by Cheree Alsop
“Watch that first step,” Officer Darold said.
Aleric climbed back to his feet and glared at the officer. The human met his gaze with a sneer.
“Perhaps we should call Animal Control to put you down,” Officer Darold suggested.
“Oh, you mean because I’m a werewolf?” Aleric replied. “If I wanted to, I could snap these cuffs and tear through your throat in less than two seconds. Your fellow officers wouldn’t even have time to clear their guns from their holsters before you’re dead on the ground.”
Shock and horror filled the officer’s gaze. Aleric climbed inside the SUV. While he may have over-exaggerated a bit, he didn’t feel there was any harm in it, especially since the officer sat as far away from him as possible when the man finally climbed inside at the Mayor’s sharp order.
The driver pulled away from the alley. The silence that filled the vehicle bothered Aleric. Each second ticking away brought Lilian and the other bite victims that much closer to death.
“Are you going to tell me what this is about?” Aleric asked, meeting the Mayor’s gaze. “Lives are on the line here.”
“Need I remind you that you’re not a real doctor?” the Mayor replied.
Aleric held her green gaze until she shifted in her seat and looked out the window.
“I don’t know who freed you from the station in the first place, but I have a very good idea,” the Mayor continued without looking at him. “Your kind has placed this city in a very precarious position. The sooner we can return to normal, the better.”
“I agree,” Aleric replied.
The Mayor looked back at him, her expression showing her surprise. “I figured you were enjoying your little vacation in our city.”
Aleric held her gaze. “If you call nearly dying more times than is healthy, being pummeled by demons, fighting off goblins, and being arrested twice in the past week a vacation, then remind me never to run for mayor.”
He wondered if he imagined the ghost of a smile on her face that disappeared almost before it began.
“Dr. Wolf—”
“You can call me Aleric,” he told her.
She didn’t appear pleased at his suggestion. “Dr. Wolf, you are not under arrest.”
Aleric was caught off-guard by her words. “The handcuffs suggest otherwise.”
“It’s merely a formality,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow. “Your formalities are a bit more on the criminal detainee end of the spectrum than those in Blays.”
She crossed her arms. “Dr. Wolf, if you aren’t going to be serious, then having you here is useless.”
“I’m very serious about handcuffs, Mayor Perlis. I have a sneaking suspicion these were coated with silver, which werewolves happen to be allergic to. Were they made special order for Officer Darold?”
The Mayor gave the officer a straight look. “Officer Darold, please remove the handcuffs.”
Officer Darold stared at her. “But he’s a fae,” he said the word as if it contained all that was evil in the world, “And he’s dangerous. It would be a bad idea to—”
“Remove the handcuffs,” the Mayor repeated in a tone that left no room for argument.
Aleric wondered how long it had taken her to perfect that tone. She definitely had it down to an art.
He turned and the officer unlocked the handcuffs, pulling them roughly from his wrists.
Aleric brought his hands around. Bright, angry red marks showed where the handcuffs had been.
“They were silver?” the Mayor asked.
Aleric nodded. “Did it cost a lot to get those coated?” he asked the officer dryly. “It’s a minor inconvenience for me, but I suppose it took a great chunk out of your coin pouch.”
“I don’t have a coin pouch,” Officer Darold replied.
“Don’t tell that to the ladies,” Aleric told him with a wink. “It’s not something they’d want to hear.”
The officer glared at him.
Mayor Perlis cleared her throat. “Back to the topic at hand. I need your help.”
Aleric pushed down any show at being surprised. “How can I be of assistance?”
“There are four huge rock beasts inside the Capitol Building and I need you to get rid of them immediately.”
Chapter Nine
Aleric’s heart skipped a beat. “Did you say four rock beasts?”
The Mayor nodded. “Yes, and they’ve upset all business at the Capitol Building. I need them gone immediately.”
Aleric couldn’t help staring. “And why do you think I can get rid of them?”
“That’s what you do, isn’t it?” she replied.
Aleric shook his head. “What I do is try to save the lives of fae creatures at the hospital.”
“There you go,” the Mayor said. “Save lives by getting the four beasts out of the Capitol Building.”
“It’s not quite that easy,” Aleric told her. He felt the car slow. “If the beasts are what you say they are, they’re gargoyles.”
“What’s that?” the Mayor asked.
Aleric looked out the window at the white building they pulled in front of. A creature made of black marble stalked past the main front doors. Its huge claws gouged the thick tile floor. The gargoyle turned its head and met Aleric’s gaze; frost ran through the werewolf’s veins.
“They’re Dark fae,” he said. “As big as minotaurs but on all fours, usually the pets of demons and the strongest creatures in Blays.”
The gargoyle let out a roar. Smoke billowed from its mouth and the glass that fronted the building cracked but didn’t fall. The officers and guards along the stairs and the sidewalk put their hands over their ears.
“No matter what they are, I need them gone and I don’t want to risk officers who don’t know what they’re doing.” The Mayor met Aleric’s gaze with a frankness she hadn’t shown before. “Dr. Wolf, I think you’re the only one who can get them out of there before anyone else gets hurt. I have nowhere else to turn.”
Aleric replied quietly, “I believe you because I know asking me for help is the last thing you want to do.”
The Mayor nodded. “Exactly. I’m glad we understand each other.”
“Me, too,” the werewolf said, his tone dry.
Aleric looked at the building, then back at the Mayor. There was no doubt if anyone else went inside, they would be killed. Raging gargoyles were not to be trifled with. The Mayor was right. He was their best bet. That didn’t mean much, considering the circumstances.
He let out a breath. “I’ll do it.”
Officer Darold climbed out of the car and held the door open.
“Have fun with that,” he said as Aleric climbed out after him.
“I’m surrounded by demons,” Aleric muttered.
Officer Ling and several others met him at the bottom of the steps.
“Dr. Wolf, are you sure you should go in there?” Officer Ling asked.
A light flashed. Aleric looked over the officer’s shoulder to see members of the press hurrying up. Crew members were filming the gargoyles while reporters filled in the public about what was happening at the Capitol Building.
“There’s Dr. Wolf!” someone shouted.
“Dr. Wolf, a question,” another said.
The crews rushed over.
Officer Ling and his comrades blocked the press from reaching Aleric.
“Let him do his job,” Officer Ling told them.
“And what does that job entail?” a woman with short hair asked.
“Is Dr. Wolf going to get the creatures from the Capitol Building?” another asked.
“Breaking news,” Aleric heard a reporter say. “Dr. Wolf, the famed werewolf doctor from Edge City Hospital, has been brought by Mayor Perlis herself to address the issue of the demonic creatures in the Capitol Building. Will the doctor be successful where so many others have failed? Will the werewolf be able to stop the monsters who have halted the ability of our leaders to perform their duties in safety? Or will E
dge City continue to plummet deeper into the demon spiral that has plagued us since the Rift let fae into our city and our lives?”
“That’s getting a bit dramatic,” Aleric muttered under his breath.
He walked up the steps. Behind him, he could hear other reporters taking up the first one’s story. The sound of cameras and the breathless talking behind him set Aleric on edge. He didn’t know what he was rushing into, but he knew what he was running away from. He opened the front door and ducked into the welcoming blanket of darkness inside. He had no idea how the gargoyles had managed to cut the power, but the tinted glass and the dark interior were almost welcome.
“If I wasn’t about to become the meal of some demon’s pets,” Aleric said to himself, “I might say this place is inviting.” Instinct whispered at the back of his mind. There was a scent that tangled in his nostrils, one that he would never forget. The ash and pepper scent of demons told him he was dealing with more than just gargoyles. Someone had placed them in the Capitol Building. Perhaps the reporter was right. If all clues pointed to Archdemon Pravus, maybe he was trapped in a demon spiral. He took walked forward with the feeling of stepping deeper into that spiral with no idea how to climb back out.
“Hello, putrid, stinky gargoyles. Where are you?” Aleric called out.
A bellow sounded from deeper in the building.
“That sounds promising,” Aleric muttered. “Head toward the raging beast. Always a good idea. Where’s Dartan when I need him to tell me I’m being an idiot?”
Aleric walked further into the building. The high ceilings gave way to many hallways that branched in circular paths in both directions. A crash made Aleric choose one of the right-hand halls. He walked slowly, careful to avoid the shattered statues, broken picture frames, and decimated busts that lined the hallway. Huge claws had torn rents along both walls and the gouges that cut into the tiled floor showed claws far bigger than Aleric’s feet.
A sound caught his ear. Aleric crept forward to one of the offices on the right. A glance inside showed a huge black marble beast with its horned head stuck inside a desk drawer. It moved the drawer along the ground, clawing at the wood in an attempt to yank its head back out, but one of its forward-curling horns had hooked around the handle, wedging it securely to the beast’s face.
“You get points for stupidity,” Aleric said.
The gargoyle’s head jerked up in Aleric’s direction. The beast slammed its head against the ground once, twice, and on the third time the drawer shattered completely so that only the handle and a scrap of wood hung from its horn.
“Troll dung,” Aleric swore.
The Dark fae creature charged with more speed than a beast its size should have been able to muster.
Aleric dove to the right and rolled. The gargoyle slammed into the wall next to the door, barreling a gigantic hole through it. Aleric pushed back to his feet and ran around the other side of the desk. The gargoyle turned, its claws scrambling for purchase within the rubble that covered the floor. It gave a snort and smoke billowed out of its nostrils.
“You really should get that looked at,” Aleric suggested.
The creature’s eyes narrowed. It lowered its head and charged, not bothering to go around the desk, but tearing straight through the middle.
Aleric dodged to the left as a huge piece of the desk hit the wall where he had been standing. He looked around quickly for a way to fight back. He had no chance of stopping the beast by tackling it. The creature outweighed him by at least a ton, and once it got moving, the only way to halt its progress appeared to be when it ran into something solid. Given the state of the room around him, Aleric was going to run out of walls quickly.
“Dark fae,” Aleric said aloud, running through what he knew as he dodged yet another of the creature’s attempts to impale him on horns longer than his arms. “Creature of the night. Demon pet. Apparently fairies give them indigestion. Thanks to Forsythe for that bit of knowledge.”
Aleric jumped onto one of the broken desk pieces. When the gargoyle hit it, he leaped into the air at the last minute, barely clearing the creature’s back before the desk was shattered completely.
Aleric hit the ground and rolled to a stop against the far wall. He pushed up to a standing position.
“Sunlight.” The thought was sudden and sharp. It was his only weapon. He would have to be sure.
The biggest window in the room was near where the desk had been. Aleric picked up half of the clay face of a broken bust. He hoped the woman didn’t mind him using her sculpture in such a way.
He crossed to the middle of the room as the gargoyle shook its head to clear it of the pieces of drywall that covered its face.
“Here Brainless,” he called.
The gargoyle snorted and turned.
“That’s it, Brick for Brains, come get me,” Aleric taunted.
The gargoyle charged. Drywall, debris from the desk, and chunks of tile flew up into the air. The creature barreled toward Aleric. He held his breath, willing himself to wait. At the last possible second, Aleric threw the clay face at the window and dove out of the way.
The sound of shattering glass was met with the bellow of the gargoyle. Aleric hit the ground hard. He glanced over his shoulder.
The gargoyle stood frozen in its stone position, its head and shoulders out the wide window and sunlight spilling around it.
Shouts of surprise came from outside. Aleric put a hand on the gargoyle. It was solid rock.
“Dr. Wolf?” Mayor Perlis called.
“It’s alright,” Aleric said, leaning out the window beside the creature. “In the sunlight, they become statues. We need to move them to the hospital until we can figure out what to do with them.”
“I’ll get a crew on it,” the Mayor replied.
Aleric ducked back into the building.
“Three left,” he said. He paused by the door and glanced out. “Three more just might kill me.”
Aleric wondered how to get the others into the sunlight. He could hear them stalking around the two-story building. At least two were on the next level. The sound of their steps reverberated through the hallways. He walked past several wrecked offices, his senses straining for any signs of the Dark fae.
“I’m doing this wrong,” he said as the thought occurred to him.
Aleric ducked into one of the offices and pulled off his shirt. He phased and stepped back into the hallway.
Everything looked different in wolf form. The colors of his human eyes had been replaced by the varied shades of gray of his wolven eyesight. It didn’t look any less beautiful, though. There were so many more shades of gray and depths of black than a human’s eyes could detect. It helped him see in the darkness and made it easier to pick up movements his human eyes would have missed.
Aleric’s ears twitched. Something was waiting for him in the next room. It was still, nearly as still as a statue, but even the gargoyles in their Dark form had to breathe.
Aleric padded forward on silent paws. Adrenaline pulsed through his veins, heightening his senses. He could tell by the sound that the creature was waiting just inside the door on the right side. The door was open barely wide enough for him to fit through. If he was fast, he might be able to take out the second one unscathed. If he was fast.
Aleric’s muscles bunched. He would only have one shot if his plan was going to succeed. It was foolhardy, but then most of his plans were. Dartan would definitely agree with him.
Aleric darted through the door and bit the gargoyle right on its nose. His teeth scraped the hard flesh before he let go.
The gargoyle drew back with a bellow of pain. Aleric was nearly to the door when the gargoyle backed against it, trapping the werewolf inside. Aleric looked around quickly for any other means of escape, but he found himself in one of the interior offices without a window.
Cursing his stupidity because Dartan wasn’t there to do it for him, Aleric ducked the creature’s attempt to tear his head off with its massive cl
aws and darted beneath it. The gargoyle spun around faster than Aleric was ready. It swatted him to the side. He hit the wall and fell to the floor near the door. Aleric needed the door open, and there was one way to do that. He moved in front of the wooden door and bared his teeth, then let out a snarl that would have done a banshee proud.
The gargoyle charged. Aleric jumped at the last moment. The gargoyle crashed through the door, sending splinters and hinges into the air. Aleric leaped over the gargoyle and took off at a gallop down the hall. A roar sounded behind him much closer than he thought it should be. He glanced back and saw that the gargoyle was right on his heels. He had no idea the creatures could run so fast.
Aleric yelped when a massive paw batted him across the hallway. The werewolf regained his feet and kept running. The light of the front entrance drew him on. He galloped faster, his paws sliding on debris but catching again. Aleric was almost to the glass doors. If he could just make it, perhaps the creature would turn to stone in the hallway.
The beast was too close. Aleric only had one chance. He lowered his head and dove into the glass doorway just as the gargoyle reached him.
Glass shattered, hitting the cement steps with a sound like a howling pixie’s laughter. Aleric slammed to the ground and the great mass of the gargoyle landed on top of him. He blacked out.
“Help Dr. Wolf!”
Officer Ling’s voice pierced Aleric’s thoughts. He couldn’t breathe. Something was weighing him down.
Aleric knew he couldn’t have been out for more than a second or two by the sound of the glass still settling on the cement. Footsteps ran up the stairs.
“Push!” Officer Ling commanded.
“Come on everyone,” the Mayor’s voice called. “Hurry.”
Aleric opened his eyes to see officers, guards, citizens, and the Mayor pushing on the massive front end of the now-stone gargoyle. The pressure eased from his back. Aleric tried to move. His claws scrabbled on the concrete but he couldn’t gain any purchase to pull himself free.