Page 10

Blinking, I scanned the horizon. I should have just looked for Jima, Martin, and Grayson. They were already on their way toward the downed body. I took off, tempted to transform into my gryphon form to get there that much quicker. Magic danced along my skin, a mixture of my own and the magical barrier surrounding us.

As I drew closer, the form became distinguishable. Feathers and fur littered the ground where the gryphon had fallen—or more likely crashed. A trail of upturned earth indicated where they’d impacted and how far they’d slid before coming to a stop.

“Are they alive?” Jima asked, crouching beside the body just as the gryphon took a deep breath, raising its chest and ruffling its feathers. Dull eagle talons dug into the earth from their front limbs while grass and weeds infiltrated their equally dull lion claws in the rear. Their neck’s angle was all wrong, and for a moment I was afraid they’d broken it on the way down.

Jima jumped back when the gryphon exhaled, rattling their body but not waking.

“Are gryphons supposed to be that thin?” Grayson asked. Knees bent, Grayson’s hand found its way to our guest’s chest, his fingers dancing between the junction of feather and fur.

“No,” I answered, crouching beside the will-o’-the-wisp as Martin wrapped oaken branches around Grayson, pulling him back despite Grayson’s protests. I understood the caution. This gryphon appeared to be unconscious, but none of us knew how long that would remain true, and despite their condition, this gryphon’s talons and claws could still do some damage.

My fingers replaced Grayson’s, and I leaned in closer. This gryphon carried the stench of illness. The barest hint of fresh blood met my nostrils, but that was to be expected given their unceremonious landing.

But below the stink of sickness and blood was something familiar, something I hadn’t scented in over two centuries. It was the scent of kin. It was the scent of my younger brother. “Eldon,” I whispered.

“You know this gryphon?” Lazarus asked as he came closer, mimicking my pose but not my outreach.

I swallowed hard as I fought the tears filling my eyes. Emotions I’d kept under lock and key threatened to escape their toxic cauldron. The scent of kin shouldn’t elicit such animosity, such fear and regret. And yet, that’s what I felt, what swamped my heart and mind to the point of near paralysis.

“Keir?” Lazarus’s voice was soft, his warm breath tickling my neck and making me shiver. “Whoever this is, they cannot hurt you. I will not allow it.”

I nearly choked on my disbelief. Eldon had already hurt me and that pain had been festering for the past two centuries. He’d been young then, the gryphon equivalent to a human teenager.

Could I truly blame him for his actions? For siding with our father? I wasn’t certain. All I knew was that Eldon’s condemnation had hurt. It still hurt. And yet, here he was, centuries later, little more than skin and bones. His lion’s fur appeared dull as the sun shown down on him, and his feathers were sparser than they should be. My younger brother was not in good health and that was before he’d crashed to the ground.

And he had crashed. There was no doubt about that. What had happened to Eldon and why he was here could wait. What we needed to do right now was get him inside. To do that, my brother needed to shift.

Continuing to ignore Lazarus’s question and impossible declaration, I stood and walked toward Eldon’s head. I gasped when I saw the condition of Eldon’s beak. Someone had trimmed it, removing the dangerously sharp tip at the end. “Goddess, what happened to you,” I whispered, not caring who heard.

“He needs help,” Jima said, knocking me out of my stupor. “It’s what we do.”

Those few precious words were what finally kicked my brain into gear. Jima was right. We were what was left of the Magical Usage Council. It didn’t matter why Tenzen Huxley originally formed the council. What mattered was what we did with it, what we made it into.

While I wasn’t sure this wasn’t about me, right now, I needed to push my own insecurities aside and do what was required. And what Eldon currently needed was to shift and be cared for.

Placing the palm of my hand on his forehead, I dug deep into my soul, where my gryphon was strongest and uttered a single word—“shift”—while pushing my will into my younger brother. Eldon’s forced shift was anything but elegant. Bones creaked and cracked as they shrank and reformed. An animalistic cry escaped Eldon’s mouth, his eyes briefly fluttering open before closing again. Sadly, my brother’s humanoid form looked even worse than his gryphon one.

“Do you need help carrying him?” Martin asked.

“No, I’ve got him,” I answered, bending over and scooping Eldon’s too small frame into my arms. “He’s my brother,” I finally answered. “I’ll take care of him.”

This time, I led the procession back into the compound. Lazarus was at my side, and I could see both he and Martin scanning the sky for threats. It was a wise move. None of us knew what happened or if someone was chasing Eldon. It would be too big of a coincidence if Eldon hadn’t come because of me, because he knew I was here.

I wished carrying Eldon down the stairs and deeper into the compound was more taxing than it was. He weighed next to nothing which was wrong on too many levels to contemplate.

“I will inform Tabitha what has happened,” Elvira said as we reached my door. When I looked back, she was gone.

“Do you need some help?” Jima asked, twisting his fingers and rumpling his T-shirt.

“No,” I answered as I walked through my open door. “I’ll let you know if I do. Thank you for going with me.”

“It was no problem,” Grayson answered as he hovered in the doorway, Martin standing behind him. “I don’t like the circumstances of his sudden appearance.”

“Neither do I,” I readily agreed.

“I’m gonna do some reconnaissance,” Grayson stated. “I can cover a lot of sky and ground in my wisp form. I can see if he’s alone or if… I’m not really certain what the alternative is. I suppose that’s the point of reconnaissance.”

Martin wisely didn’t argue. They both left, taking Jima with them. Lazarus stayed by my side. If Henry was still about, he stayed quiet.