The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,47

envelope with “Kendall” scratched onto it. There was no return address or stamp. Someone hand delivered it to our mailbox. Fearing it might explode or release some terrible parasite, I dangled it between two fingers.

“Recognize the handwriting?” I asked.

Her forehead creased and her wings instinctively popped out, knocking over a dining room chair. “No.”

With her indestructible wings curled around her she took it from me and tore it open. Inside was a lone piece of notebook paper. No big kaboom or scary white powder.

Whatever was written on the paper brought a new light to her face. Her wings retracted and her eyes sparkled. “It’s from Keith!”

I expelled a sigh of relief. “What does it say?”

“He wants to see me tonight at the library. He says we have a lot to talk about and he hopes I’ll meet him there at six. Oooh, and he misses me.” She hugged the note to her chest.

I hated to be the bad guy, mostly because it meant I would have to listen to her whine, but I didn’t have a choice. “Keni, in the entire history of mankind that is absolutely the worst idea ever. The Seeker could be anywhere. We have to stick together. You’re going to have to reschedule for a night when our lives aren’t in peril.”

“I can’t!” She moaned. “If I blow him off tonight he might not give me another chance! And with this new superhero thing our lives are always going to be in peril! I HAVE to go, Celeste! Pleeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz!”

Trying to reason logic against fifteen-year-old hormones; a losing battle if ever there was one. “What if you run into the Seeker while you’re with Keith? Do you actually want to risk him getting hurt?”

“No, of course not. But we could make a deal.” She bargained. “You could keep spying on Gabe’s emotions. When you feel him get a lock on the panther and know everything is, like, all clear and stuff, I can go. If not, I’ll stay put.”

I hated to make any kind of agreement with her; however this did give me a workable excuse to use. “Okay, but if I can’t get a definite read off of Gabe, you stay here without any whining. Deal?”

“Deal!” She gave me a quick squeeze then skipped across the kitchen toward the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to decide what to wear, duh!”

“Yeah, there won’t be any whining at all when I tell her no. Right.” I grumbled to myself as she disappeared up the stairs.

I had no intention of letting her step foot out of the house. But the girl could fly. There was only so much I could do to physically keep her here. My options were; screaming, chasing after her, or dangling off her as she flew. My maturity must be a work in progress because I didn’t consider any of those things beneath me.

To placate her and check in on the status of things, I went back outside to channel Gabe. His frustration remained the same. Just like before I stayed locked on to him, until the afternoon sun began to hang its weary head. The dusky sky meant six o’clock must be drawing near. The unpleasantness of telling Kendall “no” wasn’t far off. Yippee.

Out of the blue a jolt of adrenaline shot through me. Gabe was on the chase and after blood. He closed in for the kill. I could feel his desire to sink his teeth into the tender…

Ok, gross. Quickly, I shut myself off from the Gabe-lion. Whatever he was about to do was going to be messy, gory and gruesome. I really didn’t want to experience that with him.

As if cued, Kendall danced out the front door. Up on point, she twirled an arabesque, her violet sundress fanning out around her. She ended in a deep curtsy, then flashed me her best angelic smile. “So, can I go?”

“He’s in pursuit right now. But he hasn’t caught him yet. In no way is this even remotely close to settled.” I hoped her better judgment would finally show itself. No such luck.

“He’s as good as caught!’ Kendall relaxed her posture. “And we know right where the Seeker is now. So there’s no reason I can’t go. I’ll make it quick and be back before you even know I’m gone. Please, Celeste? I really will hurry back. I promise!”

She folded her hands to beg and pleaded with me with her eyes.

As inopportune as her timing was, she did have a point. We knew right