A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,51

she’d probably be frightened, or at least nervous, but right now, it just wasn’t happening.

She swallowed.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t quite true, she thought, as a wave of nerves clenched her stomach.

All I have to do is go in, play poker for an hour or so, and leave. No problem.

Instead of focusing on that, Annie instead turned her head to look around her.

They were no longer flying over Bell’s Hollow or any of the other small surrounding towns. They were well out over the heavily forested mountains now, and the only light was the moon when it occasionally came out from behind the clouds. But despite the fact Annie could barely see a thing, she had no doubt at all Beau knew exactly where he was going.

Spreading out his wings, he soared, turning a slow loop. All at once, Annie caught sight of what they were heading toward.

She could hardly miss it: a blaze of light on the dark mountainside, embedded in its rocky face. She blinked as they got a little closer in a long, slow spiral, trying to make out more details.

Oh. Oh wow.

Wow was really the only way to describe it.

As they sailed lower, Annie could make out that the bright spot on the mountainside was actually a massive, architecturally impossible-seeming mansion.

It clung to the mountainside, a series of cubes made of glass and rock. Annie couldn’t begin to imagine how it might have been built – it seemed almost to be floating next to the mountain, and she couldn't see any kind of pillars holding it up to stop it collapsing under its own weight.

She could see that each of the massive glass cubes housed several rooms, all of them blazing with light and filled with people. She could make the partygoers out in a surprising amount of detail as Beau dipped closer – some of them were drinking, others were seated around gambling tables. There was a restaurant, and even an indoor pool.

This is… okay, you know what, this is pretty much exactly what I expected from a den of iniquity run by an über-wealthy criminal mastermind, Annie thought. It had exactly the correct amount of glamor and ridiculousness. It really would not have looked out of place in a James Bond movie.

Beau had definitely been right when he’d said that this place was in no way designed to be reached by car, or pretty much any other way than flying, or scaling the mountainside. But when your social circle were shifters, Annie supposed, this really wasn’t that much of a concern. Presumably even the non-flying ones could just hitch a lift, in much the same way she just had.

Beau circled lower, before coming in for a surprisingly gentle landing on the snow-strewn path leading up to the massive timber front doors. Annie slid down off his back, doing her best to swallow down her apprehension.

Okay, this is real. This is really happening, she thought, as Beau began his shift back into his human form.

He glanced down at her once he’d shifted, as if sensing her sudden tension.

“You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I guess… it’s all just starting to hit me now. Before, it all just seemed kind of unreal, you know?”

“You don’t have to go through with it,” Beau said. “I can take you back right now if you want.”

Annie shook her head. “No. I said I wanted to help, and I still do. Come on. Let’s go.”

Beau took a moment to look into her eyes, and then he nodded. “Okay.”

Annie neatened her hair as they walked, trying not to stare as a pair of moose appeared on the path ahead of them, before trotting up the front steps of the mansion. She guessed in the world of shifters, that kind of thing was completely normal.

“It won’t be a problem, will it? Me being human?” she asked.

Beau shook his head. “No. Shifters with human mates – well, it’s not common, but it’s not as rare as you’d think. Two of my colleagues, Garrett and Rowan, have human mates.”

“Really?” Annie asked. “Do you think I could meet them one day?”

“I’m sure of it,” Beau answered. “I’ll definitely be introducing to everyone just as soon as I can – and as soon as you feel ready for it. So you can meet them whenever you like. I’m sure you’ll have some questions for them that they can probably answer better than I can. I grew up as a shifter after all, while they only found out about us