Sacrifice (Gryphon Series) (2 page)

             
I hid my disappointment behind a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks for trying.”

             
Caleb hooked his finger under my chin and tipped my head up. “I won’t give up. I promise.”

             
I nodded, but said nothing.

             
Bernard banged his cane against the floor in six rapid-fire successions. His round face flushed red, then purple. “Training time isn’t over!”

Caleb glanced over his shoulder at the glowering gnome
. “What’s with the hostile envir’ment?”

“Oh you
know, same old, same old. I don’t respect my sacred duty of pummeling inanimate objects, blah, blah, blah. Maybe Gabe will train with me to appease Mr. Sunshine.” I looked to my brother with a hopeful expectation.

Bernard folded his arms over his chest and
scowled.

             
“Sorry, Cee,” Gabe raked a hand through his recently grown-out hair. He usually kept it buzzed, but Alaina insisted he grow it out for the wedding. He fiddled with the whole inch of it almost as much as Kendall did with hers. The two of them had daily scuffles over ‘mirror time’ in the bathroom. My low maintenance ponytail and I were very amused by this.

“I don’t need to train,” he said with a cocky smirk. “I’m a lion. It doesn’t get any more badass than that.”

Gabe ignored my eye-roll and circled his hands around Alaina’s slender wrists to pull her into his waiting arms. She giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Couples suck,” Kendall grumbled and
tossed the bridal magazine aside.

             
Against the far wall of the garage—flanked by Gram’s flamingo lawn ornaments—Bernard’s pinched up red face warned of an impending gnome-sized embolism.

             
Just as he opened his mouth to unleash what was sure to be a nasty verbal bashing, Caleb intervened, “I’ll spar with her.”

             
Bernard’s beady eyes narrowed. “I don’t know … ”

“I think it’s a heck of a lot more effective than me fighting a
bag.” I matched Bernard’s arm fold and raised him a challenging sneer.

             
Bernard took a deep breath in through his nose, and let it out through pursed lips. “Fine. Do
not
hold back,” he barked at Caleb, then pointedly turned his glare to me, “
at all
.”

             
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Caleb shot me a wink.

             
Gabe unchained the punching bag and leaned it against Grandpa’s dusty old work bench, then took a seat on the floor with Alaina and Kendall. Caleb and I faced off in the center of the garage. He yanked off his hooded sweatshirt and tossed it to his sister (That would be Alaina, by the way. Long story. He was abducted by a demonic army as a child and she joined the good guys as a Spirit Guide. Huh, look at that. I made a long story surprisingly short.)

He brought his hands up and struck a defensive pose. The thin material of his white t-shirt tightened across the sculpted muscles of his torso. Th
at visual stimuli caused a wandering gaze that couldn’t be helped. With his knees slightly bent, his jeans hugged his thighs in a way that proved very distracting.

             
“
Ahem
… I’m up here, lovey. Not that I don’t appreciate a good oglin’.”

             
I hurriedly assumed a fighting stance, my cheeks and ears burning bright red. “Sorry. I’m good. Let’s do it.
This
! Let’s do
this
!” Gabe, Alaina, and Kendall all snickered from the sidelines. “Crap. Let’s just get this over with.”

             
Caleb’s handsome face folded in mock hurt. “Ya say it like that and I’m inclined tah think ya won’t enjoy it at all.”

             
“I think we both know that’s not true.” I grinned.

             
“Well then…” He jerked his head to the side to crack his neck and blinked hard. When his eyes opened the green was gone. In its place blazed brilliant red irises. Visible red flames danced beneath the surface of his skin. “Give us a kiss.”

             
I leapt forward and spun. My fist raised on a collision course with his throat. He caught my wrist and pinned it behind my back. I winced as my skin sizzled and blistered under his touch.

His
breath tickled my ear. “Ya’r gonna have tah do better than that, lovey.”

             
He released me, and I backed away rubbing my charred wrist. That little move had awakened my inner warrior … and she was ticked. I brought my hands up and beckoned him to advance. “Again.”

             
He came at me fast. A mad flurry of blows and punches. Not one landed. I blocked every swing, countered every jab. We matched blow for blow until the sweat flowed and our damp clothing clung to us like a second skin. I answered an effective uppercut with a downward block and then utilized the split second it took Caleb to regroup to spin into a roundhouse kick. My foot connected with enough force to send him flying backward. He slammed into the metal garage door that twanged and rattled its disapproval. Our audience—except for Bernard—golf-clapped at my victory.

             
“Well done, well done.” Bernard nodded and crammed another handful of berries into his mouth. He eyes had turned glassy. It wouldn’t be long before he’d be confessing his undying love to one of Kendall’s old Barbie dolls that Grams kept boxed up out here …
again
. “Now why couldn’t you do that earlier? When
I
asked you to?”

             
I shrugged one shoulder and wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. “’Cause he’s hot.”

             
Bernard stamped his cane against the ground, “Of all the vain, juvenile excuses! His physical attractiveness should have nothing … ”

             
I held up my hands to calm the angry little man who was, quite literally, spitting mad. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! He’s got Titan blood in him, remember? He can control the elements, and he called fire to him. His hands were scalding hot. That was great motivation to
not get hit
!”

             
Bernard paused his rant to consider Caleb, who had pulled himself up off the ground and was straightening his jeans that had gotten twisted around his work-boots. For the first time ever, a glimmer of genuine appreciation broke through Bernard’s icy façade toward my demonic fella.

             
“That was actually quite clever,” Bernard begrudgingly admitted. “Well done.”

             
“Thank ya,” Caleb stood up and ran his fingers through his sweat-dampened locks. “Did it perhaps earn a free pass for our fated Chosen One?”

             
Just as quickly as the newfound appreciation came on, it vanished and Bernard’s go-to scowl returned. “Free pass? What does that mean? Allowing her to run the streets like a hooligan?”

             
Caleb struggled to suppress the grin that tugged at the corners of his heart-shaped lips. “Nothin’ like that, I assure ya. Just an evenin’ off to allow the lovely Celeste a chance to recharge her batteries. Any and all attempts at hooligan runnin’ will be thwarted. Ya have my word.”

             
This was so completely unexpected and unheard of with Bernard’s strict training regime that I crossed my fingers behind my back at the prospect of him actually agreeing to it.

             
Bernard shook the last of his berries from the satchel onto his palm and mashed them in his mouth. He’d started to sway, and leaned heavily on his cane to remain upright. “Fine, the night is yours.
One
night off. That’s it. Tomorrow you train and patrol without complaint.”

             
“Agreed!” I clapped my hands and bounced on the balls of my feet.

             
“Hey, does that go for us, too?” Gabe asked. “We don’t have to patrol tonight?”

             
Bernard waved one hand in the air. “All of you! One night off. But that’s it!” He didn’t bother with any further pleasantries. Two raps of his cane against the ground and he vanished into thin air. No doubt heading off to replenish his berry supply (or abduct a Barbie).

             
Gabe jumped off the ground in one fluid, cat-like motion. “Don’t have to tell me twice!” He extended his hands to Keni and Alaina, and yanked them both off the cold cement floor. “I’m thinking pizza and watching the game on TV. What do you say, babe?”

             
Alaina’s moss-green eyes glimmered with excitement. “I’ve got a better idea! I recorded a marathon of
A Wedding Story
on TLC. We can watch it and take notes on things we like!”

             
“That
is
even better.” Gabe’s broad shoulders sagged, but he did his best to feign enthusiasm. “Can we at least order a pizza?”

             
Kendall raised her hand. “I vote ‘yes’ to pizza. Grams is staying at Dr. Allyn’s again and we have limited food options. It’s pizza or week old Chinese.”

             
“Pizza it is,” Gabe declared and ushered them both out of the garage. “You guys coming?”

“No.
” The way Caleb gazed at me made butterflies dance in my belly. “We’ve got plans.”

“Suit yourselves.
” Gabe shrugged one massive shoulder and yanked open the side door. Snow and a bitter cold wind whipped in as the door opened and shut behind them.

             
“Alone at last.” Caleb grinned.

In a puff of black smoke he appeared in front of me
and cupped my face in his hands. His lips found mine in a delicate caress. My hands wandered over his back. I reveled in the feel of his taut muscles under that thin layer of cotton.

Hot breath against my ear sent waves of euphoric bliss coursing through me as he murmured, “Are ya ready tah take a trip tah paradise, lovey?”

CHAPTER
TWO

I wriggled my toes deeper into the sand and readjusted my sketchpad to get a better angle. Sea gulls screeched their high-pitched call, interrupting the sweet serenade of the gently lapping waves. A small fire crackled in front of me, more for ambiance than necessity. It was a comfortable seventy-five degrees in our tropical paradise. I glanced up from my artwork and gazed at Caleb. He strummed softly on his guitar, his skin aglow thanks to his kinship with the fire. I shook my head and cast the sketchbook aside. It was pointless. In no way could I capture his true beauty or the vitality he drew from the elements.     

I
leaned back on my elbows and stretched my legs out. “Are you ever going to tell me where this place actually is?”

A glossy lock of hair
fell across his forehead as he looked up with the half-grin I adored. “Whar’s the mystery in that, lovey? Isn’t it better tah think it’s just a bit o’ heaven carved out for you and me?”

I closed my eyes and tipped my head back
. “If it was heaven, I wouldn’t have to take Dramamine to get here.”

The sand crunched as Caleb set his guitar down
. “The Dramamine is just so ya don’t turn green when we teleport. Has nothin’ to do with the end location.” He rose from the rock he’d been sitting on and rounded the fire pit. His bare foot nudged my hip. “Sit up. The show’s about tah start.”

I pushed myself up and brushed the sand off my hands
. Caleb slid behind me, and pulled me back against his chest. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to savor the moment. I was right where I was meant to be—where I belonged.

P
urple, pink, and gold zigzags decorated the sky. Their image reflected off the water turning it the color of melted gold. “It’s gorgeous.”

“As are you, my love.” He dotted a kiss just below my ear.

I snuggled deeper into his arms and watched as the sun disappeared behind the water’s edge and the sky darkened. Unfortunately it also signaled our time together was drawing to a close. “What time is it in Tennessee?”

Caleb rocked onto his
hip to slide his cell phone out of his pocket, and then clicked the screen to life. “Ya’ve got about thirty minutes until ya’re curfew.”

“Thirty minutes, huh?” In a brazen move
totally
out of character for me, I swung both my legs over one of his and tried on a saucy grin. “What could we possibly do in thirty minutes?”

“Well, not
that
.” His emerald eyes burned with barely concealed desire. “’Cause this beach isn’t quite
that
isolated. But there are other things … ”

He f
reed my hair from its ponytail and weaved his fingers through it to shake the strands loose. Gently at first, his lips found mine but the heat and intensity quickly grew.