The Gargoyle Part III

The Gargoyle

Part 3

By Eric Anthony and A. Sylvur

Back in the U.S, Daphne contemplated her chances of escape, survival, and overall risk to her delicate body as she stared fearfully at the thing she’d married. His grim human features and cold smile let her know that he tasted her fear and enjoyed it. Her body shook with the knowledge that her breath of life was near its end. All those moments she’d wasted flooded her thoughts. All the bad memories didn’t seem so tragic anymore. Now she knew that if she had one more chance, she’d live as though every day would be her last. Tears fell down her cheeks, though she fought it as she asked, “D-do you like . . . h-have some kind of super power?”

Cináed had the nerve to chuckle and wink. “Nothing like Superman, but you think I do.”

Her mind kept straying back to her husband’s threat. She tried to calm her body, but knew she couldn’t just sit and wait for death. However, self-preservation warred with her instinct to run.

Out of nowhere, her instinct broke free and she lunged for the door. Like lightening, her husband crabbed her around the waist. She screamed, but barely got it out as his hand roughly clamped her mouth. Her tears drenched his hand in a matter of seconds. Crimson marred her face as she gave every effort to scream the apartment down. But no sound escaped his hand.

With a growl, he carried her back to the sofa then dropped her when she realized she was helpless.

“Do you think I’m a demon?” He demanded.

Too petrified to nod, she cowered into the sofa.

A little more slowly, he repeated, “Do you think I’m a demon?”

“Are you?” Her voice was barely a whisper and she flinched that she’d actually spoken the words aloud.

He sighed as he massaged his forehead.

“Why me?”

He opened his eyes, not completely sure she spoke or if he just read the thoughts she screamed at him, yet he replied, “Honestly? Your blood.”

She moaned tearfully and tried to burrow into the sofa. “You’re a vampire and a gargoyle?”

Frustrated, he sat beside her then pulled her shaking and stiff body into his. “I’m neither. And you have nothing to fear from me, Daphne.” Forcefully, he lifted her chin. After several minutes of staring at her, he stood up with a smile. “Are you hungry? Because I’m hungry.”

“W-what?”

“It’s not a difficult question.” He leaned over her. “Are you hungry?”

Daphne barely shook her head when her stomach growled.

“I’ll make super,” he smiled softly, then kissed her cheek before he walked toward the kitchen. “Don’t think about running away from me. You can’t hide. Now, call Jamison back and tell him you are happy being my wife.”

“W-what?” When she caught his look of agitation from within the refrigerator she amended, “I-I’m not g-good at ly-lying.”

As he began to chop celery, he shrugged. “Then I’ll kill him when he gets here.”

Seconds later, her fear had her on the phone. “H-h-hello, J-James?”

“Daphne! I’m so sorry. Where’s Kenneth?”

“He’s in my kitchen with a k-knife, cooking,” she tried to keep the tears from her voice, but the sobs escaped. “W-what is he?”

She heard him curse. “I’m—”

The phone was wretched from her hands, “I may not be able to read your thoughts from this distance, Jamison, but my hearing is excellent. Don’t come near my wife and no one else will be hurt.”

“Kenneth, please,” James pleaded, “you’re scaring her. I’m the one you want to punish.”

“If you do what I think you’re planning, you’re going to kill a lot of innocent people, Englishman. Including, the lovely Daphne. We both know you don’t stand a chance against me.” He hung up the phone. Slowly, he knelt before her and caressed her hand. When she shrunk away from his touch, he forced her hand to his lips. “No more interruptions. You need to eat. My darling wife needs her energy.” Cináed didn’t move.

Worried that James would be too late, she thought to herself. James, what have you done?

“Would it make you feel better to know that no one will die from the plane crash?” His eyes were gentle as he studied her face then stood up. “I made sure of it.” After a gentle kiss, he rushed back to the kitchen.

“But the television said.”

“Nothing has been confirmed. By tomorrow they’ll find the aircraft and rescue the people.”

Confused by his bizarre behavior, cold then kind, she hesitated to draw the coldness out of him, but dared to ask, “D-did you cause th-the crash?”

Busy with making dinner, he shrugged and wiped his hands on a dish towel then slung it back onto his shoulder, “Would you believe me if I said I didn’t?” Briefly, his eyes met hers.

“I don’t know,” she quickly looked away.

“Then it doesn’t matter what I say. You’ll believe what you want, despite my protests. Now, what do you want to drink?”

“I don’t understand.”

Cináed braced his hands on the counter. “Until you learn to trust me, you won’t get any answers. I need your trust.”

Daphne became aware she’d stopped crying, but her body still shook. “B-but you threatened to kill me a-and innocent people.”

“It’s not difficult, Love. If I’d wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be watching me cook dinner for you. As to my reason for doing this,” he waved his hands around, “I’m saving you from a short life. Now stop misconstruing everything I say. Must you be dead set on me being the bad guy . . . all because of Jamison?”

Her eyes glazed over and she whispered, “You do plan to kill me.”

“No. I’m here to keep you alive. It’s true I don’t like Jamison and over the years I’ve given him a valid reason to fear me, but I did it for you. I didn’t kill him though I had plenty of opportunities. Do you want to know why I didn’t kill him, Daphne?”

She only stared at him. Once again her tears started.

“I didn’t kill him because of you. In a twisted way, Jamison does care for you, but he’s human and can’t love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

He poured wine in two glasses. “Now, I promise that you will not die. I only made the threat to keep James away . . . from you. He and I have a conflict of interest.” He set the wine glass into her shaking hand and smiled lovingly into her beautiful eyes. “You, my darling wife are our conflict. Rest assured that I will not let anyone harm you. And especially not Jamison.”

She sobbed, unable to control it. “James won’t hurt me.”

He studied her fearful posture for several seconds then turned away to finish supper as he cursed Jamison.

* * * *

Aboard a private plane, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, James studied the two men he’d found waiting for him at Brinkley Hall after Daphne left with the gargoyle. Both men were dressed in black from their hair down to their boots. It was their pale skin that gave him concerns, but they were willing to fight Cináed to free Daphne, so he kept his comments about their gothic appearance to himself. The twins weren’t large, but they did look fierce.

“You’re sure his only intent is to stop the birth of my son?”

One of the twins nodded. “Yes. Your son will become a very powerful leader.”

“For England?”

The other twin smiled. “Eventually . . . for England.”

“If not England, then what country?”

“His country hasn’t been created yet.”

James knew they didn’t want to talk about it, and he wasn’t completely sure he wanted to know. He knew only of the story Kenneth told him. The gargoyle was from the future, but went too far into the past and was on a search for something. Now that he knew it was his woman, Kenneth wanted, it changed everything. All that mattered now was Daphne, whom he’d been told would give him a son. Daphne was his.

“Are you sure you can take him down? Kenneth seems to be solid and strong, though I’ve never seen him in his human form. His gargoyle form is terrifying enough.”

“We can deal with him. You take Daphne and bring her back to your home. And on your way back, you might want to get her pregnant as a precaution to let Cináed know he failed his mission.”

“I won’t rape her.”

“Women love to be cherished and desired. Let her know the two of you were written in the stars.”

James lifted a brow.

“It’ll work.”

“How did you discover Kenneth’s plan to change history anyway?”

The one closest to him acknowledged, “There was a ripple in the Pulse.”

“That made no sense to me.”

“It won’t until certain events happen to discover the Pulse. It’s a portal of sorts and that’s all you need to know.”

More troubled than relieved, James settled back into his seat, pulled to stare at the paper from his suit pocked that had Daphne’s apartment address that he’d memorized.

* * *

After supper, Daphne knew he would want her to sleep with him, but she tried to prolong that moment as long as she could and had cleaned the dishes, scrubbed the floor with a toothbrush, and was organizing the refrigerator when her husband leaned against the stove.

“You’re delaying the inevitable. You know that don’t you?”

Unable to stop the tears, she nodded and tried hard not to let him hear her cry.

Gently, he turned her to face him then lifted her chin. “I promise not to rape you. But I do insist on sleeping next to you. It’s the only way to help you adjust more easily to the idea of us.”

“But why me?” She whined.

Cináed pulled her into his arms and lovingly caressed her back. “Your son will become a very powerful leader. But for that to happen—” He broke off, unable to tell her of her impending death and that he was her only hope of survival.

“And you want to be my son’s father?”

“Yes and before you ask, James was the man you were supposed to marry. I never set out to hurt anyone. And never will I hurt you. I’m here to protect you.”

“But . . . you are.” Her eyes were puffy from crying, her nose and cheeks red, “I’m so scared . . . of you.” She sobbed, “Please don’t . . . hurt James.”

Tenderly, he kissed the corner of her lips. “James will be fine as long as he stays away from you.”

“If I have sex with you, will you swear not to hurt him even if he comes here?”

Her husband nodded. “Yes. If you give your body to me, James will cease to be a threat to us and I will have no reason to keep him away from you.”

Struggling to be brave, she nodded and began to put everything back into her refrigerator with her husband’s help. Just when they were about finished, someone pounded on her door. Both of them looked at the clock. Cináed noted his wife’s concern and stood up to answer the door.

“Please. If it is James, I swear I’ll tell him anything you want, just don’t hurt him.”

He didn’t answer her and went to the door. “Who is it?”

“Kenneth, it’s me, James. Please, I want to speak to Daphne.”

Daphne’s hand flew to her mouth to keep from screaming and once again began to cry uncontrollably.

“If I let you in, Jamison, you will regret coming here.”

“Fine. I need to see her, Kenneth, and I suspect you know why.”

For Daphne, Cináed made one last attempt to protect James. “Let her go, for her sake. Do you really think she wants to watch you die? You’ll only kill her James. She’ll be safer with me.”

“Open the bloody door, or I’ll wake the neighbors.”

Cináed unlatched the door and yanked it open. Immediately he was attacked by two others of his own kind. He fought briefly then surrendered, imprisoned on the carpet. His eyes filled with hate met James’s smirk.

“I have a legacy to fulfill, old friend. One you neglected to tell me.” He saw Daphne frozen in the kitchen and rushed to get her. “It’s alright, Love. I’m taking you somewhere safe.”

“B-but what about h-him?”

One of the twins said, “We’ll try to reason with him and make a deal. Go; take her out of her now.”

“Do you need anything?” James asked.

Daphne shook her head and tried not to look at Cináed, but she did and shivered at the pain she saw in his eyes. Fresh tears spilled and tremors raked her body as James rushed her out of the apartment. That image, she knew would haunt her, but she didn’t know why. Surely she should be relieved to be free. Or were they on borrowed time?

Once in his rental, he said. “Buckle up.”

“Why?”

He knew her question had nothing to do with the law. “I’ll explain once we’re on our way back to England. Do you mind staying with me until I figure out how to get rid of Kenneth?”

She shook her head as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the airport.

“Please forgive me. I had no idea what he was about until the twins showed up in my house not long after you left with him.”

She took his free hand in hers and kissed it. “He said you were supposed to be the father of my son, but he wanted to be the father.”

“I know this is rather sudden, but will you marry me, Daphne?”

“Why?”

“I was attracted to you when you walked into the shop and Kenneth knew it. I can’t explain what he did, but I didn’t know how to fight him.”

Daphne pushed several strands of hair behind her ear. “There was a brief moment after I boarded the plan that I thought you had come after me. I was so excited, until I found out it wasn’t you.”

“I wanted to. You have no idea how badly I wanted to. And as I rushed home to get my travel bag, I met the twins who filled me in on Kenneth’s plan to change the future. They assured me they could subdue him. I felt helpless and had no choice but to trust them.”

“Did you notice how alike the three of them were?”

James nodded. “Yes. It is rather odd, but the twins think we should get you pregnant to end Kenneth’s mission.”

“I should probably freshen up.” She realized her body had begun to relax. “When do we start?”

He smiled. “You are beautiful, Daphne.” He protested when she tried to turn away, “Please don’t hide from me.”

“I’ve been crying for hours.”

“You’re still lovely. But whenever you’re ready to start our family, I promise I’ll be more than willing to be of service.”

She looked out the window and hiccupped then asked, “Can we start on your plane?”

Daphne was jerked back into the seat when the rental car’s momentum accelerated.