Butting Heads With A Gargoyle by Charlie Richards

Chapter One

“Second Ridger?”

Recognizing the feminine voice coming through his desk phone’s intercom, Ridger Carruthers leaned over and pressed the speaker button. “Yes, Lidia?” He knew Lidia would be manning the front desk at that hour.

“The delivery you were expecting has arrived,” Lidia told him. “I sent him around to the loading dock.”

“Ah, fantastic. Thank you, Lidia.”

Ridger rose from his seat, more than ready to take a break from dealing with balancing the accounts. As the second of the Maven vampire coven, he could have assigned the task to another. Ridger happened to prefer the information be kept between him and his buddies. Their coven’s leader, Master Krispin, would call him controlling while the head enforcer, Basques, would laugh at him.

The pair had been his best friends for almost two-and-a-half centuries. When they’d left their birth coven because it had been taken over by a vicious vampire, the asshole had made up fictitious charges and named them all rogue. With no coven master willing to take a chance on three strong vampires, they’d decided to form their own coven.

As Ridger hurried to the loading docks, he thought about how things had changed so drastically over the last couple of years. Both his friends had found their beloveds—their soul mates—in gargoyles from the nearby Aerasceatle clutch. In the past, the coven hadn’t had much to do with the gargoyles. The chieftain had been an asshole, so they’d kept their distance. Then the clutch’s leadership had changed, and lo and behold—several vampires found bonds.

Ridger would never admit to being jealous, but while lying alone in his bed at night, he definitely wished he had someone to hold.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Ridger focused on why he had to meet with the delivery driver. There had always been hidden groups of humans who knew about and hunted paranormals, and their coven had recently become targeted by a group of them. They didn’t know what had given away that they weren’t human and were still questioning the few they’d kidnapped after the attack on New Year’s Eve.

For everyone’s safety, all deliveries were being verified by himself or an enforcer. They needed to be certain nothing was tampered with. Plus, they couldn’t have a delivery driver planting anything dangerous or smuggling hunters into their coven-run hotel.

Reaching the loading dock, Ridger exited the man-sized door. He spotted the waiting box truck and strode toward it swiftly. Seeing their regular driver climbing down from the cab, Ridger smiled in welcome at Darrell.

“Hey, Darrell,” Ridger greeted, holding out his hand. “Thanks for your patience.”

“Of course, Ridger,” Darrell replied, shaking his hand. After releasing, he rubbed the back of his neck as he eyed him in confusion. “If ya don’t mind me asking, what’s with the extra security?”

Ridger grimaced as he lied, “We had an issue with theft at the docks.” He watched Darrell open his box truck’s rolling back door so he could check the interior for hidden humans. “We discovered an employee pilfering certain items. He hasn’t revealed if he was working alone or if others are involved.” As Ridger headed to the loading dock rolling door, he added, “So now checking the inventory is left to a certain few.”

Darrell was nodding as he moved back to the truck’s cab. “The extra cameras make sense now.”

Looking over his shoulder at Darrell, Ridger spotted the man pointing at the obvious extra cameras. There were a half-dozen hidden ones, too.

“Extra cameras?” Ridger asked curiously.

Pausing with his hand on the bar used to help climb into the cab, Darrell nodded. “Spotted a box from that electronics company you guys favor.”

Ridger hadn’t realized more cameras had been ordered, but he nodded anyway. “You can never have enough,” he answered before turning his attention back to the loading bay door. As Ridger opened it, he muttered to himself, “Gonna have to ask Ninevah about that.”

Ninevah was their coven’s tech guy. The wiry vampire could do things with computers that Ridger couldn’t hope to understand. The vampire had joined their coven almost from the start, and he was privy to just about everyone’s secrets. Officially, Ninevah was ranked as an enforcer, but he rarely saw field work. His skills were better utilized behind the scenes.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Ridger watched Darrell back his truck up to the dock. He waited patiently as the human did something in his truck. Considering as soon as Darrell exited the vehicle again and he held a clipboard, Ridger figured it was paperwork.

“Okay, Ridger,” Darrell began, crossing to stand near him. He held out the clipboard, which had a pen tucked into it. “Today is six cases of towels and one of sheets.” Reading down the list, Darrell continued, “There’s the monthly delivery of lotions, shampoos, and stuff.”

Ridger listened dutifully as Darrell went over the list. Then they moved to the back of the truck. He helped carry the indicated boxes, enjoying the few minutes of physical activity after spending two hours poring over books.

Once everything had been offloaded, Ridger signed where needed. He took his copy of the invoice. After seeing Darrell off, Ridger closed and locked the doors.

Pulling out his cell phone, Ridger called Ninevah.

“Yes, Second Ridger?” Ninevah answered on the second ring.

“Hi, Ninevah,” Ridger greeted. “I’m down at the loading dock picking up this month’s order, and there’s a box from Trysko Electronics.”

“Oh, fantastic. Thanks for telling me, Second.” Ninevah sounded pleased. “I’ll tell Lathe they’re here. I’m sure he’ll be stoked and want to come get them right away.”

“Lathe?” Ridger knew the vampire had recently chosen to live with the nearby gargoyle clutch since his best friend, Sorbin—who was more like a brother to Lathe—had recently found his beloved in the gargoyle second, Destrawn. “These are for the clutch?”

That makes more sense.

“Yeah. Due to their location, they couldn’t get expedited shipping,” Ninevah told him. “So I told Lathe to have them shipped here, instead. Then he could get them overnighted.”

“Ah, I see,” Ridger murmured, nodding to himself. “You know what,” he began, an idea popping into his head. “Tell Lathe that I’ll bring them to him in a couple of hours.”

“Really?” Ninevah replied, clearly surprised. “You sure?”

Ridger chuckled as he began striding through the hotel. “Absolutely. I haven’t been out that way in a couple of months.”

Plus, I can use the excuse to pass the bookkeeping to Basques.

Grinning as he mentally chuckled evilly, Ridger took a guess at where his buddy would be at the late afternoon hour.

“I’m sure Lathe will appreciate that,” Ninevah stated. “I’ll call him right now. Thanks, Second.”

“You’re welcome, Ninevah,” Ridger replied before disconnecting the call. Returning his phone to the clip on his belt, he picked up his pace. He greeted the vampires he passed but didn’t slow down enough to chat. Stopping at the elevator bay, Ridger pressed the up button and waited.

“Hi, Ridger.”

Turning toward the speaker, Ridger spotted Washington—Wash to his friends—joining him. The gargoyle in human form smiled, appearing relaxed and happy. Considering Wash was bonded with Master Krispin, he had every right to be happy.

Ridger squelched the jealousy as he smiled back at the male. “Hi, Wash. How are you?”

Wash grinned. “Great. Just finished putting together the baby’s room.” After blowing out an obvious breath of relief, he added, “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be done with that.” As the doors opened and they both stepped into the elevator car, Wash added with a laugh, “I thought Kris would never decide on a color.”

Chuckling softly, Ridger inserted his key card—the one allowing him to access the top floors of the hotel where all the members of the coven resided—and hit the button for the thirteenth floor. “I remember when we redecorated the place back in oh-nine. He changed his mind four times before deciding.”

“I guess I should consider myself lucky then,” Wash replied with a smirk. “He only changed his mind twice.”

Ridger nodded solemnly. “Absolutely.” As Wash chuckled, the doors opened, so Ridger asked, “What did you guys end up deciding on?”

“A medium blue color,” Wash told him.

“Blue for a boy.” Ridger grinned. “Tough decision.”

Even though the gargoyle was still in his egg, Ridger knew that all gargoyles that hatched from eggs were male—something unique to their kind. Another oddity to gargoyles was that they could get a male fated mate pregnant. Wash and Krispin had had a lack of communication, resulting in Krispin getting pregnant within the first week of their bonding.

Wash shrugged. “Whatever makes my mate happy.”

Then Wash led the way out of the car, and Ridger followed into the large foyer. There were two halls—left and right. The space was broken into four suites on that floor. Three were two-bedroom suites—occupied by Ridger and his friends. The fourth area had been fashioned into their personal office spaces.

While Wash turned left, Ridger headed toward the right and Basques’s place. After waving goodbye to the male, he knocked on his buddy’s door. A few seconds later, it was opened, and Ridger smiled down at another gargoyle in human skin—Dloben.

“Hey there, Dloben,” Ridger greeted the small male. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”

Dloben smiled as he shook his head. “No. I was just deciding what to make for dinner.”

In human form, most would call Dloben a twink. He stood five-foot-ten and sported a lean frame. Ridger hadn’t been the only one surprised to discover that gargoyles weren’t all hulking creatures. As a smaller gargoyle, Dloben had been abused under his clutch’s prior leadership, who’d hidden any of their small brethren from view. It wasn’t until Chieftain Kinsey took over that the truth had been revealed—there were two general types of the species.

“Is Basques here?” Ridger knew his vampire buddy loved sharing cooking time with his beloved.

Dloben nodded. “He’s in the bathroom.”

“Hey, Dloben,” Basques called from deeper inside the home, telling Ridger he approached. “Who’s here?”

Opening the door wider, Dloben revealed Ridger. “Ridger’s looking for you,” Dloben told him before crossing to Basques. After standing on his toes and pecking a kiss to Basques’s lips, Dloben murmured, “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Basques smiled at his gargoyle and nodded. As Dloben moved around him, the vampire squeezed his lover’s ass. Dloben giggled and jumped a little before winking at Basques.

For a few seconds, Basques pinned a hungry smile Dloben’s way. Tearing his attention away from his beloved, he grinned at Ridger.

“What’s up, man?” Basques asked, heading toward a nearby sofa. “You want a drink?”

Shaking his head, Ridger moved to the sofa and rested his hip against the back. “No, I just came by to ask a favor.”

“Sure, if I can,” Basques immediately replied, sprawling on the sofa to peer up at him. He arched one black brow in silent question.

“I’m going to head over to the Aerasceatle clutch,” Ridger told his buddy. “An order of electronics came for them, and I thought it’d be a nice change of pace for a bit.” He grinned as he added, “Plus, at this hour, they’ll be having their breakfast soon, and I bet they’ll have that hashbrown casserole I love.”

Since unmated gargoyles slept as stone statues during the day—something they called roost—their meals were often upside down. Breakfast foods often appeared when most humans were eating their dinner meal. Of course, there was always a wide range of food, so others could have what they wanted, too.

Basques laughed. “You and that hashbrown casserole,” he teased. “You know, they did give us the recipe. Why don’t you order it?”

“I’ve tried a few times,” Ridger admitted, grimacing. “It’s just not the same. I don’t know who makes it over there, but it’s different. Better.”

“Praerna makes it,” Dloben piped up from the nearby kitchen area. “You could ask him while you’re there.”

Ridger nodded absently as he racked his mind for whom Dloben referred. “Is he the small, light-purple gargoyle or the tan one?”

“Light-purple,” Dloben replied with a snicker. “The tan one is Rundin.”

Humming, Ridger mentally filed that information. “Thanks.”

“So, what do you need from me?” Basques asked, cocking his head. “Did you need me to come?”

Ridger waved away the offer. “No, no.” He hadn’t thought about taking someone else, but considering the threat presented by the priests and hunters, Ridger probably shouldn’t be traveling alone. “I’ll check the schedule and see which enforcers or trackers are on duty.”

Their coven had four enforcers, besides Basques. They also boasted six trackers—well, five since Sorbin had bonded with Second Destrawn and gone to live with the clutch.

Basques offered, “Ask Sorbin’s buddies. Vicon and Donny. I bet they’d be happy to head out there.”

Ridger nodded, liking that idea. Both vampires were guards and close friends with Sorbin and Lathe. They didn’t get to see their pal nearly as much as they used to since the move. Ridger would bet that, before too long, they would ask to move to the clutch permanently—that was, if they could find a reliable blood source for their needs.

“Good idea,” Ridger agreed. “What I was really wondering is if you could finish balancing the books for me.” Upon seeing Basques’s full lips curve into a frown, Ridger grinned. “It’s still open on my laptop. I was interrupted by the delivery.”

Basques groaned even as he nodded. “Yeah. After supper.” He turned his attention to Dloben. “My beloved is great with numbers. I’m sure we can get it whipped out in no time.”

Growling softly, Ridger snapped, “No sex in my office.”

Laughing, Basques waggled his eyebrows. “Yes, Second.”

Ridger grumbled under his breath, “Gods, you’re an asshole.” Then he turned and started toward the door before grudgingly adding, “Thanks, Bas.”

“You’re welcome,” Basques replied, rising from his seated position. “And try not to fret, my friend. We’ll respect your space.”

Arching one eyebrow, Ridger asked, “Fret?”

Basques grinned widely. “Picked up a word of the day calendar.”

Ridger hummed as he let himself out of Basques’s suite. Pulling his phone from his belt, he called Vicon.