When a Gargoyle Awakens (8 page)

“Guy I met last night,” shrugged Maggie as she marched to the door, dragging Kylie with her.  For someone so petite, Maggie had the indomitable spirit of a sumo wrestler.

Kylie looked out at the garden and Holling followed her gaze.  Dawn was just breaking over the horizon.  “Yes, I should go get some rest.”

Chapter Eleven

Kylie groaned as she locked up.  She was thankful that she lived over the place where she worked.  She couldn’t face driving anywhere at that moment.  Her apartment upstairs even had its own staircase at the side of the building.

It was late and dark, and she was going on very little sleep and suffering from an enormous headache.  Plus every time she closed her eyes she saw the gargoyle towering over her.  All she wanted to do was climb under the covers of her bed and sleep until this was all a distant memory.

Sadly Bea was still away in Chicago, so Kylie couldn’t call in sick to work that day.  To try and distract herself she had taken inventory at the shop, it hadn’t been easy while her mind wandered, and she was sure she had counted a teapot in the shape of a zebra three times.

The day had only been punctuated by Maggie’s concerned visits and Gary coming by to apologize for his drunken behavior, and to gloat about the fact that he had met a woman at the party.  He didn’t say it, but it was hinted that she was a damn sight better looking than Kylie.  As if she could care, Kylie breathed such a massive sigh of relief that it could have been mistaken for a gust of sudden, deadly wind.

Maybe it was the bump on her head; it was sending her crazy.  But then, she thought she saw the gargoyle come to life before she bumped her head.  However, she was more than a little drunk at that time.  It was lucky she didn’t think she saw the Loch Ness Monster chewing on the shrubbery or Bigfoot having a go on the old tire swing.

With one foot on the stairs to her apartment, she remembered she had very little food in and no milk.  She debated whether she could get away with it, but her rumbling stomach said otherwise.  With a labored sigh, she stalked off down the street to the grocery store.  She said automatic hellos to people she knew but was too preoccupied to be drawn into a conversation.  Yes, Andrew Hardcastle was charming, no, she didn’t like his fiancée either and no she didn’t hear about Ms. ‘nervous’ Purvis the kindergarten teacher dancing the Macarena on a table.  She wasn’t interested in any of those things.  Instead, she spent ten minutes staring at milk until everyone else in the store had gone home, and George asked her firmly but politely to hurry the heck up so he could lock up and do the same.

Fortified with milk and the sugariest, most marshmallowy cereal she could find, she made her way home.  She bade farewell to George and dragged her feet down the street.  Her mind was pretty much residing in the clouds at that moment, but she didn’t fail to feel a prickle on her neck.

The store was only a five-minute walk, but still she felt uneasy and couldn’t help but notice that nobody else was around.  She quickened her step.

Maybe she was afraid that a gargoyle was going to jump out at her.  She tried to laugh that thought off but when she opened her mouth, no sound would come out.

Kylie heard the patter of footsteps behind her and forced herself to continue and not look back.  It was probably just a tourist heading back to their B&B, or a local walking home – it was nothing.  It wasn’t that late; it wasn’t unreasonable for other people to be around.

She sped up to a trot to allay the queasy feeling in her stomach.  Sadly, the footsteps also sped up.

The Birds and the Bea’s Antiques was in sight, and she felt a swell of relief that was short lived.  As she put a hand on the railing, she was grabbed roughly from behind and hurled up against the wall.

The squeal died in Kylie’s throat as she came face to face with a huge, burly guy – it had to be a guy – dressed head to toe in black and sporting a ski mask.  She’d been mugged twice while living in New York, and neither of those times had felt half as terrifying as this.

Without pausing to find out what he wanted she threw her bag of groceries in his face, stomped on one of his feet and took off at a run.  Experience had taught her a few choice moves at least.

She heard him swearing behind her and then the ensuing chasing sound as his feet thundered after her.  Crap, crap, crap!

Kylie puffed and willed her burning lungs and legs to go on, to pump harder, to move faster.  Sadly, even if her body hadn’t been protesting strenuously at the enforced exercise, she still wouldn’t have been fast enough against the pursuing gorilla.

She felt fingers snatch at her shoulder, and she quickly ducked into the alley between Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow and Crafts, Crafts, Crafts.  She sobbed the word no over and over as she came to a fence at the end of the alley.  No way was she getting over that sucker without wings.

The thought barely entered her head before there was a huge whoosh behind her.  With that, she felt a strong grip on her arms, and she was airborne.

Chapter Twelve

Kylie bit her lip until she felt blood trickle into her mouth.  She didn’t know what she was more afraid of, being in the tight grip of a creature who was somehow made of stone or hurtling to the ground which seemed a very, very long way away and was currently whizzing past at a terrific speed.

The gargoyle twisted her in his arms until he was carrying her, princess style.

It was the gargoyle, of that she had no doubt.  Well, the odds of another creature happening to fly around and abduct her into the sky seemed pretty slim.  It was Luc or Lucifer or whatever his name was from the professor’s garden, the one who definitely didn’t come to life the night before.  Although, he looked pretty damn alive at that moment.

He looked just as he had in statue form, except for his skin, which had morphed from stone to a dark red – blood red, her treacherous mind thought, morosely.

The gargoyle didn’t look at her; his hard stare was pointed directly at the sky.  Good – nothing worse than drivers who don’t look where they’re going, she thought, hysterically.

He jerked upwards, higher until his horns dusted the clouds.  His massive wings stretched out as he glided through the night.  Kylie wanted to hold onto something – but the only thing available to her immediate reach was the gargoyle, and she was too afraid to touch him.  She settled for hugging her arms around herself.  She curled herself into as small a ball as possible – that would be best for if she fell, right?  No, at this height it wouldn’t matter what she did – she’d go splat, and she wouldn’t be getting up again.

Her mind scrambled to keep up with what was going on.  Oh lord, what did he want with her?  Where was he taking her?  She studied his face for some kind of hint to his mood.  He wasn’t going to eat her, was he?  Was he?!

She had to get away from this monster immediately, except, her only option was to struggle in his arms and take a long, hard drop to the ground.  And worse than that, part of her didn’t want to.  The logical part of her knew that this situation was all wrong.  But a small part of her was thrilled at this turn of events.  The same part of her that was absolutely fascinated by the gargoyle the day she first saw him.  The part of her that wanted to go back and see him, the part of her that drunkenly kissed him…

The memory made her blush.  She hadn’t thought about that all day.  She had been more preoccupied with the fact that he came alive rather than her own insane actions.  And now she was in a monster’s arms…

Except, hadn’t he just saved her from a potential mugger or heaven knew what else?  He swooped in and saved her, and he didn’t have to – he chose to.  Jeez, her head really was pounding now.

The monster… the gargoyle closed his eyes for a moment and let out a contented sigh.  “Hold on,” he murmured in an almost purring voice.

“Wait, whaaaaaaa…?”

He dove in the air, and all of Kylie’s qualms were forgotten as she threw her arms around his neck and clung to him for all she was worth.  The wind rushed through her making her teeth chatter, and the girly part of her lamented how awful her hair must look at that moment.

Kylie closed her eyes and scrunched up her face to avoid the ground, which seemed to be coming toward them at an alarming rate.  She felt a slight jolt and then everything seemed to be still, except for maybe her heart, which was beating like a bass drum being played by an overzealous five-year-old.

She felt a large hand rubbing her back and realized her head was buried in his neck.

“It is okay,” he said, soothingly.  “You are safe now.”

Kylie yelped in surprise at that remark and near leaped out of his arms.  Naturally, she gracefully landed on her feet.  Nah, not really, she fell on her ass, with a horrifying thump that made her whimper.

He moved to help her up and she scuttled away in a very inelegant crab walk.  Wordlessly, he took a step back from her and tucked his wings behind him, and hunched his shoulders.  It made him look smaller, and ever so slightly less imposing.  He went from all out terrifying to merely extremely scary.

The gargoyle watched her carefully.  She watched him in frank, bewildered surprise, her mouth hanging open.

“Are you hurt?” he demanded.

She didn’t answer.  She told her mouth to answer, but her body didn’t seem to be co-operating.  Just about every part of her was trying to run away in a million different directions.

“Did that male hurt you?”  He spat the word male, and she moved even further away from him.

His tail flicked slightly as she continued to gawk, silently.

He looked down and sighed.  “Forgive me, I have clearly offended you.  I should take my leave.”  He shook out his wings as if he was about to fly away.

“Offended me?” croaked Kylie.  “Y y y you saved me back there.  I should be thanking you.”

His lips twitched as if pleased.  “That was nothing.  If I were not so concerned about your safety, I would have ensured that the male would not be readily able to behave that way again to a female.”

“You mean you’d have beaten the crap out of him?” Kylie blurted, artlessly.

The gargoyle looked at her blankly, and she blushed.  He kneeled down on his haunches.  “Are you hurt?” he asked again, but more softly.

“No, he didn’t… he didn’t hurt me.”  Her Marshmallow Fudge Krispies and milk probably couldn’t be saved, but she was actually okay.  Although, she was still trembling from her involuntary flight; she wasn’t that comfortable flying in an airplane, without one was petrifying.

His eyes glowed soft amber in the night, and Kylie took a moment to glance at their surroundings.  They were in the center of the hedge maze again.  Which technically she supposed was the gargoyle’s home.

“And how if your head?”

Instinctively Kylie reached up and patted the lump.  “Getting better.”

He cast his eyes downward and inched towards her.  He paused to see if she would react, but she merely gazed at him, cautiously.  “Forgive me, last night I startled you, I am responsible for your injury.”

“It’s just not every day that you see a gargoyle come to life.”  She tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a hollow whine.

“No,” he replied, bitterly.

She saw him flex his claws and froze.  They looked like they could do a hell of a lot of damage if he wanted.  Her fear must have shown on her face.

“You need not fear me, little one.  I would not harm anyone for the sake of it, and certainly not you.”

“Why not me?”   Her eyes widened, and she cringed.  How had she lived to age thirty without her mouth getting her into more trouble?  “I mean, not that I’m asking you to…”

He looked at her in surprise.  “I would not harm the one who woke me.  I owe you my life.”

“I woke you,” she repeated, slowly.

“Yes, I have been asleep for almost a thousand years and now thanks to you, I am alive again.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Well?” snapped Holling as he snatched up the phone.

Lara watched him in interest.

“What do you mean she just disappeared?” snarled Holling.  “People don’t just disappear; there had to be some kind of doorway…  Have you checked the dumpsters…  Well, check them you fuck up!”  Holling slammed the phone down.

Lara snorted.  “What are you doing?  What was the point in having her mugged?”

Holling glared at her, and she shrunk in her seat.  “She has magic; I’m sure of it.  I wanted to force her to use her magic against the mugger.”

Lara silently snorted.  Did he really think that fat, little girl from the antique store has magic?  He was losing his touch.  She didn’t say any of this out loud.  She didn’t want to think about what he’d do if she said it out loud.

“I’m guessing it didn’t turn out very well.”

“Mason lost her in an alley,” he hissed, looking around the room – possibly for something to punch.

“So you sent a lackwit to do a halfwit’s job?”

“I assumed Mason could do something this simple.”  Plus, Lara doubted that Holling would care if Kylie actually hurt Mason.

Holling rubbed his fingers together.  “I felt a spark when she shook my hand, I didn’t think it was anything at the time, but something happened to her last night – you mark my words – something happened here.”