Chapter Seven

As weak as he was, the king forced his way up upon his feet. His body was trembling as he was barely able to hold up his sword.

"You're weak old man." Laughed the gargoyle king. "If you have any sense, you will fall upon your own sword. Because if your death is to be by my hand, it shall be slow and painful."

"No, please!" Cried the princess. "I know he wronged you, and I know he doesn't deserve your mercy! But if you spare him, I will be yours!"

Once again, the gargoyle king began to laugh. "You are already mine! I can smell it on you! You are carrying my child, my son!" He then turned his attention back towards the frail king. "That's right your majesty, your daughter is carrying my son. That means he'll be a gargoyle, like his father!"

"That abomination will never sit on my thrown!" Cried the king.

"Father?" The princess cried out in horror. All of a sudden the king turned around, faced his daughter and lifted his sword.

"I'm sorry my daughter." Said the king. "But this is for the best, I cannot allow that unholy demon to grow inside of you."

"Father no!" She cried in terror as he was about to end her life. But before he could, the gargoyle king grabbed his wrist. He was able to stop the king from destroying his intended victim. He then turned the king around, and broke the arm that he was grasping. The king cried out in pain, as he dropped the sword.

"You think I want your worthless throne!" Exclaimed the gargoyle king. "I shall become a ruler of my own kingdom, an empire more powerful than you can even comprehend! You claim to love your daughter! Yet you were willing to kill her for being pregnant, with a gargoyle! A species that you had unsuccessfully tried to force into extinction! So which of us is the real monster? You shall not destroy the woman I love, or our unborn son. No your majesty, your time has come to an end. And the time of the gargoyles is about to begin. The first of which, shall be your own grandson!"

Cali looked out the window as the plane was taking off, she couldn't believe how much her life had changed in less than forty eight hours. How could her uncle have gotten mixed up with these people? But then it dawned on her, this was all her fault. That's how he was able to pay for everything. The therapists, the tutors, a place for them to live, and even her college. It was all mafia money that he had borrowed. A warm tear soon escaped her.

"Are you okay?" Asked Rosalina who had a sweet smile. Cali almost didn't know how to respond. On the one hand, Rosalina seemed like a nice person, someone Cali would really like. Plus she seemed to have the confidence that Cali always wanted. But on the other hand, she feared her. What if she said the wrong thing, and Rosalina would report it right back to Gabriel?

"Um, I'm fine." Cali replied while giving her a shy smile. "I guess, I guess I'm just overwhelmed. That's all."

Rosalina sighed. "Look, my brother told me how you two met. And I'm not going to pretend that I'm okay with it. But there really isn't anything I can do about it. The truth is, our family has enemies. And in the underworld, information moves faster than the internet. They probably know about you by now. He couldn't let you go, even if he wanted to. And believe me, he doesn't want to."

"Wonderful." Cali replied with a sarcastic sigh.

"But you have to understand." Rosalina continued. "Neither my brother, nor I, ever wanted this life. He even left home as soon as he graduated from college. He worked for years as an architect."

"I know." Replied Cali. "He, he, told me why he got involved in your family's business."

"Oh don't be shy honey, you can say it." Said Rosalina. "He's head of the mafia."

"I’m scared." Cried Cali, tears just began welling up in her eyes.

"I know." Said Rosalina. "And I don't blame you. But he wasn't always the monster that he was forced to become. To me he will always be Gabe Edwards."

"Who?" Cali asked feeling confused.

"He didn't want anyone to know who he was, when he was living in Paris." Rosalina explained. "He didn't want special treatment, and he didn't want warring families targeting him. So he came up with the pseudonym, Gabe Edwards. And to me, he will always be my Gabe."

"I get Gabe." Replied Cali. "But why Edwards?"

"His middle name is Edoardo." Rosalina said with a quick smile. "Edoardo is the Italian equivalent of Edward."

"I don't know my middle name." Said Cali. "I don't remember it. I saw a man shoot my parents when I was six. And I was moved around from foster home, to foster home. I just got lost in the system, I guess. I didn't know I even had family, until my Uncle Sal showed up eight years later. But he didn't know my middle name either."

"Oh my god." Replied Rosalina with sympathy in her eyes. "I'm so sorry that all happened to you."

"You know, when I was little." Cali began. "I used to watch that cartoon, Gargoyles. When my life was bad. I used to pray that one would come, and rescue me. But they never did. However, like a guardian angel, my uncle Sal was the one who came to rescue me. So when I saw your brother pointing his gun at my uncle. It reminded me of the night that man killed my parents. I just couldn't let your brother kill him. I had to save him, even if it meant I had to die. That's why I agreed to be your brother's, I couldn't let my guardian angel die!"

As Cali continued to cry, Rosalina sighed and shook her head. "Well my brother sure knows how to make a first impression."

"But do you want to know what's pathetic." Said Cali as she began to wipe her tears. "I still pray for a gargoyle to come rescue me, whenever I'm in trouble. I just can't shake the feeling that if I pray hard enough, one of these days, one will actually come. Does that sound crazy?"

"No." Said Rosalina. "The thing about prayers, is that God always answers them. He just doesn't always answer them in a way you're expecting. For example, I always used to pray for a sister. And now I have one." She then looked at Cali and smiled.

"That's sweet of you to say." Cali said returning her smile. "But I can't help but think that you're just saying that to be nice."

"Maybe." Replied Rosalina. "But I need a friend just as much as you do."

"Please." Cali chuckled. "Someone with your confidence has to have lots of friends."

"Not really." Explained Rosalina. "Most people are too afraid to hang out with you when you're part of the Esposito family. And the few girls that said they wanted to be my friends, just wanted to sleep with my brother. The ones he actually slept with, as well as the one's he rejected, didn't seem to have much use for me after that. Actually Gabe is the only friend I've got."

"Well, being shifted from foster home to foster home, really didn't give me a chance to make a lot of friends either." Said Cali. "And my foster siblings wanted just as little to do with me as their parents did, so I didn't even have that. But if I had gotten attached to them, it probably would have hurt more whenever I was placed somewhere else."

"Well then, as I said" Rosalina responded. "God answered both of our prayers."

"No offense." Said Cali. "But how does that answer my prayer about being rescued by a gargoyle?"

"Well." Replied Rosalina. "Just that you don't always get what you wanted, but you might get what you need. And as you look back on it. You will see how things fell into place. I do hope that you want to be friends."

Cali couldn't help but smile. "I'd like that very much."

"Look, my brother can be a dangerous man." Said Rosalina. "I wouldn't test him too much. But that being said, I haven't seen him look at any other woman the way he looks at you. In the end, you are the one with all of the power. I know you're worried about your uncle, but my brother is not a stupid man. He's not going to play his trump card unless he would think it is absolutely necessary. And I know he would never want to hurt you. Our father used to beat our mother into submission, and that disgusted Gabe. He's one of the few mafia leaders who would never hurt a woman."

"Oh my god!" Cried Cali. "Your father beat your mother?"

"My father was married once before." Rosalina explained. "He was head over heels in love with his first wife. But she died during childbirth, and the baby was stillborn. Not long after that, he saw a young girl in downtown Palermo. She resembled his first wife so much, he just had to have her. In his grief, he just grabbed her right off the street. She didn't have a choice. Her own parents gladly took the five million lira that, my father offered them. That's how she became his wife, and our mother. But she was just a poor substitute for the real thing. My father grew to hate her for just being a reminder, that his first wife was gone. Believe me, he never looked at my mother, the way Gabe looks at you. I swear, Gabe will never raise a hand to you."

"I don't know what to believe anymore." Replied Cali.

With that, Rosalina gave her a supportive embrace. "It's going to be okay, I promise. My brother would know better than to hurt you. My wrath is far worse than his. No matter what, you have me."

At this point they were both teary eyed. Victor made his way over, and interrupted them.

"Excuse me ladies." he said. "But the captain wanted me to inform you to buckle up. we'll be landing soon."

"Thank you." Said Rosalina, as they broke their embrace. She then made her way back to her seat, and both women smiled at one another as they buckled their seatbelts.

Rosalina then pulled out a hand full of credit cards, and fanned them as if she were holding a winning poker hand. She then showed them to Cali, as she shot her a wicked smile.

"Oh brother dear." Rosalina proclaimed. "This is going to hurt you, a lot more than it's going to hurt us."

Cali returned her smile, as she couldn't help but admire her future sister in law.

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