Chapter 3 – Farrah
Ikissed a gargoyle.
And I liked it.
Loved it.
Ten out of ten. Would do it again.
But I can’t because the asshole disappeared.
Okay, to be fair, I was pretty drunk. And horny.
I tried to… ride him. I’m still trying to figure out how his human form works.
Is it purely a masking situation, or does he shift back and forth?
I saw his fangs and horns, but when I buried my hands in his hair, I couldn’t feel them.
When I kissed him, the fangs weren’t there.
He was such a gentleman. A gentlegoyle? Gentlegarg?
He may have kissed me back, but he was the one to break it off. When I embarrassedly passed out, he put me to bed. And when I woke back up to change, he turned around while I undressed.
I swear he had a bulge in his pants, which I still can’t believe. I assumed he hated me. And he wasn’t like other men I’ve been with when intoxicated. He didn’t insist on sleeping together.
No, instead, he tucked me in. Then he left a note—that I’ve read a million times already—telling me to take the aspirin he left, drink all the water, and to call him if I needed anything.
I haven’t saved his number. If I put it in my phone, I’ll text him. Or call him. And I really need to think about what I’m doing here.
He’s a gargoyle.
He won’t age. I’ll get old and wrinkly.
And most importantly: My family literally wants to kill him.
But at the same time… we could have a little fun. It’s not like he’s my soulmate or anything. Except I know myself, and I won’t ever want to let him go.
I left to head home the moment the sun began rising.
Leaving had nothing to do with my fear of running into Locheran.
I have a ton of unpacking to do since I just moved to Manhattan.
Plus, my cat, Potato, is on a strict seven a.m. feeding schedule.
Strict, as in, he will plot my demise if I’m a minute late.
Okay, fine. I left because I couldn’t bear to see Locheran after the way I behaved.
I can’t tell Evangeline. I’m too embarrassed. I did text her, though, to let her know I was heading to my new place and to enjoy her stay-at-home honeymoon.
When I asked why they weren’t traveling for their honeymoon, Evangeline got weird and stumbled over her words saying Xander had a lot of work to do at his office job in the Financial District.
My bestie went into more details about Xander’s ‘office job’, but I didn’t care to remember since I knew the truth.
So I didn’t bat an eye when she came up with a lie about not going on a tropical honeymoon.
I also assume Xander doesn’t want to leave because of my family. I have no doubt they’re planning another attack. If I only knew what they’re up to, I could find a way to stop it. Or warn Evangeline and Xander, even if that meant revealing my secret.
Would they hate me?
Would Locheran?
Evangeline introduced him as Xander’s best friend, but I assume he’s someone important to the king. His advisor? A soldier?
Another reason I’m hesitant about revealing my secret: Would the gargoyles kill my father and brothers? If I warn them, if I tell them where to find my family, could I convince them to spare their lives? To imprison them indefinitely?
It’s a big ask, especially since the O’Hern family has murdered too many supernaturals over the years.
I shouldn’t care if they’re not allowed to live.
To be honest, I’m mostly worried about my brother, Ethan.
He’s five years younger than me and lately, when we speak on the phone, something’s been off.
He’s not the same little boy who was eager to kill scary monsters like his dad and older brother.
I’m convinced Ethan still has his humanity and no longer wants to hunt, but he won’t let me help him get out. Every time I try to talk to him about it, he shuts down.
He’s probably too scared to leave.
If I confess my secret to the monsters, would they punish me as well?
While I refuse to hunt, that doesn’t mean the instinct isn’t there.
The O’Hern surname is derived from the mythical hunter Herne.
I carry the hunter’s curse in my blood. If I’d had children, they would have been destined to hunt supernatural beings.
My body demands to fight, capture, and kill.
But my morals are stronger than my destiny.
And apparently so is my libido because my body can’t seem to get enough of one certain monster.
No. I can’t say anything about my true identity. Not yet.
I just hope this decision doesn’t come back to kick me in the ass.
Iwake to my phone ringing.
Groaning, I peek at the screen and see my older brother’s name.
I check the time.
2 a.m.? What the fuck?
The ringing stops and I lie back down, huffing. Is the asshole drunk calling me? He’s never done that before, but I wouldn’t put it past him just to piss me off.
It’s been a week since Evangeline and Xander’s wedding.
I’ve spent the days unpacking and barely had time to rest before my new summer teaching position starts at Five Boroughs College.
My first class is today at 8 a.m. Thankfully, the campus is only a few blocks from my new apartment on the Upper East Side, so my commute won’t be too miserable.
My phone goes off again.
“Someone better have died to be calling me in the middle of the night,” I growl upon answering.
“Farrah,” Dean whispers.
“What is it?”
I stand, palming my chest as if that will stop my heart from pounding violently.
“It’s Ethan.”
“It’s Ethan what? What do you mean?”
“There was an incident.”
“No.” I pace the room, shaking my head back and forth. “No.”
“I’m sorry, but he couldn’t be saved.”
“What happened?” The words barely come out, my voice too shaken.
“You know I can’t—”
“Fuck off with the secrets. Just tell me!”
He huffs into the phone. They never give me too many details, but this is different. This is Ethan who’s dead.
“The monsters were hosting a convention. We paid a griffin a lot of money to help us kidnap a sphinx—you know their golden feathers are worth a lot of money. We took her to our new headquarters in Queens, but the vampire queen and her gargoyle guard were somehow able to track her down. We were outnumbered. Ethan didn’t make it out. ”
“No,” I sob.
My baby brother.
He can’t be gone.
Dean rattles off something about a funeral, even though we won’t get his body back.
I should have known this was going to happen. They’re in over their heads hunting supes in the city. They’re getting reckless. Greedy. Desperate.
Growing up, I tried to convince Ethan to drop out with me. By the time I was fifteen and decided to leave the hunt, he was already too far into his training.
He looked up to our father and older brother.
In his eyes, they were the badasses who took on scary monsters.
He never saw our father as a parental figure, because after our mother died, that was my job.
I tried to look after him, to care about him as a mother would do, but I was just a kid myself. I was still grieving her death.
So when I tried to talk him out of hunting, he wouldn’t listen. He was on their side. At least, that used to be the case. If only I had tried harder to convince him to leave, he might still be alive.
“Farrah!”
Dean’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
“Dad knows you moved to New York City. He wants you out.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Then help us.”
“You know I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
Both.
I sigh loudly, and my brother answers with his own frustrated sigh.
“Look, just, watch your back. These monsters… they’re onto us—”
“And how does it feel? To be hunted? To be—”
“I’m not doing this with you, Farrah. Monsters don’t belong in our world. They’re killers. Evil.”
“And we’re not? We kill these creatures who’ve done nothing but defend themselves.”
Pressure builds behind my eyes and my throat aches. I hate that I always get emotional when trying to do what’s right. I should be stronger in my convictions.
“These supernatural beings have been here a lot longer than humans so I’m pretty sure we’re the ones who don’t belong here.”
The call is silent, and I pull the phone away to see if my brother hung up on me. He hasn’t. He just hates arguing with me. He believes he’s right.
I know I am.
“I’ll text you the funeral details.”
With that, Dean hangs up, and I let out a sob, sinking to the floor and burying my head in my hands.