by: Spacebabie

Email: LadyAndromeda@smstars.zzn.com

High Seas Beauties

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Gregory Leahs’s nose was highly sensitive to the various kinds of smokes that exited cigarette’s and other various implements of smoking. While tobacco caused himself to crinkle up his nose in disgust and cannabis made him sneeze the varieties from pipe and cigar he did find enjoyable. In fact he could identify the various kinds of herbs. The smoke that greeted his nostrils when he opened the door to the office near the docks was the kind that was only found in authentic Cuban cigars.

"I believe I do detect the rich scent of some fine Cubans," Greg said as he made his way through the office. The deep green venetian blinds were closed and the lamp shades were made of a thick red material providing the office with inadequate light. He was surprised at how pristine the floors were, not a single coffee cup or wadded up piece of news paper to be found.

"That is because the men that work for me bathe properly," The man in the white suit said before he spun around in his office chair. Olive complexion, bald head and dark sunglasses contained most of his face. The man rested his large hands on the peanut brown table. Greg could see two rings, a gold and silver band on one hand and a sparkling red jewel on the other. "I have heard that you can provide me with some unique girls." Greg tried to place the accent. It wasn’t quite Spanish or Italian.

"How much Mr. Trepkos?" Greg crossed his leg.

"How about fifty thousand dollars?" His dark eyes watched Greg’s facial movements. "Fifty thousand dollars now, and another fifty once you make the delivery?" The corner’s of Greg’s mouth turned up in a smile. Both feet were on the ground when he reached over to shake the other man’s hand.

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Rayne flexed her limbs making sure that each of her muscles felt as awake as she did before she gave her whole body a good shake, sending more pieces of stone skin falling off. She ran her bright orange talons through her seafoam like hair, making sure she got the last of the stone crumbs out of her mane.

"Is it all right if I make a phone call before we are given our patrol assignments?" Rayne asked while she glanced up at Brooklyn. "I’ve been here for exactly one year and I wanted to call my family back home in Florida." Her tail swished lightly from side to side as she waited for the second in command’s response.

"Go ahead," Brooklyn smiled warmly at her. Rayne’s smiled was even bigger as she thanked him and bound for inside the castle. It wasn’t surprising to Brooklyn to see Lexington waddle after her, but he did wonder why his smaller rookery brother paused beside him. "Hard to believe," Brooklyn commented without looking down at the web winged male. "That she has been here for a year."

"Yeah," Lexington nodded in agreement and smiled. "I’m going to give her a special gift when she returns from patrol tonight." Brooklyn raised a brow ridge and bent down.

"Oh," he gave his rookery brother a light poke. "And what might that be?" The bald gargoyle reached up to shove his red hand away.

"You’ll see." Lex dropped down and loped into the main entrance of Wyvern through the turret.

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The room where He, Rayne and Jerry did their software work was empty. This was a blessing for Lexington. The small gargoyle plugged in his soldering iron and sat at the workbench. His special project was almost finished. The longs strips of choice metals were melted and merged together to create a large band. Once the rod was hot he used it to merge and melt the shiny metallic bits that were cut into unique shapes, the glass like jewel pieces and even an authentic cubic Zirconia. As it set and cooled he sat back and marvel at it. The bracelet sparkled with metallic silver, coppery red, and bronzish brown bands interwoven with tiny thin pewter flowers, hearts and stars. More color was added with sparkling bits of purple and sky blue. Lexington had finished the mating band he planned on giving to Rayne when he will ask her to become his mate.

With a satisfied smiled he wrapped it in a thin cloth and placed it in the velvet jewelry box that Fox had left out for him. Lexington made the private request the night before and she obliged. Unlike the others in his clan Lexington did not have a pocket in his loin cloth or a secret compartment in his belt.

"Lexington!" he set the box down on the bench and recovered it with the oilcloth. "Dinner." The olive gargoyle didn’t have to be told twice. His stomach felt that it had to speak up.

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Brooklyn stared at the dark alley behind the Haystar Bakery. He perched at the edge of a building near the bakery with his lower talons curled over the edge. He tried to ignore the rich mouth watering aroma of fresh baked bread.

On his right perched Gloria who wagged her split ended tail slightly and complained about the heat being quite unbearable this time of year. On his left sat Rayne who pulled the binoculars away from her face long enough to roll her eyes at what Gloria said. The pixie like female kept staring at the back alley. Her focus was on two people she was sure were making a deal.

"Do you think we should go?" Brooklyn asked when he saw Rayne straighten her body up yet kept the binoculars to her eyes.

"Think so," with one hand still holding up the dual telescopes she fluttered her hand in the "not-sure-lets-wait-a-bit-before-we-try-anything" mode. "We better go!" The binoculars dropped from her hand and bounced bunje like on the cord that hung around her neck. "There’s a gun!" She leaped from her perch.

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Officer Remfeld stared at the dealer in disbelief. Did this guy try to kill all who decided to buy from him or just those that he might be cops. Instinctively Remfeld slowly raised his hands, palms out, followed by his arms.

Remfeld licked his dry lips and wished that he still had a partner. Morgan would have made his way to where he could be behind the creep. Smoothly he would have shouted "Freeze" and the crook would drop his gun and they would have slapped the cuffs on him. Instead Morgan is a detective and his partner is a rookie cop waiting in the car, hopefully radioing for back up.

"I’m not going to try anything," Remfeld said.

"Of course you are not," the thug said while keeping the gun pointed at him. "Not going to let you call for back up either." Remfeld blinked and opened his mouth to ask how the heck did he know that he was a cop. "I know because you look too clean to be a buyer."

"The same can be said about you," Remfeld said. "you look to clean to be a seller." The other man just hunched his shoulders.

"Maybe, maybe not, but I’m going to go home a happy and healthy man who will be slightly richer and you are going to be a dead man." Remfeld closed his eyes shortly after he saw the gun lift to meet his gaze again. With a sigh he knew that he was going to join Diggory.

The screech of a cougar or a close relative of a cougar followed by the firing of a gun caused him to open his eyes. Remfeld saw the other man was on his back with a bright orange gargoyle sitting on him, keeping him pinned.

"Could you cut it any closer?" Remfeld asked after he let out a sigh. Two other gargoyles joined the first. The red male landed next to the perp and helped his friend to keep him pressed to the ground, and a light purple one with spiral horns and flowing brown hair landed next to him.

"Sorry," the female gargoyle said. "We glided down as soon as we saw the gun." She ran her hand through her hair and positioned part of it behind her large ear. "We didn’t want to ruin your sting."

"Okay," he placed his hands in his pockets. "I understand." he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "I’ll take it over from here."

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Brooklyn could still feel the warm metal of the gun in his hands from when he crushed it. The drug dealer fired it by trigger finger reflex when Rayne tackled him. Brooklyn had lended next to them and removed the gun from his hand before both gargoyles held the man down long enough for officer Remfeld to cuff him.

He and the girls watched as the dealer was placed into the back a police car.

"I should have been more impulsive," Rayne sighed and stared down. "I should of mentioned the gun when I first thought I saw it, instead of making sure." She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Gloria looking at her with her eyes full of sympathy.

"Don’t blame yourself," the other female said with a slight smile. "Nobody got hurt." Rayne shook her head.

"If I had waited a second longer he would have been shot. One of these days we won’t make it in time because I just have to be certain." She stood up. "Well no more. No more looking before I leap."

"Hey don’t say that," Brooklyn said. "We could have botched up a drug sting." Range stared at the ground and folded her arms.

"Better to have a botched sting than to have a dead body." Brooklyn marched right up to her and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"If anyone is to blame its me," he stared into her eyes. "I’m the one who should have been wearing the binoculars. I should have been the one to make the command to attack. I’m the second in command so if your are going to blame anyone blame..." His sentences fell apart when he noticed how wide her eyes were and that they were focused on whatever it was that was behind him. "What?"

"Wolf."

"About to pounce on-" Gloria’s addition was cut short when the large mutate leaped for them. The beaked gargoyle pushed Rayne out of the way. Wolf was a hair’s breath away from landing on them. The second his feet touched the ground he raced past them, elbowing Brooklyn in his side on his was to the edge of the building. With astonishing agility he leaped over the edge and landed on the building that was closest to them.

With a feral snarl Rayne crouched down and bound after the hairy beast.

"Rayne!" Brooklyn shouted before he dropped onto all fours. "Wait for us." He raced after her, followed by Gloria.

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His third leap wasn’t so great. Wolf didn’t quite leap far enough, or high enough to cause his whole form didn’t make it completely over onto the building. Instead he was hang onto the edge while trying to get a foot hold on too the building. He should have asked for a little cat DNA so that he could climb better, or better yet bat DNA so he could have wings.

Using every muscle in his arms he managed to pull himself up. He gripped onto the side with his feet as the best as he could and tried to hold on while he flopped over onto his chest. Still struggling he dragged himself over the edge until he had completely made it onto the top of the building. He didn’t have time to catch his breath. As he lie there, looking like a person making a snow angel on his stomach, he heard clapping. Looking up he saw a orange female gargoyle with way white hair clapping her hands together.

"I almost thought you weren’t going to make it," She said with a smirk. " but I reminded myself that not only you are a mutate but also the Wolf from The Pack. That was like episode 39 when you were trying to find this one ninja master lord who had a special suit that could make him seem invisible. Like in Predator." Wolf slowly sat up and scratched his chest.

"That was the episode "The Unseen Enemy,’" Wolf had to smile. "Now that you mention it that maneuver did seem familiar." He rubbed the side of his mouth before looking at her. "You know your episodes. Which one is your favorite?"

"I think it’s ‘Dark Poison,’" Rayne had her chin between her thumb and her index. "That was the one when the Pack found this drug factory of a new kind of drug and one of the bad guys injected Hyena with a lethal dose and she spent most of the episode in the hospital?"

"That’s the one," Wolf nodded.

"Jackal was brilliant in that episode. He even cried when he sat by Hyena’s hospital bed. No wonder he got nominated for an Emmy, too bad he didn’t win."

"Those Emmy judges wouldn’t know talent if it bit them in the sweet spot. We have to fight right?"

"I’m afraid so," Rayne positioned herself in a fighting stance.

"Just to let you know I’m not wanted for anything."

"Understood," Rayne’s eyes lit up. "We are just going to kick your butt so that you just don’t try to further wound or try to attack us."

"Uh yeah," Wolf grunted before he lunged for her. Rayne dodged The pack member gracefully. After nearly tasting rooftop the mutate turned around and crouched down. Hackles raised Wolf bound towards the orange gargoyle. Snarling he dove low for her feet. Rayne gripped his shoulders and pushed herself up. With gazelle like grace she sprung over his body and landed behind him.

Still in a catlike crouch she did not notice that she was being targeted. With a low growl she watched Wolf prepare for his counter attack. her tail lashed from side to side. The sharp point of the tranqu bit into her skin like an insect’s sting.

"What the?" She asked when she noticed the bright red vial sticking out of her thigh. "Oh no." Her voice was a whispered as her vision blurred. Despite the weariness she felt she reached down and pulled out the tranq. She wanted to warn Wolf in case they were after him too, but her mouth barely parted before she fell to the ground.

"Wolf!" Brooklyn’s shout split through the night. The mutate turned to see the other gargoyles had finally caught up. Wolf dropped to a crouch and loped forward before leaping over the edge.

Brooklyn landed next to Rayne a split second before Gloria. The brick red gargoyle noticed that Rayne’s chest was slowly rising when cradled her head and felt her neck for a pulse. Gloria noticed the near empty tranquilizer dart net to her side and picked it up.

"No marks of anykind," Brooklyn said softly.

"She’s been Tranqued." Brooklyn looked up at her as Gloria held out the dart in her outstretched hand.

"You stay with her," Brooklyn waited for the orchid female to set on her haunches and crab walk towards him. With great care he lifted the Floridian and placed her in Gloria’s arms. "I’m going to get Wolf." his eyes glowed when he mentioned the mutates name. He stood up briefly before he dropped to the ground and raced off in the direction Wolf ran too.

"It’s going to be okay kid," Gloria’s voice was soft as she stared down at Rayne’s sleeping form. "What am I saying kid?" She looked up at the sky. "You probably hatched years before I was born."

"Born?" The high nasally voice asked. "You were born? Kind of like the fifth new member of our team." The voice was not only nasally but had an irritating twinge of a psychotic screech. It was like biting into tin foil. Gloria gently set Rayne down before she stood up.

"Hyena," she growled the name while her eyes slowly lit up. "You where the one?" Her head dodged into different directions while she tried to search for the female cyborg. "Are you too much of a coward to show yourself?"

"Coward," Hyena replied. "I don’t like that name." Gloria’s large fan shaped ears picked up the near quiet hissing sizzle of rocket thrusters. She turned around to see Hyena slowly land. The female pack member’s eyes rolled up as she tapped her chin with her index finger. "I prefer cautious. Yeah. That is what I am." She lowered her hand before she smiled at Gloria. "Cautious."

Gloria positioned herself between Hyena and Rayne while her eyes kept darting between the gargoyle, Hyena and the sky. While it has been known that Wolf may work alone, Hyena is never without Jackal and vice versa.

"Where is your brother?" The weregoyle asked, not for a second letting her eyes relax.

"Around," the other woman replied. It wasn’t long after she said this when Gloria detected something whistling through the air. Gloria dropped and leaped forward, curling into a ball the second she landed. After she stretched her body from her rolled up position she turned around. Sticking into the building where she once stood was a tranquilizer dart. Hovering over the building was Jackal.

"Like there," Hyena held out her hands and hunched her shoulder.

"So it was you," Gloria snarled.

"This one is clever, eh sis?" His eyes traveled to where Hyena stood.

"She’s human during the day, like Jon."

"So she is good for day and night?" Gloria didn’t have to ask what he meant. The tone of his voice and the filthy gleam in his eyes caused Gloria to want to take a long shower.

"You are sick!" Her nose was raised in disgust as she slowly backed up.

"He sure is," Hyena said before Gloria felt the sharp needle strike her in he back. "But I’m sicker." The weregoyle quickly reached behind her and pulled out the dart. Knowing she did not have much time she crouched down and raced towards Hyena. The female cyborg was too shocked at seeing her still be able to move to react in time. She felt the full weight of the gargoyle on her body, but she also felt how relaxed her limbs were becoming. Hyena shoved her off. Gloria stood back up, stepped forward and crumpled to the ground.

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Gregory Leahs pulled the bill of his baseball cap lower over his head as he leaned against the rental van. He did not know how long it would take the pack to fetch up some female gargoyles. The disgusting scent of dirty fur mixed with human sweat brought his attention to Wolf as he leaped down into view of the eldest Leahs brother.

Parts of his fur was matted by blood and dirt into noticeable clumps. In his arms he carried a lean brick red gargoyle with angular wings, a long mane of silvery white hair, and a long and thick beak. With a grunt he dropped his catch in front of Leahs in the same matter as a dog would deposit a dead rabbit in front of his master.

Leahs shoved his hands into his pockets before he stepped forward to take a good look at the beast. It was covered with deep scratch marks in teams of four, as well as deep violet bruises. The lack of breasts, masculine shape of the torso and hips, and the fact that it only wore an old dark gray loin cloth told him this was not what he wanted.

"What is this?" He asked smoothly and calmly. Wolf glanced down at the gargoyle and then back up at his boss’s son.

"It’s a gargoyle."

"Yes it is," Greg nodded. "It’s a male gargoyle. I wanted females." Wolf stood up straight and pointed at his catch.

"There were two females with this one. I remember that the cyber sibs managed to tranq one of them." A small smile spread across Greg’s face.

"Good now we just need to wait for them." He crossed his arms and pressed his back against the van again. While keeping his eyes on Brooklyn Wolf leaned against the van next to him.

They did not have to wait long. Only few minutes passed after Wolf had arrived when Jackal and Hyena returned, each carrying a female gargoyle. Hyena’s was orange with wavy white hair wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Jackal’s was a pale purple with brown hair and wearing a bright yellow sundress.

"What are we going to do with him?" Jackal asked while pointing at the male.

"Just deposit him somewhere." Gregory took a better look at the females.

"Hey!" Wolf shouted and marched right up to him He grabbed onto the human’s shoulders and turned him around. "Do you have any idea how long it took me to kick his ass?" Greg stared into his eyes before nodding gently.

"You are correct," Greg’s eyes glowed slightly. "You need to cool off and relax." The mutate disappeared from view. Greg turned back to the remaining members of the pack who had opened the back doors of the van. "Deposit the male into a dumpster or something." He held out his hand. The body of the orange female slowly rose.

"Where is Wolf?" Jackal asked. Greg placed the female gargoyle into the van before turning around.

"Some place where he can cool off."

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Wolf blinked his eyes. One second he was staring at Greg and the next he was in a large room. Wait a second this room seemed familiar to him. In fact it looked like the top half of the pool room. He stared down as he felt himself fall and saw the calm rippling blue water before he plunged in.

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The docks were unusually quiet that night. Trepkos thought as he flipped open the polished sliver case with an indigo shooting star symbol with his thumb. He took one of the sweet smelling cigars from inside and closed it. After he slipped the case he pulled out a silver pocket knife with the same indigo symbol and flipped open a sharp blade, which he used to cut the end of his cigar off. He replaced the knife and extracted a lighter that matched his other personal items. Trepkos liked to have his personal items match each other and bear the same logo as much as he liked a good cigar and a neat office.

He was dressed in a Gucci charcoal gray suit, expensive loafers, and a silver tie with black pin stripes. He stood waiting near a docked small fishing boat, flanked only by a couple of his paid goons, and his limo. He took a glance at his Rolex and noted that there was five minutes left until the meeting time between him and Gregory Leahs.

There were not that many people around that time of night. A few dock guards, as well as a teenage girl. she did seem to be suspicious. Dark brown hair with red streaks that were a little too red. She was dressed in clothes that told Trepkos that she had to have come from money. The way she had a tenacious grip on her purse, kept staring around nervously and constantly checked her watch also told him that she was waiting for someone and did not want to be there.

"Boss," one of the hired muscle pointed at the incoming moving van.. Once the vehicle came to a stop they heard the thick click of the back doors opening up The driver’s side door opened and a man in a baseball cap and trench coat stepped out. Both goons placed themselves in between their boss and the man as he approached them. Trepkos waved them aside when he saw who it was.

"Mr. Leahs," Trepkos greeted with a smile. "You are right on time."

"Of course I am," Greg grinned. "Jackal, Hyena the girls." From behind the van the two cyborg’s approached each with a gargoyle in their arms. They gently placed the unconscious females down in front of Trepkos and his men.

"Lovely creatures," Trepkos’s voice oozed with a silk like softness. He walked around their bodies only pausing to touch their hair and to stroke their wings. "This one isn’t as big as the other." He pressed against the orange one’s left breast with his index finger. "But she is lovely."

"So how about the rest of my money?" Greg asked.

"You get right to it."

"We want the money," the female cyborg said. "Now." Trepkos nodded.

"Of course my dear." He snapped his fingers and one of the goons went to the limo. Seconds later with a manila envelope. He handed it to Trepkos who handed it to Leahs. His eyes never left Hyena. "You know you would make a fascination addition to my Beauties." Hyena responded with her eyes widening widely before they narrowed.

"Hyena is happily employed by my mother," Gregory said while counting the money. Once he made sure that each and every last bill was there he closed the envelope and clutched it close to his chest.

Trepkos nodded at his men who picked up the female gargoyles.

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Rayne’s head was swimming when she woke up body first. She felt that she was in something large that was moving. She felt something else as well. something that was cool, heavy, and tight. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open revealing a blurred world. She waited a few seconds for the image to clear before sat up, causing whatever she was wrapped in to clatter. After the dizzy spell dispersed from her head she looked down to see that she was wrapped in chains.

"Where am I?" She asked once she could force her heavy tongue to move in her dry mouth. A soft moan brought her attention to the pale form that was lying next to her. "Gloria?"

"Rrrrayne?" Gloria’s body lurched slightly before she sat up. "Jackal and Hyena shot the tranquilizer darts at us." Her eyelids fluttered before slowly opening. "Where are we?"

"I don’t know," Rayne blinked and gave her head a slight shake. "My head hurts and I’m thirsty."

"I have some bottled water," both gargoyles jumped at the male voice before they turned to see the man that was with them. Dressed in a light gray uniform that resembled something a maintenance man would wear he held a tranquilizer gun in his arms. The darkened room lit up when both females eyes went red. With a snarl Gloria leaped forward and landed on her stomach. The cold chain bit into the exposed area of her skin. While growling Rayne made her way slowly towards the man.

"I don’t think so," he aimed the gun at her. "I suggest you settle down or I will tranq you again." He reached behind him and pulled out a clear bottle of water. While still holding the gun in one hand he rolled the bottle towards her with the other. "You won’t be able to break free but at least you can opened the bottle with one hand and drink." The chains that wrapped around Rayne’s body kept her wings, an arm, and her tail bound to her body. Her legs were also were bound, but not as tight. She couldn’t fight but she could hold the bottle with her feet. She placed the bottle between her lower talons and as her large toes curled around the bottle she used her free hand to unscrew the cap.

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A small gray rat scurried around the ground next to a dumpster. It smelled the rotting remains of food within and climbed up the side. It smelled something else inside. Something that had the faint remains of the ground after it had rained on it’s aroma. Once the furry critter had made it inside it noticed the large red thing that was inside the bin. Staring at it the rat noticed that it’s middle slowly rose. With it’s fur raised the rat slowly backpedaled. it did not once removed his eyes from the strange creature. The red beast slowly stirred and rolled to it’s side before it moaned slightly.

"My head," Brooklyn mumbled as he slowly sat up. He opened his eyes and saw a rat staring at him. "Where the hell am I?" He asked while he rubbed the back of his head. The disgusting odor and the fact that he was sitting on a pile of garbage told him he was in a trash receptacle.

"Rayne!" his eyes widened with realization. "Gloria!" He sat up straighter and despite the protest his body gave he forced himself to stand up. "Oh God." He forced his hands to grip the metal bins and haul himself out. With his body still aching he shuffled towards the wall, dug in with his talons and climbed.

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He didn’t know how long he had been gliding but by the ache he felt in his tired wings he guessed it was by a few hours. Brooklyn had circled back to the bakery before he began his search gliding to where he last saw the women, and kept on gliding.

His heart skipped with joy when he saw two forms gliding towards him, his expression changed to disappointed when he saw that it was Hudson and Angela.

"Lad? Hudson asked when he first saw the beaked gargoyle. Both his and Angela’s eyes widened when they saw the horrifying condition the second in command was in.

"What happened?" Angela asked.

Brooklyn hovered and while he hung his head. "We got attacked by the Pack. Wolf got the best of me," his wings twitched slightly before he descended slightly at a fast speed. Hudson dove down and grabbed him. Angela lowered herself to their level and gave the brick red gargoyle some support while Hudson held him up on the other side. "They tranqued Rayne and Gloria. After I woke up in the dumpster I went to search for them."

"Well search for them tomorrow lad," Hudson said . "Dawn is less than an hour away." Brooklyn shook his head.

"I have to find them, I can’t rest until I know that they are safe."

"What are you going to do?" Angela asked while her eyes appeared to be serious. "Keep gliding until the sun rises and turn to stone mid air?"

"Something bad will happen to them or it already had," he took a breath. "Rayne also turns to stone. She will be defenseless."

"Gloria doesn’t turn to stone," Angela explained. "She will protect Rayne." She re adjusted her grip on Brooklyn’s arm as the three glided home. Brooklyn kept on mentioned about protecting the two females that were with him, but he was too tired and in too much pain to wrench himself away.

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Gloria did not know what was going to happen to them, but she did know that whoever arranged for them to get captured wanted them alive for some reason. The strange man who watched them and helped them with their water moved towards them when she felt that whatever they were traveling in stopped.

"Don’t try to struggle," He said as he pulled out a bandanna. "Or I will tranqu you again." The brunette gargoyle stared up at him as he approached her. Her eyes widened with shock when she realized that he was going to blindfold her. With patience she waited and watched as he approached her. She had waited for his large rough hands to grab her shoulder before she snarled and lashed out her free hand. Her talons tore through his shirt and sank into his flesh.

With his upper lip curled into a snarl the other man pulled away and jumped back. His hand that didn’t have the bandanna flew to his wounded side.

"You are not going to get away with that," He hissed. Gloria remained in her crouch. Gloria glanced over at Rayne. The other female kept her eyes on the man while her eyes lit up the room. After delivering a disgusted snort the man rushed for Gloria again. The female sat up. Her hand snapped out , ready to lash at the human. The man leaped onto her and pushed her down. She felt him pin her down by holding down her free arm. Wet drops fell onto her dress from the wound she gave him. She felt him slide back on her when she felt a sharp prick against her skin. Gloria’s eyelids snapped open.

"I told you," the man smirked before he spat on the ground. "I told you I was going to tranquilize you if you didn’t comply." Gloria stared at him while her vision blurred.

"Don’t hurt Rayne," she managed to whisper before everything went dark.

__________________________________________________________________________

She could feel thick carpet under her skin. Carpet that was so thick it felt more like fur. She also felt the same movement that she had felt before. Her eyelids fluttered open before she shut them again. Bright blinding light seeped in, nearly blinding her.

"Rayne," Gloria whispered as she reopened her eyes a crack.

"Right here," The other female said. "We are on some sort of luxury ship."

"Great," Gloria licked her lips as she sat up and gave her head a shake. Blinking her eyes she saw that they were not alone. Four girls, no women, no some of them were girls had approached but slowly backed up when she sat up and stared at them. They were in a large room with a thick wool like carpet, satin covered pillows and what appeared to be bean bag chairs. Five other young females were gathered in the corner of one of the rooms staring at her. All the women were of different cultures: black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and middle eastern. One thing they all had in common was that they wore nothing but panties and bras.

"What is going on?" Gloria asked as she looked down. She was stripped of her chains and clothing, only wearing her cotton undergarments. She turned to her side and saw that Rayne was also stripped but wore underwear that matched the rest of the girls in a deep blue shade.

"You have been bought by Trepkos," The dusky female voice cause the weregoyle to turn around. A tall, tanned ,and buff woman stared down at them with her arms crossed. Her mouse brown braided hair was so long that the bottom brushed against the back of her knees. She was as scantily clad as the others and in her hands she held on to what looked like a cattle prod.

"Who is Trepkos?" Gloria asked. She did not like these woman already.

"The great Trepkos who owns several businesses and this ship." She took a step forward. "He also owns you." The Amazon’s eyes widened when she saw Gloria’s eyes light up.

"Nobody owns me or Rayne." Gloria stood up. "People are not objects," her eyes wandered around until they found the door. "We are leaving." She folded her wings as she walked on by. the amazon blocked her path to the door.

"I suggest you just learn to obey."

"And I suggest you get out of my way." Gloria took a step forward when the human’s prod shot up till it was an inch under her chest. The orchid gargoyle could hear the electricity crackle.

"Gloria?" Rayne sounded worried.

"What is it?" Gloria’s tone had become friendly while her eyes wee still narrowed on the woman in front of her.

"If we did make it out of this room we still wouldn’t make it very far."

"You should listen to your friend," the tall brunet said. "She is smart."

"No," Gloria hung her head. "It’s almost dawwwwwgh" The shooting pain rippled through her body. Her large high arched feet shrank and flattened. Two twos on each foot felt like they had ripped in half. A similar pain burned in her hands when she felt her fourth talons split into two. Her wings and tail pressed into her back, pushing themselves into her skin. She was still lying on the ground when the transformation ended. Her body shone with sweat and her skin was still burning from the change.

The tall woman had nearly dropped her prod when she Gloria as a human. While still panting the chocolate haired woman sat up and stared at her.

"Does this happen all the time?"

"At dawn I change into a human and at dusk into a gargoyle. I am a weregoyle."

"And your..." her voice trailed off to where Rayne had decided to roost for the day. The other females in the room was gently touching her stone form.

"This one became a statue," one of the girls said.

"She’s a pure gargoyle," Gloria explained. "They are stone during the day and flesh at night."

"Guess she only works at night then," The tall woman’s eyes shifted from the stone gargoyle to the weregoyle. "She called you Gloria?"

"Gloria Shumaker."

"You don’t look Jewish. I would say more Italian."

"I am Italian-American, my husband is Jewish." At the word husband the other woman blinked and stepped back.

"Husband?"

"Uh-huh."

"You can’t be a courtesan then."

"Damn right!" Gloria folded her arms and stared into her eyes.

"You will be learning from Sasha then."

"Sasha?" She turned around to glance at the mixture of girls and women. A beautiful black woman with long hair and doe like eyes in a silver under wear set stepped forward.

"That would be me," the woman said with an accent that seemed to have come from the islands.

__________________________________________________________________________

Sasha had explained to Gloria that they were all Beauties, lovely women that were either courtesans or escorts. If a Beauty was married or the equivalent of they would be an escort.

"Escorts take care of the customers, they dine with them, watch a play, movie or play games together in the game room." Sasha explained. "We technically just date them, but we do not sleep with them." Gloria nodded slightly and wished Rayne and Lex were mated.

Sasha had lead her to the closet where she pulled out large trunks full of bright and colorful outfits, sparkling and beautiful jewelry and some make up compacts. while Gloria held up a golden gauzy camisole Sasha explained about being bought.

"We put on our outfits, jewelry and help each other with our hair and make up," Sasha said while she admired a pair of silver hoop earrings. "We then go to the room next door and go out on the market. That is where we do a model walk, dance and show off a few of our other talents."

"Like singing?" Gloria asked hopefully.

"Yes singing is one of them," Sasha smiled at her. "Can you sing?"

"I’ve been singing since I was three."

"After we our bought we do our escort duties then we are paid, but not directly. The money that we make add together with the money that is used to buy us is divided three ways. The first goes to Trepkos, the second to our release payment, and the third to our bank."

"Release payment?"

"How much we have to make before we are allowed to leave. The money in the bank is what we take home with us." She noticed Gloria’s saddened expression. "It’s good pay, much more than I’ll ever make as a sales clerk or a waitress." Gloria flinched.

"Why do you need money that badly?"

"My husband and I need it for our family members in Haiti," Sasha’s brown eyes lowered as she sighed. "I’m doing this so that they can come to America." Gloria nodded sadly and rested her hand on one of Sasha’s shoulders.

"I’m sorry."

"You don’t have to be."

"Rayne and I don’t want to be here," the weregoyle looked back over her shoulder at the stone form of Rayne. "We were ambushed and kidnapped." Sasha cringed slightly.

"I think one or two of the courtesans were similarly kidnapped, but it is possibly different in their countries."

"Well I’m from America and I was kidnapped."

"I don’t know if the police will ever find you. We are in international waters."

"I was kidnapped on American soil, I think the police may be searching for us as we speak." Okay maybe not Rayne, Gloria thought, but Xanatos and Matt could convince the force to try to find her.

"It will be an hour before breakfast," Sasha’s voice brought her back to where she was. "Why don’t you nap for an hour?" Gloria gave a small shrug and walked over to where a group of pastel colored pillows lie in a pile. Not sure if she would be getting any more sleep she curled up on the pile and rested her head.

___________________________________________________________________________

Margot Yale sat at the dining room table next to her nephew’s girlfriend. Jodi decided to spend that Saturday with Margot to learn about the blond woman’s occupation but the day was going by slowly. Jodi kept looking sleepy and kept to herself. Margot felt that perhaps some sushi would bring the girl out of her funk. She knew of a place near where she lived that delivered.

The sushi did help. Jodi explained about what a crappy weekend she was having. It had started Thursday night when she decided to give her blah brown hair some natraul looking red highlights. She accidentally left the dye in too long and the streaks came out looking like, well, streaks. Very red punkish clubbing streaks. Last night her friends decided to play a mean prank on her and dropped her off at the docks. She immediately called Brett to pick her up.

"They came back about half an hour later," Jodi said while holding a tuna roll. "I broke down and cried and then I bitched at them until Brett showed up. he yelled at him and took me home."

"That was an awful trick to play," Margot said while she took down a few notes. "Didn’t the realize you could have been raped?" Jodi gave a slight shrug before she dipped her sushi in the soy sauce wassabi mixture.

"They didn’t think. That place was creepy. I saw this guy in a suit, an expensive looking suit. I almost wanted to talk to him because of his suit, but then I remembered that mob bosses own suits and I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping with the fishes so I kept my distance."

"Smart move."

"I think he was a mob boss. When this moving van pulled up he had these two guys come out of the darkness. They were like these real beefed up guys. The kind that mob bosses use to beat up people they don’t like. Things got really weird."

"How weird?"

"I could of sworn I saw two members of The Pack and it looked like they were helping this one guy deliver two of those winged monsters to the mob guy." Margot paled slightly when she heard the part about the winged monsters. The two of them continued through their lunch. Once the last plate was put into the dishwasher Margot sent the girl home.

"We’ll do this again next Saturday," the DA said. "Right now I want you to go home, take a nap, or a bubble bath, or go shopping or something that will make you forget what happened recently." Once the girl had left Margot picked up the phone and dialed the number for Wyvern.

___________________________________________________________________________

Gloria picked at her dinner while she stared at the stone from of Rayne. The poor girl did not know what she was in for. She had survived her first "date." She and a tall lanky pasty faced man had lunch then played pool in the game room. She had already raked in a hundred dollars for her release plan and two hundred for her bank.

After her date she took a shower and prayed that she and the rest of the women would be rescued.

"Jerry I know you can’t hear me," she paused to listen to the warm water strike against her skin as she clutched her arms to her chest. "but I love you and I can’t wait to be in your arms again."

____________________________________________________________________________

The end of the docks were lined with police cars when Detective Morgan pulled up. He was still a lone wolf in the force. He had not received a new partner and may not admit it, but he felt lonely since he had been by himself in his assignments.

"I guess I’m here to relieve you," Morgan smiled as he approached Matt and Elisa. " So what clues have we dug up?"

"Well all we have found so far is the ship that took them," Elisa said as she went over her notes. "The captain mentioned being paid by bald headed man of Mediterranean heritage and were ordered to take them to a another ship in International waters."

"Anything noticeable about this man?"

"Well the case that held his checkbook was silver and had a indigo shooting star on top of it," she noticed Morgan’s widened eyes. "What is it?"

"Sounds like the logo of Integrity incorporation," Morgan blinked.

"I thought they went out of business a few years ago?" Thanks to Xanatos. She had asked him if he wanted to be the only Greco-American with a major corporation in Manhattan."

"Not just out of business. I hear a rumor that Augustus Trepkos was found dead in Sand Diego."

"Has that been confirmed?"

"I’m not sure," Morgan scratched his head. "Why don’t you and Bluestone call it a day. I’ll take over the situation from here." Elisa smiled as she thanked him before She and Matt left.

With a deep breath Morgan walked over to the cluster of uniformed cops and dock workers to begin his line of questioning.

___________________________________________________________________________

Gloria was still in a crouch after the transformation had ended. Her skin and muscles were stinging all over. The stinging became a light burning, and then a strange almost itching, and finally she felt nothing. She turned around to see one of the girls hand Rayne a white paper cup full of water while the orange gargoyle removed the las bits of stone from her hair.

"I hope you had a good rest," The tall amazon named Zulie said while another girl handed Rayne a large bowl full of rice and steamed vegetables. "You will be working all night."

"I’m not a slave," Rayne said before thanking the girl and digging into the bowl with her spoon.

"Of course you are not," Zulie smiled slightly. "You will be getting paid."

While Rayne ate her dinner Zulie explained what she would be doing. Gloria gripped the floor and shook slightly as she watched the changing expressions on Rayne’s face when the Floridian learned what she was going to be doing.

"No way," Rayne gasped after the half eaten bowl fell out of her hands. Her eyes narrowed while she shook her head from side to side. "I’m not a whore. I won’t do it." Zulie bent down on her knees and stared in the gargoyle’s face.

"My dear of course you will," Zulie sneered and reached out to grab Rayne’s cheek. "If you don’t work then you won’t eat." Rayne’s eyes became crimson.

"I don’t want to be here. I won’t do it."

"Like I said no work then no food."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Insolent beast!" Zulie held up her hand to smack the gargoyle. Before her hand could shoot forward another hand grabbed her by the wrist. The tall brunette turn to stare into Gloria’s glowing eyes.

"Don’t you hit her bitch," Gloria snarled. "You may be stronger than me during the day, but it is no longer daytime and you don’t have your cattle prod." Zulie’s expression changed from bewilderment, to anger and then took a smug approach.

"Ah but I do have my emergency button," the woman smirked. "I’m pressing it right now. Soon a group of guardsmen will race through the doors and if they see you attacking me they will fire more tranquilizer darts into your flesh. How would you like that?" Gloria said nothing and stepped back.

The amazon was true to her word. It was only a minute after Gloria backed down when a four large men and one tough looking woman entered the room holding stun guns and tranquilizer guns.

"Don’t worry," Zulie said smugly. "I was just teaching the beasts how to behave."

Rayne didn’t like being called a beast anymore than being called a monster. The insult was harsh but she had feeling that such words were more painful to Gloria and the other weregoyles.

The pixie like gargoyle managed to force the rest of her food down, despite loosing her appetite. She hoped she could think of an escape plan, not just for her and Gloria but the other women and the girls. The youngest looked like she couldn’t have been a day over fourteen. She was sure they could all overpower Zulie, but what about the guards? Perhaps if they got to the tall human before she pressed the signal button. Then one of the others could wield her prod while she and Gloria fought the guards with and avoided their weapons. After the first group then the others would get the weapons of the guards.

Once her meal was eaten she was led to the back of the room where the closets and trunks where kept.

"You will be one of the last to dance for the customers," Sasha explained. Gloria had told her about Sasha and the reason why the black woman agreed to being an escort. Rayne was glad that Gloria didn’t have to have sex with strange men. "Hopefully everyone would have already made their selection and you won’t have to work."

"Do you think it would be possible to overpower that tall human bitch?" Rayne whispered. Sasha sighed and held out her arms. Rayne could see circular burn marks and a few scars.

"I have tried before, but not for me." She turned her head to stare at the youngest females in the room. Rayne nodded sadly before digging through one of the trunks. It would be nice to wear something over her new undergarments and she felt a touch of nostalgia back to the days when she was a hatchling and she played dress up with Delphi and Lana.

She pulled out a sky blue cutoff top and a matching skirt. With her talons she made a few slits for her wings and a slit in the back of her skirt for her tail before she slipped them on. The top covered her chest and the skirt ended in the middle of her thighs. The next thing she pulled out was a shiny silvery blue belt that had strange attachment clips at both ends.

"Let me help you with that," Sasha said and took the belt. She clipped one end on top of the skirt and the top end at the bottom of her top.

"Thanks," Rayne said while staring down at the shiny material as it stood out against her abdomen.

She dug around more in the box hopefully trying to take her time while she tried to create a plan, or if Lexington and the others.

"Hurry up!" Zulie snapped from behind. "We still have to do all of your make-up." Rayne gritted her teeth as she shoved something to the side and something else caught her eye. They were a silver cloth like straps with sparkling blue rhinestones. They were almost triangular in shape with a scrunchy like large ring at the wide part and smaller ring near the point. She knew what to do with them. She stretched the large ring till it was big enough for her foot to slip through and pulled up to her ankle. The strap part rested against the top of her foot with the smaller ring fitting over her middle toe talons.

After she placed the other foot strap on she was lead the part of the room where the vanity mirrors rested against the walls. The women and girls opened up the drawers and pulled out jewelry boxes, make up kits, brushes and hair accessories. Both Rayne and Gloria were handed their own hair brushes, combs, barrettes clips, and make up compacts.

Rayne sprayed on a little water with a purple plastic spritzer before she gently brushed her wavy white mane with her new brush. She worked in a tiny dab of hair gel before she clipped on a light blue sparkling comb. She placed two silver hoop earrings in her ears before laying on a necklace that resembled mardis gras beads, except for the bead part were almost as big as gum balls. Five thin sliver bracelets went on her right arm while a large cuff bracelet with swirled designs went onto her left.

__________________________________________________________________________

Gloria sighed as she waited near the back of the line that lead into the dancing room. She had already done the dance before that day. she also wore a completely different outfit. The black tube top did not hug her skin or compress her breasts. It felt comfortable and the dangle fringe on the bottom did not tickle. Her golden skirt was almost glittery. She did not wear any kind of decoration on her feet except for an ankle bracelet. She alsowore gauzy Arabian night style arm covers.

Breathing deeply Gloria watched as the line moved. She was the second to last in line with Sasha behind her. The courtesans were first and then the escorts. The married weregoyle coursed her talons, hoping that Rayne would not be bought that night. She breathed deeply again when she saw Rayne enter the dance room She couldn’t see what was going on inside. She wished that she could. Rayne was the last in line of the courtesans. She felt the sweat form on her brow ridge while she chewed on her lower lip. Minutes passed and she was about to go in. When the young escort (what as her name Tiffy, Ginger?) before her entered the dance all Gloria kept her eyes all over for Rayne. There was only one woman standing in the area of those who did not get bought yet. She was human.

"No," Gloria gasped. "Not Rayne." She felt Sasha place a hand on her back in a comforting manner.

___________________________________________________________________________

Rayne was trembling all over as she followed the man into one of the private rooms. Her legs were shaking so hard she nearly fell over and landed on her face.

"Why are you shaking like that?" The man asked. He was a young man in his early twenties with near gaunt chiseled fathers and sea green eyes. "Are you cold?"

"Gargoyles don’t get cold," Rayne said. "Not unless the element of water had been added to the mix." The man blinked and stared down at her.

"Then why are you shaking? If it’s what we are going to do, don’t worry. I’m not into strange freaky painful stuff." Rayne’s trembling dwindled slightly. "Okay this the room." He used a plastic card shape key to unlock the door before he gave the gargoyle a light shove from behind.

Once inside the man locked the door and walked over to the alarm clock/radio on the night stand and turned it on, flicking through the stations till he found a nice dance ballad. He sat down on the bed while Rayne stared at the room around her. It reminded her the hotel room the Xanatos’s stayed at in Florida.

"I want you to dance like you did before," the man instructed. "but I want to see you slowly take of your clothing." Rayne nodded while tried not to choke on the lump that got caught in her throat. She could easily tear the man a new one, but what would that accomplish. She would be racing through the halls trying to find a way out of the ship. The guards would be on her like flies on garbage. Even if she did manage to find a window to crawl out of how would that help Gloria? She couldn’t possibly glide and swim all the way back to New York.

Her body slowly swayed too the music while trying to find a way out of the mess she was currently in. She gave her hips a light shake while her tail flicked from side to side. While still moving to the music she bent down to remove the sparkling straps from he feet. Maybe if she bumped her head and pretend to pass out? No that would only be temporary. The straps wee followed by the vertical belt. Her dancing became slower as she peeled of her top and skirt, leaving only her undergarments.

"Keep going," the man said. Rayne closed her eyes while she curled her fingers underneath the bottom of her bra and slowly peeled up. She felt the tears being to form once the undergarment was over head. She slowly shook her hips before she tossed the bra onto the floor and grabbed her underwear. She couldn’t move.

"Don’t stop." Rayne’s dancing turned to shaking as she slowly pulled her panties down . Tears, big round drops slowly rolled down her cheeks. By the time the panties touched the ground Rayne was shaking with sobs.

"What’s wrong?" The man stood up from where he sat. "You act like you haven’t done this before." He kept starring while Rayne crumpled onto the floor and kept on crying. "You haven’t done this before."

"No," Rayne shook her head.

"I’m your very first customer?"

"Yes." She looked up when she felt his presence next to her. He was holding her clothes.

"I wasn’t going to force you into sex," he said with a slight smile. "I just wanted to what a naked gargoyle looked like. I don’t know why you are working here."

"I got tranquilized in New York and brought here."

"Jesus," the man slowly sat down next to her. "I was just with my friends celebrating my twenty first. I didn’t know that you were all kidnapped." Rayne told him that not all the Beauties were kidnapped, some were trying to create a better life for themselves, but she was sure there were others who didn’t want to be on the ship.

While she got dressed he told her that once he and his friends left the ship they were going to contact someone.

___________________________________________________________________________

The two boats that were operated by the coast guard were followed by a smaller private owned boat.

Fox Xanatos stood at the wheel. Her husband stood right next to her and she operated the ship.

"Do we know how far they might be out?" David asked. Fox’s shoulders gave a slight shrug.

"Not too sure," Fox replied. "Detective Morgan mentioned that it was about three hours out from the city’s shores." She gave him a small glance. "How are the boys doing?" Xanatos knew that Goliath would insist on coming along with both Jerry and Lex, but the clan leader told them to wait behind and asked both Brooklyn and Hudson to come along instead.

"They are perfectly fine back there."

"Mr. Xanatos," Morgan’s voice crackled over the intercom. Both Coast guard ships had members of the 23rd precinct with them. David pressed a button under the speaker.

"Xanatos here."

"We just got a call from a group of frat boys," Morgan said. "They claimed that they had just gotten off a brothel ship that had women who were kidnapped and brought over there."

"What does the ship look like?"

"Like one of those Carnival cruise ships, but it has the trademark of Trepkos. A silver ship with a indigo shooting star."

"And they said that I had an ego," David smirked slightly and shook his head. "How much further?"

"Nearly an hour."

___________________________________________________________________________

Rayne closed her eyes as she gripped the thinly carpeted ground. She was as naked again and her limbs trembled slightly. She was paid for her dance earlier and it was nearly doubled because the man who watched undress felt sympathy.

This new customer wasn’t. His fingers dug through her hair causing his fingernails and knuckles to graze her skull.

"You heard me," The large man that held her hair said. His voice was deeper than Goliath’s an gruff as a piece of unsanded wood. "Suck it!" She slowly opened her eyes to peer at his exposed organ. It was fully erect, but not big, not in a gargoyle sense. She had a feeling it was only average in size on the human scale as well. It wasn’t very thick either.

While still trembling she sat down into a crouch and placed his erection into her mouth slowly. It was one of the saltiest things she ever tasted.

"All the way!" The man barked. Rayne slid it till it touched the back of her mouth and stopped before she made her mouth slowly suck. "I said all the way." He thrusted his hips forward and down her throat forcing the orange gargoyle to gag.

"Stop that," he said. "You are acting like you had never done this before." Rayne slowly pulled his weapon out of her mouth before she coughed twice and stared up at him.

"I haven’t," she spat. He pulled her hair harder.

"You think I’m stupid?" he glared at her. "Your kind probably does this all the time." His glare turned to a grin when he saw Rayne’s glowing red eyes. "Yeah baby, I like that. Keep them lighted up for me." Rayne blinked a few times. Before letting the glow drop. She was still for a full second before she lashed out and clawed the man in the knee. She did not strike flesh or blood but instead plastic and a Nerf like foam.

"They told me one of you beasts would try something like that. They gave me the padding and other guards as well."

"So how do you plan to have sex?" her tail flicked from left to right.

"If I want to have sex I just have to tie you down, but until then..." he held out his male appendage. "Suck, and don’t try to claw that, besides there is security taping us." Rayne felt sick. She now knew what Demona must have felt when she found out she was being taped while having sex.

"No," she said it smoothly and slowly. She was about to stand up when he grabbed her by the hair again and pulled her down.

"I want you to suck my cock bitch," he forced it back into her mouth. Despite her checking and gag he pushed until her mouth . Tears steamed down her cheeks as she gagged. "Suck harder." She tried to suck but she couldn’t. She reached up for his hanging sack and gave it a light pinch with her talons. The shock and pain caused him to release her snow hair. Rayne pushed back and went sprawling on the carpet while panting for air.

"You stupid bitch!" he hollered at her. "I better not be bleeding." He said while he pulled he glanced. "Good." He reached for his pants. "but I want my money back." She glared at him while still trying to catch her breath. He want’s his money back, good. They can all have their money back if it means she e would never have to whore herself out again.

__________________________________________________________________________

Rayne was met with a slap across the face when she was returned to the room the other Beauties were kept by Zulie.

"We rarely have to return money back to the customers," Zulie frowned down at her. "but when we do that girl doesn’t get to eat until the following night." Rayne bent down into a crouch and prepared to pounce on the tall woman. "Nuh uh uh" She aimed the electicfied end of the cattle prod at the gargoyle. "You are going to just have to wait until you wake from your stone slumber to eat."

"I’m not a whore," Rayne stared at her intently. "I will never give up my body for money."

"Then it looks like you will never eat." Zulie quickly spun around to stared at the face of Gloria.

"I will share my food with her," the orchid weregoyle said.

"Then you won’t eat."

"I will divide my meal three ways," Sasha spoke up while staring into Zulies eyes. "and share with them." Zulies looked around the woman to see the other Beauties either nod or also offer their food. The brunette clapped her hands high over her head.

"Listen up folks!" Her mouth twisted up into a cruel smirk. "Until this beast puts out you all shall starve. Her hips had a cocky swagger as she waltzed through the room. Something unseen caused her to stumble and fall flat on her stomach. Sitting back up she turned her head o notice what had tripped her, a bright orange tail lying limp on the ground.

"Who died and made you beauty queen?" Rayne asked, unblinking.

"Not wise beast," Zulie snarled. Her fingers were still wrapped around the prod. while gripping the long metal when she stood up. Recharging the weapon she raised it high and would have brought it down but a pair of orchid talons grabbed on the other end and pulled. Seeing at how Zulie was caught in a tug of war with Gloria, Rayne pulled herself into a nether crouch and launched her self at Zulie’s middle, knocking her to the ground and releasing her grip of the cattle prod while Gloria pulled back and accidentally sent it flying through the air.

Once on the ground Gloria grabbed onto Zulie’s wrists. Holding her down.

"You stupid bitches," Zulie spat. "They are coming. I have already contacted them, so even if you’d manage to beat the shit out of me you will still have to deal with them." Gloria looked up at Rayne who was holding her down by the ankles.

"Rayne do you want to slap her, or shall I?" Zulie smirked again when she thought of the perfect comeback. The words danced on the edge of her tongue ready to leap out, but she paused when she notice Sasha walking over to the them holding onto her cattle prod.

"Sasha help me," Zulie said. "Give me my prod."

"I’ll give it you all right," Sasha said as she took the electrified end to Zulie’s shin. The tall woman nearly jumped out the gargoyle’s talons.

"What?" Zulie blinked. "What are you doing?" She forced herself to grit her teeth when she felt the second shock surge through her body.

"Correcting my mistakes," Sasha said before taking the prod to her abdomen. "One by one you took your toy to us, slapped us, and denied us food, even us escorts. We had our spirits broken to the point that we didn’t think once that we could all gang up on you, but" she zapped her in another place. "No more. I’m not going to take your abuse no more!" Zulie turned her face away to see a few of the other Beauties approach her with their hands balled up into fists. Gloria let go to allow these women to take their vegenece upon their tormentor.

The two gargoyles slowly backed up and took their places on each side of the doors. They both positioned themselves on the ground in a crouch. Gloria gripped the carpet and lashed her tail against the ground. They didn’t have to wait long. Five guards exploded through the doors and seeing the attack on Zulie aimed their guns at Beauties. With a snarl Gloria reached out and picked up one of the guards from behind and threw him across the room while Rayne had double success that night with her tail. The gun the man she tripped was holding slid across. A third shot a dart at Gloria only to have it intercepted by a large thick pillow that one of the girls threw. Both weregoyle and gargoyle were wrestling with the fourth and fifth guardsmen. The one who shot the dart took aim for Gloria again. The burning shock he felt in his back caused him to turn around to see Sasha with the cattle prod in her hands. The black woman swung the prod until it came in contact with his rifle, causing it to fly out of his hands. He tried to reach for his stun gun when she brought down the charged end of her prod against his shoulder, spun it around and struck him hard on top of the head. She braced herself before she delivered a few kicks. The last strike was in his face with her fist, knocking him out.

Sasha stepped back to see the floor littered with unconscious bodies, and discarded weapons.

"There will be more coming," she said somberly. "I suggest everyone grab a weapon and run." The Beauties raced around either grabbing a stun gun or a tranquilizer rifle.

"Better take some of those large cushions as well," Gloria said as she picked up the pillow that shielded her from the tranquilizer. She pulled out the dart.

____________________________________________________________________________

They had only ran though the hall a few yards when a group of seven guards including the female that had appeared before emerged from around corner. Immediately the Beauties that had dart guns fired sending several tranqs ahead. Some missed but a few hit their targets. One girl had grabbed a bowl that contained fancy soaps with her and threw it at the guards Frisbee style and it struck one of them on the side of the head. The bowl smashed into several pieces upon impact.

As if by reflex Gloria snapped up arms while clutching onto the large pillow that had shielded her before and felt the impact of something striking it. Her eyes shifted to both her sides to see that others had protected their skin from the sharp tip of the tranquilizer darts by using the cushions they grabbed. Both Beauties and guards fired the guns at the same time sending showers of darts. The women avoided their aim by dodging and trying to protect themselves with their pillows. The guards avoided much of the ammo that came at them by dodging and by luck since the women were not as good of an aim as they were. Only one was struck and he was the one who had the bowl smashed against his head.

Those with rifles were reloading, the same went for the guards. Gloria, Rayne, Sasha and two others with stun guns raced forward. Gloria nearly jumped back when she felt a surge of energy from a stun gun, but she retaliated and lashed her tail forward wrapping around his wrist and squeezing until he dropped the gun. The orchid weregoyle dug her talons into his shoulder and hauled him up. While his feet kept on pedaling air she threw him against the wall, knocking him out.

___________________________________________________________________________

They kept on continuing throw the maze of the interior of the cruise ship. They have come across more guards but only in groups of twos or threes.

"What are we looking for exactly?" Rayne asked. Her muscles were slightly sore.

" Life boat," Gloria answered. "We will find one, cut it loose, board it and sail to the closest part of land."

"After we get to the main office," Sasha spoke up and rested against the prod. The blood on her right nostril was starting to harden into a crust and where she was struck by the stun gun was swollen. "I intend to get the money that I have earned.

"No," Gloria shook her head. "It’s too dangerous, besides they won’t pay you if you try to escape."

"Then I’m staying, for you and the rest that want to escape I shall help you, but I have to stay here and finish my job."

"It’s not worth it. There are other places where you can make money."

"They don’t pay enough." Gloria looked deep into her amber eyes and saw the determination that ignited them.

"The Xanatos family," Rayne said. "Xanatos could hire you."

"You know the Xanatos family?" Sasha asked.

"We live at his castle," Gloria smiled.

____________________________________________________________________________

Gloria had lost count of how many guards they came across, but she was glad that none of them had real guns, or if they had decided not to use them on the Beauties. Some did have knives and despite the gash she received in her shoulder they had kept moving.

By the time they had made it to the stairs that led to the deck they were all dirty and wounded. Many of them had bruises and burn marks from stun guns. Three of the Beauties did feel the prick of the tranquilizer darts shot by the enemy and had to have been carried by Sasha, Gloria and another woman. Rayne and another girl were limping.

They raced up the stairs and out through another door. The cool night air greeted the Beauties as they exited the door and ran on the deck. With their keen night vision both Gloria and Rayne spotted the nearest lifeboat.

The flashing light caused them to stop.

"Everyone on deck with your hands in the air," a male voice boomed through the microphone. "This is the coast guard and the NYPD. Release the women and come up with your hands in the air. One girl slowly walked to the ending with her hands held high.

"We are free," She shouted.

"Don’t move another step," the man with the megaphone called out. "We are about to board. Throw down all your weapons and keep your arms in the air."

It wasn’t long before the deck was swarming with cops and brothel employees with their hands in cuffs. Upon seeing Xanatos, Goliath and company both gargoyles raced up and tackled their friends with a deep embrace.

"We have a problem," Morgan walked up to Xanatos. "Trepkos isn’t on this ship anywhere." He held out his arms. "Hopefully my part-" he shook his head. "Remfeld and his partner will have caught the bastard back home."

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Trepkos stared at the lighter in has hand before he peered down at his shabby office building from the building across. Police cars surrounded the building and many of his employees were hauled away by officers.

"I would like to have my own logo away," the man that looked like Trepkos said before he melted into a clay like substance and shifted his appearance to a thin being with smooth white hair, pointed ears, and large and sinister looking eyes. "but that makes it easier for my enemies to find me." He tossed the lighter to the side. "Do like his choice of cigars though. You were fun to play Mr. Trepkos, even more fun to kill, but I gotta be my own person."

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"Gloria," Jerry barely breathed the words when he saw his wife. The orchid weregoyle raced into his arms. "I couldn’t rest until I knew you were safe." She stared at his face. His eyes were bloodshot so bad that they resembled road maps, and their were darkened bags hanging under his eyes. He reminded her of how Matt was when Demona was missing

"I want you to go to bed now," Gloria ordered. "I’m home, I’ll join you soon after I bathe and change clothes." Jerry didn’t argue. She stifled a yawn before she turned to see David Xanatos speaking with Sasha about a job offer. The rest of the women were in a safe house. Some will be with INS in the morning.

"Gloria?" She turned to see Brooklyn talking with her. "I already apologized to Rayne, now I have to tell you I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you better from the Pack."

"It’s okay," Gloria placed a hand on her shoulder. "You tried you best."

"Okay nothing," he lowered his head. "I was supposed to have kept you safe I’m the-"

"Man of the group?" Gloria cut him off and gave him a quizzical look. "I know you were originally from the dark ages, but you are in the twentieth century. Women can fight for themselves. Talk to Morgan and Xanatos. Many of those guards were sorry they tried to take on us."

"I was going to say second in command," Brooklyn glanced up effort staring at the floor again. Gloria’s expression shifted to embarrassment before she placed her hand on his shoulder.

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Lexington breathed deeply when he approached Rayne. He hoped she would want to talk. Ever since she returned she seemed distance and kept to herself.

"Rayne, I’m sorry with what you went through-"

"Save it," the orange female said. "I want to be alone for a while, but I made a decision already."

"About?" Lex arched a brow ridge.

"About where on staying or leaving. I want to go back home." A teardrop rolled down her cheek.

"to Florida?" Rayne nodded.

"But-"

"I want to go home." She collapsed to her knees and wept. "I don’t want to stay in this city any more."

The web winged gargoyle stared at the floor before he bolted out of the room. Wit his eyes still half closed and his heart broken up he entered the tech room. Lexington folded his arms across his chest and crumpled to he ground. The last thing he looked at before squeezing back the tears was the bracelet he had made.