Page 2 of The Last Gargoyle's Christmas Wish

“Protect this space. Protect my kin,” Grady whispered. Warmth flared beneath his hand as the charm charged, his energy passing into it.

Protection charm charged. Check.

Grady dropped his hand. Hopefully, the rest of the day would run smoothly.

“Shit!” Jasper groaned.

Then again, probably not. Grady’s jaw tensed, the muscle beneath his eye fluttering. “What’s wrong?”

“We don’t have enough flour.” Jasper rummaged through their supplies. “We only have enough for…maybe a few hours.”

Leo made a face. “That is, if we aren’t too busy.”

“Fucking frog guts,” Grady muttered.

Jasper frowned. “Sorry, Grady. I must have miscounted.”

“It’s fine.” Grady rubbed at the back of his neck, trying to release some of the compounding tension.

“I can go back to the bakery now and get some more. As long as we have enough to cover the time it will take me to get there and back, everything will be fine.”

Jasper nodded. “We should have enough for that.”

“Do we have everything else we need?” The muscle beneath Grady’s eye felt like a butterfly had burrowed beneath his skin and was fluttering as it tried to escape. He hoped no one else could see the twitching muscle.

Jasper glanced down at the supplies. “I think so.”

Still, Grady stepped forward and double-checked. Which was what he should have done earlier instead of relying on Jasper and Leo.

Once certain they only needed flour, Grady straightened. “I’ll go now and be back soon.” Grady opened the side door of the stall and stepped out, not waiting for a response.

He strode through the markets, passing the other stalls still setting up. Soon the crowds would come, marvelling at the picturesque decorated wooden stalls and the Christmas trees towering over them. The scents of roasted nuts, hot chocolate, grilled meats, mulled wine, fried bread, and sugar would meld in the air. As darkness fell, candles along with magicked glowing globes would illuminate the picturesque wintery wonderland.

Grady didn’t give two shits about any of that right now. He had too much fucking work to do.

Cauldrons and clusterfucks.Of course the first day of the Christmas markets wouldn’t go fucking smoothly! When did anything ever go fucking smoothly?

Grady hunched his shoulders as he strode through the falling snow. His temple throbbed, and the muscle beneath his eye wouldn’t stop twinging. He rubbed at the muscle, trying to get it to stop to no effect.

Why hadn’t he double-checked the crates to make sure they had enough flour? Why had he relied on Jasper and Leo? If he had just checked, then he wouldn’t be racing across town to get more.

His stomach grumbled as he walked. When had he last eaten? Fuck if he could remember.

He walked the streets through the city to the quarter where the family bakery lay. He came around the back. He glanced up and spotted the gargoyle squatting on the rooftop, gaze fixed on the alley below. Horns twisted above his head, and wings curled around him.

Everyone in the neighbourhood knew of the gargoyle who lived in the district. He had arrived sometime in the last tenyears after Grady’s parents’ death. After Grady had become responsible for his nine younger siblings.

A pigeon flew, passing before the gargoyle, fluttering down into the alley.

Grady paused his strides. “Archimedes?”

Archimedes, his brother Briar’s familiar, landed on the cobblestones. Grady spotted the canister, which meant a note from Briar.

He held in a sigh.

What did Briar want now?

Grady leaned down and removed the canister from Archimedes’s leg. He took the note and unfurled it.