WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (29 page)

“I swore I would do whatever it took to make her mine, to put happiness in her pale brown eyes and joy in her spirit every day.

Talon pulls Shadow closer, knowing just how Lev felt.

“Her Dame insisted Treasure offer me the hospitality of the eyrie so she led me down to the baths. I’d been on the wing for what felt like weeks and couldn’t have been any dirtier. Treasure told me no gryphon had come to meet her and as I realized we were headed to the warm baths she could comfortably share she stopped and held her hands up.

“A flash of heat seared us then she took my hand and told me no gryphon would enter the baths until we left.”

Lev pulls open the ties on the pouch.

“Wearing nothing but this, a gift from her brother, she took wing for the first time at my side and I proudly became her mate.”

“Oh,” Shadow whispers as a ring containing a single large sapphire and two diamonds falls into her palm. “My ring?”

She weakens in Talon’s arms as Lev moves in to help hold her up.

“It was stolen.”

“Yes,” Lev admits. “But not by the men who broke in to your apartment. It was Dame Treasure’s and it was her wish you have it. Condor gave it to you and took advantage of the robbery to take it back. He wanted to add the diamonds, one for each of you, and return it.”

Ah ha, Talon realizes. Like Feather’s ruby, given then stolen to be charged with the magic of the Earth and grant Shadow the strength to really fly.

“He passed before he could do it so I completed the work for him and have held it close until today when it is returned to your hand.”

But she freezes, seeing nothing but Lev then her head tilts to the ring.

“I hope I made it as beautiful as he planned, Shadow,” Lev prompts. “Put it on.”

Shadow chews her lip. Then with a teary smile she places her other hand over top. For a moment Lev’s brow wrinkles with the worry Talon shares that she might put it back in the bag. Talon can only guess the magical stipulation for real flight has something to do with her brother but precisely what, he’ll never know.

“Terry,” she points a thumb over her shoulder. “First day with the new wings, eh. What do you think? Am I doing okay?”

Then the damn breaks and she fights to keep her lips still as she breathes hard through her nose. She blinks up at the chamber far above and smiles as her waves of grief calm.

“It was good to…” she trails off. “It’s been a really good day, Terry.”

Shadow slips the ring over the big finger of her right hand and dives for Lev. Talon moves to stop her before she can paste magic tears all over his chest.

“It’s okay, Talon,” Sire Lev says as he holds his daughter. “You and I are the only gryphons immune. They can’t change us any more than they have already.”

Shit, is that really why I can’t lie to her? All that pain for the truth I’d tell her anyway?
At least he doesn’t have to worry about touching her tears again. If Lev isn’t concerned about the breaking bones thing Talon won’t be either.

“I will leave you to your rest, Shadow,” Lev says softly as she releases him. “We have a long day tomorrow. Master Talon, I will send for you when the others arrive.”

“Sire,” Talon replies.

For Shadow, the flight to the west coast would be insufferably long without the magic from the ring. No amount of food would get her in the air for more than a couple of hours at a time and after only eight or ten she’d need another big meal and a full night sleep.

“First day with the new wings?” he asks and she laughs.

“I was, um, heavier when Terry was alive and a little clumsy. He used to ask me that about my feet, hands, mouth, whatever I couldn’t seem to use properly.”

“You seem different, Shadow,” Talon says, so proud of her. She’s taken to being a gryphon very well considering the culture shock.

“I grew up today, Talon,” she says, fingers in his chest feathers. He used to cringe from public displays of affection but he wants everyone to know she belongs to him. He’s graced with a glimpse of her dazzling smile and she wraps a hand behind his head, pulling him down for a kiss.

“Dame Shadow!”

Shadow sways with the little voice and they look down to see Mist. Shadow’s big white feathers are in the child’s death grip as she balances to get down on one knee.

“Hello, Mist,” Shadow exclaims. “How are you?”

“I am beautiful,” the child announces as she wobbles, trying to see if her other knee is any more reliable.

“You are, child,” she runs her sapphire covered fingers through Mist’s curls.

“My dame needs you.”

“I’ll catch up with Lev for a few minutes,” Talon says as Mist leads his mate away.

“Tell me about dragons, Mist.”

“We don’t talk about dragons,” she says patiently, hopping twice on each foot.

Talon laughs. Dragons are one of many things children are taught to be imaginary and therefore not worth discussing. If Shadow ever gets to meet one she’ll be in for a shock.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“
Arlette
,” Talon calls, lightly shaking her elbow.

Shadow sits with a start, feeling around for Mist. Her dame was one of six gryphons honoured with bearing Swift from the eyrie and Mist refused to wait with anyone but Shadow. Talon took their evening companion with good cheer though he excused himself to see Lev when Cloud arrived with hot chocolate and cookies. The last thing Shadow remembers is Mist’s soft snore and her chubby hand clutching a glass angel; a gift from Swift.

“We’re in the den. You slept through the flight up.”

“Okay,” Shadow swallows. Sleep clogs her eyes and mouth.

“Breakfast, chamber pot,” Talon orders as he strides from the den.

Shadow smells old leather soaked in a heavy layer of what can only be described as Talon. He wears dark clothes like Lev and Soar and his steps don’t sound like bare feet. They sound more like boots. Armour? It makes sense but if they’re just flying somewhere why does he need armour?

Breakfast is simple: meat, raw fruit and what Shadow has come to think of as gryphon crackers. Nothing with Cloud’s touch at all. The den is already empty of Shadow’s belongings so she follows Talon down the tunnel.

“I couldn’t let you sleep any longer and expected you to get ready a little faster.”

“You didn’t say anything about hurrying, Talon. Have you always been hot and cold?”

He makes some sort of ambivalent grunt.

Well, you are today,
Shadow thinks, irritated and still half asleep.
Or just cold, maybe even icy.

“You woke up full of ranger,” Shadow accuses.

Talon puckers his lips and lets them open with a pop before picking Shadow up so they’re at eye level.

“We have a long trip,” he admits as she runs her fingers over his tied back hair. Is this who he is when she’s work? The relaxed man she knew as Mark is buried deep. His armour is thick, almost to the point of being hard and matted sheepskin sticks out around the shoulders of his leather vest either for insulation or to protect his skin from the sharp hems.

Then Talon turns and without another word jumps from the tunnel. Squeezing her eyes shut to ease the lurch in her stomach, she pulls her wings in. Dropping instead of circling like the previous day, Talon’s wings flare at the last possible second, catching them as they hit the stone floor running.

“This way.”

They hurry up a tunnel Shadow doesn’t remember using though the increasing cold of fresh air tells her she has. Torrent would have brought her through this passage while she was still unconscious from whatever he did to her neck.

“Here, Master Talon,” Lev calls from the far end of a smoky room. In addition to a fire in one corner, several white wall lights reveal more than a dozen armoured gryphons, their dark pungent smells mix with the welcome scent of winter. They only hush for a moment as they kneel to Shadow and return to their preparations. The sight of her white wings doesn’t get the attention she’d come to expect from the Jasper gryphons.

“What’s going on?” Shadow asks as Lev’s expected greeting, caressing her neck, erases the worry that made her ask the question in the first place. Her sire carries the big crossed swords she saw two days earlier and as she grabs for Talon’s hand she grips the solid wooden stock of a crossbow strapped to his thigh. Why didn’t she notice before? Talon carries a sword on his back and has a dagger bound to his upper arm. Several more handles protrude from his leather chest piece.

“We’ll make some room,” Lev gestures and the males step away like they know better than to stand between their Sire and his daughter. “Get her ready.”

By the time Shadow notices their presence, three large women bearing the same winding burnt lines as Talon kneel and the oldest, in the front, adds a bow.

“Dame Shadow,” Talon introduces. “This is Firn, Rapid and Dove.”

The latter two bow as their names are spoken. It’s impossible to tell what colour their hair is under their old-style leather football helmets. Firn stands out; what remains of her right cheek was never stitched up before it healed. Firn and Dove wear old dark armour like Talon’s. Rapid’s is new and soft as suede.

“Hello, rangers,” Shadow tries, hoping to sound official but her eyes keep dropping to the weapons. The knuckles of Firn’s fingerless gloves bear cat-like metal claws and the surrounding leather is stained darker than the rest. Jesus, nothing says expecting trouble like big armoured bodyguards.

“Dame Shadow,” Firn says. “Master Talon has welcomed us into your service.”

“Thank you, Firn. Please stand.” Shadow would hate to run into Firn and her friends in a dark alley. On their feet the three are at least six three plus the lift on their heavy boots pushes them even higher. It’s a hell of a lot of firepower.

“Rapid,” Firn points to a heavy leather bag as Talon steps behind her and spreads his wings like a curtain to hide the four women in a corner. They quickly get to work, pulling out armour as new as Rapid’s: a fresh sheepskin for underneath, vest, trousers and soft treadless boots that are more like thick insulated slippers. Shadow looks at Rapid then to her own gear.

“Any gryphon aware of your unique colour is still in the eyrie,” Rapid explains. She has a soft lisp and though her face is unmarked, most of her front teeth are missing. “This new armour should be sufficient for me to act as your decoy, Dame Shadow.”

“Decoy?” she echoes. “No decoy.”

“Master Talon?” Rapid calls.

“Decoy,” Talon insists and Shadow narrows her eyes at him, not in defiance but with concern for Rapid.

“If I could serve you any more I would not hesitate, Dame Shadow,” Rapid says. “Your love and concern for me is accepted with gratitude and very much like Dame Treasure’s.”

The gryphons surround Shadow and with well practiced hands they pull the sheepskin over her head. A narrow strip passes down the center of her back where it’s laced up to the sides beneath her wings.

“We served in your dame’s guard,” Firn speaks as they work, going through the same process with the sleeveless chest piece.

“Her guard master passed defending her as we stole her away but not before a terrible, terrible fight,” Firn points at her cheek. “Dove is my child. We delivered you and gave Dame Treasure blessing as Sire Lev took you and Condor away.

“The survivors…” she trails off. “There were many black days.”

Shadow puts a hand on Firn’s shoulder partly for balance as the thick leather trousers are pulled over her cloth ones and partly to squeeze in thanks. The trousers are similar except they lace up above her tail instead of having a simple hole for it to pass through and a drawstring front.

“I am royal by blood and defied my eyrie mating to Sire Lev’s guard master. He passed two decades ago defending us from the
animals
when they came a second time.”

“Oh, no,” Shadow gasps, horrified at the loss this family has suffered at the hands of the rogue army. As horrible as her own.

“Nothing for it now, Dame Shadow,” Firn replies as the last boot is pulled on. “The armour was Dame Treasure’s. When Sire Lev located you we were ordered to bring it right away.”