When a Gargoyle Lives (Gargoyles Book 2) (2 page)

“Oh?”

Pride swelled in his chest.  “Yes, while a chief leads, a chief’s mate ensures that no members of the clan are taken for granted.”

Kylie pouted slightly.  “So you don’t wish she was more like a normal gargoyle?”

Luc looked uncomfortable for a moment.  “You are right, I do.  For the sake of the clan, I wish to have the strongest warriors.”

“Perhaps having a balance is a good thing.  Too many bloodthirsty behemoths might be a bad thing.”

He chuckled, his huge frame shaking her body.  “You are quite right, little one, as always.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her against his body.  His wings enclosed around them as they shared a slow, sensual kiss.

“Come, my mate, let us shower and then meet with our clan.”

Chapter Three

Brenda Halverson sighed.

“I miss you, babe,” cooed her boyfriend, Kevin.

“I miss you, too,” she murmured, flipping through her math textbook.

“What are you wearing?” he asked huskily.

“Kevin!”  Her cheeks reddened.

“What?” he whined.  “I miss you, and I’m horny, describe what you're wearing.”

“Brenda!” roared the voice of Uncle Chris.  It echoed through the house making the window panes rattle.

“Yeah?”

“Get off the phone; dinner’s ready.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Dinner is ready.  Eating is optional.  Your attendance is not.”

Ugh!  Brenda rolled her eyes.  She didn’t know what annoyed her more.  Her heavy-handed uncle or the fact that Kevin appeared to be masturbating down the phone at her.  Probably Kevin.

“Kevin, call me back in half an hour.”

“No, babe, wait…”

She hung up and gave it her best sullen teenager act as she stomped downstairs and slumped into her chair.

As she poked at her spaghetti, Chris asked, “How was school?”

“Terrific,” she grumbled.

“Did you make any new friends?”

“No.”

Chris raised an eyebrow.  “Did you try?”

“There are only twenty-one other seniors in the school, and they’re all friends with each other, and none of them are interested in adding another friend to their list.”

“I could talk to the principal.”

Brenda dropped her fork.  “Don’t you dare!”  As if being the outcast at school wasn’t hard enough!

He smiled at her, the kind of encouraging yet pitying smile.  “Brenda, just give it time.”

“I don’t know why I couldn’t just stay home in Phoenix.”

Chris sighed as they launched into the same argument they’d had a dozen times before.  “You’re eighteen.”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed in frustration.  “I’m eighteen - I’m an adult.”

“You’re still in school.”

Brenda folded her arms.  “Legally I could leave home.”

“And you think your stoner boyfriend will support you?  You think he’ll pay for you to go to college?”

“He is… he got arrested for marijuana possession one time – that’s it.”

Chris gave her the cop stare.  It said I believe that as much as I believe you’re an alien from Mars.  “You mean he’s only been caught one time.  Look, I know you’re not happy here…”

She snorted.

“But,” he persisted, “in less than a year’s time, you’ll be in college.  C’mon, peanut.  I know you’re still a teenager, and everything that happens is the end of the world, but you can get through this.  Besides, after college you can do anything you want, for now, your ass is mine.”

“Humph.  At least, I’ll back with Grandma soon.”

“Eat.”

“Humph.”

Chris grinned.  “Yeah, peanut, starve to death, that’ll teach me.”

She gave him the stink eye before reluctantly munching on a meatball.

“And to be clear, no more using the house phone to call Phoenix.  You use your minutes on your cell.”

“But I already used them all.”

“Then I guess you’re radio silent until next month.”

Brenda let out a sound of disgust.  Lord, was he ever young?

Chris finished his massive portion in record time and got up, depositing his plate in the sink.

“Are you going out?” she asked.

“Town council meeting – they demanded my presence.”

“Oh?  Are they still arguing about the arrangements for next years hanging baskets?  Still hung up on the color scheme?”

He chuckled.  “I believe that’s ongoing, but no, they’re apparently concerned about giant bats.”

She looked up in interest.  “Giant bats?”

“Yes, there have been a few sightings of giant bats flying around at night, and they want my take on it.”

“Wow.  It never stops here.  Lucky you.”

“Tell me about it.  These things run long, would you mind swinging by the station and taking Bob for a walk?”

“Sure.”  She was all for being difficult, but there was no reason Bob had to suffer.

“That’s my girl.”  Chris ruffled her hair, and she stared daggers at him.  “We should do something fun this weekend.  Like we used to when you were a kid.  I missed you when Grandma moved you both to Phoenix.”

She did, too, but she wasn’t about to admit it.  She was still mad at him.  But then, she was a teenager – wasn’t she expected to be sulky and difficult?

He paused while donning his jacket.  “You know, I think Maggie…”

“The nutjob from the local witch shop.”  The woman sold eye of newt to tourists.  They apparently loved her.

“Yes, her, I think she’s organizing a movie showing in the graveyard.  Maybe we could go.”

“What movie?”

“Ghostbusters – comedy from the ‘80’s, you seen it?”

“Once, but it was a while ago.  I guess that would be okay; the ‘80’s are pretty retro.”

He rolled his eyes playfully.  “You should have seen them the first time round.  But that sounds good.  I’m on my cell if you need me.  Make sure you do your homework.”

“Sure.”

She waited until he left and then finished her dinner.  Her uncle was a good cook; it would be a shame to waste it.  He had about five dishes in his repertoire, but he made them all really well.  She was just feeling crabby and didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her eat.  Yes, it was silly, but she didn’t care.

While waiting for Kevin to call back, she did do her homework.  She completed math, English and Spanish.  He never did call, so she gave up and decided to take Bob for a walk.

She supposed she could have just called Kevin herself on the house phone, but her uncle would find out, and she didn’t want to upset him too much.  Dinner was one thing.  Running up his phone bill was another.  Damnit – why did she have to be such a good girl?!

Brenda pulled her coat around her and set out at a brisk pace.

Her mom died when she was a baby, and her dad, deciding he wasn’t cut out to be a single parent, bailed.  She was raised by her grandma with the help of Uncle Chris.

They all used to live in Portland.  She lived with her grandma, and Chris came over to help out as often as he could.  He was working as a homicide detective.  But six years ago when her grandma’s arthritis worsened, she decided to move to Phoenix, to live near her sister.  Which meant taking Brenda with her.  Uncle Chris visited as often as he could, but they grew apart as she got older.

But, over summer, her grandma suffered a heart attack, and she was currently in assisted living.  So they decided to ship Brenda back to her uncle.  By now, he’d quit his job in Portland and was the chief of police in this sleepy little town, Devil’s Hang.

Brenda missed her grandma, her friends, her boyfriend, hell, she even missed her crappy waitressing job at the Dairy Farm Milkshake Bar.

Moving when she was twelve was hard enough, but now she was eighteen and in her senior year at school.  Not to mention Kevin.  He told her he loved her, but it was a lot harder to hear hundreds of miles apart and things really weren’t the same between them anymore.

She knew she shouldn’t be so hard on her uncle, but she was miserable here.  There was zero excitement in this town.  She’d been there for a few months, and she was already afraid she would literally be bored to death if she stayed there any longer.

But, she did love her uncle, and she had always wanted a dog.  Technically Bob made up a quarter of the Devil’s Hang police force, but she kind of thought of him as her dog.

Life wasn’t all bad, it just kind of felt like it at that moment.

Chapter Four

Kylie looked up at the sky.  She couldn’t bear to watch another fight between Amalric and Luc.  Listening was bad enough.

The two males disagreed over everything.  She sided with Luc, naturally, but she couldn’t deny the fact that he was just as bullheaded as Amalric on all matters.  And she couldn’t help but sympathize with Amalric.  The gargoyles had suffered for hundreds of years, and now he was stuck, trapped within the Hardcastle house and grounds.  He wanted to get out and see more of the world.  Luc would not allow it.

Tonight’s argument stemmed from Amalric or Ric as he preferred to be known, asking to be allowed to go hunting.  Luc shot him down immediately.

Ric snarled.  “We are gargoyles; we do not cower in the darkness.”

“We are not cowering.  We are waiting.”

The younger male paced in agitation, his wings trembling behind him.  “So we are supposed just to stay here in these walls, too afraid to speak to any of the humans?”

“Perhaps in another week, I will risk another hunting trip.  But no, you cannot approach any of the humans.”

“We don’t know who can be trusted,” offered Kylie.

Luc gave her a half-smile.  It said thank you but butt out.

Ric bristled and glared at Luc.  “So you decide which humans we may talk to?”

“Yes, it will be different one day, but for now, I will make the decision on who to trust with the secret of our existence.  We are fortunate as to the allies we already have, but not all humans will accept us as easily.”

Other than Kylie, they also had her Aunt Bea, Gustave – the late professor’s manservant, Maggie and the professor’s nephew on their side.  Andrew and Maggie were out of the country, finding and arranging transportation for their newest gargoyle.

“How are we supposed to live in this house?” snapped Ric.

Ric was restless.  Luc was also generally restless.  But in those instances, he generally sought Kylie out and exhausted himself in a very enjoyable way.  While Kylie knew Luc understood what he was going through, he would not tolerate the male’s angry outbursts.

The other gargoyles were much less agitated.  Gracchus was able to amuse himself with the TV, radio and Gustave, who was interested in his many stories.  Annis kept herself busy in caring for Dragoslava, or washing and making new clothes for the gargoyles.  Their body shapes were a tailor’s nightmare.

But, Amalric was unhappy.

They had to be careful they did not hunt too often in case anyone worried about the lack of wildlife, or they were spotted.  Plus, they had to be careful about flying too often as the townspeople were already reporting sightings of giant bats.  However, Amalric was not interested in any of these excuses.  He just wished to do as he pleased.

Their argument was disturbed by the wall-shaking roars of Dragoslava.

“I will take him some food,” said Kylie.

Luc clasped her arm.  “No, Annis will see to him.”  He nodded at the female, and she ran into the house.

Amalric huffed at them and left.  Luc was tense, his muscles straining in his anger.  Kylie rubbed his chest, soothing him.

Gracchus shook his head.  “He is just restless and young.  If he were ten years older, it would be different.  Do you remember how you were at his age?”

Luc chuckled.  “Much worse.”

“He is just maturing into a warrior and there is no war for him to fight.”

“Given time, there may be,” muttered Luc, darkly.

Gracchus gave them a toothy grin.  “I would not say that to him.  We would not want to get the boy’s hopes up.”

“He needs something to occupy his time.”

“I thought you were already training with him.”

“Yes,” said Kylie.  “Nearly taking ten years off my life in the process.”

Gracchus knit his brow together.  “You mean aging backward?”

Luc ran a talon over Kylie’s cheek.  “No, I believe she means that seeing me sparring scares her.”

She smiled.  “Terrifies more like.”

“There is nothing to fear, I am skilled.”

“And egotistical.”

“As all leaders should be,” said Gracchus.

Kylie pouted.  “Kiss ass.”

The older male laughed.  “You may be right about Amalric.  If he had a purpose, he might be more settled.  That said if he had a mate, the same would be true.  It is the reason so many gargoyles mate young.”

Luc grimaced.  “I am afraid that is not an option.”

“Yeah, we can hardly stick his profile up on love connections dot com,” teased Kylie.

Gracchus grunted.  “I am sure a solution will present itself.  As for me, I am missing a rerun of Simon & Simon.  Chief.  Kylie.”

The male ambled into the house.

“He’s surprisingly zen about everything,” commented Kylie.

“Zen?”

She shrugged.  “Calm, then.  Confident that the universe will work out a solution.”

“Gracchus is a good gargoyle.  From what I know of him, he has been through a lot and has had to come to terms with loss before.  He is more able to accept what has happened to him. But as to Almaric, I believe Gracchus expects me to present the solution.”

“What can I do to help?”

“Your presence alone helps.”

He leaned down and she stood on her tippy-toes, pressing a kiss to his mouth.  Dragoslava roared again.  Luc broke the kiss but held her close.

“I am not sure how long we can contain Dragoslava.  He is more beast than man, perhaps too wild to be here.”

“Annis thinks he is getting better.”

“I am not sure he will ever be well enough.”

Kylie stiffened.  “You mean…”

Luc exhaled.  “If he were free, he may hurt anyone who came into his path, including you and that is unacceptable to me.”

She pulled away and with some reluctance he let her.  “What would the alternative be?” she asked coldly.

He gave her a look of pity.

“Let’s not think about that right now,” she said quickly.  “Let’s worry about Amalric first.  Perhaps Amalric could help us with some of the Professor’s puzzles.  I could use all the help I can get.  I’m hardly the smartest cookie in the jar.”

“You are very smart,” growled Luc.

“Pfft.”  She knew he was wrong, but she enjoyed hearing it and couldn’t help the flush of pleasure.  “As I was saying, maybe he could help with the puzzles.”

“I do not know how adept he would be.”

“Well, maybe you’d be surprised.  I saw Bea teaching him how to use the computer the other day.  He’s already better than she is.  He picks things up quickly.”  Her lips curled up playfully.  “Quicker than you.”

“Mmmm, youth has its advantages.”  He pulled her back against his body, pressing her against his rapidly swelling manhood.  “Although I believe experience is important, too.”

“No arguments here.”

“Perhaps we should retire to our bedroom.”

Before she could answer, an alarm sounded through the house and grounds.  Luc growled and instinctively shielded Kylie.  After Ophelia attacked Kylie, Bea had some of her friends perform various warning spells and wards around the perimeter of the house.  Her friends readily agreed to help.

“It’s jangling - that means human.”

Kylie ran to the electronics room, which used to be a defunct sewing room – although imaging the old professor sewing anything was mind-boggling - and checked the screen.  “It’s just Brenda and, aww, it’s Bob.”

“Who is this Bob?” demanded Luc, struggling to fit his huge wings through the doorframe.

“The hairiest man in town.”

“Pardon?”

“The police dog, babe.  And Brenda’s the chief of police’s niece.  It looks like she’s taking him for a walk and he got away from her.  She’s just at the gate.  I’ll go say hello and get rid of her before she gets any closer to the house.”

“Hmmm, I will speak to Amalric.”

*

Ric flew towards the house as Luc came striding out.

“I heard the alarm.”

Luc nodded.  “Yes, it is just a townsperson, Kylie will deal with them.”

“But what if it is a ruse?  What if it is Ophelia?”

“It is not.”

Ric’s eyes flashed as he curled his hands into fists, eager for some action.  “How can you be so sure?”

Luc’s gave him a stony stare.  “It is just a girl from the town.  She is a friend of Kylie’s.  Kylie will tell her to leave.”

Ric huffed and paced.  He knew it would not be Ophelia.  He recalled the female from their past life.  She was strong and callous, but she was not dumb.  She would not use a friend of Kylie’s to lure her out.  She would not risk it.  But Ric wanted something to fight.  Someone to fight.  He almost wished it was Ophelia.  But he regretted that thought as soon as it sprang forth.  As much as Luc’s stubborn leadership rankled, he would not wish to see Kylie harmed.  She was important to the gargoyles, but she was also a kind female.

“Perhaps you and I should train.”

Ric's fury ebbed momentarily and he smirked.  “Wish to have your ass handed to you, old man?”

Luc narrowed his eyes and then chuckled.  “I see that you have taken an interest in the culture of today.”

He shrugged.  “TV is not so bad.”  He found that he enjoyed the movies of Jason Statham and Dolph Lundgren.

“Humans do have something to offer.”

“I never denied that,” said Ric, hotly.

Unlike many clans, his maintained a harmonious existence with humans.  He would not say that they were as cordial as Luc’s was, but his father, the chief of his clan, was happy to maintain peace.

Ric picked up an ax.  Gracchus, Luc, and Ric enjoyed training and often the garden turned into a battlefield.  Kylie chastised them to put their ‘toys’ away when they were done, but they were not very adept at cleaning up after themselves.  Annis usually did it for them.

Luc gave him an almost bored look as Ric circled.  The arrogance of the older male sparked rage within Ric, and he leaped at him.  Luc sidestepped his rushed attached and flicked Ric with his tail.  Ric scrabbled to retain his footing and spun to find Luc yawning.

The pompous old fool!

Ric spread his wings and flew at the older male.  Luc flexed a wing, sweeping Ric away from him, knocking over a statue of a cherub.

“You are a talented fighter,” said Luc, without a trace of humor.

Ric, currently tangled in weeds, gave him a sour look.

“You just need to learn patience; you need to learn not to let your enemy goad you.  You may come across enemies who are larger and stronger than you, and you need to keep your head so that you may defeat them.”

Luc held out a hand, and Ric allowed him to pull him up.

“This situation is difficult for all of us.”

“It does not seem so difficult for you,” snapped Ric.  He was the leader of their clan.  He had a mate.  Ric had nothing.

Luc surprised him by his calm, almost sorrowful response.  “You have suffered a great deal, as have we all.  We find ourselves out of our time and merely a distant memory in the minds of humans.  If we are to rebuild our lives, our clan, our race, we must be patient.  Our lives will never be what they once were, and it will take time.”

Ric shook himself away.  “And we are supposed to hide?”

“It is not hiding; we are merely waiting.  So many humans hated us when they knew of our race.  Now, if we were simply to announce ourselves, the hatred and fear would be tenfold.  We must strengthen our clan before we even consider showing ourselves.  Our priority must be with saving our entrapped brothers and sisters, and we could not do that while trying to fight off all the humans that would hurt us.  Don’t you agree?”

“Yes,” muttered Ric.

Luc grunted.  “My mate has suggested that you may be of some use in uncovering the locations of our missing brethren.”  His lips twitched.  “She has praised your ability to learn and understand new technology.”

Ric almost barked out a laugh at how unhappy Luc sounded in admitting his mate praised another male.  Almost made him forget his anger.  Almost.

“Must be my age.”

Luc frowned.  “Indeed, I will tell her that you are willing to help.”

With that, Luc walked away.

Ric picked up the ax again, hurling it through the air, hitting the makeshift target.  Rage bubbled within him.

The nightmares of what happened would not end.  He still recalled the awful day, nearly a thousand years ago, when his kind was cursed.  He had to watch as his mother, his father, his brother, his sister and his future mate, Kara all turned to stone.  They all turned mid-flight, and they all smashed.  They were killed in an instant.  Ric had howled and grabbed a knife, advancing on the first human he saw, but it was too late.  He changed to stone, too, becoming trapped in his own body for nearly a thousand years, replaying the horror of watching his family die, over and over.

A thousand years of being alone.

Waking had been disorientating, but he couldn’t express the relief, the happiness he felt, which turned to anger when he discovered how much time had passed, and he realized he could not punish those responsible.