Gryphon and His Thief (12 page)

A shadow crossed over her, making her glance
toward the window. A figure of a woman stood there watching the two
lovers, but she couldn't make out the features with the way the
shadows played across the woman's face. Calli stepped closer to
chance a better look, and gasped in surprise. It was Isa, only
older, and now she knew why she'd looked so familiar when she was a
child.

* * * * *

In the next second, her wish to return to the
present took hold and the world where Callista and Darrien were
faded away. The museum's dark foreboding interior came into focus,
as did Nerdy Darrien's worried features.

It took her a moment to realize why he
appeared to be floating above her. She was lying on the ground and
he was fanning a folded paper at her as if the cool breeze would
make everything all right. She slapped his hand away. "Stop that."
She sat up, but the movement made her woozy.

"You fainted," he spoke the obvious just in
case she hadn't figured out why she was taking a nap on the floor
of the museum.

What was with this man and his electric zaps?
Another thing Nerdy Darrien and Beastie Darrien had in common. "I
didn't faint," she lied. What a pair they both were. He was
obviously a bad influence since she'd never swooned in her life
before she met him.

"If you insist," Darrien said and sat down
beside her so he faced her. "You had me worried," he told her.

Her gaze met his and she could indeed see
worry marring his features and his skin had turned dead white. "I'm
okay," she reassured him, even if she wasn't all that sure it was
the truth. She rubbed her temple where a headache had started to
take root. She'd dreamt of Darrien and Callista, but it didn't seem
like a dream. It felt so real. "I had flashbacks of Callista and
Darrien's life," she told him. "You know, before the curse."

"You did? Well, of course you did. You
wouldn't have said so if you hadn't," he rambled on and she placed
a hand on his knee to get his attention. It worked. He immediately
stopped talking as he stared at where her hand rested.

She smiled and patted him once before she
placed her hand in her lap. "Callista was pregnant," she announced.
"And… Oh, this is ridiculous." Now that she voiced it out loud, she
wondered how she could have believed the visions as something
real.

"Callista was pregnant?" he said more to
himself, and his brows furrowed. "This would have been my child,
then. Yeah?"

God,
she was an insensitive jerk. Real
or not, the stories meant something to him. "I'm sorry. It was just
a dream." At least she hoped it was, but how would she come up with
such stories? "I shouldn't have said anything." She scrambled to
her feet and Darrien followed suit.

"What if it wasn't?" he asked. "I felt the
shock between us when we touched. Skin to skin," he verified, "and
when we shook hands before too. You said last night my alter ego
also shocked you. Maybe it's not so nutty you've had a vision.
Maybe the electrical shocks are triggering memories and emotions to
resurface from your subconscious."

She ran a hand over her face, feeling
suddenly drained. Any other time she would have said no way, but
too much had happened not to consider the possibility. "If that's
the case, then I think we have a big problem. Professor Leander, or
rather a great look alike was there in my vision too, and she
didn't look like she cared for you or Callista." She couldn't wrap
her head around being Callista reincarnated, so she'd stick with
the separate identity for now.

"Could Professor Leander possibly be Isa
then?" he asked. His gaze met hers as he spoke the question.

"What? That's she's reincarnated or…" A
niggling on the back of her neck put her on edge. "How long do you
suppose Gryphons live? Not counting you, since the whole cursed
issue may play a part in your longevity."

"I haven't a clue." He shook his head.
"There's not very much written about Gryphons. Scattered through
the centuries, there's only a mention of them here and there, but
nothing substantial."

"Hmm… Well then, if Professor Leander is
truly Isa… God, this just keeps getting better and better. Why does
she want the stone besides the obvious? I know it can control the
dead. Even if I want to deny all the reincarnation mumbo jumbo,
Professor Leander's involvement can't be a coincidence, and I can't
help but think we're missing something vitally important. She's
going to use the stone and it must have something to do with all of
us and the past."

Despite all the excitement and the mystery to
be solved, she yawned. Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle it.
"Excuse me. I'd like to hash this all out right now, but I'm going
to be useless if I don't get some shut-eye. I need to go back to
the motel for a few hours. I promise I'll return before the sun
sets," she added.

"Of course." He nodded with understanding.
"I'll see what else I can find out about Professor Leander. I'll
also check out the records we have on Hecate's Stone. There are
always documents that arrive with the items. I keep them in a file
in the back. The book you glanced at only highlights the items, and
as new ones arrive, the curator in charge is responsible for
jotting down a brief synopsis." His brows furrowed. "I guess I'm
the one responsible for all the information." He shook his head.
"Just another thing I didn't realize. My memories tell me I only
started working at the museum six months ago. Obviously, another
lie to add to the many."

Her heart went out to him, but she could
think of nothing to comfort him. She reached for him and he placed
his hand over hers with a pat.

"Well then," he said and let his hand fall to
his side as he turned away. He strode over to the desk and moved
items around as if he were looking for something. "I'll ring you if
I find anything on the Internet about the professor," he said, "but
I'll need a number where I can reach you. Now where is that
pen?"

She strode over to the desk, shaking her head
as her fingers nabbed a pen from the pencil holder. She lifted a
post-it and jotted down her cell phone number. "There." She tapped
the paper.

His lips curved at the ends as he slipped the
note in the pocket of his sweater.

"I might as well have the number for the
museum handy," she said. Her hand slipped into her pocket and
produced her cell phone. He rattled off the number and she typed.
Once she was finished, she tested the number out.

A half a second later, the phone rang and
Darrien sighed in relief.

"Looks like the number is legit then,"
Darrien said and met her gaze with meaning.

They just stood there staring at each other
as if there should be more to say, but she didn't want to cross
over any more lines she'd soon regret. The attraction between them
still sizzled, but at least after her vision quest, she seemed more
in control. She just wished her heart would stop doing handsprings
in her chest every time he looked at her.

He cleared his throat. Maybe he was having
the same difficulties. "I should get busy, yeah?" To prove his
point, he took a seat and went to work on the computer keyboard,
already zoning her out.

"Darrien?"

"Hmm?" he said without glancing her way.

"Thank you."

This made him look at her above the rim of
his glasses. "It is I who should be grateful." His lips curved and
she couldn't stop herself from remembering those very lips pressed
to hers.

Just the thought made her stomach flip-flop
in anticipation of sampling him again. Then she remembered her
vision and the love Darrien had for Callista… for her.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "I need to
sleep." She quickly turned on her heels and strode toward the front
door. "Don't forget someone will be by to fix the window,'' she
called to him without breaking stride. Nerdy Darrien seemed to get
easily distracted and she didn't want him to be startled when the
repairman made an appearance.

"Right-o," he called back.

Calli smiled at his response as she pushed
the front door open and stepped outside. She squinted at the
brightness, but she welcomed the sun's rays warm on her face. Her
gaze took in the empty parking lot and in the distance the vast
vegetation. They were really out in nowhere land. Darrien had it
right. How did Professor Leander know about the museum? More, what
was her end game with all this?

A light glinted on something in the distance
and she strode toward it to investigate. "I'll be," she murmured as
she bent down and retrieved the dagger she'd thrown at the Gryphon…
a half chuckle escaped her. "Darrien," she corrected. Lucky for him
he could turn to ether and avoid lethal weapons hitting their mark.
She slipped it into its sheath attached to her belt.

After a night like she had, she wondered what
the day would throw at her. "Bring it on," she said to the heavens.
She had a Gryphon on her side. "What could go wrong?" She frowned
as she wondered why in the world she'd voiced those words? Those
words were the kiss of death. Things always went wrong when one
thought they couldn't. "Crap. Double crap on a stick," she cursed
and her hand went to her necklace her father had given her. She
lifted it to her lips and kissed it for good luck. She had a hunch
they were going to need it. On a sigh, she turned and headed for
her vehicle as she tried to shake off the unease of impending
doom.

Chapter Thirteen

Darrien put in another call for a glass
repairman when the first one never showed. It was already past one
in the afternoon and he was quite sure they would need more than
just a few hours to finish the job. He highly doubted his other
more aggressive side would appreciate visitors upon awakening.

Calli had relayed the story about how the
window was shattered, but he still had a difficult time wrapping
his mind around the idea that a fight took place inside the museum
and she had to jump out the window just to escape. It sounded like
a very bad sci-fi movie and he'd somehow been involved.

Sure, he had the build to do considerable
damage, but
good heavens
he wouldn't intentionally try to
harm someone. He shied away from the sight of blood. He'd cut his
fingers plenty of times chopping vegetables and nearly passed out.
"Dear me, I
am
a fainter." He pursed his lips, not liking
the way he viewed himself.

He chanced a look at the Gryphon staring down
at him. "What are you looking at?" he snarled at the thing. "I bet
I'd be a disappointment to you, wouldn't I? And I'm talking to a
statue. Bloody terrific." Besides, if he were to believe all Calli
had told him, the Gryphon didn't even know about him. "Yeah, I have
one up on you. What do you say about that?"

"Hello?" a male voice called from the broken
window.

He pushed away from the desk, the chair
sliding on its wheels and giving him the space he needed to fly to
his feet. His hand went to his tie and pulled on it to loosen it.
"What do you want?" he asked and couldn't quite keep the
apprehension out of his voice.

"I'm here about the window?" the man stated,
like a question as he pointed to the open space in front of him. "I
knocked on the door, but no one answered."

Darrien's gaze took in the work uniform and
tool belt strapped to the man's waist and realized what he said
rang true. "Right-o. Go on then. Fix away."

The guy gave him a nod. "Sure thing, boss."
The repairman came around to the door and let himself in. He weaved
around a rocking horse, and a table displaying jack-in-the-boxes,
all cursed and with one of the boxes housing a ghost.

"Make sure you don't touch anything," Darrien
warned the guy.

The man turned to look at him again. "No
boss, just the window." He shook his head as he strode the
remainder of the way to the window without incident.

Darrien sat down again and glanced at the
screen on the computer. He'd found a site dedicated to Gryphon lore
with photos of winged-beasties, some hideous and others as majestic
as the Gryphon statue standing before him. Most of the articles
listed the same information with only a few minor differences. One
site told about how Gryphons were like Dragons. They both protected
treasures. If a thief tried to steal something, the Gryphon would
capture the thief, but it would not kill him – at least, not at
first. No, the beastie would ask the thief a question and if the
thief answered correctly, he was set free with his prize in hand.
However, if the thief answered incorrectly, he would die.

Darrien swallowed the lump in his throat. He
really needed to concentrate on finding information about the woman
who hired Calli, but how could he not be curious about what he was
supposed to be? He glanced toward the worker and frowned when he
found the man eyeing him before he quickly turned away and
concentrated on the window once more.

Darrien shifted in his seat and it creaked
beneath his weight. "How's it going then?" he shouted to the
repairman.

"It's coming along," the fellow called back
without looking up.

He'd feel better once the man went on his
merry way. His nerves were on edge and he didn't need the
distraction of worrying about someone in the museum and accidently
touching something they shouldn't. Really, couldn't the man fix the
glass from the outside? He was about to suggest it, but the phone
rang on his desk. He couldn't remember the last time he'd received
a call. Now that Calli opened a whole new world of wonder, he
started questioning everything. He believed he had a home in the
city, but now the image of the apartment was starting to fade. It
was as if Calli had downloaded a virus in his brain by showing him
the video of his change. He glanced at the paper on his desk. He'd
made two columns. One column was for what was real and the other
for what the curse had fabricated.