Embrace (The Gryphon Series Book 2)

by Stacey Rourke

  He glanced down at me. His expression softened enough for me to notice the unease in his eyes. “Celeste, that man…”

  I raised my eyebrows as I purposefully cut him off. “Is none of your concern.” I pinched the sleeve of his leather jacket between my thumb and forefinger and tugged him to the sitting area in the corner. “Have a seat. Your waitress will be right with you.”

  By the time I turned back around Alec and Kat were gone.

  “Frick!” I untied my apron, tossed it in the chair across from Caleb, and bolted out the door.

  I scanned the parking area. Alec and Kat were at the far end of the lot. His hand brushed precariously close to her butt as he helped her into a stunning, and uber-expensive, 2011 silver McLaren F1. I didn’t even want to know where he got a car like that. No doubt it was by less than savory means. I pushed that thought aside as I did a quick survey of the lot. We were the only people out there. I ducked out of view of the café windows. Then I shot across the lot in a blur of speed.

  Alec had just closed Kat into the car when I latched onto his shoulder and spun him around. As I slammed him against the side of car, Kat fumbled for her door.

  “See, this is why it never would’ve worked with us.” Alec laughed. “You’re far too aggressive for me.”

  My forearm was pressed up against his chest. His designer shirt crumpled in my fist. “Let me see it,” I snarled. Before I could stop it, the truth slipped out. “I’m trying to save you, dammit!”

  Alec threw his head back. His Adam’s apple bobbed up as he guffawed. Kat flung the door up and charged. I had nothing against her, meant her no real harm, but I also wasn’t about to let her hit me. I raised my hand and gave her a telepathic shove that sent her tumbling across the parking lot. Her dress didn’t survive the fall. We were suddenly seeing a whole lot more of Kat. Maybe next time she wouldn’t try to pass a tube sock off as a dress.

  “So much fuss.” Alec made no attempts to hide his amusement. “You want to see that badly? Go ahead.” He spread his arms out wide. “Take a look.”

  I yanked my hand down and tore his shirt open. There, just above his heart, was…nothing. His chest was utterly blemish free.

  Tears burned behind my eyes. I stared up at him as if I honestly expected him to explain. “There’s…there’s nothing there.”

  He leaned in so close his breath tickled against my ear. “Did you really believe I was a foot soldier in that brigade of idiots? There are worse things in this world than the Dark Army, girl. Things like me. But you’ll find that out soon enough.”

  I stood there stupefied as he ducked around me and extended his arm to his date. “Katherine, my love.”

  My head whipped around. Kat flipped her hair back off her face as she retracted the sword-length metal barb that had slid out from the inside of her wrist. My knees threatened to give out. I laid my hand on the McLaren to steady myself. Her hair was changed and her look altered, but I suddenly knew where I recognized her from. She was the missing girl whose poster was plastered all over campus.

  “Oh, Alec,” I whispered. “What have you done?”

  “All will be revealed on my time,” he stated, as he ushered a glaring Kat back into the car. The door clicked shut and he turned to face me. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his slacks. His torn shirt danced in the night breeze. “Until then, don’t call on me again and don’t get in my way.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Becca met me at the door, my discarded apron gripped tightly in her hand. Her worried eyes were magnified behind her thick lens. “Are you okay?”

  I glanced over my shoulder. The taillights of the McLaren faded away as the car zoomed off into the night. “No. I’m really not,” I admitted.

  “Why don’t you take a break?” she suggested. “Take a few minutes to clear your head. I’ll have Melissa pick up your tables.”

  I tore my gaze away from the window. “She’ll be thrilled about that.”

  “She’ll live.” Becca jerked her head in Caleb’s direction. “Oh, and go easy on your dark-haired friend. He was only acting on what everyone else in here picked up on—that the guy you were talking to is seriously bad news.” With that she turned and walked back to the counter.

  Caleb was still sitting where I’d left him. On the coffee table in front of him was a pile of coffee stirrers he had twisted and knotted into unrecognizable lumps. He glanced up with anxious eyes when I flopped down in the chair across from him.

  “Celeste, I’m so…”

  I held up a hand to stop him. “You don’t have to say it. I get the outburst. Believe me, I do. What I don’t get is why you’re here.” Emotional fatigue was setting in. I didn’t have it in me to be anything but one hundred percent honest with him. “If you’re the kind of guy that likes to play games, you’ve got the wrong girl. You acted like an ass. And then thought, what? That you could show up here and give me the sad, tortured, hot guy bit and that would make everything okay?”

  A grin tugged at his lips. “Ya think I’m hot?”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “I did. But the walk home from the mountains made you significantly less attractive.”

  The smirk vanished from his face. He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees. “I messed up.”

  “I’ll say.”

  His emerald eyes bore into mine. “I’m not gonna offer up some fool excuse. I’m just gonna promise ya it’ll ne’er happen again, if ya just give me another chance.”

  I leaned forward and mirrored his posture. My voice dropped to a whisper. “And why would I do that?”

  He flicked his eyes in the direction of the door, then back to me. “Because clearly ya’re dealin’ with some stuff right now. I can see ya’re in pain and could use a friend. Even if it ne’er results to anythin’ more, I at least want to be that to ya.” He reached over the table and took my hand in his. “Will ya give me another chance? Please?”

  His words struck a chord in my heart. For a moment I just sat and studied him. Those green eyes fixated on me. I noticed the hint of apprehension of my rejection in them. Yet his handsome face was so open and hopeful. Not at all like the sinister sneer of Alec, or even the cocky arrogance of Rowan. Caleb seemed…genuine. Sure, he made a mistake. But who was I to judge? The biggest mistake of my life just drove off into the night with a kidnapped girl he had somehow Dr. Frankensteined into a demonic girlfriend for himself.

  “Fine,” I relented. “But next time, we drive separate. That way at least I’ll have a ride home.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Since the events of the evening had me feeling a little run down, I decided it would be a good idea to slam four espressos before Alaina’s scheduled training session. The result was a jittery mess of a body and a still sluggish brain. Awesome. As I waited for her to begin whatever she had planned I shook out my arms, and bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. Not as a warm-up but because I just couldn’t stand still.

  “What’s on the docket today, Alaina? Fog monsters? Snow monsters? Demons? Hopefully no hobgoblins because they’re scary beyond reason. But I’m sure you’ve got something good cooked up. So what’s it gonna be? Huh? Come on, let’s do this!” I bellowed and punched at the air. Then, realized everyone was staring at me. Judging by their astonished expressions I needed to calm it down a notch…or six.

  At least one person appreciated my enthusiasm. Grams had come to watch and her enthusiasm rivaled my own. She’d even brought a cowbell and a flag. Sure, the flag said Tennessee Titans, but it’s the thought that counts.

  “Way to get your head in the game, Celeste!” She yelled and jangled her bell.

  Alaina stood ramrod straight, her hands folded in front of her. She had traded her feathered bodysuit look for the more winged, angelic look. It occurred to me that for her this was business attire. I snickered to myself.

  “I have something brand new for the three of you,” she began. “It is an exercise in reflex and blocking.” With the wave of her hand thr
ee glowing orbs appeared, floating in front of her. “These will act as your attackers. They will move at you in varying successions, your individual goal is that of personal defense. You won’t always be there to help each other. Therefore for this challenge you must each act alone.” The twitch of her finger sent a glowing sphere floating into place in front of Gabe, Kendall and myself. “Whatever you do, do not touch it.”

  That warning came about two seconds too late. It was a pretty glowing ball and I was amped up on java. Of course I reached out and touched it! I squeaked as an electric current jolted through me. My hand and arm were rendered completely useless. “OW! What the heck?!”

  “These things can actually hurt us?” Kendall exclaimed. Her tone and eyes directed a heavy dose of accusation solely at Alaina.

  “Well, yes.” Alaina seemed shocked Kendall would suggest otherwise. “It motivates you to not get hit.”

  “I’ll say! How long will I have dead arm?” I picked up the deadened appendage and dropped it.

  “Twenty four hours.”

  “TWENTY FOUR HOURS! I have to work tomorrow! What am I supposed to do?” The fact that the orbs caused paralysis should’ve been the first words out of Alaina’s mouth when she blinked them into existence. Her failure to issue a preemptive warning made my rant completely justifiable.

  “I know!” Kendall waved her hand in the air like she wanted someone to call on her. “You could tell them you got tazed by a cop.”

  I mentally counted to ten before answering. “Keni, my boss might view it as a bad thing if I told her I had a run in with the law.”

  “Oohhhh.” She nodded. Her blue eyes reflected her delayed comprehension. “Yeah, that’s probably true.”

  “You’ve fought with worse than a numb arm before. Can we do this?” Gabe grumbled impatiently as he peeled off his t-shirt and tossed it on the ground by Grams. Heat rose in Alaina’s cheeks as she eye-groped my brother. He gave her a wink. I threw up in my mouth a little bit.

  “Fine, let’s just get this over with,” I prompted, if for no other reason than to stop their exchange of icky looks.

  “Woohoo! Go Team Conduit!” Grams cheered and rang her bell.

  We’d never had a cheering section before. I hoped it wouldn’t be a distraction. But honestly, how does one ignore a cowbell?

  “You must avoid the touch of the orbs for five minutes. As time passes the assaults will quicken and become more aggressive. We will begin…” Alaina held up her arm like she was signaling the start of a drag race, and dropped it in the same fashion. Gabe morphed just in time. “Now!”

  The balls slowly loomed towards us. Mine bobbed in leisurely enough that I could simply lean to the side and out of the way. From there, it meandered in the direction of my foot. I sidestepped to avoid it. Just when I thought this was going to be insanely easy, it sped up. It buzzed my head, then swirled around to come at me from behind. A corkscrew spin got me out of the way. Faster still. My reactions had to be quick and efficient.

  Duck.

  Kick.

  Jump.

  The orb whirled around me like a spastic lightening bug, leaving traces of light where it had been. The caffeine jitters were impairing my ability to determine the right move and execute it in time. I could feel myself getting sloppy. It was only a matter of time until I slipped up. With my functional hand raised, I focused in and mind halted the pretty-little-torture device. I wished my other hand worked so I could wipe the sweat from my brow.

  To my left, Keni performed defense as only she can—her wings completely encapsulated her. The orb bounced off her like a harmless, ping-pong ball. Beyond her our lion had a paralyzed front leg but still managed to leap and crouch out of the reach of the terrible little ball. If I could’ve lifted my other hand, I would’ve frozen his orb. He looked like he could use a break.

  “Hey! You got a new power,” Grams hollered.

  “Yeah! I forgot to tell you.” I glanced over at her. She had stolen one of Gabe’s old football jerseys for the occasion and had painted black smudges under her eyes with mascara. “This one has been really fun to play with. When customers aren’t looking, I move their mugs and plates around to mess with them. It’s cool, huh?”

  Her penciled in eyebrows drew together. “It sure is, honey. But don’t you think you should be paying a little more attention to the fight?”

  I gave a nonchalant shrug. “Nah, it’s not going anyw…” The orb smacked into me a second time, stopping my sentence short. Apparently my telepath ability had a time limit. My other arm hung as useless as the first. Feeding myself and taking care of basic needs just became a monumental issue. “CRAP!”

  “Fight’s not over, Celeste!” Grams yelled and shook her bell like she was Paul Revere. “Here it comes again!”

  The glowing sphere circled around and moved in for a body shot. I didn’t know if my telepathy was a hands-free power, but I had to try. I squinted and tried to give it a mind shove. No luck. Time was running out. I focused in again, but this time roughly rotated my shoulder to fling my dead arm up. It worked—kind of. I managed to steer it off its original path, but set it on a direct collision course with the left side of my face. Electricity rocked through my brain. I fell to the ground twitching.

  “We will call that time up,” Alaina called, and the orbs retreated.

  My body gave one last spastic shudder as I lay sprawled in the dirt. I stared up at the treetops. The tiki torches Grams brought to line the perimeter and light the clearing illuminated them. Her head was the first to pop into my line of vision.

  “Geez Celeste, you look like you had a stroke. You really shouldn’t have let that thing hit you.”

  Kendall’s head poked in next. “Aww! Her face is all droopy like a Bassett Hound.”

  I groaned in response.

  Gabe leaned over me as he struggled to pull his shirt on with one working arm. “That’s what you get for wussing out and using your mind power.”

  “Ewwwww suuuuuuuuuuuk.”

  Last but not least came a very sympathetic looking Alaina. “My, that didn’t end well. Did it?”

  They shook their heads as they stared down at me. Finally, Gabe and Kendall grabbed my limp arms and yanked me to my feet.

  Grams wiped at my mouth with her flag. “Guess I’ll have to call into work for you. I’ll just say you need an emergency root canal. That’ll give you an excuse if the drooling lasts a while.”

  I tried to scowl, but my face hung slack. The life of a superhero. Glamorous, no?

  CHAPTER 21

  “Ya seem different tonight. Everything okay?” Caleb took my hand and led me up the sidewalk to a red brick building.

  I dipped my head and brought my hand to the side of my mouth to make sure I wasn’t drooling again. “I had dental work done. It could be that.”

  “Well, whate’er it is, ya look radiant.”

  The smile he gave me turned my insides to butter. “Thanks.”

  “This is Mulligan’s.” Caleb nodded at the building. We had met at the café and rode together on his bike to an Irish pub a couple miles away where his band played. The pub was exactly as I envisioned it. The awnings and trim were green and white. A neon green shamrock hung in the window, and the “i” in Mulligan’s was dotted with a tiny little pot of gold. “I hope the band does ya proud. I haven’t been with ‘em long, but thar a good group of lads.”

  He held the door open for me and I stepped inside. Loud music and jovial laughter welcomed us. The place wasn’t huge. Its hardwood floors and faux wood paneled walls drew the space in that much more. Plus, it was packed to capacity. But the mood of the room was that of fun. There was no denying that. The band recited ill-humored Irish drinking toasts and set them to music on the small stage in the corner.

  The guy at the mic with a pint in his hand had a baldhead, goatee and multiple facial piercings. It was impossible to tell his age. He could’ve passed for twenty-five as easily as forty. “When we drink, we get drunk,” he began. The guy behi
nd him with a long, dirty-blonde braid strummed his guitar. “When we get drunk, we fall asleep.” A few more cords. “When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.” Dung-dung-dung. “When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.” The Ray-Baned drummer hit his cymbal. “So, let’s all get drunk, and go to heaven!”

  Caleb leaned close, “Gotta love the warm up.” I smiled but said nothing.

  The people gathered around the stage roared and lifted their glasses. The only way this place could’ve lived up to the Irish stereotypes anymore is if someone jumped up and started Riverdancing. Although if the crowd kept drinking like that it could still happen.

  “Hey Cal! You playin’ tonight?” asked the pretty hostess. I glanced at her tag, her name was Paige. Paige’s brown hair was styled in a cute pixie cut with heavy side bangs dyed bright orange. Not many people could pull that look off, but it worked on her. Her Mulligan’s shirt, a green tank top with a picture of a dancing leprechaun, was knotted just above her belly button to reveal a shamrock naval ring. She looked from Caleb to me with a warm smile.

  “Sure am.” Caleb wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “So I’m gonna need ya to take good care of Celeste while I’m up there.”

  “Could it be?” Paige’s green-shadowed eyes narrowed, but her smile held firm. “The mysterious and elusive Caleb actually has a date tonight? I’m intrigued.”

  Caleb pressed his mouth to my hair. “Ignore her. She speaks her mind to a fault.”

  “I’m just sayin’,” Paige shrugged. “If she captured your attention she must be special. Come on, I’ll get you a table with a good view of the stage.”