by Rach Elle
“Look at it Lizzie,” Bawli smiled. “Tonight, all of this belongs to you.”
5
Sunders Harper had never been so happy to see his rundown, tiny little flat in all his life; but he was beaten, bruised, fatigued, and it was unbelievably baltic tonight. The cold air stung the wounds on his swollen face and he was all but dragging his right leg at this point; it was completely useless.
The fight in the park earlier that night had left him barely able to stand, let alone walk; and yet he managed to do so. He walked all the way to the United Financial building where he had planned on crashing on the sofa in his office. But when he saw what was caught on their satellite cameras he knew he had to get the evidence home as quickly as he could. Thankfully he only lived four blocks from the United Financial building; a much shorter jaunt than the one he had just made.
Sunders reached the front door of his flat and stuck his key in the lock. His head suddenly whipped to the left at a small noise. His one good eye narrowed as he tried to scan the street for anyone who may have been following him. He’d had the sensation of an audience since leaving United Financial. He stood completely still for a moment and listened for more movement, but the empty street sat eerily quiet. Finally he returned to his lock and pushed his way into the flat. He quickly shut the door behind him and turned on a small desk lamp. Sitting next to it was his money clip with a shamefully small amount of money in it. He scowled as he thought of his wallet still sitting in his office. In all of the excitement earlier he forgot to grab it before heading to the park with the Protectors. He considered using the little cash he had left to order something to eat. Would any place be open at this hour? His eyes glanced over his tiny kitchen and he took an inventory of all that he had behind those cabinet doors; nowt. He then remembered a bottle of scotch sitting on the floor next to his bed and he smiled. At least he’d have something to put in his gut tonight.
Sunders took off his dirty and torn jacket and draped it over his dresser. He scoffed at the thing. It was ripped to shreds and sullied with grass, dirt and blood. If he took it to the tailor and cleaner to get it fixed up they’d think he was in the fight of his life. He supposed he was. The image of Wade standing over him with the dagger in his hand, preparing to plunge it into his chest replayed in his mind. He was such a wean about it too. He closed his eyes, shielded his face and he was pretty sure he let out a little cry. He would have died without dignity. But then nothing happened. He couldn’t feel the knife entering his chest cavity. He couldn’t feel the warm sensation that he assumed would come from blood seeping out of the wound and pooling over his pectorals. Instead he opened his eyes and saw the very animal he’d come to capture protecting him. Sunders smirked. A gargoyle saved his life. He pulled the small envelope out of his jacket pocket and retrieved the flash drive. He held the tiny thing between his fingertips.
Sunders was about to find a secure hiding place for the object until morning when a sudden pounding sounded at his front door. It jarred him and he jumped back, expecting whoever was on the other side to punch right through it. He stood completely still for a moment, trying to calm his heavy breath. The pounding started again. “Harper! Harper I know you’re in there! Open this damn door!” Chase demanded from the other side. “I’ll kick it down Harper if you don’t open it in three, two…”
Sunders panicked. He looked for a place to hide the flash drive but didn’t have the time to properly stash it. He quickly tossed it under his bed and ran to the door. He opened it before his count was up. Chase shoved him aside as he barreled into the flat. He turned around swiftly and before Sunders could say anything he slammed the door shut and pinned him against it.
Even though Sunders was taller than Chase by a couple of inches he could feel the Protector’s strength exceeded his own by a long shot. He didn’t move and allowed Chase to ball the fabric of his shirt into fists and stare at him with those maniacal eyes. Finally, Sunders choked out, “Can I help you?”
Chase slammed the Scotsman against the door again. “Don’t fuck with me Harper,” he began, “What the hell were you doing tonight?”
“What do you mean?” Sunders winced at the force the Protector was using. His body was bruised and Chase was applying a lot of pressure to his chest.
“You know exactly what I mean. You got in our way. You actually defended them.”
“I didn’t go with you to kill them.”
“They would have killed you if you gave them the chance!” Chase was furious. He let go of the Finder and began pacing, trying to calm himself down.
Sunders rubbed his chest, “Actually, they protected me… from you.”
Chase stopped pacing, “What?” He asked with his Irish accent.
“Your buddy Wade was about to kill me and the larger of the two stopped him.”
“Jesus Harper,” Chase breathed, “he wasn’t going to kill you. You were getting in our way. He was trying to stop you.”
“He was about to stab me with a knife.”
“To stop you! We were in a battlefield and you were on the wrong side for whatever diluted Finder reason you had. But he wasn’t going to kill you over it.”
“Just wound me.”
“Yes.”
“Severely.”
Chase narrowed his eyes at the tall, salt and pepper haired Scotsman. “We do what we have to do to get the job done.”
“No matter whom you hurt, right?”
“Right!” Chase blurted. “There are creatures in this world beyond the normal human comprehension. They’re dangerous; they’re threats to our entire race and it’s my job to stop them before they destroy innocent lives. The Protectors don’t have a code of ethics. We don’t have meetings where we all sit in a circle, drink our coffee and talk about how many websites we searched or how many books we read about mythical creatures. We locate, we attack, and we kill before they kill us. That’s our code. That’s the rule we follow and when you started fighting for them you became one of them. Wade would have injured you to take you out of the equation but he wouldn’t have killed you simply due to your delusional oversight.”
“Delusional oversight?” Sunders cut in. “Our mission, not just as Finders but as members of the Dark Angel Alliance is to capture and learn; not kill. But your faction seems to have forgotten that. How are we ever to learn more about these creatures if they’re dead?”
“How are you to learn more about them if you’re dead? They had a civilian in their grasp. They had taken to kidnapping which is an obvious sign they are foes, not friends. We had to free the girl by any means necessary.”
“Oh yeah, you mean like putting a gun to her head?”
“To stop the gargoyle from killing my partner who, by the way, has been taken off the field thanks to your misconduct! His arm is officially broken and your little bullshit Finder doctor won’t clear him until it’s healed.”
Sunders took a deep breath and softly said, “I’m sorry he got hurt.”
“Yeah, well, a broken arm is nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if you ever pull that shit again. I’ll be bringing in more Protectors and you should bet none of them will have any objections to it either. You better take the night to get your head on straight Harper. You’re on our side, don’t forget that.” He headed for the door. Sunders jumped out of the way as he swung it open. Before he left he looked into the busted face of Sunders, “See you tomorrow Sunshine.”
Alvin and Mason sat quietly in their car at the end of the street. They had just watched an angry, blonde man in camouflage pants enter the flat of the man they’d been tailing for the last four blocks. They didn’t know who the dark haired man was or what position he held in the DAA, but they knew he had a flash drive that contained some very incriminating evidence about shifters and they needed to get it from him.
After a few moments the angry blonde whipped the door open and left the flat. The boys tried to determine if he had the flash drive or not. It was imperative they not lose track of it. He didn
’t appear to be carrying anything in his hands and his pants didn’t look like they even had pockets. The boys figured the evidence was still in the tiny flat. They waited for the blonde to round the corner then quietly exited the car.
Sunders was happy Chase had left without a physical altercation. Well, one that escalated past common playground bullying, at least. He knew he’d have to answer to the Protectors again tomorrow, as well as his manager, Bill Maines. For tomorrow morning they would all realize a large time lapse in the hotel footage. He rolled his one good eye; what a blether that was going to be. Sunders wanted to show others what he’d seen, but after what happened in the park he knew he couldn’t trust the other faction with the information. Protectors have no tact, as Chase had just admitted, and would stop at nothing to get what they want. If they knew that gargoyles could shift into humans there’s no telling what lengths they would go to just for a kill. Chase said they wouldn’t harm an innocent, but Sunders had a feeling that would fly out the window pretty fast.
Sunders began unbuttoning what was left of his white collared shirt when there was a small knocking at his door. He crinkled his nose and furrowed his brow. Who the hell could that be? The knock was way too gentle to be Chase again. He cautiously made his way to the door and peered through the peep hole. Two young men stood on the other side, both in suits and ties. They looked lost. With a sigh, Sunders opened his door.
“Hello,” the boy with black hair and slight stubble began. “Our car broke down and we need a tow. Mind if we use your phone? Mine is out of power.” He held up his cell to prove himself. Sunders crooked his brow as much as his swollen face would let him. He didn’t know these two and therefore didn’t trust them. But after a moment he deduced they were too skinny and short to be of any threat to him. He finally nodded, “I’ll go grab it.”
“Oh, wait!” The black haired boy called to him. “May we wait inside? It’s freezing out here and I don’t know how long a tow is going to take, yeah?”
Sunders inhaled deeply as he calculated the situation. On his exhale he reluctantly nodded and opened the door further for them to enter.
“Thanks mate,” the black haired boy said.
The second boy with long, brown feathered hair followed closely behind. “Cheers,” he smiled.
Sunders shut the door behind them and grabbed his cell. He threw it to the black haired boy. “Make it quick. I’m tired as hell.”
“I can see that,” the feathered hair boy said.
Sunders sniffed, “And what am I to call you while you’re in my flat?”
“I’m Harry and that’s John,” the boy said quickly.
“Harry and John, eh?” Sunders lifted a brow. He couldn’t be certain, but he was willing to bet those were fake names. “Those are some nice suits.” He examined their quality of men’s wear that he could only dream of affording.
“Yeah,” Harry shrugged. “You should always look your best, you know.”
“This isn’t the best part of town. Where were you two going all dressed in thousand dollar suits?”
“Actually we just came from a wedding.”
Sunders narrowed his eye and looked toward the second boy. “Hey John,” he called, “you find that number for the tow yet?”
John, whose back had been turned and had been awkwardly pacing in the back corner of the flat, ignored the question. “John?” Sunders called again and took a step toward him. Harry jumped in front of the Scotsman and with a huge smile on his face asked, “So where’d you get that shiner?”
“None of your business,” Sunders scowled, towering over the five-foot-something-inch boy. “John,” he called again. Finally John looked over his shoulder and nodded as if on hold with someone on the line. Sunders didn’t know the reason, but he knew these boys were after more than a phone call. Harry was clearly trying to distract him while John looked for anything valuable to steal. It was only a matter of time before the two turned on him and tried to take him out. On a normal night he wouldn’t be worried. He was six-five and practiced jiu-jitsu in his spare time; but tonight he was badly beaten. It hurt to even think about getting into a fight right now. So instead he smiled at John and then returned his attention to Harry. “I’m going to wash up. I’ll be out in a bit.” He slowly dragged his right leg into the bathroom and partially closed the door, leaving just a crack open.
Sunders turned on the tap and ran the cold water on full blast. He splashed his face and then dried it with a towel. He looked into the mirror and jumped back at the sight of himself. Half of his face looked like it had been stung by a bee – nah – a whole hive of bees. He hoped a good night’s sleep and an ice pack would get him to at least resemble his normal self tomorrow; but for right now he had other business to worry about.
Sunders reached behind his pedestal sink and grabbed the gun he had duct taped to the wall.
“Have you found it yet?” Alvin whispered frantically to Mason.
“No,” Mason said as he dropped to the floor and lifted the bed sheet from the ground to peer under the bed.
Alvin couldn’t hear the bathroom door swing open over the running water. “Look faster!” He whispered again before a blunt force punched him in the base of his neck. The pain only stung for a split second before he blacked out and fell to the floor.
“I’m going as fast…” Mason heard something fall and looked to see his friend unconscious on the floor. His eyes drifted upward to see a wild eyed Scotsman pointing a semi-automatic in his direction.
6
“Don’t be rash Cooper,” Kingsley said, “you can’t kick us out now.”
“Oh can’t I? I’m sorry, but living under the same roof as the prophesized destroyer who now has a Limrid at her disposal is not my idea of a good time.”
Kingsley pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yeah,” he grumbled, “about that. You know that whole speech I delivered about Awilda prophesized to kill us all? Well, there may be parts of that that are not true.”
Cooper narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, “Like which parts?”
“The part where she’s prophesized to kill us all.”
“What?!” Cooper threw her hands out to her sides. “So you lied about everything!”
“No, no, not everything; Junior is still the prophesized savior. So you might not want to kick us out because that could upset him and I don’t think you want the savior mad at you at the time of war…”
“Shut up! Shut the bloody hell up!” Cooper was furious, huffing and puffing; her shoulders rising and falling dramatically with each breath. “The Ultimate War is just a story,” she began, “there is no year of war. There is no prophecy and I’m an absolute fool to buy into it even as little as I did. Get out! All of you; get out!”
Zeff bounded down the stairs, having shifted back to human and changed into clothing that wasn’t torn. His long strides made their way to his small friend quickly. “Think about what you’re saying Cooper,” he said calmly. “We’ve got two injured bodies here that we can’t kick out just yet; not to mention a claimed Limrid that we don’t want to piss off, yeah?”
Cooper crossed her arms, “We can’t allow that thing to live here; it’s dangerous.”
Kingsley sighed, unbelieving of the fact that he was actually about to defend a Limrid, “No, he’s not.”
“Yes, it is; besides, it’s not a puppy; we can’t just keep it because it followed you home.”
“He’s under her command; he won’t hurt any of you.”
“I thought she was the spawn of Satan.” Cooper snipped, rolling her eyes and rubbing Kingsley’s lie in his face like salt in his wounds.
“Forget everything I said,” he lowered his head, “none of it is true. I’m sorry for deceiving you like I did.”
“Then there’s no reason for you to live here,” Zeff said.
“No, there’s not; but for right now we don’t have any other place to go. Please, the Protectors will be looking for her now; and there’s going to be more o
f them; don’t kick us out just yet.”
After a moment Zeff nodded his head, “I agree.”
“What? You can’t be serious,” Cooper looked up toward him.
“We can’t risk any of them being caught by the DAA. They’ll undoubtedly be tortured into giving up our whereabouts as well. At least until the DAA lessens their efforts to find this clan, they will stay with us.”
“Thank you,” Kingsley slightly nodded his head.
“Let me be clear,” Zeff continued. “You are to stay within the confines of this castle; especially the Limrid. No joy riding, no sight seeing; even in your human forms. We can’t risk alerting the DAA to our location, got it?”
“Yes,” Kingsley whispered. He hated being told what to do.
All three shifters whipped their heads toward the main hall. The faint sound of two people making their way down the corridor grew stronger and stronger until finally Elizabeth came into view. She looked into the living room and locked eyes instantly with Kingsley. Tears began streaming down her light pink cheeks as she ran toward him. They embraced; wrapping each other in their arms. Kingsley buried his face in the curve of her neck. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Thank God you’re alright.”
Awilda still kneeled next to Junior, having heard the entire debate about whether or not they could continue to stay in the castle. “Cooper,” her small voice cut through the emotion. “Please don’t be scared of Tauggle. He really isn’t as bad as you seem to think.”
Cooper crooked her brow and walked toward the girl who tended to the wounded gargoyle. “And I’m to believe you?” She began.
Zeff looked over to see Bawli entering the living room. He was scanning everyone’s face, taking a head count. Zeff allowed Cooper to continue to have a row about the Limrid as he met up with the large gargoyle. He pulled him out of the room. “Where are Vin and Mason?” He asked.