Gryphon and His Thief

by Nutt, Karen Michelle

Then it registered what Professor Leander had said. She wanted the stone and…the girl. Like in…she wanted her? Her body stiffened in automatic defense. "Why do you need me?" she blurted out before she could rein in her curiosity.

  Professor Leander's lips curved. "Opening the portal to the other side requires blood."

  Calli swallowed hard. When the evildoer decided to share their plans, it usually meant the one hearing such tactics didn't live long enough to tell anyone else about it. Why did Isa need her blood? Wouldn't one of her goon's blood suffice? "So slice your own palm and go for it," she spat with more bravery than she felt.

  Professor Leander didn't seem to find her suggestion useful, if her frown of displeasure was any indication. "You say the stone is at the motel?"

  "Didn't I just tell you that?" she answered the question with a question.

  "If you're lying, Miss Angelis, you will not like what I'll do to you. Take hold of her," she ordered Bert. "She's coming with us."

  Before Calli could move, his hand snaked out, grabbing her upper arm in a grip that cut off her circulation, and adding pain to her back and wrists. She inhaled sharply and Bert chuckled low in his throat as if he enjoyed her discomfort. She really hated this guy.

  Professor Leander stood and straightened her jacket. What do you know? The woman donned a skirt for her 'let's raise the dead' party. Her three-inch stilettos finished off the attire. She may not be beautiful, but she did have a striking figure – tall, graceful, but unfortunately insane.

  Her slanted eyes roved over Calli with renewed interest as she sauntered over to her. "You look like her, you know. Her hair was the same shade of dark copper as yours, and her eyes were like moss."

  "What are you talking about?" Though, she really had a good idea, but she was all about the proof and she'd like to hear Professor Leander say it.

  "Callista," the professor said the name like the syllables burned her tongue. "Darrien's soul mate." If she could have spat on the floor and not appeared unladylike, Calli was sure Professor Leander would have done just that.

  "What do you know of Darrien?" she asked, still pushing for confirmation that she was indeed the Isa from Darrien's past.

  Her hand cupped Calli's chin. "Come now, sweet girl. Did you believe I came to hire you because of your credentials?" Her fingers squeezed her jaw before she shoved her back. She bounced off Bert's chest, who still had a hold of her arm.

  Calli didn't answer the question, but remained silent. Of course she'd wondered how the professor found her, but the woman was a great storyteller. She'd fabricated an elaborate lie with stories about how she'd known her father, and how they met at college. Calli located the transcripts, and the details the professor knew about her father were uncanny. Professor Leander may be a deceitful witch, but she was a thorough one.

  "I've waited centuries for this moment," Professor Leander said as she glanced toward the large window as if reminiscing about her journey to this point in time.

  Being this high up, the city was spread out before them, and the vehicles below looked no bigger than ants trailing behind each other as they headed toward their destination. At night, the city would come alive with color, but it wouldn't take away from the sky. The stars would twinkle above the city lights and from this window it would be the perfect show.

  "All the stars are aligned," Professor Leander told her, "and of course you're here." The woman met her gaze then. "I had to wait for Callista's soul to be reborn for all this to work to my advantage. You did take your sweet time, I must say."

  As much as she'd like to refute the whole soul reincarnation business, she couldn't anymore. Not with all the weird things that had happened in the last day—Gryphon shifters, visions, and Hecate's Stone that housed enough power to open a portal to the underworld.

  Professor Leander was Isa. She didn't have to witness the woman going all beastie and spreading her wings to have it confirmed. She'd said enough to remove all doubts. She had waited centuries for this moment. Her words.

  In Calli's visions, she'd witnessed how Isa was as a child. She'd always been jealous of Darrien and Callista's relationship, and in the last vision, Isa had stood outside the couples' window, coveting what she could never have. As much as Calli would like to believe those snippets were a true glimpse of the past, there were always two sides to a story. She'd have Isa's… even if it ended up being the perverted version. Villains always believed they were justified when they performed their heinous acts.

  "Let's say I'm Callista reincarnated," Calli began, "who the hell are you in this never-ending saga?"

  Professor Leander's chuckle was more a courtesy laugh. "I'm Isa, and don't try to deny you didn't already figure this out. I know how chummy you were with Darrien at the museum. Heads together and scheming, no doubt." She paused as if waiting for Calli to confirm or deny her claims. When none came, she sighed and shook her head. "Darrien was to be mine, but the fool always had a fondness for the human side of his existence. Gryphons mate for life. Did you know that? Gryphons," she said again, this time stressing the importance of that one word. "Not humans and Gryphons. Humans don't know the first thing about having a life commitment. They throw their love away on the first person who pays attention to them." Her hatred for humans radiated off her like heat from a furnace, her face turning redder and redder as she voiced her grievances against the human race.

  Now she got it. Isa wasn't into the whole multi-cultural marriage thing. She supposed this applied to preternatural beings as well. So she didn't believe it possible for Darrien to find his true love with anyone other than another Gryphon shifter. "You said Darrien was to be yours. Why did you believe this? Did he tell you he wanted to be with you? Did he proclaim his love for you?"

  Isa's eyes narrowed. "He didn't have to. He told me with his actions. He was always there for me, and would never let anything bad happen to me. He always made sure to include me when he was off to have an adventure. We were inseparable when we were children."

  The way she described it made it sound like they were best buddies. "Just you and him…together, right?" she asked, knowing full well Darrien and Isa had not been alone when these so called adventures took place. Isa conveniently forgot Darrien had many friends and didn't exclude anyone, including a child who wanted to tag along.

  Isa waved her hand. "Some of the others in our tribe would join us now and again. But Callista always butted in when no one cared to have her around. She couldn't fly like the rest of us. She always slowed us down, but Darrien was too kind to leave her behind and would volunteer to let her ride on his back. She tricked him into falling for her. It was all a ploy to keep him away from me."

  Calli pitied Isa in a way. Isa hadn't understood Darrien cared for her as he would a little sister. She misconstrued every act of kindness as something more. If only Darrien had realized Isa's infatuation had turned to something more sinister, he might have been able to reason with her. "So what did you do about Callista stealing Darrien away from you?" she goaded, wanting her to confess.

  Isa harrumphed. "I couldn't believe he actually married her. It was true a few of the others from our tribe had taken human mates, but Darrien was a warrior, respected among our members. He could have one day been a great leader of our tribe. He'd been favored among the elders."

  "But he couldn't be one if he married a human?" Calli asked.

  Isa threw a look that clearly said she thought Calli an imbecile for even voicing the question. "Of course he couldn't. He ruined his chances when he took a human mate. If he had any children with Callista, his bloodline would be tainted." She shook her head. "Darrien told me he cared about me." For a moment, the harsh lines of years of hatred fell away and her lower lip trembled.

  "He did love you, Isa," she said softly, "but he wasn't in love with you. Surely you realize that."

  "You're wrong." Her voice turned hard as steel. "He was confused. He didn't realize the mistake he made when he wedded Callista, and when she told him her news…" She inhale
d deeply as if she were reliving a tragic day. "Callista was to have his young. I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. What kind of mongrel would have been born from such a union? We're shifters and the child would have been mixed with human blood."

  "But you have a human side," she said, though it seemed Isa had conveniently forgotten the fact."

  "We are not human!" Her eyes flared gold.

  Definitely a sore spot with her so Calli switched the conversation. "Even if you believed you were doing the right thing by eliminating Callista, you do realize by killing her you damned Darrien in more ways than one. He has lived centuries with his essence split, leaving him restless and never truly content. That's one hell of a way to show how much you love him. You've condemned him for eternity."

  Her lips curved, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. "You knew the whole story, didn't you? Did you want me to confess? I have nothing to hide. I killed Callista and the brat she carried. There, I said it. I'm not sorry. I had every right."

  Anger welled up inside of Calli and if her hands were free, she'd go after Isa for the travesty she caused in the name of love. Isa murdered a pregnant woman, and she left Darrien to pay for the sins she'd committed.

  Isa tilted her head and pursed her lips. "You hate me."

  Her statement hit home, surprising Calli. The emotion felt personal and long earned.

  "Interesting, don't you agree?" Isa said. "Your soul recognizes me even if you don't truly grasp it." Then she chuckled, but Calli could find no reason why she'd find this humorous. "You question my affections for Darrien, don't you? You believe my methods were too severe." Isa's eyes glowed as if fire burned behind the irises, but Calli couldn't stop from voicing her opinion.

  "If you loved Darrien, why didn't you stop him from being sentenced? If you had stepped forward and said something in his defense, he wouldn't have been cursed."

  She harrumphed again. "Did you expect me to confess I was the one to murder his wife? I loved Darrien, but I'm not stupid."

  Maybe not stupid, but crazy was up for debate. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying as much. Anyway, it didn't seem as if Isa wanted a response from her.

  "At the time," Isa said, "I didn't realize Spiro had the blessing from the goddess Hecate and was a powerful Necromancer. I knew he would mourn his daughter, but I miscalculated the depth of his sorrow."

  Calli's mouth flattened into a hard line and her brows rose. "You murdered his daughter and you didn't expect him to be upset?" She couldn't believe the woman's rationale.

  "Spiro's tribe also believed in reincarnation as the Gryphon tribes did. His daughter would live again some day, but Spiro seemed to have forgotten in his grief. I had it all worked out, you see. I also knew by the time Callista's soul was reborn and she grew to adulthood, Darrien would no longer care." She waved her hand in dismissal.

  That was where Isa was wrong. Darrien still pined for his wife. She saw it in the way he gazed at her. Even though the memories were lost to her, the vision she experienced showed her a glimpse of what the two had shared. They had been in love and this woman had destroyed their lives. "What did you expect?" she asked Isa. "That you and Darrien would just fly off into the sunset and live happily-ever-after?"

  Isa didn't answer and the silence spoke more than words.

  "My God, you did," she said in disbelief.

  "With Callista out of the way, it was possible, but Spiro called his daughter back from the veil."

  A small frown slipped across Calli's face. "What do you mean?"

  "Spiro could summon souls," Isa said, "and he summoned his daughter to find out who'd been responsible for ending her life."

  It didn't take a genius to know how that conversation turned out. "He would have the truth so why did he curse Darrien?" Calli asked. "He had nothing to do with the murder."

  "Spiro still blamed Darrien for not realizing the threat and stopping me. So he cursed Darrien then went after all Gryphons. He hunted them down and killed them one by one."

  Pain settled behind Calli's heart as she realized what had happened because of Isa's treachery. "The tribe had nothing to do with what you did. Spiro punished all Gryphons because of you?"

  She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "Spiro's grief turned to hatred and he lashed out."

  "And yet, you managed to survive." Calli couldn't quite keep the terseness out of her voice."

  "When I knew he was coming after the tribe, I took precautions."

  "But what of the others? Why didn't you warn them?"

  "I couldn't. I needed to buy some time so I could make my escape."

  She was responsible for ending her species lives, but she didn't seem all that upset. Maybe it was a survival instinct, or maybe she was just a cold-blooded woman who only cared about herself and her needs.

  Isa sighed heavily. "Finally, Hecate became aware of Spiro's acts of revenge. He had misused his gifts from the goddess."

  Took the goddess long enough to figure it out, Calli thought to herself, but she bit her tongue.

  "Hecate stripped Spiro of his powers and forged it into a stone. It was then cast into the desert and never seen again until a student discovered it at a dig site. However, before I could retrieve it, the Guards of Judgment, who preside over all preternatural beings with their rules and regulations, confiscated it and from there you know where it ended up."

  She'd have to find out more about this preternatural society, but for now she'd stick with this story. "It ended up at The Museum of Cursed Antiquities," Calli recapped. "So you hired me to steal the stone for you."

  "Of course," she said with impatience.

  "And you couldn't just waltz in there and take it because the museum is warded against preternatural beings."

  For a moment Isa's composure slipped, but then she must have decided it didn't matter if she spoke the truth. "Well, clever girl, I would have sent my men," she glanced at Bert, "but you saw how they botched the plan to extract you. I couldn't chance it, but I didn't expect you to fall for the beastie's charms. I'd swear you fell in love with Darrien all over again." Isa didn't appear thrilled with the prospect.

  The claim weaved an unsettling path through Calli too. Was she in love with Darrien? Was it that easy to fall in love with someone if the stars were aligned just right, as Isa claimed? Didn't you have to date a person, get to know them, kiss…make love…well, all in good time. Love at first sight was for fairytales, wasn't it? A dating service would just love to have a corner market on charting the stars and locating destined soul mates. She could see it now. Soul Mates Are Us, Dating Service.

  "Your plan to have me steal the stone was nicely thought out," Calli said, "but if you think you're going to have your happy ending, you might want to rethink your plans again." She shifted her weight and flexed her hands for what little good it did. She was starting to lose feeling in her fingers and her shoulders ached, but her minor discomfort was nothing she couldn't endure. Her thoughts turned toward Darrien, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Let me remind you. Darrien has been shot and is bleeding out as we take this sweet trip down memory lane."

  Isa rolled her eyes with such flourish there was no doubt Calli's comment irritated her. "You worry for nothing. Unless my men destroyed the Gryphon statue, which I can assure you wouldn't be an easy task, Darrien will heal as soon as the sun sets. I've seen it happen before." Isa shook her head and sighed heavily as if she couldn't understand why Calli worried over a little bullet wound.

  A flood of relief hit her full force and she closed her eyes as she realized how scared she'd actually been for him. He would be all right. She opened her eyes again and glanced out the window. A carpet of color painted the heavens, now that the sun rode low in the sky. The change would happen soon. Hold on, Darrien, and then she silently prayed what Isa claimed would be the truth.

  Isa let out a chuckle and covered her mouth. "His human side will believe he dreamt the whole fiasco." Her gaze slid over Calli with amusement. "He
might not remember he had a nice chat with you. The curse is not so kind with the human aspect, most likely can't handle the magic. Makes him quite forgetful. I've spoken to him before, you know. Twenty or so years ago… What a bore he'd been. Weak and unable to see without his glasses, and his horrible British accent just added to how dull he truly was. I will be glad when that part of his essence is gone."

  Isa believed Nerdy Darrien would cease to exist once the curse was lifted? The human part of Darrien's essence was still him, just without the intense beastie side. He was witty and charming, and he most definitely was not weak or dull.

  "It all comes full circle," Isa broke through her reverie, drawing Calli's attention, though the woman's words were spoken as if she were talking to herself. "Centuries ago the curse placed on Darrien was issued on what you humans now call Halloween, most fitting don't you agree? Darrien's soul hovers between life and death, and this time of the year is when the veil between those two worlds is the thinnest. I plan on calling Spiro's soul from the veil and demand he release Darrien from the curse. Your blood will be the catalyst to bring it to fruit. Spiro will not refuse an audience when the blood of his daughter has done the summoning."

  "Once the curse is broken, what then?" Calli asked. "How can you still hold onto the belief Darrien will want to be with you? He didn't want you the first time around. And what about the other souls you'll be releasing from the other side in the process? Paradise won't look so pretty then, will it? Especially when the walking dead try to eat your face for a snack."

  Isa lifted her shoulders in a shrug as if she didn't care about the consequences to opening the eternal floodgates. "I'll be able to control the undead. I'll have Hecate's Stone. The souls cannot cross the threshold unless I demand it."

  "Right," she said with sarcasm. "All's cool. My bad." Isa thrived on control and she'd bet the woman wouldn't just close the doors to the underworld once she had Spiro remove the curse.

  "Darrien will be beholden to me." She harrumphed with annoyance as she narrowed her eyes on her. "I'm freeing Darrien from the curse," she stated and lifted her chin. "He'll owe me the devotion I deserve," she said and nodded as if her evil plan made perfect sense.