Chapter 24 – Marcus
MARCUS
We stand at the edge of our village, watching the sun.
We’ve heard the announcement. Ashundra has given birth to a boy, and everyone believes that we’re to thank for the three healthy babies.
Everyone believes that the necklace and the statue have brought this good fortune.
The women have taken turns wearing the necklace since we brought it, and they all rest frequently in the room set aside for the statue.
But for our efforts, everyone thinks we would have lost at least one babe.
It’s strange to both be celebrated by our people and abhorred by them.
They claim to be confused by our love for Medusa, and yet, I’ve seen it in their faces.
I, unlike my brothers, have kept careful tabs on everything that’s been going on.
No, I didn’t know she was sick, but I did know the other gargoyles have been visiting her.
At first when I listened cautiously into conversations, they spoke of her with disgust and disdain, but their tones have changed, and I know why. They can only spend so much time with her before they know she isn’t what they’ve been told.
I just pray it’s enough to turn the minds of the Elites during the judgment.
“It’s time,” Byron says.
I observe two guards leaving the prisons, toward the main building, where dinner is being served. We wait until the doors close behind them. The streets are strangely quiet, with everyone either caring for the new mothers, or eating in the great hall.
It’s now or never, I think, and I take a deep breath.
I hope and pray that Medusa isn’t as sick as Arthur described her.
We try to move casually through the village, but our steps are fast. When we come to the bars that cover the door of the prisons, Arthur is there on the other side. He unlocks the door and then he hands me the keys. “In and out,” he says.
I nod. “Thank you.”
He remains in place, so that anyone who might walk by will see him there, guarding everything as if nothing is amiss.
We unlock two more gates before we come to the cells. Hers is on the end. The slightest light from the little windows near the roof of each cell allows the red glow of the sunset to light our way.
We hurry to her prison, and I pause as I reach it, searching for her. And then, I spot her. She’s lying on her bed. She’s curled around her stomach, one hand hanging off the bed. Her skin is pale and her face is sunken as if starved.
Something inside of me screams in terror. She looks dead. I logically know she’s not, but she looks that way. My hands shake as I put the key in the lock and turn it.
“Holy shit,” Forrest whispers in horror beside me.
As soon as I get the door open, we all spring inside.
I gather her in my arms beneath her thin blanket. And I’m terrified by how light she feels.
“Medusa?” I whisper.
Her eyes are open, but she’s staring off without seeing.
“How the fuck did this happen?” Byron sounds like he’s about to lose it again.
There’s no time for panic or fear. This is worse than I ever imagined. I thought we could obey the rules and have a chance at the Blood Moon Judgment, but there might not be anything left of her to save by then.
I hate the idea that we must betray Arthur, but we do. We need to get her to Galena, no matter what the consequences are. We need to find out what has an immortal this sick.
“We’ve got you,” Harold whispers, smoothing her hair back from her face.
She doesn’t react.
I stand, and my brotherhood immediately flanks me. Their swords make the slightest whisper of noise as they unsheathe them.
We move past the empty prison cells and open one door after another.
When Arthur turns around, he doesn’t look surprised.
I stiffen. How are we going to hurt him?
“Just make it look good,” he tells us.
Then, he turns his back to us.
Byron moves behind him, and hits him on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. Arthur drops to the floor, and we pull him to the side. Now, no one will believe he helped us. His standing in the community will be safe.
Thank the Gods for Arthur.
We open the last door and start across the village. Galena’s house is at the edge, near the water. It’s also on the ground, luckily for us.
We hope that she has returned home from helping with Ashundra’s birthing.
Halfway to her house, we hear a door open and the explosion of conversation. We freeze. My gaze goes to the door of the dining hall. Two gargoyles are walking, chatting with each other. They look up, then do a double take and stare at us.
Fuck.
“They’re escaping with the prisoner!” One of them shouts.
He races back into the dining hall, and we turn and rise into the air, shooting across the village to Galena’s house. Behind us, more shouts fill the air. Galena’s house grows closer and closer. We just need to reach it and bar the door. Then, we can buy her enough time to help Medusa.
We hear the gargoyles pursuing us and can sense them in the air, not far behind. Without slowing, Byron crashes into Galena’s door, and I shoot inside. My gaze sweeps from the fire, to her shelves of medical supplies, and healing bed in the center of the room. The healer? She’s nowhere to be found.
Fuck.
I turn back around, stepping outside where Harold and Forrest guard the door. “She’s not here.”
Tension sings through them as a dozen gargoyles land in front of us.
“Move,” Byron orders them.
Benjamin, leader of the guards, pulls his sword from the sheath on his back, and the other gargoyles follow suit. “Give us the monster. Don’t be fools.”
“She needs to see the healer,” Harold says, his tone desperate. “She’s sick.”
Benjamin wrinkles his nose. “Are you really willing to die for her?”
Our answer comes as one. “Yes.”
The guards leap forward, and I step back, pulling Medusa out of harm’s way.
Forrest, Byron, and Harold clash swords with them.
Their movements are that of well-trained warriors, as they keep the overwhelming number of enemies at bay.
Even when swords strike their flesh, leaving behind marks in their stone-forms, they don’t hesitate.
The sounds of battle fill the sanctuary. Birds lift from the trees, and the glow of the fairies change from golden to red. As the sky darkens, the sounds of war take over.
Suddenly, someone shouts. “Stop!”
The guards freeze and move back.
My men are breathing hard, standing in front of me to protect my precious burden.
Byron’s father pushes through his warriors, and his gaze burns as it falls on us. “What is the meaning of this?”
“She’s sick!” Byron shouts. “And you left her in there dying—“
“Her kind can’t die from illness,” he says, and there’s no kindness in his voice. “She might suffer, but—“
“Fucking asshole!” he shouts. “Since when do we allow women in our care to suffer?”
More gargoyles have appeared in the doorways of the buildings.
Some fly down, landing not far behind the guards.
The entire village must be out. I see Galena emerge from the birthing room, cleaning her hands on a towel.
The two females, with small infants, leave other buildings, staring curiously as their men gather around them.
“She is not a woman! She’s a monster!” Elite Edgar shouts back at his son.
Harold’s soft voice comes, but this time it seems to ring all around us.
“Is she really the monster here? This woman risked her life to get that statue. This woman faced her own demons—her own memories of being brutally raped—to steal the necklace, from a goddess no less. And who, even knowing that coming here might result in her death, came to help us. She went willingly to our prisons. In return, we left her sick and suffering. She’s not the monster here. We are.”
Edgar steps forward. “Do you all truly believe that we’ll change everything we think of monsters because you fell in love with one? Monsters kill humans. We hunt them. Nothing has changed.”
I don’t know what comes over me, but I push past the others.
“I know how easy it is to see things as black and white. Hell, my life was easier when I did.” Despite myself, I look down at her.
“And then, I met her. She was born human and cursed by the Gods for being a victim of their cruelty. She actively chooses not to kill, even though it’s within her power to do so.
I know it’d be easier to just lump her in with the creatures we’ve killed, but we can’t. Not in good conscience.”
“She’s not going anywhere,” Edgar says, but his tone isn’t so confident.
“We just want her to get help, that’s all.”
Galena steps through the crowd. “Bring her inside.”
Edgar grabs her shoulder. “You can’t be serious!”
She rolls her eyes. “Look at her. She’s hardly dangerous! And besides, I owe her one.”
Tension continues between all of us as Galena leads me into the house and tells me to lay her on the bed.
I do.
“Now,” she says. “Get out.”
I shake my head. What if Galena hurts her?
She meets my gaze. “You have my word she’ll be safe, but your brotherhood is on the edge of something dangerous. You’re their alpha. Go out there and buy me enough time to figure out what’s going on.”
My head spins, and I feel fear unlike anything I’ve felt before as I look down at my Medusa’s sunken, pale face. I walk back, stumble out the door, and it closes at my back.
Taking several deep breaths, I pull my sword free and go to stand with my brotherhood. We face down the people we called friends, people that we considered our family.
Some of them regard us with anger, some with interest, and others—with pity. But I don’t care. I don’t care about anything, as long as she’s safe.
Time ticks away. Crying babies are taken back inside. The air grows colder and the moon rises. And still, the warriors face off with us and the Elites gather. Waiting.
And then, Galena steps out of her home.
The light from her fire illuminates all of us.
We look back her, holding our breath, hoping that Medusa will be safe.
“Well,” she says, very slowly. “I’ve found the cause of her mysterious illness.”
We hold our breath.
“She’s pregnant.”
The air whooshes out of us. My brain freezes.
“She’s about three months along, and given the size of the child, I have no doubt it’s a gargoyle.
” Steel laces her voice. “If she is not treated with the utmost care, if she’s not fed according to her cravings, if she’s not given sunlight and happiness, the child will die, along with the mother.
The fetus is taking everything within her, consuming what it needs. And it’s still not enough.”
The news that our woman is carrying our child wrecks me. Hope rushes through me at the same time as absolute horror at what our people have done to her.
We have to see her, to touch her and hold her. The fact that she’s sick and dying is enough to destroy us, or give us a new reason for living.
But we can’t go, not until we’re sure they won’t simply rush us and kill her.
We turn to the Elites, waiting.
I don’t think they’ve ever looked more uncertain and shocked in all the time I’ve known them.
“She’s still a monster,” Gary says, his yellow-teeth clenching together.
“Are you fucking kidding us?” It’s Arthur. He’s holding a rag to his bleeding head. “A gargoyle child is the most precious to our people. There should be no question what happens now. The woman joins our people, and her baby is cared for by us, just like any of our children.”
“She’s a monster!” Gary repeats.
The females have returned outside. They stride forward, clutching their sons to their chests. Everyone goes silent.
They come to stand in front of us and turn to face the Elites.
Ashundra speaks for them. “You’ll hurt her over our dead bodies.”
Another woman glares. “Idiot men.”
The third female places one hand on her hip, and her gaze slides over all of them. “Attacking a pregnant woman? You should be ashamed!”
Their words shock everyone. We’re breathing hard. My hand grows sweaty on the hilt of my sword. Will they listen with the females on our side?
Arthur and Max push through the crowd and come to stand beside the women.
Max speaks, his voice carrying. “Many of you have met Medusa, spoken to her. You know what she did for us. You also know her curse has no impact on us. Where do you stand? With her and her child—with Marcus, Harold, Byron, and Forrest’s child—or with your hatred of monsters?”
The head of the guards sheathes his sword. “I won’t kill a pregnant woman.”
The other guards follow suit.
We stare at the Elites.
Edgar finally speaks. “For now, she’s granted sanctuary. While she’s pregnant. After that, we’ll discuss her fate.”
We feel relief unlike anything we’ve felt before.
Arthur grabs my shoulder. “Congrats. You’re dads!”
We… we are dads. We have a tiny baby inside our woman. Inside our sick woman.
And they will survive. No matter the cost to ourselves.