When A Gargoyle Flies (Gargoyles Book 3) (10 page)

Chapter Eighteen

Carlton Hunter grabbed his phone and grumbled his name into the receiver.

“I have good news,” said the coldly familiar voice.

Carlton sucked in a breath.  Over the past week, all the charges against him had been dropped, his wife in celebration had allowed him to take a few liberties in bed with her that she usually only permitted on his birthday, and he had been voted Oakland County’s Businessman of the Year.  Yet, he could not really enjoy himself; he had been on tenterhooks waiting to hear more about the gargoyles.

Unable to contain himself, he had already sent out some of the photos to a few choice customers.  They had slavered over them more than he did.  That was followed by demands of when the beasts would be ready for hunting purposes.

Of that he had no idea, so, as annoying as his mystery friend was, he was glad to hear from them.

“What?  What is it?” he barked into the phone.  “Do you have one for me?”

The voice chuckled lowly, but he couldn’t even bring himself to dredge up any irritation.

“I know where one of them will be tomorrow night.  If you want him, you’ll have to capture him yourself.”

“That’s it?  All you’re giving me is a location?  You expect half of my profits for a location?!”

“It’s more than you’ve got now,” sneered the voice.

Carlton groused for a few moments, but there wasn’t any doubt that he was going to say yes.  “Just the one, I was hoping for a couple.  My compound’s pretty big.”

“One is more than enough.  Trust me; he’ll be all you’ll need.  You should take this opportunity.  They don’t tend to separate from their clan.  I hope you’ve thought of a way to keep him grounded.  You would not want him flying away while you were having your fun.”

“Taken care of,” he said dismissively.  This wasn’t the first airborne prey he’d ever encountered.

“Don’t get cocky.  They’re tricky beasts.”

Carlton pursed his lips but didn’t offer a retort.  If he could handle a rhino, he could handle a gargoyle.

“Just tell me when and where.”  He was already running through his list of employees, deciding on whom he would send to capture the creature.

“I can give you an approximate location.  I will need to call you tomorrow night to confirm where exactly.”

“What are you playing at?”  The whole enterprise sounded shiftier by the second.  He couldn’t rule out that he was being played for a sucker.

“These are the terms and conditions.  If you do not like them, perhaps I should talk to Larry at Montana Safaris…”

Carlton gripped the phone a little tighter.  Larry was his main competitor.  A former actuary who – for the love of all that is holy – was actually a vegetarian.

“Just tell me where my men need to be,” he said grimly.

This bloody gargoyle better put up a damn good fight.

Chapter Nineteen

“I must have misheard you,” whispered Annis in disbelief.  “I thought you just said that you were sending me out into the world in order to retrieve a gargoyle.”

Annis goggled at her frustrated looking leader.  His arms were folded, and his tail swished impatiently, but no, he did not look like he was joking.

“I…  I am not sure I am ideal for this, I…”

She had only left the house and grounds once since her awakening, and that was to take refuge in Bea’s house.  While the others yearned for freedom, Annis yearned for safety.

Luc placed a hand on her shoulder.  “I have no other choice.”

Heat rose to her cheeks in embarrassment as she remembered Castor’s words of the night before.  Was she really everyone’s last resort?

“I am confident you can manage this.”  He said the words confidently enough, although the doubtful glance he threw at her before he left the room said otherwise.

Kylie gave her a look of encouragement.

Annis wrung her hands.  “I… I really do not think that I…”

The small human pressed her hands over hers to calm her.  “I’m sure you’ll be fine.  If you hate it, you never have to do it again.”

“Why would Luc not send Gracchus or Cai?”

Kylie hesitated.  “He’s worried about Castor.”  Her eyes flickered.  “He thinks he’s going to try and challenge for leadership.”

Annis’ brow creased slightly, uncertain over Luc’s concern.  “Does he believe he may be defeated?”

“Not really, but… he wants Gracchus here in case he does.”  Kylie looked very uncomfortable as she admitted, “To protect me.”

“He thinks Castor would hurt you?”  Annis was almost annoyed at Luc for believing Castor could be so dishonorable.  But then, Castor had not tried to hide his dislike of humans, or his distaste at Luc for mating one.

“I don’t think he would, but Luc wants to surround himself with loyal gargoyles in case Brom and Grey side with Castor.”

Annis sucked in a breath and her wings bristled sharply, sending a spasm of pain through her left side.  “And he believes that I am not loyal?”

“No!  Not at all,” Kylie cried.  She moved a little closer and lowered her voice.  “He wants the new gargoyle we’re sending you collect, and we’ve already made the arrangements.  But he wants Gracchus here to back him up; he doesn’t believe Drago is… in the right frame of mind, Ric has already left with Brenda to find the other gargoyle, Cai will not leave his mate, and he thinks Lief and Tristan are still too new to this world.”

“What about Twenty-Six?”

“I won’t say that Luc does not trust her, that is not fair, it is more that he is concerned about any other surprises she may be hiding.”

Annis could not argue with that.  When they first met her, she sported a chip that when activated sent horrifying pain through her body.

“So he has no other choice,” murmured Annis.

“He trusts you,” insisted Kylie, “but he correctly knew that Gracchus would be more comfortable with this.  But now…”  She let the words hang and closed her eyes for a few moments.  Annis noticed uneasily the tired lines on the young woman’s face.  Regarding years, Kylie was probably the same age as Annis, perhaps a year or two older, but at that moment, she seemed much older.  The wakings, the magic use and the uncertainty of their situation were all taking their tolls on Kylie.  The discord between the gargoyles undoubtedly was not helping either.

“I will go,” said Annis, wanting to ease Kylie’s current unhappiness.

The human smiled sweetly in gratitude, but it was Annis who was grateful.  Kylie had her own life before she accidentally woke Luc.  Now, her time was given over to the gargoyles, finding and waking them, and she did not seem to get very many thank yous for what she did.  Ophelia even nearly succeeded in killing her.  Now, Castor hated her on principle for mating with a gargoyle, conveniently forgetting that he would not even be newly alive were it not for Kylie’s efforts.

“I will go,” she repeated a little more firmly and with courage that had been growing over the last two months added, “as long as you promise to get some rest.”

Kylie frowned slightly.

“You are looking haggard,” Annis told her frankly.

Kylie blinked a few times before bursting into laughter.  “Luc said the same thing earlier,” she said through hiccups, “except he was a little more careful with his words.”

It was Annis’ turn to blink.  Although she was generally careful and sparing with her words, she did not realize she had said anything untoward.

“Gargoyles can be very direct at times,” explained Kylie, although that really didn’t clear much up.  “Don’t worry; I’ll go back to bed after you leave.  I think I’d quite like to sleep through any upcoming arguments between Luc and Castor anyway,” she added wearily.

Annis nodded and felt pleased with herself for her momentary firmness.  Right before a thousand worries descended on her.  Where exactly was she going?  How was she to get there?  How was she to find the gargoyle?

“Come on,” said Kylie, ignorant of her turmoil.  “I’ll pack you up some snacks for the drive, and you better gather some spare clothes, just in case you need to spend the day.”

“Yes, I…”

“I’ll pack you some of those vanilla cupcakes that Chris likes.”

“Chris?” Annis echoed.

“Yes, didn’t Luc say?  He’s going with you.”

*

Annis felt like she was trembling.  She wasn’t.  If anything, her movements were absurdly normal.  It was her insides, her stomach, and her heart, fluttering with such ferocity that her whole body practically seemed to be vibrating.

Annis was going to be spending time alone with Chris.  Excitement and nervousness warred within her.

She neatly folded a dress into the small case Kylie had lent her, then added her shampoo, conditioner and some perfume Maggie had given her claiming it was too fruity for herself.  Annis stared about her bedroom, considering what else she could pack.  She did not have much, but she wanted to fill her small case, to make it seem worthwhile that she was using it.

It was while she was considering whether she ought to take a few books and whether she would have the chance to read them, that Castor burst into her room.

“You cannot be considering complying with his demands?” snarled the furious male.

Annis stared at him calmly.  Her nerves over facing Chris completely fled her, and she felt at ease in Castor’s presence.  She was not surprised at his reaction.  Although she knew he did not have any fine feelings for her, she knew that now he had expressed his desire to mate her, he would consider her his property.  It would not occur to him that she might say no to his mate-claim.

“How did you know that I…”

“Lief told me.  He came to me to talk some sense into you.  He is concerned for your safety.”

“Luc has asked that I assist in retrieving another of our brothers… or perhaps this will be a sister.”

“He asks too much of you.  It is too dangerous.”

“But just last night, you were lamenting the fact that you could not leave the grounds.  You did not think it was too dangerous then.”

Annis gave him a pretend look of confusion.  She knew what he meant – it was too dangerous for a useless, defenseless gargoyle like her.

“You cannot leave.  If the humans see you…”

“They will not,” she said with more confidence than she actually felt on the matter.

The other gargoyles had left the grounds numerous times and did not seem to worry.  But then, average gargoyles did not seem to suffer from a lack of courage.  No, they all had a worrying amount of over-confidence.

“I will be careful.”

Castor paced the room, his face resembling stone more than ever.  His tail flicked and came dangerously close to destroying several items of furniture.  Annis fought hard not to shout at him.  She was surprised she felt the urge at all, never mind had to fight it, but she was inordinately proud of her pretty bedroom – even if all the colors and furniture were inherited, everything in the room was hers.  For once, she had something that belonged to her and her alone.

“I will not allow you to go.”

“It is not your decision to make,” she breathed, almost wishing he did not hear her.

Naturally, he did.  “If you are my mate…”

Annis faced him, meeting his eyes and forcing out the words that seemed to lie heavily on her tongue.  “I am not your mate, Castor.”

He ignored her.  “You cannot go out there alone.”

“I will not be alone.  Chris will be with me.”  The fluttering returned ten fold.

“Chris?” sneered the enormous gargoyle.  “The disrespectful human?  You trust him to keep you safe?”

Annis stood a little straighter, her wing only giving her a momentary twinge as she puffed it out.  “I do.  Chris is a strong human.  He is dominant for his kind.  He will protect me.”

Castor narrowed his eyes in suspicion.  “You are fond of this human,” he stated.

Annis threw herself into not blushing at that.  Yes, fond was certainly true, and then some.

“He is a good man,” she said lamely.

“Your heartbeat increases when he is near and when his name is mentioned.”  Castor’s whole face pinched, and if she did not know any better, she would think that he was jealous.  “I thought it was because you feared him, but now I am not sure.”

Annis turned away from him and made a great show of closing her case.  “I have to go.  I have been given a task by my leader, and although I am not much of a gargoyle, I must do as he asks.”

Castor did not contradict her about not being much of a gargoyle.

“I will only be gone a day or two at the most.”

“I do not like this,” he hissed and stormed out of her room with the same ferocity in which he entered.

Annis sighed.  While asleep she had seriously put some thought into mating Castor.  Enough that she awoke feeling sick.  It would be the right thing to do.  To mate a gargoyle and produce more gargoyles surely was a priority.  But how could she mate Castor when her heart skipped a beat whenever Chris’ name was mentioned?  Perhaps it was merely a foolish fancy that would pass, but something deep inside told her that her feelings for Chris were here to stay.