Page 39 of Bumpy, the Gargoyle Slayer

“Just smoldering a bit. The grass helps. Nature. I’ll be fine. I’ll heal by tomorrow. Just… hey, stop right there.” He springs up and rushes back towards the house. When I turn, I see that Morrie is trying to escape.

Alain picks him up and throws him over his shoulder before marching him to where I stand. He deposits my tutelary at my feet and takes a step back. “Say you’re sorry. Bunny is a great slayer. She slayed me. And she has better instincts than you do, because I’m not the enemy, bucko.”

Bucko? He really has picked up a lot of slang since Notre Dame burned. Probably from Jean-Luc.

I turn to address Morrie, who’s clambering to his feet. “Look, I know it’s not what you want, or what my parents would have wanted for me, but the truth is, I’m in love with Alain.” I take a deep breath before forcing the worst part. “Plus, I don’t think I’m cut out to be a slayer, not full time, anyway. I’m sure that’s disappointing to hear. But on the positive side, I did help kill a vampire.”

“And a demon. She was wonderful,” Alain agrees, wrapping me in his arms. His wings fly out. Protective. Possessive.

And I love every minute of it. I nuzzle into him, smelling the smoke and scent of charred incense on his singed robe and skin. The robe is nothing but tatters, destroyed when his wings extended, which makes it easy to see the angry, wine-colored burns, and…

The reality of what almost happened takes my legs. As if he understands, as if he can read my thoughts and body, Alain scoops me into his arms a moment before the ground would have reached up to punch me.

I touch his face. His makeup has dripped off in places. He’s scorched black in other spots. And he’s beautiful. “I love you so much. Please don’t leave me.”

“You can’t love him, Bunny. He’s a gargoyle, for goodness’s sake,” Morrie says. “He’s seduced you.”

“I don’t care,” I say. And suddenly, even though that’s not quite true, it’s true enough. I look up into Alain’s mysterious eyes. “I don’t care if I’m not a slayer anymore. My parents are gone. That was their dream. The only place I feel like I belong is in your arms. And you said I could live in Paris with you. That’s what I’ll do. You can go back to guarding the cathedral and I’ll see you on your off days.”

“I don’t get days off. I get one year off every fifty-four years, to be exact, although five of my colleagues were killed in 2019 with the fire, so I guess it will be one year every forty-nine years. That’s no way to run a relationship.”

Oh. My heart sinks. “Well, maybe I could…”

“No.”

I swear, all of me dies a little. The rest that’s still living is just waiting for the final killing blow.

“No, Bumps.” He kisses my forehead, remaining there as if gathering strength, and finally, he sighs, long and low. Suddenly, he smiles. It’s that same twist of lips, the one containing mischief and madness, that stole my heart. “No,” he says finally, “I don’t think that’s going to work, but you know what I’ve realized?”

“What?” My voice is so small. It’s hard to find it to push it out.

“I realized something so important that it’s just stupid that I didn’t know it right from the beginning. I’ve been waiting for my past to claim me again, but it can’t. Like I told you, I’m not the same gargoyle. Honestly, I feel as if I’ve been kept away for a reason. My destiny has changed. I truly believe my place is out among humanity now, battling evil in a more physical and immediate fashion. I’ve searched my heart and soul this past week, and do you know what I’ve come to understand?”

“What?” But my voice is still small. He sounds like he might stay with me, but there are lots of denials in his words.

“I understand now that I’m meant to guard flesh, not stone.”

“I don’t…” I shake my head, trying to comprehend his meaning.

“I’m going to become a slayer, too.”

“What?”

“What?” Morrie demands.

“Without the benefit of a tutelary, unless you want to learn together, little girl?”

And there I go, getting all melty for him again. “You mean it?”

He offers another smile. “Destiny is what you make it, Bumps, and I want to make you mine.” He sobers for a moment before adding, “I’ll always be a gargoyle. I’m just choosing a different way to guard Good. And I still have my global currency initiative. I’ll be busy. Plus, I need to focus a lot of attention on making you happy.”

My fingers walk up his chest. “I can focus on making you happy, too.”

He releases a long breath, as if he hasn’t been breathing. “Good.” He pauses before he adds, “And if that’s not enough for you, what with our double-slay-team soon to be up and running, you’ll find other passions. I’ll help.”

“I’m not very good at anything other than being in love with you,” I confess softly, my heart crimping because my words are true.

“You’re wonderful at everything. Your grazing board? Objectively the best I’ve ever seen.”