Heart of a Gargoyle: A Sci-Fi Monster Romance (Monster Hearts), page 1
HEART OF A GARGOYLE
MONSTER HEARTS SERIES
- science fiction monster romance -
Copyright © 2022 by Cara Wylde
Character artwork by Nomad Raccoon
Cover by Otilia Jakab
Edited by Laura Keysor
All rights are reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in book reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One – Lola
Chapter Two – Calx
Chapter Three – Lola
Chapter Four – Lola
Chapter Five – Calx
Chapter Six – Lola
Chapter Seven – Calx
Chapter Eight – Lola
Chapter Nine - Lola
Chapter Ten – Calx
Chapter Eleven – Lola
Chapter Twelve – Calx
Chapter Thirteen – Lola
Chapter Fourteen – Calx
Chapter Fifteen – Lola
Chapter Sixteen – Calx
Chapter Seventeen – Lola
Chapter Eighteen – Calx
Epilogue – Lola
About the Author
Chapter One
Lola
I closed my office door and leaned against it for a moment, trying in vain to get myself together. But no, I was shaking uncontrollably from a mixture of anger and grief, and tears were already rolling down my cheeks.
My day wasn’t supposed to start like this. I wasn’t supposed to lose the patient I’d spent so much time caring for, not after everything she’d been through and all the strings I’d pulled and favors I’d cashed in to get her the lifesaving care she required. I’d thought the world-renowned surgeon with the top-secret security clearance would be able to save her life. It turned out I was wrong.
And the worst part?
Well, no. The worst part was that my patient, the female orc I’d become so attached to over the past several weeks, was dead. But the second worst part was the fact that I seemed to be the only person in this entire IMRA facility who cared.
None of the other scientists had developed the same bond with her that I had, and my boss – God, what a joke! General Hume didn’t seem to care at all whether the aliens we dedicated our careers to studying lived or died, as long as we were able to harvest the organs and tissue samples in the end.
Just one more reason why I should’ve listened to my gut when I found out I’d be working for the military. and not for an actual scientific branch of the government.
I supported the military. I was grateful to live in a country that had a strong, robust fighting force. But trying to explain to a general why it was more beneficial to keep an alien life form – an enemy combatant, to use his words – alive for more than a few weeks was damn near impossible at the best of times.
And when that alien was already badly injured and openly hostile to everyone in the lab aside from me? Well, there was only so much I could do for her.
Not that it made losing her any easier. I would’ve happily kept fighting, and arguing, and advocating for her every minute of every day if she’d somehow managed to pull through the surgery.
“But she didn’t,” I said out loud to my otherwise silent office. “She didn’t survive. And now that she’s gone, I need to make some difficult decisions.”
Decisions that felt much more real and pressing now that I’d given them a voice.
I took a few steps over to my desk and sunk into the squeaky fake leather chair. I needed to quit my job. To move on from IMRA and find something more suited to my personality, and more aligned with my values.
Unless I’d spent so long taking orders from General Hume that my values had become almost as twisted as his.
No.
“No,” I echoed the thought, just to make sure it sunk in.
I wasn’t as bad as he was. Not remotely close. I still wanted my patients to live. I still wanted them to be treated in a humane way, and to be made comfortable while they were in our care.
If General Hume had his way, we would poke, prod, and run tests on them without any thought at all about their comfort or their ability to consent or understand what was happening.
He wasn’t going to be happy when I turned in my notice, but surely he’d be able to see it was for the best. He was always yelling at me to toughen up and administer some harder medicine whenever I questioned his methods.
Which, for the record, was nearly every day.
“Dr. Reyes,” the general’s gruff voice barked my name before he’d finished opening my office door. “I need a word with you.”
I turned away long enough to swipe at my tear-streaked cheeks, and resisted the urge to tell him to go away until he learned to knock – a fantasy, since he’d have likely squashed me like a bug at the first hint of an insubordinate attitude.
“Yes, sir?” I turned to him and schooled my expression into what I hoped was a serious, professional look. “What can I do for you? I guess I have some time on my hands now that…” I bit back the words that were on the tip of my tongue. I still couldn’t bring myself to acknowledge out loud that my favorite patient was dead.
“Good. Perfect.” He stood ramrod straight, his military uniform so crisp and starched it looked like it might be painful if he even tried to slouch. “I need you to take charge of a new project, starting immediately.”
Oh, God.
Of all the things he could’ve said, of all the orders he could’ve given, a new assignment was the last thing I’d expected.
I swallowed hard. If I was going to quit, there couldn’t have been a more appropriate time. There was no possible way I could commit to a new project when I felt so dejected, so disappointed, so damn hopeless. I just couldn’t.
Wouldn’t.
“Sir, I um,” oh lord, why was it so hard to just say the words? “I don’t know if I can.”
“What?” his harsh voice made me jump in my seat. “What do you mean? Of course you can. It isn’t even a question, Reyes.”
I sighed. As a civilian contractor, I’d never had to experience the horrors of boot camp, but I always sympathized with the new recruits whenever Hume started shouting at me and giving his trademark death stare. It was – in my mind, at least – my own personal boot camp. My own personal hell.
And since he was a freaking four star general, there weren’t many people in the country who could overrule him. If I was going to continue working for IMRA, I had to follow General Hume’s orders.
Which was why I had no choice but to resign.
“I don’t know if I’m cut out for this kind of work, sir,” I began, trying to soften the blow and hoping he wouldn’t go crazy when he heard I was leaving. “I took this job because I knew it would be a fantastic opportunity to do the kind of research I’d only ever dreamed about before. But the reality is…”
“Harsh,” he interrupted with a curt nod. “I know it is, Reyes. This whole damn world is a harsh, cold, uncaring place, and you’re going to need a thicker skin if you’re going to make it far in life.”
Okay, so my resignation wasn’t exactly going as planned. The last thing I wanted was a lecture on feelings from someone who didn’t seem to have any at all. Besides, it was something I’d been told all my life by my own parents – and I hadn’t appreciated hearing it from them, either.
“I understand what you’re saying, sir,” I folded my hands on my desk to keep them from shaking. I usually turned and ran in the opposite direction at the first hint of confrontation, but I could see that he wasn’t going to leave me much choice. “But I think there might be other places, other fields of research, where I might fit in a little better. Where I might not need to develop such a thick skin.”
There.
I said it.
Well, mostly.
Telling him I might be better suited to another job in another location was basically the same thing as quitting, as far as I was concerned. If he couldn’t read between the lines, that was his own problem. I didn’t know what else to tell him.
“Nonsense,” he grunted, because of course he couldn’t read through the lines. Or maybe he just didn’t care what I wanted. Actually, yeah, that was probably closer to the mark. “Your country needs you, Reyes. This facility needs you. While I could eventually replace you if I absolutely had to, it would take weeks to get someone else up to speed, and I don’t have that kind of time. I have a project for you right now,” he reached over to tap his index finger on my desk, emphasizing the words and making me flinch in spite of my best efforts not to.
Damn him for playing the patriotic card. He knew I had a hard time saying no to anything when he made it seem like the whole country’s safety and security was resting on my shoulders. Which was ridiculous, of course. I’d never so muc
“Come on, Reyes,” he continued, his abrasive tone softening just a little. It was still a far cry from nice or pleasant, but at least the volume was lower. “Are you going to sit there and tell me that scientific mind of yours isn’t the least bit curious about this new assignment?”
I looked up at him and opened my mouth to say it didn’t matter, that I needed to leave regardless of what the assignment was, but my traitorous mouth betrayed me at the last second.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but…”
“Perfect. Then follow me and see it for yourself before you make any rash decisions that you’ll end up regretting. If, once you’ve been briefed on the new project, you still want to leave,” he stepped aside and gestured toward the hallway behind him. “I’ll escort you out the door myself with no hard feelings.”
Yeah, right. I’d worked for him long enough to know that hard feelings were the only kind of feelings the general recognized. Still, my curiosity was growing by the minute. Would it be so bad if I listened to his briefing? If I gave him a few more minutes of my time before I made the final decision and walked out the door?
“Okay, sir,” I pushed my remaining doubts aside as I stood up. “I’ll wait to make a decision on my future until later. I’m at your disposal for now.”
“You’ve made the right choice. I know you won’t regret it.”
I forced a smile as he motioned for me to follow him out of my office. I hoped he was right. I hoped my next assignment would be more rewarding – in every sense of the word – than the last one.
My heart was already broken from the orc’s death. My morale and my faith in the International Monster Research Organization was at an all-time low. The next few minutes would determine whether I kept my job or packed up my office at the end of the day. I trusted General Hume about as far as I could throw him, but for the first time in my career with IMRA, I honestly didn’t care if he was lying about the new assignment. If I decided it wasn’t for me, I’d leave. I didn’t have anything left to lose.
* * *
My stomach tied itself into knots with every step we took down the long corridor. I knew that the general was trying to lead me on and keep my curiosity piqued, but it wasn’t like him to be so cagey about a new assignment. His normal routine was to barge into my office, bark a few orders, then leave just as abruptly as he’d entered. And while our conversation had definitely started out that way, it was totally out of character for him to hold back almost all of the important details of a project while he personally escorted me through the facility.
We stopped in front of a set of metal double doors, and the general swiped his badge past the security sensor before waving me through.
“I’m, uh, not authorized to be in this part of the lab, sir,” I said, stopping before my foot crossed the threshold, just in case it was some kind of weird test. “I don’t have the proper security clearance.”
“And who do you think makes that decision?” He grunted. “You’re with me, Reyes. That’s all the clearance you need for now.”
Couldn’t argue that point very well, could I?
I still felt like I was breaking all kinds of rules as I passed through the double doors, but that feeling was quickly pushed aside in favor of my growing curiosity. Just as the general predicted, I’d shut down all my valid concerns about my job and all thoughts of leaving just so I could see what was behind those locked doors.
It was more than a little troubling how easily he could manipulate me, but that was a concern for another time. Because after we took another turn down the corridor and passed through one final set of doors, I saw for myself why he’d been so secretive.
Crouching in a glass cage that seemed slightly too small, there was a figure that looked like a tall, muscular man with ashen gray skin that made him look like he’d been carved from ancient stone.
When we walked into the room where he was being held, he snarled and tried to stand up straight but still had to hunch his broad shoulders to avoid hitting the top of the cage.
And that was when I saw his wings.
“Dr. Reyes,” the general flashed a smug smile in my direction as he made a grand, sweeping gesture toward the captive creature. “This is Project Gargoyle.”
“A gargoyle,” I whispered, taking a step closer and then immediately stopping when I saw those large wings begin to unfurl. They looked like a cross between cracked leather and stone, and even though the glass enclosure was far too small for him to completely spread them open, the gargoyle left no doubt that he was bigger, more powerful, and deadlier than any of the other monster species I’d encountered over the course of my career. Quite a feat, considering it was my entire job to study every monster and alien that passed through the nearest IMRA-controlled star portal.
“That’s right,” Hume continued. “A gargoyle that hasn’t been very receptive to our normal methods so far.” His smile faded and he gave me a hard look. “I won’t lie to you, Reyes. It’ll be a challenge. Like I told you before, I’ll escort you out of here myself if you don’t think you’re up to it.”
I could tell he was baiting me again, but I was too drawn to the creature in the glass cage to care. All my original doubts and fears were still inside my head somewhere, but when I locked eyes with the gargoyle, I felt a jolt – a connection that was so much stronger than anything I’d felt with my last patient. The gargoyle’s eyes widened when he looked at me, and I wondered for a moment if he could feel it, too.
That would have been highly unlikely, though, right?
“Reyes?” the general prompted. “I’m going to need an answer.”
There were some big red flags. First, of course, was the deadly monster I’d never encountered before – never heard of outside of fairy tales. Second, that cage was inhumane. Period. Too small in every direction, and with just a flimsy curtain to separate the barest essential toilet facilities from his sleeping area. No, that wasn’t going to work.
But most importantly, did I want to get attached to a patient again? Especially when I knew for sure General Hume viewed the creature as one hundred percent expendable once we’d taken sufficient samples for studying and research purposes. Could I handle losing the gargoyle the way I’d lost the orc female?
I honestly wasn’t sure.
But one thing I did know was that nobody else in the facility was more qualified to take care of him. If I walked back out that door and stepped down from my position with IMRA, I would be sealing this alien monster’s fate.
If I had to risk living with the guilt either way, I at least wanted to be the one in charge of the research and the fun, rewarding parts of the job.
“I’ll inform my team that we have a new assignment,” I said without taking my eyes off the glaring, menacing creature. “We’ll get started right away.”
I didn’t have to look over at the general to know he was smiling. He’d won.
That wasn’t my concern anymore, though. My new patient needed me.
Chapter Two
Calx
My whole body hurt, and it felt like a hundred boulders had been dropped one by one onto my head. I was afraid that if I opened my eyes, I was going to completely lose the contents of my stomach.
Not that it would’ve amounted to much, since I wasn’t sure how much time had passed since I’d last eaten. Two days? Three?
I couldn’t know if time worked the same way on the alien planet I’d crossed over to, or if any of it mattered anymore. Perhaps the strange creatures who’d captured me planned on starving me to death. Perhaps they’d planned on eating me for their own dinner.
I cracked an eye open and took a moment to get reacquainted with my new surroundings. The only part of my cage that wasn’t made of stone was the floor-to-ceiling glass wall on one side that looked out onto a room filled with their alien machines.
Was the glass intended to keep them safe from me? Or to keep me safe from them?
With ten times more effort than it should’ve taken, I fully opened both eyes and pushed myself to my feet. I was still sore from the tiny metal projectiles the aliens had shot me with, but they thankfully hadn’t managed to do any lasting damage. As far as I could tell, they hadn’t pierced my skin at all.
