When a Gargoyle Lives (Gargoyles Book 2) (9 page)

Chapter Seventeen

“I didn’t think you were coming,” said Chloe.

Ric grunted at her as he turned the encounter with Brenda over and over in his mind.  He was not treating Annis unfairly.  If Annis thought he was, she would have said something.  It was all in Brenda’s mind.  She was acting crazy over nothing.  Things were different for humans; this was not how gargoyles worked.

He froze as he realized Chloe was looking at him expectantly.

“Things are difficult right now,” he said.  Although that didn’t really explain anything.

Chloe threw him a sympathetic look.  “Problems with your fellow gargoyles?”

“Not exactly,” he muttered, thinking of the way Brenda had scowled and yelled at him.

“Well, I’m just glad of the moments we can have.”

“Mmmm.”

Chloe let out an annoyed sigh.  It was so quiet he almost missed it.  But he didn’t miss her launching herself at him and pressing her lips to his.

Ric stilled in shock as her lips mashed against his and she ran her hands through his hair.  He did not know how to react.  He had not been kissed before.  Most female gargoyles were not interested in that kind of intimacy.  And he had to admit it wasn’t exactly as enjoyable as Kylie and Luc made it look.  Chloe’s thin lips were pressed tightly shut, and they felt dry and cold against his.

He jerked back as she pulled at his hair.

“Sorry,” she murmured, dropping to the ground and stepping away from him.  “Guess I was just caught up in the moment.”

“I should go,” he said as he leaped into the air.  He didn’t even bother to wait for her to say goodbye.

Her touch, her mouth on his, it all felt so wrong, so alien.  She had tried to be intimate with him, and all he had felt was repulsion.  What was wrong with him?  A female considered him as a viable mate and yet he could not even stand it when she touched him.

There had to be something wrong with him.  He was not thinking clearly.  He was affected by the antics of the devil female, Brenda.  That had to be it.  How else could he explain his actions?  What was the likelihood he would find another female who would want him?  Surely any female would do.

Ugh, this was all Brenda’s fault.  All he could think of was her.  She was riling him up too much that he couldn’t even enjoy his time with Chloe.

Damn female, the next time he saw her he was going to… well, he would… he wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but he would think of something really clever.  Something that made her notice him.  Something to make her take him seriously.

By Merlin’s beard, he needed to get the female out of his head.

*

“One sample of DNA,” proclaimed Chloe, handing the strands of Amalric’s hair to Bell.

“Was it hard to get?”

“You have no idea,” she said, scowling in disgust.  “Just don’t ask me to get any other samples, the hair was hard enough.”

“This should be all they need.”

Chapter Eighteen

Brenda groaned as her uncle banged on her bedroom door.

“C’mon, get up, it’s almost noon.”

Brenda opened one eye.  “It’s Saturday; go away.”

The door flew open, and Chris pulled the curtains open.

She moaned into her pillow.  “Ah, the light, it burns.”  Brenda rolled over and pulled the pillow over her head.

“You turning into a vampire?”

“I wish,” came her muffled reply.  “Then I could sleep all day.”

“I know I was on duty last night, but what time did you get to bed?”

“Ugh, early.”

“You were in before curfew, right?”  His voice was laced with a tinge of suspicion.

“Of course.”

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm, yourself.”

“You already have school and homework; I’m not sure you should go out every night.”

Brenda huffed from under the pillow.  “You act like I’m partying.  All I’ve been doing is going up to the mansion to talk.  The only things getting any workouts are my mouth and legs.”

“I’d ask what you talk about, but you’d probably just say girl talk.”

“Yep, the girliest talk imaginable.”

“Yeah, well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think you should call your boyfriend.”

“Oh?”

Chris snorted in disapproval.  “He left two messages on my machine, and he’s starting to piss me off.  More than usual, I mean.”

“Afraid you’ll catch some of the reefer madness just by hearing his voice?”

“Afraid he might do something crazy like come and visit you if he doesn’t hear back.  Your grades are improving while you’re away from him, I don’t want him coming along and distracting you again.”

Reluctantly, Brenda came out from under the pillow and gave her uncle a bleary look.  “I’ll call him.”

Chris paused at the door, frowning.

“What?”

“No argument?”

“Do you want one?” she asked crossly.

“I expected you to object and tell me that your grades were always fine and that he’s the love of your life or some nonsense like that.”

“I’m too tired to argue,” she admitted.  Plus the love of her life had started to seem so very distant over the past few nights.  In fact, she had barely thought about Kevin at all in days.

“Huh, okay.  I’m making lunch in a few minutes, anything in particular you want?”

“Anything’s fine.”

He nodded and left Brenda snoozing.

Knowing that Chris was working late, she had stayed a little later at Kylie’s than the past two nights.  She was going to leave, but when Kylie and Luc returned unexpectedly she stuck around.  They were worried they were being followed and were paranoid that someone was watching them.  They had spent hours adding extra wards to the house.  Brenda had no idea about magic – she’d only discovered any such thing existed a few nights before, but she had tried to help.  How on earth Chris managed to work so many hours and still seemed so chipper was a mystery.  She was half his age, and she didn’t even have a tenth of his energy.

She groaned as her phone rang.  “Hello.”

“B, what the fuck?  I’ve been calling and calling.”

Dismay filtered through her tired mind.  “Kevin, oh, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?!” he exploded.  “Fucking hell, Brenda.”

“I’m just busy with school and… new friends.”  Although not exactly the type of new friends Chris hoped she would make.

“New friends,” he sneered.

“Look, Kevin now’s not…”

“I don’t think this is working out,” he cut in angrily.

Brenda stilled.  He was breaking up with her.  Her boyfriend of two years was breaking up with her.  The loss of something familiar instilled her with brief panic.  But it was just brief, because, after a moment, she felt relief.  Until he continued talking anyway.

“You should come home,” he said adamantly.

“Wait, what?”  Brenda sat up as confusion reigned.

“You’re eighteen now, and you don’t have to stay with your uncle.  My dad said he would give you a job at his company if we’re serious about one another.  We could get an apartment together.  If we’re both working, we can afford it, and then we can get married.”

“Get married?!” she squawked.

“Yeah, I mean my dad would expect it if he gave you a job.”

“But…”

“I figured we would have to one day anyway, why not now?”

Brenda felt tightness in her chest.  “It’s so sudden, you never even asked me.”

“I’m asking now, I guess.”

“You guess you’re asking me to marry you?”  Was he messing with her?!

“Well, yeah.  Besides, I thought it was implied when I gave you my class ring.”

“But…”

“C’mon, Brenda, you’d be near your grandma.  We’d be together.  What more do you want?”

“Well, I want to finish high school…”

Kevin groaned impatiently.  “But you don’t need it to for the job my dad will give you.”

“But I want to go to college!” she said desperately.

“What for?  There’s no point.”

“But I want to!”

He breathed down the phone for a few moments, before finally, he said, “You’ve changed since you moved.”

Brenda rubbed her forehead.  “No, I haven’t, Kevin.  I always wanted to go to college.”

“Yes you have,” he hissed.  “Have you met someone else?”

An unbidden vision of Ric scowling flitted through her mind, and she hesitated.

“You have!” he snarled in accusation.  “You’ve been cheating on me.  You bitch!”

“Kevin!”

He hung up, and she stared at her phone.  She tried to call him back but remembered she was out of minutes.  Forget it!  Why should she anyway?  She hadn’t done anything wrong.

When she first arrived in Devil’s Hand, she was homesick and had spent every moment she could calling, texting or e-mailing Kevin.  A couple of days used to pass before he even replied.  But she figured he was busy with friends and his job, and she was clingy because she had nothing and nobody else. But as she settled, she calmed, until eventually she was only calling once a day, texting four times and e-mailing twice.  And she supposed, a little guiltily, she had simply stopped a few days ago.  He must have been worried.  He didn’t have his little girlfriend miserable and lonely and pining for him.

Brenda picked up the picture of her and Kevin she kept on her nightstand.  He’d been a good boyfriend.  Well, he hadn’t been awful.  Well, he had cheated on her when they first started seeing each other.  But, in his defense, he didn’t know they were exclusive.  It was just something she assumed.  After that, they soon settled into a relationship.

They had their set date nights; they made out, she pretended not to care when he messed around with his friends and smoked weed and… oh god, that was it.  That was their whole relationship, and he wanted them to get married?  And until a few days ago, being with him had seemed attractive, but now she didn’t think that at all.

Something inside her had changed.  Like someone had flipped a switch.  She felt uncertain and unsure of what she wanted, but she felt the kindling of something.  A buzz of excitement but it wasn’t for Kevin.  In fact, her feelings for him seemed dull and far away, like a dream.

Brenda put the picture of her and Kevin back on the nightstand.  Maybe she was just tired.  Maybe another hour of sleep would do her the world of good.

“Brenda lunch… don’t make me come up there!”

She sighed and forced herself out of bed.

Chapter Nineteen

Brenda decided on a quick visit to see Kylie and the clan.

“I can’t stay long,” she said as she wiggled her fingers at baby Wolfe.  “My uncle’s taking me to the Ghostbusters showing in the cemetery.”

The clan was out in the garden.  Luc, Gracchus, Cai, and Ric had been sparring, with Ingrede shouting out encouragement to her mate and generally telling the others where they were going wrong.  Gracchus was muttering about missing a Monk marathon, but he made no move to leave.

Kylie told her that Annis was with Dragoslava – the gargoyle she had yet to meet, although she could not have failed to miss his howls.  They vibrated throughout the whole house.

Kylie bounced Wolfe on her knee.  “Darn it; I’m supposed to be organizing that for Maggie in her absence.”  She handed the baby back to his adoring mother.  “I better get a wriggle on.”

Luc deflected a blow from Cai, sending him sprawling into a statue.  “It is not safe for you to leave the house, I forbid it!”

Brenda shivered at his tone of voice.  Kylie barely even noticed.

“Aha, do you know where my brown coat is?  I was wearing it last night.  Maybe I left it in the van.”

“Little one,” he growled.

Ric disengaged from Gracchus and sauntered over to Brenda.  “They may be at this for a while.”

“They fight often?”

He shrugged.  “Do you often fight with your boyfriend?” he asked with just a smidge of disapproval.

Brenda sucked in a breath before quickly changing the subject.  Kevin was not a subject she wished to talk about at that moment.  “I better get going.  I just wanted to check that everyone was okay.”

Ric was about to retort but, instead, he simply nodded and muttered, “Thank you.”

For a second she thought she’d misheard him.  The words were pulled out of his mouth with less ease than a tooth.

“Trying to be nice to me?”

“When you are not sinking your fangs into my arm, you are not wholly objectionable.”

Not the best compliment she’d ever received, but then after being yelled at by a boyfriend who claimed to love her, it was a welcome surprise.  “Thanks, you’re not so bad yourself.”

“You are leaving; you have plans.  Your boyf…”

“My uncle is taking me to see a film,” she interrupted softly.  “They’re showing it in the old graveyard.  It’s actually going to be fun.”

Ric’s face tightened.  “Yes, I believe I saw the graveyard.  I was once permitted to fly over the town.”

“I’m sorry, I guess it’s not much fun being stuck in here.”

She’d thought living in Devil’s Hang alone was bad.  Being limited to a house and gardens would really be rough.

“You get used to it.”

“Really?”

“No.  What is the film?”

“Ghostbusters.”

“Hmmm.  Does it have either Jason Statham or Dolph Lundgren in it?”

Interesting choices.  “No, it’s more of a comedy than an action film.  I guess I better go, or I’ll be late.”

“Yes, you should also take care out there, Brenda.”

Her brow creased.

“If people are following Kylie, they may follow anyone who leaves this house,” he explained.  “You must be careful.”

“Worried I’ll leak your secrets?”

“Worried you may get hurt.”

“Oh, ah, thanks.”

He grunted.  “Or more likely worried you will hurt someone else.”

She rolled her eyes.  “Whatever, I’ll see you later.”

“Yes, later.”

*

Apparently Kylie had won the argument.  She was currently fussing around the priest – Maggie’s uncle – over how to work the projector.

Brenda had found a spot next to a moderately comfortable gravestone and spread out a blanket on the ground for her and Chris.  He had brought a pizza and cans of soda – his version of a picnic.

There was a large turnout from the town, mostly tourists.  But then other than antiquing there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot to do in the town.

Brenda rubbed her shoulder.  She’d been worried she was going to miss the start of the movie and had to run there from the Hardcastle mansion, managing to careen into a huge tourist along the way.  The guy was built like a tank, but he had been pleasant about the incident and had picked her up and then brushed her down, almost to the point of indecency.  His girlfriend, a tall, tough-looking woman was kind enough to pick up the contents of Brenda’s purse, which had scattered everywhere.

Now her shoulder twinged.  The guy was built solid.  Not as solid as the gargoyles, like Luc or Ric.  But he was muscled.  Not as muscled as Ric.  Ugh, why wouldn’t he get out of her head?  Was she really crushing on a gargoyle?  Even as she thought about it, blood rushed to her cheeks.  It was just a mercy that everyone was too busy laughing at Peter Venkman to notice.

Surely it was too weird for her to have that kind of crush.  But Kylie was attracted to a gargoyle and nobody looked at her like she was nuts.  God, the insufferable male would probably have a field day if he knew.  He’d probably laugh and be conceited and then laugh some more.  God, she could almost feel him looking at her right now.

Hmmm.  The hairs prickled on the back of her neck.  She turned around, and her mouth almost dropped to the floor as she noticed Ric casually standing next to an angel statue.  He noticed her too and gave her a smug smile as she tried to pull her jaw back into place.

“What’s up?” whispered Chris.  He was still looking at the makeshift screen – a huge white sheet  - but he noticed that Brenda was preoccupied elsewhere.

“Nothing, I just remembered that I, ah, left my phone at home.  Oh, I’m devastated.”

He chuckled.  “Teenagers and their phones.”

Brenda cast surreptitious glances over her shoulder.  Yep, the idiot was still there.  He appeared to be watching the movie.  Everyone else seemed completely engrossed in the movie, too.  She supposed if any of them had noticed Ric, there would be a lot of screaming and stampeding right about now.

Myrna, the librarian, and George from the grocery store, were making out while everyone pretended not to notice.  The town councilors – who had brought their own folding chairs – were watching the movie with fixed expressions, trying to appear fun to tourists while wishing they were back home in their beds.  And Martha, Maggie’s cousin was casting longing, puppy dog looks in Chris’ direction.  For his part, he was totally oblivious.  They’d gone on a few dates, but clearly the affection was not mutual.

Brenda chewed on her thumbnail, laughing automatically as everyone else did.  How could she concentrate on Slimer when Ric was at risk?  He was some distance away from everyone, but if anyone saw him, he’d be toast.

Ugh – the arrogant gargoyle.  He was putting himself in danger and for what?  Ghostbusters?  She ought to march over there and bite his other arm!

She caught his attention; he waved and she mouthed at him to go away.  He frowned in confusion and tapped his ear while shrugging.  The hell he didn’t know what she was saying.

“Just going to the bathroom,” she murmured.

Chris nodded.

Brenda scurried to where Ric was standing.  “Are you insane?” she tried to shout in a whisper.

He was absolutely unconcerned by her worry.  “What?  You said it was a good movie.”

“Not good enough to risk getting caught and dissected.  Go home.”

She pushed at him, her hands pressing against some rock hard muscles, but he wouldn’t budge.  Even as her feet skidded in the grass, he didn’t even move an inch.  He was as immovable as a completely stone gargoyle!

“You’re making me miss the movie,” he said.  Though the amusement in his voice indicated that he didn’t mind very much.

“I thought you weren’t allowed out,” she hissed, still trying to push his massive body.  Beads of sweat formed on her forehead from the effort.

“Like anything could hold me.”

“Puh-lease.”

‘Heads up.”

Brenda stopped pushing.  “What?”

Ric jumped onto the ledge next to the angel and struck a suitably gargoyle-like pose.  A tourist passed Brenda, smiling.  The woman stopped to look at the statue.  “Wow, some of these statues are really lifelike aren’t they?”

“Sure are,” said Brenda, fidgeting impatiently.

The tourist burst into laughter.  “At least, they would be if creatures like that were real.”

“True,” she muttered, scowling at said statue as he winked at her.

The tourist walked away snorting.

“She’s gone.”

Ric didn’t move.

“Oh right, pretend you’re a statue.”

He still didn’t move

Brenda pinched his thigh, ignoring how muscled she found him.  He still didn’t move.

“Fine, but this isn’t over.”

She stomped back to her place next to Chris to suffer through the rest of the movie.