“Gel!” Carnage said delightedly as he waved at her with a wide, happy smile on his face that made his eyes crinkle up.
“Mr. Carnage!” she said, laughing as she waved back at him.
“Deemah!” Carnage yelled, pointing at a male dressed in pants and a long sleeve shirt. He had a lot of long hair and was talking with her father as the woman he was with was speaking animatedly with Kamilah.
“Oodin,” Carnage yelled, pointing at another male who stood beside Brannaugh.
“Hello, Dima! Hello, Odin! I’m Angelle,” she called from the top of the stairs.
Dima raised his hand in greeting and smiled at her. “I’m happy to finally meet you.”
“And you!” Angelle said.
Odin looked quickly up toward her, forced a smile then looked quickly away.
The woman standing with Odin, said something to him and he visibly sighed then looked up again. “Thank you for hosting us,” he said, forcing a smile that lasted longer than a split second. “We are pleased to meet you.”
Angelle recognized the social anxiety from where she stood above them all and giggled a little. “I’m glad you’re all here. We have drinks up here and if you’d like you’re more than welcome to come up and join us up here.”
“Thank you! I think I will,” Odin’s woman said. She pulled her hand free of Odin’s and came right up the steps. “Thank you, so much. I’m parched!”
“You’re welcome. Please make yourself at home. I’m Angelle, Boon’s mate.”
“And I’m Simone, Odin’s mate. Don’t mind him. He’s just not good with people. He expects them to run and hide when he enters a room.”
“That’s terrible!” Angelle said. “But honestly, that’s what I’d like to do anytime I meet anyone new. It has nothing to do with them, and everything to do with me.”
“Social anxiety?” Simone asked.
“Exactly.”
“And here you’re hosting a party at your home!” Simone said.
“Get together. Not a party; a get together,” Angelle said.
Simone laughed. “Makes a difference, huh?”
Angelle laughed. “I’m trying to convince myself that it does. But I’m honestly really glad you’re all here. I feel like I’m making friends and I’m happy about that. It’s just out of character for me. I spent all my time alone until Boon found me. I was even quiet and a backdrop to my own cousins and all their get togethers. But I think I’m beginning to like the change.”
“This is the best place for anyone that values their privacy to be. We all do as well, but we also know what it feels like to be ostracized by people in general so most of us wouldn’t do that to another.”
“I can understand that,” Angelle said. “If you don’t mind me asking, why were you ostracized? You’re beautiful, and obviously very personable.”
Simone smiled. “I was raised by a family of Gargoyles. I was brought up in caves and deserted buildings because my family, five Gargoyles, had to remain hidden. There’s a lot more to itthan that, but that’s the gist of it. Then when I met Odin, he stayed even more hidden than I did. He spent centuries hiding from his own kind before he met a little girl that promised him friendship. He was still a child as well at that point, but she later developed a fear of him and it broke his heart. He still finds it hard to trust. But I am grateful believe it or not for all the troubles we’ve both endured, otherwise we wouldn’t have met.”
“Really?” Angelle asked, surprised that she would be thankful for the troubles they’d all endured.
“Oh, yes. I’m descended from that little girl. She was my great grandmother, though I never knew her. Odin decided to find her to see how her life turned out and ask why she turned her back on him, and in carrying out her dying wish, he found me.”
“That’s fascinating. It just proves everything happens for a reason. Even hardships.”
“It does. And things weren’t always easy, but I don’t consider my family a hardship. They loved me and sheltered and protected me when no one else did — not even my own blood. I love them. In fact, Odin takes me to visit them often.”
“Are they in Whispers as well?”
“No, they’re in Paris. Lily helped them find a compound and secured it for them so they could live in peace, which is a welcome change after having to stay hidden for literally ages.”
Angelle stood where she was on the porch, trying to line up all Simone had told her with a time line that would make sense. She looked down at Odin, who despite his bluish tinged skin and his whitish, almost colorless hair, appeared to be young enough to be with Simone, yet Simone just explained that he’d known her great grandmother.
