CHAPTER 2
1921 Words
CHAPTER 2
"What do you mean, the day your life changed forever?" Pascal asked.
Shaking his head Timmy sighed, "It doesn't matter."
Pascal finished his meal, then pushed the box aside, asking, "Timmy, what are you?"
Shaking his head, Timmy replied, "Rune says never to tell."
"I can understand that. If your anything like my brothers and I, people might want to hurt you.
However, in Maddox and Crystal, we are safe. I'm a Santorini fox," Pascal said with a wide smile.
Timmy's eyes widened. "I thought your kind was as extinct as mine is becoming, since the war."
Nodding, Pascal said, "All that is left is my brothers and myself."
Timmy sniffled, saying, "There are only eight gargoyles left, besides myself. It's sad thinking that our entire race will soon be no more."
"You're a gargoyle? Holy smoke, I thought you guys were a complete myth," Pascal replied.
"Crap. I did it again. I wasn't supposed to say that," Timmy muttered, then looked at Pascal with hope in his eyes. "Can we just forget I said that?"
Pascal giggled. "Timmy, I can't pretend I didn't hear you."
Timmy sighed and dropped his head, down, mumbling, "I figured."
Pascal patted Timmy's knee, saying, "But I can promise not to tell anyone. However, even if you did tell what you were, no one would try and hurt you because of it."
"Fallon would," Timmy grumbled.
Pascal gasped, "You know Fallon?"
Nodding, Timmy replied, "He was threatening my chimera. King Suneth said that he would
locate the dragon leader if Fallon didn't back down."
"Wait, your King was willing to fight against Fallon and his armies?" Pascal gasped.
Timmy shrugged. "That's what he said. I don't know if he ever did contact the dragon king."
"Timmy, do you know who the leader of the dragons is, by chance?" Pascal questioned with a smirk.
Shaking his head, Timmy replied, "No, but even if I did, I should stay out of it. I always screw things up when I want to help someone."
Pascal scoffed, "That can't be true."
Nodding, Timmy replied, "Oh, it is very true. One time I wanted to show my King how thankful I was to have him for a King. I waited for him to leave and went in and painted his entire suite.
Ozcog walked in and scared me to the point I moved. The paint bucket wobbled, then fell on his head. Sparkling Fuchsia Wonder covered his hair and body. He tried to wash it off, but had to
shave his head."
Timmy looked up with widened eyes, saying, "Hey, something good did kind of come out of it.
He discovered he liked no hair instead of the long grey like I have and he kept it that way."
Pascal snickered, "Sparkling Fuchsia? What did your king say when he saw his new room?"
Timmy let out a loud breath, saying, "He said that he would never be able to get any work done with so much beauty surrounding him and asked if I could change it back, but while I was
painting it back to its original dull light brown, Canuz came in and hit my ladder and―"
Pascal burst out laughing, stammering, "A-and it fe-fell on him."
Nodding, Timmy replied, "He and Ozcog were so upset with me, they refused to talk to me. I tried to apologize and went and got a bunch of really pretty vines. I made a sweet design and
hung them in their quarters. How was I to know it was poison Ivy?"
Pascal laughed even harder and almost fell off the lift. Smacking his leg, Pascal tried to draw in a breath saying, "That is bad."
"There have been other things. Like when I accidently caused a girl to bust out in hives because I gave her my chocolate cupcake not knowing she was allergic. Or the time I accidently grabbed
the salt instead of sugar when I made Qavex's birthday cake. Or the time―"
"S-Stop! Oh by the Gods, please!" Pascal rasped through his laughter. "That is so funny."
"It wasn't funny, Pascal. I screw up so much and others always pay for it. First all of them, and now my mate. Why am I cursed?" Timmy asked tearfully.
Pascal's laughter subsided at the sound of Timmy's pain, and he quickly sat up, and wiped his
eyes, saying, "Timmy, none of what you said was really your fault. I mean, you didn't mean to hurt anyone."
Timmy looked at Pascal in wonder. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Sighing, Pascal replied, "Regent Dain has me setting up the paranormal law library and it's connected to your cell. I've heard you talking to York every day since being brought in here. I'm sorry if I eavesdropped, but it wasn't intentional. You sing beautifully, by the way. However, I
don't think you deserve to be segregated from everyone and the council refuses to allow Rune to come and visit."
"They do?"
Nodding, Pascal replied, "They're afraid that he will pop you out of this joint. I, on the other hand, convinced them that you shouldn't be alone at a time like this. My size being what it is, I would represent no threat to you. It's not like you're a criminal. The council just doesn't know what to do about your inability to control your gift."
"This is no gift, Pascal. And you're wrong, I am a criminal. Well kind of, but I fixed it," Timmy said with a sharp nod.
Pascal's lips tilted to the side as his brows drew together in confusion. "What are you talking about."
"It's the reason I'm no longer with my chimera. I accidentally took my king’s crown," Timmy said.
Pascal scoffed, "How do you accidentally steal your king’s crown?"
"It was after a small flambé incident. Asbuth had been talking about a desert he had tried while in town. Cherries-Jubilee. He wished everyone could try it, so I looked it up on the king’s
computer. It seemed easy enough. We had all the ingredients, so I put it together like they asked and poured in the brandy. Asbuth was smiling and I didn't see him looking down at the pan when I lit it and well―"
"Oh, Timmy!" Pascal gasped biting his lip hard enough that Timmy thought the man might bleed.
"I knew that the king was as tired of my mishaps as the others. What none of them understood was that I was even more sick of them then they could ever be. So, I went to talk to the king
about my situation, hoping maybe he might be able to help me be more in control of myself.
Maybe help me show our Chimera that I am more than a bumbling i***t. He was in the shower
and told me to wait. I saw his crown on the bed and I just wanted to try it on. So I placed it on my head and while I was looking in the mirror, Juddan walked in and I panicked. He demanded
to know what I was doing, I knew my eyes were turning because of the panicked look on
Juddan's face, so I took off running. By the time I realized how far I had gone, I also felt the crown. I never took it off. King Suneth might forgive me many things, but even I knew that
everyone would demand my head for taking it. So I kept running."
"You didn't return it?" Pascal asked in horror.
Timmy gasped, "Oh yes, I did return it. Well, kind of. I put it in the one place I knew he would find it."
"And did he?" Pascal asked.
"I would think so. He was going there to talk to the leader in hopes of getting help with Fallon,"
Timmy replied.
"How long ago was this?" Pascal asked.
Just as Timmy was about to answer, the sound of footsteps had him getting up and moving closer to York. His mate may not be able to help him, but Timmy still felt a sense of safety when close to the man.
Neil walked in, saying, "The council wants to see Timmy now."
Pascal sighed, "Okay, but I'm going with him"
"I don't―"
"Don't you dare tell me I can't. York is not able to protect his mate right now, and I am going to do what I can for him until York is back to normal. So, just lead the way," Pascal said trying to be tough.
Timmy could see the larger man trying not to laugh at Pascal. Neil even went as far as to clear his throat before speaking, "I was going to say I don't think that the council will mind."
Pascal's cheeks turned pink as he muttered, "Oh. Sorry." Then lowered them down.
Timmy hated leaving York, but he knew he had no choice. Slowly, they made their way through
one hall and into another. Timmy knew what it must have felt like all those years ago when men were led to the tree for a hanging.
The closer they got, the more fearful Timmy became. Would they hang him? Shoot him? Put him
on a large spit and cook him, then celebrate the death of a menace to their society? Pascal said that the council wouldn't hurt him, but he also knew that the powerful feared what he could do.
Just before entering the large room, Timmy could hear arguing. Rune was in the face of a very
large man, yelling, "How could you invade his privacy like that, Illan? He is an innocent being that just needs to learn control. I told you that my mates and I were working on a way to help him."
Pascal leaned in saying, "From far left to right, is Ezra, the vampire leader, Nick, the representative of the shifters, the one snarling is Illan, and next to him is his mate Justice. You already know Rune, and the men next to him are Kerrick and Dain. The man standing next to
Dain is the king of the pixies, King Destrain."
"I did what needed to be done for the safety of all our people," Illan argued.
"And again, you had no right. Timmy was discovered on Maddox lands, and although we all
share ownership of the town, we also have a mutual respect of territory, Illan. We have discussed this in the past. You should have discussed what you were doing with the council," Destrain said calmly.
Illan looked around the room then pointed to Timmy. "That man you all are defending turned one of my clutch members to stone! You all can be as pissed as you want, but none of you would have done any differently than I did to find out what he was hiding from."
Timmy felt his body trembling in complete terror. There was no way Illan found out about his
transgression against his King. Oh, by the Gods, he was going to die. He only prayed that Rune and his mates found a way to transfer York back to his flesh self.
"So, what is he hiding from?" Dain asked curiously.
Illan looked to his side as a door opened. "Not what, who."
Timmy had to grasp the back of the seat in front of where he stood so he didn't fall when his
knees gave out.
"Hello, Timmy," King Suneth softly said.
Timmy looked around, needing an escape. He didn't want to die. He wanted to save his mate and
live his life in a lifetime of honeymoon bliss. Neil shouted, "His eyes are turning."
Timmy looked around the room frantically for a way out, and suddenly gasped, as no sound was
heard except for Pascal's breathing next to him.
"You turned them all to stone," Pascal gasped.
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