I smiled to myself. “I would have gone with healing. Hippocrates. ‘Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.’”
“I see,” he said quietly.
The rest of the drive over to Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church was quiet. I climbed out and followed him up the steps to the large stone church. The others were at the doors waiting.
When they saw me, Zahur was surprised, Ranulf smirked and Falk frowned. I guess not everyone wanted me here.
When we reached them, Atticus cleared his throat. “Everyone, as usual, let me do the talking inside. These Templars haven’t heard from a gargoyle in fifty years, according to our records,” he announced.
“They might not believe us,” Zahur pointed out.
‘Then we’ll just flash some fang, a little wing,” I offered dryly. “They’ll believe it in no time.” Ranulf laughed, Zahur eyed me. Falk chuckled. Atticus just shot me an icy look.
“Don’t even think about it,” he said in his cold voice. Wow, did he think I’d really do that?
“I will handle this. Is that understood?” Atticus was silent until I nodded. Atticus opened the door and gestured for us to enter the church. Slightly insulted, I followed Ranulf into the church hoping this wouldn’t take too long.
Three hours later…
We were still at the dang church. We weren’t trying to convince them that we were gargoyles anymore. That only took two hours. The last hour we’d spent being brought up to speed on what the Templars had taken on since our species had cut off contact. It was pretty much exclusively dealing with demon possession. And the Templars were furious.
I sighed deeply and looked at the Templar who was talking. He must be a Templar because he sure wasn’t a priest. His black military cargo pants and t-shirt hugged a muscular body. But it was the bronze and black Latin scrolled along his body that caught my eye. It ran from below his ears, down both sides of his neck and into his shirt. It reappeared on the outside of his arms to run to his wrists. I bet it was like that down the outside of his entire body. I wanted to examine those tattoos more closely but restrained myself. There were several Templars here, all in the same black, all with the same tattoos. There were even some women in the group.
I wanted to talk to them, see what they knew about what was going on around the city. But Mr. Lead Templar, whose name was Travis, was on a tirade, asking why they should help us after we deserted them. Atticus handled it like he seemed to handle everything. With cool, calm politeness. I, on the other hand, was getting impatient. It was already past noon and we still had a Hunger demon on the loose. I wanted to hunt it down before nightfall. And I wasn’t the only one. Ranulf was looking up at the ceiling of the rectory, clenching his jaw. Falk kept shifting from foot to foot. And Zahur was trying not to fall asleep. Travis started his speech again and I lost my patience.
“Oh, will you stop your whining already?” I snapped. The room fell silent as all eyes went to me. “So you had to deal with the human possessions, I’m sorry. But I’ve been here for forty-five years taking care of your bigger issues.” One of the priests in the corner grinned. “So, unless any of you Templars are over fifty, stop complaining. You’ve had the light end of the workload while I dealt with the rest of it.” Travis went to open his mouth.
“No, Travis, she’s right,” the priest from the corner announced. He stepped forward and took the chair behind the desk carefully. His hair was silver and his eyes a sparkling blue. He carried the tattoos as well. He looked at me. “We struggled for five years before the demon population suddenly dropped and the other species stopped warring with each other. It took us three more years to understand it was you. You didn’t try to contact us, but you managed to bring peace among the supernatural species of the city.”
“I wasn’t raised with my kind,” I explained. “I didn’t even know about Templars until last night.”
He nodded. “That makes sense. We didn’t know what you were; you were helping, so we left you be.” He smiled. “And you were a gargoyle the whole time.” The priest looked to Atticus. “Talk about irony.” I grinned. The priest continued talking to Atticus. “I’m Father Xavier. Whatever you need, the Templars will answer.” Travis muttered a curse behind the priest but everyone ignored him.
“Here’s the current situation. Someone has shut the Veil.” Atticus announced. “Which means-” I tuned Atticus out as I got up and started pacing. I needed to stretch my legs. I paced from Ranulf on one side of the room to Falk on the other. Ranulf would smirk at me or wink before I turned. Falk ignored me completely. My mind was running through ideas on how to catch this demon before anyone else got killed.
I was on my thirty-third lap when I sighed. I knew exactly what I had to do. I’d need some back up. I eyed Ranulf. He looked about ready to explode. I caught his eye then tilted my head out toward the chapel. He raised an eyebrow. I headed to the door, muttered something about a restroom and slipped out into the chapel. Ranulf wasn’t far behind. I waited until we were in the middle of the chapel before saying anything.
“I’m ready to go demon hunting. How about you?” I asked cheerfully. He chuckled deep in his chest.
"And here I thought you'd snuck me out for a chance to hit a pub,” he said with a grin.
I laughed and shook my head. “Sorry, Ranulf. Maybe later.” He shrugged.
“Demon hunting? Always, lass. But we need Atticus on board,” he advised. I sighed.
“He’s in a meeting that doesn’t seem to be ending and we only have until nightfall before it kills again,” I reminded him as I started to back up. “I’m leaving, so if you want to take down a demon, this is your last chance,” I offered before turning around and heading out of the church. I was almost to the curb when the church doors opened.
“You’re not going alone, lass,” Ranulf called. I turned, smiled and waited until he caught up. “Where’s your weapon stash?” he asked.
“Back home,” I told him. He grinned as I waved down a cab. I gave the driver the address of my apartment.
When we arrived we didn’t go to my apartment. Instead we walked across the street to the parking garage where my car was parked. My ’68 Shelby Mustang was a beauty, black and chrome with a perfect body. And a spacious trunk loaded with weapons. I opened the trunk to show Ranulf. He whistled appreciatively.
“Lass, I think I’m in love,” he said quietly.
“I’m not selling the car,” I told him dryly. He chuckled then looked from the broadaxe to me.
“Are ye sure? I can make an excellent offer,” he tried again. I shut the trunk and moved to the driver side.
“Not even for the lost libraries of Alexandria."
4
Evelyn
The drive to the latest crime scene was more comfortable than I thought it would be. We talked about demons and methods of killing them. Basic hunting strategies. It was nice to be able to talk to another gargoyle about it. Then we talked about hitting a pub tonight to celebrate the demon kill. It sounded like fun to me.
I drove into the alley and shut off the car. We both got out and went to the trunk. I took off my wool coat and put it away. I slipped my leather harness on, then pulled on my old trench coat that I kept in the trunk specifically to hide weapons in public. I slid my short sword into the sheath down my back. I put on my belt with a couple smaller blades and throwing knives that had been dipped in holy water. I even put salt into the pockets of my coat and jeans. Ranulf gave me an inquisitive look.
“Ever throw dirt in your enemy’s eyes?” I asked. “This is a more painful version for demons.” He raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve haven’t used those tactics before,” he admitted. I chuckled.
“You’re two feet taller than me and outweigh me by at least a hundred pounds. You've never had to,” I pointed out.
“Good point, lass.” He smiled as we headed towards the alley.
It wasn’t hard to find where the girl died; the red stained cement was a
big clue. I knelt down on the cement, pulled out a small knife and scraped up some of the dried blood. Disgusting, I know, but I needed it for tracking. I made a small ball of flame in my left hand and held the dried blood in my right. When I was focused on my objective I added the flecks of blood to the flame. The yellow flame turned red. I held it in both hands and brought it in close.
I gave it direction quietly. “A life was taken. Justice I seek. Track the one who did the deed. Let only gargoyle eyes see.” I dropped the flame onto the blood-stained cement. The flame spread over the rest of the blood before shooting down the alley and turning left. I got to my feet and stepped out of the flames.
“Impressive, lass,” Ranulf said. “It’s not often I don’t hear magic in Latin.”
“It’s not really magic. It’s energy manipulation.” I grinned. “And I’ve never had to use Latin.” We started walking down the alley, following the line of red flame. Ranulf stayed by my side.
“Truly?” he asked, impressed. I shook my head.
“My mom insisted on me learning it along with spell work. But I always found it faster to just tell the energy exactly what I wanted.” I shrugged. “It used to drive her bonkers.” He chuckled as we came to a stop. The trail went up to the roof of the building before us. I sighed and headed for the rusted fire escape.
“What are ye doing, lass?” Ranulf asked. I turned back to him.
“I’m climbing the fire escape,” I pointed out. Ranulf smirked then crooked his finger at me. Suspicious, I went to him. He turned me around and pointed to the roof ledge.
“I can get you up there on my back,” he stated. I looked up at him over my shoulder.
“You can do that?” I asked, surprised. He nodded. “Wow, females got ripped off in the strength department.” He chuckled.
“But ye females have us beat in powers,” he reminded me, smiling. Yeah, he was right. The split was about even.
“Alright, so how are you going to get me up there?” I asked. He moved around to squat in front of me.
“Hop on.”
I chuckled then wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned on him.
“Okay, hold on,” he warned before he stood up.
I clung on, even wrapping my knees around his waist. His hands adjusted my position until he was comfortable. “God, you’re short. Ready?”
“I’m 5’7”, you’re just a giant. And yes. Just don’t smash me into the wall, please,” I said. He chuckled. His body bunched under me, then he exploded in a move of raw power. I clung to him as we flew through the air. He landed on the roof with no problem.
“Okay, that was fun,” I admitted. He chuckled as he bent down so I could slide down off his back. I turned to see the flame trail crossed several roofs.
We picked up our pace the rest of the way, we were burning daylight and I really didn’t want to fight a demon at night. The buggers were stronger and harder to see. An hour later we finally found where it went to ground. The flame line ran down a large storm drain on a deserted street. I went to the nearest manhole cover and pulled out the small crowbar I kept on my hunting belt for such occasions.
“Let me do that, lass,” Ranulf said. I handed him the bar without complaint. “Since we’re going in to battle here,” he said as he removed the manhole cover, “can ye tell me what your powers are?”
“I’ve been clearing out demons for over one hundred and fifty years. Alone,” I told him as he put the cover down. “What does that tell you?”
He went still, then looked up at me. “Alone?” he asked, surprised.
I nodded. “Yes.”
A grin made its way across his face. “That tells me you’re a bad ass female that can more than hold her own.” My face warmed.
“Come on, let’s take care of this before the others catch up,” I suggested before looking down and dropping into the manhole. I landed in a crouch and moved so Ranulf could follow. He grunted as he landed, then straightened to his full height. I pulled my short sword from my back sheath and followed the flame line. Our night vision made it easy to find the way.
We walked in silence for a while. We were in a long tunnel when the scrape of flesh against cement caught my ear. I went still and listened carefully. There it was again, and coming towards us. Ranulf put his battleaxe back across his back and took out two smaller, double-sided hand axes.
“Ghouls,” I stated. He nodded. Ghouls were what happened to humans if a fully formed demon fed them their blood. They turned into rotting, mindless zombies that followed orders. We moved forward, my pulse picking up. We stepped into a four-way junction. “This is a good spot.”
“For?” he asked in a whisper. I turned to him.
“Drawing them out,” I explained. “My usual method is to draw out most of the ghouls before I get to the demon. The demon’s usually on its own by then. It splits up the fight.” His gaze ran over me.
“Alright,” he said. “Let’s play this your way.” I eyed him mischievously before gesturing to the tunnels on the right and in front of us.
“I’ll take these two,” I said. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Want me to barrier off one of them for you?” A bloodthirsty grin crossed his face.
“No lass, I think I can manage,” he countered. I smirked before I turned to my tunnels and let out a shrill whistle.
“Ghoulies, ghoulies, ghoulies!” I shouted. “Fresh meat!”
“Oh, that was subtle,” he observed. I shrugged.
“Subtle doesn’t get their attention,” I pointed out as white, deformed bodies started to shamble towards us. I hit a lever on my short sword which split it into two blades.
“If ye get into trouble-”
“Call,” I finished for him. “We want as many in the tunnels as possible,” I explained, watching the ghouls pick up speed. “So, make noise.”
“Ye sure you can handle two tunnels?” he asked. “I can take another.”
I chuckled. “Oh, believe me, I can deal with two little tunnels full of ghouls.”
That was all the banter we had time for. The ghouls were on us. Ghouls were incredibly strong but stupid. You were fine if you could keep them from getting their hands on you. The first to reach me didn’t last long. I sliced through one arm and took its head. The next took a boot to the face and lost a leg, then a blade through the skull. I pulled the blade and swung at another coming at me from the left. Ranulf’s grunts and cursing told me he was fine. I kept my movements fluid and fast. Then something flashed out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t think, just threw the short sword in my hand at the ghoul going for Ranulf's back.
He turned in time to watch it go down with my blade in its eye. His gaze moved to me. “Down!” I dropped to my knee instantly. His axe decapitated the ghoul that had snuck up on me. I moved forward, grabbing my short sword on my way, to take his tunnels while he moved to take mine. I checked the numbers.
“Is that side full?” I shouted before I severed another head.
“Aye!”
“Good!” I dropped a blade, gathered energy to me and gave it shape in my left hand. “Get down!” We both dropped to a knee as I threw the ball of light into the air. The energy took form and conjured blades of white light raced down each tunnel, decapitating every ghoul in their path. Once the last body dropped I got to my feet and looked him over. He had patches of black ghoul blood here and there.
“That’s a neat trick, lass,” he told me, his eyes sparkling. I winked at him.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I countered. He grinned at me before cleaning the blood off his axes. I cleaned off my short swords and started making our way down the corpse-laden tunnel where the flame trail led.
We walked for what had to be several blocks underground before I smelled it. Sulfur. Ranulf smelled it at the same time I did as we reached a corner. I started to build a ball of light in my hands. He saw it and grinned. Demons hated light and I was about to use this to drive one crazy.
“It’s a Hunger demon, so we’ll have to
slit the throat,” Ranulf said quietly.
“If you can distract him, I’ll sneak in for the kill,” I whispered. He nodded. It was a good strategy, I was smaller and easier to forget with a big gargoyle like Ranulf trying to kill you. I slipped my head around the corner. There it was, sleeping. Its body was solid black. Tendon and bone, long limbs, and sharp claws on his feet and hands that made its reach even worse. I turned back to Ranulf, worried he wouldn’t be able to stay out of reach. He saw it.
“I’ll be fine, lass. This will be easy,” he whispered. I nodded that I heard him. I had to take him at his word.
I met his eyes, he nodded that he was ready.
I turned and threw the ball of light up to the ceiling, making it as bright as noon in the desert. The demon screeched as Ranulf charged out to catch its attention with his battleaxe drawn.
“Hey demon!” Ranulf bellowed, both his top and bottom sets of fangs showing in his mouth. He made a few striking moves against the demon, getting him to turn his back to me.
“Your heart is mine, gargoyle,” the Hunger demon hissed.
“Only if ye can get to it!” Ranulf shouted back. I moved out from the tunnel into the room. The demon made a lunge for Ranulf. He dove to the side, dodging its claws by inches, then rolled to his feet and made his own strike. My heart started slamming against my ribs as the demon moved to follow him.
I moved out of the shadows and leaped to its back. I dug my talons into his flesh as I slid on its oily skin before I drove my blade into the side of its neck. It cried out in pain, twisting its body to the side, just like I wanted it to. I jumped, keeping my grip on the blade, gravity working with my body weight to drag the blade through the meat of its throat. It suddenly twisted. I hit the ground on my side under it. Demon blood poured over my shoulder and down my arm, burning like acid. I cried out as the demon dropped over me, dead. The blood ate through my jacket, shirt and skin as I reached for my holy water. It wasn’t there! The demon’s body was thrown from me. Ranulf was there instantly, his arm around my back, lifting me until I rested against his chest.
Found (Books of Stone Book 1) Page 5