Rowan leaned back and considered me through narrowed eyes. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re cute when you’re angry? Like a rabid teacup poodle.”
I balled up my fist, ready to go all ‘rabid poodle’ on the other side of his smug face. Before I could arc back Grams’ front door flew open. Gabe bounded out into the snow dressed only in a pair of stretchy pants. Something had him ready to morph in a moment’s notice.
“There you are!” he rumbled. “Here’s an idea; if you have a cell phone and happen to be the friggin’ Chosen One, maybe you answer your phone when people call you!”
I untied my hoodie from around my waist and dug into the pocket for my phone. It frantically buzzed and shook in my palm as six missed calls, three voicemails, and over a dozen text messages came in one after the other.
“Sorry. I must’ve been in a dead zone. What’s going on?” I tugged the hoodie up my arms, and shifted on my frozen, bare feet in the snow. “And can we maybe discuss it on the porch?” I gave Rowan a pointed stare. “I didn’t get a chance to grab my shoes before getting abducted.”
Instead of waiting for a response, I pushed my way between the two and trekked up to the porch. Gabe’s grim tone followed me, “Cee, there’ve been earthquakes in New York caused by a demon. Someone caught a glimpse of it on film and all the news stations are playing it on a loop. We need to get there now before this turns into a world-wide panic.”
I spun fast, slipped on some ice, and caught myself on the porch rail. “Three demon attacks in one night? That never happens!”
Rowan paused in buttoning his shirt to hold up one finger. “Not never. Tonight, actually.”
Gabe talked right over him, not even bothering to glance his way or acknowledge his existence in the slightest. “Three? What were the other two?”
“Two demons attacked the beach Caleb and I were on. He stayed behind to deal with one and we need to get back and help him.” I glared at Rowan who gave a noncommittal shrug.
“Cal can hold his own.” Gabe’s massive pecs rose and fell with each heaving breath. “We need to deal with this other matter first.”
Despite it being cold enough out to see our breath, neither Gabe nor Rowan seemed chilled in the slightest. I, on the other hand, was still wet and freezing to the point of stabbing icicle pain. Pride made me try and hide it so I didn’t look like the wimp. The convulsing chills probably gave my secret away.
“W-w-what I don’t understand is why New York? As a r-r-rule the Dark Army attacks are centered around one of us. S-s-so why there?”
Rowan rolled his eyes and followed me up on to the porch. I flinched when he clamped his hand onto my wrist. The shaking stopped and the chills eased. Yes, my hands and feet were still blue, but I no longer felt the effects of the cold. I could’ve said thank you, but considering our history I viewed this act of kindness as the very least he could do.
“Maybe someone is trying to lure us there?” Gabe glared daggers at the back of Rowan’s head, not happy in the least that he was touching me. “Think this is Alec or the Countess’s doing?”
I chewed on my thumbnail while I mulled that over. The Countess led the Dark Army and wanted to kill me so she could basically take over the world. She could’ve been luring me into unfamiliar territory where I’d be vulnerable. However, Alec had been underground with his band of puppets for a while. This could’ve been his big reveal.
“Whoever it is wants us to know what they’re up to. The demon is just a calling card. They’ll make their presence known when we get there.”
“Then let’s go. Now.” Gabe’s voice dripped with resentment as he finally acknowledged Rowan. “You’re the fastest transportation around.”
Rowan snorted a laugh and threw his hands in the air, palms up. “Sorry, mate. I’ve tried the hero thing before. Gave me hives. I think I’m allergic.”
Gabe ground his teeth together. I guessed it was to stop his fangs from sliding down, but kept that theory to myself. “Then don’t do it for you,” he jerked his chin in my direction. “Do it for her.”
Rowan’s head fell back in a loud guffaw and he dropped my wrist. “What on earth gave you the idea that would work?”
My brother stomped up the porch stairs and leaned in dangerously close to the pirate. “Because you sold her out to ensure your own freedom, and she hasn’t returned the favor by killing you.” Gabe stood ramrod straight and stared down the bridge of his nose at Rowan. A low growl seeped out and vibrated his chest. “Unlike her, I’m not nearly that generous.”
Despite the amused smirk Rowan wore, his eyes held a glint as deadly as a double-edged sword. “Then it’s a good thing you’re not the Conduit, aye?”
Before the oppressive testosterone in the air made me heave, I stepped between them. “Oh, for crying out loud! Would you two knock it off! Rowan, you have two choices here. You’re either going to help Caleb or you’re taking us to New York. It’s up to you.”
Rowan raised one eyebrow. “And what’s to stop me from doing neither and teleporting off to some random tropical hot spot? I could have a tasty strumpet on me arm and a Mai Tai in me hand in less than ten minutes.”
The front door squeaked open and Kendall poked her head out. “Uh, guys? That … thing is in Time Square and just stormed the set of Good Morning America. Grams called in a tizzy. Apparently if she can’t start her day tomorrow with Sam Champion she’s holding us, like, personally responsible. She had her scary voice on. We need to go.”
“I’m working on it!” I screeched. Kendall’s eyes widened and she retreated back into the house with her hands raised. I cleared my throat and tried to adopt a silky, more persuasive tone. “Rowan, Gabe’s right. I do owe you a world class beat down.”
“Damn right,” Gabe rumbled.
I held up a finger to silence him, but kept my gaze locked on Rowan. “One you know I am more than capable of delivering. Someday, somewhere you and I will cross paths again. At that time, I’ll get my payback. I promise you that. However … if you help me tonight I’ll wipe the slate clean between us. You owe me nothing. I owe you no messy, violent death. Deal?”
“Cee, you nearly got killed because of this guy!” Gabe erupted, his face reddening in anger. “Ended up taking a fireball to the mid-section! That ringing any bells?!”
“Technically, that was Caleb’s fault, not mine. And I also came back to save you all, let’s not forget that.”
“We wouldn’t have needed saving if it wasn’t for you!” Gabe lunged for Rowan with rage bubbling in his feline eyes like hot lava. I slammed my hands against his chest to halt him.
“Enough!” Gabe’s size gave him no advantage to go around, or even through me, and we both knew it. I kept my forearm pressed to his chest and turned back to Rowan. “You have my word. You help me tonight, by first dropping us off in New York, then going back to help Caleb and we start over on neutral ground. Then, for all I care, you can poof off to find yourself that—” I felt like a dork trying on his lingo, but went for it anyway, ”—strumpet. But if you don’t do this, there will be retribution of the worst possible kind. So, what do you say? Deal?”
A wicked little spark lit Rowan’s face in a way that made me wonder if I’d just made a deal with the devil as he mulled over my ultimatum. “A level playing field with the Conduit herself?” His mouth curled into a wry smile. “Hmmmm … that’s too tempting to pass up. Not having to watch over my shoulder for when you’re finally going to pounce … ”
“Don’t flatter yourself. I wouldn’t pounce. I’d drop kick you.”
He licked his lips as if the very idea sounded scrumptious. “Either way, pack a lunch kiddies, we’re heading to the Big Apple.”
Chapter Four
“It’s everything I dreamed of!” Kendall spun in a circle, her arms thrown out wide. “The hustle and bustle of the big city! The high-rises! The fashion! Broadway!” She pulled her arms in and hugged herself. “Oh, Broadway. That was my dream before I grew wings. Hey! That could be a gr
eat idea for a play!”
“Kendall, we’re in a dark, dingy alley that smells like gym socks and pickles.” I kept my hands stuffed into my pockets out of fear of catching some rare skin-eating virus. “You haven’t actually seen New York yet.”
“Still.” She shrugged with stars in her eyes. “We’re here. I can feel it.”
Gabe grimaced like Kendall smelled worse than the alley. “Let’s go over the plan again, so we can get out of here ASAP.”
“I’m finding this field trip very enlightening.” Rowan rocked back on his heels and stuffed his hands into the pockets of the winter jacket he’d borrowed from Gabe. The three-sizes-too-big coat dwarfed him to the point that his demonhood seemed a bit diminished. “The whole demonic community would be significantly less intimidated by your little group if they spent an evening with you.”
Gabe’s head whipped around and a menacing growl tore its way out of his solid wall of a chest. In a blink his eyes turned to topaz. Rowan said nothing, but cocked his head and raised one eyebrow, daring my brother to advance.
Caleb still being in jeopardy shortened my patience with their testosterone charged crap down to exactly zero. “I get it! We all get it. That garbage can over there gets it! You don’t like each other. Well, big friggin’ deal! We’ve got a job to do! So, as of right now you’re gonna stop with the snide comments, and the growling, or you’re both gonna find out what a groin kick delivered by the Chosen One feels like. Got it?”
Silence. Then Gabe cleared his throat and physically shook off his feline attributes.
Rowan swung his arms around and ended with a casual snap/clap. “To answer your earlier question, I believe the brilliant plan our fearless leader came up with was to grab the disgusting, evil creature and give him the equivalent of a group hug so I can whisk us all away to a more private location where we can kill him in a horribly bloody manner, yes?”
A deep scowl creased my forehead. “Well, when you say it like that it sounds stupid.”
Rowan made no attempts to disguise how funny he found this. “Doesn’t matter how I say it, doll. You plan to snuggle the enemy. Clearly, this idea is flawed.”
“News crews and cops are swarming Time Square trying to get a good view of this thing.” I didn’t actually need to defend myself to him—or anyone really—but I hated having my battle plans called into question. It made me justifiably argumentative and downright cranky. Then again, that might just be the effects a’ la Rowan. “Up to this point it has moved fast enough to appear as nothing more than a humongous, blurred thing to them and their cameras. But we can’t fight in front of a crowd like that and maintain any kind of anonymity.”
Rowan took a step forward, right smack dab into my comfort zone. His leer, meant solely to entice, for some reason brought to mind the serpent tempting Eve to take a bite of the apple. “So, let ‘em all see what you can do. Let ‘em marvel at the wonder that is the Conduit.” His gaze dragged leisurely over me. His turquoise eyes glittered with naughty suggestions. I stayed put and tried to act completely indifferent to his brazenness rather than risk riling Gabe up again. “They’d adore you, lass. And flock to worship at your alter. You could live as a goddess among men. Why not?”
I smiled in spite of myself when I realized that idea held no appeal to me. My calling gave me a peace and clarity of my path that few people ever found. “Because I have a higher calling and it’s a heck of a lot more important than me ending up on E! News Daily.”
Kendall sucked in a shocked breath. How dare I speak ill of her beloved E!.
I rolled my eyes, but stayed on with my original point. “To protect our identities and to keep all these people safe we’re going to take that thing far away from here to kill it.”
Rowan’s expression contorted in a swirling mess of confusion and disgust. “And there’s nothing in it for you?”
“Not really. No.”
“Yet you do it voluntarily?” With the judgmental, condescending tone he used, you would have thought I just admitted to gargling with razor blades.
I pressed my lips together and nodded.
“Whatever blows your skirt up, Poppet.” He shrugged. “As for me, I need to get this little hero mission over with and go find myself some fun form of debauchery to revel in. I hang around you all too long and I may catch morals.” He faked a shiver. Then, with a smile that bordered on villainous, he added, “Now let’s go snuggle your big, nasty beastie.”
“Liberty Island?! You got us as far as Liberty Island?” A hooked claw swished over my head. I ducked before it could skewer my brain.
“There’s no one here and I couldn’t hold him any longer!” Rowan hollered from under the shield of his arms. “Even in smoke form he managed to bite me. What is that thing?”
With his lip curled to reveal razor sharp teeth, Gabe-lion galloped toward the beast. The creature swung its horns and hooked Gabe under his front legs. It stomped through the snow, then flung him at the water’s edge. Gabe dug his claws into the frozen ground as he skidded. Inches were all that prevented him from plunging into the icy Upper Bay.
“My best guess is that at some point a bat and a water buffalo got together and had a love child that could miraculously walk on two legs.” With one arm still defensively raised, I pointed with the opposite hand. “That would be their love spawn.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s cranky we interrupted its tirade and brought it here.” Rowan scooted around to position me between the Bat-bull and himself. Nobility was obviously not a personality trait he bothered with. “Did I mention what a monumentally bad idea this was?”
“It came up!” I shrieked as the Bat-bull pivoted around and thundered at us on heavy hooved feet. “Kendall! Little help here!”
Kendall sat huddled in her winged cocoon by Lady Liberty’s big toe. Feathers parted and one blue eye peeked out. “You can come in here. I’ll scoot, but I’m not coming out!”
“Oh, that’s nice. Shield!” I hollered and leapt in the air. Pulling into a tight tuck I spun over the head of the incoming Bat-bull. Rowan disappeared in a puff of smoke a second before the beast plowed into him.
Our lion—slightly disheveled from his fall—trotted up at the same moment Rowan reappeared behind me. “Now that you got him here, oh-wise Conduit, what are you going to do with him?”
Snow kicked up when the Bat-bull screeched to a halt and spun back in our direction. A white cloud of hot air puffed from his wide, smooshed nose. Red eyes glared from big bovine sockets. He tossed his head to intimidate us with the massiveness of glossy black horns. I couldn’t speak for the others, but that intimidation tactic worked wonders on me. Every time it charged I forgot how to use my abilities and my feeble mind only manage one thought—run!
“I suggest we figure out how to kill him before he kills us!” I squealed in an octave only dogs could hear.
One back hoof pawed at the ground, yet this time the beast didn’t charge. Instead it raised its two-fingered hands high in the air. Coal-black flesh gave way to ridged and curved talons. In one swift motion it arched back then slammed its hands to the ground. Those claws sliced through the frozen earth like it was softened butter.
Beside me Gabe tensed and sniffed deeply at the air. Whatever his Spidey Sense detected caused his muzzle to curl up in a threatening growl.
Before I could form the words, “Golly, Gabe, what’s the matter?” the ground began to shake. Our lion locked his legs to steady himself. Both Rowan and I fell to our knees. Bone-chillingly cold water sloshed up in protest of the quaking ground. It rained down on us in a shower that cut like knives. I glanced over at Lady Liberty, deeply hoping she was sturdy enough to withstand the tremors. So far the big broad was holding up, but I needed to make this stop before she reached her limit.
On my hands and knees, I crawled to Rowan and latched onto his wrist. “Drop me off right in front of it.”
Golden hair bounced over his forehead and into his eyes. “I can’t tell i
f you’re insanely brave or suicidal.”
I peered back at the Bat-bull and pondered the same thing. “Right now, let’s go with brave. But make it quick before I change my mind and make Keni fly me out of here.”
“Keni would be totally okay with that!” her muffled voice interjected from behind down covered “walls”.
Rowan hooked an arm around my waist and poofed us to the foot of the beast. I thought I’d have a few seconds to initiate an offensive attack. I did not. Turns out the Bat-bull had surprisingly quick reflexes for such a big fella. Before I could get my bearings, it retracted its claws and attacked. My hands caught its horns a second before it gored me. Momentum knocked me to the ground, and I took the Bat-bull with me. I held firm as the beast tossed and turned to free its head. Up close its squished bat-face was even more grotesque. Plus, this dude smelled foul. Like soured milk left in the sun to bake. Judging by the eardrum splitting squeak it was making, I guessed it was enjoying our close encounter about as much as I was. If my hands weren’t busy pushing its chin to its chest so it couldn’t see to shred me with its wildly flailing claws I would’ve covered my ears. Battle can be downright inconvenient at times.
Gabe danced around the perimeter of the battle, anxiously anticipating his opportunity to jump in; preferably one that wouldn’t lead to him accidentally chomping his sister. Rowan, on the other hand, stood so close he could’ve poked the Bat-bull with his borrowed boot. Yet there he stood, texting away with a rather bored, disconnected look on his face.
“Little help here?” I grunted.
The pirate sucked air through his teeth. “Sorry, doll. I’m like your demonic cab driver. Here to give ya a lift, but not getting involved in your goings on. By the way, the meter is definitely running. Aren’t I supposed to scurry off to save your beau?”
“This is why people don’t like you.” A goober of foamy Bat-bull spittle dripped down onto my jacket, prompting an immediate dry-heave.
Sacrifice (The Gryphon Series Book 3) Page 3
