“You’re great at leading a different kind of resistance. The world has changed since the C.C.O. was formed. It’s time for someone who grew up outside the system to look at the whole picture. You’re the right person.”
“What should we do about the lamp of Nusku?” I asked.
“Do you know where it is?”
“Maybe.”
“If it’s safe, leave it alone. You fulfilled the contract and you’ve risked enough for one trip. We should get out of town before anyone learns more about you. It would help to have a little distance to figure out what your next move needs to be.”
I nodded. “I need more training, that’s for sure. I probably should fill out the ranks of the C.C.O. before this gets any worse, right?”
Kai nodded. “Do you have any ideas about how to do that beyond the new security guard?”
“One or two.” I smiled.
Chapter 30
I stood in the courtyard, high above Rome, surrounded by the statues of angels that adorned the upper level of Castel Sant’Angelo. The roof-level courtyard was open to the sky, but the stars were nearly invisible because of the light pollution from the city. Kai pulled me into the deep shadows and kissed me.
“I love you.” He whispered.
“I love you, too.” I leaned against him and looked up at his beautiful face. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Kai smiled, but he looked a little uncomfortable. He stepped behind me, and I felt him unzip my backpack, digging into the bottom for something. When he’d found what he was looking for, he relieved me of the pack and slung it over his own shoulder, draping two long, blue dog leashes around his neck and heading toward the two figures who stood in the shadows.
Sidaffri was stroking her hand down Idral’s furry back, murmuring soft words. The griffin looked pale, and he was shivering under an archway that was barely big enough to accommodate his bulk.
I could feel the peacefulness of the city and thought that might be a good sign. At least magic wasn’t so rampant that things were exploding, so the lamp of Nusku was still safely hidden. Someday, I’d have to come back to Rome to deal with that, but first, I needed to make sure the Crux Crucio Orbis could stand between the Alliance and the Chanson without being torn apart by either group. Kai’s voice brought me back to the present.
"Time to work those wing muscles.” Kai reached up and looped one of the leashes around the griffin’s neck. I tilted my head to the side, wondering what my Coyote was up to. He took the second cord from around his own neck and repeated the loop, then slid that one over Idral’s head as well.
I thought two leads on the griffin were excessive since Idral was unlikely to panic and bolt off the side of the building. Back to the tunnels below, yes but unless Kai intended to drag the griffin out from behind the pillars…
“Oh no,” I whispered, suddenly feeling a little bubble of hysteria beneath my collarbone.
“What are you doing?” My voice was a little high, and I tried to cover my panic as I jogged toward the trio.
Kai grinned and coaxed Idral out from under the arch, using the two leads to guide the beast. I breathed a sigh of relief as Kai tugged him into the moonlight and stopped. The griffin’s knees trembled, and the vibration caused his feathered wings to rustle. Kai spoke in soothing tones, Sidaffri stroked Idral’s back, and Basir watched the whole show from atop an angel’s head. The owl seemed to have unusually intense focus.
I moved to stand beneath Basir’s perch. “Do you think he can fly? Are his wings strong enough?” I whispered.
Basir blinked once, but he only had a single ear tuft raised which I interpreted as a theoretical yes.
Basir hopped down in front of the griffin and opened his 5-foot wingspan, sweeping his wings forward and hopping as if providing a demonstration of lift-off. The owl shot three feet into the air, exposing his incredibly long legs, and landed in the same spot, flicking his ear tufts in invitation and pointing one wing tip at the griffin.
Idral tried to open his wings, but even in the courtyard, there wasn't enough room. Kai made a hmmm noise and looked toward the ledge that surrounded the outer wall. “I guess we're going to have to move a little close to the edge.” He said, sounding rather cavalier about it.
Idral blanched and backed up, but Kai held the two leashes that were looped around his neck and leaned back.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you.” Kai said, showing Idral the blue ropes. “I’ll hold you steady so you don’t lose your balance.” Kai soothed.
I shot him a skeptical look. There was no way Kai was going to steady a seven hundred pound agoraphobic griffin on a ledge. If Idral’s shaking knees gave out and he pitched over the side, he'd drag Kai right over with him. I opened my mouth to point that detail out, but Kai nodded enthusiastically, holding a leash out to me. “See, Idral? Ari can help, too. We're all here for you. Basir even volunteered to be your personal flight instructor. What more could you want?”
Idral looked like there were about a thousand other things he would rather have, but he nodded. Kai led him forward, and Basir flapped onto the castle wall. I wasn't sure the wall was sound enough to hold Idral, but Kai leaped up there, holding the two leashes in his hands, and guided the beast into position a few feet from the edge. Once Idral extended his wings to their full breadth, Kai hopped down and handed the other leash to me. He stood in front of the griffin with his hands on his hips and an assessing look in his eye.
Basir hopped onto Kai’s shoulder, and they walked around the griffin, examining Idral’s massive wings from each angle. The feathers were enormous, but they glimmered with blue and gold iridescence in the moonlight.
I was glad Kai wasn’t on the ledge anymore, and I noticed Idral casting nervous glances back toward the shadows. I had a sneaking suspicion he was going to bolt for the tunnels. I caught the griffin’s eye and showed him the double leash as if that would somehow deter him.
Kai’s voice had been low as he and Basir inspected each wing, but his last words were spoken with a familiar tone.
“Preflight check is complete.”
Something in Kai’s expression made my heart stutter. I glared at him with my hands on my hips, the two leashes bunched in my fist. “What are you up to?”
Kai returned to my side and took the leashes from my white-knuckled grip.
He smiled. “Flap, Idral.”
Enormous wings extended forward, and I ducked to avoid being swept off the top of the castle by the colossal feathers.
Idral flapped, and his front feet rose three inches off the stones, but his back feet never moved.
Kai lifted a shoulder. “That’s okay. Your preening looks good, so your wings must be sound.”
Idral puffed out his cheeks. “My feathers are perfect.” He extended the wings again, and I hit the deck once more as he gave a harder flap that brought his talons a few feet off the roof.
“Come a little closer,” Kai said, backing toward the ledge again.
“Kai, you’re not serious.” I backed up with Kai, staying at his side and giving him a warning look as my heart thumped.
“Do you really have to ask?” He replied, sounding surprised.
I opened my mouth to voice my not-so-wild guess just as Idral set his taloned bird feet on the castle wall, separating me from Kai. “Great job, Idral!” Kai said, leaning to see me over the griffin’s back. “Now, don’t look down.”
The minute he said that, I looked over the wall. It was easily one-hundred-fifty feet to the ground. I raised my eyes to Kai, my mouth open to issue a warning, but my heart lodged in my throat, forcing out an “Ack!” noise as I watched Kai gracefully leap onto the griffin’s back, the double leash twisted around his hands like reins.
“I said don’t look down.” Kai gave a sad shake of his head, but he was smiling at me. He leaned back and looked right into my eyes. “You didn’t think you could show me a griffin and not expect me to take him for a test-flight, did you?”
“You ca
n’t be serious. That’s…” Kai narrowed one eye, warning me not to utter the word I had been about to say, so I mouthed it instead: Suicide. I raised my palms and clapped them over my mouth.
Kai laughed. “Ari, somebody needs to give him directions to our house.”
Those seven words took a terrible idea and made it the worst idea in the history of ideas.
“You can’t take a griffin who hasn’t flown in centuries on a transatlantic test flight,” I said, keeping my tone low and trying desperately for a calm manner even though every cell in my body was screaming at me to drag Kai off the back of the griffin.
Kai leaned down and whispered something in Idral’s round furry ear; the griffin laughed, his crest of feathers rustled in the quiet night. Kai turned his attention back to me and held the reins in one hand while patting Idral between his wings. “Well, he can’t fit through a portal, and unless you can wrangle him into an air-tight metal shipping container and mail him home on a freighter, there aren't too many other options.”
He had a point.
“It will take you weeks to get home.” I protested, leaving off the if.
Kai smiled. “Ari, his wingspan is like twenty-five feet. His top speed is probably better than 180, so we should be in Boston about twenty hours after we leave Spain.”
Somehow the thought of Kai flying Idral at 180 miles per hour over the open ocean didn’t make me feel any better. I was at a loss for words, so I uttered the only thing I could think of.
“Spain?”
“The last patch of land before the ocean,” Kai said.
“What if he gets tired?” I asked, trying to sound logical.
“We can land on a freighter and rest for a little while. If it’s dark, nobody will see us.”
Kai looked serious, but I couldn’t tell if he was. I was pretty sure a seven-hundred-pound griffin executing a perfect landing would still rock the sturdiest ship. And how were they going to find a ship in the middle of the ocean? Or execute Idral’s first landing in half a millenia, for that matter? I had visions of them rocketing toward a ship and crashing into the water, spraying dolphins and tuna fish across the deck. I tried another tactic.
“You won’t get to see the airport again,” I said because where logic failed, temptation might work.
Kai seemed to hesitate. He thought about that for a moment and grimaced. “I did love the airport,” Hope surged in me, only to be quickly stomped out by his next words, “But I’ve already seen that. A griffin over the open sea? That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience I can't pass up, Ari.”
“How will you know where you're going? I don’t think this model of griffin comes with a navigation system.” I challenged.
Basir raised his wing, and I did a double-take. How can the worst idea ever get worse? I gaped at all of them, at a loss for words.
“We can't go without the flight instructor. Idral’s going to need some pointers, and Basir knows the way home.” Kai said.
“This is insane. What about storms, drinking water, muscle fatigue? Basir’s an owl, not an albatross - he wasn’t meant to make transoceanic flights!” What if all of you drown because you can’t make it to land or a ship? I didn’t say the last part, but my heart was pounding like a war drum at the thought.
“Do you know of a portal large enough on both ends for a griffin?” Kai asked, his tone calm and soothing.
He had a point. The portal in our woods was between two pine trees, and Idral would never fit. Besides, I couldn’t even get him to that end because I couldn’t walk a griffin past the tourists at Trajan’s market and stuff him down the maintenance corridor, up the narrow staircase, and over the railing.
“I don’t like this,” I said.
“It’ll be fine.” Kai soothed, but the excitement on his face let me know that I had zero chance of talking him out of it. “I’ll meet you at home.”
“Don’t worry, Kia:se. I’ll make sure she gets back safe.” Evan said, slipping from the shadows.
Kai opened his mouth to say something, but Evan slapped Idral on the rump with a loud thwack! The griffin startled and leaped forward, plummeting toward the ground with a piercing screech.
Kai yelled, “Look out for the wall!” The last word fell off, ricocheting off the stone before the griffin’s enormous wings flapped open, and Kai let out a whoop of joy as the giant winged lion executed a graceful turn and shot off into the night with a flap of his mighty wings.
My hands clapped over my mouth as I turned my horrified gaze toward Evan. I managed two steps toward him, intent on strangling him when Kingston stepped out of the shadows and got between us. He tried to conceal his mirth when he extended his arm to block my path to Evan. Kingston looked over his shoulder at his partner, and his tone was reproachful, “You shouldn’t have done that.”
I watched Evan shrug, and a single dimple appeared on his cheek. His dark chocolate eyes sparkled with merriment, and the slight breeze ruffled his blue-black hair. “I thought he’d never leave.” Evan leveled his gaze at me and winked.
“You could have killed them!” I yelled. My heart still hammered in my ears. I squinted into the distance to reassure myself that Kai was still on Idral’s back and not splattered on the pavement below and saw the distant vision of an owl and a griffin flying side by side in the moonlight.
“See? He’s fine.” Evan said in a bored tone. “I'm more concerned that he’s going to get you killed.”
“He won’t,” I answered, turning my gaze back to Evan.
“You should be careful where you put that blind faith.” Evan persisted.
“Which reminds me, we have a few things to straighten out,” I said, stepping forward and putting my hands on my hips.
Kingston’s hands landed on my shoulders, and I looked up into his dark blue eyes. His silver hair was longer than when I’d last seen him, and his eyes looked tired. Things hadn’t been going well for the Alliance. Still, Kingston was doggedly trying to put the organization back on solid footing, possibly even at the expense of forcing me to violate the mission of the C.C.O.
“We came to thank you and reassure you that we successfully negotiated terms which will leave La Gilda Maghi with their independence. The United Coven and Alliance will train them so they can defend their territory. Our best people will begin working with the Italians tonight to help them resist a hostile takeover by the Chanson, should it come to that.”
Evan looked at Kingston. “Which it will, sooner or later.”
Kingston nodded with resignation. “It’s a good thing you were here, Arienne. They would have lost because the magic here is weak, but we have discovered several of the families have found alternative methods of fueling their magic.”
“Enslaved jinn. It sounds like something the Alliance would be interested in. Did you negotiate some pointers for your organization? Oh, and I figured out that you were the ones that sent me here. So much for the C.C.O. being the resistance, huh? I guess you think my loyalty goes to whoever’s check I cash.” I said.
“That is not true,” Kingston said, sounding weary. “Your ethics are not in question, Ari. There is nobody besides you who can remain neutral at this point.”
“And yet you’ve been doing your best to sway me to your employer’s side. Stupidly, I let it work.”
Evan shook his head, and an edgy look passed between the two men.
Kingston turned back to me. “Change happens slowly, but it is happening. If you look closely at your role, you will find that you did not violate the mission of your organization any more than you have in the past.”
That cutting remark wasn’t an admission or a denial, and I glared at Kingston, trying to choose my next words very carefully because my instinct was to blast him off the roof and be done with it.
“She’s just mad because I threw her boyfriend off the castle wall.” Evan smiled at me, trying to break the tension, but there was some warning in his gaze that I didn’t ignore.
“Oh, I promise we’ll get back to
that discussion, Evan,” I said, holding up one finger. I glared at Kingston, “Why don’t we get to the part about Marco Cerasola?” I asked.
Kingston lowered his gaze. “I told you we would have drinks when we returned to Boston. Having that conversation here would not be wise.”
“Not wise? Was sending me in blind, wise? This habit of holding back a few details is getting old. Especially the detail about you orchestrating this whole situation. Were you using me to increase the hold the Alliance has on Italy or was that just a bonus?”
Kingston smiled. “No. That was an unexpected choice you made. On your own.”
I blinked, and rage flooded in. My voice came out in that deathly quiet tone that I rarely used. “Choice? I came here and found out how vulnerable they were, and you expected me to do what? Let La Gilda Maghi fall like the London Office did?”
Evan stepped forward. “There are things you don’t know about London, Ari.”
“I’m sure. There’s a lot I don’t know about because both of you have been spending so much time roping me into your little spy ring. As the leader of the Crux Crucio Orbis, let me make it abundantly clear that my organization will never be affiliated with the United Coven and Alliance. Italy was a one-shot deal, boys, because I didn’t see another option. From now on, keep my name and the organization’s name out of your mouths, so you don’t taint my reputation.” I glared at Evan. He gave me a sexy half-smile and a nod of acknowledgment, and my traitorous heart sped up a little. “I’m not going to forget you tried to kill Kai,” I promised.
“I didn’t try to kill him, I just wanted to remind you that life with me would also be exciting, and there’s no way I’ll ever keep your name out of my mouth.” Evan’s grin was cocky in that way that only devastatingly handsome men can pull off. I rolled my eyes at him and stepped back from Kingston.
The older man shook his head, but his amusement was evident. “I suppose you will not accept my offer of flying back to Boston with us?”
I shook my head. “It’s better if I keep my distance. Not only am I likely to strangle one of you, I now have a pretty large following in Rome. I wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about me.” I turned and looked around for Sidaffri, but she was gone. Her lamp was at the hotel, and my iron pin was still in her shirt; she couldn’t have gone far. “I’m leaving now. Don’t follow me.” I said, turning on my heel and heading away from Castel Sant’Angelo.
Resistant Magic (Relic Hunter Book 5) Page 27
