SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (7 page)

“
Prick,
”
the bartender says so quietly only Cloud
’
s gryphon ears can hear. Great, the human
’
s a prick. She knows that term and
appreciates the bartender
’
s warning. Sky
’
s eyrie had several of them as well;
Falcon included.

The bartender puts down two more glasses
of water and takes the man
’
s twenty, giving him a handful
of coins in return. By the time the prick figures out he just paid for two
glasses of water the bartender is nowhere to be seen.

“
Thank
you,
”
Cloud tells him. She pushes
her empty away and picks up the second.

“
Can
’
t afford to buy the lady a drink?
”
The gryphon laughs. He takes the seat to
her left and Cloud pulls her shoulders together since both insist upon leaning
on her. They smell of sweat and liquor. The gryphon simply smells male while
the human's unwelcome odor wrinkles her nose.

“
I can afford my own drinks,
”
she
mutters.

“
You
don
’
t have to,
”
the human says and takes Cloud by the elbow
but the gryphon gets an arm around her waist. Before she knows it she
’
s been pulled over her stool and stands
between them.

“
Back off, little man,
”
the gryphon says over Cloud
’
s head.
“
This
one isn
’
t for you.
”

“
The hell
—”
he
argues as Cloud snaps her arm free of the human. Getting away from the gryphon
proves tricky. She turns to face him so he can
’
t hook his fingers around her middle
otherwise she
’
s trapped between his arm and
her stool. The standoff only continues for a few more seconds.

“
Come to my table,
”
the gryphon orders and Cloud reaches
around, digging her fingernails into his forearm.

“
No,
”
she insists but the big gryphon doesn
’
t listen. His pupils dilate, swallowing
his irises and moving on to the whites. Then a clutch of short brown feathers
ripples up the sides of his neck and disappears behind his ears. As his bitter
scent of aggression fills Cloud
’
s nose, a patch of feathers
appears in the V of his shirt.

The oblivious human gets a hand on her
shoulder.

“
Lawrence
. Bar. Now,
”
the
bartender has a radio in one hand and holds the other at the males.
“
Easy gents. We
’
ll all make sure the lady has a nice
evening.
”

“
You
don
’
t want to do this,
”
Cloud tries, using her magic to influence
the gryphon male but he has no intention of backing down and ignores her. She
’
s stuck between two stupid, drunk males,
both intent on taking her from the other.

“
Lawrence,
”
the bartender tries again and Cloud
glances at the tunnel. Lawrence steps out, his white shirt shines in the black
light, but with the swell of people leaving the dance floor for the tables he
has no chance of stopping the gryphon before he shifts further and goes through
Cloud to get to the human.

Much to her horror, the gryphon
’
s front teeth merge and she knows he
’
s out of control. The human chooses that
moment to pull on her, setting the gryphon off. Cloud jams a thumb deep beneath
the gryphon
’
s collar bone and turns
sideways to escape the hold the human has on her shoulders. As the gryphon
makes his move she punches him in the chin, snapping his teeth together. He
doesn
’
t slow but his eyes lose
focus.

Then she hooks one foot behind the human
’
s knee and pulls, toppling him backwards
as she follows through, bringing her knee up into the gryphon
’
s stomach. As the air rushes from his
lungs, Cloud steps clear and drives an elbow between his shoulders for good
measure.

The two land in a passed out
gryphon-on-top position.

Before Cloud can appreciate her
handiwork, Lawrence has her around the waist and pulls her clear.

“
You
okay, Cherry?
”

“
Yeah,
”
she says but the last thing she expected
was to diffuse a fight. This one wouldn
’
t
have happened if she hadn
’
t shown up.

“
He
’
s in some trouble when he wakes up,
”
Lawrence
mutters then looks up at the balcony.
Several of the winged gryphons watch and Cloud
’
s cheeks flush with the attention.
“
Get a foot up on them since you kicked
their asses.
”

Cloud moves at his order. He
’
s clearly the guard master and she
’
s a guest so her response is quick and
automatic. She puts one foot on the gryphon
’
s back and raises her arms in victory.

“
This one is going on the wall,
”
he says as he takes a couple of pictures.

“
Lawrence
, trouble?
”
The
male who nodded from the balcony arrives through a door by the bar so Cloud
drops her arms and puts her foot down. His wings are gone and he wears a white
Cooper
’
s shirt.

“
Yeah,
Daniel,
”
Lawrence
explains.
“
One
on break and my other two bouncers were tied up downstairs. She
’
s quick. I don
’
t think anyone noticed there was even a
problem.
”

“
Fortunately,
”
Daniel approaches Cloud with a hand out.
“
I
’
m Daniel Cooper. I own the bar. What do
your friends call you?
”

Cloud looks at his palm and when she
finds it empty she remembers to emulate and holds hers out. Her stiff fingers
don
’
t relax as he grasps them and
bounces her arm up and down. Cooper leans forward over the bodies on the floor
and keeps well out of reach.

“
My friends here call me Cherry,
”
she announces with her chin up. Cooper
holds back a small burp with his closed mouth but it sounds more like a growl
and Lawrence and the bartender drop their eyes.

“
Lawrence,
”
Cooper groans.

“
Cherry from the eyrie,
”
the bartender explains.
“
This your first time out? We didn
’
t mean anything by it.
”

She suspects she
’
s the target of some joke she doesn
’
t understand.

“
And what do folks who aren
’
t your friends call you?
”
Cooper tries.

“
I suspect they also call me Cherry,
”
she says with a glance at the bartender.
“
My
red hair... I
’
m Cloud.
”

But Cooper seems done with her.

“
Get him to the lockup until he
’
s sober,
”
he
points at the prone gryphon.
“
I don
’
t want him back here for a year and get
the human a coffee and a cab.

“
Provide Cloud with a quiet meal and a
room. See that she
’
s not disturbed until after
noon tomorrow.
”

I
’
m in.

Daniel Cooper places his palm over a
smooth stone on his master bedroom wall. A small thunk buzzes his hand. Seconds
later, he pushes the recessed door open and steps inside a cave-like chamber.

Uneven grey stone covers the unlit floor
and walls. A tattered sleeping mat and a small wooden box rest at the far side
of the otherwise empty room. Years earlier, over the course of two weeks,
Cooper promised the Earth he
’
d protect the contents of the
box with his life for inside is a relic so powerful it could bring an entire
clan of dragonkin to its knees. In return, the Earth created the impervious box
and the stone lock for the door. Both open only for him.

Cooper seals the door behind him and
steps around the mat, careful not to touch it. He shared it for many years with
his mate, a green dragonkin, before she was killed for stealing the relic away
from its hiding place in the high Arctic. She bore their children on the mat
and years later she took her last breath in the same place, a victim of a slow
and vicious poison driven deep into her body by an arrow.

He thought he
’
d seen the last of the dragonkin for a
while. The Grand Council knows he has the green dragonkin relic but he was
certain they didn
’
t know where it was hidden.
That is until tonight, when a lone female gold dragonkin stepped into his bar
and broke up a fight.

Two hundred years ago Cooper's
grand-sire, Aledaar, found the gold dragonkin relic and used it to subjugate
the entire clan. He retired as Sire to his eyrie and used his power over the
golds to seize leadership of the Council. Over time he filled the Council
’
s Will, their guard, with gold dragonkin.
Each gold dragonkin succumbed to the gryphon and his magic trinket and was
destined to follow his will.

Now Aledaar, Cooper
’
s sire and younger sibling use the
Council to drive out any dragonkin sympathizers and keep control of the Will.
The threat of further atrocities keeps Cooper from refuting the Council
’
s claims that Cooper himself has been
decimating the traditional eyries. Those murders were ordered by Aledaar
himself.

Now Cloud sleeps in an apartment a few
floors below his own. He thought he saw the gold sparkle of her eyes from the
upper balcony and was certain when he saw her up close. Cooper
’
s time in possession of the green relic
grants him the ability to tell dragonkin apart from ordinary gryphons. He can
also draw upon their power of influence when he's near the green relic.

The half-breed descendants of rare
dragons and gryphons are as misunderstood by the majority of gryphons as they
were shunned as inferior by dragons.

If Cloud meant to destroy his eyrie or
even bring him before the council it would have been with the Council
’
s Will. Instead, she walked in alone and
so painfully out of place that Cooper hesitated in gagging her and locking her
up. Her quick move with the gryphon whose life she saved by stopping him gave
Cooper pause that she could be dangerous but even then he offered her a room.