The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,49

the worst and reached out for her.

Like a cold, hard fist ramming into my chest and squeezing my heart, her feelings came to me. She was terrified, fully believing that she was about to die. Tears sprang to my eyes and streaked down my cheeks.

Try to concentrate. Where is she? I closed my eyes and focused.

My head snapped back as her location revealed itself to me. They were three stories up on the roof and the door in front of me was locked. I darted around the building, desperately searching for another way in. Finding a back door I grasped the handle and shook. Nothing. No time to lose, I kept moving. I continued around the building, trying every door and window for some way to gain entry. I wound up back where I started from with nothing to show for my efforts.

I glanced around frantically hoping to see Gabe or a three story ladder. Neither of those things magically appeared. There was nothing I could do to help her. I would be willing to trade my life for hers if I could just get to her. But I couldn’t. I reached out for Gabe, feeling a strong, steady confidence from him. He felt certain he would make it in time. A blood curdling scream from above argued otherwise.

“KENDALL!” I shrieked. “Gabe’s coming! Just hold on!” I doubted she heard me, but I had to try.

Her scream became a choked gurgle—then silence. I hunched forward, my finger nails digging into my face. I had to do something. In seconds it would be too late.

“In a manner of speaking he can read your mind.” My psyche provided Alaina’s words when I needed them most. The Gryphon knew what I was thinking! Boy, did I have an earful for him.

I know you can hear me, so listen up. You picked me to help you and to risk my life against all odds. But if Kendall dies, the deal is broken. I don’t care what my ancestors vowed to you, I make my own destiny. I will not lift a finger for you if you don’t help me keep my family safe. Do you hear me? Do you understand? If she dies, it’s YOUR fault and I AM OUT!

I don’t know what it looked like when it happened. There were no witnesses that could later regale me with tales of my transformation. I do know what it felt like. If a rogue storm cloud had invaded the clear night sky and threw one bolt of lightning straight at me, the feeling would’ve been comparable. An intense, jarring energy jolted through my system. Every muscle in my body went rigid with the surge. My head flew back, my arms and legs locked straight out. I trembled and quaked, my stomach rolled at the intensity of it. Then I fell to the ground in a heap.

I stayed slumped on the ground, deliberating over whether I was dead or not. It seemed dead would hurt and I had no pain. As a matter of fact I never felt more alive. Sitting up, I gazed down at my hands and forearms. I turned them over and back again. They looked exactly the same. There was no outward sign of change. Yet, everything was different. The power was there, just below the surface. I could feel it.

I rose from the ground on legs that were no longer clumsy or unsure. They pulsed with strength and unimaginable capacity. I peered up at the ledge of the rooftop and bounced on the balls of my feet. That was all it took. I rocketed through the air. The wind whistled past my ears. The library rushed past in a blur. Three stories, no waiting. I landed gracefully on the edge of the roof.

I tarnished my spectacular entrance by letting slip a flabbergasted, “Whoa! Did you see that?! That was awesome!”

I glanced around for someone to second my emotion. The grisly scene before me shocked me back to the matters at hand. Kendall was on her knees, her back pressed up against to the clock tower, her hands tied behind her. In that position she couldn’t deploy her wings and shield herself, a fact I was certain the Seeker had exploited. Her attacker was in human form. His spiky black hair the same shade as the pelt of the panther. His skin the grey pallor of death. He glared at me with frightening solid black eyes. His hand was weaved into Kendall’s