The Conduit (Gryphon Series) (17 page)

Leave it to Gabe—a.k.a. Mr. Insensitive—to take the tough love approach. “Get your head in the game, Keni. After we save the world, you can worry about that mushy stuff.”

She blinked back tears and managed a nod. My heart broke for her.

“Let’s call it a night, guys.” I jerked my head in the direction of the house. I didn’t have to tap into her emotions to know Keni needed a little girl talk.

Halfway up Grams’ meticulously landscaped walkway, I halted. Despite the heat
, I got an unmistakable chill. We were being watched. I rubbed at the goose bumps that had popped up on my arms and glanced around into the impending darkness. I saw nothing but couldn’t shake that foreboding feeling
.

CHAPTER 21

Kendall and I stoically watched as Gabe prepared for his trip into the mountains. I had to purposely avoid the thought that he might not come back in one piece, or at all.

In an uncharacteristic display of affection, he kissed both Keni and me on the forehead. “Stay here, and stay together. I’ll check in as soon as I can.”

Part of me wished he could leave in lion form. Seeing a vicious beast skulk off to face danger would’ve been easier than watching my big brother leave. One saving grace in all this was the golden eagle that circled the skies over Gabe’s head. Alaina would watch his back. I let out a slow breath as gratitude filled me.

Putting on airs of normalcy for Grams wouldn’t be a problem. She took herself out of the equation—and scarred us for life—when she came out of her bedroom in a leopard print bikini on her way to the community pool. Apparently they hired a new lifeguard and Grams had yet to determine if he was “eye candy” or not. It seemed Gabe wasn’t the only one on the prowl today.

With her out of the way, Kendall and I were free to worry ourselves into a tizzy. We straightened up the entire house in an attempt to distract ourselves. It didn’t work. Suffering the maddening wait prompted me to take preventative measures. I sat on the porch, closed my eyes, and tried to channel Gabe. If I could feel his emotions, I would know he was okay. I just needed to concentrate.

“Whatcha doin’?” Keni asked as she plopped down in the rocking chair beside me.

“Trying to get a read on Gabe.”

“Good idea! What’s happening? Has he found him yet?”

“I don’t know, Keni. I have to be able to focus.”

“So focus already. What’s the hold up?”

I opened my eyes and stared at her.

Keni flipped her hair and huffed. “Oh. Well, I don’t need conditions to be perfect to use
my
power, but whatever. Focus away.” I rolled my eyes and tried again to channel him. I had just found Gabe’s essence and was about to open myself up to it…“Tsk, I broke a nail. It must’ve been when I sparred with Gabe. Craptastic.”

The severity of this situation was lost on Kendall.

“Why don’t you go inside and find a nail file?” I suggested through clenched teeth. “I’ll let you know as soon as I find out anything.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Yes.”

“At least you’re honest
,” she said with a lift of her shoulder, and she hopped up to go in the house.

Finally, I was able to get a lock on Gabe. The lion hungered for the kill. I found it comforting to be connected to him. It assured me he was safe. I stayed with him as he caught a whiff of another animal that made his carnivorous stomach grumble. I sensed his disappointment that it wasn’t the victim he longed for. Time passed. The lion hunted. His tension grew with every moment the panther failed to appear.

“He’s getting frustrated,” I murmured to myself.

“Why would he be frustrated?” Keni’s voice made me jump in my seat. I’d been so focused I didn’t know she’d come back out.

“My best guess is that the panther isn’t taking the bait.”

“Which means he could be anywhere.” Keni had been leaning up against the porch railing. In one graceful motion
, she windmill kicked her long legs over the rail, then dashed off to do a quick scan of the area.

“Don’t sho
w your wings unless you have to,” I called after her. “We don’t want to scare the neighbors.”

“Go in the house and lock the door until I get back!” I wasn’t used to taking orders from my little sister. Yet seeing as she had invincible feathers and I didn’t, it seemed like as good a time as any to start.

Back in the house, I didn’t know what to do with myself. The Seeker could be anywhere. He could be watching me right now…

Fear shivered through me. I snatched the remote from its resting place on the coffee table and clicked on the TV. I didn’t ca
re in the slightest what was on but needed the noise to distract and sooth me. My fidgety hand clicked the channel up button incessantly.

Flip.

Flip.

Flip.

Flip.

Flip.

A pair of menacing cat eyes on the screen caught my attention. I stopped and backed up to the program. It was a documentary on the hunting style of predatory cats. A lion stalked a herd of wildebeests.

“The fierce predator singles out the weakest member of the he
rd,” the narrator explained. “In this case, the baby.”

The remote slide from my hand and clattered to the floor. The baby. Kendall!

I raced for the door and flung it open. There stood Kendall in an unperturbed, unruffled state.

“All clear. Whoa! Okay.” I grabbed her in a tight bear hug. “Everything ok, Cee? I was only gone for a minute.”

“Yep. Just had myself a nice little panic attack.”

“Planning on letting go of me any time soon?”

“Nope. Gonna be a minute.” I squeezed her and took a few deep breaths. When my heart rate dropped and the ringing in ears stopped, I released her from my death grip. “Sorry.”

“Quite all right.” She laughed and handed me a stack of envelopes. “Here, I got the mail. Now I need a drink of water
. It’s like a hundred and fifty degrees out there.”

I followed her into the kitchen
, flipping through the mail as I walked. Somewhere in the middle of the stack was a plain, white envelope with “Kendall” scratched onto it. There was no return address or stamp. Someone hand delivered it to our mailbox. Fearing it might explode or release some terrible parasite, I dangled it between two fingers.

“Recognize the handwriting?” I asked.

Her forehead creased and her wings instinctively popped out, knocking over a dining room chair. “No.”

With her indestructible wings curled around her
, she took it from me and tore it open. Inside was a lone piece of notebook paper. No big
kaboom
or scary white powder.

Whatever was written on the paper brought a new light to her face. Her wings retracted and her eyes sparkled. “It’s from Keith!”

I expelled a sigh of relief. “What does it say?”

“He wants to see me tonight at the library. He says we have a lot to talk about and he hopes I’ll meet him there at six. Oooh, and he misses me.” She hugged the note to her chest.

I hated to be the bad guy, mostly because it meant I would have to listen to her whine, but I didn’t have a choice. “Keni, in the entire history of mankind, that is absolutely the worst idea ever. The Seeker could be anywhere. We have to stick together. You’re going to have to reschedule for a night when our lives aren’t in peril.”

“I can’t!”
She moaned. “If I blow him off tonight, he might not give me another chance! And with this new superhero thing, our lives are always going to be in peril! I
have
to go, Celeste! Pleeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzz!”

Trying
to reason logic against fifteen-year-old hormones—a losing battle if ever there was one. “What if you run into the Seeker while you’re with Keith? Do you actually want to risk him getting hurt?”

“No, of course n
ot. But we could make a deal,” she bargained. “You could keep spying on Gabe’s emotions. When you feel him get a lock on the panther and know everything is, like, all clear and stuff, I can go. If not, I’ll stay put.”

I hated to make any kind of agreement with her; however
, this did give me a workable excuse to use. “Okay, but if I can’t get a definite read off of Gabe, you stay here without any whining. Deal?”

“Deal!” She gave me a quick squeeze then skipped across the kitchen toward the stairs.

“Where are you going?”

“I have to decide what to wear, duh!”

“Yeah, there won’t be any whining at all when I tell her no. Right,” I grumbled to myself as she disappeared up the stairs.

I had no intention of letting her step foot out of the house. But the girl could fly. There was only so much I could do to physically keep her here. My options were screaming, chasing after her, or dangling off her as she
flew. My maturity must be a work in progress because I didn’t consider any of those things beneath me.

To placate her and check in on the status of things, I went back outside to channel Gabe. His frustration remained the same. Just like before
, I stayed locked on to him until the afternoon sun began to hang its weary head. The dusky sky meant six o’clock must be drawing near. The unpleasantness of telling Kendall “no” wasn’t far off. Yippee.

Out of the blue
, a jolt of adrenaline shot through me. Gabe was on the chase and after blood. He closed in for the kill. I could feel his desire to sink his teeth into the tender…

Ok, gross.
Quickly, I shut myself off from the Gabe-lion. Whatever he was about to do was going to be messy, gory, and gruesome. I really didn’t want to experience that with him.

As if cued, Kendall danced out the front door. Up on point, she twirled an arabesque, her violet sundress fanning out around her. She ended in a deep curtsy, then flashed me her best angelic smile. “So, can I go?”

“He’s in pursuit right now. But he hasn’t caught him yet. In no way is this even remotely close to settled.” I hoped her better judgment would finally show itself. No such luck.

“He’s as good as caught!’ Kendall relaxed her posture. “And we know right where the Seeker is now. So there’s no reason I can’t go. I’ll make it quick and be back before you even know I’m gone. Please, Celeste? I really will hurry back. I promise!”

She folded her hands to beg and pleaded with me with her eyes.

As inopportune as her timing was, she did have a point. We knew right where the Seeker was. Gabe had him engaged in a bloody, toothy battle. If that changed, I would know. I could get down the street and around the corner to her quicker than the panther could get within threat range. As much as I hated to admit it, a short visit probably couldn’t hurt.

“You have half an hour,” I stated. “After that, I won’t hesitate to find you and drag you home by your stupid, perfect hair. Understood?”

“You’re the best, Cee!”
She gushed and then flitted down the stairs and pranced toward town.

With her gone, I did my best to relax. I got myself a glass of sweet tea and returned to the porch to watch the sunset. I thought the picturesque scene would help calm my frazzled nerves. It failed tragically. As soon as I lost sight of Keni
, I began to rethink my decision to let her go. I had put too much confidence in my new, untested, and therefore unreliable, ability. I glanced through the screen door at the wall clock inside. She had been gone for ten minutes. I would be true to my word. She had twenty minutes left, then I was going after her. I gazed back at the beautiful pink, purple, and gold shades that decorated the horizon and hoped for the best.

It occurred to me that there was a simple solution to calm my tension. The icky parts between Gabe and the Seeker were most likely over. I just needed to tune back in. Once I felt Gabe’s sense of satisfaction
, I would know it was safe and everything was okay. I closed my eyes and sought him out. What I found instead was deep disappointment and revisited frustration.

Wait, what does that mean?

I frantically calculated situations in my head that would lead him to those emotions. Only one made sense. The Seeker had gotten away. Panic shoved its way in, and I desperately tried to keep it at bay.