SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (5 page)

“
Here,
”
he holds out a ring with a key on it.
“
My van is fifty miles due north of the
transition house and I
’
ll be there the day after
tomorrow. If you
’
re not gryphon enough for what
I have to offer, don
’
t be there.
”

“
You,
”
she sputters.

Soar doesn
’
t wait for an answer and drops the key on
the stone floor before leaving to clear things up with Hunter.

As Soar steps from her den he hears the
scrape of metal on stone as Cloud picks up the key.

Cloud finds Soar
’
s van nestled in the darkening Tennessee woods.
She
’
s seen it before; part camper, part van
and more cramped than any den she
’
s slept in and she isn
’
t sure why he bothered to drive all the
way here. While long, the flight from Vancouver Island can be done in a few
days and without rest if one were up for punishment.

The van is old, as far as she
’
s concerned, but it
’
s clean and well maintained. Soar bought
it new in 1970
.

She doesn
’
t bother going inside and has a restless
night curled up in the nearby trees followed by half a dozen aborted trips
home, each time returning to the key she left on the roof.

Her second night is spent on Soar
’
s mattress above the cab with all the
doors and windows open to keep his scent to a minimum. Even the breeze isn
’
t enough to clear the air and it drives
her out at dawn for another forty mile round trip back to the van.

Now she sits, tired and hungry on the
roof, debating whether or not she will leave the key behind one last time and
fly home. It
’
s nearly dark and she expected
him to turn up already.

She shoves the key in her pocket and
jumps to the ground before stomping off to the matted down brush she slept on
two nights earlier. There
’
s no way she
’
ll be waiting for Soar in his bed. Lesson
learned.

As she beds down, he arrives from upwind,
his feather light landing preceded by the rich aroma of deer. Cloud curls into
a tighter ball to silence the holes in her stomach and her heart.

“
Still here?
”
he asks like he doesn
’
t give a crap. Whatever.

“
What do you want, Soar?
”

“
Hungry?
”
He stops halfway between her and the van,
a thick deer leg slung over each shoulder.

“
No,
”
Cloud sits but her stomach disagrees. The
deep rumble rises to a whiny plea for food. One leg lands at her feet as Soar
squats and starts in on his.

“
You going to eat all that?
”
he asks.

Cloud found her old human-made folding
knife in the trash at the Jasper Eyrie where she was reared. The chipped and
dull blade sharpened up nicely. As long as she keeps the edge against meat and
away from bone and hair it won
’
t dull.

Each mouthful settles her stomach more
than the last. With Soar
’
s arrival, her decision to
take on his assignment has been made. It would be even more shameful to run
home right in front of him.

“
What do you know about Calgary?
”
Soar
asks.

Cloud reaches for her bag and pulls out
her precious leather folder. It holds maps that once belonged to Shadow
’
s brother, Condor. When Shadow learned of
her interest in geography she insisted Cloud take them. She unfolds one of Canada and the US. Its curled edges are marked with Condor
’
s
tiny print and crude drawings of naked women, dragons and gryphons having sex
in impossible positions.

“
Besides what
’
s on the map,
”
he adds.

“
Nothing,
”
she
doesn
’
t take her eyes from the
age-softened paper as her fingers skim the path from Tennessee to Calgary. Her uncanny and infallible sense of direction makes the map unnecessary once she
’
s memorized the landmarks and
incorporated the route into detail she remembers from other trips. Once she
flies off, she can find the city with her eyes closed.

“
Lev believes the rogues who attacked Welch Peak and our eyrie are associated with the Calgary Eyrie. It
’
s a democratic eyrie run by a gryphon
named Cooper. Doesn
’
t use his gryphon name any
more.
”

“
Oh,
”
Cloud raises her eyes from the map and
considers what she might do with the gryphon who did so much harm.

“
Forget it, Cloud,
”
Soar tells her.
“
I doubt very much the trouble
came from Calgary but Lev
’
s insistence it did has caused
a lot of tension in the Grand Council.

“
The Council is deeply traditional but
they are taking Cooper
’
s side and that
’
s bad news for us.
”

“
I see,
”
Cloud
puts the map away.

“
I need you to get inside Calgary and find out what Cooper has that gives him so much pull with the Council. After we
decimated what Sire Lev claims was Cooper
’
s
guard at Welch Peak, Cooper started pushing for harsh sanctions for what he
says is an unwarranted attack on a group of hunters simply gathering meat.
”

“
Even though you think the rogue army wasn
’
t his?
”

“
Yes,
”
Soar
admits.
“
He
’
s
using the situation to his advantage but I don
’
t know why.
”

“
That
’
s
bad,
”
Cloud says and Soar nods.

“
The Council could eliminate Shadow, in
effect eliminating our eyrie.
”

“
The Council
’
s
Will,
”
Cloud hisses. No Shadow means
no heir and the eyrie would die. The Will is the Council
’
s private guard; gryphons sworn to a
higher authority than a single eyrie.

“
I
’
m not going to tell you any more about
Cooper other than he owns a bar in downtown Calgary. Get noticed, find your way
in and learn what you can. I have to be honest, Cloud. Every other gryphon I
’
ve sent in there is dead.
”

“
But
I
’
ve got nothing to lose,
”
Cloud points out.

“
Your situation sucks,
”
Soar agrees.
“
I told Lev I was taking some personal
time after my visit to Sky. What I didn
’
t
tell him was I would go into Calgary myself. I still will if you don
’
t volunteer.
”

“
I
’
m in,
”
Cloud doesn
’
t hesitate. She
’
s temporarily blinded by the
image of the moonlit map and can
’
t make out Soar
’
s expression in the shadows.

“
What have you got you can use?
”

“
Honesty,
”
she answers. Nobody but Lev, Talon and
Shadow at home knows she
’
s a royal gryphon. Not only
can she tell when she
’
s trusted but she can also
push a gryphon into doing something he normally wouldn
’
t. As long as even a small part of the
gryphon considers what she wants, she can make that part so strong the gryphon
will act. Shadow helped her refine the ability so the gryphon she influences
doesn
’
t feel a thing. Her magic
should make the mission doable.

“
Agreed,
”
Soar
sighs.
“
If you get to him he
’
s going to check your story out and you
won
’
t leave alive if you
’
re lying. Nobody back home knows what we
’
re up to. If you don
’
t come out they never will. If you
’
re caught this can
’
t come back on Lev.
”

“
I understand,
”
Cloud agrees. Since
arriving at Sky
’
s eyrie she hasn
’
t paid much attention to politics, not
that she ever did, and the imminent slow death of her own eyrie is something
she has to stop.

Soar squats down beside the map and she
leans away but not far enough to avoid the tingle of his body heat on her skin.
She manages to take the handful of Canadian twenties he offers without touching
him.

“
I have a campsite here,
”
he points to a spot east of Calgary.
“
Wyndham - Carseland. Whether you get what
we need or not be there no later than two weeks from today.

“
I
’
ll fold the second bed down for you,
”
Soar offers but it sounds more like an
invitation.

What a jerk. She
’
d nearly kissed him back in her den and
he still has her heart on a string. But she
’
s wise to him now. Unless it
’
s private, she doesn
’
t exist and she deserves better.

“
Don
’
t bother,
”
Cloud
tosses him the key and puts her map away before curling up on the ground.