Page 9 of Fated to the Gargoyle
Thescent of melted cheese wafted over. “Mmm, it smells delicious.”
“Good.”Anyacarried over two bowls heaping with creamy mac and cheese. “Hopeit tastes as good.”
Iscooped a forkful, but the heat reached my lips, soIblew on it.OnceItasted the food,Imoaned in appreciation.Wespoke about neutral topics like food and the city and the apartment while we ate.Afterwe finished and had moved on to a second glass of wine, we sat on a plush sofa, gazing out at the spectacular view of the city at night, lights rolling out before us.
Spurredon by curiosity and the wine,Itried to tactfully segue into a more serious conversation—our background.
“Didyou grow up around here?”Iasked in a casual tone.
Shefrowned. “Notfar.Ilived in foster homes mostly.AroundQuebec.”Shebrushed her hair off her forehead and took a large sip of wine. “Nothingremarkable about that to share.I’mglad it’s behind me.Whatabout you?”
Ah, so it wasn’t her favorite topic.Icould relate and didn’t blame her for deflecting back to me.Aftertaking a deep breath,Isaid, “Sohere goes.Iwas adopted whenIwas three, but my adoptive mother died of breast cancer whenIwas seven.”Irushed through that painful memory. “Myadoptive father fell apart after that and drank heavily.Itook more care of him than he did of me.Andhe died in a drunk-driving car accident around ten years later.Sincethen,I’vebeen moving around, doing whatever jobsIcan find—mostly in restaurants.”Ishrugged. “Idon't know.I’vebeen searchingIguess.”
“Searchingfor what?”Anyatilted her head.
Isighed. “Notsure.WhereIbelong?”
Shenodded thoughtfully. “Iknow what you mean.”Afterseveral seconds of quiet introspection, she asked, “Howdid you find out about me?”
“Ifound a letter fromAdelaideinside the grimoire just beforeIbrought it to you.Itjust sort of floated out whenIskimmed through the pages.”
Anyagasped. “Thesame thing happened to me!”Herblue eyes widened. “Itwasn't there before whenIlooked through it, but then it just floated out one day.Itwas super weird.”
“Likemagic.”Myvoice came out barely above a whisper.
Weexchanged a meaningful glance.
“Magic,” she repeated.Aftera few potent seconds of silence, she asked, “Didthe letter mention a charm that blocked your abilities?”
“UntilIturned twenty-five.”Wegaped at each other.Bothof us shared that birthday.Didsomething happen to us at the same time, waking up us to latent abilities?
“Howdid you end up with the book?” she asked.
Mymind traveled back to that day, the moment that changed everything. “Ifound it hidden in a cardboard box with my name on it at the back door of a studio apartmentI’dbeen renting.WhenIopened the box, it appeared to be junk—a bunch of old magazines and newspapers.Butburied beneath it all was the book.”
“Howpeculiar…”Anya’svoice dropped to a breathy whisper. “Soyou have no idea who brought it to you?”
“Noidea.”Ishook my head.Westared at each other for several seconds as if we might be able to figure out how it ended up getting to me.I’dasked myself that question a thousand times already.Aftertaking a sip of prosecco,Ileaned back on the sofa cushion and changed the subject to another big question on my mind. “Sohow did you end up here with a big, bad gargoyle?”Igrinned.
Shechuckled. “Hemight be big but not so bad.”Thesmile left her lips. “Itall comes down to that book.ThatnightIfound you, two men, who turned out to be the demon hybridsDumontmentioned, broke into the library and one grabbed me, demanding the book.”
Guiltrolled in like a wave, andIbit my bottom lip. “Sorryabout getting you mixed up in this.”
“Don’tbe.Itopened my eyes to a worldIdidn’t know existed, a familyIdidn’t knowIhad, a relationshipInever dreamed possible…”Hergaze drifted out the window before she snapped it back to meet mine. “Anyway,Hugo, whoIjust thought was a gargoyle statue up to that point, came to life from his stone perch and yanked the guy off me.Icouldn’t believe whatIwas seeing, staring at a stone creature who’d come to life and flew across the library.Assoon asIrecovered from that tremendous shock,Iran out of there.”
“Ican understand why,”Ireplied.Thehorror of seeing flying creatures was still vivid in my mind.
“Atotally normal reaction, right?” she said with a lopsided smile. “Whowouldn’t run?”
“Exactly.”Funnyhow in just a short timeIwas learning so much about them.Thegargoyles were vastly different from the demons, although they looked far more terrifying than those hybrids who blended in as men.Icocked my head and askedAnya, “Areyou andHugo—”Imotioned with a circular wave.WhatI’dbeen about to ask sounded ridiculous since they were different species.Finally,Iuttered the last word. “Together?”
Anya’sface spread into a wide grin with a brightness that reached her eyes. “Yes.Iknow, it’s so strange.We’redifferent species.He’shuge.Helooks so imposing.Yet, he can be so gentle.”Shegrunted. “Andhe treats me better than any humanI’ddated, that's for sure.”
Ihad many more questions about how she could be seeing a gargoyle.Imean, were they lovers?Howdid things even fit?Hewas huge.Shewas tiny in comparison.
Wait, why wasIcontemplating something that was none of my business and minute in comparison to all the weird things and supernatural threats introduced to me tonight?Ourbrains jumped to strange places when stressed.Mylittle mental vacation took another detour, andIpicturedDumontwith his captivating eyes and immense, muscular body.Couldhe andI?—
Ugh, focus.
