“I wish we could,” he heard himself saying.
After a moment’s hesitation, Ingrid slipped her fingers through the gap of his shirt. Her cool touch met his hot skin. His abdominal muscles hardened in reaction.
“Wishes aren’t practical,” she replied.
He smiled. “Says the voice of reason.”
The base of Luc’s skull throbbed to life, pulsing out the signal of another gargoyle’s presence. He tightened his grip on Ingrid’s wrist and sat up.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Gargoyle.”
She craned her neck to see into the dark corner of the room. The door was shut, insulating them from the rest of the cold house.
“Marco?” she guessed.
“Possibly.” Luc stood and tucked the tails of his shirt into his trouser waist. “Just in case it isn’t, stay here. And stay quiet.”
Luc left the weak firelight and let his night vision take over. The hallway and stairwell were bright shades of gray and white as he walked toward the kitchen, his whole body on alert. He was certain the intruding gargoyle would be in there, and it was. Only it wasn’t Marco.
“Gaston,” Luc said, as he entered the kitchen and saw the familiar grayed features of Constantine’s valet. Night vision didn’t allow much detail, but Gaston’s receding hairline and wiry build were unmistakable.
“We’ve been looking for you,” Gaston said. Luc heard the frustration in his voice and swallowed a pang of guilt.
“I haven’t wanted to be found.”
Gaston paid Luc’s reply no regard. “It’s Vincent. Something has to be done about him.”
“I agree.” Luc glanced around the kitchen impatiently. The cupboard doors. He could use them as firewood.
“During yesterday’s disorder he and his supporters killed a dozen Dusters, perhaps more.”
That didn’t sound anything out of the ordinary. It was Vincent, after all, and he abhorred the Dusters.
“They’ve flown by day,” Gaston continued. “Coalescing within sight of humans, causing the Dispossessed to appear as nothing more than another kind of demon that the humans now desire to kill.”
Luc had done the same during the attacks, though he hadn’t acted as Vincent and his Chimeras seemed to have done.
He approached one of the tall cupboards and, with a fast jerk, ripped the wooden door from its hinges.
“You believe it’s time to stop him,” Luc said, reaching for another cupboard door.
“It’s time for you to stop him,” Gaston corrected him. “I’ve spent the last day bringing together the Wolves, Dogs, and Snakes, and we’re ready. We can strike en masse and end this.”
Luc wrenched down the second cupboard door and set it on top of the other. “You’re the leader here, Gaston, not me.”
What Luc wanted was to go back upstairs and throw the cupboard doors on the fire so Ingrid could stay warm. So her fingers wouldn’t be so cold.
“They want you, Luc,” Gaston said. “They want you because of the reasons you don’t want the role of elder.”
Luc turned from the next tall cupboard and looked at Gaston. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Despite his next blasphemous words, Gaston’s expression stayed just as wooden as it always was. “You want to be human. Believe it or not, many of us do. You’re the only one who’s been brave enough to show it openly, and to do so without shame or fear. You’ve brought about a change, Luc. And to everyone’s wonder—my wonder, even—it’s a change we’re ready for.”
Luc forgot the cabinets. He forgot the cold and his swirling night vision. “That’s impossible.”
“Lennier changed our world hundreds of years ago, but he never let go of the old ways and the old rules. The next elder has every right to change what he sees fit. Vincent would take us in one direction, and you in another. Claim the role of elder and no one will question you. We’ll gladly follow.”
Luc felt as though he’d been backed up to the edge of a cliff and, with one touch, sent over. What Gaston was saying—if it was true, if it was how the Wolves and Dogs and Snakes he’d banded with really felt—could alter the Dispossessed entirely. The line between feeling human and being a gargoyle was thin, and difficult to tread. However, if Gaston could be trusted—and yes, Luc did trust him—there were many Dispossessed willing to follow Luc along that thin line.
He met Gaston’s impervious gaze. “Organize everyone and be at common grounds within the hour.”
Gaston gave a curt nod and was gone.