by Chant, Zoe
“Oh,” she said a moment later, when she realized that he’d asked her a question. Heat rushed to her face in embarrassment. “In that hotel over there.”
She nodded towards where a wooden sign advertised the tiny hotel run by a cheerful woman, who’d taken one look at Chiara and pressed a plate with the most incredible breakfast she’d ever tasted into her hand when she’d arrived from the night bus.
Everything she’d ever been told about French pastries was definitely true.
“Let’s get you back,” the stranger said. He gave her a careful look. “He hasn’t hurt you?”
She shook her head, then belatedly remembered her manners. “I’m Chiara, by the way. Thanks for helping me.”
“Chiara. That’s a gorgeous name. I’m Jared. And I could hardly stand by and watch.”
Together, they made their way to Chiara’s hotel. It was really little more than a bed and breakfast, and when Chiara let herself in, she saw that no one was on night duty. But there was a small lounge with comfy chairs, and a kettle with little sachets of tea and instant coffee.
“Do you want coffee?” she asked, still a little shocked by the sudden attack.
“Maybe some herbal tea for you? You look really pale,” he said, gently steering her to one of the old chairs.
Gratefully, she fell into it, then took a deep breath.
“Coffee,” she said with determination. “I’m drinking so much of it it’s long since lost any effect. Please.”
“Coffee it is.” A moment later, he pressed a steaming cup into her hand.
Gratefully, she inhaled the aroma. A moment later, she realized that he’d gone for the coffee instead of the calming tea as well.
“You too, huh?” She gave him a small smile.
He shrugged, grinning at her over his cup. “I can drink coffee at midnight and still sleep like a log five minutes later. It’s a useful talent.”
“Me too.” She sighed with pleasure when she took a sip, the familiar taste and heat as comforting as a warm blanket.
“So,” he said a moment later, tilting his head at her. “What was that all about? Shall I call the cops?”
“Ugh. I don’t even speak French,” she said—and then realized that even if she did, she knew exactly what would happen.
At the first word mentioning secret maps and scary demonic eyes, the cops would give her that condescending smile and call her “that crazy lady” behind her back.
Maybe it would even sound a little charming in French.
Still, she’d lived through that once; she wasn’t about to do it again.
“No need,” she said a moment later, setting down her coffee. She’d calmed enough that she was finally able to look her rescuer up and down.
And he looked every bit the knight in shining armor. Up close, his broad shoulders and muscled arms were even more impressive.
He had a square jaw with just a hint of light stubble, blond hair he wore a little longer than was fashionable, but just the right length for her to bury her fingers in it and play with it, and the most impressive blue eyes she’d ever seen.
He wore black jeans and a simple white shirt, much like many of the tourists filling this part of the French countryside.
But he looked nothing like a tourist. He moved with a strange grace and assurance—as if he’d never ever had to worry that people would laugh at him or call him crazy.
Which was understandable, because Chiara knew that if he told her right now that he was a French duke or the long-lost heir to a tiny European kingdom, she wouldn’t doubt it even for one second.
He had something that set him apart from anyone else she’d ever met. And it wasn’t just his charm or his gorgeous eyes. There was an aura of confidence and command around him. The sort of thing she’d seen military men give off—but it went even deeper than that.
Something about him made her trust him.
And that was the weirdest thing of all, because she hadn’t been able to trust anyone since that werewolf thing had happened to her.
It’s just because he doesn’t know me yet. And he’s admittedly gorgeous. But as soon as I mention werewolves, he’ll be out of here...
Chapter Two: Jared
Jared couldn’t take his eyes off the woman sitting across from him.
He hadn’t even recognized her when he’d come to her aid. All he’d seen was some thug pressing someone against the wall in an alley. He’d have intervened no matter what—as a shifter, he was stronger than humans, and he healed much faster. As far as he was concerned, that made it his duty to help when he could.
Of course, then the thug had run, and he’d gotten his first real look at her.
His mate.
His mate, here, in a sleepy little French village. It seemed impossible.
As a griffin shifter, one of the rarest mythological shifters, Jared had never met another of his kind. He’d never really dared to share his fears with anyone... But the only reason he could see for why griffins were so rare was that they didn’t have mates, or only rarely.
The thought was too painful to dwell on, especially for someone like him who’d dreamed of a huge family of his own since childhood. So he’d forbidden himself to dream of it. He’d focused on his work instead.
And there was always work. As one of the messengers of the council of elements, he worked closely with shifter communities all over America.
He rarely took holidays. He didn’t spend much time in his house in the beautiful town of Mountain View where he’d grown up. He didn’t even date, because why bother when his griffin immediately knew that his date wasn’t their mate?
But here she was. Gorgeous, a little shaken after the attack—but absolutely real.
Within him, his griffin spread his wings in delight.
“You said that he was weird,” she said after a long moment of silence.
He hadn’t even realized how much time had passed. It was incredibly hard to keep himself from staring at her.
She had shoulder-length, straight hair that was currently dyed purple at the roots, with blue mid-lengths and a light green for the ends. She wore long, golden earrings, which chimed musically every time she turned her head. There was a choker of black velvet around her throat with some sort of arcane symbol he didn’t recognize at the front. In addition, she was wearing bracelets with little charms as well.
And all of that was topped off with sensible hiking pants, a purple t-shirt and chunky hiking boots.
She looked a bit like a witch on a hiking trip. The cutest and most charming witch he’d ever seen.
Not that he’d ever seen a witch before, outside of Halloween.
“Weird,” he echoed, trying to remember what he’d seen the split second before instinct had taken over and he’d driven her attacker off. “I didn’t get a good look at him. But something about him felt off.”
She wasn’t a shifter, he could feel that. And the man who’d attacked her hadn’t been a shifter either, which was what made this so weird. Because there’d definitely been a strange power at work. The darkness that had filled the alley hadn’t been natural. In fact, it had felt frighteningly familiar...
Steele. The darkness tasted like shadow—like the shadow when Steele had attacked Sky Home.
But that was impossible. The man who’d attacked Chiara had been human. A human couldn’t use this unsettling shadow power. It had nearly consumed Steele, and he’d been one of the strongest fire dragons.
Chiara stared at him. She bit her lip—and then she sat up straight.
“You’re going to laugh at me,” she said, “but that’s all right, I’m used to it. And it doesn’t make this any less true. The man who attacked me—Lou—he wasn’t human. Not completely.”
Jared stared at her, surprised. Did she know about the shifter world? “What do you mean?”
“There’s lots of weird things out there,” she said, taking a deep breath. “Werewolves. Vampires. Aliens, probably. And demons like this guy. When he a
ttacked me, his face turned into shadow. I was staring straight into darkness. Absolute darkness. A Nothing. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever seen. Definitely not human.”
“Wait, wait... did you just say aliens?”
Jared’s head was reeling. For a split second he’d thought that she knew about shifters, which would have made everything so much easier.
But then she’d followed it up with vampires and aliens...
Chiara nodded slowly. “You know, there are lots of theories out there. I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to this sort of paranormal thing. I’m one of the senior journalists for the Extraterrestrial Enquirer.”
The look she gave him showed how proud she was of that fact.
Then she continued. “I never believed in aliens despite all the theories. But looking into that... thing’s eyes, it was like looking into space. Into a black hole. A void, icy cold, where nothing can live. Where no light exists.”
“Doesn’t have to be aliens,” Jared said, still not sure how much of it she meant. “We’ve got quite some darkness here on this planet, don’t we?”
And what she said lined up exactly with what he’d felt when Steele had attacked. Which only made it more probable that this was somehow connected to the element of darkness that had been woken.
“I suppose,” Chiara said, clearly not convinced. “But think about it. Would you like to believe that we’ve got demons of that sort here on earth? I’d rather believe that they came to us in a space ship. Because that means they’ll leave again.”
“Not without being defeated first. And in that case, does it make a difference where it came from?”
Jared couldn’t believe that he was actually debating alien conspiracy theories with his gorgeous yet utterly bewildering human mate.
“I guess it doesn’t.” Chiara released a sigh. A second later, her eyes narrowed. “Wait a moment—you’re actually discussing this with me? You don’t think it’s insane? Werewolves? Aliens? Demons?”
Slowly, Jared shook his head. “I don’t think it’s insane. What we saw clearly wasn’t human. Which doesn’t mean that I believe in aliens,” he hastily clarified. “But I do believe that there are things—creatures—in this world made of darkness.”
Humans had always come up with explanations for the parts of the paranormal world that touched their lives. And he supposed demons was a pretty good description for the terrifying element of darkness that had tainted Steele.
And that now had somehow found a way into the human world...
“Wow,” Chiara breathed. Her coffee rested forgotten on the table as she stared at him. “You’re the first person I’ve ever met who doesn’t think I’m crazy. Well, outside of the readers of the Extraterrestrial Enquirer, of course.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy. I saw it, too,” he reminded her. “So, now that we got that out of the way... Why did that creature attack you?”
She gave him a long, thoughtful look. A moment later, she pulled an old, battered notebook from her bag.
“Promise me you’ll never, ever mention this to anyone. Promise,” she demanded.
“I promise,” he said quietly. “I’ll keep your secrets, whatever they are.”
Chiara took a deep breath. Then she opened the notebook and pulled a map from it.
“I’ve never shown this to anyone,” she said. “I probably shouldn’t trust you with this—I’m crazy to trust a stranger after what just happened, but—you don’t feel like shadow at all.”
He quirked his lips at that. “What do I feel like?”
“You feel like light,” she said earnestly. “Like sunshine playing on mountaintops.”
His smile widened as he thought of the countless hours he’d spent as a child playing in the wind and the sun, soaring between the ragged rocks of Mountain View with his best friend, Gregory the storm dragon.
“I like that.”
“I like you,” she said, then stopped and flushed, as if she’d only now realized what she’d said. “Umm. Anyway. Here it is.”
Hastily, she unfolded a battered bit of paper, spreading it out on the small table before him.
Flushed, she looked even more enticing. A part of Jared yearned even now to explore her flushed skin with his hands and press kisses all over those luscious, soft curves.
It took quite some effort to tear himself from the sight of her breasts pressing against her shirt.
But when he did, he immediately froze.
The thing Chiara had so carefully smoothed was a map. It showed a labyrinth of paths and a mountain range—the same mountain range they’d both traveled to.
He’d come here because the only information he’d had about his parents was that the clothes and blanket he’d been wrapped in had come from France. And griffins tended to be attracted to mountain ranges, which left the Alps and the Pyrenees for him to explore.
But there, right at the center of the map, instead of an X marking the spot there was a symbol he recognized.
A triangle, with three lines pointing upwards. The same symbol found on the amulet around his neck. And the same symbol that had appeared on the mysterious fifth plinth in the council chamber.
No one had any idea what it stood for—but it seemed he was close. He had to be. It couldn’t be a coincidence that a human woman had found a strange map with the same symbol on it.
“What does it mean?” he asked her, tracing the symbol carefully with a fingertip.
“It means there’s a powerful magical artifact hidden there,” she said, then sighed. “Or maybe it’s not magic, but alien technology. Did you know that aliens built the pyramids?”
“I thought you didn’t believe the alien theories,” he said teasingly.
“It’s a lot easier to believe in aliens after all that happened.” She grinned at him, then grew serious. “But you see it, don’t you? This attack—they wouldn’t have attacked and demanded the map if it wasn’t real. I’m close. I’m so close...”
“How did they know about the map?”
“No idea.” Chiara grimaced. “I didn’t tell anyone about it—but I guess I was a little too excited in that bookshop when I found it. There were others in there. Most of them just tourists. But if there was even one person who was there for the same reason—”
“Word got out that you’d found something,” Jared said.
Or perhaps it was easier than that. Gareth the chimera had told them that the Darkness they were fighting was old and very powerful. Maybe it knew about the fifth plinth that had appeared. Maybe it knew even better than they did what was at stake if they found out what the strange symbol stood for.
But it meant that he was definitely on the right path.
At any other time, he would have immediately set out on his own. But how could he leave his mate behind when she was in danger here?
Chiara yawned, then gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I guess the adrenaline is wearing off. I should probably sleep. I was planning to head out early tomorrow.”
“Will you be all right?” Jared asked.
The griffin within him was still alert. He didn’t want to leave their mate alone even for a second.
But Jared could hardly demand to spend the night in her bedroom, especially after one man had already turned into a creature of darkness right in front of her eyes.
“Oh, I’ll be fine,” she reassured him. “I’ll be safe. I’ve brought an entire bag of charms. No werewolf and no vampire is going to get in.”
“What about the aliens?” he couldn’t resist asking. “Are there charms for those?”
Chiara laughed. “You think I’m crazy.”
Jared grinned at her and shook his head. “Not at all. I just think you’re wrong about aliens. Whatever this is, it’s from this planet.”
She tilted her head at him, amused. “You’re the first guy I’ve met who actually takes me seriously. Except for the Extraterrestrial Enquirer subscribers, of course.”
Jared hesitated for a mo
ment. Then he reached out and took hold of her hand.
A shock went through him at the contact, her skin hot against his own. He could see her eyes widening, another flush rising to her cheeks.
Whatever she’d been about to say fell away as she looked at him, her lips slightly parted.
Jared swallowed.
“You’re magic, too,” she breathed, her eyes wide and dazed. “Is that... Are you—”
Jared swallowed and shook his head. “Not magic,” he said, his voice rough.
Everything inside him yearned to pull her against his body, to hold her close and kiss her breathless. After a lifetime of loneliness, the griffin within him was jubilant. He wanted to claim his mate, to swear that he’d always protect her, to build a family...
But he couldn’t spring that on Chiara, not like that. Not when she was already so distrustful of the shifter world.
So instead, he leaned forward very slowly, giving her an opportunity to move out of the way if she wanted.
Instead, she met him halfway, her eyes still wide with wonder.
The moment their lips met, Jared felt golden light rush through him.
Her mouth was soft and sweet, yielding to him. He raised a hand to gently wind it through her gorgeous mermaid hair.
For a moment, everything else fell away. There was only the heat of her lips, the scent of her hair, the overwhelming joy of having found her at last.
Kissing her, touching her, holding her felt so right. This was where he was meant to be. This was who he was meant to be.
For his entire life, he’d worked hard to fill every possible hour with his job. He hadn’t felt lonely—because he’d filled his life with work and friends until he was so busy that there was simply no time to think about the family he’d never known.
But now, at last, all of those worries fell away. He didn’t think of his job. He didn’t even think of what the chimera had sent him out to find.
All he could think of was the rightness of kissing his mate at last. He wasn’t lonely. He wasn’t worried about what was to come.
He was utterly at peace, all of his senses overwhelmed by the sensation of her soft lips and her luscious curves.
