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But the real stars of the show were the two gryphons they had rescued from a poacher.
These two gryphons weren’t exactly grateful for their newfound saviors. No one had realized just how intelligent these majestic creatures really were, and so the entirety of Los Angeles was surprised when they woke up one morning to gibbons swinging from palm trees and bobcats running down Rodeo Drive. The gryphons had not only broken out of their own enclosure, but they’d gone around the zoo and broken out every single animal they could find.
Since then, the zoo had been shut down, its abandoned skeleton turning into a kind of tourist attraction, where people strolled through to see the empty cages and graffiti-sprayed concrete buildings. And while the zoo never reopened, the two gryphons, Bema and Corin, never left. They made a nest at the top of the empty food court and stuck around, watching over their new home and posing for a few pictures.
Those two big birds sure did love attention.
The five of us—Robby, Claire, Maddox, Dawn, and I—were on the opposite side of the park, near the babbling river that cut through the center like a winding blue snake, always flowing no matter how dry the season. We were near the succulent gardens, home to a wide variety of colorful plants, all smooth-skinned and alien-like.
“I used to come here all the time as a kid. I brought my first boyfriend here on a date, actually,” Robby said as we entered through the iron gates of the garden. A dolphin shifter walked past, holding hands with his girlfriend, his fin rising up from the back of his head. The girl he was with had a bushy tail that flicked back and forth from out of her skintight jeans. Squirrel was my best guess.
“Good choice,” Maddox said. “I personally like more intimate date spots. Like a chartered yacht for the weekend. How’s that sound to you, Claire?”
“Stuck on a yacht out in open waters with a shark right there on board? Yeah, no, it sounds like my personal hell.”
She strode forward down the brick-paved path, walking side step with Dawn and discussing something about the statue we were on our way to see. I wanted to tell my brother to quit it, that she clearly wasn’t interested, but he started up a conversation with Robby about his own first date experience.
“Yeah,” Madds said, chin jutting out. He wore a relaxed mint-green shirt with an open collar, curly dark chest hair contrasting the light white cat hair that covered his black shorts. Bambi must have been napping on him again. “He was the quarterback of my rival football team. He put up a good fight, considering he was a regular human. But he couldn’t stop me from winning, and he couldn’t stop himself from resisting me either.”
I rolled my eyes, having heard this story plenty of times already. Instead of focusing on my brother’s old conquests, I scanned the garden, sizing up any potential threats. I hated that we were so exposed, although having three dragons and a Marvel around Robby should have been enough to keep him safe.
No one sent up any red flags. Everyone was either paired off in their own romantic little worlds or by themselves and strolling through the park for a peaceful afternoon. None appeared to be vampires ready to snatch Robby and drag him away to Helstriva’s lair, where she’d do who-knew-what with.
The thought sickened me. Robby was quickly becoming a good friend—becoming more than even that. I found myself waking up and immediately thinking about him, going to bed and dreaming about him. That didn’t happen with any of the friends I had, but things were so different with Robby. His smile made mine come easier; his sassy and quippy humor was the perfect fit for my more dry sensibilities. He was incredibly intelligent and kind, and he had the sexiest fucking body I’d ever had the privilege of touching. Everything about Robby drew me in, and that scared the scales right off my rusty red hide. I had never opened myself up to this kind of connection before, and now it was the one person who was at the center of the dragon fall.
How the hell did this happen? And how the fuck is it going to work out?
I certainly hoped that this jaunt through Gryphon Park would be the answer to all our problems. I could tell my hope was shared with the group too. All of us were moving a little faster, a little lighter. Even the drive here felt good. Dawn teased my brother, who teased Robby, who laughed with Claire, all of them dancing when I lowered the top down on the Jeep and played a song I’d never heard of but was clearly one of Robby’s favorites.
