Christmas Griffin - Zoe Chant Page 0,45

he could stop her.

“Cole!” she cried out. “What are you doing in there?”

A small dragon slithered out of the hole. The snow it had melted glittered on its black scales, then exploded through the air like droplet diamonds as it shook itself. The dragonling—Cole?—was the size of a small pony, but long and skinny, like someone had taped limbs to a big snake. It checked over its scales and sent little puffs of flame to melt the snow still clinging them.

*Sorry, Miss Belgrave,* he said, curling himself into a sad pretzel.

Delphine crossed her arms. She gave no sign that she hadn’t heard him.

Hardwick decided to step in. He shifted and dressed quickly, frustrated by the delay of having to pull on clothes. Delphine was right, he should figure out whatever trick the other shifters had found to bring their clothes with them when they shifted. Not for chest-thumping reasons, but for practicality. Frostbite took longer to set in for shifters than it did for regular humans, but it did set in eventually. And cold was cold, regardless of whether your veins were actually closing up or not.

“How’d you end up out here, kid?” he asked once he was safely human-shaped and dressed.

The dragon’s tail whipped. *I’m not telling!*

Delphine raised her eyebrows at Hardwick. “I think the real question is how long he’s been out here.”

*Umm...*

Hardwick groaned. “That’s the sort of non-answer that tells the whole story,” he said for Delphine’s benefit.

*It’s not my fault! I had to get it done before Christmas!* The dragonling stared beseechingly at Delphine..

And said something to her that Hardwick couldn’t hear.

Damn.

Well, if he couldn’t translate for her, he could at least distract. He touched her arm. “We should keep moving. I don’t know about you two, but I’d rather keep talking somewhere with a roof over my head and something to eat, rather than out here.”

“Good thinking. Cole, we were heading up to your place and hoping to borrow a car to get back into town. Want to come with us? We could knock on the front door while you sneak in round the back. Not that you’re here because you snuck out, or anything.”

*Yeah, maybe, but... oh, no. Too late.*

Cole looked like he wanted to jump back down his hole. Hardwick followed his gaze, shading his eyes against the sunlight, and Delphine followed suit a moment later. If you didn’t know she hadn’t heard half the conversation, you never would have guessed she was making it up on the fly.

It made him feel uneasy. The whole thing did. Even playing along with her. It wasn’t lying, but it was close enough that he could feel the ghost of a knife behind his temples, waiting to stab down.

“Oh...” Delphine breathed, and he guessed as she hesitated that she’d been about to say ‘no’. “...good. The whole family’s here.”

Winged figures were appearing over the distant ridge. They were sinuous, glittering creatures that soared through the air like fish through water.

Cole sank to the ground, groaning pitifully.

“Don’t worry,” Delphine told him. “I’m sure they’ll just be pleased to see you—oh.”

More figures appeared behind the dragons. These ones didn’t fly like elegant sea-creatures. Their wings pummeled the air like it had insulted their mothers. They were stocky and powerful, similar to and yet so different from what Hardwick remembered of seeing his parents flying.

Not griffins. Winged lions.

Delphine’s family.

“What are they doing here?” she said under her breath.

Hardwick stepped closer to her. “Maybe they were looking for you, after all,” he murmured.

“No.” Delphine shaded her eyes and peered up into the sky. “No, that can’t be—oh, blast. Just call them, will you? I’ll say I was busy with Cole.”

Hardwick hailed the distant shifters, but they had already spotted them anyway. The dragons curved towards them and the nearest, which was the color of mother of pearl, sent a message directly to Hardwick’s mind.

*Cole’s down there with you? He’s been gone all night!*

“You’ve been gone all night?” Hardwick echoed. Cole wriggled miserably.

*Only ONE night! And the weather was looking better yesterday! And anyway, I’m fourteen! I can look after myself!*

Hardwick’s head hurt. He couldn’t tell whether it was because of lies, or because of teenagers.

Both, he thought gloomily.

“At least you found cover,” Delphine said. Her voice was cheerful, but she was watching the winged lions with an uncertain look in her eyes. “Lucky you found the cave.”

How was she managing it, Hardwick thought, amazed. Carrying on her own half of the conversation as though she could hear the other half.