When A Gargoyle Flies (Gargoyles Book 3) (17 page)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Andrew rolled his eyes and wished he had brought Maggie with him.  He was worried about Chris and Annis too, but he could do without this.  Maggie wouldn’t have put up with the gargoyles’ bullshit.  The two males were arguing again – loudly and in the motel room.  Andrew feared someone was going to hear them and come running.  How he could explain away two enormous gargoyles, he had no idea.

“This room smells of coupling.  Annis has coupled with that damn human!” snarled Castor.

“Annis can do as she chooses, and Chris is a friend to the clan.”

“Clearly so that he may take advantage of our females!”

Andrew tried to imagine Chris as the type to run around seducing gargoyles.  He wouldn’t have thought any gargoyle would be easily seduced!

“You are a fool.  We are here to ensure their safety, whether they choose to indulge in sexual intercourse is not our concern right now.”

“Trust you to be so uncaring.  There are so few female gargoyles in the world – they should only be permitted to mate with other gargoyles.”

“I will not put such boundaries onto my clan.”

“Of course not, but then you are a human lover, you traitor!”

The males were virtually locking horns and about to indulge in a throw down when Andrew clapped his hands.  “Guys!  We can’t do this right now, and we certainly can’t do this here.”

Castor flicked his tail and hissed while Luc grudgingly nodded in agreement.

Andrew tried not to roll his eyes again – they were going to get stuck there one day.  “I say we grab all of Chris and Annis’ stuff and get out of here and think of a plan.”

“I will not be told what to do by a human,” complained Castor, who had never looked more like a sullen teenager than he did at that moment.

“Andrew is clan,” rumbled Luc.  “You had better learn to respect humans or there will no longer be a place for you in the clan.”

“Then maybe I should find another clan.”

That started another round of arguing and Andrew took a seat.  He wasn’t going anywhere.

*

Chris rearranged his pants – they were a little tight in the groinal region.  Perhaps he should scratch his balls too, or at least his ass.  He was still feeling a little discombobulated from his tearful outbreak to Annis.  Three years he kept that in and with a few polite words she managed to pry it out of him.  He didn’t know whether to yell at her or throw her on the ground and kiss her all over – he’d certainly prefer the latter.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever let go of the guilt over Mara.  When it came to his marriage, he’d acted rashly, foolishly, and she had acted even more foolishly, but she lost her life.  They should never have married, but when they did, he should have made more of an effort.  It was easier to ignore all the problems with his marriage, to ignore all the issues Mara had, so he did, and it ended in tragedy.  But he wasn’t the only one to blame, and he had to move on.

The tracking chip had been dumped on the ground, covered with a pile of sticks - which, if someone was boneheaded enough, might be mistaken for a cowering gargoyle.  They had found some bear traps to encircle it – carefully covering them with leaves.

Annis, in spite of her objections, was in a tree, hiding.  Her balance and climbing skills were remarkable.  Chris would have thought her wings would have been cumbersome, but she scuttled up the tree like a squirrel.

She did not wish to be out of the way, but all the men who were likely on their way to them were after her.  If their half-baked plan fell apart, one of them could spot her and shoot.  He did not want to risk that.

Zach, now only in his underwear, had been moved to a tree further away, gagged - because his death threats were getting old – and also covered in leaves.  It wouldn’t really fool anyone if they looked too closely, but on first glance, he kind of looked like a bush.

One by one, the least stealthy hunters in the world crept towards the hidden chip.  Lord, Elmer Fudd could have done a better job than them.  They spotted one another and called out angry greetings to one another.  Each telling the other to fuck off and that they were going to bag the gargoyle first.

None of you are bagging my gargoyle Chris thought grimly.

On seeing the competition, all four of the hunters became reckless and ran towards where they thought Annis was.  Like dominoes, they fell to the traps, each screaming as the metal jaws clamped on their legs.

With his last burst of speed, Chris sprang up and ran to them, ordering them to put their guns away.  None of them paid any attention to him, but none were holding their guns anymore.  They were all clutching at their respective legs and couldn’t give a fig about Chris aiming a rifle at them.

Slowly, Chris lowered his weapon and considered which of the four men would be the best option to give him an idea about how to get through the electric fence.

“Holy hell!” grumbled a voice behind him.  “What have you done?”

Chris spun and a fist connected with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground.  The black-clad man who had to be called Haddock took his rifle away.

Carlton with a gaping mouth surveyed the four whining hunters.  Haddock took the opportunity to kick Chris in the ribs.  He was about to go for another kick when a growl a tiger would be proud of sounded behind them.

Haddock spun to see Annis flying towards him, wings outstretched, purple eyes flashing, and claws reaching for him.  The impact of Annis crashing into him sent him careening along the ground, and Annis shifted her wings, curving her trajectory towards Carlton.  The large man started trying to run away, but he was certainly not built for running, and Annis landed on him, dragging him to the ground.  She pounded her fists and claws into him as he groaned and cried.

Chris, with a lot of effort, dragged himself over to Haddock.  He was relieved that the man was knocked out cold.  Chris really didn’t have much fight left in him.

With the little energy he had left, he stumbled over to Annis.  Carlton was looking at Chris with pleading eyes as Annis raised her claws.  Chris went against his first instinct and stopped her – Carlton deserved it and so much more, but Annis was not a killer.  Chris gripped her wrist and she whipped her head in his direction, eyes flashing and fangs bared.

“Annis, sweetheart, it’s over.”

Her nostrils flared, and she let out a small growl.  Her eyes darted between him and Carlton, still cowering beneath her.  After a few moments, her eyes lost their fire and softened to their natural, brilliant lavender hue.

“Chris,” she whispered, climbing to her feet.

Chris pulled her arm around his shoulder and hugged her, burying his face in her silky hair.  She still smelled as fresh and beautiful as ever.  He smelled like a soccer team that had just played eight games in a row.

After a few moments, Annis’ shaking body molded against his and she nuzzled his shoulder.  Chris almost cursed in annoyance as, in spite of his tiredness and his injuries, there was still one part of his body that couldn’t help but get excited by her nearness.  It was getting a little embarrassing.

“You flew,” he grunted, trying to take his mind elsewhere.

“Well, actually I glided.”  She laughed softly without much humor.

“Are you okay?”

“I think my wing might be broken; it did not fare well being airborne.”

Chris leaned back a moment and saw that her scarred wing hung behind her, dragging on the ground, making her slouch.  “You’re in pain,” he grumbled.  She opened her mouth, and he warned her not to lie to him.

Annis closed her lips and nodded.  He thought he was all out of anger, but it just started welling in him again.  Taking Annis’ hand, he drew her behind him and gave Carlton as hard a kick as he could manage at that moment – which was not very hard.

The man’s face and torso were streaked with red – cuts from Annis’ claws.  Chris felt a swell of pride.  She might be kind hearted and gentle, but even a kitten can draw blood when threatened.

“How do we get out of here?” asked Chris, roughly giving Carlton another kick.

The man let out a moan and slowly pulled a small remote control out of his pocket.  He tossed it on the ground.  “I think I’m dying,” he whined.  “I think I’m bleeding internally.”

“Yeah?  Think yourself lucky all your organs are still on the inside.  Unless you’d like them on the outside…”

Chris inclined his head toward Annis, and she dutifully flashed her dangerous talons.  Carlton let out a spluttering cough as he tried to object.

Annis scooped up the device and studied it.  “What does it do?”

“My jeep’s half a mile that way.”  Carlton pointed with a wavering finger.  “It has GPS to the exit.  Push the red button on the control to get through the fence, and then the yellow button gets you through the outer fence.  Take the jeep, take whatever you want and just go.”

Annis handed the device to Chris.

“Are there any more surprises waiting past that fence?” he asked.

“No,” hissed Carlton impatiently.

“No more of your gorillas?”

Carlton’s eyes flickered.  “Just Zach,” he admitted.  “I don’t know where he got to.”

Annis smiled wanly.  “We have already been introduced to Zach; he will not pose an imminent problem.”

Chris aimed the gun at Carlton who uselessly tried to cover his face.

“You don’t have to do that,” Carlton said.

Chris looked at Annis; her eyes shone in the moonlight, and she shook her head.  “No, I don’t,” he said, “and I won’t – but only because she doesn’t want it.  But you better not be lying, or I will be back.”

With agonizing slowness, Chris bent down and punched Carlton in the face, knocking him out.  It sent a jarring pain up Chris’ arm, but he was going to enjoy the look on Carlton’s face for years to come.

Chris struggled to stand up, and Annis helped him, grasping his arm and hooking it over her shoulder.  Together they limped away.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Annis shivered in the back of the jeep.

“You cold?” asked Chris, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror.

Finding the Jeep and getting past the fence had been a breeze and they quickly got the hell away from there, only wondering slightly at the protestors outside the compound.  Chris took note of where it was – he was definitely going to report this place in some way, but he couldn’t risk Annis being there when the authorities showed up.

“I am not cold, but I feel the dawn approaching.  I will be stone in an hour.”

Chris chuckled awkwardly.  “Been a hell of a night, right?”

“Indeed.”

Their eyes met in the mirror before the honking of a truck forced him to look away.  Her purple orbs shined at him.

“I want to put a few miles between us and that place first; then we’ll stop and get something to eat before you need to sleep.  I don’t know about you, but I am dying for something a bit more substantial than energy bars.”

“Yes, I too am hungry.  I am so hungry that I could ride a horse.”

“Do you mean, eat a horse?” he asked cracking a genuine smile.

Her brow furrowed.  “I do not think that would be very appetizing.”

“Yeah, let’s stick with hotdogs.”

*

“I don’t give two rats in a sugar factory,” Carlton howled into the phone, “get everything you can carry.  We need to leave the country!”

Awkwardly, he shuffled the boxes he was carrying to his car and swore as he dropped the framed picture of him meeting the president.  Or at least, one of the former presidents.

“But why?” whined his wife on the other end of the phone.

“Because I said so!” he snapped hanging up.

Why did he think taking the gargoyle and hunting her would be so easy?  He’d never had any trouble with the myriad of vicious beasts he had imported over the years – he assumed the gargoyle wouldn’t be any different.  She’d seemed so meek in person.  Now, she and that shithead of a human were gone, most likely rounding up more gargoyles to come back and eat him.  Did they eat humans?  Probably by the look of their teeth.

He’d been so desperate for money he didn’t stop to think and plan this debacle better.  Bringing that damn cop here was the stupidest thing Zach could have done, but he was pissed about Zeke and not thinking straight.

When Carlton awoke, it was to find Haddock gone, four of his clients still all passed out cold and Zach still absent.  The fifth client was probably still in the recovery room, wondering why Carlton hadn’t returned to take him to the hospital.  Fuck him.  Carlton had himself to worry about.  He didn’t want to stick around long enough for the gargoyles to find him, or for anyone to demand a refund for tonight's misadventure.  He managed to get half a million out of each client for the negligible pleasure of hunting a gargoyle, and that would do nicely to start a new life in Europe.  He’d just have to find a way to curb his wife’s spending.

Carlton made it to his SUV and was about to unlock it when he heard a whoosh behind him.  His heart almost failed him as he turned to find a huge gargoyle smirking at him.  She wrapped her wings around herself and blew him a kiss.

Lord, they’d already sent another of them to kill him.  “It wasn’t my fault,” he stammered.

This one looked far wilder than the pink creature.  This terracotta female looked monstrous.  “Are you not forgetting something?” she drawled.

“W- w – what?”  His hand tightened around the car key, wondering if he could get in and drive away before she reached him.

“We had a deal, human,” she sneered, red eyes raking over his body.  Probably looking for the juiciest meat he thought mournfully.

“W – w – we did?”

“Y – y – yes,” she mocked.  “I want my money.”

“Your money?” he gulped.  “What money?  I don’t know anything about any money.”  He babbled trying to stall her and her wicked claws.  He already had enough slices from the other female, and this one didn’t look like she’d go easy.

“Yes, my money,” she repeated slowly and increasingly impatiently.  “You said you would bring it to me an hour ago.”

Realization dawned, and his jaw virtually hit the ground.  “You’re the one who called me.  You’re the one who told me that you creatures even existed?  Why?”  He couldn’t have been astonished more unless it had been the Loch Ness monster standing in front of him.

The female shrugged unconcernedly.  “I needed the money, and I wanted the gargoyle dead.”

Carlton looked away quickly, and she hissed at him.  “He is dead, isn’t he?”

“He?”  This conversation was getting more and more confusing.  “It was a female, like you.”  Well, not exactly like her, he dreaded to think that there were more like her out there.

With horrendous speed, she moved to stand in front of him.  Her claws gripped at his shirt collar.  “Surely your feeble human mind is mistaken.  It was a male called Gracchus.”

“No,” he said quaveringly, “it was female, and the human with her called her Annis.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she snorted.  “You took the wrong gargoyle.”

Irritation lanced through him.  “Wrong gargoyle?  There was only one gargoyle, and you told me where to find her.”

The gargoyle visibly bristled at his tone, and he looked down, unable to meet her gaze.  She started muttering to herself, “That fool did not tell me.”

“What does it matter?” Carlton whined.

“I wanted Gracchus gone.”

He looked at her blankly, and she let out a sound of disgust.  “All of this is beyond your tiny human mind, but he’s a strong gargoyle, and I wanted him gone.  The weaker Luc becomes, the sooner I will be able to take over his clan – and he’ll be mine.”

Carlton frowned in confusion.  “Luc?”  Was he supposed to understand any of this?

“I will take my money and go.  But as you made me come and get it myself, I will take all your profits for tonight.  It is a shame about Annis.  She might have been useful to my clan, but she is not a great loss.”

His eyes flickered, and the gargoyle pressed her face closer to his.  “What is it, human?”

“She’s not dead,” he whispered.

“Not dead,” she repeated coldly.

“She and that human escaped, it wasn’t my fault, I…”

“All you had to do was capture the gargoyle and kill it.  How hard was that?  You humans really are useless.”

“I…”

The female pushed him against his car and stepped away from him.  “Spare me your pathetic excuses.  You will pay for your failure.”

Carlton looked towards the gate.  Maybe the animal rights people were still there.  If he screamed, surely they would hear and call the cops.  They’d love to call the cops on him.  Plus, they were completely against the killing of all animals – and he was an animal!

The gargoyle caught his gaze and smiled.  “You do not have time to call for help.”

“Who are you?” he asked in desperation.

“My name is Ophelia.” 

They were the last words he ever heard.