break in, but maybe…”
“Maybe this female expected company to arrive on the balcony,” he finished slightly grimly.
He was, of course, aware of other gargoyles in existence – other than his own clan. Ophelia had been awake before Kylie woke Luc – perhaps there were others who were awakened in the same way. Then there were those that Blackthorne was hiding away – who knew what they were like.
Melissa was about to step through the window when Gracchus sensed something amiss. The room beyond the windows was in darkness; there was no movement, and yet…
Gracchus clasped her arm. “Melissa,” he growled in warning.
A moment later, a gargoyle hurtled through the open window. Gracchus pushed Melissa away out of harm’s way as the gargoyle threw himself at Gracchus with a mighty roar.
Thirteen
Momentarily startled, Melissa did little more than gape at the grappling gargoyles. But she quickly regained her senses and rolled to her feet, pulling her gun, waving it helplessly at the two of them. She could not risk a shot – she might hit Gracchus. But then, she might hit the other gargoyle and who knew how many worms would come shooting out of that can? Would a bullet even hurt him?
They were a clash of wings, tails, and claws. Melissa gasped as the other male swiped his claws at Gracchus’ belly. Gracchus leaped out of reach, spinning and lashing the other male with his tail.
“Yes,” hissed Melissa under her breath as he scored a direct hit.
The other male was slightly smaller than Gracchus, shorter and not as muscled. His wings seemed smaller and his skin appeared to be dark red. If she had to guess – and given that the number of gargoyles she knew had only just doubled in the last forty-five seconds – she would imagine that this new gargoyle was a lot younger than Gracchus. He seemed almost juvenile in comparison. She had no judge of Gracchus’ age – other than the fact that he had been asleep for nearly one thousand years – but Gracchus seemed to be a fully formed adult. It seemed as if he was starting to mature – forty-ish? But this other male looked barely more than a teenager.
She supposed Gracchus did not know him – considering the way the two of them were fighting.
Gracchus was growling and grunting, but she did not think he had allowed any of the blows to land. While the male he was fighting seemed to be panting, and he appeared to be bleeding in a few places. Her gargoyle was quite the skilled fighter she thought as she watched him flip through the air to avoid the other male’s tail.
“Wow,” she murmured, thoroughly impressed.
The smaller male snapped his head up at the sound and caught sight of Melissa. He snarled.
Uh oh.
The male lunged for her but didn’t get far. Gracchus caught hold of him and tossed the male through the air. He landed with a thud, but quickly scrambled to his feet and jumped onto the ledge. He let out a strange hiss, and with a flick of his tail, he dove off the roof.
They both rushed to the edge, but he was a fast disappearing speck. Gracchus bared his teeth and snarled after him. His wings bristled, but he made no move to follow.
Melissa stared open-mouthed. “Aren’t you going to follow him?”
Gracchus huffed after the retreating male. “No.”
“Oh.” She deflated. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking – I suppose he is too far away.”
Gracchus face flashed indignantly. “ I could easily catch him,” he told her heatedly, “but I will not leave you alone.”
Melissa raised her eyebrows. “Me?”
“I will not leave you unguarded,” he explained.
“But he’s…”
Gracchus growled, and his tail thumped erratically as if he was having trouble controlling his patience. “I do not know him. What if he has clan mates – what if I left you and they arrived?”
Melissa looked down at her gun and put it away. She was about to point out that she wasn’t completely useless – in spite of her inaction a few moments ago – when he placed a huge hand over hers. Her eyes flew to his, and his impatience appeared to have evaporated entirely.
“I am not sure your gun would hold back one gargoyle for long, never mind more than one. This male’s presence is worrying, but I would not risk your safety for anything.”
She nodded, mesmerized by the green of his eyes, and the honeyed warmth that had crept into his tone.
“But I could have caught him,” he reiterated with a stoic look on his chiseled face.
Melissa stared at him for a few beats before a snort of laughter bubbled out of her. Dear lord, male egos were the same the world over! Gracchus looked mildly affronted and removed his hand.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said quickly and grasped his hand as he tried to turn away from her.
He stopped and stared wondrously as she slipped her small hand into his.
“I wasn’t suggesting that you, in particular, couldn’t catch him, I just thought he would be too far away for any gargoyle – not just you. You know the whole gargoyles thing is new to me – I’ve no idea what you can and can’t do. Though I feel some more questions coming on about that.”
Melissa gave him what she hoped was her most winning smile, and not, as her brother Daniel suggested, her ‘I need to pee pee’ face.
Gracchus looked mildly embarrassed. “I am sorry, I should not have allowed myself to be annoyed.” His hand tightened slightly around hers. “The male is not a gargoyle I know.”
“Yeah, I figured that after the second head punch,” she murmured in a slightly teasing voice.
“He is young and strong, and I found fighting him to be difficult,” admitted Gracchus. A tiny sliver of disgust entered his voice.
Melissa frowned. “Really? It seemed like you were destroying him from where I was standing.”
“I would not say that,” muttered Gracchus, trying and totally failing to hide the look of delight on his face.
“Well, it’s true, I mean,” she pressed a free hand to his stomach, “I don’t think he even touched you, you’re still all… ah…”
Gracchus appeared to be holding his breath, watching her, waiting to see what she was going to do and say.
“We need to check inside,” she said, quickly changing the subject.
Gracchus nodded, and still holding her hand he led her over to the window. He poked his head through and inhaled deeply. “No one else is here.”
Carefully, he led her through and reluctantly she slipped out of his grasp to find the light switch. Ordinarily, given that she had a gargoyle in tow, she wouldn’t bother with the light, but she thought they were high enough that no one was really going to notice. Not that anything about the situati
on was especially ordinary.
Melissa let out a sound of dismay as she saw the destruction. She hurried over to the desk and groaned. All the drawings, pictures and books had been shredded.
Gracchus harrumphed. “I take it this was what you wanted me to see.”
“Yeah. Crap,” she muttered.
Donning a glove, she dropped to the floor and picked up a couple of the larger pieces of paper, trying to fit them together. No, that wasn’t going to work.
“I suppose at least we have the pictures.”
The photos could also be saved somewhere, maybe on a memory card or on a computer. Though, they had not found one yet. Melissa felt uneasy. She wanted to find the killer, but if it led directly back to a gargoyle, she was worried what it would mean for Gracchus and any of his clan. He had not told her directly that he had a new clan, but she could tell by what he said that he knew gargoyles. How many she had no idea. Perhaps this was for the best, though she cringed as she thought it.
“I do not think the gargoyle has been here before tonight,” rumbled Gracchus as he slowly stalked around the room.
Melissa raised her eyes to him in interest. “You can tell?”
“This room is steeped in the scent of a human female, but the gargoyle’s scent is fresh. No one else has been here in a while, other than you and,” he frowned, “a male with an unusual scent.”
“That’s an impressive sense of smell.”
However, she pondered what he meant by Colt’s ‘unusual scent.’ Did he smell off to her? No, he smelled quite normal. Perhaps better than the men she usually worked with - Detective Simpson tended to smell like sweat, hot dogs and an unfortunate deodorant called ‘Growl.’ She knew that smell because her brother, David, had insisted on wearing it all through high school – he was convinced ‘the ladies love it.’ He didn’t date much in high school and only met his future wife after when he switched to the much less offensive scent of ‘Ocean Breeze.’
Gracchus’ expression creased. “Very unusual,” he muttered to himself.
Gracchus smelled nice she thought idly. All fresh and warm and look a summers day. Which was odd given that she only saw him at night. Melissa blinked as she realized he was staring at her.
