The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,58

looked great, barely a hair out of place. Gabe looked rough. His head hung wearily, chunks of fur missing like he had mange, the eye I had blackened was swollen shut again and bruises peppered him enough to be visible through his furry hide. I could only imagine that I looked pretty rough myself. Every inch of my body hurt. I hoped my speed healing would get cracking, or it was going to be a painful drive home. “Those guys were tough. It was like a thousand times harder to get them to go ‘poof’ than it was with the Seeker. And he was actually willing to kill us!”

“What?” Alaina’s wild and panicked eyes caught me off guard.

“Well…these guys didn’t really want to…” I stammered, confused by her reaction.

“Not that! What do you mean the Seeker went ‘poof’?”

“When he died he went ‘poof’, you know? Black cloud of smoke. Then he was gone. He just ‘poofed’.” I babbled.

All the color drained from Alaina’s already milky skin. She spoke with a vacant, hollow tone. “Seeker’s liquefy and evaporate when they die. However when they teleport, they do so in a cloud of black smoke.”

I heard the pounding of my heart ringing in my ears. I knew the answer to the question before I asked, but hoped somehow I was wrong. “And if he teleported, he went…”

She met my eyes with a steely gaze. “To tell Barnabus. He knows who you are and where to find you.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Keni, please tell me you saw Grams leave the house heading for some crazy, old lady fun today.”

Her trepidation caused her voice to waver. “She’s at home. She said she wanted to catch up on her stories.”

The urgency of the situation made me forget my sore muscles and bones. “Get to the truck now!” I ordered. “We have to get home.”

The three of us spun and sprinted for the truck. I paused when I realized Alaina wasn’t following.

“You're not coming?”

She shook her head sadly. “My role is to guide you. This fight belongs to you, Gabe, and Kendall. I cannot stand beside you.”

“Are we ready for this?”

“You have to be.”

CHAPTER 24

Everything looked normal as we sped down Dole. The town still stood, so one of my fears got squelched. But as we neared Grams’ street red and blue flashing lights made my pulse race.

“Oh-no.” Kendall whispered. She unfastened her seatbelt and slid forward to peer over the front seat.

A boulder of cold, hard fear settled into my stomach. “It’s not Grams. It’s not Grams. It’s not Grams.” I chanted to myself.

I turned onto our street and our fears were instantly transformed into reality. Four police cars surrounded our grandmother’s house. Room for only one of them in the driveway meant two others parked on her lawn and the last in the road. Their lights flashed away and yellow crime scene tape surrounded the tiny property. Kendall let out a choked sob, while Gabe punched the roof of my truck hard enough to dent it. I must have switched into autopilot, because I managed to park the truck without wrecking. I felt numb from head to toe.

The neighbors stood outside watching. I opened myself up to their feelings hoping the mood of the crowd would tell me things weren’t as bad as they looked. Instead I felt collective sorrow. My lip trembled and my heart sank.

You cannot fall apart right now, Celeste. Do you understand? I scolded myself. Get out of the truck and get answers. You owe it to Grams to be strong.

The pitiful gasps from the neighbors when I climbed out of the truck didn’t escape my notice. I held my head high, clenched my jaw and marched towards the house. I closed myself off from the wave of sympathy from the crowd before it could crash down on me. I couldn’t risk crumbling beneath it.

I ducked under the yellow tape perimeter and heard, “Excuse me, Miss? I’m going to have to ask you to stay behind the tape.” I looked up into the young officer’s stern face. He had been at Ella’s house, too. When he recognized me his face blanched. “Oh, Miss Garrett. Go on in. Captain Cooper’s inside.”

“Thank you.” I continued toward the house without waiting for his response.

As soon as I stepped inside my breath caught. It looked like a tornado tore through the living room. Grams’ glass coffee table had been shattered. The wrought iron base of it ripped in two, the sides strewn to