The Conduit (Gryphon Series) (19 page)

Gabe took a tentative step forward. His leg buckled under his weight. We rushed forward to help him back up.

“There’s no way he can make it down,” Kendall fretted.

“Can you fly him down?”

She shook her head. “No way. I’m like a quarter of his size. I couldn’t lift him by myself. Unless…” She looked my way with a speculative eye.

“Unless what?” I didn’t like where this was going.

“You get an arm, I get an arm, and we jump.”

I had been super strong for all of ten minutes. I had been afraid of heights a whole lot longer. “Isn’t there a way into the building from up here? We could just break in and take the stairs. Easy squeezy.”

Kendall rolled her eyes at me. “You would rather commit a crime by breaking and entering instead of just jumping down? You jumped up here you big wimp, you can jump back down. No big deal. And, if you do get hurt, I can heal you.”

“Th
ank you, that’s very reassuring,” I muttered wryly. I turned to my stunned and befuddled brother. “Can you change back, Gabe? Make this a little easier on us?”

The lion half
-heartedly raised his head, then let it drop again. I guess that answered my question.

“No bigg
ie,” an annoyingly up-beat Kendall shrugged. “We can just lift him up on his back legs. We’ll drape his front paws around our necks.”

That seemed like a monumentally bad idea. “Look at the size of him, Keni. No way can we keep hold of him while we jump.”

“Sure we can, now that you have the super strength.”

“Already you’re taking advantage of my powers? If I’m doing all the heavy lifting, what the heck are you going to do?”

She put her hands on her hips. “I will make sure we have a smooth landing instead of crashing to the ground, if that’s all right with you.”

“Fine
,” I scoffed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

We finagled Gabe up onto his hind legs, draped his gigantic paws around our necks, and shuffled to the edge of the roof. I peered down over the ledge and got a nasty case of vertigo.

“Nope. Can’t do it,” I declared.

“Yes, you can
,” Kendall said. “Just don’t look down. On the count of three, we’re going to jump. Ready?”

“No, I changed my mind.”

“One…”

“Please don’t make me do this.”

“Two…”

“I’m going to die.”

“No, you’re not.
Three
!”

I took the mother of all deep breaths, squeezed my eyes shut
, and jumped.  My hair whipped off my neck and lashed at my face as we plummeted toward the ground.  To my shock and amazement, we landed without incident in the alley behind the library.  My body reacted to the jump like I had done nothing more than hop off a curb. 

No sooner had our feet touched the ground then a menacing hiss jerked our heads to the right. A pair of wild
, luminescent green eyes peered at us from the shadows as it growled out its warning. My heart leapt into my throat with enough force that I almost choked on it. Another Seeker! I fumbled to free myself from Gabe’s heavy arm when what turned out to be a stray cat charged past us.  It sent a garbage can clattering to the ground in its panicked rush to get away from the lion that just fell from the sky. 

Kendall’s pink glossed lips split into a wide grin, “See? No bigg
ie.” 

Easy for her to say
…she wasn’t the one having heart palpitations. Between the terrifying free fall and the “mysterious wild creature,” I had a sudden need to go hide under my bed in the fetal position. “Let’s get home,”  I gasped as I expelled the breath I’d been holding. “Immediately.”

CHAPTER 23

Gabe had a score to settle. Actually, I think it was bigger tha
n that. It was more like a deep-seeded vendetta against me for what he considered to be a “sucker punch.”

For the last twelve hours
, I had been forced to listen to him whine and moan about it. According to him, if he had been expecting it, I wouldn’t have been able to touch him. Granted, I had limited fighting experience, but I was pretty sure people didn’t normally give written warning before they threw a punch. Not to mention the guy’s supposed to have cat-like reflexes, but whatever.

When Grams got home he even bellyached to her about it. She told him to suck it up and quit being a
crybaby. Scoping out his black eye, she added, “Geez, Gabe you must bruise like a peach to get a shiner like that from a little, bitty thing like Celeste.”

He glared daggers at me until Grams left the room. Then he snarled, “Tomorrow, when we go into the mountains to train, I’m kickin’ your butt.”

“I said I was sorry,” I reminded him for the millionth time.

He scowled and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Has to happen.”

I opened my mouth to protest when Kendall cut me off. “He’s, like, on testosterone overload, Cee. Save your breath. You’re gonna have to spar with him to shut him up.”

The next day he could barely contain himself. His trash talk entered a whole new plateau. He probably would’ve resorted to insulting my mama
if she wasn’t his mama, too. I tuned him out. A maneuver I had perfected over the last eighteen years. We entered the clearing together where Alaina awaited us.

She gave us a maternal smile as we approached. “Good morning. I see Kendall is taking the first shift watching over your grandmother today. Gabe, we can star
t with some endurance exercise if that suits you?”

Gabe’s eyes flicked to my face. Apparently Alaina didn’t get a memo from the Gryphon about what took place last night. “Actually, Kendall isn’t watching over Grams. She’s running an errand, she’ll be here soon.”

Alaina’s eyebrows drew in and her lips pursed in disapproval. “No one is watching over your grandmother? At any moment the Seeker could venture into her home searching for you. She could be hurt. This is not acceptable. One of you needs to get back there immediately.”

Gabe threw his hands up, palms out. “Whoa. Chill out. Celeste finished off the Seeker last night.”

A bird-like twitch of her head and Alaina’s avian eyes focused on me. She examined me so intently that it made me fidget. Her gaze settled on my face. Whatever she saw there softened her expression and brought the grin back to her lips. “Our warrior has been awakened.”

“Looks like
,” I blushed.

“That being the case,” she steepled her fingers under her chin
, “you can actually participate today. I suppose it would be a better use of our time to have you spar in preparation for the next Seeker who comes.”

“
Yes
!” Gabe exclaimed and pumped his fist in the air.

“Hey, Gabe, can you give Alaina and me a minute please?” I asked. “Go warm up or something?”

He bounced up and down, shaking out his limbs. “I don’t need to warm up. I was born ready for this!”

“That’s great. Can we please have a sec?”

“Take all the time you need. It’s not going to help!” He did his best tough guy saunter toward the creek.

“What is his posturing all about?”

“I accidentally punched him in the face last night and he’s having a hard time coping with it.”

“Ah, I see. What is it that is on your mind, Celeste?”

“I’m fairly certain he’s going to fight dirty. His masculinity being called into question and all.” I drew a line in the dirt with the toe of my tennis shoe. I was a “warrior” now. I wasn’t supposed to be nervous about stuff like this anymore. “But—uh—yesterday was the first time I’ve ever been in a fight…”

“Come on, Cee! Wrap up the pep talk! It’s not going to help anyway!” Gabe threw a left jab and right hook in the air.

“Just a minute!” I snapped.

“You are worried he is going to overpower you?”

“Completely. I have no idea what I’m doing.”

“Trust yourself and the Gryphon. He has instilled in you the abilities. All you need to do is channel them. It will come as naturally as breathing or walking.”

“Easy for you to say…you don’t trip over your own feet on a daily basis,” I muttered.

“You two can plan your mani
-pedis later. Let’s do this!” Gabe yelled.

“You know in my day
, the men provided for and protected their families.” Alaina reflected. “Their ability to do so successfully defined what kind of man they were.”

“Are you telling me that for the sake of his fragile male ego
, I should let him win?”

“Oh, goodness no!”
She clarified and waved her hand at the thought. “He is being a pompous pig. By all means go knock his lights out.”

I let out a heartfelt laugh. “Will do!”

“I will perch up there.” Alaina pointed to the top of a tall maple tree overlooking the trail. “If I see anyone coming, I shall alert you. Please try to remember to listen for me.”

“Don’t worry, Alaina
,” Gabe smirked. “It won’t take my full attention to knock her on her butt.”

I snorted at his comment. “From what I saw yesterday, Gabe, you fold like a sheet of paper.”

“You sucker punched me!”

“Not my fault you’re slow.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Oh, it is so on.”

“I will be in the tree.” Alaina morphed and flitted up into the branches to get out of striking distance.

Gabe and I squared off at opposite sides of the clearing. I hit a crouch first.

“I won’t hold back if you do
n’t,” I offered, hoping that wasn’t just me blowing smoke.

“Fine by me
…I’ve got no problem kicking your butt.” He growled and fell down on all fours.

I wanted to get one last jab in before he transformed. “Maybe I could find a big ball of string to distract you. Whattya say
, fuzzball?”

His voice dropped octaves as the change neared. “I say, I’m going to enjoy this.”

The transformation seemed easier on Gabe now. It wasn’t easier to watch. I couldn’t help but crinkle my nose as his bones cracked and popped to allow his other form to emerge. Like a well-cared for Chia Pet, hair sprouted all over his body. It only took seconds before my brother disappeared and the tawny-colored lion stood before me. He let out an intimidating roar.

“Ooh, scary. Ya know if you lose again to a little girl like me, maybe we should take that old game show host’s advice and have you neutered.”

Gabe didn’t like that idea. He galloped straight for me, his fierce eyes fixated on my head. I matched his speed as I darted forward. As soon as he got within striking distance he sprung up to swipe at my face—which, by the way, I find rude. However, all his claws found was empty air. I spun down into a low swing kick and swept his back legs out from under him. He fell flat on his side, then leapt back to his feet.

“Less than a minute.”
I waggled my eyebrows at him. “I’m good.”

He snarled his response.

“I tell ya what. I’ll even give you the advantage.” I shut my eyes and turned my back to the lion. “Go ahead. Take your best shot.”

Yes, I was being arrogant. But I couldn’t help it. I was thoroughly enjoying this.

I sensed it when Gabe ducked down. I knew his every move as his stomach skimmed the ground as he crept toward me. He was the perfect model of feline stealth, but I remained one step ahead of him. Silent as a grave, he extended his razor-sharp claws and swiped. At the last possible moment, I jumped into the air. I’ve never had a gymnastics class in my life, yet I managed a back-tuck with ease.

Gabe interrupted my
evasion maneuver with a counter-assault. He sprang up and swatted at me. One of his dagger claws tore into my arm while I was in mid-rotation. He knocked me slightly off kilter, but I still managed a somewhat graceful landing. I assessed my sliced tricep. My slashed skin healed before the blood could spill. The flesh pulled itself together and left no blemish or mark.

Gabe’s eyes bulged at my amazing disappearing booboo.