Page 26 of The Last Gargoyle’s Christmas Wish (An MM Monster Christmas #3)

CHAPTER 26

U zoth squatted, his wings tucked behind him and his talons gripping the roof tiles. His tail lay curved around him. His unshifting gaze remained on the alley below.

The day he and Grady had ended, Cas flew up. “Are you all right?”

Graal stood in the alley, gazing up at them.

“I am fine,” Uzoth lied.

“Are you sure? Can I help with anything?”

“Thank you for your concern,” Uzoth said. “But I do not require assistance.”

Cas glanced down. “Grady seemed a bit off this afternoon. And you’re still up here. I thought I’d just check.”

Uzoth did not know how to respond to that. He did not like to think of Grady as “a bit off.” But he could not help Grady. He had made Grady’s life worse by being a part of it. No doubt he’d be well again soon now that Uzoth no longer was in his life.

Cas stared at him for several seconds. “Well, tell me if you need anything. All right?”

Uzoth had given a slight nod, and Cas had flown down and joined Graal on the ground.

Since then, he’d spoken to no one. Uzoth had no one to speak to.

Grady came and went. Grady’s siblings came and went. Many of the siblings paused and stared up at him, often with frowns. Once, Lachlan and Kit spoke in the alley for several minutes whilst they kept glancing up at him.

Uzoth remained still.

Now it had been two days since he and Grady had ended. Since then, he’d not changed his location. He’d kept watch over the bakery and apartment. His wings had not unfurled once. His tail had not slithered an inch.

Uzoth had no reason to move. So he didn’t.

Snow gathered on his limbs. He did not brush it off. He just sat and watched the lives of the family below, knowing he was not a part of it.

Uzoth did not blink. He tried to keep alert. He tried to be ready to protect. But for some reason, everything seemed to have become glacially slow. Vaguely, he was aware that he was shutting down in a very short period of time. Perhaps because he no longer felt any reason to keep moving at all. Uzoth did not dwell on why. He found he did not really care.

His eyes remained open, but his vision grew blurry.

A figure walked beneath him. It looked up.

Grady. It is Grady.

Strange. It had taken him several moments to recognise the familiar figure of the human he loved.

Unsurprisingly, Grady did not wave. He did not do that anymore.

If he had, Uzoth might have waved back. But since Grady did not, Uzoth remained motionless.

Archimedes, Briar’s familiar, circled ahead. He landed on Uzoth’s knee, disturbing the snow. He peered into Uzoth’s face. After a while, with a flutter of wings, he flew away.

The moon moved behind the clouds. Darkness fell. The lights in the apartment below glowed. Uzoth barely noticed the shifting of time.

He could remember the heat of the apartment and how it had warmed his bones. His bones felt frozen now.

Is Grady in the apartment? Is he eating enough? Sleeping enough?

Snowflakes drifted down.

Uzoth’s heartbeat slowed. Blood pumped sluggishly through his veins.

Vaguely, Uzoth wondered if he was turning into stone, into a statue. He wondered if he would join his brethren and wake no more.

Uzoth did not care.