by Cate Corvin
The father’s hand shook. I couldn’t see most of his face, but his struggle was written all over his body. A long minute passed, the only sound the hitch of the clerk’s silent sobs.
Surprisingly, it was Freckles who broke the stand-off. He started squirming again, becoming deadweight in my arms, and threw an elbow into my stomach. I hardly felt it, but one of his feet thrashed outwards and caught Granny in the knee.
The older woman started shrieking. The father tensed, so close to squeezing the trigger my stomach clenched, and I released my grip just a fraction. Freckles took advantage and tore out of my arms. His father’s expression filled with what could only be called smug relief. His son may be free of my hold, but he knew just how close he’d come to losing his child. He smirked, straightened up, and readjusted his aim at the clerk’s head.
Fuck these guys.
Granny was still screaming her head off when I snatched Freckles before he could get further than three steps away. The funny thing about being so strong was that it was like time slowed down for me when I picked him up and lifted him overhead.
His father’s eyes widened, and his hand flexed as he pulled the trigger.
I hurled Freckles. Right into his dad’s shitty face.
The kid flew over the counter like a missile and crashed into his father as the gun went off. I flinched, but Daddy Robber’s arm was flung out and the shot went wide, punching a neat hole in the wall. Over the ringing in my ears, the clerk had joined Granny’s shrieking chorus. Both assailants smashed into the display of liquor behind the counter.
The sickening scent of blood, bourbon, and vodka mixed in the air. They were bleeding, cut up by the broken glass and bottles, but I didn’t have a drop of pity in me for them. They didn’t deserve it. I stepped over the old woman and strode behind the counter, finding the father’s gun lying in a pool of… was that whisky?
The older man looked up at me in a daze, blood pouring from an obviously broken nose. I crouched down in front of them, held up his pistol, and bent the barrel in half with a squeal of protesting metal.
The clerk was still huddled under the cash register, but her screams had died out when she saw me. I jerked my head, indicating she should get away from them, and she scrambled to her feet.
“You’re one of them,” she breathed. She moved like a shaky newborn giraffe, wobbling her way out of the confined space. I left the men where they were, probably concussed and unable to move, and followed her to Granny. “Did it hurt? What sort of powers do you have? How did you get them to turn you?”
She didn’t stop talking while I looked over the old woman’s knee. Granny just watched me with frightened eyes. I didn’t meet her gaze.
Given that they’d been pointing guns at them, I didn’t feel bad in the slightest about what I’d done, but I’d probably just reinforced her idea that gargoyles were animals.
I offered her a hand and she ignored it, opting to take the girl’s hand instead. I tried not to let it bother me, but there was still a sick twist in my chest.
“Do you have a cell phone?” I asked, ignoring the myriad questions the clerk had just posed. They both seemed to be fine, but the attempted robbers weren’t.
The clerk opened her mouth to reply, but instead of speaking, her eyes just bugged out.
I spun around, yanking Granny’s arm and tugging her behind just as the second shot rang out. The bullet ricocheted off my shoulder.
Freckles was cut up and bleeding, but he’d climbed to his feet behind the counter, firing off round after round. His black bandanna had slipped off, revealing his pubescent face. Far too young to be pulling shit like this, but now it was too late for him. He’d chosen his path.
I sheltered the women behind me, tuning out their fresh shrieks. He was hyper-focused on me, even though each bullet just pinged off me, clattering on the floor around us.
Finally, the gun clicked, the chamber empty.
But he kept going, pulling the trigger over and over again, his features twisted in a grim mask. “Fucking pebble,” he spat.
Sirens wailed in the distance, screaming to a halt outside the bodega. I moved to step forward and restrain Freckles, only to become aware that Granny was clinging to the back of my jacket.
A flood of uniformed officers poured in, weapons raised and ready. To my unpleasant surprise, Jake Selter was there. He cast me a strange look as several officers surrounded the perps while others swept the bodega for anyone else. Freckles finally got with the program when faced with loaded weapons pointed directly at him, dropping his empty gun and raising his hands in the air. He never looked away from me as they cuffed him and hauled his father off the floor.
Something tugged my sleeve. I looked down at the clerk, who was still giving me that doe-eyed look of adoration. “Is it true what they say about the guys? Do they really… y’know… stay hard?”
I envied her teenage mind. She’d just been robbed at gunpoint and all her hormones were still directing her towards the mystery of gargoyle dicks.
All I wanted right then was to take my caramel candy bar and go back to the Tower. It suddenly seemed far better than any amount of space and fresh air. Besides, there was no way I was going to tell her anything that might send her off to hunt down a gargoyle of her own.
Luckily I was spared having to answer. One of the uniforms pulled her aside for her statement, and I turned to flee.
It was impossible to take another step. I sighed. Granny was blocking my path, shaking off the cop trying to hold her attention. I grabbed a five dollar bill out of the pocket of Sawyer’s coat and tossed it on the counter—bless that man for always carrying cash—and waited for her to say something nasty. At least I had my candy bar, locked, loaded, and ready to salve my imminent wounded feelings.
But she just looked at me, her watery eyes roaming over my face. Finally, she reached up.
At first, I thought she was going for a slap. Being her shield wasn’t going to change decades of human resentment and fear. In truth, she was right to be afraid.
To my shock, her touch was gentle. She patted my cheek, a sweet grandmotherly gesture that made my chest squeeze. Her hand rested on my face for a long moment as she stared into my eyes, hers filled with a raw, genuine gratitude that she’d never be able to express with words. Finally, she lowered her hand and turned away, deigning to speak to the officer attempting to question her.
I ducked out of the shop, knowing none of the officers would dare try to stop me. They knew what I was, had seen the evidence. After years of seeing it time and again, it never failed to stick in my craw that so many police were quick to let gargoyles skirt the law. Even when it was actually working to my benefit.
I kept my eyes trained forward and pointedly ignored Selter’s assessing stare. As I retraced my steps to Viridios Tower, my heart was conflicted. It hurt for what had happened. The fear inflicted on an old woman and young girl. The life of a young man had been tossed away by a father who’d seen him as no more than an accomplice.
But on the other hand, I’d walked away without a scratch, and I couldn’t let myself be worried about any of them now that it was over.
After all, my heart was made of stone.
Chapter Eleven
“The only reason you’re still standing and not a pile of useless broken bones is because she’d be furious with us. But if you don’t get the fuck out of my way, cop, I’ll risk it.”
“Come off it, Viridios. Give her the break she needs. You stole her humanity, you owe her at least that much.”
The door to the penthouse stood open, but I stayed off to the side so Damien and Sawyer wouldn’t see me. I’d made my way back quickly enough, but the closer I got, the more my steps had slowed. Was I really ready to go back in there and deal with all their obnoxious male posturing?
No, I really wasn’t. But after the unexpected encounter at the bodega, I also wasn’t about to stay out on the streets any longer. Too bad my apartment was a smoldering heap at the moment.
<
br /> “If Gio doesn’t find her—”
“He’ll find her. Isn’t that what you pay him the big bucks for? To keep her safe and swing his dick in her face?”
“What’s wrong, human, mad she’s not asking to see yours?”
“Trust me, she’s seen it, enjoyed it, and is ready for an encore.”
Goddammit, these two immature little assholes…
I moved to step inside and tell them that I wasn’t worried about any of their dicks, and if they were gonna keep acting like this, I’d gladly remove them, when and hand came down on my shoulder. A gasp tore from my throat, but was suppressed by a hand clapped over my mouth.
“Hang on,” came a familiar voice in my ear. “This is just getting good.”
My eyes narrowed and I bit at the flesh of the palm covering my mouth. Gio didn’t so much as flinch. Damn gargoyle skin.
I wriggled in his hold and he finally let me go, holding a finger to his lips. They were fuller than any male’s had a right to be, and the finger against them only made them look more plush.
“No.” I spoke at full volume, and Gio’s eyes went round in mock surprise. “If they say much more, I’m gonna have to kill them. No quicker way to lose my badge than homicide.”
Sawyer and Damien had obviously heard me, since they were storming toward the door when I rounded the corner.
“Where the hell have you been? I can’t believe—”
“Are you alright, Zar? Do you want—”
“—that you would just walk out like that after everything—”
“Son of a bitch, are those bullet holes?”
Sawyer’s question shut down Damien’s tirade faster than a Gio-Palm to the mouth.
“Onyarai, what the fuck?” Damien grated, glaring at his friend who’d taken up position behind me.
“How about we step inside and close the door like we give a shit about security? Then you can have your answers.” The Onyx pressed a hand to my back and gave me a gentle shove forward. Damien and Sawyer had little choice but to move out of the way or to let me get smashed up against them.
The stupid, horny part of my brain thought that wasn’t the worst idea it’d had all day. Might work off some of the remaining adrenaline from earlier.
Behind me, the door clicked shut and I could hear the sound of locks being thrown, but I held Damien’s gaze. There was definitely anger there, but a hint of concern shone through. Now if only I knew for sure whether that concern was for me, or for the Ruby.
“Are we all gonna stand around like animals, or can we sit down and have a civilized conversation?” Gio sounded exasperated as he rounded the couch and flopped down like he hadn’t a care in the world. He had the right idea. I was more than ready to get off my feet and relax, so I sat next to him and kicked my feet up onto the coffee table that was a thousand times nicer than mine. I let out an irrepressible sigh as the couch cradled me and perfectly eased away a bit of my tension. This had been one hell of a day.
“What the fuck do you think this is, Gio? A social gathering? A garden party for little old ladies and their poodles?” Damien’s fury grew with every word he spat, but I wasn’t in the mood. He did make me wonder, did Granny have a poodle? Probably a frail old thing like her, always shaking with arthritis.
“I think this is a nice ass penthouse apartment with comfortable furniture that we should be taking advantage of. So stop lording over us and sit down, Viridios.” There was an edge to Gio’s voice this time, his good humor beginning to fade.
Sawyer took his lead and joined us on the couches, taking up the seat next to me. He sat close, but not so close that we were touching. The hand he ran up and down his thigh made me think he was itching to be rubbing my leg instead.
Damien, however, was not so easily cowed. Instead, he crossed his muscled arms over his chest and glared down at us. It was such a ridiculous image of a father waiting for an explanation from his naughty children that I couldn't hold back a snicker.
“Ah, I see we have a volunteer to go first.”
That only made me laugh harder, and Gio joined in.
“Fucking children.” That really set me off, and I tipped over against Sawyer, laughing so hard I had to hold my stomach to ease the cramps. Gio seemed to be triggered by my mirth and had to cover his guffaws with a hand.
By the time I pulled myself together and sat up, there were tear tracks down my cheeks and Damien’s scowl was darker than I’d ever seen it.
“I’m so glad you think this is funny, Zara. The fact that you could be killed at any moment by someone who wants to rip the heart from your chest is absolutely hilarious.”
“He’s right, Zar, this is some serious shit.” Sawyer’s brow was creased with a frown as he stared at the bullet holes peppering my jacket. “It was bullets this time, but that doesn’t mean another grenade isn’t on its way at the first opportunity. Shit, how did they even find you so fast?”
“It wasn’t anyone after the heart, it was a robbery. I just stopped at the bodega for snacks and got caught up in it.”
“You couldn’t have just stayed out of sight and kept yourself safe?” Damien demanded, and my spine stiffened, any remnants of humor evaporating instantly.
“No, Damien, I couldn’t. Two men came in and would have killed the older woman and teenage clerk that were inside. Would you have me just hide and watch while that happened?”
“If it meant keeping you safe, yes.”
“There was a reason you gave me this heart. Because I’d go into a burning building to save a helpless infant and any others I could reach. That part of me doesn’t go away just because my humanity did.”
“No one expected you to do nothing, Zar, but couldn’t you have called for backup? Something that didn’t end up with you covered in holes?”
“No, I couldn’t. They came in, guns hot, and would have shot the bystanders if they’d realized I was a cop. I did what the situation dictated.”
“And what was that? Being a physical shield?” Damien really needed to lose his attitude, and fast. If he didn’t, my temper was going to flare and I was going to say something I couldn’t take back.
“Momentarily, yeah. And why shouldn’t I? Those bullets would have ripped through the women like tissue paper, but they bounced off me without a scratch. If I had to do it again, I would. I was unarmed and couldn’t put them down, so I did what needed to be done until I could disarm them.”
It was quiet as everyone digested the events of my afternoon. Sawyer looked contemplative, and I could swear that was admiration on Gio’s face. Damien, as always, was harder to read. He’d shuttered his emotions and I was staring at a chiseled marble statue. His hard eyes began to shift from me to Gio and back again, like something had just occurred to him.
“Gio… if Zara was at the bodega, why did it take you so long to find her? It’s a few blocks away, you should have had her back here in minutes.”
Gio shrugged one massive shoulder, which looked strange given his clothes. I’d started to become accustomed to his nudity, so the t-shirt was almost foreign.
“I found her, but she was busy. I let her handle her business and tailed her back here to make sure she got in safely.”
Wait… what? He’d seen what happened and done nothing? I shook my head to clear my confusion, which obviously didn’t help in the slightest.
“And your reasoning behind that?” The Emerald gargoyle was a powder keg with a lit fuse that was inching closer and closer toward exploding, and I had the insane urge to get up and flee so I wasn’t taken out in the blast.
“You want me to train her. That’s what I was doing. By letting her handle the situation on her own, I got to see what she’d do in a high-pressure confrontation where other lives are at stake. She could have gone all garg-rage on them and smashed them to bits, but she held her composure and made sure that the humans were unharmed. That’s the kind of person you wanted to have the Ruby, and I’m happy to report that’s exactly who she is.”
; I didn’t know if I was feeling warm because of his approval or my own irritation. Yeah, things had turned out alright, but they could have gone horribly wrong if Daddy Robber or Freckles had made one false move. And then what? I would have had their deaths on my conscience just because Gio wanted to test me.
The warmth was definitely from irritation.
“That’s not what I meant by training her, Onyarai, and you know it.”
“I train her how I see fit. Real world scenarios like that are rare, and now we know how she’ll handle herself. How many stonehearts have used their new abilities to wreak havoc on the human population? How many have taken the gift they were given and used it to exact revenge on people from their past? Too many to count. Zara had the chance to ignore the peril of strangers, and she didn’t. Whether that’s the cop in her or just who she is, it was the move we all wanted her to make, and regardless of what you think, we should all be fucking proud of her.”
“Honestly, I don’t give a shit if any of you are proud, or whether or not you even approve. I didn’t do it for you, I did it because it was right. And now, I’m done talking about it. I’m here, I won’t leave, but I’m done right now.” I stood and stared Damien down, daring him to try to stop me. I could have remained sitting for all the height advantage standing gave me. When he didn’t say anything, I stormed past him, only to realize I didn’t know where I was going. There were tons of rooms in this palatial penthouse, but I hadn’t claimed one since I’d been intent on staying at my own apartment.
Rather than walk down the hall looking for an empty guest room, I strode straight to the master bedroom, noting that Damien had replaced the control panel I’d smashed the night of my transplant. I flung the door open, then slammed it shut behind me, throwing the locks loudly to make my point.
The moment I was alone, my bravado faded and exhaustion crept in. I rested my head against the cool wood of the door and just breathed for a moment. Fuck, the three of them were a lot to deal with, especially all together.