Page 27 of Bound to the Griffin
I caught her face in my hands and kissed her like a drowning man. “Gwen, I think I’m head over heels in love with you.” I didn’t just think it, I knew it. She was everything I’d never thought to hope for: light, fierce, funny, and so very sweet.
She smiled against my lips, steady and sure. “I’ve felt the same for a while now.” She said it like it was simple, easy to express that. I couldn’t resist lowering my head to kiss her, to draw her into my arms. She was still naked while I was dressed, and I loved how comfortable she was, clinging to me, eyes wide and full of that warmth, that love we’d both confessed to. My mate, the griffin side of me preened, smug and very eager to finish building a nest for her. It wanted to stay here, in the shelter of my home, my territory, where she was safe and protected.
It damn near broke me to say the rest. “The burglar. He’s gone missing again.” That was the opposite of safe, and it was wrong, like I’d failed her. Her breath hitched, then the flood of emotions came: shock, fear, anger, all in a rush. I started to apologize, to tell her about the young wolf who had been guarding the bastard throughout the storm all night, but she cut me off with a hand to my chest.
“It’s not your fault. Don’t you dare carry it like it is.” Her eyes shone in the dim firelight, fierce. Then, softer: “Someone was out in that storm, that horrible storm. It’s no wonder he managed to slip out in all that. I hope she’s safe.” The warmth that stirred in me had nothing to do with the fire. Even with danger pressing in, she thought of others first. Of young Elly,lying in the snow, eyes watching the derelict cabin while her paws froze stiff.
By the time we stepped into the open air, the storm had left the world hushed and white. Main Street was a buried spine of drifts and fallen branches. Drew, Luther, Kai, and Ted were already gathered, and Gregory stood like a mountain beside his tow truck, his breath fogging in the cold. I was surprised to see him because he’d been so entangled with his new mate since they met last fall, not long ago. Still, we could definitely use his help. “I’ll be ready to haul whatever you find,” the minotaur rumbled.
The passenger door banged open, and Kess hopped out, cheeks pink, a gray cat draped across her shoulders like a scarf. She hurried to Gwen, wrapping her up in a fierce hug, though the two had never met. My mate seemed a little surprised, but she went with her as Kess drew her to the side. They bent their heads together, one dark beneath her knit pink cap, one pale and cat-draped. They were whispering, and I let them have that moment, certain Kess would have only good things to say. She was a good woman.
“All right,” I called, my voice carrying in the stillness. “Drew, Kai—you take the west road. Luther, Ted—south. Gregory, be ready for our call.” One by one, they nodded. We’d done this before, for autumn storms, for winter mayhem. The Hollow had withstood the test of time and the press of nature for centuries, and it would continue to do so.
“What about Ísarr up on the north ridge?” Drew asked, referring to the one side of the Hollow that had hardly any inhabitants. The ice dragon lived there, and no one else. Usually, it saw no traffic at all except for Grandma Liz or Luther, who’d do pickupsand drop-offs of supplies. Luther raised an eyebrow at the question, then turned to me to check. Considering hewasmost familiar with those roads, he’d make the most sense to go.
I shook my head. “He’s an ice dragon. If he hadn’t had a surprise human dropped into his lap that he called me to complain about, he would’ve been riding the storm just for fun all night. He doesn’t need our help. The human… perhaps we’ll need to fetch her when the roads are cleared.”
That made Gregory huff like a bull, white condensation curling from his nostrils like smoke. “I wish her good luck. He’s worse than me,” he cackled with a mean laugh, before dipping his head to his mate to press a tender kiss to her forehead. Nobody had anything to say to that, though Drew checked again, with an eager look in his eyes—whether I was going to change my mind. I wasn’t. Maybe having to act like a normal person for once would shake him out of his terrible mood. He was moody, but he’d never harm someone innocent.
Kess pressed a pair of thick mittens into Gwen’s hands. “For the ride,” she said with a wink. Then there was nothing left but the work. I moved to the middle of the knee-deep snow covering the road, then let the shift tear through me. Feathers bursting, bones snapping into shape, wings spreading wide into the icy air with a flash of light. The griffin stretched, shook, and exhaled, as if finally set free.
I was not the only one who had changed, and I took a moment to survey the changes. I checked in on my mate with sharp eyes as she witnessed the evidence of more supernatural creatures for the first time. This wasn’t the same as the safety of knowing it was me beneath the feathers and tawny fur. Not only did she seeDrew as his body hardened into stone and batwings shook from his shoulders, she also saw Kai and Ted as they became wolves on silver paws—Kai being the very wolf who had once scared her in the woods and bitten her ankle, though that had been to keep her from making a fatal fall.
She stood next to Kess, eyes huge in her face, dark hair whipping in the wind beneath her pink cap. I did not scent any fear, but it also wasn’t the same awe she’d exhibited when she first saw me. Definitely a sharp hint of excitement. Of course she would think this was awesome; that was my girl.
Kai approached, tail low, ears back, and I clawed the snow with my paws, wings growing tense as I braced myself to leap between them if needed. Gwen smiled at him. “Forget it. And please, no more deer. Okay?” He dropped his head, then abruptly spun and jogged between the houses and in the direction of the roads I’d assigned him. Drew leaped into the air to fly after him.
It was a signal to the others, and both Luther and Ted turned together to head off in their direction. Kess hugged Gwen one last time before going to the tow truck and her mate, warm inside the cab. I wished I could urge Gwen to join her, but she was determined to stay with me. I lowered myself in the snow as she approached, and she nimbly climbed onto my back, snug between my wings. Her warmth pressed close, steadying the beast in me. Then we leapt, the ground falling away, the world opening in silence and snow, just the two of us, soaring into whatever waited.
It was not the same as flying with her in the quiet morning hours had been last time. This was urgent, still dark, and urgencyrode me hard. Elly’s phone call with the bad news, the fact that Gwen’s ex was in her B&B unsupervised, and the dark dreams. Though Gwen had told me she no longer had them, I did not trust it.
I’d assigned myself the remaining stretches of road and cabins because I was the fastest flyer with the sharpest eyes. Drew hadn’t liked that—I’d seen it in his eyes—but he had not protested. I’d avoid the ice dragon’s territory and only do a quick flyby over the farm where Chardum, our other dragon, and his nymph mate resided. The golden dragon did not like the cold any more than his nymph lady did, but he stepped onto the already-snow-cleared porch when I winged overhead and waved, telling me that all was well.
Then I spun, turning us in the direction of Arden’s moss-covered hovel and bridge, and beyond it, the glass-and-stone abomination that Thorne had built for himself. Maybe I could kill two birds with one stone: check that the warlock had weathered the storm all right, and ask him—again—about the dark dreams.
Chapter 23
Gwendolyn
So, tonight was the night then. In the aftermath of the storm, I got to see the true nature of the town as they gathered to take care of their own. I thought it would have just been Drew meeting us, but no, there were plenty of others I knew. I did not expect them to feel comfortable showing their true selves in front of me; I was wrong.
Drew shifted first, stone skin rippling over him until a gargoyle spread its wings, gray skin muted in the dark and claws gleaming black at his fingertips. Then Kai, the wolf who once chased me through the woods, shook himself out, as did Ted, the kind guy who’d been working on my pipes and heating system all week. It was bizarre to see myth come to life, to interact with them. Hell, I even got to tell a wolf not to gift me dead deer. Who could say they’d ever done that?
To top it off, I sat astride a griffin, my sheriff’s golden feathers glinting faintly in the moonlight as we rose above the storm-hushed town. The air was knife-cold, burning my lungs, but the world stretched wide and endless beneath us, every rooftop softened by snow. It did not look as if the storm had done any damage, but with a three-foot-thick covering of white, that was no surprise. Even my B&B looked cozy and pristine under these conditions.
We banked low over Main Street, where a tow truck idled at the intersection. Gregory—at least, I thought that must be him—was already at work. He wasn’t just a man anymore but a towering minotaur, black fur gleaming, breath steaming in plumes. Hewrapped his massive arms around a fallen oak and lifted it bodily out of the road, horns catching the light like polished ivory. Myth come to life. And yet, part of me couldn’t help wondering: is that Kess’s guy? Was that the very tow truck driver I’d just seen moments ago?
We passed over a farm just outside of town, its fields smooth under the snow, fences still standing straight. Even the house roof was clear of drifts, as though the storm hadn’t dared touch it. A man on the porch lifted a hand in greeting, then disappeared quickly back inside. He was too small for me to make out much detail, and gone too quickly to catch more than that hand wave. Though I was certain I’d seen a long swath of black hair over one bare, tawny shoulder, like he didn’t feel the cold.
Duty carried us on. Jackson landed us on several back roads, talons crunching into the ice, so we could mark fallen trees for Gregory to haul away. I watched him make his calls—efficient and steady—his sheriff’s voice all business. When the trees were smaller, he didn’t bother waiting; his griffin claws hooked around trunks and branches, hauling them aside like kindling.
We landed again by an old bridge over the creek. The snow looked untouched until it moved—split, really—and a man climbed out from beneath. For a moment, I thought it was a trick, but then I recognized him. Wasn’t that the doctor who had magically healed my injured ankle? He said nothing more than a curt instruction: call him if there were injuries, then vanished back into his den beneath the drift. I shivered, wondering what his house was like in there. Was it just a cave, a beastly den? Or was it something more?
Further downstream, a small cottage glowed faintly with lantern light. Jackson shifted, knocked, and a girl opened the door. She was young, barely twenty, if that. Her eyes darted everywhere but mine, her fingers twisting in her thick, sky-blue sweater. “All’s well,” she said quickly, her voice trembling. “I’m sorry, again. I messed up.”
I instantly felt sorry for her, even as I realized who this must be. This was the wolf who’d been watching the burglar. The one who’d called Jackson not long ago to tell him she’d lost him. She looked too fragile, too human for the burden of it, and my heart ached for her. Who the hell sends out a girl barely out of childhood to do such a task? She looked like she’d been to war, pale blue shadows beneath her huge eyes, lips bitten and chafed. And her eyes, a deep brown, seemed haunted, like there were ghosts still clinging to her very soul.
Jackson’s voice was firm but kind when he spoke to her, and she seemed to respond to that, even though her eyes flicked to the toes of my boots. “Stay inside. Stay warm,” was all he said, and it was enough. We left her in her doorway, swallowed by her own guilt, and I wished I could absolve her of it. At the same time, it did worry me, it even pissed me off. That burglar was back out there, meeting up with whoever sent him. When was this going to end?
