by Chant, Zoe
“No worries – you can borrow some of mine,” Hector said. “Gets colder than you’d think out here at night, especially up high.”
Up high?
Myrtle opened her mouth to ask, before closing it again.
Do I really want to know?
She supposed she probably did, but just… not right now. She was still processing. Wasn’t that what it was called when you felt like you needed to lie down for about a decade to think about everything you’d just seen in the past five minutes? Processing?
“Myrtle? Myrtle, are you okay?”
Myrtle shook her head, realizing she’d been staring blankly into space. Ruby shifted herself on her arm, making a low, comforting sound, and Hector stood in front of her, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders.
“Myrtle?”
She blinked.
“Hector,” she finally said after a moment or two, “what the hell is going on?”
Hector hesitated. “Myrtle, I promise you, I’ll explain everything. But right now, I’m just going to have to ask you to trust me.”
Swallowing, Myrtle looked up into his eyes.
I trust you.
She wasn’t sure why she did, considering everything she’d seen in the past few minutes.
“I know what you saw, Myrtle, and I know how frightening it must have been,” Hector continued. “But I swear to you, I’d never hurt you. Never.”
His words echoed through her, beating within her like her heart. Somehow, she knew they were the truth – the complete and total truth.
Myrtle wasn’t used to relying on her emotions. Emotions had never gotten her anywhere. Every time she’d opened herself up to them, she’d only ended up getting hurt. She was a scientist. She trusted what she could hold in her hands, what she could see and touch and measure.
But now…
“Okay,” she said at last. “Okay. I trust you.”
But first, there was one thing she needed to clarify.
“You turned into – into a –”
“Into a griffin, yes,” Hector said. “It’s… a long story. And I’m going to tell you it. But right now, let’s go.”
Myrtle let Hector take her hand and lead her outside. His palm was warm against hers, and her skin tingled at the contact. Myrtle shivered.
Once they were outside again, Hector busied himself with the laptop, resting it on the inside of his left forearm while he rapidly typed with his right hand.
“Okay, that’s that done. Self-destruct initiated. There won’t be anything left for anyone to find now, if they happen to stumble on this place. Clean up team’ll be here in a day or so to remove any last trace that this was ever here to begin with.”
Despite what he’d told her earlier, Myrtle still found herself waiting for something dramatic to happen, though of course, nothing did.
“And I’ve sent the beacon,” Hector explained as he snapped the laptop shut and then slipped it into the sports bag. “Someone’ll come to pick us up from the shelter ASA-F-P.”
Myrtle supposed she didn’t need to ask what the ‘F’ stood for.
“We’ll be safe there,” Hector explained. “It’s only accessible by air.”
Myrtle frowned. “But if it’s only accessible by air, how are we going to –”
She cut herself off as she realized she already knew the answer to her own question.
Oh my God. No. Really?!
Hector must have realized it too, because he took a deep breath, and held out his hand.
“You do trust me, right?”
Myrtle’s subconscious must still have been ahead of her waking mind, because she had already nodded before she knew what she was doing, and the words Of course I do were on the tip of her tongue.
By her side, Ruby whinnied softly as if to back her up, squirming a little. A feeling of impatience suddenly shot though her, and Myrtle glanced down at Ruby, confused, and found her looking up at her as if asking Well, what are you waiting for?
Did that come from her?
“Here.” Hector reached into the sports bag, pulling out a huge sweater that could only have been one of his. “Put this on. You’ll get cold otherwise.”
She passed him Ruby to hold as she took the sweater from him, slipping it over her head. She had to roll the sleeves up over her wrists and the waist dropped down past her hips, but it was warm and comfortable.
And it smells like him, Myrtle thought, shivering.
Which was a strange thought to have, considering that if she’d been asked, she wasn’t sure she could have described how Hector smelled. But the lingering scent of him on his sweater was warm and familiar somehow, like a scent she knew well, rather than something she couldn’t possibly have smelled until a few hours ago.
Like comfort, Myrtle thought, as she closed her eyes, breathing it in. Like home.
“Here – tuck Rubes in here,” Hector said, his voice soft. “Make sure she stays put. I don’t think she’s that good at flying yet.”
Myrtle nodded. She took Ruby back from him, tucking her up under her sweater.
“Meeh!” Ruby wiggled around, shifting against her, until she popped her head up out of the neck. She shook her head, mane flicking against Myrtle’s throat.
“Hey, that tickles!” Myrtle said. “You better behave yourself in there.”
“Me-eeh.”
Myrtle took a deep breath and looked up at Hector.
“All right,” she said. “All right. How’re we doing this?”
“Like this.”
Hector took a few steps away from her, and then, his eyes on hers, he began to – change.
It didn’t seem like anything at first. Just a shimmer running over his body, like a small wave on the surface of the ocean. But then, he broadened out, massive, feathery wings sprouting from his back, and his body…
Myrtle shook her head. Looking at her now wasn’t a man. It was –
A griffin.
Just like he’d said. Myrtle didn’t know much about mythological creatures, but she knew a griffin when she saw one.
Or she did now that her brain wasn’t frozen in fear, anyway.
She swallowed.
“Hector?”
The griffin crooned, preening a little, lifting its massive eagle’s head and spreading its wings as if showing itself off. Its lion’s tail swished, muscles rippling over its shoulders and hindquarters as it posed.
The message was clear: Like what you see?
Myrtle felt a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips. “Very impressive,” she said. “But I think your human form might suit me a little –”
She cut herself off as the sound of motorcycle engines roaring drifted to them from the distance.
They’re back. Oh, shit.
Myrtle turned back to Hector, who’d clearly heard them too.
He made a low, urgent sound, gesturing with his head.
“So,” Myrtle said as she hurried over to him, “just to make sure I’m not completely misreading the situation, you want me to ride you, right?”
He made another low sound that, to her ears at least, was a definite Yes! Now hurry up and climb aboard!
Hector lowered his head and scooped up the straps of the sports bag in his beak. He made another urgent sound, the bag dangling.
“Just so you know,” she informed him, “that looks really silly.”
She reached out, touching his side.
How do I – um –
She’d never so much as ridden a horse before. This was going to be a steep learning curve.
Hector crouched slightly, lowering his shoulder. He made an encouraging noise, slightly muffled by the bag.
Myrtle gritted her teeth.
Clutching Ruby with one hand, she took a handful of feathers on Hector’s shoulders and hauled herself up onto his back, sitting just in front of his wings. She clutched his neck between her thighs, leaning forward over him, and tried not to close her eyes.
“Okay. Okay, I’m –”
She didn’t get to finish the sentence before she heard an almighty whoosh! as Hector beat his wings. Myrtle gasped at the feeling of his powerful body lifting up into the air, coiled muscles springing to life, and carrying them up, up, up –
Myrtle didn’t even have time to be frightened. If anything, she felt the opposite. A mad kind of elation spun through her, and she had to fight down the urge to laugh.
The air whipped past her face, and adrenaline surged in her veins. She couldn’t quite bring herself to look down, but she didn’t need to. She knew where she was.
High in the sky over the Australian outback, riding on a griffin’s back with a baby pegasus tucked into my sweater.
The last half an hour or so had been a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and Myrtle knew that at some point all of this was going to catch up with her. She was coasting on adrenaline now, but when it wore off she knew she was in for one hell of a come down. But right now, she supposed she didn’t really have any choice but to sit back and enjoy the ride.
And later, Hector, she thought, as she snuggled her chin into his sweater, pressed her cheek against his feathers, and took a deep, deep breath, you’re going to have some explaining to do.
Chapter 7
As much as she wanted to simply sit back and enjoy the ride, Myrtle knew her brain wouldn’t let her relax for long.
It was in her nature to analyze things, categorize them and classify them – it was part of what had made science her favorite subject at school, and why she’d eventually chosen it as a career. It had combined everything she loved in one: her need to sort things through and look into why they were the way they were, and her appreciation of the beauty of nature and desire to protect it. And how could humanity protect what it didn’t understand? That was the whole reason she’d come here in the first place: to understand why moth numbers were dropping, and what could be done to protect them, and to protect the animals that relied on them for food.
Myrtle had always thought that humanity had made great strides in the past fifty years in terms of understanding what it was up against when it came to looking after vulnerable species of animals. Sitting here on the back of a griffin, however, she was now wondering if, in fact, they hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface.
Hell, I don’t even understand the last half an hour.
Ever since she was a child, when confronted with something she didn’t understand, Myrtle had made lists. It had soothed her and made things seem a little more explicable. She had to admit, however, that the list she’d been making in her head wasn’t doing much to make things less overwhelming:
You confronted bikers smuggling a rare animal.
The rare animal just happened to be an extinct pegasus, which shouldn’t exist outside of storybooks.
You were rescued by an extremely hot Australian cop.
The extremely hot Australian cop turns into a griffin. And you’re riding on his back right now.
You definitely kissed him.
He didn’t seem to mind it, or at least, he didn’t visibly freak out.
When talking to the pegasus, you thought of the extremely hot Australian cop as her dad.
Does that make me her mom?
What does that make any of this?!
No really, what the fuck??!!
It was not, she had to conclude, the world’s most helpful list.
As if sensing her rising panic, the griffin – no, Hector, she reminded herself – turned his head slightly, making a soft, questioning noise around the gym bag dangling from his beak.
“I’m… fine,” Myrtle said. “I’m just… well, this is a lot to take in, you know?”
Hector made another soft, soothing noise. Maybe she was beginning to understand the griffin language, because somehow, his meaning was clear to her: Not long to go now.
Sure enough, after a minute or two, she felt Hector’s wings behind her dip slightly, guiding them in a wide circle. She held on tightly as they circled lower and lower.
She thought the landing might be bumpy, but instead, it was remarkably soft – a couple of small jolts as his legs hit the ground and he ran a few paces with his own momentum, and then he folded his wings, looking over his shoulder at her.
“I guess this is my stop,” Myrtle said, blinking.
Hector made an encouraging noise, before lowering his head and setting the sports bag gently down on the ground.
Holding Ruby close to her chest, Myrtle slid down from Hector’s back, looking around. There shouldn’t have been any light, but somehow, she could see everything around her quite clearly. The land around her was bathed in a soft, blue light, like she’d wandered into a dream.
Starlight, she realized suddenly. I’m seeing by starlight.
Looking up, she gasped. She’d never seen such a star-studded sky before. They glittered like diamonds against the black velvet of the night sky, utterly clear and unclouded. The misty white streak of the Milky Way arched through the sky to the horizon, its untold billions of stars twinkling gently.
“Oh,” Myrtle said. “Wow.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it.”
She jumped a little at the sound of Hector’s voice. She turned to find he’d shifted back into his human form while she’d been enraptured by the stars.
She wasn’t sure why, given that she’d already seen him change from one form to another, but she’d almost expected him to be naked – certainly, his griffin form hadn’t been wearing any clothes.
Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.
She supposed keeping his clothes was the least weird thing about it all – and pretty convenient too.
Myrtle swallowed as she looked at him. In the half-light of the stars, his features looked even more ruggedly beautiful than before, cut to absolute perfection.
“I used to look at them when I was a kid, and wonder if I’d ever be able to fly that high,” Hector said, coming to stand by her side, looking up. “But I think this is as close as I’m going to get.”
Swallowing, Myrtle looked around, taking in their surroundings properly for the first time, and realized how high up they were, nestled on the side of a large, rocky mountain. The crag they were standing on jutted out from its side, a large flat surface with a few scrubby bushes growing on it.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“Somewhere safe,” Hector replied. “This is the emergency pickup point for when an agent needs somewhere to hide out. I wouldn’t normally bring civilians here, but in a situation like this…”
Myrtle nodded. He didn’t need to finish the sentence. She understood that under these circumstances, it was better to be safe than sorry.
“I hope you know I have a lot of questions for you,” she said.
Hector nodded. “And I want to answer them. But first…”
He gestured toward her chest. Myrtle glanced down to see Ruby, her eyes closed, sleeping soundly against her shoulder.
“Oh, right.”
Despite the warm sweater Hector had given her, Myrtle could feel the chill of the night air against her skin.
“Do we have a way of keeping her warm?”
“Absolutely,” Hector said, picking up the sports bag. “This way.”
She followed him across the outcropping, her eyes adjusting more and more to the half-light as they went. Eventually, she was able to make out a small shed, mostly concealed in the scrub growing out of the side of the mountain.
“It’s not much, but it has enough to keep someone alive for a few days,” Hector said as he opened the door, rusty hinges scraping loudly. “A battery generator, a store of water collected during the rainy season, food rations. I don’t think we’ll be here long enough to worry too much, though.”
Putting the sports bag on the ground, Hector rifled through it a moment before pulling out the heat lamp. Clearly, he’d thought of everything.
He spent a few moments setting things up with cables and switches, before turning the generator on. It let out a
low hum, and then the heat lamp flickered to life.
“Pop her down here,” Hector said softly as he reached into the bag again. “We can make a nest for her out of this blanket.”
Together, they molded the small, thin blanket into something vaguely nest-shaped, folding it over itself to create high sides before curling it into a circle.
“There you go, little one,” Myrtle murmured as she gently extracted Ruby from her sweater, cradling her tiny sleeping form in her hands and placing her with care in the center of the nest. Ruby didn’t stir even once. But then again, Myrtle thought, the first day of her life had been an exciting one. She didn’t blame her for being completely tired out.
They crouched together, side by side, looking down at Ruby’s sleeping form.
“She’s really beautiful,” Myrtle said after a long moment. “Perfect.”
And she’s the only one left in the world.
The thought made her breath catch in her throat. Anger suddenly surged through her.
And someone was trying to smuggle her as if she was just an object, instead of a living, breathing creature!
She had no idea what the person who’d been planning to buy Ruby might have wanted with her, but she had no illusions about the kinds of lives most exotic animals kept as pets led: sad, lonely, and usually locked up in cages that were far too small for them. Unlike with zoos or ordinary pet owners, most exotic animal collectors didn’t care about the animals themselves: they only wanted a prize, a status symbol to show what their money could buy.
But all of this reminded her just how many unanswered questions she still had.
“Hector –”
“I know. Let’s go outside.” He jerked his head toward the door. “We should leave her to sleep, and we should keep the door closed. The light from the lamp will be visible for miles up here.”
Myrtle nodded. Hector grabbed a couple more blankets from the bag, and then, together, they went back out into the clear, beautiful night. Hector spread out the blankets on the rocky ground, before gesturing for her to sit.
“All right,” he said, sitting next to her. “You ask. I’ll answer.”
A million questions flooded Myrtle’s mind. She had to struggle to pin a single one of them down. Pulling in a deep breath, she forced herself to be calm.
