“That’s where my grandma and I go.”
“Oh.” Okay, he was supposed to do something, say something. But nothing came to mind.
“How about we go together?” she said.
Relieved, he said, “Sure. I’ll tell my parents I’m coming to pick you two lovely ladies up in the morning. I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“Great! I’ll tell Grandma that her friend doesn’t have to come get us.” Maddie jumped from the truck and closed the door. She waved and he waved back.
Chase waited until she vanished inside. He hadn’t wanted to take her home so early. Every time they parted it was like separating from himself.
He couldn’t explain it, but he felt closer to her with each passing moment. It was as if they were two ropes intertwined. With each touch shared, the binding twisted tighter, causing them to be stronger.
He drove away, consumed by an ominous feeling. A change was coming; something was in the air that he couldn’t explain.
Part III
Endings
Chapter 16
Maddie hated leaving Chase, but she needed to visit with Grandma. She eased the front door open. Soft snores echoed from the living room. Grandma Draoi stretched upon the couch with her arm thrown over her eyes. So much for that plan. Maddie grinned, tiptoed into the room, retrieved a cover from the back of the couch, and spread it over her. Static covered the television and Maddie turned it off.
She skirted the coffee table, walked to the window, and lifted a curtain. Chase and the old truck were gone. Not even a dust cloud still hung over the driveway. Outside, the late afternoon sparkled, sunlight, and some magical feeling stealing her thoughts away…
“Mom, when are we going?” she asked impatiently, tapping her foot.
“Soon, dear.”
“But I want to see Grandma Draoi,” she whined.
“I know, I know. But we have to wait on your father.”
“Okay.” She hopped on one foot and looked out the window. When finally she spotted the sedan pulling in the driveway, she let out a cry. “He’s home, he’s home!”
Her mother patted her on her head. “Of course he is, dear.”
Her father entered the foyer. He placed a kiss upon her mother’s cheek then bent down, picked her up, and threw her into the air, catching her before she crashed to the floor. She giggled, knowing no fear in his arms.
“Oh, do stop doing that. You’re scaring her.”
“You always say that. But look at her. She isn’t scared, she’s laughing.”
Her father tickled her chin and she tried to lower it to her chest. He put her down and she held onto his legs, looking up at him. “Can we go, Daddy?”
“Go where?” He winked.
She fisted her hands on her hips. “Did you forget?”
He patted her head and laughed under his breath. “No, my little peanut, I did not forget. Just let me remove my coat and tie and we’ll be on our way.”
She skipped around the room chanting, “I’m going to Grandma Draoi’s, I’m going to Grandma Draoi’s.”
The car pulled from the concrete drive and Maddie could barely contain her excitement. She was Grandma Draoi’s pet. Whenever they visited, she always received some kind of gift and lots of special attention.
When they arrived at the farm, Grandma Draoi was in the flower garden. She beckoned Maddie to her for a big hug. Then she popped her on the bottom and told her to go find their favorite plant.
Maddie scampered through the surrounding trees looking for their special flower. She bent to pluck it, but a shiver raced up her spine, like someone watched her…
****
“What is she doing?” Dougal scratched his chin as he watched Maddie skip through the woods and bend before a patch of grass.
“She’s in a trance. Her memories are driving her.” Serena never looked away, weaving her hands around in strange circular patterns.
“She’s smiling at me.”
“She thinks you’re her father and she is a little girl on a mission.”
Ruddy witch. “Serena, couldn’t you have made me someone else?” Her father was exactly what Dougal didn’t want to be.
“Retrieving memories isn’t as easy as you think, dear.”
Maddie spread her arms as if flying. She giggled, pretended to pick up her imaginary skirt, and ran past them.
In his human form, Dougal offered his hand. Maddie hummed a tune as they danced to music only she could hear. He hated Serena’s plan, and taking part in it made him hate it even more. Chase would be their ultimate leverage, but in case that didn’t work Serena wanted to insert memories into Maddie’s mind. They needed to convince her that she was supposed to help. But pretending to be her father was more than Dougal could take. As their daisy chain dance passed by her a second time, he whispered to Serena, “I can’t take this.”
Serena huffed. “Fine, do you want me to wake her?”
“Yes.”
“Then step back and hide yourself.”
Dougal shifted into his gryphon form and hid in the tree line. Serena waved her arms around and whispered a few words. The humming ceased. Maddie stopped and shook her head as if trying to clear away a mental fog.
“What? What am I doing here?” Maddie blinked and looked around the clearing.
Dougal stepped from the shadows. Evening sunlight warmed his eyes in the way that made them glow. Her eyebrows rose and her pulse throbbed in her neck.
“What— what are you doing here?”
“It’s quite simple. I’ve come for you.” His gryphon form always deepened his voice; he thought it sounded commanding. “I believe we need to get to know one another better.”
“I— I don’t know what you are.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, her eyes shifting nervously.
The poor girl. She probably thought he was the gray that had rescued her, meaning she just didn’t get it. He would have to help her understand, and he flexed his claws at the thought.
Maddie backed into a maple tree. He took another step toward her.
“I— I don’t know how I got here, or what you are, but I really think I should leave.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I like where you are.”
She licked her lips and his heart raced. In his fantasy, he stroked his knuckles across her cheek. He’d longed for the moment when he could reveal himself. Maddie was the eochair, and the legends spoke of the eochair falling in love with a gryphon. Of course it wouldn’t be him, he was the wrong color, but still the idea sent a thrill through his body.
And maybe, just maybe, the legends were wrong about the color.
“You seem different from before.” Her breathing turned ragged, as if she imagined racing away from him. “You’re kind of scaring me. Could you move back?”
He reared his head back and laughed. When he faced her, drool dripped from his fanged teeth. “Trust me, dear, I am different.”
Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, and she screamed, a sustained sound ripped from the bottom of her lungs.
Ouch. That hurt his sensitive gryphon hearing, and he waved a finger at her. “None of that.”
Another step, almost close enough to touch her, and she bolted. Tree limbs shook as she crashed through them in her haste.
A purr rumbled through him. “Oh, my dear, you’ve made my day. I love a good game of cat and mouse.”
****
The door slipped from Chase’s hand and closed too loudly. It echoed through the house, and the eerie silence hit him. His brothers… something had happened. He ran, but in the den, Mom rose from a chair. Worry lined her once youthful face.
“Your father is waiting for you in your room.”
He still couldn’t hear his younger brothers, and that wasn’t a good thing. “Is something wrong?”
She collapsed in the chair and shook her head. Tears coursed along her cheeks.
Not good at all, and horror filled him. “Mom, please. Is it the boys? Is it Dad? Did s
omething happen?”
“No, everyone is fine.” She sniffed. “Except you.”
Oh, so Dad told her. His fear twisted, a strange dose of guilt joining it and weighing down his stomach. Chase sighed. Maybe there’d been no way to spare her from the truth. She’d have realized something was wrong when either Dad or he entered the house wearing wings. And if he morphed while wearing his clothes again, ripping them to shreds from the inside out, she would surely start to ask questions.
She babbled. “Alex always told me his family was different. He even told me we would never have girls. I tried four separate times to prove him wrong. But he never told me what might happen to you!”
The tears overwhelmed her and she wailed louder. Awkwardly Chase patted her shoulder. “Mom, I’m fine.”
“But… but you’re a monster!”
He knelt before her. “I don’t look at it that way. I believe I’ve morphed for a reason.”
She sniffed and her fingers entwined with his. “Your father thinks he may have discovered that reason.”
“He does?” His heart hammered against his ribs and he fought the urge to run upstairs. About time they learned something helpful. “Did he tell you what it is?”
“No.”
He couldn’t stand it any longer. “Mom, please don’t worry. Everything will be okay.”
“How do you know?” She squeezed his hands.
“I can’t tell you how I know. I just do.”
His father’s voice floated down the stairway. “Chase? Is that you?”
He rose. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“Come upstairs, son.”
“Okay.” Chase patted his mother’s shoulder again and she released him.
Ascending the staircase was like walking in front of a firing squad. Dad waited for him at his bedroom door. His clenched jaw seemed grim. “Come in and sit down.”
The hope died within him. “This doesn’t sound good.”
Dad drew in a ragged breath. “I don’t know if it’s bad or good, but it may shed some light on our situation.”
Chase sat at his desk and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I’m ready.”
For a moment Dad paused, staring out the window. Beyond the glass, the first pink of sunset touched the clouds. “There’s a legend that surrounds our family. One I assumed wasn’t true, but I’m realizing I was wrong. The legend claims there was a clan who settled in a sleepy little town in Ireland. Most of the people were commoners and farmers, a peaceful people. Then one day they were attacked by giant flying creatures.”
Chase’s muscles tensed.
“Their villages were burned, their crops ruined, and their women stolen. But one girl, Arin, wasn’t taken because she was different. She was blind.” His father paused again, staring out the window at the brightening sunset. “During the raid, Arin became disoriented and stumbled through the woods, searching for her sister, only to confront a stranger. The stranger introduced himself as Cian Conn, an ancient war chief. Because Arin couldn’t see, she befriended him and enlisted his help. He would help, but for a price. Arin agreed to grant any favor he asked if he would help her find her sister and save them from the same fate her village had suffered. They found her sister, but it was too late. She was dead.”
Chase bit his lip and imagined the pain of losing your village and your sister.
“Their search complete, Cian made his requests. First, he asked for her to marry him. Second, he demanded that she and her descendants accept a special job.” Chase opened his mouth but Dad stopped him with an upraised hand. “Don’t get ahead of me. You need to understand a few things. From what I read, the person who helped Arin was not a person at all. He was one of the gryphons.”
“Gryphons? You mean those half-lion half-eagle creatures from mythology that you think we’re morphing into?”
“Yeah, that’s what I mean. I’ve been doing some research and it seems no one really knows what the gryphons are or where they came from. Most people believed they had the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. Some believed they roamed mountains guarding precious treasure. Whatever the case, Cian’s original gryphon clan were defenders. For some reason he left them and joined a different gang, so to speak. He was actually one of the gryphons that destroyed Arin’s village.”
Chase drew his brows together. “Wait, what? I don’t understand. You just said Cian helped Arin.”
“Cian had been a participant of a sort, although half-heartedly. He didn’t truly want to harm anyone, but he’d been forced to by his new gryphon gang. It was like a rite of passage. If he wanted to belong, then he had to do what they asked. As the fighting continued in the defenseless village, he snuck away. He didn’t want to engage in destroying innocents. He hid in the woods, far from his new brothers’ watchful eyes. When he’d seen Arin wandering about he’d taken pity on her because of her blindness. The journal insinuates that Cian felt they had something in common. She was different, as was he. Like her, he had an infirmity that made him less desirable.”
Dad paused as if waiting for Chase to speak but when he didn’t say anything, Dad asked, “Don’t you want to know his infirmity?”
“Sure.” What was he supposed to say? None of it made sense.
“His fur was gray.”
Um… Chase cocked his brow.
“I know it sounds odd, but it’s true. He wasn’t like the others in his new group, because they were all black. This made him an outcast among his new gryphon clan. But after he helped Arin, he was in even more danger. Cian and Arin made a pact to imprison the black gryphons, the dangerous ones. Cian built a tall white tower and with some help, he tricked them and led them inside. Once they were in, he snuck out and Arin locked the door.”
“And?”
“That’s it.”
“That’s it. But that doesn’t make sense. Why did he leave his first gryphon clan? Why did he trap his new one? What happened when he married Arin? What was the special job he gave her and her descendants?”
Dad shrugged and waved at the family journal open on the desk beside Chase’s computer keyboard. “I don’t have all the answers yet — still reading — but what I think is that Maddie is a direct descendant of Cian and Arin.”
“And us? Where do we come from?”
“I can only speculate that after the pact made with the gray gryphons, more of them morphed into humans and married.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’d know more if some of the journal’s pages weren’t missing.”
“Figures,” said Chase with disgust.
He rose and paced. What did all of it mean? The legend only raised more questions. No doubt he was related to the gray creatures, but how? When he transformed, gray hair sprouted all over him, and presumably Dad was the same. And how did this all transmit back to Maddie? Questions floated through his mind. But before he found any answers, he doubled over. Pain warped through him and his back muscles shivered.
“What’s wrong?” Dad gripped his forearm.
“I don’t know, but I think I’m changing again.”
Chapter 17
Maddie’s breath came in loud gasps as she ran, tripping over roots and fallen dead branches. She peered back over her shoulder. No one followed. Maybe she’d lost the gryphon. Maybe he hadn’t even followed her. She stopped and spun in a wide arc. Night had fallen in the woods and shadows surrounded her. If the black creature stood before her, would she even see him?
A shape moved from the foliage, closer than she thought possible. All she could see was the motion, then the full moon came from behind the clouds and pale light gleamed off dripping fangs. Tall, blacker than the night, bronze eyes reflecting the moonlight, and her heart accelerated again. The beast slipped toward her. He’d caught her already. There was nowhere to hide and no one to call for help. Grandma Draoi was too far away, even if she’d awakened and missed her.
The beast narrowed its slit eyes. A rumble echoed in its chest. She stopped and spread her legs apart, terri
fied and defensive. “What do you want?”
He came closer, stepping into a beam of moonlight slicing through the leaves. He growled again and bared long white teeth. A putrid odor wafted from his mouth. Maddie stared at the hideous form. It stood on two legs that looked like the back legs of a lion. Her throat constricted. The creature did indeed resemble the one that had saved her, but this one was darker. Was it possible it was the same being? And if so, why was it acting so hostile now?
Maddie jutted out her chin. “Are you the one who rescued me?”
“Yes,” came the gravelly answer. “I saved you.”
But she couldn’t quite believe it. “From the crash?”
“What crash?”
Maddie heard the words as if from a distance. No, this one hadn’t saved her, and that meant there were two such strange beasts flying around. Her stomach rolled, sweat beaded her brow, and she felt weird. Why did these things keep saving her? Gathering all her strength, she rushed the creature and beat his black-furred chest with her balled fists. “Why? Why did you save me? You should have let me die!”
He clutched both her hands in one of his and lifted her off the ground. She hung there, kicking her legs. Maddie’s shoulders burned with the strain, feeling as if they were going to pop from their sockets. She stopped moving, dropped her head, and whimpered.
“Are you done?”
Maddie sent him a pointed stare and spit in his face. He wiped the slime with his free hand, and she leaned backward, then flung her head forward and head-butted him. He released his grasp — startled, she thought, probably not hurt badly — and she fell to the ground and curled into a defensive ball. But he didn’t pounce on her. He cradled his head and moaned. Her arms ached as if stabbed with pins and needles, and she pushed to her feet. The world swayed.
Again the gravelly voice. “You shouldn’t have done that.” A darkness there, inside as well as out, and fear tingled through her. She’d made him angry.
She didn’t let herself shrink away. Haughtily, she shot back, “And what are you going to do about it? Are you going to kill me?”
The Key Page 14
