The Conduit (Gryphon Series) (14 page)

“I went over to my Mom’s salon and made her day by letting her cut my hair. Then I visited a tailor and had some suits made that I’m hoping to be able to pay off someday. Now I’m all set to embrace who I was meant to be.”

“There seems to be a lot of that going around lately,” I muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m really happy for you, Alec.”

“Thanks, but I really am sorry about the other night. You mean a lot to me, Celeste, and I would never want to hurt you.” His voice grew husky as he moved closer. Warning sirens
blared in my head. He had that “I’m going to kiss her” look in his eyes. He brushed the back of his hand down my arm. “I really would like to give us a chance.”

I didn’t give myself time to consider if I wanted to kiss him or not. (For
the record—I did). There was a psycho shape-shifter out there terrorizing children. I didn’t have time to play kissy face. Concentrating on my own reluctance, I brought my hand up to his cheek. With that seemingly loving gesture, I passed my hesitation on to him.

His face froze inches from mine. I could feel his warm breath on my skin and fought my desire to close the gap between us. His eyes clouded over in confused hesitation. From his shirt pocket, his cell phone buzzed.

“You should probably get that,” I whispered.

His brow furrowed in uncertainty as he nodded and snatched his phone from its resting place. I backed away from him until I bumped into the wall. Temptation averted, he flipped open his phone. “Hey, what’s up? The panther? Where?” My pulse quickened at the mention of the cat I knew to be a demon in disguise. “Oh, man! Is it still there? Awesome! I’m on my way!”

He snapped his phone shut and looked up at me like a kid on Christmas morning. “You are not going to believe this! The panther is on the roof of the grocery store. The fire department, the cops, and animal rescue are all there. They’re going to try to shoot it with a tranquilizer gun to get it down. I gotta go!”

Before I could stop him
, he grabbed me, spun me around, and dipped me back in a kiss straight out of
Gone with the Wind
. Then he stood me up, said “call ya later” and ran out the door.

With the back of my hand pressed to my mouth
, I stared after him, dumbstruck. I wanted so badly for him to come back and kiss me again, but knew that didn’t coincide with my plan to keep my distance. My head and heart were battling it out when Kendall came pounding down the stairs.

“Do we have company?”

“It was Alec.” I licked my lips. They still tasted like him. “He just left.”

“Oh.” She made no attempt to hide her disappointment.

I glanced over my shoulder at her. “You’ll hear from Keith, Keni. I’m sure of it.”

She gave a crestfallen shrug.

“Right now though, we have way more important things to worry about.”

“What’s up?”

“For some moronic reason, the Seeker is currently on top of the local supermarket creating a huge spectacle. Cops and everything. Apparently being evil also means you have the IQ of a zipper. We need to go awaken your inner eagle and lure him away from town, stat.”

“And what do we do if he actually shows up?” A fair share of panic crept into her voice.

“I guess you better learn to fly quick so you can get us the heck out of there, huh?”

CHAPTER 17

Come to find out the first step in channeling one’s inner eagle is meditation. I do not have an inner eagle. Therefore it m
ade no sense for me to be cross-legged on the ground focused on my breathing. Concentration on anything wasn’t coming easily. There was a Seeker in town doing God knows what—and my pants were soaked from sitting on the ground. I opened one eye and peeked at my sister. She was doing exactly as Alaina told her:  eyes closed, head up, breathing deeply. If she was uncomfortable, it didn’t show. Maybe the ground wasn’t wet where she was sitting. If that was the case, I was probably sitting where some wild animal had recently…Eeew.

“Celeste!”

I sheepishly opened both eyes and peered at Alaina. With her hands on her hips and her cross expression, she was the picture of disapproval.

“Sorry.”

“Will you please try to focus?” She pleaded.

“I’m trying
. I am,” I lied.

Again she began her instructions. “Close your eyes.” I did. “Now, inhale a deep, cleansing breath. Feel your lungs expanding to their fullest capacity. Exhale and blow out all the tension in your body. Good. Again, inhale.”

I wonder what Alec is doing right now?

“All the stress is leaving your body, leaving you refreshed and rejuvenated. Inhale. Exhale. Your body is relaxed and your mind is free to
roam.”

And roam it shall…

“Let your subconscious focus on all those you love. Let your mind center on them. Open yourself to the love in your heart. Feel the warmth of it radiating through you. It’s spreading through your chest, castings its glow through each part of your body that it touches. It reaches your arms and legs, right down to the tips of your fingers and toes.”

Blah, blah, blah. For a Spirit Guide
, she’s surprisingly long-winded.

“Up into your head, even your hair is tingling. Every inch of your body is alive with the love that you possess. Let your entire being become encompassed in that beautiful feeling.”

I wonder if Kendall is faking. She totally could be.
I opened myself up to her to check. Love emanated off her with such a force that it made warmth explode through me. I had never felt anything like this. It was an amazing, euphoric high.

I could also feel that she was teetering on the precipice of her change. She was so close but seemed stuck, needing a nudge to push her over the threshold. I centered everything I was feeling, drew it into a tight circle in my chest, and with a touch of my hand gave it to her. The energy passed through me and into her. She jerked at my touch and then absorbed the weight of what I’d given her like a person being electrocuted. She convulsed from head to toe. Her eyes rolled back in her head. A foamy, gurgled scream tore from her throat.

Panicked, I scrambled to get to my feet to aid my baby sister. Alaina intercepted me and physically blocked me from getting any closer.

“No
,” she whispered in my ear. “It’s happening.”

The trembling stopped. Keni sat ramrod straight, still as the dead. Her eyes popped open and stared straight ahead. Fabric tore. Alaina took my hand and guided me around to Kendall’s side.

“You’re going to want to see this.”

I crinkled my nose. “I’m fairly certain I don’t.”

Two mounds of flesh rose up out of Kendall’s shoulder blades. Slow and steady they grew. Thick stalks of cartilage drew outward to pull and manipulate the fleshy lumps into a taunt wing form. The bare flesh stretched out wide behind her. Fuzzy white down sprouted up to cover it. A beat later the down fell away to reveal silky, ivory feathers beneath it. Her wings shook and flapped off the remaining fuzz, then snapped open to exhibit the finished product. A gigantic pair of magnificent ivory wings protruded from baby sister’s back.

“Well there’s something you don’t see every day
,” I gaped.

“I do
,” Alaina corrected.

Kendall’s eye
s blinked rapidly as she regained the ability to focus. “What happened?”

I pointed. “Uhhh…those happened.”

She glanced over shoulder. “
Oh
! Whoa!!”

“This is great, Kendall
,” Alaina assured her. “This is exactly what we wanted to happen.”

I’ll admit my next little barrage of questions probably didn’t help the situation. “What does it feel like? Do they hurt? Can you move them? Can I touch one?”

“No, you cannot touch one! Oh, this feels so weird! Like I just grew another set of arms or something,” she groaned.

I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and rubbing one of her new feathers between my thumb and forefinger. They were soft, just like bird down. She jerked her wing away from my touch which sent her on a whole new tirade.

“Oh! It’s moving! I’m moving it. I can move it, and it feels soooo gross!” She flapped her wings back and forth. “You have no idea how wrong this feels. I don’t know how I’m doing it! Oh, oohhhh…this is so very, very, very, very weird! Uhhh!”

Alaina cradled Kendall’s face in her hands. “Kendall, I need you to calm down so I can help you. Okay?”

“Slap her or something,” I suggested.

“I am not going to slap her because she is going to calm down. Right, Kendall?”

My sister’s wings did another involuntary flap. Even with her mouth clamped firmly shut, a muffled whimper escaped. Her eyes pleaded with our guide to somehow, someway, make this better.

“I need you to listen. The only way you are going to put your mind at ease is to learn to control them. Do you understand?” Al
aina asked in her soothing made-for-radio voice.

“Mmm
-hmm,” Kendall squeaked.

“I want you to pull your wings in. It is an act similar to drawing your arms in to your sides. It will come naturally. You just need to try. Can you
do that for me?”

“Nnn
-mm.” Kendall shook her head from side to side.

“Why not?”

Kendall’s beseeching eyes met mine. I opened myself up to her, then answered for her. “It scares the crap out of her when she feels them move.”

“I see. I suppose I shou
ld have explained myself better,” Alaina said and stroked Kendall’s cheek. “I am trying to show you how to put your wings away so that you can have a break from them.”

Kendall’s eyes widened with her desire to be rid of her new attributes for a while.

“Now can you give it a try?” Alaina attempted again.

Kendall’s faced turned stone serious. Her wings twitched inward and prompted another unintentional yelp. She set her jaw and tried again. In one rapid motion, like folding up an umbrella, they flattened together and disappeared into her back.

“There now,” Alaina smiled. “Just an ordinary girl again.”

A new realization dawned on Kendall, the fashion plate. “Hey! My brand new shirt is ripped.”

“The sacrifices of being a superhero,” I said sarcastically.

“I’ll say. I loved this shirt. What the heck am I supposed to do, wear tank tops all the time?”

Alaina and I exchanged amused glances.

“How do you feel now, aside from your ruined garment?” Alaina asked.

“Better,” Keni nodded.

Alaina offered Keni a hand to help her up. “I do rememb
er that the first time is quite…disturbing. I promise you it does get easier.”

“I sure hope so.” Keni stood up and brushed off the back of her striped board shorts.

“You could prove it to yourself right now. Go ahead and expand them again.”

Kendall hesitated for a moment and then closed her eyes. As if it was already a reflex, the awesome wings sprung open.

Her face brightened. “It was easier that time! Why was the first time so painful?”

With a bird
-like twitch, Alaina cocked her head to the side. “It was painful?”

“Very.”

I sheepishly raised my hand. “I…think that was my fault.”

Kendall scoffed. “Wings ripped their way out of my back and you think it’s your fault it hurt?”

“I helped,” I croaked.

Both the beautiful, winged women turned to face me.

“What did you do, Cee?”

“Meditating wasn’t working for me. I wondered if it was working for you. So I felt your emotions, which were really nice. You were all glowy. But then I felt you get stuck, right before the change. So I channeled everything I was feeling. The good, the bad, the indifferent
…and I gave it to you. Sorry. So sorry.” I rambled it all out, not even stopping to breath.

Alaina gave me a maternal frown. “I was having her meditate on love because that is the emotion that triggers her change. Adding foreign emotions added pain.” I gulped and prepared to be reprimanded. “However, you do seem to have mastered the skill to pass your feelings to others, so some good came from this.”