The Conduit (Gryphon Series) (24 page)

“Think we’ll get better with time?”

“For the sake of the world, I really hope so,” I admitted.

“Okay
,” Gabe relented. “I can do an owl or a pigeon. Which is it?”

“It’s night time
. Go with owl.”

“Owl it is.”

Gabe reached for the door knob but stopped short when a dark, shadowy figure landed on the hood of my truck. We both froze as the small truck shook from the impact. My breath caught, and my heart temporarily forgot how to beat.

Was the fight going to start so soon? Without any lead in or preparation? I was nowhere near ready! Shouldn’t I have stretched or something first?
Plus, there was the added vulnerability of being trapped in an enclosed space. Barnabus could tear our heads off before we stepped out of the truck! That is if head rippage offage was one of his abilities—there was so much I still didn’t know!

Next to me, Gabe snarled as his teeth lengthened. His skin began to churn
. His bones snapped and set as he began his transformation.

“Don’t change in my truck!” I screamed at him. “You’ll tear the whole thing apart!” Wrong thing to be worried about right then, I know. Especially when the figure began to stoop toward my windshield. In a few short seconds we would be looking into the face of evil.

Or not.

Kendall mashed her face up against the glass and gave he
rself a pig nose. “Hey, guys!” She grinned. “What took you so long?”

Gabe growled at her but stopped his transformation.

“I’ll hold her down you bite her head,” I suggested to Gabe, only half kidding. Climbing out of the truck, I poured my annoyance on thick. “You better have some useful info for us.”

“That I do. And I have to say I, like, totally loved my little covert op.
Made me feel very secret-agenty!”

“So what did you learn, Double
-O Dense?” Gabe asked as his fangs retracted.

“There was a m
an with long red hair, uber old-fashioned clothes, and a cape heading into the theater.”

“Someone wearing a cape heading into the theater? Are you sure he wasn’t an actor in costume? He could ha
ve just been going to rehearsal,” I suggested.

“Well, he could have been. If they’re having rehearsals at
two AM and are going to use the unconscious person he had flung over his shoulder as a prop.”

“Now there’s a hostage?” Gabe pulled his shirt off and threw it in the truck.

Kendall nodded solemnly.

“This just keeps getting better.”

“Any sign of the army?” I asked.

“I haven’t seen o
r heard them. I assume the long-haired, freaky guy was Barnabus. For all I know the army could have already been in the theater waiting for him. I can’t say for sure that he’s alone,” Kendall admitted.

We really didn’t have much to go on here. “Did he demonstrate any of his powers?”

Her blonde spikes didn’t budge as she shook her head. “Nothing other than strength. The…person he was carrying is a good-sized guy and he tossed him around like it was nothing.”

I couldn’t help but notice her hesitation. She purposely held something back. “What aren’t you telling us, Kendall?”

She quickly flicked her gaze away from me, adjusted her shirt, and avoided make eye contact. “Nothing.”

“Wow, you are just the worst liar ever
,” Gabe stated. “And you’re a theater buff?”

“Spill it, Keni. Now.”

Hesitantly, she brought her head up and sighed deeply. “Keep in mind, I’m not one hundred percent positive about this. The guy had his head down and was all limp and stuff so I couldn’t tell for sure.”

“Couldn’t
…tell…what?” I asked. I felt the muscles in my jaws tense.

“The hostage. Celeste, I think it’s Alec.”

I should’ve been surprised. I wasn’t. Of course he would end up in the middle of this he made the fatal mistake of trying to get close to me. Barnabus was systematically attacking the people I cared about. I needed to end this or resign myself to wearing a sandwich board for the rest of my life that reads:

Get Close to Me

and Get Knocked Out by

a Cranky 300 Year Old Demon!

Determination dripped off of me as I declared, “We have to get him out. What’s the best way in?”

“There’s a door around back. If it is anything like the theaters back home, it will lead backstage. That’ll give us the element of surprise,” Kendall reported.

“Good. Let’s go
,” I said.

We averted our eyes as Gabe ducked behind the truck to strip down the rest of the way and morph into the impressive, tawny lion. Kendall expanded her wings and took on her own majestic splendor. I glanced down at my t
-shirt and cut-off sweatpants. Suddenly, I felt very underdressed. If the idea of myself in a superhero costume didn’t give me the willies, I may’ve considered it. No skin-hugging spandex for me. I would make my peace with my grubby clothes.

Our odd trio—the lion, the angel and…me—came together. Cloaked by darkness
, we made our way across the sleeping campus with determined strides and steeled nerves. For the most part.

CHAPTER 29

Bypassing the fancy
, arched entrance of the theater, we crept through the trees and brush to the rear door. It was nothing more than a service entrance, which I automatically assumed would be locked.

“Do we kick it in?” I asked.

“Before we destroy property and stuff, maybe we could check to see if it’s unlocked,” Kendall replied. Gabe snorted and nodded.

I held my breath as I tried the door. It opened easily and without setting off any blaring alarms. I started to expel a sigh of relief when Gabe gave a low growl beside me. “What?”

“Unnn-lllokked,” he grumbled in his menacing vibrato.

I stared into the pitch black doorway that gave away no clues as to the building’s contents. “Maybe we’re not as unexpected as we hoped.”

Gabe pushed past me and led the way into the darkness. If the gigantic lion with razor sharp teeth wanted to lead the way, I was totally okay with that. I followed close behind him. Keni brought up the rear. Gabe’s slow, shuffle-footed steps told me even his feline night vision was being put to the test against the thick, heavy darkness. With no hint of light anywhere, I didn’t realize he stopped moving until I smacked into him.

“Ooof!”

“Ssshhhhh!” Kendall shushed in my ear.

“Heeeerrrrrre
,” Gabe rumbled.

Something lay up ahead that only he could see. To get up to his line of
sight, I placed one hand on his back and followed by touch up to his head. I grabbed Kendall’s hand to drag her along with me. A sliver of light shined through a gap in the heavy stage curtain.

“The footlights are on
,” Keni whispered.

It
was the middle of the night, the backdoor was unlocked, and the lights were on. Combine that with the fact that it was off-season for the campus, and there was only one answer. Barnabus had lured us right where he wanted us.

“It’s a trap.” My mind clicked away at what our next move should be. Barnabus staged every element. He certainly had to know we were there. Fighting under his terms would give him yet another advantage. Running suddenly didn’t seem like such a bad idea as long as we could snatch Alec first.

Still worried about the possibility of facing an entire army, I crept toward the curtain. I cautiously peeked around the heavy fabric. My vantage point allowed me to see more than half of the theater and the entire stage. It was empty. The space out of my view wouldn’t accommodate a horde of people. But Barnabus might be there.

I turned back to Gabe and Keni. “His army isn’t here.”

“So what do we do?” Kendall leaned in so I could hear her hushed tone.

“The odds are not in our favor.” My skin prickled with anxiety. “I say we find Alec and then run like heck. If we can get Barnabus on our turf
, we can give ourselves an edge.”

“Back to the mountains?” Kendall asked.

I nodded even though she couldn’t see it. “We’ve been spending so much time there, we know the area. And we don’t have to worry about innocent people getting hurt.”

“Hooowww?”
Growled Gabe.

“We’ll just have to watch each other’s backs like we did with the fog monsters. Keep our eyes open and our feet moving. What do you think?”

“Let’s do it.” A rush of air indicated Keni had expanded her wings out wide behind her.

Gabe snarled his agreement.

My heart thudded in my chest as I spun toward the lights. I replaced my trepidation with determination as my foot touched the polished wood stage. Speed and tenacity was key if this was going to work. With Gabe and Kendall behind me, I approached the center of the stage, scanning every inch of the theater. I saw nothing but rows and rows of empty seats. Even my former blind spot sat vacant.

My spin
e tingled as my eyes fell on the orchestra pit directly in front of the stage. As outward appearances go, it was a perfect hiding spot. But that wasn’t why my skin suddenly crawled. There was something down there. I knew it. Something lurked in the deep shadows of the brick cavity. I slunk in the direction of it, crouching low as I approached. Mere steps from the edge, I saw a flutter of movement. I froze. My hands balled into fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms.

Out of the blackness shot a hand that clawed desperately at the brick wall. My heart skipped a beat and my bladder threatened to fail. Another hand hurriedly followed suit. The battered and scraped hands found an edge to latch onto and held tight. Disheveled
, strawberry-blonde hair, streaked with blood, briefly appeared, then vanished as he lost his hold.

“Alec!” I fell to my knees to extend my hand down to him. “Give me your hand!” I glanced over my shoulder at my sister. “Kendall, help me pull him out!”

“What the heck do you need my help for?” She questioned as if I had somehow forgotten my own abilities.

“One second, Alec! We’re going to get you out!” I spun on my momentarily dense sister. Through my teeth
, I hissed, “As far as he knows, I’m just a normal girl that cannot lift a grown man with one hand, remember? So, help me.”

“Oh! Right!”
She agreed and crossed the stage toward me.             

The large paw of a jungle cat blocked her way. Gabe jerked his head in the direction of her wings. Catching his meaning, she swiftly drew them in.
As she came to kneel beside me, Gabe-lion slunk back behind the thick curtain. That was for the best. The last thing we needed right then was his appearance to startle an unsuspecting Alec.

Kendall and I reached down for our friend. With the lights on the stage and none in the pit, it was impossible to see exactly where Alec was. “Alec, can you grab our hand
s?” I asked. I felt a weak grip close on my hand. I grabbed it firmly with one hand, wrapping the other hand securely around his wrist. I looked at Kendall, “You got him?”

“Yep.” With that
, we both heaved him up out of the hole.

He landed on his knees on the stage, which gave me a clear view of
the wound on the back of his head. His hair was matted together with blood, the hair and skin torn away in a spot the size of a half-dollar. I felt myself turn green as I assessed the large gash and the bloody mess surrounding it. It became crucial I distract myself by examining Alec’s condition elsewhere. I found no other visible injuries.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I think so,” he slurred, a clear sign to the contrary. He rolled, or more accurately fell, from his knees onto his rear. On his face was the same dazed and confused look Gabe had worn right after I socked him in the face. “We have to quit meeting like this,” he garbled and tried to stand.

Keni and I grabbed his arms to steady him. “How’s that?”