Page 4 of The Gargoyle's Gift
Seconds later, a middle-aged man staggered through the doorway as well, wrapped in a heavy night robe.
“What’s the meaning of this, Gaius?”
Heart in my throat, I leaned forward on the edge of the roof, wishing I’d chosen to perch on the one above them instead of the one across the narrow street.
“Your business is closing,” Gaius said darkly.
“I’ve been done for the day for several hours already. Are you drunk?”
“You misunderstand. I mean your doors are closing permanently.”
The man laughed. “Is that so? Last I checked my shop was approved by the councils, not to mention well supported by my community. Under whose authority are you making such an asser—” There was a wet gurgle as the man clutched at his throat. I hadn’t even seen Gaius move but promptly realized it was his blade that had silenced the man as he pulled it out of his neck.
I stopped breathing. Eyes wide, I struggled to understand what I’d just seen.
“As I’ve been removed from my council posts I’m here under no authority at all besides my own. You are a blight, Caster. You claim to be helping these people, but you are only bringing more despair. I will certainly be damned for my part in it over the years, but it goes no further.”
The man choked on his own blood, eyes wide as he fell to his knees in the street. Gaius made no motion to help or expedite the man’s death; he only watched. My instinctual urge to help the injured betrayed me in that moment, and a gasp escaped my throat. Gaius’s head turned, his heated glare finding my face as my hand flew up to cover my traitorous mouth.
He bared his teeth and growled, “You.”
I held my hands up, glancing around before extending my wings again and gliding down to the ground. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you can’t just leave him here like this, Gaius.” I checked the man for a pulse, his blood unnaturally cool and sticky on my fingers.
“Of course not,” he snipped, sheathing his sword before grabbing up the man as though he weighed nothing, taking him back inside the building. “What do you take me for?”
“Do you really want me to answer that right now?” I asked as I hurried behind him, which only earned me a grunt from deep in his throat. I didn’t see anyone watching from their windows, but I knew better than to believe we’d gone totally unseen by thehumans who lived on this street. “What are you doing?” I hissed as he walked through the main lobby area and into what looked like an office. He positioned the man in the chair behind the heavy desk, resting his forehead on the wood with a harshthunk. “Gaius!”
“You shouldn’t be here,” he grumbled, throwing open the drawers. “Why are you here?” he accused.
“I…” I swallowed, nervous and sweating from the rush of adrenaline. “I don’t know.” It was the truth. I had no idea why my curiosity had driven me to follow him. I’d never done anything like this before.
He shook his head, scowl on his face showing me just how disgusted he was with my presence. “Be useful then, at least, and find a bag. There should be some kind of market satchel near the door.”
“Okay.” I turned back to the main room, relieved to have a specific purpose, finding what he’d asked for hanging from a many-pronged coatrack. When I returned, he grabbed it from my outstretched hand without a word and began shoving ledgers and small leather pouches inside.
“More,” he demanded.
“There was only one.”
Finally, he looked up at me. I wasn’t sure whether I preferred his stony avoidance or his fiery glare.
“You have pockets in those trousers?”
“Yes.”
“Fill them.” He gestured to the bottom desk drawer and moved out of my way, systematically making his way around the room, pulling things out of hidden doors and small hidey-holes. There were so many I could hardly keep track, and he seemed to know them all.
I grimaced as I carefully slid behind the chair full of dead man, frowning as I looked inside the drawer. I hadn’t ever seenso much jewelry in a single place. There was no organization at all, which gave me an odd sadness. Precious heirloom rings were tangled in delicate necklace chains which were knotted on the ends of bracelets. Taking a deep breath, silently asking for forgiveness from whatever deity might watch over such things, I plunged my hands in.
“Why exactly am I stuffing my pockets with jewelry?” I asked, gut sour. I silently pondered why I’d followed Gaius in the first place, why I’d needed to eat dinner at all when I could have been comfortable in my bed, warm and safe instead of here.
“Because it doesn’t belong to him.”
That seemed reasonable enough. I took every piece in the drawer, jingling when I moved by the time I was finished.
He slung the bag’s handle over his head and one shoulder, the fabric stretching at the seams. “Time to go.” He reached out an arm to usher me forward, his fingertips brushing the small of my back. I didn’t have time to process the gesture before he started knocking one oil lamp after another to the floor, setting the whole place alight.
Chapter 3
