16. CHAPTER #2
There was a loud thwoom followed by the screaming and howling of the gargoyles, and the entire sky lit up.
Car alarms went off, sirens pierced the air, and there was the definite sound of something crashing—maybe a truck.
The ball around Indy shuddered from the blast and then teetered forward, drawn in by the incredible back draft.
Indy had to close his eyes then, completely blinded.
He heard some more odd thumps and felt vibrations beneath him as if something heavy had landed nearby. He had no idea what it was because he was still seeing colorful spots and not much else, but he could hear Dill snarling and thrashing.
“Dill?” Indy shouted. “Hey! What the hell is happening?”
“Grow!” Dill shouted back.
There was a scream, loud in volume but then quickly decreasing…
As if a very unhappy gargoyle had fallen, been picked up by Dill, and then thrown off the roof.
Similar sounds followed for several seconds. Indy blinked rapidly, trying to get his vision to focus once more. He could see Dill running around the roof—skipping, really—grabbing any gargoyles who had fallen from the sky and then hurling them away like tossing trash.
“Grow!” Dill cheered.
“Doing great, sweetie!” Indy called out, letting himself collapse against the grip of the foliage holding him. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but he was still having trouble breathing.
Like, a lot.
Like…
Fuck.
Pain rippled through him, even worse than the gargoyle’s talons literally stabbing him, and he groaned low, gasping with each breath. He coughed suddenly and tasted blood. It filled his mouth until he had no choice but to swallow it back with a grimace.
No, no, no.
Gammy’s potion shouldn’t be wearing off this soon. Indy knew he’d been pretty close to the end when he’d made his deal with Mr. Kalt, but it wasn’t like he’d dropped dead after it was broken. He hadn’t even felt that bad to be honest, and his symptoms had been so slow to return.
He really thought he had more time.
More time to figure it out.
More time to live.
“Hurt?” Dill was there now, his hand reaching through the ball. The foliage parted for him, and he touched Indy’s chest. He squeaked in alarm, gasping. “Hurt!”
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay.” Indy smiled weakly. “I’m okay.”
Dill shook his head. “Hurt.”
“Okay, so I’m not really okay. I guess you can sense that, huh?”
“Hurt.”
Indy thought back to Dill’s healing abilities, asking, “Don’t suppose you can, uh, fix it?”
Dill’s fingers flexed over Indy’s chest, and he sadly replied, “Hurt. Big.”
“Thought as much.” Indy sighed. “Hey, we’re gonna figure it out. We’re gonna get back to Gammy and see what she can do.” He heard the whump of another body landing and tried to cheer up, suggesting, “How about you keep throwing those gargoyles around, huh?”
“Grow!” Dill grinned and immediately took off.
“Wait, wait! Aren’t you going to let me out of this damn—” Indy groaned lightly and let his head drop back against the ball. “You’re already gone.”
At least he didn’t have to worry about Dill spilling the beans on his secret.
The one benefit of a limited vocabulary.
The whooshing flapping of wings signaled Mr. Heiss’s return, and he landed beside Indy. “Indy! Are you all right?”
“Great.” Indy tried to poke out a single finger through the ball to reach Mr. Heiss. “Whenever Dill is done playing Toss the Gargoyle, can we talk to him about getting me the hell out of here?”
“Of course.”
“What, uh, what did you do?”
“I solved the problem.”
“By making it rain gargoyles?” Indy scoffed, clearing his throat and trying not to cough again. “Pretty sure that’s a bad idea with the whole keeping monsters a secret thing.”
“I’ll deal with it later. Luke can take care of it and—”
“Ew, ew, ew. I’m good. Fine.” Indy made a face. “Never mind.” He sighed. “So, uh…” Their eyes met through the tangle of leaves, and his heart skipped over itself.
“What is it, Sonnenschein?” Mr. Heiss lightly touched Indy’s finger.
“It’s just…” Indy curled their fingers together.
“What?”
He could tell Mr. Heiss the truth right now—about his deal with Mr. Kalt, the cancer, being abandoned, all of it. He was getting sicker. He was dying. He had no idea if Gammy would really be able to help him, especially given the speed at which his symptoms were returning…
And only getting worse.
The ring glittered on his hand where their fingers remained locked through the foliage, and a sliver of doubt crept into his mind. There was still a chance that Mr. Heiss was playing him. This could be a trick, and Indy had to face facts.
It was easier to believe that Mr. Heiss wanted to use him rather than believe he actually cared about him.
“You really couldn’t stand the idea of a gargoyle taking me out, huh?” Indy grinned, teasing in a little singsong voice, “You like me.”
“Oh my God.”
“You think I’m sexy.”
“Shut up now.”
“You wanna have my babies.”
“What? I—” Mr. Heiss growled. “I should have let the gargoyles eat you.”
Indy just laughed.
Once Dill released Indy from the leaf ball, he healed his injuries.
The ones from the gargoyle’s talons were simple enough, but Indy could still feel that dreaded heaviness in his chest as the cancer ate away at him.
It was easier to breathe now and he didn’t feel like he had to cough, so maybe Dill’s magic had done him some good after all.
Not a cure, but at least something to help hold him over until they could return to Gammy.
Mr. Heiss brought Indy back down to the sidewalk once Dill was done, but they took the very boring way down the fire escape.
His little fiery sky kaboom had already drawn way too much attention.
The resulting chaos included a power outage, at least three wrecks, and lots of curious people poking dead gargoyle bodies amongst a sea of police cars, fire trucks, and other emergency vehicles.
Mr. Heiss herded Indy back to the shop as men in suits who were definitely not human and included Luke arrived to sort through the mess.
Probably about to pull some Men In Black style shenanigans or whatever it was monsters did to hide shit when they fucked up.
Not that Indy was mad about that. He obviously very much appreciated Mr. Heiss going supernova demon to save his life, but he had a feeling the rest of the Mostro Family would not be pleased.
Judging by the shitty looks Lou and Sariel were both sporting when they returned to the flower shop, Indy was pretty sure he was correct.
Neil had been holding Lou close, but he broke away to greet Indy with a big hug. “Hey! You’re okay!”
Indy forgot how to use his limbs for a moment before he awkwardly returned the hug. “Uh, yeah. Thanks to this big guy here.”
Mr. Heiss stayed by the door, but he watched Indy silently like a hawk.
Dill huffed.
Indy glanced back to see Dill standing right behind him and he grinned. “This big guy too.”
The menu clattered loudly.
I AM GLAD YOU ARE ALIVE
BUT HE IS STILL AN ASSHOLE
“Glad to see you’re all right.” Seymour stood beside Sariel with Day up on his shoulder, but he was close enough to affectionately punch Indy’s arm. “Next time, though, maybe don’t go running headfirst into fuckin’ certain death, okay?”
Sariel snorted and Day giggled, but their smiles were fond.
Maybe as if Seymour had done his own running headfirst into certain death before.
“It was clearly a trap,” Lou drawled. “Mr. Mitternacht is desperate to get his hands on that Artifact.”
“But why this one?” Indy wiggled his finger.
“Don’t get me wrong. Dill is great, love his girlfriend.
Great couple. But there’s all of you—” He gestured to Seymour, Neil, and Lou.
“—with your very own Artifact dothingies too. No one is trying to lure you out with your beloved ghost relatives, so what gives?”
“No clue.” Neil frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe it has something to do with the plants? The sampaguita?”
The woman in the rockabilly outfit poked her head out from behind Lou, whispering loudly, “It very well could be.”
“You don’t have to whisper, Myrna. Most of us can hear you.”
Mr. Heiss sighed.
Neil waved. “Myrna, this is Indy. Indy, Myrna.”
There was another loud sigh, and Indy saw the giant hellhound dog thing was sprawled out on the floor in the sunshine.
“That’s Flanders,” Neil said.
“Flanders is not a part of this,” Flanders drawled. “I am here to take a nap in the sunshine and do as little as possible other than judge your putrid choice in footwear.” He tilted his head. “Except Seymour. He gets a pass.”
“Go on,” Lou urged Myrna. “What about the flowers? But please, keep it short.”
“Well!” Myrna stepped forward, smiling brightly. “Sampaguita is a very special flower with magical properties.”
“Eternal love,” Indy said, remembering the lore he’d looked up.
“Very good!” Myrna beamed. “The name is connected to a lovely saying in Tagalong, sumpa kita, which means I promise you. There was once a beautiful woman who fell in love with a handsome hunter, and they made plans to wed—”
“Myrna,” Lou interjected.
“Okay, okay, they both ended up dead and then the flower grew over their graves, or in other versions, it appears on the ground where the lovers first spoke their promises to each other.” Myrna pouted, clearly disappointed that she was not able to finish the story.
“Both are very sad and—” She cut herself off before Lou could and quickly continued, “Anyway! The flower is known for its power to protect and for love everlasting.”
“Why would someone want that for a drug?” Seymour wondered out loud. “Make ya’ love it?”
“It is entirely possible they’re using that specific property to make the drug itself extremely addicting, yes.” Myrna nodded. “It might be able to mimic the feeling of being in love, creating a very powerful dependence on this illicit substance.”
“Okay, but what about Dill?” Indy asked.
Dill blinked, pointing to himself curiously.