"Yes," Donal said. Beth tapped a finger on her bottom lip. She looked pointedly at Donal. "Are you a supernatural being?"Trent dodged that bullet for the moment."Yes. I'm a gargoyle."She crept close to him as if he were going to explode any minute. "You're a gargoyle? Like those things on the tops of buildings?""Something like that," Donal said. Trent admired his patience. Beth took two steps closer, studying Donal. "You can shift into a different form?""Yes."She cocked her head. "Would you do it for me?"Donal flicked his gaze to Trent who nodded. "Yes." Donal rose. "Don't be afraid. I will look scary, but you are in no danger."She nodded, wrapping her arms around herself her, gaze never leaving Donal. "I have to take off my clothes to do it," Donal said. "I'm a nurse. I've seen naked people before."Donal disrobed and transformed. Beth's eyes widened. Trent just hoped that Donal's claws didn't rip up his couch. Beth reached out her hand and touched Donal. Trent admired he
"Because Maggie is a fairy. I'm not supposed to tell you, but we are at war. With the goblins. They are taking over the world one institution at a time. We have to stop them and you knowing that Beth is probably a fairy will hasten that along."Trent studied him. "You think Beth is a fairy?""Yes. I don't know for sure. Only you can know that. She is probably your fairy or descendant from the fairy that your gargoyle ancestor protected."This was a lot to handle. Deke was a down-to-earth guy. He didn't have flights of fancy so why would he tell Trent this story? None of it made sense, but then again his need to protect Beth made no sense either. This could be his explanation. He wasn't sure he was ready to accept that.He glanced at Beth who paced near the stage. Maybe it did make sense?***So far the night had gone well. Beth was about to start her second set. Trent hadn't had to turn anyone away. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the entertainment instead of just having music. That ma
Beth was thankful that she wasn't afraid of heights and under different circumstances she might have enjoyed the flight over Center City. Instead she'd been terrified. Now she paced in a room in a house in West Philadelphia. A row house and they were on the end. She'd had the state of mind to memorize where she was. She didn't have her phone. It was still at Grotesque. Or wherever Trent was, she was sure. She'd learned early on not to rely on her parents so even if she knew where they were, she wouldn't have expected them to help her. She was on her own. Looking around the room, she was on the second floor. Out one window was a roof that she could jump onto, but could she jump down from there? Who waited for her at the bottom? Not knowing what was going to happen, she needed to take action. It was part of her training as a nurse.Standing by and awaiting her fate wasn't in her makeup. Her parents had never understood that. Standing a little back from the window she observed the yard
"No.""Yes Trent. Come on. Go back to gargoyle form and take me with you."Beth stood with her hands on her hips. He'd seen that stance more than once while she'd been working. She wasn't going to give in. His eyes fell closed. He didn't have a choice did he?"Fine."He transformed. He grabbed his backpack and he gently clutched her in his claws. Taking off he headed back to the house in West Philadelphia. A battle raged in the skies over Philadelphia and he hoped that no one was watching. Or maybe it was time for humans to discover what was going on. Maybe it was time for them to open their eyes and see that their world was very different than what they thought it was. He didn't consider himself a crusader and he'd have to talk to his fellow gargoyles. They might want to continue living under the radar. It wasn't his choice alone to make. On the other hand, the goblins were taking over the world. He couldn't stand by and let that happen. Donal and his wife stood on the roof and took
With Foley Security beefing up things at her apartment complex and there being no other threats as far as she could tell, Beth had insisted on resuming normal life. Well as normal as life could be after you found out that you were a fairy. She still hadn't embraced that fully.But Maggie, her best friend, was on her way over and maybe they'd figure it all out. What would her friend think?Beth buzzed Maggie up to her apartment. Part of the new security was cameras and only people in the apartments could let anyone in. It was a start. Beth hugged her best friend who had brought lunch for both of them to share. They chattered about her honeymoon and caught up on all sorts of things as they ate. Beth had never been reluctant to tell Maggie anything, but her realistic friend who had always been grounded in reality might react strangely to Beth's news."You clearly have something to say, Beth. You've been dancing around it all afternoon. Just spill it."They sat on her couch with mugs of t
Trent hoped that Beth would be successful, but he also hoped that she would come back to him. He missed her and he hadn't even kissed the woman. Now he waited for his partners as he sat at the island at Deke's place. Deke cooked lunch for them. Whitney, Deke's wife and fairy, had taken their child out to the park and would be back at some point. "Thanks for letting me use your place, Deke.""I'm always the one cooking. We might die if you did it.""I'm not that bad. You are just that much better than I am," Trent said."It's all in the details."Kel was the first to show up. He was back only a few days from his honeymoon with his wife and fairy, Maggie. Pete and Ben arrived at the same time. Both of them were single and Trent hoped they at least would be on his side."So why are we here other than Deke's great food?" Ben asked. He would be the one to start the conversation. Pete was probably the quietest of them all so he wouldn't. Trent wiped his hands on his napkin then looked aro
Pete Shapiro's company-issued phone beeped as he walked down a deserted hallway in Rothchild's Labs.Problem? He doubted it.What he liked most about working night shift as a security guard is that he didn't have to talk to anyone. He and the other guard interacted only a few times during the shift and that was just fine for Pete. He wasn't a people person. Choosing to be a loner most of the time, he just liked his own company. Which always makes him wonder why he'd agreed to be a partner in the pop-up nightclub Grotesque. He still shook his head at that. He'd been dragged along and had just never shaken loose from that group. They were all ex-military and they understood each other. They called him Eeyore because he always saw the negative in any action. He glanced down at the phone. "Could this be a glitch?"Like setting up a permanent home for Grotesque. He didn't see why they had to change things. Trent, one of his four partners, had bought a building and was renovating the top
When Jenna opened her mouth to speak he put up his hand. "Do your job Jenna. I want that report on my desk by the end of the day."She had gotten it to him, but she'd held back some of the sample that the company had given her. Despite her boss not wanting her to, she had been determined to test it, and she had. She'd run the sample through another test, and it was just finishing up when she arrived at the lab. Her boss would know she'd been in, but she could explain it away. She'd never lied to her boss, but something about this ingredient bothered her. Something about the company bothered her. She hadn't been given the full story, but she was going to figure it out. The name of the company hadn't been on the report she'd been given which was odd. She'd signed a non-disclosure agreement so that she would know who she was working with. It wasn't essential to her job, but it helped her know what they were looking for. The people who wrote the report she read weren't scientists. Someti