When A Gargoyle Flies (Gargoyles Book 3) (4 page)

“Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised.  I thought I might come up next weekend to take a look around – at least I can say I tried to investigate.  What do you think?  Will you be around?”

She held her breath as she waited for his answer.  The last time he’d been in Portland, he took her out for dinner – payback for a favor.  He made sure it was just a pizza and wings restaurant – definitely nothing romantic.  Chris made himself clear he wasn’t on the market for anything romantic, but maybe she didn’t want to take the hint.

“Sure, we could get together.  I can introduce you to the locals, and you could have dinner with my niece and me.”

“That sounds great; I’ll call you nearer the time.”

Melissa rang off and Chris stared at the phone.  She sounded far too excited.  He’d let her down gently of course.

Why he was so against anything with Melissa, he wasn’t sure.  She was great – funny, charming and shared his interests.  He could easily take it slow and date her, getting together every few days for dates.  It would be easy.  It would be normal.

No, he couldn’t.  His chest clenched at the thought of it.  But for once, not because of everything he went through with Mara.  No, all his reticence was due to a purple-eyed gargoyle whose image would not stop taunting him.

Chapter Four

Ingrede strode into the kitchen, beaming and carrying baby Wolfe.  Wolfe dutifully threw his cherished stuffed penguin at Annis, who fumbled and caught it and gave it back to him.  The boy adored it and in spite of his father’s attempts to extricate it from him, was not giving it up.  He was little more than a month old, and he already possessed the stubborn gargoyle spirit.

“Annis, take care of Wolfe for me.”

Ingrede strapped him into his modified high chair.  Gustave had cut out part of the back to allow for his tiny wings and tail.

“I…”  The syllable squeaked out of Annis’ mouth, and Ingrede looked up expectantly.

Annis looked at the ground.  Her bouts of confidence were fleeting.  Ingrede was a strong female warrior and not the first to order her around.  Annis had no right to refuse Ingrede anything.  But the fact that the female just demanded Annis take care of her young, without a thought of how convenient it was for her, irritated her.

“Of course,” Annis muttered.

“I will only be in my bedroom with my mate, call if you need me.  Cai was sparring with Gracchus and lost, I must attend to his pride.”  Ingrede chuckled and began to leave.  She paused and looked at Annis.  “I am grateful that I can trust you with my son.  Do not think that I am not.”

Annis gaped at her as she left.  The female gargoyle just showed her kindness – gratitude!  By Arthur’s sword, this really was a new world!

She pushed aside her surprise and pulled some carrot sticks out of the refrigerator for Wolfe.  He greedily munched on them.  He already had his teeth, but they were small and needed to remain sharp.

Annis kept an eye on the small gargoyle as she returned to her spaghetti.  She was still learning to cook, but everyone assured her that her version of spaghetti was perfect.  She had not been so sure when she became adventurous and tried adding sugar – a TV cooking show had been extolling the virtues of sweet and salty food.  But everyone had said they liked it.  Although perhaps what they liked was not cooking it themselves.  Gustave and Bea were excellent in the kitchen but were often too busy to prepare such large meals.  Other than laundry and taking care of Wolfe, Annis had no other use, which was why she was trying to learn how to cook.

She heard female laughter echoing throughout the house.  Kylie, or maybe even Ingrede.  All the gargoyles had been given bedrooms in case they wished to use them.  Brom and Grey eschewed setting foot in theirs, but the others made some use of them.  Ric used his to, ahem, entertain Brenda whenever she visited, and Gracchus had a small TV in his.  If ever he found the common room too busy, he would sometimes go to his own room to watch his programs.

Annis used her own to change clothes.  Being naked was not something a gargoyle should feel shame over.  Drago certainly didn’t.  The large male slouched around without a stitch on.  It annoyed both Luc and Ric no end; they insisted on covering their mates’ eyes whenever he was wandering around in the nude.  Annis did not feel shame at seeing the other gargoyles naked.  No, the shame was all for herself.  She did not want them to see her body unadorned.  They already knew her body was less than perfect; they did not need to see the full extent.  She was curvy where she should have been muscly.  Her body was much more human than it should have been.

Plus, she did not like to admit it to the others, but she had started taking more care in her appearance than she ever had before.  She had once spent over an hour trying on her clothes in front of a mirror, trying to see which of her outfits suited her best.  Not that she had many.  Her wardrobe was very meager, consisting of a couple of modified dresses and some tops and skirts she had made from some old curtains.  Her kind was not well suited to clothes and tended to wear scraps of fabric and loincloths.  Gargoyles were not supposed to care about clothes.  Which is why Drago’s old clan shunned them completely.  It was probably one of the reasons his clan was considered undefeatable in battle – that kind of thing was probably distracting.

But, she spent far too much of her time lamenting how little she had and wondering what Chris would think of each of her outfits.  Would Chris find her body too soft and too weak for his liking, like so many gargoyles before him?

Movement flickered at the edge of her vision, and she spied Wolfe trying to reach for a knife.

“No, don’t!” she cried and jogged the pan in her desperation to stop Wolfe from hurting himself.

The pan, filled with spaghetti and boiling water toppled and fell down her leg.  She screeched at the sudden, searing pain, and Wolfe promptly burst into tears.

“No, youngling, don’t cry,” she whimpered.

Annis tried to move to him, slipping in the water and crashing right into a pair of strong arms.  Her hands clamped onto a pair of wide shoulders, and her tail wrapped itself around a firm leg for balance.  She inhaled a beautiful, vanilla scent.

“Easy, I’ve got you,” Chris reassured her, his velvety voice immediately calming and thrilling her.

She looked up into his dark, worried eyes and time seemed to freeze.  It was like the moments before she had been frozen nearly a thousand years ago.  Everything seemed to stop for just a few seconds before the change overtook her.  Maybe she wouldn’t mind being frozen in Chris’ arms.

No, he wouldn’t want that.

“Wolfe,” she burbled, looking away from his face.  If she had to look at his soft lips and concerned expression for a moment longer, she really would do something silly.

Chris gently pushed her into a chair and turned to look at the baby, just as his parents burst into the room, followed by Luc and Kylie.

Ingrede grabbed Wolfe as Cai growled, “What happened?”

He’d managed to find an ax and was brandishing it wildly.  Chris, to his credit, only raised an eyebrow at the fearsome gargoyle.

“Nothing,” Annis said quickly.  “I spilled some hot water.  Wolfe is fine, he was not hurt.”

“Were you hurt?” asked Kylie, pushing past her mate who had held her back in case of danger.

“No,” she blurted just as Chris said, “Yes.”

He frowned at her disapprovingly, and she stared down at her leg.  Her skin felt scalding hot and was turning two shades darker than her normal color.

“First aid kit?” Chris asked Kylie.

“That is not necessary,” muttered Annis.

They both ignored her.  Kylie retrieved it, and Chris busied himself at the sink, filling a bowl with cool water.  Cai and Ingrede drifted away, their attention taken by Wolfe.

Annis stared at the mound of spaghetti on the floor.  “I ruined the dinner,” she stated glumly.  “I am sorry, Chief.  Please, I beg forgiveness.”

Kylie waved a hand.  “Nonsense, it was an accident.  As long as you’re not hurt, that’s all we care about.”  She elbowed Luc, and he agreed.

“I am well, thank you,” she said, trying to rise, grimacing at the pain in her leg.

“Sit back down,” snapped Chris, moving to kneel in front of her.  “I swear you’re worse than Brenda.”

Luc growled lowly, and that earned him another elbow to his stomach.  Gargoyles didn’t like it when humans snapped at any of their kind.  Although, they had no problem with gargoyles snapping at other gargoyles.

If Chris noticed Luc’s annoyance, he did not show it.  He placed the bowl on the ground and used a cloth to dribble the water over her leg, making her flinch.  After a few moments, she sat back and grimaced.

“This isn’t working,” grumbled Chris, “where’s your nearest shower?”

“This way,” said Kylie.

Annis tried to stand but within seconds she found herself swept into a pair of surprisingly strong arms and being carried as if she weighed nothing.  Chris didn’t buckle at all, didn’t falter in his steps.  One arm was around her waist, while the other was under her knees, carefully making sure he did not touch her injured leg.

He followed Kylie down the hallway, storming past Ric and Brenda who gave them inquisitive looks.

“This is not necessary,” she whispered, feeling more than a little like a nuisance.  Chris should not be put out because of her clumsiness.

“Gargoyles have stronger healing abilities than humans,” grumbled Luc who was following them.

Annis looked down in embarrassment.  Most gargoyles did.  Her own left a lot to be desired.  It was much better than a human’s, but not nearly as fast as a normal gargoyle’s.  Judging by the way Chris moved a little faster, he had perhaps seen the expression on her face.

He deposited her onto the toilet and started fussing over the shower, trying to get the water right.  Luc huffed and puffed until Kylie led him away.

Annis grimaced at her blotchy leg.

Chris caught the look.  “Are you in a lot of pain?”

“Not really.  Mostly, my leg feels numb.”

She was used to pain.  Growing up with her mother, she had to be.  Gargoyle younglings were mostly raised by other members of the clan – the older members no longer able to fight, or pregnant females.  But her mother made her presence and disappointment known constantly.

“I can get you some ibuprofen or something.”  Chris rubbed the back of his head at her quizzical expression.  “Guess they didn’t have that back in your day.  What did you use to dull pain?”

Annis shrugged.  “We didn’t.  Even if we had anything, I doubt a gargoyle would use it.  With pain there is honor.”

“Bullshit,” he snapped.

“It was my clan’s creed.”

“Maybe it should have been, with pain there is stupidity.”

“It was a different time,” she said with a slight edge to her voice.  Annis had no great love for her old clan, but loyalty was important.  What was a clan without loyalty?

Chris gazed at her until she blushed and looked away.  Humans should not be that dominant.  Or perhaps she looked away because of the worrying feelings he incited in her. 

Annis fiddled with the hem of her skirt.  “Every clan used to have a healer, one blessed with enough magic to heal their clan mates,” she babbled, needing to fill up the silence.  “I was the assistant of our clan’s healer.”

“So why don’t you become your new clan’s healer?”

“I don’t have the magic.  The older healer has to die, and there has to be a ritual.  I suppose technically, as it is a new clan, Luc could perform the ritual himself and ask that he be given a healer.”

Chris raised an eyebrow.

“It is to do with magic,” she muttered, knowing he would not understand.

“Sure,” he scoffed.

“You do not believe in magic?”

“I believe in things you can touch and see.”

“Yet you have a rational explanation for a race of creatures who turn to stone every day?”

Gently, he lifted her to her feet and slipping an arm around her waist, led her over to the shower.

“The water should be okay now, but it might sting a little.”

He held her hand, his flesh soft and his grip hard.  As she gazed into his eyes, she barely even noticed the bite of the water.

Chapter Five

In spite of Annis’ fluttering and Luc’s objections, Chris had managed to get her to down a couple of ibuprofen along with some crackers to save her stomach lining.  Luc did not trust human medicine and was extremely skeptical of painkillers that could potentially be harmful.  That declaration earned him a sour look from his mate. Chris had covered Annis’ leg in plastic wrap and told her twice not to pick at it.  He left Bob the dog to look after her.  Something that delighted Annis and for a second he felt a twinge of jealousy at how fond she was of the unruly beast.

With dinner ruined, Kylie called down to the diner for some food.  Chris imagined that their chili cheese fries would be quite an eye opener for Annis.  Kylie sent down a bulk order, nearly ordering everything off the menu, but he imagined that Edward the owner would be more than happy to accommodate.  He’d always had a soft spot for Kylie’s aunt, Bea.

Luc had declared that Kylie was not permitted to go out in the dark on her own.  Given that she barely even bothered to argue with him, Chris gathered this was a common argument for them.  Considering the frustration on Luc’s face, he doubted the gargoyle often won it.

But, given Chris’ low tolerance for listening to couples arguing, he agreed that he would go to the diner with Kylie – a compromise that appeased everyone.  He left Bob guarding Annis, or possibly trying to smother her as he tried to lie on top of her, and drove Kylie down.

She prattled aimlessly about their research into the gargoyles, and Chris listened intermittently.  In reality, his attention was elsewhere.

It was just a scald.  Annis would be okay.  But he could not forget the moment he heard her shriek.  His blood ran cold, and he ran to her like his life depended on it.  She was fine.  She would be okay.  It probably would not even show a mark.  Thank god.  Her health and safety came first, naturally, but he would not want anything to happen to her long, flawless legs.

He had touched Annis before – not willingly, though.  He was an intruder in their house, and she had tied him to a chair.  He got himself free and pounced on her, pinning her to the floor.  Given that situation, he had not taken the time to appreciate the softness of her skin. It was not like human skin, but more like buttery leather.  Every inch of her leg was hairless and smooth, with supple flesh and…  Chris shook his head.  He had to stop this.  It wasn’t appropriate.  Although, he wondered how old she was.  She certainly seemed young, but too young for his thirty-six years?

Damnit!  He needed to stop this.  He was not interested in a damn gargoyle!  He was still in mourning for his wife.  Or at least, wasn’t he supposed to be mourning for his wife?  Wasn’t that the appropriate thing?

Their dating life had been a whirlwind of kisses, dares, and sex.  It shouldn’t have been a shock when she turned up at his house, with tear-stained cheeks to tell him she was pregnant.  While having their fun they were hardly careful and looking back, Chris knew he should have seen that Mara was hardly the type to be sensible and plan ahead when it came to birth control.  Usually, he did, but not with Mara.  She had wailed and cried and told him she loved him, told him her parents would never forgive her for having a baby and no husband.  Next thing he knew, they were flying down to Las Vegas.  They were married by Elvis, lost half his savings gambling and spent the night in a honeymoon suite with more ruffles than a nineteenth-century dandy’s shirt and a mirror over the bed the size of the Titanic.

It was possibly the wildest thing he ever did.  He wasn’t sure if he loved or lamented the memory of it.

Chris withheld a chuckle as he imagined what the gargoyles would make of Las Vegas.  Annis’ nose would probably scrunch up like whenever she was confused, and her tail would curl around his leg and…

“We’re here,” he said gruffly, abruptly pulling into a spot opposite the diner.

“No kidding,” chuckled Kylie.  “You okay?  You zoned out for a while there.  I was afraid to do anything in case you were sleeping with your eyes open.”

“But I was driving!”

Kylie shrugged and shouldered her purse.  “Eh, you seemed to know where you were going.  C’mon, there’s a double bacon cheeseburger in there calling my name.”

*

“Five double bacon cheeseburgers, five double cheeseburgers with special sauce, five quattro cheeseburgers, five hamburgers with extra everything, five plain hamburgers, five club sandwiches, ten hot dogs, ten orders of buttermilk chicken, ten orders of fries, ten chili fries, ten cheese fries, ten onion rings, ten mozzarella sticks, extra packets of ketchup and mustard and one cobb salad.”  Carole let out a breath at the end of their order and stuck her pencil behind her ear.  “Let me just ring up your bill and I’ll get a busboy to help carry it out to your car.”

On looking over the many bags of food, Chris was impressed Carole had managed to get all that right.  Kylie ordered a mountain of food, hoping to tempt the gargoyles.

He raised an eyebrow at her.  “Cobb salad?”

Kylie shrugged.  “Gotta try and be healthy.”

Chris reached for his wallet and Kylie placed a hand on his arm.  “We’re treating you, remember.”

“It’s not a problem.”  He was old fashioned; it felt weird to let a woman pay for food.

“No seriously, let me.”

Grudgingly, he did, although it still rankled.  It probably shouldn’t.  He’d been on dates with lots of strong, professional women, more than capable of paying for dinner for themselves, but he liked to.  He had no problem with dating women who earned more than him, and had more powerful jobs, but he did like to take care of his female.  Maybe he should have been born a caveman.

The new doctor in town, Carey White waved over at him.  She was ensconced in a booth with a few members of the council, and he waved back.  She seemed like a nice, down to earth woman and was possibly about to overtake Martha as most eligible single female in town.  Carey disentangled herself from the stuffy old men and wandered over to them.

“Hi, Chris.  Hi, Kylie.”  Unlike some of the other women in town, her smile for Kylie was just as warm as it was for him.

“Dr. White, how nice to see you,” said Kylie.  “Outside of office hours,” she added.

Carey beamed.  “Outside the office, you can call me Carey.”

“I’ve been meaning to call for an appointment,” admitted Kylie.

“Do - I have loads of free time at the moment.”  She leaned forward conspiratorially.  “I don’t think anyone around here likes change.  I think they’d rather still see Dr. East.  It means I’ve had a lot of time to practice my knitting.”

Chris had to admit that was true.  People around there didn’t like change, and Dr. East had been the local doctor for fifty years.  The fact that he was incompetent and convinced that a hot compress and a sugary soda would cure everything from epilepsy to postnatal depression wasn’t great.

“Give it forty years and they’ll come around,” said Chris.

Carey tinkled with laughter.  “Imagine how great my knitting skills will be by then.  Anyway, I better get back – the council members are looking a little lonely.”

Sure enough, the older gentlemen were casting longing looks in her direction.  “I’ll see you guys around and Kylie, call me tomorrow and we’ll fix something up.”

They said their goodbyes and he watched the slim, beautiful doctor sashay through the diner.  She was a lovely woman.  Just the type Chris should date, just the type he normally went for, and yet – nothing.  Not even a wisp of interest in her.  He wasn’t even interested enough to check out her ass like all the other male diner patrons.  Not that he was much of an ass man.  He preferred breasts.  Dangerously, his thoughts wandered to Annis and wondered about hers.  From under that scrap of fabric she called a top, he could tell they were plump and perky, but he wondered what color her nipples were.  Dusky pink?

“She’s great,” murmured Kylie.

“Yes, she is,” Chris muttered before realizing Kylie meant the doctor.  “Oh, yes, yes she is.”

Fuck, did he need a cold shower because of a gargoyle?!

“So much better than the old doctor, but then Dr. Lecter might have been preferable.”

“Hi, guys!”

Chris and Kylie spun to find themselves under a scrutinizing smile from Martha.  Her face was nearly cracking under the pressure from the grin, but her eyes looked hard and accusatory.

Crud.  He’d forgotten she was on her way here, and that she’d invited him to join her.

“Hello, Martha,” mumbled Kylie.

Martha had a clique of friends that were a lot like her – pretty, slim, well groomed and invariably in pearls.  They ran the town fundraisers and events and book clubs and had all been born there.  When Kylie arrived in town, more than one of the clique made it known that curvy Kylie with her Blondie and Queen t-shirts wasn’t what they were looking for in a friend or book club member.  Course, Maggie had then pounced and declared Kylie belonged to her as a friend, but Chris imagined their rejection still rankled.  Not that he thought Martha was actually mean to Kylie.  Considering she was the Queen Bee, she was probably the nicest member of her clique.

Martha peered past them to the food.  “My, my, you must be hungry.”

“Dinner party,” squeaked Kylie.

Martha raised a perfectly sculptured eyebrow.  “With hamburgers?  I must remember that the next time I’m planning an event.”

“The dinner was ruined, so we’re improvising,” said Chris smoothly.

“Really?  A party up at the mansion?”  Martha watched them closely.

Kylie fidgeted next to him, and he said, “Some of Kylie’s relatives are in town – distant relatives.”

“Yes,” agreed Kylie.  “You know I’ve had a ton of different guardians over the years, and some of them are here to see me.”

“Oh, how nice,” murmured Martha, frowning at Chris, obviously wondering how he fit into the equation.

Chris inwardly groaned at the implications of what he was about to do, but at least it would allay the gossip about why he was always running up to the Hardcastle Mansion.  He slipped his arm around Kylie’s waist and drew her closer to him.  She stiffened as her body collided with his, but on realizing his intentions, she placed a hand on his chest and rubbed while nestling closer.  Martha’s jaw almost hit the floor.

“They wanted to meet my new boyfriend,” said Kylie shyly.

“You’ve certainly kept this quiet,” Martha said to Chris.

He shrugged.  “Small town – gossips.”

Given that Myrna from the library was watching them with beady eyes, it would be all over the small town in a matter of minutes now.

Martha looked at them uncertainly, unsure as to whether she had any right to be annoyed.  Instead, she settled on subdued, and it was an odd look for her.

“Well, I won’t take up any more of your time.  The Winter Wonderland Parade won’t organize itself.”  She gave them a brittle smile and left.

Neither of them said anything until they had paid and all their food was in the car – the interior of which would need to be fumigated because it was going to smell like cheese for weeks.

Kylie let out a breath, and she smiled at Chris.  “The whole town’s going to think we’re a couple.”

“Yep.  I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry.  Got Martha off our backs.  I’m just sorry that it’s going to stunt your love life.”

What love life?  If anything it would give him some relief from the single population of Devil’s Hang.  Some of them were a lot pushier than Martha and employed tactics from baking him pies to showing up at the police station in just a trench coat to try and lure him into a relationship.  The trench coat thing had been from Valerie – one of Martha’s cliquey friends, and not a woman anyone should trust to stand behind them with a knife.

Kylie gave him a fearful look.  “Also, don’t mention this to Luc.  He’d understand eventually, but in the meantime, he might very well maim you.”

“You got it.”

Chris knew the huge gargoyle to be pretty damn possessive of Kylie.  He imagined Luc was capable of inflicting a hell of a lot of pain when he wanted to.  Chris had no idea what it was to be so possessive of a woman that he couldn’t even bear to have other men look at her, never mind anything else.  Mara flashed through his mind as he thought about the first time she stayed out all night after they argued.  She was drunk, her make-up smeared and her shirt was inside out.  She hadn’t spent the night alone.  He’d felt anger all right.  But not at her and not at the idiot she undoubtedly picked up off the street or in some bar.  No, he was only angry at himself for putting himself in that situation.  When they got married, he’d acted impulsively, hadn’t thought it through, and the cold reality of his relationship with Mara was shining through.

The image of Mara, blowing kisses at him, taunting him with her sexuality slowly morphed into Annis, smiling shyly, barely even able to look at him.  Her cheeks blossomed crimson and violet eyes peeked up at him through thick blue-black lashes.

“You know, I’m just grateful for everything you’re doing,” Kylie said, forcing him back to earth.

Chris cleared his throat, trying to ignore the reality that thinking of Annis was turning him on.  “Yeah, well, I can imagine the argument if I tried to hand over Brenda’s boyfriend to the FBI.”