Chapter 12
"Angela!"
The gargess sighed, but turned to face Elisa. She wasn't upset with the other woman, but she had been hoping to get patrol over and done with.
She still had to talk to Kat about Fox's idea.
"Yes Elisa?"
The detective smiled a little sheepishly as she approached. "I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute."
Angela raised an eyebrow. "About what?"
"Namely what's troubling you?"
"Troubling me?" Angela asked, surprised. Then realization crossed her mind and her eyes narrowed. "Father put you up to this, didn't he?"
Elisa shook her head. "No, I offered." She gave the gargess a concerned look. "He's worried about you. From what I hear, you've been coming back to the castle late, if you come back at all. He just doesn't want to see you hurt."
Angela sighed. "I know, but I can't tell him."
"Why not?"
Angela's eyes hardened, "Because he's made his feelings on the matter abundantly clear on the few times I've broached the topic." She turned back to the wall, overlooking the city.
"What matter?" Elisa asked, placing her hand on the gargess' shoulder.
Angela didn't answer immediately. But after a few moments she said, "I can't tell you. It's not that I don't trust you Elisa, but you and father are very close. I'm afraid you might slip and tell him in a moment when you speak before thinking."
Elisa sighed, but understood Angela's reasoning. Both her and Goliath were stubborn and passionate. When they disagreed, they often got into some rather heated arguments. It wasn't a stretch to believe that, in a moment of anger, she could let something slip to the large gargoyle. "All right, but you know I'm here if you need someone to talk to."
"I know," Angela admitted, before jumping off into the night.
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"She's justified in not telling Goliath."
Elisa turned from where Angela had just jumped off of the wall to face Fox. Her eyes narrowed, as she still didn't completely trust the former mercenary. "You know why she's behaving the way she is?"
Fox nodded. "She needed advice," the red-head admitted. "She couldn't go to her mother, or you, for just the reasons she explained, so I lent her my ear."
"And I'm supposed to believe you gave her good advice?" Elisa asked, crossing her arms and glaring at the other woman.
The female Xanatos' lips twitched up into a smirk. "Believe it or not detective, but I have been doing my best to help her, and the clan. Which reminds me, if you would come to my office before you leave, there are some things we need to talk about."
Without another word, Fox turned and walked away.
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Demona double-checked the information she had, before looking at the building across the street.
Ever protective of her daughter, the red-headed gargess had run the plate of the pickup that picked her daughter up. So know she had a name and location of her daughter's alleged mate, one Kathleen MacAuley, owner of Nine-tail Customs. And though she knew Angela would be upset if she hurt the human woman, Demona would do far worse if she discovered this was some ploy on the human's part.
She hoped that she wouldn't have to, if only for her daughter, but she would if she had to.
The gargess simply observed the place so far, but when the rooftop door opened, Demona caught her first actual glimpse of the woman her daughter claimed as a mate. Watching the woman light a cigarillo, Demona figured that it was a perfect chance to question the human and perhaps catch her off guard.
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Kat jumped as the gargoyle landed in front of her, and gulped slightly as she realized that this was Angela's mother, based on her resemblance to Angela and the descriptions she'd gotten from her bonded.
"Uh... Hi," she greeted slightly nervous.
"Relax," the gargess said, albeit in a cold reserved voice. "If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have shot you in the head while you were lighting that bit of tobacco in your mouth."
"For some reason, that doesn't reassure me," Kat said. "Am I right in assuming you're Demona?"
The gargess nodded. "Yes, and that statement wasn't meant to reassure you Ms. MacAuley. I'm here to make sure that you're a good mate for my daughter."
"How...?"
"I ran the plates on your truck," Demona explained. "I'm sure Angela told you how I saw her climb in it from the security cameras."
"Yeah." Kat snubbed out her cigarillo. "Would you like to come in, it'll be more comfortable?"
"Why not."
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"No," Elisa said, after Fox had explained her plan. "I want nothing to do with it."
"Why not Detective," Fox asked with a grin. "I'm doing it, Angela's doing it."
"It's unprofessional," Elisa explained. "I'm a cop!"
"So? Where does it say that you can't do a little something, perfectly legal, on the side. You'll be handsomely reimbursed for your time, and I may even get your car restored," Fox countered.
Elisa was trying to think of another reason that didn't make her sound like a coward. "Even if I agreed, you still need two more people. Where are you going to get two more women that can be trusted?"
Fox grinned. "I am already working on it. Though I'm willing to sweeten the deal even more if you agree."
"What could you possibly offer me?" Elisa asked.
The grin that spread across Fox's face was absolutely feral. "It's not what I can offer you, it's what Puck can that you should be interested in."
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Demona entered the apartment, scanning for anything to indicate a possible trap, but her eyes stopped on a picture of an Asian woman. Walking towards it, she picked it up and asked, "Who is this?"
Kathleen walked forward to look at the picture. "That's my mother," she said, after seeing the picture.
Demona looked at the woman in a new light. "You're a kitsune," it wasn't a question.
Shock spread over the woman's face. "How did you?"
"Mariko was a friend," Demona admitted. "I met her about a century and a half ago in Japan." She looked over at Kathleen. "She saved my life, attacking Macbeth and carrying him away so that I didn't feel his pain." She snorted. "I understand she dropped him in the sea of Japan."
"Macbeth?" the kitsune asked. "You mean The Macbeth?"
Demona nodded. "Angela hasn't told you much about my past, has she?"
"Only what she was involved in," Kathleen said, before looking at the picture with slight longing. "You were friends with my mother?"
"She was one of the few friends I made over the years. I take it she never talked about me?"
"I don't know," the mechanic replied. "She died when I was quite young. Could you...could you tell me about her? I only know what she was like when she was with Dad."
"Angela's your bonded, isn't she?"
Kathleen nodded.
Demona grinned. "In that case, I would be honored to tell you about my time with Mariko."
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After returning from patrol with the Trio, Angela disappeared to a room provided by Fox. Once she locked the door behind her, the lavender gargess turned into a human and crawled into the bed for some much needed sleep.
Her first day at Nightstone would be tomorrow.
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"Did you find out anything?" Goliath asked, hoping he could get answers about his daughters behavior before the rapidly rising sun broke the horizon.
Elisa shook her head. "No, only that she's confided in Fox, but both refused to tell me anything."
"She trusts Fox but she won't trust me!" Goliath said, a little angrily, though his eyes didn't glow.
"Goliath," Elisa said, trying to calm him down. "I did get one thing."
"What?"
"She said that you made your opinion very clear the few times she's broached the subject," Elisa said. "has there been anything you've expressed strong feelings over?"
Nothing, just...," Goliath's eyes widened and he roared, eyes white, as the sun broke the horizon, freezing him mid-roar.
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Thomas Hobart pulled back the well oiled slide of his MAC-10.
Smiling at it's smooth action, he set it aside before he began loading the thirty-two round 9mm clip.
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Hope you enjoyed. Please Review and Checkout the Challenges in My Forums and the stories I have up for adoption, posted under the title Please Adopt Me!
Next Chapter, well, needless to say it'll be interesting and a lot will happen.