Chapter 31 – Cody
CODY
Orion and his phoenix friend still refuse to leave the sanctuary, but to my relief, there’s only a stand-off of sorts.
Not an all-out battle. Elizabeth ran to find the librarian.
She thinks that he might be able to tell Orion the truth, or at least that’s what I think she’s hoping for.
And the truth is that there is no doubt that a dead gargoyle can’t be brought back to life.
I feel sorry for Orion. Loss does terrible things to a person. I’ve seen that first-hand over the years.
Avoiding the others, I go back to our cabin and lie down in our bed that smells of the shade. I close my eyes and feel the sunlight streaming through the open window.
Things with the Elites went about as well as I thought they would. Which was to say, they went badly. But I don’t really care anymore. The whole wide world waits for me outside this place, and I can’t wait to explore it with my brothers, and our shade by our sides.
I just needed to take deep breaths and calm myself until she comes back.
I wouldn’t feel like everything was settled until I learned what Norbert wanted to talk to her about.
And I knew the other guys felt the same way.
Which was why instead of packing and getting ready, they were far too preoccupied with Orion.
“Can I come in?”
I look up and spot Damon standing at the door, trying to look casual. “Yeah, man, of course.”
He flops down on the bed beside me and sighs.
“What’s up?” I ask, a smile in my voice.
Damon is never one to just come out and say he wants to talk. He sighs and looks around until I ask him, and then he acts as if I’m forcing him to talk about his thoughts and feelings. A dance I always enjoy a little too much.
“It’s the shade…”
Of course it’s the shade.
“She’s…different than I thought.”
“You like her. We all like her,” I say.
He huffs. “Well, yeah, but there’s still the whole monster thing…”
I hesitate.
“Say it.”
“If you want my two cents…”
“I said I do.”
I laugh. “Well, it seems simple. We’re ready to leave this old life behind. Why not take her with us?”
He rubs his face. “The whole monster thing…”
“Yeah, well, it seems to me that she’s as much a monster as we are.”
Damon’s head jerks to look at me. “Oh come on, that’s a stretch!”
“She kills things that are dangerous. We kill things that are dangerous.”
“So when she just pops in and out, coming back covered in blood, you’ll be cool with it?”
I shrug. “I guess I trust her enough to know she’s not doing anything…horrible. Don’t you?”
He’s quiet for a long time. “I think so, but…”
“You’re scared?”
“I’m never scared,” he huffs. “I see what the other guys have with the female monsters, and I sort of just accepted that the situation was weird, and not something I’d want, but I was happy for them. Because they were happy. But now? I kind of can’t stop imagining a life without her.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” I ask, raising a brow.
“It just makes me—“
“Scared?”
He huffs. “No, cautious. We just still need to get to know her better.”
“So? We have forever to do that.”
This time Damon smiles. “You know, you’re pretty smart for how young you are.”
“And you are just terrible at talking about your feelings for a gargoyle who has lived as long as you have.”
He bumps me with his shoulder. “Shut up.”
And then we both laugh like idiots.
He turns to me, grinning. “You know, I never thought I could feel happy like this without being drunk out of my mind.”
“I knew you could,” I tell him, “but I’m glad you know it now too.”
We lay in silence next to each other for a few minutes. At last, I find myself tapping my fingers on my stomach.
“Don’t you feel like the shade should be done talking to Norbert by now?”
I feel him stiffen next to me. “I was trying to decide if I was worrying too much.”
“No, it’s been a long time.”
“Should we go interrupt the party?” I ask.
He grins. “We’ve already told them we’re leaving and that we don’t give a shit about what they think. Why not interrupt a private Elite meeting too?”