Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
ELOISE
“ T
hat’s where we’re supposed to stay?” I pointed at the gray stone building with gargoyles mounted outside that our rideshare pulled up to. We’d stopped by my studio where I threw some clothes and toiletries into an overnight bag before driving through the Plateau . We’d passed buildings with murals painted on the sides and a variety of ethnic restaurants and bagel bakeries, before we moved into a residential area with Victorian townhouses with wrought-iron staircases covered with potted plants. I stared at the gothic building and gulped.
“ Yes .” Anya climbed out. “ Come on. It’s nice inside. We can chat in private. And the rooftop is great.”
I followed her toward the entrance and gaped at the stone stretching up to the night sky. Two winged beings, who were barely visible as their gray blended in with the darkness of night, flew toward the building and disappeared. They must have landed on the rooftop. “ Holy creature double feature,” I muttered under my breath.
Anya peered over her shoulder. “ Did you say something?”
“ Nothing .” I exhaled with a whoosh. Those winged beings I now knew by name, and in an unexpected twist, I’d agreed to spend the night in their gothic lair. “ Just wondering what I’m getting myself into.”
She gave me a reassuring smile and touched my arm. “ I know it’s a lot, but you get used to it.”
Anya showed me down a hallway lit by bright sconces. Doors on either side led to apartments where more gargoyles lived.
When we passed one in the hall, he eyed me with a surprised expression before he wiped his face neutral. I tried to control my reaction and not freak out like I had when I’d first seen Hugo and Dumont .
“ Hello , Lyam ,” Anya addressed him. “ This is my sister, Eloise .”
He nodded. “ Hi there,” he said in a low baritone.
“ Hello ,” I responded with a forced cheerful tone.
Once he opened one of the doors and disappeared inside, I turned to her and spoke at a low volume. “ I didn’t realize there would be so many here. That I’d be walking into an entire building full of them.”
She bumped my arm with hers. “ I hardly ever see them. They’re often out on patrol or resting in stone or flying.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “ You’re joking, right?”
She grinned. “ No .” She cocked her head as we walked through a vast dining room. “ Are you hungry?”
The gyro I’d ate had been satisfying hours ago. “ I could eat something.”
“ Good , because I’m starving,” she said. “ I think we could both use some comfort food. Good ol’ mac and cheese sound okay?”
“ Sounds great.”
A half an hour later, I was seated at a table with a glass of prosecco in Hugo’s apartment. His place was fairly basic with a sofa, dining area, kitchen, and bedroom. I found signs of Anya scattered around, from a dark-green cardigan that would never fit a massive gargoyle to a couple of paranormal romance books on the end tables. Since it seemed like she was in a relationship with Hugo , it appeared as if she was living out a real-life version. He’d stopped by and she’d invited him to eat, but he declined, letting us have some time to catch up alone. He’d bent down and kissed her on the lips before he left.
The scent of melted cheese wafted over. “ Mmm , it smells delicious.”
“ Good .” Anya carried over two bowls heaping with creamy mac and cheese. “ Hope it tastes as good.”
I scooped a forkful, but the heat reached my lips, so I blew on it. Once I tasted the food, I moaned in appreciation. We spoke about neutral topics like food and the city and the apartment while we ate. After we finished and had moved on to a second glass of wine, we sat on a plush sofa, gazing out at the spectacular view of the city at night, lights rolling out before us.
Spurred on by curiosity and the wine, I tried to tactfully segue into a more serious conversation—our background.
“ Did you grow up around here?” I asked in a casual tone.
She frowned. “ Not far. I lived in foster homes mostly. Around Quebec .” She brushed her hair off her forehead and took a large sip of wine. “ Nothing remarkable about that to share. I’m glad it’s behind me. What about you?”
Ah , so it wasn’t her favorite topic. I could relate and didn’t blame her for deflecting back to me. After taking a deep breath, I said, “ So here goes. I was adopted when I was three, but my adoptive mother died of breast cancer when I was seven.” I rushed through that painful memory. “ My adoptive father fell apart after that and drank heavily. I took more care of him than he did of me. And he died in a drunk-driving car accident around ten years later. Since then, I’ve been moving around, doing whatever jobs I can find—mostly in restaurants.” I shrugged. “ I don't know. I’ve been searching I guess.”
“ Searching for what?” Anya tilted her head.
I sighed. “ Not sure. Where I belong?”
She nodded thoughtfully. “ I know what you mean.” After several seconds of quiet introspection, she asked, “ How did you find out about me?”
“ I found a letter from Adelaide inside the grimoire just before I brought it to you. It just sort of floated out when I skimmed through the pages.”
Anya gasped. “ The same thing happened to me!” Her blue eyes widened. “ It wasn't there before when I looked through it, but then it just floated out one day. It was super weird.”
“ Like magic.” My voice came out barely above a whisper.
We exchanged a meaningful glance.
“ Magic ,” she repeated. After a few potent seconds of silence, she asked, “ Did the letter mention a charm that blocked your abilities?”
“ Until I turned twenty-five.” We gaped at each other. Both of us shared that birthday. Did something happen to us at the same time, waking up us to latent abilities?
“ How did you end up with the book?” she asked.
My mind traveled back to that day, the moment that changed everything. “ I found it hidden in a cardboard box with my name on it at the back door of a studio apartment I’d been renting. When I opened the box, it appeared to be junk—a bunch of old magazines and newspapers. But buried beneath it all was the book.”
“ How peculiar…” Anya’s voice dropped to a breathy whisper. “ So you have no idea who brought it to you?”
“ No idea.” I shook my head. We stared at each other for several seconds as if we might be able to figure out how it ended up getting to me. I’d asked myself that question a thousand times already. After taking a sip of prosecco, I leaned back on the sofa cushion and changed the subject to another big question on my mind. “ So how did you end up here with a big, bad gargoyle?” I grinned.
She chuckled. “ He might be big but not so bad.” The smile left her lips. “ It all comes down to that book. That night I found you, two men, who turned out to be the demon hybrids Dumont mentioned, broke into the library and one grabbed me, demanding the book.”
Guilt rolled in like a wave, and I bit my bottom lip. “ Sorry about getting you mixed up in this.”
“ Don’t be. It opened my eyes to a world I didn’t know existed, a family I didn’t know I had, a relationship I never dreamed possible…” Her gaze drifted out the window before she snapped it back to meet mine. “ Anyway , Hugo , who I just thought was a gargoyle statue up to that point, came to life from his stone perch and yanked the guy off me. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, staring at a stone creature who’d come to life and flew across the library. As soon as I recovered from that tremendous shock, I ran out of there.”
“ I can understand why,” I replied. The horror of seeing flying creatures was still vivid in my mind.
“ A totally normal reaction, right?” she said with a lopsided smile. “ Who wouldn’t run?”
“ Exactly .” Funny how in just a short time I was learning so much about them. The gargoyles were vastly different from the demons, although they looked far more terrifying than those hybrids who blended in as men. I cocked my head and asked Anya , “ Are you and Hugo —” I motioned with a circular wave. What I’d been about to ask sounded ridiculous since they were different species. Finally , I uttered the last word. “ Together ?”
Anya’s face spread into a wide grin with a brightness that reached her eyes. “ Yes . I know, it’s so strange. We’re different species. He’s huge. He looks so imposing. Yet , he can be so gentle.” She grunted. “ And he treats me better than any human I’d dated, that's for sure.”
I had many more questions about how she could be seeing a gargoyle. I mean, were they lovers? How did things even fit? He was huge. She was tiny in comparison.
Wait , why was I contemplating something that was none of my business and minute in comparison to all the weird things and supernatural threats introduced to me tonight? Our brains jumped to strange places when stressed. My little mental vacation took another detour, and I pictured Dumont with his captivating eyes and immense, muscular body. Could he and I? —
Ugh , focus.
Right , I needed to keep my mind on what was more important and that was ensuring that Anya and I were safe, considering the potential threat from demons that led us here. “ What happened between you and Calix ?”
Anya and I spent the next hour talking. She told me about the terrifying encounter with the attractive but pushy blond sorcerer who’d shifted into a phoenix that threw fire at her.
“ Hugo protected me,” Anya said, her gaze again drifting out the window to the night sky. “ He wrapped his wings around me and shielded me from the fire. He said that Adelaide was the one who gave these gargoyles magic to protect them better. It’s all quite mind-blowing, considering our parents died in that fire. So many threads tie us together in weird ways. Hugo was the one who’d saved me from the fire that night twenty-five years ago.” She cocked her head. “ Do you know if you were there?”
“ I don’t know,” I replied, my voice heavy with emotion.
“ Maybe Adelaide got you out?” Anya suggested.
I shrugged. “ It’s possible.” I let out a heavy exhale.
Her eyes shone with tears. “ Adelaide must have known—or foreseen—that the gargoyles would need that magic to protect us.” Anya gestured in a circular motion. “ She must have been a remarkable woman. I mean, not only is her library spectacular, but she could do things with magic. Real magic.”
A wave of loss washed through me. “ I wish I could have known her.”
“ Me too.”
“ And our parents,” I croaked out.
She nodded, then wiped at her eyes.
My breath hitched. “ And you.”
We locked gazes. “ Yes ,” Anya said in a wistful tone.
A lump crawled into my throat, heavy with the years of loss. I swallowed and forced a smile. “ Well , we have plenty to catch up on, don’t we?”
We did so while we finished the wine, sharing stories about our experiences and marveling at any similarities.
A knock sounded before the door opened.
“ It’s us,” Hugo announced and entered the apartment with Dumont .
When I turned to him, his expression appeared gentler than the determined one earlier—possibly with a bit of longing?
“ Your room is ready, Eloise ,” he said.
I stood. “ Oh . Thank you.”
“ You should get some rest,” Anya said. “ I know it's been a long day with a lot to absorb. Your brain must be as exhausted as mine with all this new information.”
“ Right ,” I agreed.
When she stood, we stared at each other as if unsure what to do. She gave me a sheepish glance, and I stepped closer, raising my arms tentatively, like a graceless T - Rex . We hugged each other with complete awkwardness. Not only were we strangers until today, but I don’t think either of us were used to affection from family.
Then we embraced—an authentic connection this time—and it felt good. I inhaled deeply, smelling a rose fragrance in her hair.
When we broke apart, Anya's eyes shone with tears. “ I'm glad you found me.”
“ Aside from bringing all this trouble into your life,” I replied with a self-deprecating shrug.
“ No . I'm glad you came. Period ,” she insisted.
Tears pricked at my eyes and that heavy lump returned to clog my throat. “ Me too.”
After a few seconds, she said, “ I’ll see you in the morning, Eloise .”
“ Okay .”
Then I turned back to Dumont .
“ Come on, I’ll show you to your room.” He tipped his head toward the door.
A sudden awareness that I’d be alone with this gargoyle came over me. With the strange sensations fluttering about inside, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.