Sabrina and the Gargoyle

by Marie Dry

  “We need a base of operations. This place won’t work,” Herman said.

  “You expect me to leave my home?” Her words echoed around the room like pins that fell and rolled and kept rolling across a marble floor. Sabrina bit her lips, but it was too late to call them back. How could she explain to them that this house represented happiness to her, happiness and safety? She could be brave about the drogge and everything that’d happened to her--but only if she was in her ouma’s house.

  Chapter 14

  Sabrina fidgeted under their incredulous gazes. For a moment dead silence reigned in her living room as all the various creatures stared at her.

  “I know, it’s just a house, not worth our lives.” If Mark was a real husband, instead of a pretend one and if they’d had a normal relationship where they got to know each other, she could’ve told him of the turmoil of her earlier childhood.

  When her father moved them all here for a short time, everything had changed. For that time, they’d become a family. Maybe Mark knew all that, came across it when he played about in her mind. She didn’t care what the others thought, but she wanted him to understand.

  His face softened and he drew her against him for a quick kiss. He lingered, deepened the kiss, and she sagged against him, returning it. He lifted his head, touched her hair. “We’ll come back to it and, in the meantime, I’ll have it repaired.” He spoke with his lips still resting against hers, an intimate moment with a vampire, vampire hunters, and werewolves around them.

  “I know I’m being silly, it’s just--”

  “I know, it’s all right.” He leaned his forehead against hers.

  They sat like that for a moment. Sabrina appreciated the fact that he didn’t care if the others saw him showing this much emotion. Did he also have this strong sense that everything was about to change? She had this haunting feeling that life would never be normal again, never be about making a living, loving your family, with the worst monsters locked in jail. She wanted to cling to this moment, never let Mark step back from her.

  Someone cleared their throat. Mark stiffened and sat back. The shifters standing around made a production of not looking at them. They did it with such overdone politeness, she knew they were having a go at teasing Mark. One even looked up at the ceiling and whistled a tune. The vampire hunters made rude kissing noises, and Mark gave them a filthy look.

  He turned to Christopher. “See how many vampires are willing to join us.”

  Christopher nodded and disappeared.

  Simon swore. “I hate when they do that.” His hand instinctively moved to his hip where wicked looking knives were strapped to intricate-looking belts.

  Their disappearing act was not her favorite thing either, but she also didn’t like the idea of vampire hunters around Christopher and Mark. Simon looked quite capable and willing to kill them. He’d also broken her windows and dripped blood on her floor. “I suppose it’s not that easy to stake someone who can actually defend themselves and disappear at will,” Sabrina said.

  Christopher didn’t deserve a stake through his heart just because he was a vampire.

  Simon sneered at her. “Have you ever seen what a human looked like after a rogue vampire chewed on them?”

  Sabrina’s stomach turned and she looked at Mark who shrugged. “Don’t look at me, apart from Christopher, I have no love for those arrogant bastards.” He sneered at Simon. “After we get the drogge, you can stake them all for all I care. You do not touch Christopher. Know this, vampire hunter, you harm him and I’m coming after you.”

  “I’m shaking in my boots, half pint.”

  “Don’t call him that.” Sabrina tried to storm toward Simon, but Mark grabbed her and held her back.

  “Ignore him, Sabrina, it’s an old insult. It stopped bothering me long ago.”

  She knew he lied. She could feel his pain every time someone reminded him that he was neither vampire nor gargoyle. She didn’t think being a hybrid was what bothered him. No, it was the constant rejection, and reminders that neither group wanted him, that grated on him.

  She continued to glare at Simon. She wouldn’t allow this hunter to insult the man she loved.

  Samuel came to lean in the doorway and she noticed that, like Mark, he appeared just as dangerous as the shifters and hunters. If he was full human, she was the daughter of the Queen of Sheba.

  “I’m going to talk to Thailog. Samuel will stay with you.” Mark disappeared.

  Not for the first time she wondered if Mark and Samuel could speak telepathically.

  “One of these days I’ll break him of that habit,” she said through gritted teeth.

  “Not so self-righteous now,” Simon mocked.

  She was really starting to dislike that vampire hunter. “Disliking my husband appearing and disappearing at will is a long way from being a murderous lout who kills people with a stake.”

  Simon leaned against the wall and lifted an eyebrow. “Lout? And, sweetheart, you need to understand, vampires are not people.”

  Suddenly Mark was in front of her again. “I forgot something.”

  “What?” she asked, confused.

  “This.” He bent down, with a hand on the back of the couch and kissed her, long and hard. “Don’t bait the vampire hunter.”

  A quick kiss and he disappeared again. The shifters whistled. Simon smirked and the other vampire hunters made kissing noises again.

  Sabrina covered her burning cheeks, but couldn’t suppress her smile. Their relationship had seemed so hopeless after the gargoyles kidnapped her, but now, in spite of the serious threat they faced, she had hope.

  Christopher leaned against the wall opposite Simon, three men with burning dark eyes standing next to him. They had to have appeared while Mark kissed her. They all kept a wary eye on Simon. She’d thought vampires supernaturally strong, so why did they fear Simon so much?

  Christopher threw back his head and laughed. “Badass Mark henpecked. I love it.”

  Mark appeared next to them and kissed her again. The shifters went wild with catcalls and lewd suggestions. Mark lifted his head. “Can it. We need to get moving.” He turned to Christopher and frowned. “Only three?”

  “Three more are coming, there might be more. They’ll come here. Are you sure it’s safe?”

  “No, we’ll use this place as a halfway house. Everyone who wants to join us can be told to meet us here. We might have to weed out some drogge spies.”

  “All right, I’m fairly certain more of my people will join,” Christopher said.

  Sabrina didn’t like the idea of all kinds of creatures making free with her house, but she also didn’t want to object.

  They had bigger problems than her need to protect the house rich with her family’s history.

  Mark nodded. “We need to post a guard here anyway. He can direct them to the safe house as they appear. I’ll take Herman and a vamp with me. If there’s trouble we can get Sabrina out and kill them.”

  “Where exactly will we have our headquarters? I, for one, don’t relish sharing space with a dog,” one of the vampires said.

  The werewolves bristled and stepped closer to the vampire who looked keen to start a fight. Herman made a slight gesture, barely noticeable and the werewolves stepped back.

  Men that were obviously hunters from Simon’s crew walked in without knocking. Sabrina gritted her teeth. One of them went over to Simon and they spoke in low tones. Simon looked at Mark. “Our place is secure. I suggest we use it as our headquarters while we hunt the drogge.”

  Mark crossed his arms over his chest. He was magnificent, standing with his feet braced apart, his black jeans and T-shirt showing off his impressive physique, glaring at Simon. “How do I know it’s not a trap? Killing this many shifters and vampires would be quite a coup for you.”

  “You kill dogs, too?” Sabrina couldn’t hide her disgust. Intellectually, she knew they were different from the vampire hunters that kidnapped her, but they appeared to enjoy killing a l
ittle too much for her taste.

  “Don’t call us dogs,” Herman growled.

  “Yeah, we’re not dogs, and we ain’t scared of no vampire hunter,” another werewolf said.

  Simon and Mark both ignored her and the werewolves.

  “When this is over, it’s business as usual, half pint.” Simon smiled when Sabrina went for him and Mark grabbed her again. “Until then, you have the word of a hunter that I won’t harm you or yours. As long as you don’t turn rogue, I don’t hunt you.”

  Mark stared at him, blue fire burning behind the ice blue eyes, giving him a cruel look. Some of the hunters moved restively and placed their hands on their hips. The atmosphere in the room chilled and, for the first time, she enjoyed the sensation. Liked the fact that Mark had such tools for intimidation at his disposal. He’d need it with this bunch.

  He nodded. “We’ll go to Simon’s place, I assume it’s got glamor. Glamor from a witch we can trust.”

  Simon nodded.

  Mark turned to Sabrina, compensating for his knee. “Pack a few things.” He cupped her cheek. “Don’t worry about your home, we’ll come back to it. In the meantime, I’ll have everything fixed.” He glanced at Simon’s blood on her floor. “And cleaned.”

  “All right.” She went to the stairs and then remembered that she didn’t have to do it slow and carefully anymore and rushed upstairs. For a moment, she turned around, not knowing what to pack to hunt weird creatures that no one had ever seen. In the end, she threw underwear and jeans and sweaters in a bag and put on her walking boots. Mark always wore boots and he probably had to fight supernatural creatures all the time. She’d learn from his example. She threw makeup and moisturizer and anything she thought she might need into a small bag and packed that in the bigger bag as well.

  Outside the bedroom, she hesitated, she’d like to take some sewing with her, but she couldn’t face seeing her workroom destroyed. Even though they were battered and broken, she’d locked away Ouma’s thimble and other precious things. The thimble had been crushed, but she couldn’t bear throwing it away. She might find someone who could restore it if all this craziness ever passed. Steeling herself, she went into her workroom and grabbed a few things, then went out quickly, not wanting to see the destruction of that special space in her home. She went to the top of the stairs.

  Mark appeared next to her and took her bag. “We’ll come back here, I promise.”

  Sabrina nodded. “Where are we going?”

  “The hunters have a place outside town, in Rondebosch.” He sounded grim, as if going to the hunter’s place was the last thing he wanted to do.

  She didn’t blame him. She didn’t trust Simon either. “Why are we going to their house? Why not buy a house we can stay in until the drogge are gone?”

  “I thought of doing that but several vampires were killed.”

  “That’s why some of them are willing to join you? But what does that have to do with not staying with the vampire hunters and finding another safe house?”

  “Most hunters are born with the ability to withstand mental manipulation. The vampires and shifters have some immunity against mind control, but we don’t know if the ones killed by the drogge have been controlled by them before they killed them. The chances of them knowing the location of the safe house from a hunter are slim.”

  “They killed hunters too?” Sabrina asked. “Do you think I have hunter blood? Could that be why I can resist mind control?”

  “No, if you had hunter blood, I would’ve sensed it. I can sense it, almost as if they broadcast on a particular frequency. And the drogge killed one hunter.”

  She nodded. “Do you know where in Rondebosch this house of Simon’s is?”

  “Yes. It’s a safe house they acquired recently, I suspect for this purpose, I checked it out.” He smiled, a grim unamused smile. “I’m guessing they’ll abandon it when our little alliance breaks up.”

  They walked down the stairs and she marveled at being able to walk down easily, without feeling any pain. Even though he didn’t visibly limped, she’d seen him compensate for that awful sliver in his knee.

  “You shouldn’t have done it,” she murmured to him, aware of the various beings in the house who probably had super hearing.

  “I had to do this if we are to have a chance together, if we get out of this alive.”

  Christopher appeared at the bottom of the stairs with six vampires. Samuel, who stood at the front door, straightened until he saw Christopher, then he went back to guarding the door.

  “Including me that makes nine, I’m afraid the others don’t want to get involved,” Christopher said with grim resignation.

  Mark grimaced. “Wait until the drogge start their feeding frenzy when they want to call upon Kratos, the vampires that haven’t come yet will be beating down the door, demanding to join us. Rotate your people so there’s someone here all the time. Anyone wanting to join us will come here looking for us.”

  Sabrina didn’t like the idea of supernatural types coming to her house. She didn’t need more of it destroyed. This time, she bit her lip. Their lives were in danger. She shouldn’t be that concerned about bricks and mortar. Still, it hurt--the thought of strangers in and out of her house.

  Mark turned to Sabrina. “I’m going ahead to make sure it’s not a trap. You stay with Christopher and Samuel.” He turned to Christopher. “Any sign of trouble and you take her to the agreed place, no hesitation.”

  Christopher nodded. Mark disappeared, taking Herman and a vampire with him, his hands on their shoulders. Two vamps blinked out with him. Everyone waited in grim silence, most of them fingering their weapons and eyeing the others with suspicion.

  She was beginning to fear that it had been a trap, and she’d never see him again, when Mark reappeared. “It’s clear. One of you go ahead, I’ll follow directly after, and, Christopher, you come behind us.”

  They nodded and Mark put his hand on her shoulder and, before that slight disorientation could be a problem, they stood in a large living room. She’d expected to see a gloomy dark house, where vampire hunters poured over manuscripts and old books for clues on the whereabouts of vampires.

  Instead, they’d arrived in a modern room with sleek leather furniture and glass and chrome tables. No cushions brightened the couches, the glossy black tiles had no carpets brightening the space. It might only be a safe house, but a few personal touches would do wonders for the place. A map flashed into her mind, the location of the house clearly marked. She smiled slightly and nodded at Mark.

  “Welcome,” Simon said. He motioned to the stairs. “Mark knows where your room is if you want to put away your luggage.”

  Mark took her up the stairs and into a large bedroom that reminded her of a very modern, but also impersonal hotel.

  “There will be a shifter and a vampire stationed at your door at all times. If you feel threatened and have a choice, go to a shifter for help if Christopher, Samuel or I aren’t here.”

  “All right, do you think the hunters will attack us?”

  “I doubt it. Something has them spooked. Normally, they’d rather die than team up with anyone from the nations.”

  “Maybe it’s the disappearances and their member being killed. Someone they know or some of their people may have disappeared as well.”

  “Maybe.” He studied her. “We’re all having dinner together tonight. Are you all right to stay here alone for a few hours? There will be someone at your door the whole time. I know we’re supposed to be allies, but try to make sure I, Christopher, or Herman is with you at all times. I need Samuel with me.”

  “I’ll be fine, I brought my laptop and some sewing.” She had absolutely no wish to wander around with strange hunters, vampires, and shifters around.

  Mark frowned at her laptop bag. “Don’t tell your online buddies anything about this. We don’t know what the drogge are monitoring.”

  “All right.”

  He kissed her and disappeared. She booted her lapt
op and spend the next two hours chatting to her online friends. It was a relief to do something normal, to talk to people who didn’t know that vampires and gargoyles were real. She would’ve like to talk to Mikaela as well, she missed their daily chats. Ever since they were little girls they’d chatted on the phone every day if they didn’t see each other. She haven’t even told Mikaela that Samuel now talked to her. Pretty soon he’d smile at her and she’d win the bet. Sabrina blinked away tears and focused on the laptop.

  When the sun disappeared behind the mountains she closed her laptop and getting up, she stretched. It was time to get ready for dinner. It will either be a very interesting experience or a bloody brawl.

  Sabrina showered in the huge luxurious bathroom with its lavish sunken bath and open shower area with showerheads so complicated, she wished for a manual. This place might be the last word in luxury, but she preferred her little house in the Bo-Kaap. Already she missed her neighbors and friends there.

  Mark appeared fifteen minutes before they had to go down to dinner. “Give me a few minutes,” he muttered. He kissed her, brief and hard and then disappeared into the bathroom.

  Sabrina touched her lips. He never forgot to kiss her, and it was bittersweet. She knew her fears were irrational, but she just wanted to grab Mark and go someplace where he couldn’t die. Except maybe it was her presence that--

  He appeared in a black suit and his usual scuffed boots and pulled her into his left side, so handsome he took her breath away. She put her arm around his waist and felt a suspicious bulge. “Would a gun work against the hunters? They don’t seem quite human to me.”

  “They’re not. They live an average life of three hundred years and are faster and can recover from most injuries that would kill normal humans.”

  “Three hundred years. Where did they come from?”

  “Determined in breeding,” he muttered with sardonic bite.

  “What?”

  “They’ve been breeding super hunters for centuries. I guess it’s starting to pay off for them.”

  “I hope you mean arranged marriages and not the picture that just came to my mind.”