The Conduit The Gryphon Series

CHAPTER 16

I couldn’t understand why I had to accompany Kendall for her first day of training. If the Gryphon was just gonna download stuff into my brain Matrix style it seemed he could do that just as easily if I was home on the couch. Plus, Gabe had gotten an excused absence because of a football scrimmage. So, why the heck did I have to be there? But it’s next to impossible to debate things like this with a centuries old Spirit Guide. She used big words, rambled on about the fate of the world, duty and honor, until I gave in just to shut her up.

I was still hoping for a distraction to get me out of going, which is why I rushed to the door when a knock rattled it on its hinges. When I glanced out I didn’t immediately recognize the guy standing on our porch.

“What? Is my fly unzipped?” Alec smirked and made a big production out of double checking.

I made a concentrated effort to close my slack jaw. Turns out a great hair-cut and a fitted suit can do wonders. Alec had transitioned from boy-next-door cute to smokin’ hottie.

“So?” He asked. He held out the lapels of his jacket and did a little turn. “What do you think?”

“You look…” Awesome. Hot. Dreamy. “…different.”

“Good different or bad different?”

“Good.” I sighed, then blushed beet red. “What brought this on?”

“That’s kind of what I came to talk to you about. I owe you an apology.”

“For what?”

“My behavior when I finally got you to go out with me. I let myself get really wrapped up in my story and I think came off as kind of a…”

“Jerk?”

“Yeah.” He cringed. “Sorry about that.”

“You don’t owe me any apologies.” I reassured him. “It’s okay. You were just excited.” With the whirlwind craziness I had been going through, Alec hadn’t been top on my mind. He sure didn’t owe me anything.

“Yes! Exactly!” His enthusiasm had him beaming. “I was excited, because I realized what I’m supposed to do.”

“What’s that?” I giggled.

“I’m not supposed to be a cameraman. I need to be out there.” He waved his arm toward the outside world. “Finding the stories that need to be told and reporting on them. I talked to my producer at the station, and he made me a full time field reporter. Apparently, he gave me this story in the first place because he thinks I have what it takes.”

“And you do.” I fought to keep the resentment out of my voice.

What a cruel joke for the universe to play—spruce him up to make him irresistible, then give him the job as a story chaser. And here I was sitting on the mother of all stories. A career maker, one that could get him killed if he snooped into it. With a heavy heart I realized for his own protection I had to keep my distance from him. At least until the threats surrounding me subsided. My tension seemed to evade him.

“I went over to my Mom’s salon and made her day by letting her cut my hair. Then I visited a tailor and had some suits made that I’m hoping to be able to pay off someday. Now I’m all set to embrace who I was meant to be.”

“There seems to be a lot of that going around lately.” I muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m really happy for you, Alec.”

“Thanks, but I really am sorry about the other night. You mean a lot to me, Celeste, and I would never want to hurt you.” His voice grew husky as he moved closer. Warning sirens blared in my head. He had that ‘I’m going to kiss her’ look in his eyes. He brushed the back of his hand down my arm. “I really would like to give us a chance.”

I didn’t give myself time to consider if I wanted to kiss him or not. (For the record—I did.) There was a psycho shape-shifter out there terrorizing children. I didn’t have time to play kissy face. Concentrating on my own reluctance I brought my hand up to his cheek. With that seemingly loving gesture, I passed my hesitation on to him.

His face froze inches from mine. I could feel his warm breath on my skin and fought my desire to close the gap between us. His eyes clouded over in confused hesitation. From his shirt pocket, his cell phone buzzed.

“You should probably get that.” I whispered.

His brow furrowed in uncertainty, as he nodded and snatched his phone from its resting place. I backed away from him until I bumped into the wall. Temptation averted, he flipped open his phone. “Hey, what’s up? The panther? Where?” My pulse quickened at the mention of the cat I knew to be a demon in disguise. “Oh, man! Is it still there? Awesome! I’m on my way!”

He snapped his phone shut and looked up at me like a kid on Christmas morning. “You are not going to believe this! The panther is on the roof of the grocery store. The fire department, the cops and animal rescue are all there. They’re going to try to shoot it with a tranquilizer gun to get it down. I gotta go!”

Before I could stop him he grabbed me, spun me around and dipped me back in a kiss straight out of Gone with the Wind. Then he stood me up, said “call ya later” and ran out the door.

With the back of my hand pressed to my mouth I stared after him, dumbstruck. I wanted so badly for him to come back and kiss me again, but new that didn’t coincide with my plan to keep my distance. My head and heart were battling it out when Kendall came pounding down the stairs.

“Do we have company?”

“It was Alec.” I licked my lips. They still tasted like him. “He just left.”

“Oh.” She made no attempt to hide her disappointment.

I glanced over my shoulder at her. “You’ll hear from Keith, Keni. I’m sure of it.”

She gave a crestfallen shrug.

“Right now though, we have way more important things to worry about.”

“What’s up?”

“For some moronic reason, the Seeker is currently on top of the local supermarket creating a huge spectacle. Cops and everything. Apparently being evil also means you have the IQ of a zipper. We need to go awaken your inner eagle and lure him away from town, stat.”

“And what do we do if he actually shows up?” A fair share of panic crept into her voice.

“I guess you better learn to fly quick so you can get us the heck out of there, huh?”