by E A Price
Both Andrew’s friend and his fiancée left town suddenly. Uncle Chris thought that was odd and even mentioned it in passing to Andrew when he saw him in town. He thought Brenda wasn’t listening, but she heard every word. Andrew looked worried for a moment before he told Chris that they left because he found out they were having an affair and kicked them out. He didn’t look very cut up about it. But then he virtually panted after Maggie, so maybe he was relieved. Chris wasn’t entirely satisfied with this explanation, but then he was naturally paranoid.
Maybe something weird was going on at the house. God, she hoped it wasn’t orgies. So gross. She’d lost her virginity to Kevin, and they’d had sex a handful of times after that, but in no way was she experienced when it came to those matters. All her times with Kevin had been awkward and unsatisfying, but Kevin assured her it got better.
Brenda sighed. She missed him. Or at least, she missed not feeling lonely. Chris was great to her – she begrudgingly admitted that, but he wasn’t around much.
“Jeez, Bob. Looks like you’re my best friend.”
He stopped licking himself and looked up her.
“Real classy, Bob. Let’s go home.”
She tugged on the leash but froze as she heard a growl. Bob whined.
“Maybe it was a car backfiring,” she suggested hopefully. “You don’t get bears up here, do you, Bob?”
No answer.
“Maybe we should go.”
Bob was jogging away before she even finished her sentence, dragging her with him. The odd thing was, she could swear that the growl came from the Hardcastle grounds.
Chapter Seven
Ric tensed watching the deer, readying to pounce. His mouth was almost watering at the thought of fresh meat. The type Kylie got – prepared and in plastic wrapping – was not the same. It should be, but it wasn’t.
The thrill of the hunt thundered through his body, and blood pumping, he leaped forward just as the deer looked up, startled by a noise. The animal evaded his grasp and sprinted away.
Ric growled and turned just as a human female skidded to a halt in front of him. Her mouth fell open in horror, and Ric held his breath. Faint, tinny music sounded from her earphones. She was wearing tight clothes and what he understood were running shoes. Kylie had a pair - he had not seen her wear them.
He hesitated, unsure what to do or say. It was one thing to want to get out in the world and speak to strangers. It was another to come face to face with one.
They both stood still, staring at one another for a few beats. Her in disbelief; him, unsure as to what to do next.
Slowly, she reached up and pulled her earphones out.
Ric held up his hand. “Hello.”
Her eyes widened, and wordlessly she ran in the opposite direction. Ric growled and hurtled after her. She was impressively fast for a human, but not fast enough. He reached her and grabbed her in his arms. She kicked and struggled, but it was no use. His arms were like steel bands around her. Eventually, after realizing the futility of her actions, she stopped and went limp.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she whimpered.
A flash of annoyance washed through him. Humans always expected the worst of gargoyles. “I am not going to hurt you, but you must not run.”
“I won’t, I promise,” she said, her voice wobbling.
Gently, he loosened his grip, and she quickly scrambled away from him, scooting as far back as she dare. She was almost comically afraid.
“What… what are you?” she whispered.
Ric looked at her directly, and she lowered her eyes.
“I am… different to you.”
“Different?” she spluttered. “No fucking kidding!” She looked up in shock and then down again.
Her inability to meet his eyes irritated him. “My kind are called gargoyles.”
“Like the statues?”
“Yes, they were named after us.”
“But aren’t they all really old?”
Time to change the subject. “What were you doing out here in the woods alone?”
The female looked up and, had he recognized it, Ric would have known that she was giving him a ‘duh’ look. “Just taking a run. Clears my head.”
“At night?”
“I have trouble sleeping.”
Ric narrowed his eyes. It did not seem likely to him, but then humans – particularly females - did odd things that didn’t always make sense. Why would any female wish to wear shoes that were uncomfortable just because they made her legs look longer? Kylie had tried to explain it to him, to no avail.
“You are from the town?”
She paused for a second. “I’m passing through.”
Heavy silence fell, every sound of the surrounding woods amplified aggressively.
Finally, she asked, “Who are you? What are you doing out here?”
She had seen him. She could go out into the world and report she had seen a gargoyle. From what Kylie had told them, most would think she was crazy, but of those who would believe her, some would not welcome the news of his race’s reawakening with open arms. He needed to be careful what he told her.
“I was out here hunting.”
“Hunting? Hunting Bambi?”
Ric pursed his lips. “I do not hunt humans.”
She tilted her head to the side and frowned.
“My name is Amalric, but you may call me Ric. What is yours?”
“Chloe,” she said shyly.
Her cringing bothered him. Her whole attitude bothered him. It almost seemed like she was acting in the way that she thought she should, as thought she was false.
“Are there more like you?”
Ric stared at her, and she looked away again.
“What are you going to do to me?”
He should take her back to the house. He should hand her over to Luc and allow him to deal with her, but a part of him balked at that idea.
What would Luc do? Perhaps he would have Kylie perform a spell on her to make her forget. Perhaps he would keep her prisoner, lock her away until she agreed never to speak of their kind again. Perhaps he would kill her. Grudgingly, Ric would admit that Luc was a good leader, but would he hesitate when it came to protecting his clan? What was one human female to the future of their entire race?
He did not like any of the options available.
“What will you do if I let you go?” he asked.
“I’d… I suppose I’d go back to be the bed and breakfast and have a shower.” She giggled. “I’m all sweaty.”
He furrowed his brow. “What will you tell people about me?”
Chloe fidgeted. “I don’t think I’ll tell them anything.”
“Why not?”
“I… I don’t know. I just guess I don’t want to tell anyone about you. They’ll think I’m crazy, or they’ll try to hurt you. I don’t want either of those things to happen.”
Ric grunted. “Why would you care what happens to me?”
“I… I’m not sure, but I feel like I can trust you.”
She looked up at him shyly through her lashes and Ric felt an unfamiliar sensation. His skin prickled, but something inside him softened.
Chloe stood up and wiped her hands on her trousers. “Can we meet again? If you don’t think I’m being too forward.”
“I’m not sure that is a good idea,” he said slowly.
“Please, I’d like to see you again. Meeting you has been a real eye opener, I’d like to learn more about you.”
He gave her a wary look.
“Or maybe just get to know you.”
Ric felt the oddest sensation for the first time in his life. A female wished to spend time with him. A sliver of vanity shot through him.
“I suppose we could meet tomorrow night.”
“Not during the day?” she asked innocently.
“No… it is easier for me to move around and not be seen when it is dark.”
She looked at him for a moment with an unidentifiable emotio
n and then nodded. “Here? Same time tomorrow.”
Ric looked up at the moon. “Yes, are you sure you can find your way back from here?”
Chloe let out a small snort. “Of course,” she said confidently and just as quickly she was bashful again. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She gave him a small smile and popped her earphones back in before jogging away. She set off at a steady pace. She was not running; she was not fearful that he would come after her.
Ric watched as his last opportunity to stop her slipped away. He should have taken her to Luc. She knew about him now. She could tell anyone, and he let her go. Why? Because she batted her eyelashes at him.
Heavily, he walked back to the house, considering Chloe and her quivering eyes. He had not thought about human females before, not until he learned of Luc’s mating with Kylie. He was not horrified by it, as he knew his parents, in spite of their cordial relations with humans, would have been. But he was surprised.
Humans had always been off limits to them, and he had never looked at them with lust in his eyes. But Luc, he seemed to both desire his mate and wish to talk to her as if she were a friend. Not something Ric had ever encountered with any female. He was not innocent when it came to the laughingly dubbed gentler sex – the average female gargoyle was anything but gentle. But carnal lust from them and actually spending time with females were two different things.
Chloe, at least, was closer to a female gargoyle form than Kylie, who was small and plump. Chloe was tall and lithe. He could tell she had well-defined muscles. While he supposed humans would find Kylie prettier with her heart shaped face and pouty mouth, Chloe’s face was more angular, her eyes were narrow and her lips thin – much more like a gargoyle.
He would not say he found her attractive, but gargoyle males rarely looked for outer beauty, it was a female’s spirit they preferred, her ability in battle, her mastery of weaponry. Males wished to find a female who would bear him strong younglings and would have the ability to protect the younglings. Even though she was older than him, it was why Annis remained unmated, and probably always would. Annis was barely even a gargoyle; she was closer to a human. And Ric had always wanted a strong mate. It was why he had wanted his clan mate Kara since the moment she could hold a sword.
But she was gone now, he thought bitterly. Chloe, on the other hand, was here.
Although she had seemed frightened at first, she did not look at him with repulsion. She was interested in him, even keen to see him again.
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. It was not the human way for a male to simply declare he wanted the female for his mate. It took days, weeks maybe even months and years to woo human females. They were coy like that. A female gargoyle tended to be just as forthright as the males.
Maybe he shouldn’t see her again. But then what was his alternative? Watching Charlie’s Angels with Gracchus? Watching as Annis hopelessly tried to subdue Dragoslava? Witnessing the affection between his chief and Kylie?
A thousand years was a long time to be alone. A little company could not hurt, and he already felt a little less angry.
*
Bell looked up and smiled laconically. “Where have you been, Lieutenant?”
Chloe smirked at him, eagerly anticipating the effect of the bomb she was about to drop on her arrogant, commanding officer. “Wandering around the woods with a gargoyle.”
“What?!”
A few of their other teammates looked up, each with matching startled expressions. She relished the attention.
“I was trying to plant hidden cameras around the perimeter of the Hardcastle estate when I ran into one of the creatures.”
Silence reigned in the room as everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her.
“You’re serious?” Bell asked in disbelief.
“Deadly,” she said smugly.
“Was it Ophelia? Or Lucifer?”
“Neither, he called himself Amalric.”
“And you made it out alive?” asked Pike, a teammate who had once made the mistake of insulting Ophelia. He was lucky he only had the one scar after that encounter. Shame it covered half his face.
“Clearly.” She gestured to her clothes. “I told him I was out for a run, I acted all scared of him, and the gullible monster lapped it all up.”
“You could have been killed!” gasped Johnson, one of the new recruits who had yet actually to meet a gargoyle.
Chloe shrugged. “I didn’t expect him to be there. Besides, I had my gun.”
“You know we’re not to kill them,” said Bell quietly.
“I would have just winged him, or shot him in the wing, whatever.”
“Are there others?”
“He didn’t say, and I didn’t push him, not on our first date anyway.”
“What?!”
“I made him agree to meet me again tomorrow night, and he said yes.”
Bell gaped at her. “You’re serious?”
“You keep asking that and yes, I’m serious. With all those magical shields around the house, there’s no way we’d get through without anyone inside the house knowing. So, all we have to do is get in place and nab him tomorrow. Then the council can do whatever they want with him.”
“Are you sure he was not Lucifer?” asked Monroe, the tech whizz. He flipped through their pictures of gargoyles. They had been drawn based on descriptions from Ophelia.
“Isn’t Lucifer supposed to be red? This one was blue. He had short horns and pale blonde hair. He was about six foot five, and I reckon with enough electricity we can…”
“No,” said Bell.
Chloe scowled. “No? This just fell into our laps, and you don’t…”
“No, we don’t take him yet. You are right this situation fell into our laps. We shouldn’t act rashly and take him; it would make Lucifer and whoever else is hiding in there suspicious. We don’t want one gargoyle; we want them all. Meet with him, find out who else is in that house – we will find a way to get them all.”
“If you can handle that,” sneered Pike.
Chloe glared at him. “Yeah, unlike you, I can handle one fugly monster.”
Chapter Eight
“Going out again, boy?” asked Gracchus.
Ric gave him a peevish look. For such a large creature, Gracchus moved very stealthily.
“Yeah, I thought I’d take a short flight. Nothing outside the grounds,” he lied. “I thought it would be okay because it is cloudy tonight.”
“Hmmm.”
Ric stilled under Gracchus’ penetrating gaze. After a few moments, the older gargoyle shrugged.
“Luc wants us here tonight. Maggie and Andrew are due back, and he wants to perform the spell on the new gargoyles straight away. He wants us all to be there.”
Ric looked towards the woods. Chloe would be waiting for him, just as she had been the past three nights.
Gracchus followed his gaze. “Something wrong?”
“No.”
“Good, I think I hear the vehicle arriving now.”
Gracchus walked away, and Ric breathed in and out. He would just be late. The spell would not take long. Kylie would awaken them. Luc would give his boring speech about reuniting the gargoyles. Hopefully, they would not go berserk like Dragoslava, and then Annis would prepare them food while Gracchus showed them how the TV worked. In an hour, he could slip away and go see Chloe.
He pulled the cell phone Chloe had given him out of his belt; he kept it hidden behind his wing – it was their secret. Admittedly, he had not wanted to take it from her, but she insisted and said she wanted to be able to contact him at all times.
She had laughed, raucously as he tried to use it. He had used Kylie’s before, but this was a very different model. He had smiled and tried to hide his irritation at her reaction.
Ric recalled Kylie trying to teach Luc how to use an iPad, she had smiled sweetly, and teased him gently, but she had done so in encouragement, and out of affection. Chloe almost snorted with laugh
ter at his expense, and he did not like it. But then she had batted her eyelashes, and he had felt that strange stirring within him, and he had ignored his annoyance at her.
He texted her that he would be late to their meeting.
Perhaps he was being too hard on her; Chloe had been nothing but kind to him. She was interested in him, asking questions and listening to the answers with rapt attention. His wariness was ebbing, and he found that he was enjoying the company. He could talk to her in ways he could not do so with his clan. He found the words spilling out of him, telling her how frustrated he had been, and she listened with sympathy and was compassionate to the plight of all gargoyles.
However, the most joy he found with Chloe was in listening to her describe all the interesting places she had visited. It was one thing to see them on the TV, with Gracchus chuckling wildly next to him; it was another to listen to someone who had actually been there. The world was such a different place, and living within the confines of the house in no way showed him what it could be like. He enjoyed hearing of her experiences, although he couldn’t help the twinge of longing it brought with it.
Chloe texted back immediately. Why? What’s happening?
Nothing. Have to attend a meeting. See you soon.
Ric was still reticent about some things. She knew he was not the only one of his kind, but he tried not to talk about the others too much. He was beginning to trust Chloe, but he could not live with himself if something happened to one of his new clan or the humans helping them. She did not need to know how many there were, or even their names. Although, maybe one day that would change.
He had considered what would happen if Chloe did become his mate. She was female, she was available, and she had accepted his presence – surely that was the least anyone could hope for in a mate?
He could not imagine that they would share the same affection as Kylie and Luc. But then most matings were not born of that. He could not imagine Chloe falling asleep in his lap while reading a book, as Kylie did with Luc. He could not imagine himself stroking her hair or tenderly kissing her forehead either. Gargoyles did not tend to behave that way. A male gargoyle was more likely to compliment his female’s ability to swing a blade than cuddle with her.