SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (37 page)

Wait,
Tempest orders.

No,
Cooper argues but she runs off, doubling
back down the long tunnel. If his recollections of the Council chambers hold
then she
’
s headed for the main chamber
and will pass through the proceedings, dragonkin and gryphons.

Eat, sire,
Flay presses more meat into his hands.
She
will clear the way, if she has to walk out the front door she will do so. It
’
s you and I who must leave in secret.

Flay,
Cooper complains but she
’
s right and he lets her push him further
to the darkest part of the tunnel. Long minutes pass before Torrent
’
s shadow is joined by another.

“
My Generous Sire Torrent,
”
Tempest kneels.

No,
Flay holds Cooper back.
She knows
what she
’
s doing.

Cooper thinks Tempest
’
s words are purely to insult Torrent,
that is until he speaks.

“
My dirty little pet,
”
Torrent croons his approval.
“
Have you come to submit to me?
”

“
My Generous Sire Torrent,
”
she says again.
“
My Generous Sire Aledaar wishes you join him.
”

“
Stand, bitch,
”
he hisses and Tempest
gets to her feet, hands raised and head down.
“
Do
not refuse me my pleasures.
”

Tempest grunts as Torrent
’
s hand falls squarely on the side of her
head. For a moment Cooper doesn
’
t care what the price will be
for stepping in. His younger sibling not only assumes the title of the leader
of the Grand Council but has also singled Tempest out for abuse.

“
My Generous Sire Aledaar wishes you to join him,
”
Tempest repeats as she lowers her arms.
“
And I do not wish to be struck again.
”

Torrent swings, this time the back of his
hand meets solidly with Tempest
’
s cheek hard enough to knock
her sideways. At the same moment, the low voices of several gryphons approach
from behind at the opposite end of the tunnel.

Now,
Flay orders.
Like we belong here.

They form up side by side as Torrent
turns.

 
“
You will wait here, Lady Tempest, and
when I return we will discuss your lack of respect.
”

Torrent stomps out and seconds later Flay
and Cooper stride into Aledaar
’
s chamber. Tempest cups her
cheek and in the lit room Cooper can no longer make out the glow of that eye.
The blows cost much of her remaining energy.

“
Let
’
s go,
”
she turns before he can
say anything and Flay shoves him toward the tunnel hidden in the curtains
behind Aledaar
’
s great chair.

“
Tempest,
”
Flay whispers as they break into a run.
“
When you arrive, head for the ground. I
don
’
t trust your wings.
”

“
Okay.
”

“
How long
—”

Cooper starts but Flay silences him with
a sharp pull on his elbow. The air around them cools as they reach the opening
to the outside.

“
Since I arrived, Daniel Cooper,
”
Tempest stops at the opening and the
three of them scan the sky.
“
I do not fear him.
”

“
Go,
”
Flay hisses when they find the dark skies
empty.
“
Quickly.
”

Soar wakes, stumbling from his den.

Talon
’
s
‘
move your ass, buddy, we got shit
’
shook him out of bed.

“
I have Shadow,
”
Talon
’
s voice leads Soar to the main chamber.
“
Lev is with us and sent most of his guard
to the family dens to protect the children. The rest are here with you.
”

“
A little more information would be nice,
”
Soar
grumbles.

“
Tundra,
”
Talon says as he hauls
Soar to the big gryphon
’
s side.

“
Master Soar,
”
Tundra nods.
“
We have a delegation from the Council.
Two gryphons and a dragon-thingy.
”

Oh, Lord.
It
’
s
either bad news about Cloud or some other kind of trouble from the Council.
Either way it
’
s serious.

“
What do they want?
”
Soar asks. He double checks his weapons
although they won
’
t do much good against a
dragonkin.

“
An audience with Lev,
”
Tundra
’
s massive shoulders rise and
fall in a single shrug.
“
They have been provided
hospitality in the chamber at the entrance.
”

Soar hopes Talon was too busy to notice
that Tundra smells of Feather, Talon
’
s
sister, although Talon would have his hands full if he tried to run Tundra off,
mostly with angry objections from Feather.

“
Crossbows,
”
Soar
orders.
“
You and two others. On the
dragonkin. He can
’
t control the three of you at
once and if he tries to turn any of you, hit him in the throat.
”

“
Master?
”

“
That
’
s the way it goes, Tundra. Everything you
’
ve heard about them is true and they
’
re dragonkin, not thingies.
”

Tundra grabs two others who are already
armed with crossbows and takes another crossbow from a third.

“
Let
’
s go,
”
Soar orders and the four
enter the tunnel leading to the main entrance.

The creak of their black armour fills the
tunnel with soft echoes. Without an order or conscious thought, they fall in
step to mask their numbers from the listening ears of the waiting delegation.
Two rangers wait on either side of the door to the chamber ahead. Both face
their visitors and Soar is pleased. It
’
s
what he would have done considering they don
’
t know if the delegation is friendly or
is hiding their true intentions.

Soar steps in first, followed by Tundra,
and the others form up behind, one on each side. The crossbows come up as they
take aim at the dragonkin.

Where is the other gryphon?
There
’
s only one but there are two shifted
dragonkin. One gold and the other is the green one, Flay.

Nice.

All three wear the reds of the Will and
smell of ice and snow, not the rain and Pacific Coast fall outside. The gryphon
is a little on the skinny side for a member of the Will.

“
I am Master Soar,
”
Soar nods as he introduces
himself.
“
State your business, Lady
Flay, and the names of your companions.
”

“
Soar,
”
it isn
’
t Flay who speaks. The gold dragonkin
turns but does not approach and Soar locks his emotions down as she removes her
wrap-around glasses and helmet.

It
’
s
Cloud, healthier than she was when they last spoke. Her skin has recovered from
the burns and the bruising around her eyes is gone but she
’
s weary. Soar hides a smile of smug
satisfaction that she isn
’
t looking her best.

The feather-winged male remains still,
content to let the dragonkin speak.

“
It
’
s me, Tempest,
”
she says.
“
Can we please speak with Sire Lev?
”

“
Well,
”
Soar rolls his eyes as
he considers.
“
No.
”

Tempest frowns and turns to Flay. The
green presses her lips together and tilts her head at Soar.

“
Please,
”
Tempest
tries.
“
There
’
s, um, a relic and Aledaar
…”

Her voice sinks to a whisper as her
leathery right wing draws in then droops, tip down on the floor.

 
“
I
m
…
mean
—”

Soar gives up, turns on his heel and
stomps through the cross-bow carrying guard and toward the door. Whatever she
has planned can wait until she has the respect to not waste his time.

“
Damn it, Tempest,
”
Flay growls, setting his
hair on edge.
“
Tell him or I
’
ll kick you where you don
’
t have scales.
”

Soar gets a hand out and grabs the stone
opening as he wills himself to stop and not walk away from whatever Cloud has
become.

“
Yes,
Tempest
,
”
he hisses as he turns.
“
Tell me why every dame in the eyrie is
getting ready to flee with her children, why Dame Shadow is under guard and why
I
’
m down here dealing with you.
”

In his hurry to dress, he tied his
trousers too tight and they rub uncomfortably around his tail. He takes two
steps closer, adjusting the fastening as Tempest
’
s
jaw works.

“
I,
”
she mutters but it sounds more like
‘
A.
’

The nearer Soar gets the more
uncomfortable she looks and he
’
s good with that. She needs to
know that crawling back will be the worst trip of her life.

“
Am
p...
”
she swallows, two, three, four
times and her right wing extends in a series of jerky pulses as Flay moves to
her. The soft gold scaly leather of Tempest
’
s wing stretches impossibly thin as the
long bones align then hyperextend, pulling the wingtip up.
“
Am pregnant.
”

The wing stops and so does Soar, just a
breath away from touching his nose to the beads of sweat on her forehead. He
’
d expected anything from her, including a
shameful apology.