Chapter 9 – Damon
DAMON
Ifucking hate hangovers so god damn much. As the sunlight blazes in my eyes, I turn on my side and groan. How early is it? It feels way too early.
And then I remember where I am.
Opening my eyes, I stare at the remains of our fire, just a small log with a small fire still burning. The guys must have gotten up in the night and put more fuel on the flames. I feel a little like a dick for sleeping right through it.
Glancing toward Cody and Jordon, I’m a little glad to see they’re still sleeping. My sober mind has a lot to turn over from last night, and the last thing I need is Jordon glaring at me while I’m trying to figure out what the fuck I’m doing.
My thoughts run through random moments of my long life.
Before I fell into my stone slumber, I’d been an amazing warrior, defender of my master’s lands, always quick to awaken when needed.
But after I awoke this last time, with no lands to defend and no master, I’d tried to be a ‘good little gargoyle,’ like the Elites wanted me to be.
The thing was, my existence was pointless.
Day after day of the same damn shit and the same damn people. I’d travelled a little, fought a little, but there was no purpose to my life. So, what did I do? I’d started to drink. To have a little fun.
Having fun wasn’t a crime, even though the gargoyles seemed to think it was.
Yeah, drinking on a mission was probably a dumbass idea, but I’d been so mad at myself. I’d thought after all these years I’d do a great job killing vampires and catching a monster. Instead, I’d been unable to get anywhere near the castle, and I hadn’t been able to stop Elliot from being taken.
I felt like a fucking failure. So, why not drink?
Cody understood. He was born in that boring sanctuary and knew our lives were meaningless, so the two of us tried to make things as enjoyable as possible. Jordon just needed to get off his high horse and stop stressing over things we couldn’t change.
If only, right?
Rising, I go to take a piss, then return to find that Jordon has awakened.
Already, he’s stirred the fire back up, put more wood on, and put a pot over the flames to boil water.
All things I should’ve done, had I thought of it.
And given the dirty look he shoots me, he knows I should’ve done it too.
Whatever. If Jordon was annoying at night, he was a hell of a lot worse in the morning.
“So,” I say, keeping my voice low so I won’t wake Cody. “What’s the plan today?”
His shoulders tense. “I guess we do the only thing we can do, we try to find a weakness. A way to get into the castle undetected.”
We’d already tried that a bunch, but I didn’t have a better idea, so I kept my mouth shut.
“Well.” He pauses. “I actually thought of something else we could do too.”
“Don’t leave me in suspense,” I say dryly.
He glares at me, but speaks anyway. “There’s a vampire hunter about a half a day’s flight from here that I know. I could go get some weapons and some suggestions on a way to get to Elliot, if you two think you can keep an eye on things here and not cause trouble.”
“How about you not talk to me like I’m a badly behaved seven year old?”
“How about you don’t act like one?” he shoots back.
I stand up. “I’m older than you, asshole.”
He gives an unkind smile. “I’m glad you remind me so often, otherwise I’d think you were a young, drunken moron.”
My hands curl into fists. “It wasn’t always like this.”
“You weren’t always this much of a disaster,” he says, his words clipped.
I meant, between us, but I don’t say it.
“And you used to be more fun,” I argue back instead.
He opens his mouth, but Cody interrupts, his voice tired. “It’s too damn early for your shit.”
I wince. “Sorry, man.”
He ruffles a hand through his blond hair and sits up, his eyes still closed. “Jordon can go to the hunter. We can handle it here.”
I think for a second Jordon is going to say, you sure? But, luckily for him, he just mutters, “Fine.”
We start prepping for our day, and I try to hide the way I feel. I take jabs at Jordon. I try to be as unhelpful as possible. But beneath my actions, I hate how I feel. I hate that I’m so damned worried about Elliot that I feel sick to my stomach.
I’m the one in this group who could die tomorrow and it wouldn’t matter in the least bit. But Elliot? He was good. He was smart. He was going to change the world.
I couldn’t let him die because he has me as a Brother.
And I wouldn’t. No matter what I had to do.