by Leo Romero
I didn’t waste a second. I stepped forward, aimed Bam Bam and fired. Blast slugs hammered the gargoyle, exploding on impact, taking out more chunks of stone. I kept firing and reloading in smooth, swift movements, advancing on the son-of-a-bitch, a cool determination overcoming me. I wasn’t gonna let him get away. The gargoyle howled and staggered as I pummeled him. I reloaded a smoking hot Bam Bam, excitement starting to jangle my veins. I could see the bastard dying in front of my eyes. He was battered. A dying thing. I went to pull the trigger when the gargoyle seized the opportunity. It flared out its damaged wings and flapped them. He rose into the sky like a balloon. I holstered Bam Bam. “No you don’t,” I said, pulling out the seven of diamonds from my jacket pocket. I threw it down on the sidewalk by a patch of Jordan’s drying blood. “Pegasus!”
There was a puff of white smoke and the door to the Void opened up. Pegasus burst out of the portal, his pure white fur a stark contrast to the inky darkness of the Void. He stood on his hind legs and kicked at the sky. By the time I jumped over to him, he was back on all fours. I leaped on his back. “Get that gargoyle, Peggsy!”
Pegasus leaped into the air, spreading his majestic wings wide. He flapped them and we were airborne, the wind rushing past my face. I thought for a second about anyone on the ground seeing some guy riding a flying horse and hoped they’d just put it down to the booze. But that was the least of my worries.
We got on the gargoyle’s tail. He kept taking quick glances back as he flew away, his face contorted in fear. I pulled out Bam Bam, aimed and fired. The blast slug whistled through the air, past the gargoyle. I cursed to myself. It was harder to hit a moving target while flying on a horse’s back. I tried again. This time I hit him on the thigh. Pixie dust exploded out and rained down on Chicago. The gargoyle howled and veered off course.
“Keep going after him, Peggsy!” I shouted while I got busy reloading. Pegasus bowed his head and went into a gallop, his wings flapping with more fervor. Looked like he wanted to smash that thing as much as I did.
The beat-up gargoyle was struggling to keep his flying speed up. He was flapping his wings in desperation, his limbs thrashing on the air like a kid at the swimming pool for the first time. I had him. I knew it, he knew it, Pegasus knew it. I got Bam Bam reloaded as we entered the airspace over the Loop. The thick forest of skyscrapers began to pass by us below. I wondered at the back of my mind where the gargoyle was going, but I didn’t give it much thought. Instead, I aimed Bam Bam and fired. The first blast slug missed. The second wasn’t such a bad shot. I hit the gargoyle smack in the middle of a wing. The resulting explosion was devastating. Its wing obliterated under the impact, big chunks of it falling down over the Loop. The gargoyle went into a tailspin. I watched it with eager eyes as it nosedived toward a skyscraper. It crashed into the roof and stayed where it was, a broken mess.
My eyes widened in hope. Is it dead?
I pulled up and gazed down at its sprawled body. Its hand shot up and slammed back down on the roof. It dragged itself along the rooftop, trying to claw itself away in desperation. It was done for. Now all I had to do was finish it off. I got Pegasus moving again and flew straight down there. He landed on the roof and I jumped off, reloading Bam Bam while dashing over to the gargoyle. He dragged what was left of his mighty frame along the rooftop with his fingertips. He managed to haul himself up to his feet with a hoarse groan. It flapped what remained of his wings, but it was pointless. He couldn’t even lift his feet off the ground. I clicked Bam Bam’s barrel back into place and the gargoyle spun his head back. His face was open in fear, eyes wide, mouth agape. He turned and tried to run.
I had him cornered. “You can’t get away,” I said to him as he limped off. I took a deep breath, strength and power flooding my veins. I’d beaten him, overcome the beast, saved the day. Again. Now I just had to take the final shot. I aimed Bam Bam at the gargoyle’s back as he tried to make his pathetic escape.
“Finish the varmint!” said Bam Bam.
“So long!” I said to the gargoyle as my trigger finger curled in.
Something entered my vision from above and slammed into the rooftop behind the gargoyle, stealing my attention. I released the trigger and stared ahead of me in numbed disbelief. The intruder rose up from its haunches and stood upright, its glowing, red eyes fixed on me. Another identical gargoyle.
“Shoot it!” screamed Bam Bam. I was about to take aim again when something else came hurtling down from the sky. Another gargoyle slammed onto the rooftop next to the new one.
I staggered back a pace or two. What the hell’s going on?
Before I could answer, another came soaring out of the sky and landed with the others. Their beaten brother limped over to them, as yet another joined them. One more appeared. And then another one came crashing down on the rooftop behind it. My head twitched left and right as each one entered the fray. Panic split my mind from my body and I was rooted.
Within seconds, three more joined in. Slam. Slam. Slam. Now there was a team of them. They all glared down at me, their forked tongues lapping the air, their red eyes glowing with rage.
Get outta there, Stone!
My body kicked into gear. I turned on my heels and raced toward Pegasus. More gargoyles came from the opposite direction, landing on the rooftop ahead of me. I pulled up, my eyes bulging. I spun in a neat circle. I was suddenly surrounded by gargoyles. And they were heading my way.
Pegasus raced over to me and I didn’t hesitate in jumping on his back. We took off before any of the gargoyles could reach us. We rose into the sky and most of the buildings making up the Loop came into view. And then I could see them. Things were crawling across the rooftops. My heart skipped a beat. Gargoyles. There were loads of them. Everywhere I looked there seemed to be a gargoyle. It was a goddamn infestation.
In the next instant, they were taking to the sky, their focus on me. This was bad.
“Get us out of here, Peggsy,” I said in a breathless voice. Pegasus got moving, striding through the air. The gargoyles gave chase. They streamed through the air behind us like a flock of seagulls in a V formation. They had crazy numbers. If they caught me, they’d tear me to pieces. There was no way I could take them all on with just Bam Bam. I snatched a look behind me. They were coming in hard like an enemy squadron. My heart started to race. “Come on, Peggsy. Go!” I urged. Pegasus let out a loud neigh and pumped his legs and flapped his wings harder.
We passed another rooftop where a waiting gargoyle shot up to meet us. I noticed it at the last moment, its green-gray skin dominating my view. I tightened my grip on Pegasus’ reins and yanked him over to the side. He squealed in protest, but was forced to sway across the air. The gargoyle shot through the airspace we’d just been occupying like a bullet. I snatched a quick breath of relief, right as an incoming gargoyle torpedoed toward us. Pegasus neighed and swooped out of his path in the nick of time. His wing clipped against Pegasus’ leg as it whistled past. Pegasus howled in pain.
“Keep going!” I shouted in his ear. We could think about pain later. First, we had to get through this gargoyle meteor shower. They cut across our path from all angles. Pegasus bobbed and weaved on the air, evading their attacks with sublime dexterity. We dodged one attack, only to go straight into the path of another. An ugly, deformed face got up close and personal. I aimed Bam Bam and fired, hitting the bastard right in the snout. The explosion sent it off course. Pegasus burst through the resulting shower of pixie dust. My mind and heart were racing, adrenaline pulsing through me. I felt like a lone X-Wing up against the hordes of the Dark Side. Any minute and I’d be facing Vader himself in his TIE fighter. Above us, the stars twinkled in the evening sky. Below us, the forest of the Loop passed by.
More gargoyles leaped off rooftops and came after us. We found ourselves flanked either side. My head twitched left and right to meet them. I pulled up on Pegasus’ reins. He zipped up into the air with a reluctant neigh, right as the two gargoyles attempted to sandwich us. They slammed
into one another and bounced harmlessly away into the sky. I didn’t know how much more I could take. It was like being a small fish caught in a tank full of sharks.
Pegasus cut across the air, avoiding the latest attack. Another gargoyle swooped down from above. I didn’t notice him until there was a jarring behind me. Pegasus yelped in pain. I twisted my torso around to be met with another of those contorted stone faces as the gargoyle sat astride Pegasus behind me. “We want your soul!” he snarled.
“Take this!” I said, jamming Bam Bam’s muzzle into his ugly mug and pulling the trigger. The blast slug popped off into his open mouth. The gargoyle involuntarily shut his mouth and a muted explosion went off, blowing out his cheeks. The shock sent him flying backward, relieving Pegasus of his burden. The gargoyle rotated on the air like an astronaut in zero gravity, pixie dust belching out of his damaged mouth.
I turned my attention back to where we were going. I looked down and noticed we’d left the Loop. So no more rooftops for the bastards to spring from. I snapped my head back to check on the chasing horde and they were nowhere. In the far distance, things hovered on the air, their wings flapping behind them. They’d given up the chase. For now. But I wasn’t safe and neither were the others. Shit was real. This was bad. Very bad. And I had no idea what to do. My mind was firing in a zillion directions. I hadn’t been expecting that.
I needed to get back to the Guild and let the others know the grim news.
*****
I returned, sent Pegasus to the Void, and raced down the steps to the Guild, my mind fizzing with paranoia. Everywhere I looked I thought I saw a gargoyle ready and waiting to jump me and bludgeon me to death. They were lurking around every corner, hiding in every shadow, their red eyes glowing in the gloom, licking their stone lips with those forked tongues.
I jumped into the club area and gazed around with wild eyes. Every head in the place turned my way.
“Gabriel?” Jerome said, anticipation etched into his face.
I went to speak, but my throat was bone dry. I just stood there, dumbstruck, my head feeling faint. All those eyes on me at once, brimming with hope and anxiety in equal measure were too much.
Aurora stepped forward. “What’s wrong, Gabe?” she asked, obviously sensing my discomfort.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and I let out a long breath.
“Did you kill it?” Jarvis asked and I just gave him a long stare in response. I shook my head before it slumped between my shoulders. Any sense of hope in the air fizzled away.
I staggered over to the bar. Everyone huddled around.
“Get me a drink,” I managed in a cracked voice.
Jerome didn’t hesitate in pouring me some Ambrosia. I nodded in thanks and snatched up the glass, knocking it back in one. Although it lubricated my throat, my bad feelings weren’t dispelled.
“There’s more than one,” I said, staring at my empty glass.
Murmurs went off all around me.
Jerome narrowed his eyes and craned his neck in toward me. “How many?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. “A lot.”
Groans of angst sounded out around me. It was like hellish laughter in my mind. I rubbed my eyes, regret flooding me.
“That explains how so many angels have died,” Jerome said with a rueful nod. “We’re being hunted by an army. A stone army.”
“But where are they coming from?” Aurora asked.
“And why are they hunting us?” asked Ramirez.
“That’s what we have find out,” I said.
“How?” asked Jerome.
I looked everyone over. They were scared and they were relying on me. I had no choice. I had to contact the Dark Suits and tell them the Loop was infested with gargoyles.
Chapter 12
I didn’t want to go anywhere near the Loop. It was suicide. But I had no choice other than to get the Dark Suits onboard, even though I didn’t want to have anything to do with them. They more or less controlled society, had their finger on the button so to speak, the secret society network that covertly ran things. They’d most likely have all kinds of tech that could be employed on this case and now that it was ongoing on their turf, they’d no doubt want to be in the loop, excuse the pun. I just hoped it wouldn’t cost me much to seek their help.
I told Aurora to wait at the Guild for me. She wanted to come with, but I was hot property now around the Loop and I couldn’t risk putting her in danger. The gargoyles were after me and the other half-angels. The Dark Bearer looked to be off limits. Well, only if you discounted Tarron Skalanis, but he was firmly on the back burner for now. We had to get a handle on this gargoyle problem first, then worry about satanic elves later.
I used a trick of the light masking spell on myself and made my way to the Loop. I parked my Harley nearby and took the back alley route to Dark Suits Tower. The whole time, I felt like a lemming walking to my death. I was staring at everyone and everything, my head twitching to every sound. My breathing was ragged, anxiety gnawing away at my nerves like termites on wood. I was like a junkie on his way to score a fix, scared of being busted by the cops. I was in the jungle and I was the defenseless fawn entering a den of pumas.
I made it near Dark Suits HQ and I stopped to gaze up that building. I envisaged gargoyles loitering on the roof and I shivered. I scanned the area. A couple of Dark Suits were stationed at the entrance, dressed in their obligatory black trim suits, shades and earpieces. Tweedledum and Tweedledee. I hoped my contact in the Dark Suits, Mr. Smith, was around or I’d have a helluva job getting inside. I approached the entrance with edgy steps. The identical twin Dark Suits on the door noticed me coming and lifted fingertips up to their earpieces.
I removed the trick of the light at the last moment and they both flinched in unison, but the shock was short-lived.
“You’re trespassing, sir,” Tweedledum informed me. “Please vacate the premises.”
“I need to see Mr. Smith,” I said to them with a huff.
“Which one?” Tweedledee asked.
I gave them a big shrug. “The one I spoke to last time I was here.”
They both gave one another dumb stares.
“Put the word out to every Mr. Smith in the building that Gabriel Stone is here and it’s urgent. That should do the trick.”
Tweedledee touched his earpiece and began talking. Tweedledum just stared right through me. Like I wasn’t there. Or neither was he. I gave him a crooked grin. “You ever go to O’Reilly’s?” I asked him. He just continued to stare at me.
“Best Guinness in town,” I told him. “Brew it in Milwaukee. None of that fake stuff.”
The guy just stared at me, non-responsive. Man, do these guys run off a computer program or something? If they did, did the program have a humor override? He continued to stare, his head gleaming under the nearby lights like it was made of plastic. A shiver crawled up and down my spine the more I stared. I gulped, discomfort scuttling all over me. I didn’t know who was creepier, gargoyles or these guys.
“Mr. Smith will see you, Mr. Stone,” Tweedledee said, removing his fingers from his earpiece. “He’s waiting on floor sixty-two.”
I gave him a quick nod. “Thanks.” They cleared the way and I stepped toward the entrance.
I pointed at Tweedledum as I went past him. “Remember. O’Reilly’s. I highly recommend it. Especially on a Friday night.”
They both gave one another a cursory glance then went back to watching the street. Weirdos.
I went through the revolving door and I was in the foyer: a cold marble hallway with a plastic plant in a pot sitting in between the elevators. A couple of pieces of ‘art’ hung on the stone-cold walls. A blue rectangle on one and a green triangle on the other. Whoever was in control of interior design in this place deserved an award for real. I gave the Dark Suit standing to attention by the elevator a nod and pushed the call button. I’d barely removed my finger from it when the elevator doors flew open, the empty elevator beyond awaiting me. I stepp
ed in and clicked the button for floor sixty-two.
“Going up,” the mechanical voice informed me, which sounded more human than the Dark Suits themselves. The elevator ascended at what felt like the speed of sound. I almost toppled and fell but managed to keep my balance. The elevator ground to a halt, and the doors zipped open.
“Floor sixty-two,” the voice told me. I trudged out of the elevator, my stomach still on floor thirteen.
“Have a nice day,” the voice said after me.
“Shove it!” I said back. The doors flew closed.
I was just getting myself together when I was accosted by two more indekit Dark Suits in shades.
“Hey!” I said as they patted me down with rough hands. One found Bam Bam and pulled her out and checked her over.
“What you gawking at, pumpkin head?” Bam Bam said to him.
The other idiot grabbed hold of Excalibur’s hilt and unsheathed him. Before I could say ‘hey, don’t do that,’ Excalibur dropped to the smoke-gray carpet like he weighed as much as a killer whale, taking the Dark Suit with him. The asshole’s shades almost fell off his face as he hit the carpet.
I sighed and shook my head. “Excuse me,” I said, bending over and grabbing up Excalibur, lifting him off the ground like he weighed next to nothing. I held him up high; his blade glinted against the fluorescent lights overhead. The Dark Suit got back to his feet and took up an attacking stance. He had a Taser in his hand and was aiming it at my chest.
“First of all,” I said to him, sheathing Excalibur back into my scabbard. “You need divinity to lift Excalibur. Something neither of you guys have. Secondly, I don’t take kindly to people aiming weapons at me when I’m on a friendly visit. Now either shoot and then dump me in the street, or take me to Mr. Smith ’cause I’ve got some urgent news for him. Thank you.”