WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) (17 page)

Shadow moves closer, eyeing the dark haired angel and giving herself plenty of room around him. This is Terry’s father. The fact rings so true. When she comes near him, Shadow stops. Her hands tremble as she pushes her hair clear and looks up at the huge whatever he is.

“My father?” she whispers.

“She is accused in the assault of my son, Torrent.”

But Torrent has disappeared.

“Where did this occur?”

“The human dwelling of her bonded mate, I believe,” Arden says.

“She is my blood and her dame’s heir. For thirty years I have sat to the right of her empty chair. Torrent is her captor?”

“He is responsible for her state,” Sher hisses, obviously displeased with the admission. “Her rule extends to the rogue’s dwelling. Torrent did not know who she is nor that he breached protocol approaching her mate without first speaking with you or her. They have caused harm to each other.

“Then,” Lev says loudly as he takes Shadow in his arms, his big fingers on the back of her neck calm her and she relaxes in his affection. It’s nothing like the rough handling from Torrent. “I suggest a consensus. I will consider both matters clear and Torrent and my daughter free of their respective charges.”

“Agreed my friend.”

“There is still the matter of her mate, also charged with treason,” Arden interjects from her chair. “As his accuser is not available I propose another option. He’s also unaware he’s mated to your heir. Should he refrain from deception during questioning I would suggest his selfless protection of Dame Shadow warrants his matter clear as well.”

“Talon?” Shadow asks. “He’s in trouble too? I didn’t mean anything especially getting him in trouble.”

“Send for Talon,” Arden orders Cloud who again runs from the room.

Talon roars, smashs his hands against the rock and knocks dust from the walls. After he uselessly soaked in her quiet despondence, her feelings quite quickly turned to sheer terror and for the past hour he’s raged in frustration. The guard outside his den grows with each outburst.

As long as they try and stop me in two’s I can be past them in minutes.

But he does nothing. If he was beaten beyond repair he would be of no help to Shadow so has little choice but to take out his need for action on the stone walls.

Or a good fight,
Talon thinks to himself. Anything to calm down so he can stop his embarrassing tantrum.

Then in minutes her fear turns to strength though her confusion doesn’t fade. Now she’s simply content and anxious with excitement. Talon doesn’t know what to make of it; the only thing which will make it right is to be near her again.

Finally silent, Talon drops to his knees.

He hears a rush of light footsteps then Cloud’s voice. He’d been one of the first to witness the devastation of Cloud’s home eyrie. The infant had been the only survivor of a terrible raid by a band of rogues he’d only ever heard rumours about. She was found clinging to the still wings of her dame and it was a miracle she survived. Cloud is a going concern for Tawny who won’t give up on the task of instilling some sort of order in her life.

Talon, as part of the delegation from the Jasper Eyrie called upon to assist, arrived to find nothing in the caverns but death and spent weeks hunting with other males to sustain the females as they cared for the many dead.

The loss of Cloud’s eyrie made her self-destructive and angry so the civil tone she takes with the guard is a surprise.

“Sire Sher wants Talon brought before him.”

About time.
Talon will make sure Sher and Arden know exactly how special Shadow is; the royal gryphon who believes she’s human. If Arden is there then her compassion should see Shadow as another unruly orphan needing only care and education.

Talon waits by the curtain, fisting his palms with urgency as black-eye draws it open.

“Gryphon, attend,” he orders and holds the curtain clear.

When Talon steps out he is circled by six armoured gryphons. Talon takes his place in the center. The group packs so close together in the narrow corridor all Talon has to do is take one down and they’ll all land in a heap impaled on each others’ weapons.

The girl Cloud strides ahead, wings flared wide like she’s cleaning the walls. Inappropriate arrogance, he thinks. Her display will bug the hell out of the guards but at least she puts up a brisk pace. Cloud has always been a little off in the behaviour department. The first time Talon saw her she was three and slapped Torrent because he got too close to a human toy Tawny had given her.

Then she bit him.

Silence fills the main cavern where he’s certain Shadow had been held. From the moment she was brought in and through the day he could close his eyes and ‘see’ precisely where she was. Even if she hadn’t been moved, the sudden change in her mood would have told him her trial had started.

As they climb the circling passage, whispering starts in their wake. Eyrie gryphons are never too proud to gossip. They find stability in uniformity of knowledge, safety in a shared opinion and strength in the common mood of the occupants. Talon knows his anger and frustration stand out and disrupt the residing gryphons, mostly female. He imagines their anxiety for whatever path the trial takes so there will be consensus of emotion again.

The circle of guards around him tightens as they step from the tunnel and into the chamber. Talon is surprised by some of the occupants. He immediately recognizes Soar, his long time friend and Master of Sire Lev’s guard. And Torrent is gone.

The big male to Soar’s left turns and Talon sees Shadow in his arms. The smudges on her cheeks could be either dirt or bruises. Whatever it is doesn’t matter. It’s another reason to tune Torrent up when he finally gets his chance.

Talon’s nostrils flare taking in a scent very much like the one from Shadow’s closet. It comes from the male holding her. Talon’s wings extend in aggression and the guards move in but she holds a hand up, plainly frightened of him.

“Talon,” she breathes, her panic escalating. He’s held back by the prospect of traumatizing her more than she already is.

The blonde can only be Lev if Soar is at his right wing. How the hell could Shadow be involved with Lev? Shadow’s eyes drop to Talon’s tail and she pulls in her trembling lip. Then she curls in closer to Lev just missing the sight of Talon drawing back his lips to expose his teeth. Lev however does not.

“You’re an angel too,” Shadow’s muffled voice comes to him.

Damn, I guess I am
.

“Talon,” Arden speaks clearly and he remembers his place, dropping to one knee. “Assume the position of apology, prisoner.”

“Dame Arden,” he replies, stifling the urge to take Shadow and make for the exit. Instead he places his palms on the ground, taking the weight of his wings on his back.

“Your accuser is not present. You have been advised of the charges?”

Talon acknowledges with a terse nod.

“You may speak.”

“Dame Arden,” Talon speaks quietly to the floor hoping his own low voice will keep him calm. Whatever is going on with Lev, Shadow is still his mate and it’s his responsibility to protect her. “My mate knows nothing of what she is or what we are. She believes we are angels. A week ago she attacked Torrent in her belief he’d come to harm me. He was winged and she thought he’d come to take me to heaven. I pulled her into my home.

“She summoned a barrier and in that moment I knew her to be a royal. Only his cuts are from her, the bruises are from running into the barrier.”

“I see,” is the answer from Sher. “And would you flagrantly disregard your respected place in my eyrie again to help a criminal escape?”

“For her,” Talon is certain he’s doomed himself. “Without hesitation.”

“We have a consensus on the disposition of the rogue?” Lev speaks.

“The rogue is cleared of the charges,” Arden says. “Stand free, Talon, son of Stalker.”

He gets to his feet at an utter loss to understand what transpired before he entered the chamber. What happened for him to be cleared so quickly? As the Dame approaches she blocks his view of Shadow without shielding him from her fear.

“Sire Lev has told us of the sad loss of his mate shortly after the birth of his children and how they were hidden in the human world. And of the death of his son Condor.

“Condor?” Talon asks. He remembers a Condor; a young gryphon he met once a decade earlier who looked very much like Lev.

“Sire Lev came to us today seeking his daughter and has found her here. Royal Dame Shadow is the heir to his mate’s chair and the rule of his eyrie.”

“Royal Dame?” he mumbles stupidly. Royal he knew but royalty?

Sire’s pinfeathers
,
Talon, that’s what Arden just said.

“Come, child,” Arden leads Shadow away from Lev then takes a minute to whisper in her ear. “Cloud, fetch Tawny.”

“Talon?” Shadow looks very lost among all the big gryphons. She seems to have pulled herself together. The storm of emotion around her now has a small but stable core though it flickers and he worries it won’t last for long. As Arden shoos the extra guard from the chamber, Talon pulls his wings around his shoulders so the big hollow bones form a safe cocoon for her.

As human as Shadow thinks she is, she still reacts as he expects to the gesture by stepping in. Talon holds her in his arms, hidden until the trembling stops. Torrent couldn’t have found her a rougher set of prison rags and Talon wants to rip them from her soft skin.

He can’t hide his pride in her strength and pulls her chin up. She feels so small and cold yet his own emotional equilibrium returns simply from having her in his arms again. Thank God, he’s going to need every ounce of his own strength to help her adjust. It’s been one hell of an introduction.

“I want to go home, Mark,” Shadow whispers, her eyes closed. “I don’t want to see anymore angels or gryphons or whatever else is hiding in the rocks. I’m going to see my counselor and finish packing up Terry and we can talk on the phone so you can tell me all about what’s going on here in your life and I don’t have to be kidnapped or carried off or sentenced to death and I can hang up the phone and deal with it when I’m not here.

“I’m not moving an inch until you promise to take me home.”

Damn, she can be demanding. And what’s he going to tell Royal Dame Shadow of the Vancouver Island Eyrie? No? In front of everyone? He’s going to have to.

“Talon,” he says firmly as his thumbs brush her cheeks and ease her lids up. “Here, I am Talon.”

He glances behind her at Lev and Soar. They whisper inaudibly even for gryphon hearing and after a second Soar pushes a wing higher so Talon can’t read Lev’s lips. He has a good idea what Lev has planned and doesn’t want to worry Shadow. What he said about her dad running him off is one of many unpleasant possibilities. While mating with Shadow is permanent Lev can make sure it won’t be easy. Claiming the Royal Sire’s heir without even a ‘hey I’m in the neighbourhood’ never goes over well and considering how he feels about Lev’s absentee rearing Talon is quite certain he’s not going to take it with his wings limp.

“Take me home,” she hisses. Her fright and confusion focus on him; her one way out. If it has to be his fault her world has changed that’s fine because he’s the only person she trusts to fix it.

“I will take you home,” Talon promises. A glance at Lev tells him the impatient Sire is done conferring with Soar. The pair waits at the tunnel leading down to the main chamber. Behind them he picks up Cloud’s constant chatter in Tawny’s ear as the girl fills the old gryphon in on her version of events featuring Cloud herself escorting the condemned to the royal chamber.

“But not tonight and probably not tomorrow.”

Shadow purses her lips with displeasure. So fucking pretty. If they were both human or both gryphon his arousal would distract every gryphon around them. Fortunately they’re one of each, feeling everything but sexual need for each other.

“I feel your moods, Shadow,” Talon explains putting her hand on his chest. At first she draws back from the feel of the small feathers and he waits for her to give in before he continues. Her hand doesn’t completely relax under his but it’s as good as he’s going to get.