this job…”
“Martha, you know my reasons for wanting to hire Gwen. It had nothing to do with you.” Well, not entirely…
“I know, which is why I had Myrna give Gwen a full-time job at the library. The pay is much better, by the way.”
Chris cocked an eyebrow at her. “You did? How’d you get Myrna to agree to that?”
“She’s my second cousin.”
“Really?”
“I’m practically related to everyone in town,” she told him ruefully.
Indeed, her family dated back to the original town witches. No wonder she wanted to date him – fresh blood and all. She was probably distantly related to about eighty percent of the men in town.
Martha yawned again.
Chris pried the Winter Wonderland poster out of her fingers. “Seriously, Martha, it’s quiet here; I’ll put up the poster and answer the phones. Go home and get some sleep.”
For a second he thought a look of fear entered her eyes, but she nodded and mumbled goodbye to him before shuffling away.
She looked as bad as he felt. He couldn’t sleep properly with all the erotic dreams he’d been having. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t see a future for him with any woman, least of all a complicated one with a gargoyle.
No, he was better off alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Castor was having difficulty adjusting to modern life. Or perhaps more aptly, he was having trouble adjusting to life under Luc’s leadership.
Annis felt sympathy – both for Castor and Luc. They were in a difficult situation. Essentially, they were all trapped at the Hardcastle Mansion. It went against a gargoyle’s nature not to want to roam free. Another way in which Annis was abnormal. She was more than happy with her household chores, and she wanted the security of the house. But the other gargoyles wanted to feel free, not caged.
The awakened gargoyles had little to do with their time other than practice sparring. Admittedly, a few like her had found other interests – like Tristan and the library. Like Ric and Brenda. But for every settled gargoyle, there would be another unhappy at their situation, wanting to know why they simply did not show themselves to the humans.
The thousand years of their curse was almost over, and Luc was rushing to free as many of their gargoyle brothers and sisters as he could. After the thousand years ended, any gargoyles left would be stone forever, and for every intact gargoyle they found, another two that had not survived the years were also found. He did not have time to deal with the gargoyles who had awoken and were considering revolting.
Annis did not want to think about what would happen if enough gargoyles decided to stage a coup. Luc was the most dominant gargoyle she had ever met, and would easily be able to stand against Castor or Brom. But would he be able to stand against twenty Castors?
Back in their day, gargoyles had honor and the challenge for leadership was met in hand-to-hand combat – one on one. But things were very different now. What if the other gargoyles decided that honor no longer mattered?
It was a worry for her. She felt sure that Gracchus would stand by Luc. He was slightly older than Luc and Castor, and would likely cling to the honor code. Ric would too, for the sake of his mating, and perhaps Cai would. With Luc’s ties to the humans, he could perhaps provide the most stable environment for Cai and his family – particularly as in a few months there would be another addition to it.
But the others were anyone’s guess. It was a reason why Annis was trying to spend time with Castor - to calm him and make him see the importance of their continued low profile. It also distracted her from the disappointment she felt over Chris.
Castor was not interested in anything she had to say at first, but slowly, she believed she was swaying him. Either that or he was biding his time.
Annis found Castor with Grey and Brom. They were practicing
“Martha, you know my reasons for wanting to hire Gwen. It had nothing to do with you.” Well, not entirely…
“I know, which is why I had Myrna give Gwen a full-time job at the library. The pay is much better, by the way.”
Chris cocked an eyebrow at her. “You did? How’d you get Myrna to agree to that?”
“She’s my second cousin.”
“Really?”
“I’m practically related to everyone in town,” she told him ruefully.
Indeed, her family dated back to the original town witches. No wonder she wanted to date him – fresh blood and all. She was probably distantly related to about eighty percent of the men in town.
Martha yawned again.
Chris pried the Winter Wonderland poster out of her fingers. “Seriously, Martha, it’s quiet here; I’ll put up the poster and answer the phones. Go home and get some sleep.”
For a second he thought a look of fear entered her eyes, but she nodded and mumbled goodbye to him before shuffling away.
She looked as bad as he felt. He couldn’t sleep properly with all the erotic dreams he’d been having. But it didn’t matter. He couldn’t see a future for him with any woman, least of all a complicated one with a gargoyle.
No, he was better off alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Castor was having difficulty adjusting to modern life. Or perhaps more aptly, he was having trouble adjusting to life under Luc’s leadership.
Annis felt sympathy – both for Castor and Luc. They were in a difficult situation. Essentially, they were all trapped at the Hardcastle Mansion. It went against a gargoyle’s nature not to want to roam free. Another way in which Annis was abnormal. She was more than happy with her household chores, and she wanted the security of the house. But the other gargoyles wanted to feel free, not caged.
The awakened gargoyles had little to do with their time other than practice sparring. Admittedly, a few like her had found other interests – like Tristan and the library. Like Ric and Brenda. But for every settled gargoyle, there would be another unhappy at their situation, wanting to know why they simply did not show themselves to the humans.
The thousand years of their curse was almost over, and Luc was rushing to free as many of their gargoyle brothers and sisters as he could. After the thousand years ended, any gargoyles left would be stone forever, and for every intact gargoyle they found, another two that had not survived the years were also found. He did not have time to deal with the gargoyles who had awoken and were considering revolting.
Annis did not want to think about what would happen if enough gargoyles decided to stage a coup. Luc was the most dominant gargoyle she had ever met, and would easily be able to stand against Castor or Brom. But would he be able to stand against twenty Castors?
Back in their day, gargoyles had honor and the challenge for leadership was met in hand-to-hand combat – one on one. But things were very different now. What if the other gargoyles decided that honor no longer mattered?
It was a worry for her. She felt sure that Gracchus would stand by Luc. He was slightly older than Luc and Castor, and would likely cling to the honor code. Ric would too, for the sake of his mating, and perhaps Cai would. With Luc’s ties to the humans, he could perhaps provide the most stable environment for Cai and his family – particularly as in a few months there would be another addition to it.
But the others were anyone’s guess. It was a reason why Annis was trying to spend time with Castor - to calm him and make him see the importance of their continued low profile. It also distracted her from the disappointment she felt over Chris.
Castor was not interested in anything she had to say at first, but slowly, she believed she was swaying him. Either that or he was biding his time.
Annis found Castor with Grey and Brom. They were practicing
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