Butting Heads With A Gargoyle by Charlie Richards

Chapter Nine

“What about Jameson and Candace?”

Upon hearing Keefe’s question, Vermidian returned his attention to what he was supposed to be focused on. Keefe and Phineas had compiled a list of mated elder enforcers, and they were sharing it with him. Vermidian needed to choose three, then submit applications to find out if any of them would be interested in being assigned to him until further notice.

Vermidian glanced at Jameson and his female mate’s picture. Then he shook his head. “Not a good fit,” he told Keefe upon seeing his questioning expression. “Candace is afraid of vampires.”

“Huh,” Keefe mumbled.

Phineas cocked his head. With his forearms resting on his thighs, he cradled a mug of tea between his hands. “That actually explains quite a bit.” Scoffing, Phineas shook his head. “That it was Candace who had an issue with them didn’t even occur to me, but it should have.”

“It’s not something they advertise,” Vermidian admitted, relaxing on his own chair with another glass of cranberry juice. “And, of course, seeing as she’s human, there’s little use in sending them to a paranormal society anyway.”

“Right. She’s a liability,” Keefe stated bluntly, although he was accurate. Then he held out his tablet again. “Will Morrison and Cayle work?”

Peering at the pair on the screen, Vermidian tried to remember what he knew about them. Morrison had a good track record. None of his charges had ever become injured. Cayle was a chinchilla shifter, so if there was ever danger, he could easily hide.

“They might work well,” Vermidian conceded.

“Okay.” Keefe hit the flag button on his tablet before moving to the next screen. “Nedrik and Evangeline?”

Vermidian scoffed. “You can ask, but I’m not certain a tiger shifter would be happy living in a hotel.”

Phineas laughed. “It’d be funny as hell to watch a female tiger stroll through the halls, though.”

Chuckling, Vermidian nodded. Even the sides of Keefe’s lips twitched. Still, he marked it as a maybe.

Before Keefe could even say the names of the next pair in the picture, Vermidian shook his head. “Not a chance. He’s a homophobe.”

“How the hell did a gargoyle end up a homophobe?” Keefe sounded offended. “That’s ridiculous.”

Shrugging, Vermidian didn’t have an answer. He didn’t know enough about the male’s history to even guess.

“Oh, Dennis and Mandy would be good candidates,” Vermidian stated, spotting the next picture. “A vampire mate would fit right in.”

Hopefully.

“One would only hope,” Keefe commented as he marked their file.

Before Keefe could pull up the next picture, Vermidian heard something... unexpected.

Hey, Dian. Can you hear me?

Vermidian felt certain that was Ridger’s voice in his head. After all, only Ridger called him Dian. His mate had gone with Krispin and Basques to pow-wow with Ninevah and go through oodles and oodles of security footage. Since Keefe had reminded him about the need for a day-enforcer, he’d decided to get that over with instead of going with his lover.

Damn tedious task.

Ridger’s warm chuckle filled Vermidian’s head. I’m sorry, even though I’m grateful you’re doing it.

Oh, that is you I hear. Vermidian suddenly remembered something else. When vampires bond, they share a mind-link with their beloveds.

Right. Just testing it out, and wondering how you’re doing.

Vermidian smiled. I miss you, too.

“Elder?” Keefe pressed, sounding uncertain. “Is your smile a yes?”

Glancing at the pictures on the screen, Vermidian growled in his throat. “Hell, no. He’s an asshole.” Gotta get back to work, my vampire. See you soon?

Probably not. This is just as tedious as what you’re doing. Thirty days of garage footage. So much fun.

Vermidian heard the sarcasm in Ridger’s tone, and he didn’t envy his lover one little bit.

When Ridger’s voice fell silent in his head, Vermidian still didn’t feel quite so alone.

When Ridger walked into his suite, Vermidian rose from the sofa. He softly ordered Phineas, “Contact Oberon about the Verian Clutch situation. He’ll be a good replacement for me getting out there.”

Phineas nodded, then moved away to the dining room table, taking the tablet with him.

Vermidian quickly crossed to Ridger and wrapped his vampire in his arms. His lover pressed into his embrace and sighed deeply. Then he wrapped his arms around Vermidian’s waist and inhaled his scent.

Worry flooded Vermidian. It had only been a little over four hours since Ridger had mentally contacted him. His mate had been in good spirits.

Now, Ridger appeared exhausted and deflated.

Cradling Ridger’s nape, Vermidian used his thumb-claw to urge his vampire to tip his head up. Seeing his lover’s worried brown eyes only ramped up his own concern.

“You found something,” Vermidian guessed. Nothing else made sense.

Ridger nodded a little, just as much as Vermidian’s hold allowed. “It looks like Felistria installed them,” his lover murmured, his brows furrowing. “But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“She’s your head tracker, right?” Vermidian thought he remembered Ridger mentioning that when he ran down who was whom on the road the prior evening.

Nodding again, Ridger confirmed his words. “She is. I just don’t get it.”

“How long has she been with the coven?” Vermidian asked, trying to help Ridger sift through possibilities.

“Thirty-seven years,” Ridger revealed. “She’s always been so hardworking and loyal. Clawed her way through the tracking ranks to be number one. What could have made her turn?”

Vermidian had been around a long damn time. He knew life could be full of surprises over the centuries. Life had a way of changing people.

“Has she recently met her beloved?” Vermidian mused. When Ridger shook his head, he pressed, “What about some other regular lover?”

“Definitely not,” Ridger countered. “Felistria has always been adamant about waiting for her beloved.” Scoffing sadly, he told him, “She was so excited when we started finding ours, because she believed it meant that others in the coven would come along soon. She hoped she would be one of them.”

“Is she being rounded up?” Vermidian asked.

“She checked out one of the tracker-free sedans this morning,” Ridger revealed. “And her phone is turned off.”

“Turn it back on remotely,” Phineas cut in. He sat at the table, but he’d obviously been paying attention.

Ridger didn’t pull out of Vermidian’s arms, but he did lean back enough to stare at Phineas. “Turn it on remotely? Is that possible?”

Phineas shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw it in a movie once.”

Vermidian snorted. “You seriously watch way too much television.”

Turning the tablet around so Vermidian could see the screen, Phineas grinned widely at him. “Now, I don’t know why you think that.”

Realizing Phineas was watching an episode of some reality show, Vermidian laughed as he shook his head. He noticed Ridger tapping at his phone. Tipping his head to the side, he read his mate’s message, which the contact said was Ninevah.

Phineas asked if you can turn Felistria’s phone on remotely?

Who’s Phineas? I’ve tried. She must have taken out her SIM card.

“Or the phone has been destroyed,” Vermidian murmured into Ridger’s ear. “Maybe she was coerced, and now the priests have kidnapped her?”

“Gods, as much as I don’t want her kidnapped, that would make it so much better,” Ridger muttered, grimacing. At the same time, he responded to Ninevah’s text.

Phineas is my beloved’s enforcer.

Oh.

Then nothing.

Ridger didn’t seem surprised since he clipped the phone to his belt. Rubbing the back of his neck, he muttered, “Okay, so Felistria supposedly put tracking devices on a few of the cars. Why not all of them?”

Using his arm around Ridger’s shoulder to guide him toward the sofa, Vermidian tried to think up an answer to his lover’s question. “Could she have... what if it wasn’t her?”

“What do you mean?” Ridger sounded confused as he settled on the cushions beside him. “We saw her on the video.”

“Video can be altered,” Phineas offered helpfully.

Vermidian would have scowled at his enforcer, but he was holding out a couple of tumblers, too. His sensitive gargoyle senses told him that one was whiskey and the other was bourbon. He took them both and handed the whiskey to Ridger.

“I would think Ninevah would have noticed,” Ridger countered before taking a sip of his drink.

Phineas settled on a nearby chair. “Not if he wasn’t looking for it. How many people have access to his security office?” Smirking, he added, “From the look of him, he seemed pretty, uh... reclusive.”

“Uhhhh...” Ridger seemed uncertain.

“Is he dating anyone new?” Vermidian pressed.

Ridger frowned. “I have no idea, but he’s a vampire, so he has to venture out occasionally.” He appeared to be thinking hard.

Lifting one hand in placation, Phineas offered, “We’re just throwing out ideas. We don’t know anyone in your coven. Not really.” He rose and crossed to the kitchen. “One of the things they teach us as enforcers is that to protect our elder, we have to suspect everyone, even friends and family.”

Snapping his fingers, Ridger straightened. “Family. Felistria has a half-sister. She’s human.” He rose to his feet. “And they look damn similar.” Pulling his phone from his belt, Ridger called Ninevah.

“Yes, Second Ridger?” the vampire asked respectfully.

“Ping Fiona’s phone,” Ridger ordered. “Where is she?”

“You think Felistria’s sister might know something?” Ninevah asked. The click of keys in the background told Vermidian that the vampire obeyed. Before Ridger could even answer, Ninevah told them, “Her phone is pinging pretty remotely. The forest north of town. Logging district.”

“Contact Enforcer Pierce and tell him I want him at the garage,” Ridger ordered. “Merlick and Kraymer, too.” He hung up, then started toward the door.

“Wait a minute.” Vermidian jumped from the sofa and hurried after Ridger. “Where are you going?”

Ridger glanced over his shoulder at him. “To get Basques and Krispin and tell them our ideas. We all returned to our rooms to decompress and regroup.” He shrugged. “It does us no good to keep asking the same questions over and over. We know the value of letting our minds drift and process.”

Then Ridger was out the door.

“Damn it,” Vermidian snarled, rushing after him.

Exiting his and Ridger’s suite, Vermidian spotted his mate already at Krispin’s door. He heard Phineas rushing behind him while dialing his phone. Vermidian figured the enforcer was calling Keefe. The other gargoyle had returned to their rooms in order to send paperwork to the gargoyle enforcers they were interested in.

“Get the fuck back down here,” Phineas ordered gruffly. “I think we’re going to have a problem.”

Vermidian wondered at Phineas’s intuition because he knew that if Ridger was gearing up to storm the facility of a group of paranormal hunters, he intended to be right there beside him.

“I swear to all the gods,” Keefe grumbled. “Elder, if you end up injured, I’m going to kick your ass.”

“Get in line,” Ridger snarled.

Vermidian chuckled softly. “So nice to hear how you all care about me.” Before either his mate or his enforcers could snap at him again, he reminded, “You do all remember that I fought my way to be a chieftain, right? And I held that position for over seven hundred years before being voted to the elder position.” Frowning at his enforcers, Vermidian warned, “I know how to handle myself.”

“You were a chieftain for over seven hundred years?” Ridger stared at him in surprise. “I didn’t know that.”

Ridger’s comment reminded Vermidian that he and his mate didn’t know very much about each other, yet. Taking his hand, he offered his lover a reassuring smile. “Yes, it’s true. Over seven hundred years. I’ve been an elder for almost four hundred.” Winking, Vermidian added, “And now I’m the beloved of a vampire. Life never does get boring.”

“That is impressive, my beloved,” Ridger replied, but there was still concern in his brown eyes. “But I’d never forgive myself if something ever happened to you because I agreed you could come.”

Vermidian peeled his lips from his sharp gargoyle’s teeth, pinning his vampire with a fierce smile. “You didn’t agree I could come,” he countered. “In fact, I believe I overruled everyone’s decision because I can.” Then Vermidian narrowed his eyes as he added, “And part of being a couple is that we look out for each other.” Relaxing in his seat, he tightened his arm around Ridger’s shoulders, keeping him tucked close. “No way could I sit at home waiting for you to return if you’re in danger. You’re the second of a vampire coven, and I’ll always be right here beside you.”

Ridger glanced at him, then looked up toward the front of the vehicle. “I understand.” He appeared to be staring at Master Krispin and Wash—who was also in human form.

The only gargoyles that were in their true form were Keefe and Phineas, who sat behind them, and that was due to the fact that they couldn’t change, yet.

Watching Dloben give Basques a deep kiss goodbye, then stare after his mate longingly, Vermidian appreciated that he had the strength and abilities to fight right alongside his lover. He couldn’t imagine having to sit at home, waiting and wondering. Of course, Vermidian figured the mind-link bond certainly did a lot to help ease Dloben’s concerns.

A second SUV followed them. That one contained Basques, Pierce, Kraymer, and Doctor Ward. Both vehicles had been checked for hidden trackers and verified as clean.

Vermidian hoped to whatever gods cared to listen that Felistria ended up being innocent. Unfortunately, that didn’t bode well for Fiona’s possible involvement. While Vermidian never offered platitudes based on hopes, that didn’t stop him from feeling that way—hoping Fiona’s involvement ended up being coerced in some way.

The rest of the short drive passed in silence. While Krispin parked them to the east of the timber district, Basques’s vehicle disappeared in the direction of the west. They intended to converge, clearing each building as they passed.

Vermidian had asked why it was called the timber district. Ridger had explained that over a hundred years prior, there had been plenty of logging done upstream. They’d floated the trunks downriver to their small town since it was in a location where several canyons converged.

A number of timber mills had sprung up near the river’s edge. The warehouses boasted huge conveyor belts, saws, and steam engines. The workers dragged the logs a short distance from the river to dry. Then they were moved to the mill to be cut into boards and other size timbers before being shipped wherever they needed to go.

Learning that the coven had once run a brothel had confused the hell out of Vermidian. Then Ridger had told how vampires had used their trancing ability to make the humans think they had a very good time with the woman of their fantasies. The money had been good even if the blood occasionally left a bit to be desired.

A vampire had to do what was necessary in order to get the blood they needed in the backcountry of the west.

Upon learning that Ridger had even dressed in drag on occasion, Vermidian had laughed.