by A C Warneke
Melanie looked between the three men and then automatically searched out Ferris, who stood a few feet away with wide, bewildered eyes. Pushing herself to her feet, she rushed over to the little girl and gathered her up in her arms. Over the child’s head, she found Vaughn staring grimly back, “Imps?”
He nodded once. He looked around at the small party and softly, almost hesitantly, he asked, “Do you want me to… make them forget?”
“Please.” Holding Ferris’s head to her shoulder, she watched as Vaughn looked briefly at Terrance and then let the man drop. Next, he turned to Jensen, this time staring deeper and longer. Melanie couldn’t hear what was being said but could see the tension ease from her brother’s shoulders. Afterwards, Jensen nodded his head and went back to shoveling.
Vaughn looked down at the fallen man in disgust, the desire to hurt him written plainly on his face. In a low growl, he ordered, “Go home.”
Terrance quickly scampered away, unknown fear driving him. Vaughn prowled over to where Melanie stood holding Ferris. Caressing Melanie’s cheek, he looked into Ferris’s eyes and breathed, “Nothing happened.”
Ferris tilted her head to the side and looked up at Vaughn with concern, “Why would you want me to think nothing happened? Mr. Martin just tried to hurt Aunt Mellie.”
Melanie had to bite back a smile even as she squeezed Ferris closer and kissed her cheek. She met Vaughn’s eyes over her head, seeing the grim amusement in his face. “O, joy; another one immune to memory spells.”
Melanie grinned at Vaughn’s disgruntled tone, “I told you she was a little me.”
“So you did,” he murmured, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her in for a kiss. Just before his lips met hers, he repeated, “So you did.”
Fifteen
The next weekend, Melanie had convinced Jenna to let her have Ferris for a few days. Knowing how much the little girl would love spending time with her Aunt Mellie and how much she would love the apartment, Jenna had no choice but to agree. Both Melanie and Ferris squealed with delight as they ran off to pack Ferris’s bag and pick out the perfect stuffed animals to bring with.
It was also a good time to have a visit because Melanie was having her period and as much as she loved Vaughn, she didn’t want to be touched in any way remotely sexual for three days; she just wanted to snuggle and enjoy her niece.
Taking Ferris’s right hand as Vaughn took her left, the three of them made their way into the apartment building, Ferris’s eyes wide in her elfin face. “Aunt Mellie, you live in an enchanted castle; are there dragons here?”
“No, but there are gargoyles,” Melanie answered, exchanging a knowing glance with Vaughn.
“Well, actually….” When Melanie gaped at him, he shrugged his broad shoulders and smiled sheepishly. How much more was there to the world that she was just barely seeing glimpses, of things that watched the humans with hunger and malice and others that watched with mere curiosity?
“Human!” Nod called up, rushing out from behind the front desk to greet them, his arms opened wide as he went to welcome them. Then his eyes lit upon Ferris and the smile he was wearing grew even more brilliant. Stopping right in front of Ferris, the two met eye to eye; they were almost exactly the same size. Melanie worried for only a moment until Ferris smiled shyly at the little sprite.
“Hello,” Ferris said softly, tightening her grip on Melanie’s hand. Melanie squeezed back in reassurance and Ferris’s smile grew.
“I understand where I made my mistake!” Nod said, as if they knew what he was talking about. Shaking his head sadly, he lamented, “Humans are so difficult to work with; they don’t follow any of the rules.”
He walked away without saying anything else, mumbling beneath his breath that it wasn’t his fault humans were not cooperative; it wasn’t his fault he had matched the human with the wrong brother. It wasn’t his fault Armand was a hard man to read; it was easy to make that kind of mistake.
Melanie watched him go, unable to prevent the smile, even though she didn’t experience the champagne bubbles again. Vaughn had been right; the hang-over had been hell and she was grateful to discover he didn’t have nearly the same effect on her when she hadn’t just survived a fourteen foot fall.
Looking down at Ferris, she saw the little girl staring after the strange man, a confused look on her face. When she looked up and met Melanie’s gaze, she frowned, “He’s not human, is he?”
“No, honey, he’s not.” Squatting down to Ferris’s level, she took Ferris’s hands in her hands in her own. “He’s a sprite and there’s so much more out there, so much I want to share with you.”
“But we have to keep it a secret, don’t we?” the little girl asked, knowing so much more than a six-year-old should. Looking up at Vaughn, she swallowed, “Nobody will believe us if we tell them the truth.”
“You can’t be upset with them, Ferris,” Vaughn said, joining Melanie on Ferris’s level. “They’re just more comfortable not knowing; they’re happier.”
Her eyes moved over Vaughn’s face, seeing things that she shouldn’t have been able to see at such a young age. And then her expression changed and her mouth spread into a dazzling smile and she threw her arms around Vaughn’s neck in an impromptu hug. “I am so happy you’re dating my Aunt Mellie.”
At first, Vaughn froze before he awkwardly wrapped his arms around the much, much smaller body of Melanie’s niece. He looked at Melanie with wide, panic-stricken eyes, making Melanie laugh. Standing up, she grinned, “I think we should take her up to the roof.”
Holding Melanie’s gaze, he stood up, keeping Ferris in his arms. He looked so handsome, holding the little girl in his big strong grip, his hold so gentle and yet so protective and in that moment, Melanie fell in love with him all over again. A sudden ache in her chest reminded her that she might never have his child, never know the miracle of pregnancy and child birth. Unless he was able to have children, now that he was human… she hadn’t considered that. She would have to ask him about it when they had a chance.
She had time; they had their entire lives ahead of them to talk about it and she was still young and not yet ready to have children anyway. And even if the worst case scenario came to pass and they weren’t able to have their own children, she still had Ferris; she would simply be an even more devoted aunt, if such a thing were possible.
Ferris chattered incessantly as they made their way to the roof, entertaining Vaughn with her stories of dance class and art class, and all of her friends and her favorite stuffed animals and how she wanted a pony for Christmas but her mother said a pony would never fit in her room, what with all of the toys, and so she offered to move her toys to Aunt Mellie’s old room so she could have a pony and her mom still refused and weren’t mothers silly.
Melanie wasn’t sure Ferris even took a breath in her long-winded, meandering monologue but Vaughn didn’t mind; he looked at the little girl and Melanie could see his heart in his eyes. Of course, Ferris had that effect on everyone she met; she was a wonderful little girl. And the panicked look in Vaughn’s eyes was completely gone by the time they reached the roof, having been utterly charmed by Ferris.
“Oh, he’s bee-you-tiful,” Ferris breathed, scrambling out of Vaughn’s arms and rushing over to the griffin, to Armand. Reverently, she reached out and ran her hand along the muscled thigh. She looked over her shoulder to Vaughn, and in an earnest voice said, “I don’t want a pony anymore; I want him.”
Melanie laughed, wrapping her arm around Vaughn’s as he stared at the little girl with something akin to horror. But Melanie noticed something peculiar; standing up on tiptoes, she whispered into Vaughn’s ear, “How are they able to hide their, er, male parts?”
He swallowed, unable to tear his eyes away from the little girl running her hands all over the griffin gargoyle. He could almost hear Armand growling though the gargoyle didn’t move so much as a muscle. “He, uh, we can alter our appearance if necessary, for short periods of time a
t least.”
“So we probably shouldn’t stay up here too long, right?” Melanie grinned at Vaughn as she left his side and joined Ferris in front of the griffin. Kneeling down, she wrapped Ferris up in her arms and kissed her cheek, “Isn’t he spectacular?”
Ferris looked at Melanie and smiled widely, enthusiastically nodding her head in agreement. “He is spet-cat-ular. Can I keep him?”
“Armand is going to be furious,” Vaughn sighed. Melanie glanced over her shoulder and saw him leaning against the entry; his arms were crossed over his chest, his shoulders were slumped, as he shook his head in dismay.
“Should she be concerned about imps?” Melanie asked, since she had had several more altercations because of the little bastards over the past several days. Nothing as serious as the night she learned Vaughn was a gargoyle, just a few customers talking crap or throwing their empty chocolate wrappers at her as they left the store, but it was annoying.
Vaughn shook his head no, “She’s a child; it’s expected that they believe in magic. When she becomes a teenager and continues to see what she shouldn’t then we can be concerned.”
Melanie considered that for a moment, remembering a time when she was younger and believed in fairy tales and magic without question and wondering when that had changed; why it took meeting a gargoyle to remember something she had always known to be true but had forgotten. There wasn’t any date that she could pinpoint as the day she gave up believing the unbelievable; it was a gradual thing that happened over time.
Granted, she had never completely given up her faith in the unseen, she had simply subdued it to the demands of life, telling herself to stop believing in fairy tales because she was an adult and it was time to grow up. Had she not walked past the little curiosity shop when she had, would she have lost her belief in magic altogether? Would she have missed her chance with Vaughn? She cringed at the distressing thought.
How was it going to affect Ferris, being around magic for the rest of her life? Was the little girl going to become an oddity, looked at by the rest of humanity as peculiar and… unnatural? Would it matter if she was surrounded by mythical creatures the rest of the world couldn’t even begin to fathom?
“We need to get back inside,” Vaughn said, interrupting her thoughts. Shaking her head, she smiled as he gathered Ferris up in his arms; she always got so melodramatic when she was on her period. “The sun is about to set and it’s not something she should see.”
Melanie nodded, following him back inside and closing the door behind her. After they had gotten comfortable in Vaughn’s luxurious living room, as Ferris was picking out a movie and Vaughn was setting up a game of checkers, Melanie sighed, “When I was younger, I don’t think I saw even half as much as what Ferris can see; what happens to people like her?”
“There aren’t many that have her gift,” he glanced at her with a wry look, “Or your gift. If they are lucky, they fall in love with a gargoyle.”
“And it they are not lucky?”
“That’s not my area of expertise,” he answered honestly. “Usually, there is a purpose for a child that can see clearly; the fates always have something up their sleeves. They’re very clever that way, you know?”
She laughed at the humor in his words, his voice, as he spoke about the fates. “They’re positively Machiavellian, aren’t they?”
“And how do you suppose Machiavelli became so clever?” he winked at her as Ferris returned with the movie she wanted to watch, a cartoon with singing gargoyles.
Melanie looked at Vaughn and burst out laughing, “I can’t believe you have this movie; it’s a children’s cartoon.”
“Rhys thinks it’s funny to buy up everything that has gargoyles in it. But I’ll have you know, this movie has some pretty dark, intense scenes.” He sat back on his heels and held the movie up to make his point, “There is a man that is conflicted and threatens to burn down the city in order to lay claim to the poor girl he lusts after.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t watch that one until you’re older,” Melanie told Ferris, taking the movie and putting it on the couch behind her.
Instead of being upset, Ferris sat down to play checkers with Vaughn, once more settling into her chatter, going on in some length about her love of the gargoyle sitting on the roof and how she would much rather have the gargoyle than some pony, any little girl could have a pony but a gargoyle would be something really spet-cat-ular and maybe Aunt Mellie wouldn’t mind giving up her room to a gargoyle since ponies poop a lot and gargoyles probably didn’t, though if they did, it would probably be rocks, which wouldn’t be so bad because rocks were pretty cool.
It was difficult to keep a straight face as Ferris spoke so earnestly about so many topics. Suddenly she turned to Vaughn, “Do you have a mother, Mr. Vaughn?”
“Of course I have a mother, little one,” he smiled, leaning back against the couch. “But she lives very far away and I don’t get to see her very often.”
“I would miss my mommy if she lived so far away,” Ferris sighed, sliding her hand into Melanie’s and looking at her aunt with love. “And I would really miss my Aunt Mellie.”
Ferris’s words brought happy tears to Melanie’s eyes, even as she was absurdly curious to learn more about Vaughn’s parents. If he had parents, wouldn’t it be expected he would be able to have children? Or maybe he could only have children with another gargoyle and why was she even worrying about this when he was human now and she wasn’t even thinking about having children any time soon?
“You’ll have to tell me about your mom and dad someday,” she said, resting her chin on his shoulder. He was so solid; she could lean on him in the strongest of storms and not get blown away. How did she get so lucky as to find him?
He took her other hand in his and brought it up to his mouth, kissing it tenderly before he shook his head, “My parents are…” he smiled remorsefully as he opened his mouth and no sound came out. Shaking his head, he offered a conciliatory grin, “They’ll make themselves known when they’re ready; they like to keep their mysteries.”
“Are they…” she glanced at Ferris and lowered her voice, “Are they like you?”
“Not exactly,” he hedged, not offering anything more. And with Ferris there, she wasn’t going to pry. Not yet, anyway; there was time.
Ferris went very still and quiet and when Melanie looked at her to see what had captured her attention, she saw that Ferris was staring at the doorway with wide, worshipful eyes. Knowing what she was going to see, she turned her head and saw Armand and Rhys standing there. They were both dressed, thankfully, and where Rhys was smiling – he was always smiling – Armand looked like he could do battle with a storm cloud and come out the victor.
Ferris was oblivious to the undercurrent, slowly, carefully, getting to her feet and walking over to the taciturn man. Melanie expected the little girl to start chattering a mile a minute but she remained respectfully, almost reverently, quiet. Armand crossed his arms over his broad chest and glared down at the little girl, who remained blissfully ignorant to his anger.
Armand glowered, and finally broke, “What?”
Ferris swallowed, her voice so soft it would have been impossible to hear if the rest of the room wasn’t silently waiting to hear her words. “You’re the gargoyle.”
Armand’s top teeth pressed into his lower lip but Rhys clapped him on the back, preventing him from saying the word out loud. It didn’t prevent him from stalking from the room, slamming every door he passed through. Melanie was pretty sure he was double and triple slamming some doors because there couldn’t possibly that many doors in the Nosuntres’s suite.
“Who is this gorgeous little creature?” Rhys asked, breaking the silence long after the doors stopped slamming. Smiling, he knelt down on one knee and met Ferris’s thoughtful blue-green eyes. “Hello, there, sweetheart; I’m Rhys, I’m Vaughn’s brother.”
“Are you a gargoyle, too?” she asked earnestly.
“I am,” he voice was sole
mn but his eyes sparkled as he answered the little girl.
“Do you think it is wise to encourage her?” Melanie asked, concerned despite Vaughn’s reassurance that imps left children alone.
“The damage is already done,” Rhys grinned up at Melanie, his brown eyes laughing. “Would you have me lie to her?”
“No, of course not….” Then she realized he was laughing at her and she playfully slapped his shoulder, “Oh, stop. You’re worse than my brother.”
Without missing a beat, he sat down and pulled Ferris onto his lap, “What say you we kick Vaughn’s butt at some checkers?”
Ferris gave him her brightest smile and Melanie noted she had won another heart. Since her niece was so well situated with two large guardians, she was going to find a bathroom to take care of her personal needs. Giving Ferris a peck on the cheek and Vaughn a slightly longer kiss on the lips, she made her way to the closest bathroom.
Of course she had known that Vaughn would adore Ferris; it was impossible not to adore the little moppet, though Armand seemed to have been immune. But that was Armand; he was a world onto himself, impossibly gorgeous and alone. She wondered what had happened to make him into the man he was; who had broken his heart and how long ago it had happened. How old were the three Nosuntres brothers? How old was Vaughn? How much of the world, of history, had they been witness to?
There was so much to ask him and if her brain didn’t short circuit the moment she was within visual distance of him, she would have thought to ask. Like she told her sister a lifetime ago, when the sex wasn’t so brand, spanking new and she was able to think straight when he walked into the room, she would ask. Of course, there was always the possibility that she would never be able to see straight when he walked into the room, that she would always have Vaughn goggles on, wanting to touch him, kiss him, make love with him, whenever he was within spitting distance.
“Oh!” she gasped as she stepped out of the bathroom and saw Armand leaning against the wall, looking so forsaken and alone. She wasn’t sure he had even seen her until he turned his head and she saw the desolation in his green eyes.