Rise of the Gryphon (48 page)

She wasn’t sure she could restart her heart anymore today, but it was pounding in the danger zone.

Had the witch doctor tricked Storm?

C
athbad stared in horror at the scrying wall, then turned on Flaevynn. “How could ya send our daughter out there with no way ta heal herself?”

Flaevynn’s lips trembled. “She failed. They all failed.”

“Ya whore. Ya killed your own child, and now ya will die.”

Trembling, she turned to Cathbad, voice jumping. “Fix this. You . . . you know the curse. Make it . . . do something.”

“Die, ya miserable waste of life.”

Flaevynn railed at him. “This is all your fault!” She tried to strike him with her black fingernail, but she staggered back.

All at once, her body began warping and shriveling, then spinning until she turned into a human tornado of sparkling purple dust.

Cathbad stepped back, not too sure about this. He’d thought the old witch would just dry up and poof away like the others before her.

When the dust settled, Flaevynn was definitely gone, but another woman, a far more beautiful creature, stood in her place. Hair as black as sin fell around her shoulders, and eyes as green as a new leaf studied what should have been Flaevynn’s body. She seemed as surprised as
Cathbad was to see her slender arms and fine shape in a purple gown fit for a queen.

Cathbad scratched his head. That had not happened in recorded history. “I do no understand.”

The gorgeous female laughed, a full, throaty sound. “That’s because the prophecy has been fulfilled. I have returned.”

“Who are ya?”

“Maeve, the first and only true Medb queen.”

“How can ya be here? The prophecy—”

She nodded, her eyes twinkling with mirth. “—said birth before death and death before birth. The Alterants were born, then died, then were reborn as gryphons.”

Cathbad still battled to understand. “But the immortal queen . . . ?”

“That would be me.”

“How?”

She sighed. “You don’t have time for all of this, so I shall be quick. The female gryphon had to evolve by rising a third time, which she must have, because she fulfilled the prophecy and brought me back to life.”

Cathbad processed everything at blinding speed. Now he understood what he had not seen coming. The curse had not been about gaining immortality for the reigning queen. It had been about reincarnating the original one.

But wrapping his head around that meant . . . “If ’tis so, then . . .” His body twisted and warped, going through the same gyrations. He yelled, but his voice sucked away with his life.

“I told you that you didn’t have much time.” Maeve
waved at him, laughing over the prophecy actually coming true. She had certainly hoped so when she and her greedy partner had come up with this plan.

When the druid’s form stopped spinning, a breathtaking man with searing brown eyes gave her an admiring once-over. “Hello, Maeve.”

“Good to see you again, Cathbad. It’s been too long.” She grinned at her own joke. “Can you believe that fool managed to figure it all out but never realized the whole point was for the two of us to be reincarnated?”

Returning her grin with a dazzling one, the original Cathbad the Druid said, “Now we’ll show this world what a real queen and powerful druid can do.”

E
valle couldn’t take another heartbreak, or so she thought until she walked outside to find Quinn carrying Kizira’s body toward the castle.

Behind him, gryphons were coming in to land across the open field. The warlocks and witches had been driven out of Treoir.

Evalle called to Tristan telepathically.
I’ll meet with you before I leave, but I need you to keep the gryphons back where you are until I can come and talk to them.

I’ll do that,
Tristan answered.
As long as Macha doesn’t try to screw with us.

Technically, the gryphons had to follow Evalle’s orders regardless, but she understood Tristan’s concerns.
Macha isn’t going to bother you because she needs you right now.

How do you see that?

Brina is missing, but her hologram is still inside the castle, which is affecting the Beladors.
She’d finally gotten Tzader to walk away from Brina’s hologram that hovered in the solar like a grand effigy. He had a sick, kicked-in-the-nuts look, but Tzader still commanded a force of Belador warriors whose powers were now in question.

Do the warriors have any powers?
Tristan asked.

Some have limited use of their powers, but they can’t link, and telepathy is spotty. Not having a Treoir descendant physically in the castle doesn’t seem to be affecting our gryphon powers.

Tristan chuckled, but not in a nice way.

Evalle ignored it.
The gryphons will become a new security force—

What?

Will you work with me for once, Tristan? I got you out of TÅμr Medb, with your sister and your two Rías buddies. Alive, I might add.

After a grumbling noise, Tristan said,
Macha better feed us well.

Evalle smiled.
She will. Just bunch up everyone and I’ll come see you after I talk to her.

Quinn reached Evalle. His legs moved as if he trudged through quicksand. Eyes swollen and red. His mouth sagged.

Evalle walked down the steps to meet him. “I’m sorry, Quinn. We had a plan that was going to save Brina and Treoir, plus get Kizira out of the Medb.”

Tears trickled down his face. “She did a better job of protecting me than I did of protecting her.”

There was nothing Evalle could say that would make anything he was feeling go away. She swallowed, and it hurt. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him that Lanna was missing. Not yet.

Tzader stepped down beside her, silent and staring at Quinn before he finally said, “I’ll convince Macha to let you take her body back to bury.”

Quinn nodded his thanks. His Adam’s apple moved hard against his throat.

Tzader angled his head at Evalle. “Macha wants to see you.”

Walking over to Quinn, Evalle gave him a hug and held him a minute, fighting back tears that wouldn’t help Kizira. She bent and kissed Kizira on the forehead. “Thank you for wanting peace and for loving Quinn.”

She turned and climbed the steps, then waded through the destruction and a cluster of warriors to find Macha still standing in the solar, staring at Brina’s hologram.

Macha didn’t acknowledge Evalle’s presence.

Evalle was in no mood to waste time. “The gryphons will remain to protect the island. There are two Rías, but they have control of their beast and will do whatever Tristan tells them.”

Turning to her, the goddess said, “Why would we trust these gryphons?”

Evalle had used up her allotment of patience. “Because they have to follow the orders of their leader, the most powerful gryphon.”

“Who is that?”

“Me.”

“Very well, they can stay.”

That wasn’t enough for Evalle. Not after what every one of them had done to save Treoir. “And they are to be treated like the guardian protectors they are, not like outsiders. Every gryphon out there has Belador blood coursing through his or her veins and just fought next
to our warriors to run the Medb witches and warlocks off of Treoir.”

Macha lifted her chin with an astonished look, but when the goddess didn’t threaten to turn Evalle into ashes, Evalle added in a nicer tone, “I’ll explain their duties to them before I leave.”

“Very well. And your duty is simple. You do nothing but hunt for Brina. That takes top priority.”

“Actually, I’m going after the one person I know who can help me find her.”

“Who?”

“Storm.”

“I heard Tzader mention finding your note in Storm’s house, on his nightstand. You’ve lain with him without permission.” The goddess dropped that with plenty of accusation.

“That’s
my
business.”

“I will not approve of you mating with him.”

“Again,
my
business, and this conversation is not helping to find Brina.”

Macha studied Evalle for a moment. “Where is this Skinwalker?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know everything yet, but I think he’s hunting a witch doctor.”

It took a lot to shock Macha, but that evidently did it. “A
witch doctor
? If he’s tangled up with her, he’s lost to everyone.”

Evalle answered with force. “Not. To. Me. I’m going to find him.”

“No, I forbid you to waste your time on that.”

After all Evalle had risked, her next words were not that much of a gamble. “I’m not asking for your permission. Just letting you know that I won’t be back until I find him.”

“You dare to disobey me?”

“I dare to piss off the entire fucking universe if that’s what it takes to get him back. Strike me down if you want, Macha, but know that if you do, you’ll destroy the best chance you have of finding Brina
and
bringing her back alive. And while I’m hunting for him, you need to keep VIPER and Sen off my ass. Every delay for me is a delay for you.”

Evalle turned and walked away.

Coming soon from Pocket Books

BOOK 5 OF THE BELADOR SERIES

DEMON STORM

With Treoir Island in shambles after a Medb attack that left the survival of the missing Belador warrior queen in question and Belador powers compromised, the Beladors have one hope for their queen’s return and their own future: Evalle Kincaid, whose recent transformation has turned her into an even more formidable warrior. First Evalle has to locate Storm, the Skinwalker she’s bonded with who she believes can find the Belador queen, but Storm stalks the witch doctor threatening Evalle’s life. The hunter becomes the hunted, and Evalle must face her greatest nightmare to save Storm and the Beladors—or watch the future of mankind fall to deadly preternatural predators. . . .

SHERRILYN KENYON
is the #1
New York Times
bestselling author of several series, including the Bureau of American Defense novels
Born to be BAD, BAD Attitude, Phantom in the Night, Whispered Lies,
and
Silent Truth,
and the enticing new Belador series, including
Blood Trinity
,
Alterant,
and
The Curse.
Both series are available from Pocket Books. There are more than twenty-five million copies of Sherrilyn’s books in print in over thirty countries. She lives with her family near Nashville, Tennessee. Visit her website at
www.SherrilynKenyon.com
.