When A Gargoyle Kidnaps Read online

  When a Gargoyle Kidnaps

  E A Price

  Copyright ©2017 by Elizabeth Ann Price

  All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

  Disclaimer

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, species, and incidents are either the products of my imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to humans and gargoyles living or dead is coincidental, and no gargoyles were hurt in the making of this novella – not even Grey, though that was a close thing.

  Note on books – for this story’s sake, let’s just say they were already invented a thousand years ago and be done with it. As you can tell, I’m not great with historical accuracy… in the least, so let’s not argue on whether or not books were around when the gargoyles first were. Books were invented by wizards anyway – and that’s a fact.

  Previously

  During King Arthur’s reign, to defeat his enemy, Morgan Le Fay and her legions of magical beasts, the King, his magician Merlin, and the leader of the dragon race sacrificed themselves to create a race of warriors. They became known as gargoyles.

  After defeating Morgan, the gargoyles lived in tentative peace alongside the humans. But not all gargoyles were happy with their place. A female called Ophelia, second in command to Lucifer, a descendant of the first gargoyle, made a deal with the enemy, known as the Noir Clans, and gave them the spell used to bring the gargoyles to life. The armies of the Noir Clans rallied and in an attack, they used the spell on the gargoyles to put them into a stone sleep, that if not reversed within a thousand years would become permanent. Those who were not immediately destroyed were sheltered by the descendants of Arthur’s allies - the Blanc Clans. For years, attempts were made at waking them, but they were unsuccessful.

  Almost a thousand years later, Lucifer, along with dozens of other hidden gargoyles, was being sheltered by a man called Professor Hardcastle, who lived in a town called Devil’s Hang. After his death, his heir and nephew, Andrew held a party at his house. A woman named Kylie Summers stumbled upon the gargoyle Lucifer, and while drunk, kissed the stone gargoyle and awakened him. Kylie was discovered to be a distant (very distant) relative of one of Arthur’s allies.

  While Kylie and Luc fell in love, a man named Holling, a relative of one of Morgan’s allies, was attempting to revive the gargoyles to create an army. He held Kylie hostage to lure Luc to him. When Luc tried to rescue her, Ophelia was discovered to be alive, and she killed Holling. Disgusted at Luc’s relationship with Kylie, Ophelia tried to kill her. Ophelia escaped, and it was discovered that she had been working with Holling, trying to create a new clan of gargoyles.

  Luc and Kylie mated and began working to decipher the locations of the other gargoyles Professor Hardcastle hid.

  On learning of Holling’s death, the Council of Magic Users sent mercenaries to watch the mansion, to try and discover if the gargoyles had been reawakened and report back their findings.

  One of the newly awakened gargoyles, Ric, was seen in the surroundings woods by a human called Chloe. They continued to meet in secret, and unbeknownst to Ric she was one of the mercenaries sent to watch them. While Chloe tried to seduce Ric, he fell in love with a human called Brenda.

  Ric was kidnapped by the Council of Magic and taken to a medical facility, where he met Twenty-Six – a gargoyle who had been bred in the lab. The council was using gargoyle DNA to try and breed new gargoyles that stay awake in daylight.

  Luc, the gargoyles and Brenda’s uncle, Chris attacked the facility and Ric and Twenty-Six were freed. Luc confronted the leader of the Council of Magic, Blackthorne, and told him that they would leave him alone if he left them alone.

  A few weeks later, while trying to retrieve a new gargoyle, Annis and Chris were kidnapped and hunted for sport. They managed to free themselves and the pair mated.

  It was revealed that the kidnapping was engineered by Ophelia, in an attempt to get rid of the male gargoyle, Gracchus. A new clan gargoyle called Lief was working with Ophelia, and he left the clan to return to Ophelia.

  Kylie visited the new doctor in town in order to retrieve contraceptive pills, but the doctor gave her fertility drugs instead. The doctor was shown working with Blackthorne, and their plan is for Kylie to become pregnant with Luc’s child.

  Over Christmas, the gargoyle Brom found a human mate called Joely after her daughter, Daphne mistook him for Santa Claus. Kylie also discovered she was pregnant.

  Meanwhile Drago found his mate in Martha – who discovered she was psychic, and that her father (who she had thought to be deceased) was alive and had been kept imprisoned by Blackthorne for many years. He escaped along with a woman called Danica, who happened to be pyrokinetic. Both Martha’s father and Danica are now hiding out at the mansion, and her father told the gargoyles how there were other gargoyles at the institution where he was kept, except, they were guards and not inmates.

  The story will be continued… right now.

  Main Characters

  Humans

  Kylie Summers – Luc’s mate, and technically a witch. Her magical ability lay dormant until she stumbled upon Luc as a statue. She’d like it to be known that she doesn’t normally run around kissing statues. She isn’t a hussy for stone men, she was just very drunk.

  Chris Wyatt – Brenda’s uncle and the local chief of police. A former detective from Portland, he now runs a police force made up of three people and a dog named Bob who refuses to obey.

  Brenda Halverson – Mate of Ric and currently a high school senior. Spends her time acting as a referee between her overprotective mate and uncle.

  Bea – Kylie’s aunt, but not biologically. Also a witch, she has some healing ability. Belongs to the magical community, and is one of many guardians Kylie had while growing up.

  Maggie – Kylie’s best friend, a goth, and a lover of all things supernatural. Currently helping to track down all the missing gargoyles. Secretly enjoys Boggle.

  Andrew Hardcastle – The nephew of Professor Hardcastle, who hid and protected the gargoyles for many years. Owns the Hardcastle Mansion where the gargoyles are currently living. Maggie’s fiancé and favorite Boggle victim.

  Gustave – Former manservant of Professor Hardcastle. Working with Kylie and the gargoyles to find and wake the others. Does not like to be compared to Alfred from Batman.

  Blackthorne – A descendant of one of the original Noir Clans. A member of the Council of Magic made up of other descendants. Involved with creating Twenty-Six and has various other nefarious schemes ongoing.

  Melissa Sanchez – An FBI agent in Portland, and friend of Chris’. Assigned to the ‘weird’ cases, like UFO and Bigfoot sightings. As the only agent in her section, she has to be both Mulder and Scully. FYI, it can be quite exhausting to be both a believer and a skeptic at the same time.

  Martha – Maggie’s cousin, and mated to Drago. Recently discovered she was psychic thanks to some very lurid dreams.

  Joely – Brom’s mate, waitress and according to Brom, a ‘saucy wench’.

  Daphne – Joely’s daughter. Despite being told otherwise, is still convinced Brom is Santa Claus.

  Dr. Casey White – The town’s doctor and an unbeknownst to the gargoyles, an ally of Blackthorne’s.

  Danica – a young woman with pyrokinetic abilities imprisoned by Blackthorne since she was a child. Obviously, she has issues.

  Allen – Martha’s father and also a psychic. Had been kept imprisoned by Blackthor
ne for many years.

  Gargoyles

  Lucifer ‘Luc’ – Kylie’s mate and a direct descendant of the first gargoyle created. His interests include awaking his gargoyle brothers and sisters and keeping his human mate out of trouble.

  Annis – A female with a deformed wing. Smaller and slighter than normal females, she is unable to fight, hunt or fly like gargoyles, but she makes a mean casserole and is mated to Chris.

  Gracchus – A male a few years older than Luc. Genial and easygoing, he hints at a darker past, but is accepting of their new life, particularly the invention of TV. His favorite TV show is currently Elementary.

  Amalric ‘Ric’ – A young male, recently mated to Brenda and the first gargoyle to be woken after Luc. Annoyingly cocky but Brenda manages to tease that out of him.

  Dragoslava ‘Drago’ – Otherwise known as the thing in the basement. The male struggles to adapt to life after being asleep for so long, and on waking spent a month chained in the basement due to his uncontrolled anger, but is improving now that he is mated to Martha. Though, if any male dares look at her…

  Twenty-Six – The female bred in a lab who is able to sleep at any time, day or night. She was the twenty-sixth of the experiments to create a superior species of gargoyles. She is considering changing her name.

  Brom – A gargoyle hailing from Iceland and newly mated to Joely. Has a much shorter tail than other gargoyle, which he is very sensitive about.

  Ophelia – Luc’s former second in command who betrayed the gargoyles and is currently on the loose, with numerous evil plots on the boil.

  Ingrede – A female, mated to Cai and mother of Wolfe. Her mating was arranged, but she has feelings for Cai, particularly as she learned he requested to be mated to her and has feelings for her too (even if he has difficulty admitting them). Discovering the joys of shampoo and hair care. Her hair has never been so glossy.

  Cai – Ingrede’s mate and father to Wolfe. Learning how to get in touch with his finer ‘female’ feelings in order to appease his pregnant mate. Has been watching reruns of The View to get inside the female mind.

  Wolfe – Cai and Ingrede’s son; insufferably cute and obsessed with a stuffed penguin.

  Tristan – A bookish gargoyle and formerly a tactician for his old clan.

  Grey – An aggressive gargoyle, nicknamed ‘princess’ by Danica.

  Lief – An ally of Ophelia’s.

  Castor – A newly awakened gargoyle and old clan mate of Annis.

  Leo – An older gargoyle recently awakened.

  Ryia – A scary female who a few of the others tried to mate to Drago. It was a relief that it didn’t work out, there was a fear from the non-matchmaking faction that the two would destroy each other.

  And Bob the dog – Of unknown parentage, he just showed up in town one day. Honorary member of the local police force.

  Castor peered up into the sky as something hit his head. He held out a clawed hand, expecting to feel hail, but the weather was relatively mild for January.

  Something hit him again, and he rubbed his head, wondering if he had perhaps been in the way of an incontinent bird.

  “Castor!” hissed a voice.

  He turned to find Tristan trying to hide behind one of the overgrown topiary animals. He believed it was once meant to be a swan, but now, like all the other animals, it was a giant blob with a head.

  “Sword in the Stone! What are you…”

  “Hush,” implored Tristan.

  Castor grunted and flicked his tail. He stepped closer. “Sword in the Stone!” he repeated in a quieter tone, “what are you about tonight?”

  Tristan looked around him, to make sure no one else was near. “I fear I may have made a grave error.”

  Castor raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

  Tristan winced and sighed and then winced again, before slowly moving out from behind the blobby topiary swan. He pulled his wings back to reveal what he was carrying.

  Castor threw back his own wings in surprise. “Knights of the…”

  “I know,” he interrupted, looking down at the slumbering form of the young female in his arms, “I fear I may have kidnapped her.”

  *

  One week ago

  “Well, it’s official – you’re better on the computer than I am,” murmured Kylie over his shoulder.

  Tristan smiled. Computers were a lot like books; you just needed to know how to read them. While some of the other gargoyles eschewed even trying to use the computer, Tristan saw its benefits – as he did with books as well, which again other gargoyles refused to have anything to do with.

  In his day, most gargoyles refused to learn to read. They said reading was for humans.

  “Thank you, Chief’s mate… ah, Kylie.”

  She beamed and left him to it.

  His new chief’s mate didn’t seem to like the term ‘chief’s mate’. She much preferred the gargoyles to use her name. He supposed he could understand that. In his time the title would evoke respect, and let everyone know that she or he were mated to the fiercest warrior in the clan – so treat them with respect or else. But Kylie didn’t like being referred to as something that belonged to Luc – at least that is how she tried to explain it to Luc who did not understand in the least but acquiesced to her wishes nonetheless.

  Tristan had held a strong position in his old clan – that of the chief tactician. Most clans did not have that role. Gargoyle tactics when it came to waging warfare generally only included shouting charge and then duly charging. He was not the strongest or largest warrior, but his old clan chief valued his input.

  Now, he was eager to learn of his new world, but still not entirely certain how he fit into it. In the old days, they had always been at war with someone, and his tactical advice was necessary. Now, he wasn’t so sure, wasn’t sure his new leader needed a tactician. His old leader had been strong and brutal, but as Maggie would say, dumber than a box of frogs. He would never describe his new leader, Luc as dumb – mostly because it wasn’t true but also because he liked his head where it was.

  The new clan’s main concern was finding the remaining gargoyles and waking them. Luc was a good leader, but it was a struggle to keep the gargoyles together. They were gargoyles from many different clans, striving to deal with the losses of their old clans while coming to terms with the new world. They struggled, but gargoyles were resilient.

  Tristan spent his time reading, absorbing as much information as he could, hoping he can be useful. He was on the small side for a male gargoyle, perhaps large compared to a human, but as a youngling, he had always dragged behind the other gargoyles. Hence the need to learn, to be smarter than them, to figure out a way to beat them without using his muscles.

  He had to admit the human inventions were intriguing. The computer and the world wide web were certainly impressive, and he found himself using the computer more and more. He was considering whether it would be wise to open up some social media accounts, to interact with more humans. Though, he doubted Luc would be happy about that. His chief would fear him exposing himself to humans, and ask why he would want to talk to humans he had never met when there were enough already running through the house.

  Tristan shook his head. He could not deny that it appeared to be a trend for the gargoyles to find human mates, which made him wonder if he would as well. He wondered how he would feel if he did. He did not hate humans but had never considered them in a way that would include mating.

  “Hey, brainiac,” taunted Twenty-Six, sauntering into the room. “Whatcha doing?”

  Tristan smiled at the female. She was very much a gargoyle, yet her mannerisms were so human, it was almost jarring to hear her talk. He knew that she bothered Grey – but then, what didn’t bother the cantankerous male?

  “I am looking at the news section of the town’s website.” The Devil’s Hang website was the first he had ever seen and he found himself checking it on a daily basis out of curiosity.

  “Yawn! Why?”

>   He chuckled. “I find it interesting to see what the humans themselves find interesting.”

  “Oh, so you’re studying them?”

  “I suppose I am.”

  One day they will need to live openly among humans, it would help to know what was now important to them. Twenty-Six peered at the screen as the website popped up, and the snow graphics started falling over the picture of the town.

  “Okay, it does look pretty,” she admitted.

  “Yes,” he agreed almost wistfully.

  Most of his time since awakening had been spent inside the house. He knew very little of the local town, only what he had seen from afar. He was starting to get just a little bit frustrated.

  “Hey, look, there’s a message board on there – why don’t you write something.”

  “I doubt Luc would…”

  “Pfft! You can post anonymously – just make up a name. No one has to know.”

  Tristan stared at the screen. Huh.

  *

  Gwen awoke to the call of her name. It took her a moment to realize what the strange taste was in her mouth – it was a candy bar wrapper she’d left on her bed that morning. It had been breakfast, and Gwen didn’t have time to throw it away, never mind make her bed.

  She peeled it away from her mouth and rolled off the bed, rubbing her tired eyes. She had worked all day in the library and then went on to work some more at Bea’s antique shop. Now, she was exhausted.

  Grrr. Plus, her stomach was growling dangerously.

  Gwen tramped to the kitchen to find her mother trying to pick up a fallen pan of spaghetti. Her mother had endured another round of treatment the day before, and it had wiped her out; her face was twisted in pain as she tried to bend down.

  “Mom,” she sighed.

  Her mother’s face creased. “I’m sorry, baby, I just wanted to make dinner for you.”

  “I'm all right, Mom. I had a big lunch.”

  Thankfully, her stomach kept shtum. Gwen forced a smile and carefully assisted her mom back to her bedroom.