Sacrifice (The Gryphon Series Book 3)

by Stacey Rourke

  I needed out from under this guy now, if not sooner. Wriggling and straining, I maneuvered my knees up to my chest.

  “We will save Caleb—oof—together.” I managed to get my feet positioned just right and used a little extra oomph to kick the monstrous dude off of me, “Right after I kill this thing.”

  One of its horns snapped off in my hand and the creature went airborne … for a second. It landed on its feet. Red eyes burned with rage as it pawed at the earth and snorted.

  I sprang off the ground and landed in a defensive stance, the horn grasped firmly in my hand. The creature flipped his head and charged. Padded feet thumped up beside me and a slow smile of renewed confidence spread across my face. My feline sentry finally found his in.

  “I’ll go high, you go low!” Together we sprinted at the incoming beast.

  We had fought side by side enough to know each other’s battle strategies. Not a sound or syllable had to be uttered. Instinct led us to jump at exactly the same moment. I put my shoulder in and hit the Bat-bull square in the chest. Gabe took out its legs.

  The creature hit the ground with a loud, “Huuuunnnhhh!”

  Our combined force was enough to bring it down, but barely enough to keep it there. The thrashing creature bucked violently beneath us. In a move that would’ve gotten us kicked out of any superhero league—if there was such a thing—we sprawled on top of it. A suave and cool move? No. But effective.

  Knowing it was more Gabe’s weight than mine keeping the beast down, I turned my body and wedged the flat side of its broken horn against its windpipe. Its thrashing grew spastic and reckless. It didn’t take long for lack of oxygen to win out. Glowing red eyes dimmed and rolled back into its bovine head.

  “I’d stop short of killing him if I were you,” a silky, sultry voice suggested.

  Rowan snapped up, ramrod straight. His hands balled into fists and his arms pulled away from his body, ready to strike. “Countess.”

  Despite the awkward angle, I craned my head around. There she stood. The evil villainess that turned an entire army of mortals into her own band of demonic minions programmed to create carnage and destruction as she saw fit. She possessed an incomprehensible amount of power, yet chose to dress like a skank. Skintight black leather pants disappeared into matching thigh-high boots. A satin ivory corset drew her tiny waist in and hugged her hourglass shape. Her leather fetish continued with a plum jacket that covered her arms, but stopped just below her full breasts. Many cows died so she could look like a high- priced call girl from Hell.

  Her complexion held the same flawless luminescence of polished marble. Thick crimson hair waved down her back like a velvet curtain. The glowing red of her eyes made her a kind of beautiful that could only be described as demented.

  “Rowan,” she cooed and licked her wine-painted lips. “Always a pleasure.”

  His body jerked in response, as if hearing his name spew from her lips caused a physical reaction.

  The Countess ignored his discomfort and swung her gaze my way. “Bestiarequiesce!”

  Beneath me the Bat-bull went limp. All the fight left his body… and he seemed to be snoring.

  She gave me a smile reminiscent of a snake eyeing a field mouse. “You can let him go. He’s no longer a threat to you.”

  I peered down at the drooling Bat-bull, then pulled the horn away from his throat and rose to my feet. Fur brushed the back of my hand as Gabe took his place beside me.

  “I take it he’s your toy.” I jerked my chin at the sleeping demon. Its hands and feet kicked at the air as if it was dreaming about chasing a rabbit.

  “He is,” she confirmed, her hands resting on her ample hips. “But not just any toy. One of great value. To me…” she savored the remaining words before she revealed them, “…and to you.”

  The flap of feathers, a gust of wind, and Keni landed beside me. A big enough danger was all it took for my Protector to grow a spine and return. “We don’t value demons. At least not ones that look and smell like that …‘cause ick.”

  “That’s only because you haven’t been properly introduced to him.” The Countess paced in front of us, her stiletto boots crunching across the snow covered ground. “This is Cronus. Celeste has had the pleasure of meeting a couple of his brothers tonight. Namely Lapetes and the dearly departed Menoetius.” She turned my way and stared straight into my eyes, “They happen to be…Titans.”

  My chest tightened. The drumming thud of my heart pounded in my ears. It took everything I had to keep my face at neutral. “Caleb.”

  “Correct!” Eerily white teeth flashed with her smile. “The exact kind of demon your hunky boyfriend has in him. Isn’t that a fun coincidence!” Her nose crinkled like we were two girlfriends gossiping.

  Keni’s blonde head lobbed back and forth from the Countess, to me, and back again. “Wait … what does that mean?”

  “It means that one of them is linked to Caleb. Its blood is in his veins. If the demon he’s linked to dies, it’s buh-bye to your fine Irish lad.” The Countess pressed one deadly sharp fingernail to her lip and pretended to mull it over. “You know, for the life of me I can’t remember which one it was. We branded a lot of young boys with demon blood that day.” She threw her hands in the air and chuckled. “After all this time, how could I be expected to keep them all straight? Anyhow, it’d be a real pity for you to kill the wrong one. You got lucky when you slaughtered Menoetius. But next time a Titan dies Caleb might just tag along with them.”

  At that very moment Caleb was on the beach fighting with the Shadow dude … another Titan. If he killed it … No. I couldn’t even think it. Urgency left no time for words. Empathically I slapped Rowan with a deep-seeded need to get Caleb now. Concern shadowed his face and he disappeared in a puff of smoke as the message penetrated his thoughts.

  “I do hope he hurries,” she purred with an over dramatic sigh. “It’d be such a waste of a fine specimen of manhood. But really, girl, did you think I was just going to let him walk away from my army? From me?”

  Unable to contain it a moment longer, my anger boiled to the surface and erupted. “Why?! Why are you doing this? How is hurting him going to help you harness the Gryphon’s powers? This is between you, me, and the Gryphon. Let Caleb go!”

  Her smile faltered. She drew her crimson eyebrows drew together and cocked her head to the side. “You still don’t know what this is really about, do you?”

  The snarky words left my lips before my brain could filter them. “Other than you being a power hungry witch that dresses like she went to an S&M yard sale? Nope, that’s all I’ve got.”

  In a flash she was in my face, close enough for me to see green flames flickering in her blood red irises. “You smart mouthed little twit. You shouldn’t speak of things you don’t understand. Did you ever ask the Council the truth about your precious Gryphon and the things he has done? Have you?!”

  I raised my chin and tried my best to look unaffected. I didn’t want to be frightened by her. It was my calling not to be. But my knees were knocking so loud I suspected she could hear them.

  She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and let it out slowly. Then, with her composure once again intact, she began, “My motivation runs deeper than simply coveting his abilities. I have all the power I could ever need. I gathered it with one goal in mind … revenge. Revenge against the very beast you have sworn to protect.” For a split second a hint of sadness seemed to crack her stone exterior. “Perhaps when your Celtic cutie dies you’ll see how motivating a force revenge can be.”

  Crimson hair curtained her face as she bowed her head to Cronus. I couldn’t help but wonder if that move was intentional to hide her seeping humanity. “Orior oriri ortus meus pet.”

  The bat-bull’s eyes snapped open and a visible puff of air expelled from his broad nostrils.

  Façade firmly back in place, the Countess tossed her hair and stared down at me with her regal Queen of the Damned posture restored. “For the sake of your raven-ha
ired love I hope you can refrain from killing Cronus. However, rest assured that more Titans will follow and you can’t save them all. Sooner or later, Caleb will die. Do yourself a favor and come to terms with that, girl. ”

  After a quick little finger wave she vanished into the night and her heaving beast rose up to attack.

  CHAPTER Five

  Gabe-lion stalked up beside me and plopped down with a huff. His massive head turned my way, and he heaved an exasperated breath directly at me.

  “Yeah, I know.” I rubbed my frozen arms and scooted closer to my big, hairy brother. “I probably should’ve reminded Rowan to come back for us.”

  “Ya think?” Kendall’s teeth chattered through blue lips. Her ivory wings encompassed her like a shawl, but couldn’t hinder the biting cold.

  “You could always try to fly us out of here instead of just sitting there like a lump,” I snapped, my tone sharpened by my deep desire to regain feeling in my toes.

  “I can’t lift Gabe,” she grumbled, turning her back to me to end the conversation.

  If my face wasn’t frozen like Jack Nicholson’s at the end of The Shining I might have smiled. Despite her griping, Kendall would sit right here and freeze alongside us until help came. She could fly off at any moment, but her soft heart wouldn’t let her. However, if Rowan didn’t get his butt back here soon I planned to use my empathic ability to overthrow her sweetness and motivate her to fly off and commandeer a ferry to come pick us up.

  I was eyeing the shoreline for a vessel to target for that very reason, when a puff of black smoke materialized at the base of Lady Liberty. I leapt up onto frozen feet that screamed in painful protest when I put weight on them.

  Rowan unceremoniously deposited three of Grams’ heaviest afghans onto the snow covered ground. “Those are for you.” He rubbed his hands together and warmed them with his breath. “Tad nippy out here, isn’t it?”

  “Really? We hadn’t noticed.” I scooped up the blankets and shook off the snow. One went to Gabe, who morphed underneath it and wrapped it around himself, one to Keni who flung hers over her wings for an extra layer of warmth, and I wrapped mine around my shoulders.

  “Where’s Caleb?” My voice quaked and this time it couldn’t be blamed on the cold.

  “Romeo is at your Grannie’s house recovering. A lesser man would’ve perished after taking a dozen or so lightning bolt hits, but not our Cal. He gave as good as he got and remained esthetically pleasing all the while … for the most part.” Waves of golden hair poked out from under a grey and blue knit beanie cap I recognized as one of the extras Grams knitted while she watched her stories.

  A grunt and wheeze behind us made Rowan’s head swivel around. “What in blazes did you do to him?”

  Cronus—who will always be Bat-bull to me—was sprawled on the ground, covered in feathers. He lifted his head, arms, and legs maybe an inch off the ground as he snorted, grunted, and strained, but couldn’t budge beyond that.

  “It would seem Keni’s feathers are like a force field to him.”

  “Celeste ripped a bunch out by the handful!” Keni pouted and rubbed the bald spot on the tip of her right wing.

  “Oh, they’ll grow back, ya big baby. It was that or let him gore us to death. I think it was pretty fast thinking!”

  “And I think I’m gonna shave your head in your sleep and see how you like being bald.”

  “Yeah, cause that’s the same!”

  “Ladies!” Gabe yelled, chills racking his mammoth frame. “Can we please have this conversation at home? When I have pants on?”

  Rowan held up one hand to shield his eyes. “Lots of holes in that blanket, mate. Just so ya know.”

  Gabe’s complexion went from blue to purple and he readjusted his blankie.

  “We should scurry along though. Your soon-to-be bride and that angry little wee man are both in quite a tizzy.”

  All I wanted to do was get home and see Caleb alive and in one piece. But my sacred duty made it mandatory for me to ask, “About what?”

  Rowan stared at me like I just had a sudden flare up of stupid. “I didn’t ask. That would imply caring, which we’ve established I do not.”

  I smacked my forehead with the palm of my hand. “That’s right. How could I forget for even a split second what a major tool you are? Well come on Cap’n Sensitivity, let’s get us home so you can go back to spreading your charm the world over.”

  “So we’re not gonna be BFFs after this?” Rowan said with a mock pout. “I was so looking forward to the slumber parties and pillow fights.”

  “Me too.” I tightened my afghan around my shoulders as we three Garrett kids circled our proverbial supernatural taxicab. “Spoiler alert; there was a brick in mine.”

  “What about him?” Gabe jerked a thumb at Cronus.

  I stared over my shoulder at the flutter-kicking monster. “We’ll tell Bernard about him. If the Countess doesn’t come and claim him maybe the Council will have an idea of what to do. Otherwise we come back tomorrow and have Keni hug him into submission so we can move him.”

  A second before we dissipated in a cloud of smoke Keni raised her hand in the air. “I vote we leave him here and make him a New York tourist attraction.”

  Chapter Six

  Bernard, Alaina, and Grams—who came home from her boyfriend’s in light of the chaos—all tried to intercept me when I walked in the door. Each chattered away at top speed.

  I didn’t even pretend to listen, just silenced them with a raised hand and stern look. “Where is he?”

  Grams pressed her pink painted lips together and pointed toward her bedroom. I pushed past them and bee-lined it down the hall. If they voiced a complaint I didn’t bother to listen—or care.

  My hand closed around the doorknob. I took a deep breath to prepare myself for the worst and then pushed it open. One glance was all it took to steal a shocked gasp from my parted lips. He lay on the bed uncovered and still as a corpse. Gram’s white orchard print comforter was folded at his feet, probably because even the light touch of it would’ve been rough against his vast burns and abrasions. His chest rose and fell with a movement so faint I had to step closer and stare hard to confirm he was breathing. Grey shadows circled his sunken eyes. All color had been sucked from his complexion leaving him a chalky white.

  Tentatively I approached the bed, afraid that even the air I expelled would cause him further pain. Grams had cleaned and dressed his wounds. A small bandage protected a wound on his left cheek, just under his eye. His left arm required a larger dressing held by a plethora of hospital tape. Black scorch marks streaked out from under his wrapped right shoulder. White cotton gauze covered his entire abdomen. It had to be a nasty wound to warrant a bandage that size. I gently brushed the hair from his forehead. As much as I hated to see him like this, the events of the night could’ve ended much worse.

  His heavy lidded eyes fluttered open in response to my touch. “Lovey,” he croaked in a weak, raspy whisper. “I’m tryin’ out a new charbroiled look. What do ya think?”

  I shook my head. Tears blurred my vision, but I blinked them back before they fell. “I’m not a fan. Do you … ” I choked on the words and swallowed hard to free them. “Does it hurt?”

  His ebony brows drew together. A deep crease formed between his eyes. “It did. But then ya’r grandmum gave me a handful of assorted pills. Now I can’t feel me head, or anythin’ else for that matter.”

  I erupted in a way too loud guffaw. “Your head’s still there. I promise.”

  He raised one hand off the bed and turned it palm up. I laid my own in it and forced a smile despite the heaviness weighing on my heart. “Thank ya for sendin’ Rowan back. If he wouldn’t have gotten there when he did I might not have made it out alive. He told me if I had killed that thing I still could’ve died. That’s a no-win situation if e’er there was one.”

  What he meant as a light-hearted joke caused a knot of pain to swell in my stomach. I had—and would continue to—endured
great trials and agonies because of my calling. But I couldn’t lose Caleb. He was my anchor in a sea of chaos.

  I fought to keep my voice steady in an effort not to upset him in his battered state. “Rowan said you and the Titan exchanged lightning bolts. I didn’t know you could do that.”

  The corners of Caleb’s pale lips tugged back in a weak grin. “Guess we hadn’t reached the ‘I can shoot lightnin’ out of my finger tips’ portion of our relationship yet.”

  “Guess not.” I dragged the tip of my index finger across his hand, tracing the blue veins visible through his skin.

  Without warning his eyes widened in panic and his features darkened. “Celeste, that thing is still at the beach! We have tah go back tah that village! It could be terrorizin’ those people.” He started to rise up off the bed, but I caught his shoulders and eased him back down. It took surprisingly little effort which made my heart ache at his weakened state. “We have tah stop it!”

  “We will, we will,” I soothed. “Just as soon as we figure out how to do that without killing you in the process, okay? We’ll figure something out. I promise.”

  He stopped fighting and settled back onto the pillow. Either his pain meds kicked in or that little display zapped the last of his energy. Whatever the cause, his blinks became excessively long and his voice grew heavy with sleep. “Ya promise?”

  I ran my fingers through his silky locks and gave him a reassuring smile that I knew didn’t reach my eyes. “I’ll go talk to Bernard right now. We’ll figure this out. You just rest.”

  “Just a quick rest. Wake me as soon as you hear somethin’.” His eyes shut and I doubted they’d open back up any time soon.

  I leaned in to dot a quick kiss on his forehead and inhaled his pungent scent of charcoal and Neosporin. I let my gaze wander over the planes of his face and said a silent prayer of thanks that the arrogant, untrustworthy, self-centered, too-pretty-for-his-own-good pirate got to Caleb on time. Battered I could handle, dead I could not. In that moment I vowed to myself that I would find a way to save him.