Sacrifice (Gryphon Series) (12 page)

“Gabe took Grams’ Buick to get the brakes fixed. So we need to borrow the truck
to go get the supplies to make the centerpieces. I’m gonna decoupage
the crap
out of some stuff.” Keni bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped in excitement … over arts and crafts. How did we come from the same womb?

I snatched my purse from my cubby below the counter
, all the while biting the inside of my cheek to suppress the snarky comments that wanted so badly to leap from my mouth. I managed to keep them at bay as I dug my keys out then dangled them from my index finger. When Keni reached for them I yanked them away from her hand. “From now on we fly … ”

She
tsked. “Just
above
the clouds.”

“And w
hat don’t we do in my truck?”

Keni
jammed one fist onto her cocked hip. “Come on, Cee!
Seriously
?”

She
could give me that look all she wanted. It was
my
truck. Whining would get her nowhere but walking. “What don’t we do?”

“
We don’t drive and text.” She
harrumphed
.

Reluctantly
, I handed over my keys. “Actually I was going for we don’t mess with my radio but yeah, don’t do that either.”

“Hurry home and you can be in charge of gluing!” Keni promised—or threatened—then
bounced out the door.

An amused smile curled Sophia’s lips as she watched Keni go.
“Bet you’ll be happy when all this wedding stuff is over.” Back on task, she slid the tea on my tray to complete the order. “Only one more week of bachelorette parties, rehearsal dinners, and hall decorating before the main attraction.”

An image flashed through my mind of a
certain wedding on a beach that would never be.

“
The sooner it’s over the better,” I mumbled, then balanced the tray on my hand and weaved my way to the table to deliver it. I was reaching down, handing a long-haired student with Buddy Holly glasses his coffee, when the bell over the door chimed again.

I glanced up
, my smile fixed, ready to utter the customary, “Hi, we’ll be right with you.” Those words lodged in my throat at the sight of ebony hair that cast faint shades of blue under the café lights. A green flannel shirt peeked out from under a black leather jacket.

He found his way back. He remembers.

The coffee cup slipped from my hand, bounced off the table, and crashed to the floor. Hot, brown liquid sloshed everywhere. I swiped the napkins off my tray and bent down to swab up the mess. All the café patrons turned at the commotion I’d caused, but I couldn’t pry my gaze from one in particular. His head swiveled around—brown eyes, olive skin, and most definitely
not
Caleb. Disappointment burned though me like acid poured on a gaping wound.

“I’m so sorry.
” My voice quaked with emotion as I handed the customer some extra napkins for the splatter that found its way onto his lap. “I’ll clean this up and get you a fresh cup.”

Sophia met me at the counter
and snatched the tray full of soiled napkins from my hands. “Melissa will take care of this. Go on a break.” She jerked her head in the direction of the back room.

“Yeah, becau
se Melissa isn’t doing anything,” Melissa grumbled and deposited the dishes she’d just cleared from two tables in the sink. She paused to wipe the sweat from her mocha brow with the back of her hand then noticed Sophia’s glare. Her shoulders slumped and she relented, “I’ll get right on it.”

“I’m fine,
” I lied and reached over the stack of dirty dishes to wash the coffee from my hands. They shook so severely I clasped them firmly together and turned my shoulder before Sophia noticed. “We’re slammed today and can’t afford to be shorthanded.”

“Yes
, we can. Take a break, Celeste. You need it. Besides, you’ve got company.”

I turned and glanced out the glass front
wall of the shop. Rowan cruised across the parking lot on Caleb’s bike.

Sophia’s crimson lips pursed
. “Did you call him?”

“No.” I shook my head and
shifted my gaze away to hide my guilt.

“Then it’s just a coincidence that the
one guy on the planet that can ease those bothersome feelings you’re having just
happened
to pick this precise moment to bring that motorcycle back to you?”

I fiddled with my ring
, flipping the emerald framed diamond around on my finger. “He had to bring it back to me. The timing is just … lucky.”

S
ophia’s eyes narrowed. “You know, sometimes when two mystical beings are tuned in to each other they can begin to pick up on each other’s feelings without even trying. It’s rare, but I’ve seen it happen between kindred spirits.”

“Hah! We’re far from
kindred spirits.” I felt the weight of her stare drilling into my back even as I busied myself throwing ingredients into the blender. “We’re just two people helping each other through a difficult time.”

She
stepped in close enough to whisper in my ear, “I know that’s what it started as, but are you sure that’s what it still is? Maybe things have changed for him? You’re an empathe, there’s a very easy way to find out … ”

I hit blend
to drown her out. When the machine finished I poured the foam beverage in a to-go cup and snapped on a lid. “I don’t need to use my ability, because there’s nothing there. The guy can barely tolerate me, he just feels the need to help me because of the bond he had with Caleb. We’re performing a service for each other. That’s it. Plus, he’s as untrustworthy as they come. He’d stab me in the back in a heartbeat if there were something in it for him. Honestly, I wouldn’t even go so far as to call him my friend.”

“Oh, yeah?” One scarlet painted nail jabbed in the direction of
my hand. “You give free Vanilla Bean Frappucinos with extra whip cream to all your non-friends?”

I glanced from
the cup to her and back again. “Oh, shut up.”



Sometimes muttering like a crazy person is mandatory and this was one of those times. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. We’re two people helping each other cope. That’s it. Sure, he doesn’t ask me to give it back to him as much as he used to, but that’s because he has a heart the size of a pea that emotions in general are foreign to. Not because of any new, weird,
incredibly inappropriate
, and insanely unwanted feelings that have developed on his part.”

I shielded my eyes from the bright afternoon sun and peered around the parking
area. I spotted him at the far end of the lot, leaning against the bike with his arms crossed over his chest. The short sleeves of his black t-shirt slid up to display all but the shoulders of his bronzed, muscular arms. His face was tipped toward the sun. The light made his hair glow like a golden halo. With a casual indifference his head lulled my way. There was no denying the guy was hot. That didn’t change the fact that he was a self-centered ass.

Still
... my mind wandered as I walked over. Did he seem happy to see me? Anxious for me to get to him? I toyed with the idea of opening myself up to his emotions but quickly decided against it. Whatever he felt for me—good, bad, or indifferent—I really didn’t want to know. It could ruin our arrangement and that was all that was holding me together as of late. For the sake of my mental well being I decided to take Rowan’s cool detachment at face value.

He held out my keys and reached for the
Frappucino. “Trade ya?”

As soon as his hand closed around the cup
, I snatched mine away. We couldn’t have any lingering touches that might add credibility to Sophia’s claims.

Rowan’s flaxen brows lowered
and one side of his mouth pulled back in amusement. “Much appreciation for the drink, lass.”

I shoved the keys into the pocket of my khaki work pants
. “Okay look, I accept that you were a pirate a few centuries ago, but I’m not buying the lingo. Truth be told I think you force it.”

He cocked his head to the side and peered at me from behind
his sunglasses. “Well, aren’t you a treat today. I’m inclined not to share my little gift if you’re going to be nasty.”

Panic churned my stomach
at the idea of going the rest of the day without a moment’s relief. “Sorry,” I murmured and scuffed my tennis shoe against the pavement. “Rough day.”

“
Then let’s get this over with quickly.” He took a quick swig of his drink and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Before you feel the need to tell me about it.”

I shot him a glare
that he ignored as he reached out and caught my hand.

“
What are you doing?”
Mild hysteria morphed my voice into a high-pitched squawk and I ripped my hand out of his grasp.

H
is eyebrows nearly shot off his head. He kept his voice low and even as he tried to break through my fog of crazy. “You remember how this works, yes? I
have
to touch you if you want me to work my magic. Or, you can continue to act like a loon, in which case I’ll scamper meself off and leave you to that.”

“You grabbed my hand. There’s
… meaning behind that.” My cheeks and ears burned bright red. “I just don’t want anything to be misconstrued here.”  

A
wry smirk curled its way across his lips. “That’s what you’re worried about? What other people think?” Before I could answer he smacked his hand down on my face. His palm mashed my nose to the side. “What about this? Could this be misconstrued in anyway?”

“I hate you,”
I muttered from behind his hand.

“Yeah, I’m
not your biggest fan either,” he grumbled.

Rowan kept his hand
plastered to my face as he gave me the emotional sedation I needed. My frayed nerves calmed and the pain lessened—for the moment. I exhaled a relieved, cleansing breath.

Rowan didn’t linger
. Quick and unceremoniously he yanked his hand off my face like a suction cup. “I’m sure I’ll be seeing ya tonight
, Mo Chroi
.”

He vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Sophia was obviously wrong. Rowan
didn’t see me as his kindred spirit. All I was to him was a burden to bear and that was okay by me.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Bing.

“Attention
Airscape travelers; there has been a gate change. Flight 183 departing to Orlando is now at Gate 45. Thank you.”

Her banner rustled a
nd Alaina dropped it below her chin. “What did that say? Was that her flight? I wasn’t listening. Do we need to move? If so we should hurry!” She was so excited if she were a puppy she would’ve already piddled on the floor.

Kendall s
moothed her hand over Alaina’s long auburn waves. “That wasn’t us. We’re right where we need to be. Breathe, Lani.”

“Oh! Good!” Up went the banner. “Let me know when she gets off the plane. I can’t see anything back here.”

I couldn’t help but stare. “Alaina, isn’t all this … ” I waved my arm at the spectacle that was Alaina, “ … a bit much?”

A corner of the banner curled out.
Moss green eyes peeked out at me. “Absolutely not! I’ve never met my future mother-in-law before! I want her to recognize me as the bride and—more importantly—I want her to like me!”

“Well
, first of all,” I clasped my hands together and pressed them to my lips, “there are four people picking her up from the airport. One is her betrothed son. Two are her daughters. I’m fairly certain my mother is clever enough to figure out that the girl here she
didn’t
give birth to is the bride. But perhaps you could explain to me how the veil, bride-to-be t-shirt, and gigantic sparkly ‘O’Brien-Garrett Wedding or Bust’ sign are supposed to make her like you?”  

Alaina lowered the sign once more. It thumped to the ground under the weight of all that glitter
and left a sparkly pile on the floor. “Because, I want her to think I’m a normal girl up-to-date on all the current nuptial traditions and customs, and
not
a three century old ex-Spirit Guide that has no place marrying her son.”

“I think it’s safe to say that won’t be the first conclusion she comes to,” I
chuckled and checked the time on my phone. Her plane would land any minute now.

“I think her get up was a great idea
,” Gabe added through a giant mouthful. “Got us free
Cinnabons
!”

“Ah, yes. The true reason to announce your impending nuptials
publicly every chance you get—to get free crap.”

Gabe nudged me with his big, meaty shoulder
. “Come on, Cee. You know if it was your wedding you’d be embracing all the goofy, fun traditions, too.”