Page 2 of Bite of the Gargoyle

“Well, had we known you were just a girl,” the cleric starts.

“I’m notjust a girl,” I interrupt, glaring at him. “I’m the best hunter in Decorsay Woods. And if you want your town cleared of the…pestilence, I’m the only one who can do it.”

The woman laughs and shakes her head. “You’re all of what… five feet tall? And you look no older than seventeen!”

I turn to glare at her. “I’m twenty-two and I’m five-foot-two,” I answer, squaring my arms against my chest in a display which, frankly, probably makes me appear even younger. And, yes, I do still look like I’m in my teens but that isn’t my fault. It’s owing to the bite of the vampire which still burns on the inside of my right wrist, slowing my aging. The vampire’s bite is also the reason I’m able to withstand the magic of the monsters—my blood is tainted with the very magic that animates them.

“Please,” the cleric says. “Please have a seat.”

He even pulls the chair out for me, so I do as asked, but this time I don’t bother propping my boots on the table. The barkeep returns with my ale and a paper bill for the cleric, who accepts it rather begrudgingly. I give him a smile and a nod.

“Tell me about your town,” I say as I bring the mug to my lips and down half the ale in three gulps. Feeling a massive burp starting, I manage to swallow it down—I don’t want to unhinge my companions more than I already have.

“We haven’t agreed to hire you!” Baldy says.

I laugh. “You already hired me before I stepped foot into this tavern.” I reach inside my pocket and procure the contract they’d signed and sent to me. I’d signed it, as well, and now it’s time to hand them the contract in return for the gold.

“We hired you when we believed you to be a man!” the woman says, as ifI’mthe stupid one.

I take another swig of my ale, then place the mug on the table a bit too hard and some of the precious liquid slops out the top, mixing with the rabbit’s blood which is already beginning to run in a rivulet of red down the center of the table.

“I grow tired of this conversation,” I say. “Either we have a deal or we don’t. And if we don’t, then you can continue to lose livestock and villagers to the abominations in the forest for all I care.”

“Jo Delevigne is known near and far,” the cleric says to the others as he worries his lower lip. “You know the legends as well as I do.”

“She’s a mere slip of a girl,” Baldy responds as his eyes fall to my bustline again.

I lean forward and then reach for the neck of the rabbit—the one part that isn’t soiled with blood. “Good luck with your problem,” I say.

The cleric immediately reaches out and stays me with a hand on my arm.

“Wait,” he says. “Please.” He swallows hard as he looks at the others. The woman nods in response, but Baldy doesn’t say or do anything. Apparently, such is his way of giving his blessing though, because a moment later, the cleric reaches into his robes and produces a burlap sack which he hands to me.

The sack is heavy.

“Then we have a deal?” I ask, just to make sure.

The cleric hesitates for a moment, then nods. “We have a deal.”

“You’d best be able to deliver on yer promises, girl,” Baldy says, pointing at me with his index finger as if doing so will better get his point across.

“By the end of the week, your forest will be clean,” I respond. Meanwhile, I open the draws of the bag and count the gold coins. There are thirty, just as we’d agreed.

Standing, I push my chair out as I reach over and retrieve my rabbit. “Very good, gentlemen.” I turn to face the woman and nod. “And lady.”

“Where… where are you going?” the cleric asks, frowning at me.

“This rabbit won’t cook itself,” I answer on a shrug.

“But… we’ve… we’ve procured you a place at the inn,” he replies, appearing quite concerned I’m not going to take him up on his offer.

“Thank you, but I prefer to sleep under the stars.”

Chapter Two

I spend the night under the open sky, staring into the star-spotted blackness.

I don’t think of anything but the day to come; the hunt. The mere thought of it makes the blood pulse harder in my veins. The grass underneath my back is soft and gives gently to the modest pressure of my weight. It won’t be long now until dawn.

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