Removing the Gargoyle’s Mask Page 4

  Deciding the best way to not get the shit beat out of him was to prove that he wasn’t trying to poach the massive man’s boyfriend—because, yeah, Cornelius had been speaking the truth earlier—these men could totally kick his and Matthew’s asses—Marty stuck out his hand. “I’m Marty Beakman. This is my brother, Matthew. We were just discussing a mutual friend with Bobby and Cornelius. Do you know Raymond, too?”

  At the mention of Ray’s name, Marty noticed the man’s eyes widen just a bit, and he didn’t know if the guy would shake his hand. Finally, Maelgwn uncrossed his arms and gripped his hand in what kinda felt like a very careful handshake.

  “I do know Raymond,” Maelgwn rumbled. When he released Marty’s hand his gaze slid to the other big man who stood much closer to Marty’s six foot four inch height. Returning focus to him, he asked, “Where did you meet Raymond?”

  A niggle of unease trickled up Marty’s spine. Pushing it down, he answered, “At that coffee bar over on Salz Street.”

  “Huh,” Maelgwn grunted. He looked at his companion again. “You ever been there, Einan?”

  The man named Einan shook his head. “Can’t say as I have.”

  Cornelius slipped from the booth and wrapped his arm around Einan. The big man didn’t even hesitate, just wrapped his arm around Cornelius, and palmed the slender fellow’s surprisingly large belly. If Marty had seen a tummy like that on a woman, he’d have pegged it as a baby’s bump.

  Very strange. In fact, just about everything about these guys seemed a bit…odd.

  Bobby slid from the booth as well and wrapped his arms around Maelgwn. His boyfriend dipped his head and captured Bobby’s mouth in a proprietary kiss, making it obvious to whom the man belonged. Bobby sank into his boyfriend’s embrace, garnering a number of amused looks and even a couple scowls and snide comments.

  Matthew actually chuckled. “Now, you two are a hot item. Either of you got a brother you can set me up with?” He winked.

  Surprisingly, a chuckle rumbled from Einan. It seemed, now that the pair of big men had their boyfriends in their arms, they were pretty easy going. Maelgwn finally brought the lip-lock to an end. He smirked at Matthew. “Sorry, no.”

  “Story of my life,” Matthew quipped, sighing dramatically.

  “Well, I apologize for the misunderstanding,” Marty stated. “It was nice to meet you all.”

  Bobby grinned up at him. “Our pleasure, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more of you,” he added, smirking.

  Marty nodded. “You all like BBQs?”

  “Yes,” Einan stated, drawing the word out as if he wasn’t completely certain.

  Deciding to run with it anyway, Marty stated, “My buddies and I do it often. You like steaks?”

  Maelgwn nodded once. “Yes.”

  “Maelgwn loves them, don’t-cha, big boy?” Bobby quipped, patting Maelgwn’s flat stomach. He waved a hand carelessly at Einan. “His motto is never met a steak I didn’t like, right?”

  Einan smirked, scoffing. “Yep.”

  Grinning, Marty offered, “Okay. I got a freezer full of elk steaks from last hunting season. I’d be happy to throw on some extra for you and your friends if you’ll bring Raymond with you.” He saw the look exchanged between the group, so he leveled his look on Bobby. “I’d like the chance to talk to him face to face for longer than thirty seconds.”

  Bobby grabbed his man’s neck and yanked his head down so he could whisper into his ear. The fact that he didn’t have any trouble doing that to the huge guy told of how close they were.

  Whatever Bobby said to the man caused Maelgwn’s eyes to narrow, then widen. While straightening, he glanced from Marty to Einan, then cleared his throat. “I’ll have to check my schedule. When were you thinking?”

  Marty shrugged. “Let me give you my number. Give me a call. We’ll work something out.”

  Maelgwn nodded. “Fair enough.”

  As they exchanged numbers, a spark lit in his belly. A slow burn he recognized as anticipation. After shaking the hands of the men, he headed outside with Matthew.

  “That was nice of Maelgwn to pay our bill,” Matthew commented even as he shot a quizzical look over his shoulder at the door of the restaurant they’d just left.

  “Yeah.”

  Pausing at Marty’s side, Matthew crossed his arms and scowled. “Men that stand out like that? You’d think you’d have seen them around town before, you know?”

  Leaning against his truck, Marty’s brows drew together in thought. “You know, now that you mention it, yeah. Where do you think they’re from?”

  Matthew shrugged. “Not real sure.” He lifted a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I know you’re a grown man, but you’re my brother. You’re the only family I got. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Touched, Marty smiled. “Showing your sentimental side?” he teased, although he did appreciate it.

  Scowling, Matthew gripped his shoulder. “We don’t know anything about these guys. Maybe we should find out where they live, what they do, stuff like that? Ya know? I mean, if they’re friends of your computer hacker, they could know everything about you,” he pointed out.

  Marty knew his brother had never been a paranoid man, and because he’d come out years earlier, had a better sense of self-preservation. Nodding his agreement, he wrapped Matthew in a brief, back-pounding hug.

  “I get what you’re saying, man,” he mumbled, drawing back. “Thanks.”

  Besides, he still wanted to know what the hell could give a man wings and a tail. Maybe he did need to do a little research.

  “I’m gonna head home and relax…do some searching on the internet. Maybe see what I can dig up, eh?”

  “You want help?”

  Marty hesitated for a split second, then realized, if he couldn’t trust his family, who could he trust?

  He nodded once.

  An hour later, a beer dangling between his fingers, Matthew gaped at him. “Are you shitting me?”

  Shaking his head, Marty grimaced. “Afraid not.”

  “So, you’re saying, you did catch up with Raymond. He stripped down and showed off a pair of odd wing thingies, a tail, and flew away?”

  Sighing, Marty scrubbed a hand over his face. He lifted a hand, then dropped it, not bothering to answer.

  “And you still happily chatted with him the next night?”

  “Maybe I was wrong about what I saw?” Marty softly offered.

  Matthew leaped to his feet and started pacing. Once he made two crosses over the floor, he spun and pointed his finger at Marty. “No way in hell did you imagine something like that. I know you, brother.”

  Marty lounged back in his chair and frowned at Matthew. “Well? What do you think Raymond is then?” God, he couldn’t believe he’d actually voiced that thought out loud.

  Matthew grabbed the laptop, flopped onto the couch, and started typing furiously. Marty let him at it. His brother had always been better at internet research than him. Probably why he understood electrical and Marty didn’t. Not that he considered himself a dumb jock or anything, because it took plenty of smarts to get his business management degree and run a reconstruction company. The only things he and Logan couldn’t do were electrical and plumbing, so he hired his brother for one and another buddy, Paco, for the other. His company even had four full time employees.

  “Would you say Raymond looked like this?”

  Marty scowled at the screen and leaned closer. The picture showed a creature flying across a full moon. Its arms were outstretched and what appeared to be wings connected to the bottom of them and down its torso to just below the waist. The legs were short and ended in talons. The hands were actually claws. In the bottom left corner was a blown up picture of the creature’s head, which sported a very orangutan-like extended jaw with prominent canines.

  While some of the creature’s features definitely reminded him of what he thought he’d seen the other night,
not all of them did. Curious, Marty asked, “What is it?” surprised to discover his voice came out a whisper.

  Matthew cocked his head and met his gaze. “A gargoyle.”

  “A g-gargoyle?”

  Matthew shrugged. “Closest thing I can find to what you described.”

  Marty sat back and shook his head. “Gargoyles aren’t real. They’re myths.”

  Suddenly, words Ray had written last night came back as if to haunt him. I’m an expert on myths. No, that was too ridiculous.

  “Look, whatever I saw, that wasn’t it,” Marty stated firmly. “Those things don’t exist.”

  Matthew grinned and shrugged. “Well, hey, look on the bright side,” he quipped. “Gargoyles were originally known as protectors for the church. You’d have your own personal guardian.”

  Marty’s lips twisted in wry amusement. “Ha, ha.”

  One minute he was asleep, the next, awake. Lying in bed, Marty tried to figure out what had woken him. He heard the soft ticks of the house, noises he recognized as the house settling and the heating system warming up. Suddenly, he heard it again…a quiet scrape, scrape noise, like a cat sharpening its claws on wood.

  Marty eased from the bed. He grabbed the bat he kept beside his bed in his left hand and stalked across his room toward the door. Hearing a whiny creak, Marty froze. He recognized it as the squeaky board in the hallway.

  As he watched, his bedroom door slowly swung open. A massive silhouette filled the doorway.

  Shocked, Marty dropped the bat and stumbled backward. If Raymond was a gargoyle, then this creature must be a demon. It stood at least seven feet tall with curved horns protruding from its head and large wings billowing around him.

  “Holy shit.” He couldn’t help the squeak in his voice.

  “Oh, good. You’re awake,” a deep rumbling voice came from the creature. “Maelgwn wants to see you.”

  “Maelgwn?” he gasped.

  That was the last thing he remembered before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed on the bedroom floor.

  Chapter Five

  Raymond jerked his head up at the slamming of his office door against the wall. He watched Bobby rush into the room, wringing his hands. Upon seeing the chieftain’s mate so upset, he jumped to his feet.

  “Bobby! What’s wrong?”

  He gripped his friend’s shoulders and discovered tears in the man’s green eyes.

  “I’m so sorry, Raymond. We botched up everything!”

  Confused, Raymond cocked his head. “Hey, relax,” he tried to soothe his friend. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it can be fixed.” He forced a smile. “Tell your buddy Ray-Ray all about it.”

  “Maelgwn sent Vane to kidnap your mate.”

  For a second, Raymond knew he must be mistaken in what he heard. “Wh-What did you say?”

  “Cornelius and I went to Paula’s Diner, just like we talked about. Except, we weren’t nearly as stealthy as we thought when we left the manor.” Bobby grimaced. “We’d just started chatting with Marty when Maelgwn and Einan showed up. Marty started talking about you and…” Groaning, Bobby wrapped his arms around his waist. “I’m so sorry. When Marty said he met you at the coffee bar, and you’d talked, Maelgwn must have thought the man was a risk. I had to tell him that you’re mates, but—” Bobby actually whimpered, and not in a good way. He finished on a whisper. “I think that made it worse.” Sad green eyes met his own. “He sent Vane to get him this evening.”

  “Oh shit,” Raymond hissed. “It’s my fault. I should have told my chieftain about my mate.” He stumbled back a step, fell into his chair, and rested his head in his hand. “What am I going to do? After being kidnapped by Vane, he’s gonna think we’re monsters!”

  Raymond had no illusions. He knew how Vane looked to humans, and the massive, blood-red gargoyle had no compulsion to lessen the fearful affect his presence might cause. Sure, Raymond liked the other gargoyle—well, for the most part, since Vane tended to be just as reclusive as Raymond often was—but the guy was like a bull in a china shop…no finesse what-so-ever.

  “Damn it, Ray-Ray!” Bobby nearly shouted in his ear. “You’re going to fight for your damn mate! I’ll take you to where he’s being held and distract the guard,” he stated, hands on his hips. “You go in, and hopefully the mate-pull and your charm will do the rest.”

  Snorting, Raymond rolled his eyes. “Right. My charm? What the hell makes you think I have any?”

  Bobby’s jaw dropped open. His eyes widened in obvious surprise. “What the hell? Are you just going to give up on your mate?” he shrieked.

  Bobby smacked him upside the back of his head…hard. Lifting his hand to his head, he rubbed his offended scalp. “Fuck, man? What the hell?”

  “Well?” Bobby snapped. “Are you giving up on your mate?”

  Fear constricted in Raymond’s chest. Give up on his mate? Never! “No,” he growled. “Hell, no.”

  “Then let’s go, dammit!”

  Leaping to his feet, Raymond nodded. “Y-yeah. Okay.”

  “That’s better,” Bobby muttered. “Only one of us is allowed to panic.”

  With that, the chieftain’s mate hustled from his office. Even though it meant leaving his duties behind, Raymond hurried after him. Nothing was more important than helping his mate.

  As he followed Bobby down first one corridor, then another, Raymond realized they were in the older section of the manor. While most of the manor had been redecorated, this was the final area to be renovated. This area hadn’t been used in ages…which meant it would be a perfect place to hide a wayward human.

  Damn it!

  “Okay, hide in here,” Bobby ordered, pointing to the door on his left.

  When Raymond slipped inside, he realized it must have been a bedroom from the fading on the walls, outlining where a bed must have been at one time, as well as a nightstand and dresser.

  Closing his eyes, he listened to the alpha-mate talk to whoever the hell stood outside what must have been Marty’s room. He pressed the point that Marty was a gargoyle’s mate and said gargoyle just needed some time to be alone with the human and explain the situation. From the deep rumbling responses, Raymond guessed the guard was Sapian, an already mated gargoyle who could most likely sympathize with him.

  “I’ll be down the hall,” Sapian finally stated. “Tell Raymond to holler if he needs me.”

  Listening to the gargoyle stride down the hall, Raymond nearly leaped out of his skin when the door he hid behind opened and Sapian stuck his head in. Chuckling, the much older gargoyle shook his head. “I understand the mate-pull and I understand our chieftain’s reasons. Explain things to your mate. It’ll go better than you expect.”

  Sighing, Raymond swallowed hard and nodded once. “I hope you’re right.”

  Sapian shrugged his massive golden shoulders. “From what I hear, you’ve been fighting this for months. Soothe your mate. The mate-pull will take care of the rest.” He smiled and winked.

  The other man shooed him out of the room with a wave of his clawed hand. Raymond nodded and obeyed. He found Bobby standing in front of a door and holding up a key. Raymond took it, the weight of the old-style brass key in his hand felt kind of symbolic—with one turn of this key, his life would change, for better or worse.

  Bobby gave him a quick hug, offering, “Good luck.” With an impish grin, his friend held up—of all things—a tube of lube.

  Raymond’s breathing hitched as he gingerly took the slick. He nodded. “Thanks.”

  Stepping back, Bobby grinned at him. “All right. Go get ’em, tiger.”

  “Right.” Turning toward the door, Raymond stopped wasting time and inserted the key. His mate needed him and it was time to step up. After easing inside, he relocked the door, then swept his gaze over the room.

  Since this section hadn’t been remodeled yet, this floor plan appeared more like a hotel suite, with the front section fashioned as a sitting
area with a large bed in the back, along with a desk and chair. He knew that through the door on the left would be an attached bathroom. The doors to the balcony were—of all things—barred.

  Raymond’s gaze returned to the bed and he spotted the large form of his human sprawled out on it. After placing the key on the desk, he moved closer. Marty lay on his side, facing away from him. Unwinding his fingers from the lube—and he would not admit he clutched the object like a lifeline—he set it on the nightstand, then rounded the bed. Marty grimaced when he saw his mate’s hands were bound together and a blindfold covered his eyes.

  Shaking his head, knowing that must have been Vane’s concept of going overboard with an untrustworthy human, Raymond rounded the bed again, searching his mate for marks. Relief flooded him when he couldn’t find anything visible and the man seemed to be sleeping easily. At least, it didn’t seem like Vane had hurt him.

  Crawling onto the bed behind Marty, he sat on his knees and reached out toward his mate. With his fingers hovering over his human’s shoulder, he paused. Raymond screwed up his courage and finished the move. When his clawed fingers slid over the man’s t-shirt covered skin, he fought back a shiver. Finally, after weeks of seeing, he was touching his mate.

  Raymond gently shook Marty’s shoulder, jostling him. Marty grunted, then started moving restlessly. The rope around his wrists held his hands together tightly. That woke Marty up real quick.

  With a shout, Marty began to struggle.

  “Wait, Marty,” Raymond cried. He leaned closer and gripped his human’s shoulders. “Please, stop!”

  To Raymond’s shock—and relief—Marty obeyed. His mouth opened and closed for several seconds. His brows drew down until Raymond could hardly see them beneath the blindfold. Slowly, Marty lifted his bound hands toward the cloth covering his face.

  Raymond released Marty’s shoulders and gripped his human’s wrists, stopping the motion. “Wait, Marty,” he said again.