by E A Price
He tried her phone again, but still, there was no answer. Now, he really was starting to worry. What could he do? Who could he call?
Gracchus bristled a moment before someone banged on her door. He recognized the scent a moment before the door-banger called, “It’s Chris.”
He fumbled a little with the tiny locks on her door, but quickly enough he had it open and was ushering in Chris. He looked around, gave the wary cats a quizzical look and nodded at Gracchus.
Luc was immediately concerned on hearing of the beast man on the loose and decided he would ask Chris to go to Portland the following evening to help him. He would also send a gargoyle with Chris to assist. Gracchus didn’t say it, but he was sincerely hoping for either Castor or Cai – the better trackers of the clan. The last thing he needed was someone like Grey flying around half-cocked.
“The clan is well?”
Chris nodded.
“Who did you bring?”
Chris grimaced. “Grey. I left him in the van.”
Gracchus tried not to sigh. “Terrific.”
“He complained the whole way here.” Chris frowned. “Where’s Melissa?”
Gracchus humped and flicked his tail. “I do not know,” he said lowly.
“You tried calling her?”
“Of course I have!” snapped Gracchus. “I am sorry,” he grumbled, shifting his wings.
Chris shrugged. He wasn’t easy to offend, which was lucky given that he was a member of a gargoyle clan that included Grey and a contentious female called Ryia.
“Try her cell again,” said Chris. “I’ll try her office.”
They did, and there was still no answer.
“That’s not like her,” murmured Chris.
Gracchus flashed with sudden anger. How did this male know anything about Melissa? About his Melissa? Then he calmed again. They had been friends for years; he had no reason to be jealous. He was just getting more and more agitated.
But what if the beast man came after her. Their kind was not forced to sleep in the day. The creature could have followed her and could be attacking her right now.
Gracchus’ chest heaved. He felt like his heart was tightening. Was the room getting hotter? He could barely damn well breathe!
Melissa could be out there, injured or dying and crying out for him. He needed to find her; he needed to get to her and save her and keep her safe forever.
“We must find her,” growled Gracchus.
“We have to…”
Gracchus grabbed Chris by the jacket and lifted him off the ground, roaring fiercely.
Chris merely raised an eyebrow as Gracchus came to his senses and lowered him to the ground.
“I am…”
“It’s fine,” said Chris dismissively. “I was going to say, let’s just track her cell phone.”
Gracchus gave him a sheepish look. “Ah, I…”
“You’re welcome.”
*
Melissa moaned.
“Hey, take it easy,” purred a familiar voice, just not the voice she wanted to hear at that moment.
“Colt?” she mumbled as she forced her heavy eyes open.
He was sitting beside her, with a worried expression on his face. Colt wasn’t wearing his coat, and she realized it was because she was currently using it for a pillow. He must have put it under her head when he found her.
Melissa felt a little sluggish, but she wasn’t in any pain. Gingerly, she tried to move, and he helped her into a sitting position. Glancing around, she saw she was still at the abandoned building where she had run into the wolf creature.
Shit. The wolf. She looked around apprehensively.
“There’s a werewolf around here,” she whispered urgently, “we have to…”
“We’ll be fine,” he said peaceably.
“Are… are you sure?”
She looked around awaiting a big hairy beast to leap at them at any moment.
“He wouldn’t have hurt you, not really.”
Melissa goggled at him. “What are you…”
“The wolf,” sighed Colt, “he’s my brother.”
“You don’t have a brother,” she said slowly. “You lied to me.”
Colt actually let out a small chuckle at that. “And how long have you been hanging out with gargoyles?”
Melissa’s retort stuck in her throat.
Colt wasn’t quite so tongue-tied. “He was kind of adopted by my parents when he was young, but he was too wild, and he ran away, I didn’t see him again until years later. He came to me injured, half-dead, and couldn’t remember what happened. But something snapped a couple of months ago. I think he saw someone he recognized and that was it.”
Melissa pulled her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin, considering everything that had been happening.
“He came here, and you followed.”
Colt nodded. “I tracked him here about four weeks ago. Took a while to get my transfer through but I was here, trying to find him. He has proved… elusive. Every time I caught up to him, he got away. He’s always been faster than me,” he added wryly.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” she asked. “People have died.”
He narrowed his eyes. “It wouldn’t have made a difference.”
“You don’t…”
He snorted. “The attacks looked like they were from huge wolves. What was I going to say? I think it’s my foster brother who actually did that and no I don’t know where he is. If I couldn’t find him no one else could.”
Melissa peered around at their bleak surroundings. “You managed to track him here.”
“Yes,” he agreed sadly. “But he just ran off when he saw me coming.”
“He attacked me when I got here,” she murmured.
Though, she couldn’t even find a bruise on her head as evidence of that.
“He wouldn’t have killed you; he knows you’re innocent. He…” Colt sat up straighter. “Aww, shit.”
Melissa gasped and scrabbled away as Colt shifted into an enormous wolfman. Her jaw dropped at the incredible spectacle as his limbs lengthened, and fur sprouted over his body.
The air around them wooshed, and a second later, Gracchus had Colt pinned against the crumbling wall of the building.
“Melissa,” he growled, his wings flexing as he tried to squeeze the life out of Colt.
“I’m fine,” she murmured, immediately relieved just by his presence. She clambered to her feet. “But ah…”
“You know I said to wait in the van,” drawled an amused voice.
She spun to find Chris and another gargoyle walking towards her. The gargoyle was smirking. Chris walked over to her and took her elbow.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” she half-laughed. Events just kept on twisting and turning. “Chris, what are you doing here? How did you find me? What’s going on?”
“Your female asks a lot of questions,” sneered the other gargoyle.
“Grey,” hissed Gracchus in warning. “You are injured?” asked Gracchus to Melissa in a softer tone. He did not take his eyes off Colt – who was snapping his wolfy jaws, but it was clear that the question was meant for her.
“No, not really. I was knocked out for a while, but I’m okay.” She chewed on her lip. “That’s my partner, Colt; you should probably let him go before you, you know, accidentally choke him.”
“Nothing accidental about that,” scoffed the gargoyle called Grey.
“Gracchus,” entreated Melissa moving toward him.
Chris tried to stop her, but she shook away his hand. On reaching Gracchus, she pressed a hand to his arm. His wings shivered and his grip on the wolf loosened slightly.
Melissa inhaled as Colt morphed back to himself – to his human side. His body shrank, and his fur disappeared. It was an incredible sight, almost as mesmerizing as watching Gracchus awaken from stone. But honestly, nothing compared to that – watching Gracchus awaken was beautiful.
Gently, she tugged on his arm, and wit
h a growl, he dropped Colt to the ground. He spluttered and gasped for breath. Melissa tried to reach for him, to help him, but Gracchus drew her away, placing an arm protectively and proprietarily on her waist.
Grey grumbled and stamped his feet in irritation, but a stern look from Gracchus soon had him shutting up.
“Colt?”
“I’m fine,” he gasped, getting to his feet.
His shoes and shirt were destroyed when he shifted into his wolf side, but most of his pants were luckily still intact – Hulk style.
Colt eyed Gracchus warily but without malice. “Guess I deserve that. I almost hurt you guys last night.”
“You did not get close to me,” rumbled Gracchus before baring his fangs, “but Melissa was bruised.”
Colt gave her a wince in apology.
“I’m fine,” said Melissa, ignoring the huff from Gracchus, “a little surprised to find out you can turn into a wolf – but I’m kind of starting to get used to surprises.” She cast a sidelong glance at Gracchus. “We were there hoping to find some clue as to where our victim worked. What were you doing at the house?”
“Same. I was trying to search for some clue as to where my brother might go next.”
Chris stepped forward. “Your brother is a beast man too?”
Colt nodded.
“And he’s the one who’s been killing people?”
Another nod, though much more hesitant this time.
“Then he must be put down!” snarled Grey, smashing his huge fists together.
Gracchus thrashed his tail and growled at him to hush.
Colt didn’t look angry, just sad and resigned. “I believe my brother was abducted and experimented on. He couldn’t really remember what happened, but I think his memories started coming back and now… now he’s going after the people who hurt him.”
“Can’t say I blame him,” muttered Grey grudgingly.
“He’s killed two people – that we know of,” murmured Melissa.
“Two people who hurt him.” Colt sighed. “But yeah two people – that’s no excuse.”
Grey made a noise to suggest that he begged to differ on that point, but a look from Gracchus stopped him from voicing his opinion. Though, he was not quiet for long.
“I’m bored,” he declared disagreeably, “are we killing him or not?” He pointed at Colt.
Melissa looked up at Gracchus in alarm. He tightened his arm around her.
“We are not killing him,” said Chris with an eye roll.
“He’s a beast man,” argued Grey almost petulantly.
Colt merely seemed mildly amused by the current line of questioning.
“He hasn’t done anything!” grumbled Chris throwing his arms up in exasperation.
“He…”
“No,” growled Gracchus. He looked at Colt and breathed in and out deeply for a few moments. “This male is not our enemy,” he said finally, looking down at Melissa.
She smiled at him and heat rushed to her cheeks. Gracchus smiled in return, and her poor, unsafe heart blossomed a little more for him. Not even the scoffs and snorts of Grey could ruin the moment.
“Gargoyles,” chuckled Colt, “I thought you guys died out years ago.”
“It is a long story.” Gracchus reluctantly looked away from Melissa to Colt. “I take it you bear no ill will to our kind?”
“Hey, I’ve heard stories that our kind were enemies centuries ago, but personally, I say live and let live, all I care about is stopping my brother before he hurts anyone.” He paused and added, “Anyone else anyway.”
Melissa snapped herself together and got down to business. “Any thoughts about how we find him?”
Colt sighed. “I managed to put a tracker in him last night. That’s how I found him here; I just didn’t want to leave you here alone passed out.”
“And you still have not caught him?” mocked Grey.
“He can move pretty fast when he wants to; it’s all well and good tracking a dot on a screen, but actually catching him – that’s another matter.”
“Agreed,” said Chris. “You can track him on the move?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I have some spare shoes and clothes you can have.” Chris nodded his head and gave them a decisive look. He never was the type to want to stand around debating matters. “Let’s go.”
“Finally,” exclaimed Grey, “some action.”
They started moving back to the van, but Gracchus held Melissa back.
“I am torn,” he admitted. “Part of me wishes for you to return home where you will be safe, whereas another part of me wants you close by so that I can see you are safe.”
“If it makes you feel any better, the decision is out of your hands – I am definitely coming with you.”
“It doesn’t,” he admitted gloomily.
Melissa grinned and leaned up on her tippy toes. Gracchus helped her by leaning down because otherwise she never would have made it to his lips. She gave him a quick kiss.
“Let’s go already!” yelled Grey.
Gracchus howled, but Melissa sniggered.
“You heard him, let’s go already!”
Twenty-Eight
Melissa wriggled, trying to make a little more room in the squished conditions. Chris, Colt, and Melissa were crammed into the front of Chris’ van, and given that both of the men were kind of broad, it was a tight fit, even though she was just a little one.
Colt was tracking his brother on his tablet and giving directions to Chris who was driving. They were moving out of the city, leaving behind the stores and houses. The busy streets gave way to dark country roads, deserted at that time of night.
Grey and Gracchus were in the back of the van; she could vaguely hear the murmur of their voices, though after Chris hit a pothole at considerable speed, she did hear Grey yell, ‘son of a goat herder.’
“So umm, Chris, this is Colt – he’s my partner, and he can turn into a wolf apparently. Colt, this is Chris, he’s a police officer and a friend to gargoyles.”
Both men grunted at one another. She supposed they would have a chance to say hello properly later.
Melissa twisted slightly to look at Colt. “So, how long have you…”
“I’ve always been able to turn into a wolf,” interrupted Colt, not taking his eyes off the tablet he was using to track his brother. “My father could; my grandfather could – I think all the men in my family have been able to. It’s passed down, father to son.”
“Not your mother?”
“Only males were turned into beast men,” growled Grey from the back of the van. “They mated with humans, and produced more of the mangy beast men.”
Clearly, the gargoyles could hear them better than they could hear the gargoyles. Though maybe Colt could hear them, he had already demonstrated his excellent hearing and vision, which now made more sense given that he was a supernatural being.
“Thank you,” called Melissa to Grey before turning back to Colt. “And your brother? His father must have been a beast man too.”
Colt’s eyes flickered to hers for a second, and she thought she saw sadness.
“Caleb,” he murmured. “We found him trying to eat some of our chickens; he couldn’t have been more than ten. My dad recognized what he was and we took him in. He was half feral, and wouldn’t talk about his family. But he was one of us, so we let him live with us. Not officially though, we were afraid the government would take him away, and we couldn’t afford for him to go in the system – he’d never survive.”
Colt looked up briefly. “Go left.”
Melissa braced herself as the van screeched around the corner.
“But,” continued Colt, “he took off when he was sixteen, and when he turned up at my door a year ago bloodied and half-dead… I didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t remember how he got that way. I guess this person Marsters has been experimenting on him – or getting her doctors to do it.”
Chris cocked his head. “Marsters?”
“It’s a long story,” sighed Melissa. “She has to be involved with the gargoyles though. I saw a frozen one at her office, not to mention that guy Bell.”
“What?” rumbled Chris.
“I saw that guy Bell – the one you had me arrest. He was outside her office building. He has to be involved in all this.”
“Shit.”
“Who’s Bell?” asked Colt.
“It’s a long story,” Melissa sighed again. “I really think we all need to sit down and talk later… after we stop the murderous wolf.”
The two men grunted in agreement.
“Right here,” stated Colt, and then turned to smile at Melissa. “So how long have you known that gargoyles are real?”
“Not as long as some,” she replied, casting a squinted, accusing glare at Chris.
He merely raised an eyebrow as he swerved to avoid a cat. There were some answering thumps and grumbles from the back of the van.
“And him – the green one – I take it he’s your mystery man,” Colt said lowly.
Chris was fighting a smile as Melissa blushed to the roots of her hair.
“Mystery what?” yelled Grey from the back of the van. “Speak up, I can’t – ow! What was that for?”
Melissa ignored him. “Well, ah…”
“Wait, stop here,” shouted Colt.
Chris slammed on the brakes and Melissa was grateful at being wedged between two such burly men. The thumps and grumbles from the back of the van suggested the gargoyles weren’t quite so secure.
Colt jumped out of the van with Chris following, and Melissa scrambled after them. The doors to the back of the van flew open, and Gracchus and Grey jumped out. Grey spun around wildly looking for danger, while Gracchus quickly leaped to Melissa’s side, trying to shield her from whatever peril was lurking in the darkness.
“What is it?” murmured Chris.
Colt moved slowly to the side of the road, with everyone carefully following them. He knelt down. The two gargoyles let out a pair of matching growls.
“What is it?” asked Melissa trying to peer at whatever Colt was looking at, though not very easily given that Gracchus was trying to hold her back.
“Dead female,” said Chris with a grim expression on his face.
