The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,2

elaborate motion it swooped down and buzzed my head. I squeaked and covered my head with my arms. What the heck was this thing? I’d heard bugs in the south were big, but this was the size of a house cat! It swerved in again, this time close enough to brush against my hair. That garnered a squeal as I lurched to the ground in the fetal position. It whizzed passed my head one final time. Then silence. Of course my brother had to pick that moment to appear.

“Whatcha doin’?” He asked. I actually heard the smirk in his voice.

“Big mutant lightning bug!” I yelled.

“Your courageous display must have scared it off, ‘cause I don’t see anything.” He snickered. “But if you’re worried it’s going to come back for another vicious attack I could pull the truck in. You can go hide inside.”

With my arms still shielding my head, I tossed him the keys and rushed inside.

“Whoa! Where’s the fire?” Grams asked as I flew in the door.

“Tennessee bugs are terrifying!” Safely inside, I relaxed and gave my beloved grandma a long awaited squeeze. “Hi, Grams.”

“Hi, baby. Don’t worry about the bugs here. They might be big as a Volkswagen, but they squish just the same. Now, come grab a plate. I ordered pizza.”

Grams’ heels clicked against the hardwood floors as I followed her to the living room. The pizza box waited for us on her glass top coffee table. As soon as Gabe came back in the three of us kids swarmed the tasty treat. We didn’t bother with the plates, but gathered around the box to eat. Mom would never have let us get away with that. Grams just hung back, a safe distance from the feeding frenzy.

“Want a slice Grams?” I asked between bites.

“No thanks, I already ate.”

“More for us.” Gabe muttered through a mouthful.

We were well on our way to consuming our individual body weights in the cheesy goodness when Grams rose from her leather recliner. The determined look in her eye should’ve been our first clue something was up, but she lured us into a false sense of security with food. Wiley minx.

“While you’re busy stuffing your faces and therefore can’t argue, let’s go over some ground rules for while you’re here.”

Our chewing slowed. Rules? At Grandma’s house? What kind of backward, twisted dimension had we slipped into?

“First, I am not your maid. As long as you are here, you will pick up after yourselves. Are we clear on that?”

Kendall didn’t hesitate. Her waist-length pony-tail bobbed as she nodded her agreement with enthusiasm.

Gabe snorted. “Yeah. Sure, Grams.”

I swatted at my much bigger, big brother. Then gave him a pointed look as I stated, “It won’t be a problem, Grams.” I got an eye—roll from him in response.

“Good. Then secondly, you need to know your Grams has a life. Like tonight, I had to skip my Salsa dancing class so I could be here when you arrived.” She waggled her hips to demonstrate.

I quickly dropped my gaze to the table and tried not to visualize Grams Salsa dancing. Beside me, Gabe gagged on his pizza. The image must have crept in. Poor guy.

“That means I won’t be here to entertain you. I expect each of you to keep yourselves busy, and out of trouble.”

“You don’t have to worry about me.” Keni declared her ocean—blue eyes wide and eager. Like a happy little puppy. She flipped her annoyingly perfect, golden hair over her shoulder. “I already looked online and found out when auditions for the Community Players production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof are. I would, like, die for the chance to play Maggie the Cat!”

“Good girl, Kendall.” Grams gushed and my sister beamed. Kendall wasn’t trying to be a suck-up. It came naturally. Grams’ gaze turned disapproving as she focused on Gabe. “What about you, young man? Your mother tells me that you have made no plans to go back to college after your little incident last year.”

I paused mid—chew. Grams just touched on a taboo topic. One that could make Gabe transform from playful jokester to snorting buffalo in an instant. He had been on a full ride football scholarship at Michigan State University when our Dad died in an accident a year and a half ago. A few months later he decided to cope with his mourning by indulging in a little underage drinking. The result was a DUI, the loss of his driver’s license, plus getting kicked out of school. His