by Amy Sumida
Gage sent me a commiserating grin and took my hand as we headed down a cobblestone road. We came upon a few people as we got further into the village, and they all stopped to stare at us in surprise. Some tried to speak to Amaron about me, but he held up a hand and declared that they'd be introduced to me later; Lady Sashaena came first. That shut them all up, but they continued to watch us like hawks... or griffins, I suppose.
“You have such unique names,” I observed as we turned down a dirt lane. “Amaron, Finteren, Rentar, Sashaena, and then you have Gage? It sounds so human.”
Gage grimaced as his father laughed.
“What I say?” I asked.
“We all shorten our names with each other, but Gage refuses to allow the use of his given name at all. He doesn't like it,” Amaron said. “I have no idea why; Gagerian is a noble name. There was a King Gagerian once.”
“Gagerian,” I rolled the word around in my mouth as Gage rolled his eyes.
“I told you, Father,” Gage huffed, “it sounds like an old scholar—Professor Gagerian.”
“And Gage sounds like an action instead of a name,” Amaron pointed out.
I chuckled and squeezed Gage's hand supportively. “Either way sounds good to me.”
“Thank you, but let's stick to Gage.”
“All right, honey,” I agreed.
“'Honey' works too.” Gage nodded.
“Sasha is going to be over the moon.” Amaron chuckled as he added another nickname to the mix.
We came out into a landscaped clearing bordered by flowerbeds and adorned with a gazing pool. A snowy-stoned palace ruled over it all with a welcoming veranda stretching before it. A woman came rushing out onto the veranda and down the steps. She had long, golden hair, an athletic body, and a grin that went right up into her green eyes; Gage's eyes.
“Gagerian!” She cried and ran to hug her son. “I've missed you!”
“It's been less than a week, Mother.” Gage sighed, but he also smiled as he hugged her.
“You've never been gone longer than a day,” she complained as she pulled away. “I...” she stopped, inhaled deeply, and turned unerringly in my direction. “Who is this?” She whispered.
“This is Elaria Tanager.” Gage drew me forward. “She's a spellsinger whose assistance was integral to sending the olgoi khorkhoi and the chupacabras home. We're working together on the abductions.”
“And she's...” Gage's mother looked back at him with hope in her eyes. “She's yours?”
“And she's my mate,” Gage confirmed proudly.
“A spellsinger mate,” Sashaena whispered. “I knew you were special, Gagerian. I knew it the instant you pecked that first hole in your shell and then stared so serenely out at me. I saw the flicker of greatness in your eyes.” She stroked his cheek lovingly.
“Mother, please,” Gage groaned, “not the 'staring through the shell' story again.”
“It's a good story, and mothers always cling to the tale of the children's hatching.” She kissed her son and then came over to hug me. “Welcome home, Daughter. You have lifted a weight from my wings and allowed me to soar with happiness.”
I may have teared up a bit. It was such a kind, open acceptance. I had known that I wouldn't be rejected because of Amaron's initial response, but Sashaena was weeping with joy as she held me. That was a little overwhelming. She reminded me of my mom.
“Mother, don't smother her,” Gage said gently.
“I just want her to feel at home,” Sashaena chided her son. “She is the first non-griffin mate, and that must be scary for her.”
“Elaria isn't scared of anything,” Gage scoffed... and got one step closer to my heart.
“I'm Sashaena.” Gage's mother released me to shake my hand. “But you can call me 'Mother,' or if that is too uncomfortable for you, please call me 'Sasha.'”
“Let's start with 'Sasha.'” I smiled. “My mother has yet to meet Gage, so I don't feel right giving you her title quite yet.”
“I understand.” She nodded and then gave me a smirk. “So, we are the first parents to know?”
“It's because I called Gage home to see the evidence.” Amaron slipped an arm around his wife's waist. “Don't go roaring on about it.”
“Regardless”—Sasha sniffed—“as the first parents to know of their union, we have responsibilities.”
“What responsibilities?” Amaron started to look uneasy.
“To introduce the couple to our people, and celebrate their mating in grand fashion,” Sasha said sternly.
“Oh, of course.” Amaron beamed at Gage and me. “There's always time for celebration. But I've already delayed our children from their mission. Make the preparations, mate”—he let go of Sasha to slap her ass—“and I will take them to see the evidence.”
“You slap me like that again, Ama,” Sasha growled, “and the only thing I'll be preparing for is your last meal.”
Amaron paled.
“It was my greatest pleasure to meet you, Elaria,” Sasha sweetened her tone for me. “I'm sorry about my mate. Griffins believe in equality of the sexes, I assure you. It's just that sometimes the lion in them needs to exert his dominance.”
“I'll try to remember that.” I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing at Amaron.
“Simply stand your ground, and they will remember that the lion may be the protector of the pride, but the lioness is the greater hunter,” she advised. “If they want to eat, they better damn well show us some respect. And if that doesn't work, you remind them of the other hunger you can satisfy.”
“Mom!” Gage was horrified.
“Standing my ground won't be a problem,” I said smugly.
“I didn't think it would be.” Sasha winked at me.
“Sashaena,” Amaron groaned.
“I'll see you later, my little birds,” she ignored Amaron and Gage as she sashayed back into her palace like the queen she obviously was.
My grin faded.
“Come along; it's this way.” Amaron brightened as soon as the threat of his mate was gone. He started leading us back down the lane.
“What's wrong?” Gage whispered to me.
“Nothing,” I whispered back and tried to smile.
I wasn't about to tell him that Torin's favorite endearment for me was “little bird.” That would make things awkward. I focused instead on how perfect a griffin was for me—a woman descended from sirens, who were also part bird. Birds of a feather flock together. I may not be of the same feather, but I had avian DNA, and that was enough to make me feel a kinship.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Amaron took us to the other end of the village; an even longer trip than it should have been because we were stopped every few feet by curious griffins who wanted to meet Gage's mate. Gage had been right; all it took was a stiff breeze to announce to the whole damn place that we were together.
I had expected there to be at least a couple griffins who were opposed the idea of Gage mating someone outside his race, but I was wrong. Every one of them was ecstatic to hear of Gage's spellsinger mate. They saw it as fresh, strong blood flowing into the gene pool... which they made very clear to me with their repeated questions on how I felt about having a clutch of baby griffins. I admit that made me nervous. It was hard enough to think about having babies with my unusual life, but to contemplate laying eggs was not something I was ready for... nor would I ever be.
“I doubt our children will be born in the griffin manner,” Gage whispered to me after I replied to yet another hatchling question. “Your body will no doubt carry a baby in the way of humans.”
“Is my apprehension that obvious?” I asked.
“No.” He pulled me to his side and kissed my cheek. “But after the way, you responded to the description of my birth, and then your stilted answers to my tribe, I assumed.”
“Yeah, I don't relish the idea of pushing out an egg,” I admitted. “No offense, but that kind of grosses me out.”
Gage laughed and
then said, “Children are a long way off. Let's save those concerns for later.”
“Oh, thank Persephone,” I groaned. “I was worried that you were going to start pestering me for a clutch.”
“I think we are meant to be more than mates, Elaria.” Gage went serious. “I told you that this feels like destiny to me, and I know that Vivian said something similar to you, but what I haven't mentioned is that I think our destiny may be to unite more than our lives. I believe we are meant to merge our strengths.”
“Merge our strengths?” I blinked, thinking about how the spell had united Declan, Banning, and I when we fought King Sorin.
“I was born a guardian, and so were you.” He tapped my nose. “You just didn't know it until now.”
“I swear; you save the realms one time, and everyone thinks you're a champion,” I grumbled jokingly.
“And that was on your own,” Gage pointed out. “Imagine what we could do together.”
“Well, let's stop this monster thief first, and then we can talk about future missions,” I suggested with a smirk.
“All right,” he agreed softly. “I see you that you don't believe as I do yet, but I have faith that you will.”
“Faith is a dangerous thing,” I teased him.
“And a powerful one,” he added with a wink. Then he looked up and nodded toward something. “Here we are; the Nest.”
“The Nest?” I asked as I looked over the building he indicated.
“It's the gathering place for our community,” Amaron explained as he led us through a group of griffins. “We keep our records here, make tribal decisions, and store important artifacts.”
We had come to the end of the central lane. The waterfall was directly before us; it's rippled pool spreading out among mossy boulders before narrowing into a stream that ambled past us. The sound of falling water and gurgling stream were soothing, and despite the gathering of people, could be heard easily. Griffins were not the rowdy sort. They murmured to each other quietly and waited patiently for Amaron to make introductions. Once that was out of the way, and another round of greetings and questions navigated, we headed into the building they called the Nest.
It was another stone structure; massive and formidable outside while airy and orderly inside. Corridors led off from the main hall, and Amaron took us down one of them without explanation. Again, the corridors were spacious enough for people twice our size, and I suspected that they were to allow for the passage of...
A griffin came striding down the hallway toward us. I stopped walking and just stared. You have to understand; I've seen all sorts of magnificent, magical creatures, but the griffins had moved to Torr-Chathair long before I was born, and I'd never seen one in their griffin form before. I'd seen drawings of them, but nothing that could prepare me for the sight of this King of Creatures.
It walked with grace and power, its back half rolling with the flow of a predator cat; lions paws padding silently over the stone. In direct opposition to that grace, its front half struck the ground with the beat of a prancing horse, as if forcing the floor into submission; eagle talons tapping and scratching. A massive eagle head flicked to the side to survey us with one shiny eye. Elongated lion ears rose high on that avian head, giving it added nobility. Pure white feathers darkened down into tawny ones and then into golden plumage that matched the lion mane beneath. It was a smooth transition from feathers to fur that was hard to catch at first. Just as smoothly, the front legs went from muscular lion limbs into thinner bird talons. As the griffin approached us, its lion tail flicked with curiosity, and its enormous eagle wings fluffed before settling along its back.
Suspicions confirmed; the hallways were made to accommodate griffins; very large griffins. Well, of course, they were for the griffins. What had I expected; a bunch of dragons to come running through?
“Trathon,” Amaron nodded in greeting. “My son has returned with a mate. She is a spellsinger and is working with the witches to investigate the monster abductions.”
The griffin shimmered and transformed into a naked man. I focused on the man's stern face; staunchly refusing to look any lower. He was sharper-looking than Gage and leaner. Definitely older too; not that I could see it in his skin—he was as healthy as any immortal—but it was in his eyes. This was a man who had been around for a very long time, and he had seen some shit.
“That was a lot to process, Amaron,” Trathon came forward and looked me over. “A spellsinger, a mate, and a monster hunter?”
“I suppose.” I shrugged. “I'm a modern gal; I can be many things.”
“And I suppose you're here to collect our evidence,” he shot back.
“If you wouldn't mind sharing, Mr. No-Pants,” I said.
Trathon laughed and sent Gage a smile. “She's got spark; I like her.”
“Do you like me enough to find some pants?” I asked dryly, and Trathon laughed more.
“If you see something that bothers you, girl—grab it,” Trathon waggled his brows at me. “Grab it and hold on tightly.”
“So that I may chop it off,” Gage added.
“Oh, the newly mated.” Trathon rolled his eyes and then turned away. “The evidence is in here. Come along, children.”
I kept my eyes firmly on the back of Trathon's head. Gods-damned griffins were all fit—very fit. They shouldn't be walking around naked when they looked like that. On second thought; I guess it was better to have a hard body walking around in such a manner than a flabby one. But damn it all, it made me want to drop to the floor and do some crunches.
Trathon took us into a room full of bookshelves; not just built into the walls, but also freestanding shelves set in rows down the room. Except these shelves weren't full of books, they were stocked with stuff. Woven baskets were placed neatly on each of them. Trathon didn't head to any of the shelves, though; he went to a heavy table set before them. There was a glass jar on the table which he picked up and handed to me without further ado.
“This was found at the latest location,” Trathon said. “It smells like a shining one, but none which I recognize.”
I wasn't too surprised by the shining one revelation; I had already been leaning in that direction. So, I didn't have much of a reaction to that; I just peered into the jar at the single hair. I was impressed that they'd been able to find such a tiny piece of evidence out in the open. It was hard to tell the color of a single hair until you held it up against a solid background. So, I used my hand for lack of something white. The color blazed to life against my pale skin, and I gasped. Orange; the hair was flaming orange, and I'd seen that exact shade before.
“You recognize the hair?” Trathon was shocked. “You haven't even scented it yet.”
“I don't have your sense of smell,” I said. “But I don't need it to know whose hair this is. Her ex-husband was our first suspect, but he doesn't have the power to pull this off. In fact; she doesn't either.” I scowled at the hair. “But it has to be her.”
“Who?” Gage asked.
“Ava; the last Queen of Sapphire.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
I used my contact charm to call Declan as the griffins argued over the best way to stop a fairy from breaking into a realm that was originally discovered by the Shining Ones. As soon as Declan answered, I told him the news.
“It's Ava!”
“What?” Declan asked in shock. “You mean the one bringing monsters into the Human Realm is the ex-Sapphire Queen?”
“Yep.”
“How the fuck do you know that?”
“Gage's father contacted him this morning,” I explained. “They found a hair at the last abduction scene, and I just got a look at it. It's fucking orange! Bright orange!”
“But what about the pale-haired man you saw in your vision, and the large footprint?”
“Maybe an accomplice?” I suggested. “I don't know, but there's no mistaking that shade. It's her, Declan.”
“That gods-damned bitch!” Declan swore.
&n
bsp; “I know,” I agreed. “What can we do about it?”
“I can go over to... where the fuck did Ava go after the war?” He lost his thunder to contemplation.
“Shit; I don't remember,” I huffed. “I'd ask Torin, but...”
“Yeah, let me take care of it,” Declan offered. “Don't worry; I'll find Ava, and then we can end this.”
“We can't just kill her, can we?”
“Who's going to stop us?” Declan's voice held sass and vengeance—a strange combination.
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “But shouldn't we collect more proof before we do something so final?”
“More proof than her hair in Torr-Chathair, right at the abduction site?” Declan asked.
“Yeah; you're right,” I conceded. “I just...”
“What?”
“How did she do it, Declan?” I asked what was starting to really bother me. “You shining one royals grounded most of her power.”
“Ava is not without friends, my love,” Declan reminded me. “And you can be damn sure that we'll find those allies of hers too.”
“All right, I'll let you get to it,” I said. “I have to go to a griffin party. I should be back later tonight.”
“A griffin party?” Declan asked in surprise.
“To welcome me into the tribe,” I whispered.
“You're being welcomed into the tribe?” Declan hooted. “How deliciously primitive.”
“Shut up,” I huffed. “They're really nice.”
“The griffins?” He chortled. “The fiercest shapeshifters in all of the realms are really nice?”
“Goodbye, Declan.”
“Goodbye, lover. I'll see you tomorrow.”
I pulled the charm out of my ear as I turned toward the men. They were all watching me expectantly.
“I've just spoken to the Alexandrite King,” I reported. “He's going to locate the suspect, and then we can take care of this.”
“Just like that?” Trathon asked with some disappointment. “Don't we get to hunt?”
“You want to go to Tír na nÓg and hunt a fairy on their own turf?” I asked, expecting him to say no.