When a Gargoyle Awakens (22 page)

With Luc, she was fearful of not measuring up to female gargoyles.  She knew from what he said that they were bigger and more aggressive than her; perhaps that was what he liked.

“Little one, it was more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.”

Yes, it had been for Kylie, too.  Sex before had been a case of, she could take it or leave it, and sometimes it was pleasant and other times it was merely okay.  But being with Luc almost left her breathless, it was almost enough to make her heart give out.  It kept beating, though, through the pure will of wanting to do that again.

“You still wish to be my mate?” he asked, almost uncertainly.

Nothing that had happened so far that night had changed her mind about that.  “Yes, definitely.  What does it mean to be your mate?”

He captured one of her hands in his, and she smiled at the difference of her small pink one in his huge red one.  He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed the tips.

“It is much the same as when humans are married.  I would expect you to obey as a human male would.”

“What?!”  Kylie pulled her hands back and heaved herself up until she was sitting over him.  “Would female gargoyles obey?”

He smiled at her outrage, although his eyes seemed to be wandering down to her unfettered breasts.  She scowled at him and folded her arms over them.  He smiled and traced his claws over her arms, gently trying to crowbar them apart.  He sighed as she glared at him.

“I would expect the females to obey me as their clan leader.  But as their mate… I doubt if I had taken a female gargoyle as my mate she would be very docile to me.  The role of chief’s mate holds a lot of power.  She might have deferred to me, but she would have been very forthright.  There were a few clans back in my time led by females.”

Kylie sniffed.  She had the air of someone who was not angry, just disappointed.  She was taking the passive aggressive high-road.  “But you want me to be docile and to obey?”

“It is different.  If I told you that I did not wish for you to speak with a male alone, yes I would expect you to obey.  I would not ask anything of you that was unreasonable.”

“Would female gargoyles allow themselves to be told who and who not to talk to?”

He rubbed her thighs and massaged her buttocks.  “I doubt a female of my kind would have taken kindly to being told to do anything by their mate.  But then they were capable of taking care of themselves; human females should be coddled.”

“You don’t have to coddle me.”  She winced as his tail tightened around her still swollen ankle.  As if he was proving some kind of point.

“I want to coddle you; I wish to protect you. Your safety is the most important thing in the world to me.  I hope that we can free my imprisoned brethren, but I would not put your safety at risk to do so.  I care for my fallen friends, but you are the only one I love.  Even if we never freed the other gargoyles, I could find peace as long as you were with me. If I could, I would never let you out of my sight.”

Kylie softened.  She knew how important it was to him to help the other gargoyles.  “If I could, I would never let you out of my bed.”  She wriggled her hips against him.

His eyes blazed with renewed desire.  “Are you pleased with my performance, little one?”

“Very much so.  You have ruined me for other men.”  She leaned over him and rubbed her breasts against his hard chest.

Luc growled and flipped her onto her back.  “There will never be any other men.  You will have only me.”  He covered them with his wings.  She surrendered as he kissed his way over her chest and neck.  Her fingers tangled in his thick, black hair, and she whimpered in satisfaction as his sharp teeth grazed her skin.

He stopped and lifted his head to look at her.  “It will not always be this way, little one.”

“Really?  Isn’t it a bit early in our sex life to worry…”

“No!” he said, quickly.  And did she detect the faintest shade of a blush on his red cheek?  “I mean we will not always be hidden like this.  One day we will walk out in the open together.”  He placed a hand over her stomach.  “I hope one day that I will have more than just you to protect.”

Kylie tried to withhold the gulp that wanted to escape.  He saw her panic and laughed.  “But that is not something we need think about tonight.”

They both stilled as they heard a banging at the front door.

“Ignore it,” murmured Kylie as she stroked his face.  Knowing her luck it was Holling or Gary, and she did not want her evening ruined for either of those idiots.

“I smell blood,” said Luc, a grim expression on his face.

He slipped away from her and left the bedroom.  Kylie scrambled after him, pulling on a robe.  She noticed that Luc also had the sense to pull on his discarded loincloth.  She moved to answer the door when Luc stopped her.  “It might be dangerous.”

“You can’t answer the door,” she said, reasonably.  “Stay in the kitchen and if I need you…”

“I will not hesitate,” he said, firmly.

Kylie cracked the door open, aware that Luc was hovering nearby, preparing to pounce.  She gasped at the sight before her.

“Gustave!”

Chapter Thirty-One

Gustave was barely conscious. Luc retrieved his sagging body and placed him on the couch.  Kylie had suggested the bed, but that idea was shot down with a disapproving look.

Kylie, whose medical knowledge extended as far as the TV show Scrubs, had no idea what to do.  Gustave was pale, and sweat was pouring off his face.

“You said you smelled blood?”

Luc nodded and eyed the male warily.  “You know this man?” he asked in a steely voice.

“Yes, he was the professor’s friend or manservant or whatever.  He disappeared as soon as the professor died.”

This answer seemed to satisfy him, and he pointed to Gustave’s shoulder.  “The blood is coming from a wound there.”

Kylie tried to pull his shirt off, but when she couldn’t, Luc reached out and sliced through it.

She almost threw up.  Cowardly, yes.  But there had never been this much blood on Scrubs.  “Maybe he’s been stabbed or shot or, I don’t know.”

“We must clean the wound,” Luc said, gently.  “Get some water and a cloth.”

Kylie nodded and did as she was told.  When she did, Luc applied the water to the man’s shoulder with care.

“It appears as if someone has already tried to close the wound.”

There were some raggedy looking stitches around the cut, but they didn’t seem to be doing any good.

“He needs a hospital,” said Kylie, wringing her hands.

“No!” cried Gustave, he reached out and clamped a hand on Kylie’s wrist.

Luc snarled and grasped his arm, pulling him away from her.  Gustave blinked at Luc a few times, muttered the words ‘no hospital’ and fainted.

“Oh, gawd!” exclaimed Kylie.

“You wish to comply with what he wants?”

“Yes, but…”  Kylie snapped her fingers.  “My Aunt Bea used to be a nurse – years ago.  Well, about forty years ago.  Maybe she’ll know what to do.”  It was surely like riding a bike, right?  Although it had been ten years since she rode a bike and…

“She can be trusted?”

“I think so, at least she was a friend of the professor’s.”

She waited for Luc’s reaction and seemingly satisfied he nodded, and Kylie called her aunt.  Bea bustled round within ten minutes, alarmed by the urgency in Kylie’s voice.

Luc didn’t like it, but he agreed to stay out of the way in Kylie’s bedroom – or their bedroom now, as he pointedly corrected her – so as not to alarm Bea.  It was probably a good thing.  Bea was already pretty taken aback by the sight of Gustave.

Kylie told her what happened and Bea – because it was Gustave – agreed that she would try and help.

Bea gasped as she cut through the rest of Gustave’s shirt.  “His wounds are infected with dark magic,” she muttered.

“What?” squawked Kylie in alarm.

“It’s a long story,” said Bea absently.  “I have to cleanse him of the darkness.  Hold him down.”

Kylie held onto his arms as she watched Bea pull some kind of green tonic out of her purse.  Kylie had no idea what it was, and judging by the smell, she didn’t want to know. 

Gustave howled in pain as Bea applied some to his wounds.  He started thrashing beneath them and hurled Kylie away from him.  She yelped as she careened into the bookcase.

Luc roared and burst out of the bedroom.  He snarled and looked around the room, eyes flashing.

Bea gaped at him, a scream caught in her throat.  “What the…”

“It’s a long story,” said Kylie as Luc lifted her to her feet.  He pushed Kylie behind him, less anyone try to get to her.  The only thing she feared at that moment was a withering put down from her aunt.

They were all frozen in tableau for a few moments until a moan from Gustave brought them back to their senses.

“Hold him down,” ordered Bea, getting back to business.

Luc did and under his strength, Gustave barely struggled.  Bea, to her credit, only trembled, slightly while working next to the huge gargoyle.  Bea took Kylie’s hand and chanted some low words.

Finally, Gustave seemed to relax and fall into a comfortable sleep.  A very exhausted looking Bea turned to Kylie, her eyes only darting toward Luc a couple of times.  “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”

“So do you,” said Kylie, with feeling.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Now,” said Bea, in her best disapproving, mothering tone.  “What has been happening?”  She looked from Kylie to Luc, worriedly.

They were sitting at Kylie’s tiny kitchen table.  Luc had dragged his stool in, and they were talking.

Kylie explained about waking Luc up and trying to find the other gargoyles.  Bea looked at Luc in wonder.  “I knew Edwin… but I never thought I’d live to see one of you.”

“Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Kylie threw up her hands.  “You knew about the gargoyles?”

Bea nodded, still transfixed by Luc.  Kylie felt a twang of irritation at Bea’s fascination with her man – yes, he was most certainly her man.

“How come you never told me?” asked Kylie, thoroughly irked.

Bea smiled benignly.  “Would you have believed me?”

“Well, I… no.”  It took her long enough to believe it even after she saw a gargoyle come to life.  “So you’re telling me you knew what Edwin was doing?  You knew about Luc?”

“I knew about gargoyles since I was a child.  It was a story passed down by my family.  Edwin recognized me for what I am, and he confided in me.  I knew Edwin was the caretaker of… Luc and others.”

“Do you know where my brethren are?” asked Luc, in a soft, non-threatening tone.

“No,” she admitted sadly.  “Edwin was always very cagey about it.  He only admitted it to me because he knew I had magic, but he wouldn’t tell me any more.”

Kylie frowned at her aunt.  “Yeah, since when do you have magic?” 

“Since birth.  I’m a healer.”

“You are descended from the Mercier family,” said Luc.

Bea looked delighted.  “Yes, I can trace my line all the way back.  After Edwin realized, he took me into his confidence.  He spent most of his life searching for a way to wake you, a lot of the caretakers did.  Some had more success than others.”

“You mean some have been successful?” said Luc, keenly.

Bea paused.  “I’ve heard stories about some of the gargoyles being awoken, but I never knew if they were all true.”

“But you know something?” he persisted.  His tail flicked impatiently and wrapped itself around Kylie’s ankle – more for something to do.

Her aunt flashed a glance at Gustave.  “Fifty years ago, I know that a caretaker living in France managed to wake a male gargoyle.”  Bea traced patterns on the table.  “I don’t know how he did it.  But the male was angry when he woke, all that time in his stone state must have had a terrible effect on him.  He killed his caretaker.  He tried to hurt others, too, and he was… terminated.”

Luc closed his eyes and breathed in and out for a few seconds.  Kylie squeezed his hand under the table.

“I suppose that was to be expected.  Being stone for that long takes a toll on the mind and body.”

“The way he was woken may have played a part.  If it was too traumatic… how did you wake Luc?”

Luc looked at Kylie, and she rolled her eyes.  “He thinks I did it, too, but I have no clue.”

Bea smiled.  “I knew your magic was strong, but just hiding.”

“Wait, what?!  You think I have magic, too?”  Was this a conspiracy?

“Well, I assumed you knew because you woke Luc up.”

Luc looked at her with affectionate sufferance.  “Kylie does not seem to believe me.”

“It’s just so hard to believe…” she grumbled.  She was the girl who was voted must likely to own a cat in her senior year of high school – she wasn’t an interesting person.  She didn’t have hidden depths.  She had shallow pools that apparently said cat owner at the bottom of them.

“You still don’t remember?” said Bea.