The Conduit (The Gryphon Series Book 1)

by Stacey Rourke

  I pointed. “Uhhh…those happened.”

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Oh! Whoa!!”

  “This is great, Kendall,” Alaina assured her. “This is exactly what we wanted to happen.”

  I’ll admit my next little barrage of questions probably didn’t help the situation. “What does it feel like? Do they hurt? Can you move them? Can I touch one?”

  “No, you cannot touch one! Oh, this feels so weird! Like I just grew another set of arms or something,” she groaned.

  I couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and rubbing one of her new feathers between my thumb and forefinger. They were soft, just like bird down. She jerked her wing away from my touch which sent her on a whole new tirade.

  “Oh! It’s moving! I’m moving it. I can move it, and it feels soooo gross!” She flapped her wings back and forth. “You have no idea how wrong this feels. I don’t know how I’m doing it! Oh, oohhhh…this is so very, very, very, very weird! Uhhh!”

  Alaina cradled Kendall’s face in her hands. “Kendall, I need you to calm down so I can help you. Okay?”

  “Slap her or something,” I suggested.

  “I am not going to slap her because she is going to calm down. Right, Kendall?”

  My sister’s wings did another involuntary flap. Even with her mouth clamped firmly shut, a muffled whimper escaped. Her eyes pleaded with our guide to somehow, someway, make this better.

  “I need you to listen. The only way you are going to put your mind at ease is to learn to control them. Do you understand?” Alaina asked in her soothing made-for-radio voice.

  “Mmm-hmm,” Kendall squeaked.

  “I want you to pull your wings in. It is an act similar to drawing your arms in to your sides. It will come naturally. You just need to try. Can you do that for me?”

  “Nnn-mm.” Kendall shook her head from side to side.

  “Why not?”

  Kendall’s beseeching eyes met mine. I opened myself up to her, then answered for her. “It scares the crap out of her when she feels them move.”

  “I see. I suppose I should have explained myself better,” Alaina said and stroked Kendall’s cheek. “I am trying to show you how to put your wings away so that you can have a break from them.”

  Kendall’s eyes widened with her desire to be rid of her new attributes for a while.

  “Now can you give it a try?” Alaina attempted again.

  Kendall’s face turned stone serious. Her wings twitched inward and prompted another unintentional yelp. She set her jaw and tried again. In one rapid motion, like folding up an umbrella, they flattened together and disappeared into her back.

  “There now,” Alaina smiled. “Just an ordinary girl again.”

  A new realization dawned on Kendall, the fashion plate. “Hey! My brand new shirt is ripped.”

  “The sacrifices of being a superhero,” I said sarcastically.

  “I’ll say. I loved this shirt. What the heck am I supposed to do, wear tank tops all the time?”

  Alaina and I exchanged amused glances.

  “How do you feel now, aside from your ruined garment?” Alaina asked.

  “Better,” Keni nodded.

  Alaina offered Keni a hand to help her up. “I do remember that the first time is quite…disturbing. I promise you it does get easier.”

  “I sure hope so.” Keni stood up and brushed off the back of her striped board shorts.

  “You could prove it to yourself right now. Go ahead and expand them again.”

  Kendall hesitated for a moment and then closed her eyes. As if it was already a reflex, the awesome wings sprung open.

  Her face brightened. “It was easier that time! Why was the first time so painful?”

  With a bird-like twitch, Alaina cocked her head to the side. “It was painful?”

  “Very.”

  I sheepishly raised my hand. “I … think that was my fault.”

  Kendall scoffed. “Wings ripped their way out of my back and you think it’s your fault it hurt?”

  “I helped,” I croaked.

  Both the beautiful, winged women turned to face me.

  “What did you do, Cee?”

  “Meditating wasn’t working for me. I wondered if it was working for you. So I felt your emotions, which were really nice. You were all glowy. But then I felt you get stuck, right before the change. So I channeled everything I was feeling. The good, the bad, the indifferent … and I gave it to you. Sorry. So sorry.” I rambled it all out, not even stopping to breathe.

  Alaina gave me a maternal frown. “I was having her meditate on love because that is the emotion that triggers her change. Adding foreign emotions added pain.” I gulped and prepared to be reprimanded. “However, you do seem to have mastered the skill to pass your feelings to others, so some good came from this.”

  “Was that a ‘yay me’?” I asked.

  “I’m pretty sure that was a ‘next time keep your emoting to yourself,’” Kendall said and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Will do,” I agreed. “Once again, so sorry.”

  Keni shrugged; her wings bobbed up and down. “Whatevs. So Alaina, when do I get to, like, fly and stuff?”

  “Right now, if you are ready.” To me Alaina added, “Would you please act as our look out while she practices? Keep a vigilant eye out for the panther. If he appears, warn us immediately. We will need to get you out of here at once.”

  I was used to fading into the background while one of my siblings shined in the spotlight, but it never bothered me as much as it did right then. I moseyed over to a nearby rock and sat down. Inadequate seemed too weak a word to describe how I felt as Kendall flitted up to the treetops. She was the embodiment of angelic beauty. Silken feathers framed her while her blonde hair cascaded around her shoulders. Based on sheer principle alone, this was cosmically unjust.

  ***

  Sprawled out in our bedroom, Keni and I filled Gabe in on what he missed. More accurately, I tried to fill him in while Keni gushed over what it felt like to fly.

  “…the wind was in my face. I could see, like, the entire mountain range. It was amazing.”

  “No you couldn’t,” I snapped. “Alaina didn’t let you go above the tree tops.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t know, being down on the ground and all, but from where I was, I could totally see everything.” She rolled onto her back on her bed and made Mr. Hoofington “fly” over her head.

  “Did the Seeker make an appearance at all?” Gabe asked while giving me a “does she have a mute button” look.

  “If he was anywhere around, I totally would have seen him. Did I mention I could see everything up there?”

  “It came up,” I snapped and squeezed the pillow in my lap a little tighter. “He didn’t show. Hopefully, it wasn’t because he was busy feasting on express-line customers.”

  Gabe threw himself on my bed. The bed springs screamed as his enormous frame landed. “I doubt there was any bloodshed. Small town like this, we would’ve heard about it the second it happened.”

  I feared he would break the frame and swatted him off my bed. He groaned, but settled onto the floor. “True. Plus, Kendall just became a big neon sign pointing him to us. He won’t waste his time in town much longer.”

  A knock on the door, then Grams poked her head in. “Gang’s all here, huh? What are we talking about?”

  “The panther in town,” I answered truthfully. “Did you hear anything about what happened today?”

  Fired up for a good bit of gossiping, Grams threw open the door with gusto. “Yes! It was really somethin’! They had that critter cornered up there on the roof. Animal rescue shot it with three different tranquilizer darts before it finally went down. Or at least they thought they hit the panther …” She paused for dramatic effect. “But when they got up on the roof—no panther. There was a man up there that somehow got caught in the crossfire. No one knows who he is or what he was doing there. All they know is he was in the worst possible place
at the worst possible time and got himself darted in the rump for it. They carted him off to the hospital in Nashville. Hopefully when he wakes up, they’ll get some answers. Poor fella. Scared by a panther and then shot in the butt. That’s a bad day, right there.”

  If all evil creatures are this incompetent, this saving the world thing might not be too tough.

  “Wow…just wow,” Gabe marveled.

  “Excitement like that is even better than my stories!” Grams gushed and waved her freshly polished fuchsia nails in the air. “Anywho, I came up here to let ya’ll know I’m off to Casino Night at the Bingo Hall. Gonna try my hand at Blackjack. Grams needs a new pair of shoes! Ha! You kids have a good night.”

  She planted bright red lipstick marks on each of our foreheads before she disappeared down the stairs. We waited until we heard the front door click shut behind her before we resumed our “other” identities.

  “Am I the only one that expected more from the Dark Army than some spaz that gets darted by the local law enforcement?” I asked.

  “Maybe he’s new to being evil.” My sister shrugged, then struck yet another Superman pose and giggled to herself.

  “This may’ve bought us some time though. If he was unconscious, he probably missed Kendall’s powers being activated.” I ran my finger along the ridges of the Gryphon statuette on my nightstand and wished he could answer our questions directly.

  “That’s good. That gives us more time to prepare.” Gabe seemed lost in his own thoughts as he stared out the door. “But what if they come here? What do we do about Grams?”

  We all fell silent. The idea of Grams being harmed was unfathomable.

  “She’s never left alone,” I declared.

  Kendall and Gabe nodded in agreement. If the Dark Army wanted to come for us, let them come. But hands off the Grams.

  CHAPTER 18

  “No way. Unh-uh. I’m not doing that.”

  “What do you mean ‘no way’?”

  “I mean I’m not doing it, and you’re not big enough to make me.” Gabe folded his arms and scowled like an overgrown three-year-old.

  Under her breath Alaina muttered, “I have powers, boy. I could make you dance like a puppet if I wanted to.”

  She must’ve forgotten his cat-like hearing. “Bring it on ‘cause I’m not doing it any other way. I started gaining all this muscle mass while I was training with the team. Being active. Not sitting on my butt, chanting.”

  Alaina closed her eyes and sighed. Her wings sagged from her frustration. “You could have made that point first. What exactly did you have in mind?”

  “Uh … I don’t know.” By the way he stammered he obviously hadn’t thought that far ahead. “I could go for a run or something.”

  Alaina’s auburn waves bounced as she shook her head. “That will not work. We have to awaken the lion. That is why I suggested the meditation; you could find the emotional connection to it. Running will not have the same impact.”

  “Well, I’m not doing it,” Gabe huffed.

  “I have an idea.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose, having passed the point of annoyance at their bickering about twenty minutes ago. “Why don’t we smack him on the nose with a rolled up newspaper? See how his inner cat feels about that.”

  “Let’s call that Plan B.” He glared and then nodded in the direction of Kendall. “Hey, I could spar with Tweety.”

  Keni was completely unaware of our conversation. Alaina had her practicing take offs and landings. Judging by the way she spun three times in a pike position and landed gracefully on her tip toes, I’d say she was getting the hang of it. With a satisfied grin, she spun toward us, noticed we were all staring at her, and froze.

  “What?”

  “It could actually work.” Alaina rubbed her chin with the tip of her finger as she mulled it over. “It is the nature of the beast to stalk and attack.”

  “Whoa!” I positioned myself between Gabe and Kendall. If he had to go through me to get to her, so be it. “Think about this, Gabe. If your plan works, our little sister is going to be up against a lion. Are you okay with that? ’Cause I’m not!”

  Gabe grabbed me by my upper-arms, lifted me off my feet, and set me down out of his way. “She can fly, Cee! I’d have to catch her first.”

  “You must also remember that her wings are impenetrable. She would be in no real danger,” Alaina tried to reassure me. It didn’t work.

  “Hello? Over here! You guys are obviously talking about me. Wanna clue me in?” Kendall marched over with her hands on her hips and her enormous wings arced up behind her.

  Gabe’s eyes flashed. “You get to help me activate my powers.”

  “How?” she asked, her unease evident.

  “Gabe wants you to spar with him to help bring the lion out.”

  She cocked her head and gazed at me with narrowed eyes. “You realize I don’t actually have the brain of a bird, right?”

  “Come on, Keni!” Gabe groaned and threw his hands up. “I’m not going to hurt you. Even if I do turn, it’s still me. Right?” He addressed that last part to Alaina.

  “For the most part, yes.” Her tight-lipped smile made me wonder if she was being entirely truthful. “There are animal instincts you will have to learn to control, but it should not be a problem.”

  “Plus you have the ‘force field’ feathers, remember?” Gabe prodded.

  Kendall’s shoulders and wings slumped. “Fine. But if you bite me, and I have to get stitches, you’re explaining it to Grams.”

  “Agreed,” Gabe said with a wide grin.

  As they walked to the center of the clearing, I was once again assigned the role of lookout. Bitterness oozed off of me as I plopped down on what was fast becoming “my rock.” Gabe and Kendall each assumed their fight positions; he struck a standard wrestling stance while she stood ramrod straight with her wings curled in protectively around her.

  “Ready to get your feathers plucked, Keni?” He swayed side to side as he prepared to attack.

  “Noo!” she whined.

  Ready or not, Gabe charged. He dropped his shoulder, fully intending to plow our dainty sister right over. I covered my eyes. Kendall squealed. There was a loud thud; something scooted across the ground, followed by a “hhuuuuffff!”

  I peeked between my fingers. Gabe was sprawled in the dirt, flat on his back. As he pulled himself up, he let out a sharp laugh. It may have been my imagination, but it sounded a bit like a snarl. Immediately ready for round two, he crouched down. A fire building behind his eyes. He rushed her. Her wing shot up. This time Gabe expected it. He ducked under it and lunged for her legs. With one forceful flap Kendall lifted off the ground and out of reach. Gabe couldn’t stop his momentum and tumbled to the ground—again. He got up, brushed himself off and backed away. With the wave of his hand, he invited her to land.

  Her feet no sooner touched the ground, than Gabe launched at her again. He jumped up and tried to dive over her wing. It didn’t go well. Keni canopied both wings over her head like any umbrella. He hit her impassable, feathered fortress head first. Dazed, he flopped to the ground. I hid my laughter behind my hand. Gabe had to shake it off and regain his bearings before he could stand up. Kendall gave me an uneasy look. I grinned and threw her two thumbs up.

  Try as he might, Gabe couldn’t engage Kendall in the fight. She could dance her way out of anything he threw at her. The lion had yet to make an appearance, but Gabe’s irritation had.

  “Come on, Kendall! You’re all defense, no offense! You want to try actually being in the fight?” He growled as he kicked up a cloud of dirt and pebbles. “If I wanted no challenge at all, I would’ve fought Celeste!”

  “Hey!”

  “No offense, Cee.” I wouldn’t have taken offense had he not rolled his eyes when he said that. “But this is pointless. I’m not getting anywhere.”

  Alaina stepped forward from the perimeter of the clearing. “I was afraid of this. As a creature of love, she will not attack her own brother.
Perhaps I can come up with something else for us to try tomorrow. I think I will venture into the Spirit Plane in search of other ideas.”

  I hopped to my feet. “Wait! You can just go back and forth between the two worlds?”

  “Yes.” Alaina rolled her shoulders and released her wings.

  “When you go there, you can talk to the Gryphon?”

  “Yes.”

  “Maybe on this little trip you’ll tell him that I’m ready, and he can go ahead and upload some super strength into me. What do ya think?” I asked eagerly.

  Her face fell. “I am very sorry, Celeste. However, that is something he just will not do. The truth is, he very much hopes he will not have to give you any powers.”

  Those words sliced into my heart like a knife. “Why? He doesn’t think I could handle it?”

  “No. That is not it at all.” She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I had hoped to prolong this conversation for as long as possible, yet it seems your inquisitive nature will not allow that. It is not known what it will mean for your human life if these powers are bestowed on you. To live as the lion or the eagle can be done. It can be suppressed and managed to make a normal life possible. However, you are the very first Conduit of the Gryphon. We fear that the more power is channeled through you, the less human you will become.”

  “Being human hasn’t been a barrel of laughs so far,” I grumbled. “I’d be okay giving that up.”

  A shadow of pain made Alaina’s golden eyes fill with tears. “Things have been very hard for all of you. I understand that. But please keep in mind that there are beautiful experiences in this world. Experiences that only humans are fortunate enough to embark on. Do not be so eager to turn your back on them.”

  I was a horrible person. She had given up everything to become our guide in a moment when she felt she had no other options. And here I was rubbing salt in her wound. I made a weak apology.

  She blinked rapidly and forced a smile. “Just try not to be so eager, Celeste.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  “You three head home. I will research our situation.” As soon as the last word left her mouth, she morphed into the eagle and blazed off into the horizon.