by Connor Crowe
“Do you know who we’re talking about?” Tristan asked.
“I have an idea.” Linetta frowned. “I just hope I’m wrong.”
I racked my brain to remember the conversation or any details I could have missed. “They said something about a holding room,” I added. “Before the sale, whatever that means. Know anything about that?”
“I have an idea,” Linetta mused. “But we’ll have to hurry.”
You know the old saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I never thought I’d see it play out in real life.
Yet here I was, rushing across the Hub with the one person that could expose us. There was something even bigger at stake, and we needed all the help we could get.
Remnants of our costumes flew off as we ran. They scattered to the ground. Linetta even tore off her wig and hiked up her skirts. All that pretense didn’t matter anymore. All the pageantry, all the facade was forgotten. We had to find the thieves before the sale went through.
And all this extra stuff? It was just slowing us down.
There was something almost poetic about it—all of the unimportant falling away (literally) as we raced to save the relic.
Even for these people, so obsessed with appearances and drama, there could still be hope. And that’s what kept me running.
“This way.” Linetta pointed. We rushed through an exterior door, back out into the light.
The sun nearly blinded me before I threw up a hand to shield my eyes. Outside the glitz and glamor of the Gala, the platforms and streets of Ataraxis seemed so...normal.
“They’ll be heading to the Pier,” she panted. “That’s the only theory I’ve got.”
“They’re not trying to smuggle it off-world?” Tristan gasped.
She snorted out a rueful laugh. “Wouldn’t you?”
He simply groaned.
“Say, what’s the issue with the Sky Ferry anyway?” Tristan asked as we ran. “Thought it was out of service. Didn’t work on the way up here, anyway. How are they gonna get it down?”
“Ah, the old thing’s been on the fritz. Just another bit of decay around here. But if it’s who I think it is, they’ll know how to jerry-rig it.”
“Then we don’t have much time to lose.”
“You can say that again.”
We clattered across the steel platforms as quickly as we could. Linetta knew the path like the back of her hand, leading us through a maze of switchbacks and alleyways. We passed a few villagers who gave us disapproving looks, but I didn’t have time to hear what they had to say. We had a job to do.
19
James
“There they are!”
As soon as the pier came into view, two people in particular stood out. The same couple we’d been tracking at the Gala. And this time, they were carrying a heavy-looking trunk between them.
Seemed like they were in an awful lot of a hurry, always looking over their shoulder every which way. Too bad it was too late for them.
“Hey!” Tristan yelled, taking the lead. “Stop right there!” He bolted forward to confront the duo just as energy rushed through my spine. It was time.
“Stay out of this!” The woman sneered. She flicked her hand as if getting rid of a fly. Tristan stopped for a moment, stunned. He swayed on his feet, but that didn’t stop him.
Our mate was stronger than that.
“Let’s go,” I mouthed to Hugo and we joined the fray. No one, and I mean no one, hurt my mate!
“The Linbachers.” Myrella’s voice came out cool and collected as ever. At least one of us was. “Should have known you’d try something.”
The man looked up, his eyes widening in recognition. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question, Bruce. Surprised to see that you and Jessica are still together, to be honest. But then again, I guess I shouldn’t be.” She narrowed her eyes. “Birds of a feather, right? Or rather, gryphons of a feather.”
Jessica snorted. “None of your business,” she snapped. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Actually,” I cut in. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “It does.”
Bruce raised an eyebrow. He looked me up and down, then laughed. “Really, Myr? Who’s this pipsqueak? That the best you got?”
I growled and bared my teeth. My vision blurred and sharpened as the wolf inside me threatened to break free. I knew I couldn’t, knew I shouldn’t, but if it was the difference between my mate being safe or not...
Linetta spat with visible distaste. “You were always a piece of work, Bruce. And up here, that’s saying something.”
Bruce and Jessica sneered at her. While Jessica motioned for Bruce to move the trunk toward the ferry, Bruce crossed his arms and stood between us. He aimed his next attack at Linetta. “You may have spent your time sucking up and playing your little games, but we were taught to take what we want. No one else is gonna do it for us. Up here, more than ever, it’s eat or be eaten. And we’ve got a way out, a way to freedom. It all starts with this chest right here...”
“You have no idea what you’re messing with,” I warned them, fear still building in my gut. “There are powers that we don’t understand, and removing or damaging it could doom us all.”
Jessica scoffed. “I know it’s valuable, and I know it’s mine. That’s all I need to understand.”
It was then that I felt the same energy Hugo and Tristan had been complaining about all this time. It hit me like a wave and pulled me under its spell, blocking out all sense of time and space.
It was coming from the trunk.
It was coming from the Key.
I tried to suck in a breath, but it caught in my throat and I doubled over, wheezing. “Hugo!” I rasped, but it was too late. He was doing the same thing.
He vibrated and shook, letting out such a scream as I’d never heard before. “Get down!” He roared. “I can’t...can’t hold it!”
“No!” I yelled. Pushing through the pain, I stumbled over to him. I had to do something. Hugo and I had brought Tristan back from the brink once. We could do it with him. We had to.
“I said get back!” Hugo’s voice was an ethereal roar now, his fists igniting in a burst of flame. “I don’t want to hurt you, James. Please!”
I shook my head. No. I wouldn’t give in now. “I have an idea!” I cried, hoping that he could still hear me. “You can harness this power, Hugo! Think with me here. Think! You can use it to help us. All of us.” I eyed the scurrying couple, and let loose at last, my wolf form springing free.
With a roar I bounded toward them, catching the hem of Jessica’s dress in my jaws. She screamed and yanked away as the fabric ripped. I wasn’t going to let her go that easily. She’d dropped the trunk in her shock. Now we just needed to get her and Bruce off this island.
“Hugo, now!” The words this time came not from my mouth, but from my heart. Even through the chaos, I knew that he heard me in the midst of his transformation. We were no longer strangers.
We were mates.
His huge frame lunged forward. A terrifying sight indeed, to see a man on fire rushing toward you at full speed. But he pushed past the fear and pain. He ran with passion and purpose, and before Bruce could react, he barreled headlong into the man.
I could hear his grunt of surprise from here. He tumbled to the ground and rolled a few times, Hugo still on top of him. The flames licked out and caught on Bruce’s ornate tuxedo, catching easily on the delicate fabric.
Bruce’s screams lit up the evening twilight, punctuated by the sounds of snapping growls. I leapt for Jessica one more time and found my target—my teeth sank into her wrist and pierced the skin. Bitter blood splattered on my tongue. I didn’t let go though. Not with everything at stake. She screeched and tried to pull herself away, but it wasn’t easy when her wrist was still trapped between my strong jaws. Take the sudden pain combined with the fact that I’d just shifted into a wolf in a city full of gryphons, and she became hysterical.
“The
fuck?! Bruce, do something!”
“Little busy!”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hugo and Bruce tussling on the ground in full hand-to-hand combat. I didn’t know whether to be terrified or impressed that Bruce was still putting up a fight while literally on fire. That only left...
“Tristan!”
I couldn’t see him through the blood and chaos, but I knew that he’d be in the thick of it as well. Everything we had worked for led up to this moment.
Jessica threw her weight to the side and caught me off balance. We tumbled across the platforms with Hugo and Bruce, each trying to get the upper hand. I had to admit, she was a hell of a fighter—even in human form.
I looked up just long enough to see how close we were to the edge of the city and the endless depths below. Off to the side was a metal carriage and a complex set of controls. Bruce and Jessica had been rushing toward it with the trunk—that must be the Sky Ferry. Only a few more feet and we’d be over the side. Without the Key.
Now, there was an idea. I flipped and pinned Jessica, sending out a desperate thought to my mates: We’re gonna get them to the ferry. Tristan, grab the trunk and go!
James, no! Tristan’s plea rang out just as loudly. Don’t do this! We can figure this out, together. This isn’t how it was supposed to happen!
Jessica partially shifted her arms to get away, maimed claws and feathered wings slicing through my skin. I wailed and dodged to the side, unable to escape the sting of pain. From what I could see, Hugo wasn’t faring much better. Bruce had shifted too, using his superior strength to his advantage.
We were toast if we tried to fight. There was only one thing we could do. One of us was going over the edge: either us, or the Key.
My heart made up my mind for me.
We promised to help you. I felt the words with every cell in my body, every bit of my spirit. We promised to protect you, didn’t we?
Not like this…
We’re doing that now, Hugo’s voice rumbled above all the others. Get the Key, Tris. Get it to safety. Please.
Like actors in a stage play, we took our places. Executed our roles. I didn’t think about what would happen next. Couldn’t. I put every bit of faith I had left in our bond, and I wrestled Jessica to the edge.
We snarled, clawed, and bit. My vision went red with blood and fury. Hugo tumbled and roared and punched, his flames reaching higher as he took on his dragon form.
Tristan rushed forward and grabbed the trunk, dragging it away from the ferry platform and back toward Myrella and Linetta. I only saw snatches of their conversation—the moment we crashed onto the ferry platform, the metal creaked and groaned, sagging under our weight.
A spike of fear lasted for only a moment. I envisioned free falling from this height as the only non-flying shifter, splattering into a bloody pulp on the ground below…
I’ve got you, James. Hugo was there, even as we fought for our lives.
That one sentence, that one gesture of concern gave me strength. I roared and tore through Jessica’s wing tendons, leaving her bleeding and flightless. If I was going down, she was going down with me.
Bruce, maddened and on fire, tried to launch himself off the ferry platform to get back to the trunk. His eyes held a crazed, delirious gleam. Even though he was burnt all over and barely conscious, he never lost sight of his goal.
“The fuck is this?” He rasped with the last of his energy. “A wolf and a dragon? How in the skies did they get here?”
“They’re my mates.” Tristan stepped forward and hovered near the control panel for the Sky Ferry. His face was hard now, full of grim determination and barely contained rage. His words rung out across the district. “I finally learned what it was like to love instead of hate. To see differences as bringing us together instead of splitting us apart. That dragon and that wolf? They’re my alpha and my omega. And I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”
Bruce sputtered, flapping his singed wings in protest. Hugo’s huge wingspan kept him from leaving the ferry, but even he couldn’t hold both gryphons back for long.
“That’s preposterous!” Bruce cried. “You are an embarrassment to gryphons everywhere! You give this city a bad name!”
Tristan scoffed. He stared down at us, his hand still hovering over the controls. “I haven’t been ‘one of you’ for over a decade now. I’m quite fine with that. And Bruce? There’s one more thing you need to learn.”
“What’s that?” Bruce spat.
“Never underestimate an omega.”
With that, his other hand came out from behind his back, partially shifted into a menacing claw. In a flash of movement, his fist came down onto the control panel with a sickening crunch, smashing the mechanism.
The platform swayed and cracked once more, tilting to the side this time and listing away from the dock. I clung to the metal grating, gritted my teeth, and prayed.
I tried to fix the image of his face in my mind, hold it there for as long as I could. For all I knew, it could be the last time we’d see him. My heart and my spirit cried out. It took everything not to leap off the ferry and back to safety.
Bruce and Jessica weren’t the only injured ones. She’d gotten me good as well, and though the adrenaline helped fend off the pain, it was starting to return. Blood dripped onto the floor and ran into slippery rivulets, mixing with the grime, dust and cobwebs of the ferry’s unused past.
Tristan! I cried out, but the words must have fallen on deaf ears. With an ear-piercing shriek, the ferry crashed away from the dock and plummeted, sending me, Hugo, Bruce, and Jessica hurtling to the earth below.
20
Tristan
They were gone.
And I’d pulled the trigger.
The air hung silent and heavy, pressing in around me like a vise. It still felt unreal. I blinked, looked down at the trunk. Over at the destroyed ferry platform.
I turned and faced Linetta and Myrella. They watched me with terrified, shocked expressions. The battle and the rush across the city had taken its toll on all of us. The once-lavish costumes and wigs were long gone, dangling in rags and rubbish along the floor. Dust, grime, and sweat caked their faces. No longer were they the elegant, upstanding socialites. They sagged just as I did, still in shock from the chaos of the evening.
Something about crisis always stripped away all facade. Now I saw their real selves, and they saw mine.
A couple of people began to peek out of the nearby buildings, looking on with confused or curious expressions. I glanced back over at the trunk and gestured to the two women. Our work here wasn’t done yet.
“We need to get this out of here before the whole town shows up.” I pushed the fear and worry away. Everything in me wanted to shift, to scream, to run. But I remembered that first night in the library, when even thinking about returning to Ataraxis sent me into a full-blown panic attack.
I was no longer the shy, scared omega I’d once been. That Tristan let his trauma define him. And that version of myself felt impossibly far away now. I’d overcome so much by simply being here.
No, that wasn’t even the half of it.
We had overcome so much. I squinted my eyes shut, willing away the rush of emotion, and let out a deep breath. To give in or freak out now would be to betray everything we had worked for. And no matter what happened, I wasn’t going to let my mates down.
Myrella crossed her arms. “Are…you not going to go after them?” She gestured at the broken platform. “It’s a long way down.”
Didn’t I know it.
“We…” I chewed on the lie. “We had a plan. They will be all right.”
I hope, rang out my silent prayer.
She shook her head, but regained her composure quickly enough. If there was one thing us gryphons excelled at, it was dealing with the unexpected. “For your sake, I hope you’re right.” Myrella walked around to one side of the trunk and grabbed a handle, waving me over to take the other. “We can walk and talk. Let’s get thi
s moving first.”
“Where to?” Linetta asked, only a few steps behind us.
“Dunno. Haven’t gotten that far yet. Somewhere not so out in the open, for starters.”
We heaved the trunk into an abandoned shed on the far end of the docks near the industrial district. I don’t know why I ever thought a relic of arcane power would be light. My arms ached by the time we set it down, and I could only imagine that Myrella’s did as well.
I looked around before closing the door to make sure no one had followed us. Only factories and warehouses existed around here, and since the Gala was in full swing (and it was the middle of the night), the place was deserted.
Inside the shed I couldn’t see a thing, especially after the door creaked closed behind us. I peered through the gloom, even using my shifter vision to try to help. Vague outlines presented themselves, but not much more.
With a snap and a spark, a small blue flame flared to life in Myrella’s hands. She held some sort of makeshift torch in front of her, no more than a minuscule cup with a crackling reagent.
I looked on in awe as the flame sputtered and reached higher, casting the dark, damp shed in a cool blue light.
“That’s a neat trick,” Linetta observed. “Never seen anyone use a thimble like that, though.” She huffed out an amused breath through her nose.
“Something I picked up in my line of work,” Myrella said casually. She still stood defensively, her voice cautious. I understood why, though. She had more reason than most.
“I’m going to uh, check for traps.” Myrella said awkwardly, walking as far away from us as possible and busying herself with checking every crate.
I knew she was trying to give my mom and I some alone time, but was I ready for that?
A big nope.
Then again, it wasn’t like there was any better time. We were going to have to have it out eventually. Might as well be here.
In the meantime, Linetta—my mother—turned to face me. She sighed. Her eyes were no longer frantic or angry. Just worried.