SkyFall (Taken on the Wing Book 2) (15 page)

“
I get it,
”
Soar
hisses as he hauls Cloud up the stairs. At this point she
’
d take the sore ankle over the painful
grip he has around her.
“
He kissed you and gave you a
come-on speech and you claim you don
’
t
remember where.
”

“
Of course I remember,
”
she insists but the truth is she doesn
’
t. The only two males she ever kissed
were a human when she was a kid and the big half-drunk male who carries her up
the stairs.

“
Then where, Cloud?" he demands as
they pause on the second to last landing. A blast of wind rattles the door
above them.
“
This is insane. The storm will
rip our feathers off as we
’
re cooked by lightning.
”

“
No other way,
”
she rubs at her side where his fingers
dug in and thinks of Cooper jumping off an airplane.
“
We
’
ll be fine.
”

“
Where,
”
he
demands again. The desperation in his voice is more than sensible concern for
flying away in a thunderstorm.

“
You
’
re jealous,
”
she says and he looks
away before taking her in his arms for the last push up the stairs. Darn, she
should be sensitive about it considering how much she wants him to say anything
to acknowledge what they were but when she opens her mouth she
’
s anything but.
“‘
We had a thing, Cloud. We weren
’
t a thing,
’
you said then you didn
’
t speak to me again so don
’
t act like you give a darn who
’
s mouth I stick my tongue in.

“
I chose you because winning your heart
would be hard and I shouldn
’
t have been surprised you blew
me off.
”

“
Take wing,
”
Soar
orders. He already has his shirt off and binds her pack to his chest. Her only
treasure, Condor
’
s maps, are in it and Soar
knows. Any other gryphon would leave the bag behind but he understands how
important it is to her and she
’
s embarrassed by her cruel
outburst.

Cold wet wind forces its way under the
heavy steel door.

“
Soar,
”
she pulls her shirt off and stuffs it
down the front of her pants but can
’
t
get the hook on her bra without turning her wrist.
“
What I said right now. I needed to say
it. I
’
m just as hurt as the day you
sent me away.
”

He turns her to the door and opens the
hooks then slides the straps from her shoulders. She adds the bra to the bulge
in the front of her pants.

“
Be scared. Going out in that is the
stupidest thing I
’
ve ever done,
”
he whispers and slips his arms around her
waist.
“
I couldn
’
t have stopped myself from begging you to
stay and you would have given up everything to do it.
”

She gets her hands on the door and feels
every large missile of rainwater crash into her palms like the door isn
’
t there at all.

“
We
’
re going out,
”
Soar
orders.
“
Stay low and get to the ground
as fast as you can. My van is two blocks away south, south east. If we get
separated meet me there.
”

The rumbling outside increases from all
directions at once as the warmth of Soar
’
s
lips touches her just under the ear. He gives her some space as she takes wing,
crowding the small concrete cubicle with more feathers. Voices several floors
below tell her Cooper
’
s guard is close behind.

“
Open the door, Cloud.
”

She shoves but it won
’
t move against the press of wind. Soar
’
s hands join hers as the wind lets up its
assault just long enough for them to get it open.

The wind changes direction tearing the
door from their hands. Cloud tries to pull her wings in tight but the heart of
the storm drops on them. The deafening roar buries Soar
’
s shout then the tornado takes her. As
she spins, she can see him fly to the side, mercilessly pressed against the
wall beside the door. For half a minute there
’
s nothing but blackness, pain and
shattering glass.

Something larger and more violent than a
knock on the door heralds Aledaar's approach.

A brutal outburst from the thunderhead
above rocks the building as the windows break from a massive drop in air
pressure. Cooper
’
s ears pop as he drops to the
floor then the pressure equalizes when his apartment door bursts open.

The heavy curtains keep any inward
falling glass near the frames and Cooper knows only a tornado could have taken
the windows out. As he pulls himself to his feet, he turns to the door to face
his grand-sire.

Lord Fury, Master of the Council
’
s Will, leads the group. The gold dragonkin
barely clears the opening both in height and the width of his shoulders.
Considering the nearly identical red hair and the matching shape of their eyes,
there is only one dragonkin who can be Cloud
’
s sire and it
’
s Lord Fury, the walking death before him.

Behind him stands Aledaar, leader of the
Grand Council. His human form is covered in an expensive suit and he would have
been carried by one of the dragonkin through a portal from the Russian Arctic
to Calgary.

As they take position on the other side
of the sofa they are flanked by Fury
’
s
son Con and Con
’
s mate, Cooper
’
s own daughter, Lady Flay. The message is
clear. Both Cooper and Flay have no choice but to comply and Cooper will. He
would never put his child in a position of acting against her own sire even
though he knows she
’
ll protect the green relic
with her life as her dame had.

“
Dan
—”

Lawrence
.

Two guards, one a gryphon and one a gold
dragonkin, flank Cooper
’
s guard master. Judging by the
bruising, Lawrence stalled them a little too long. The gryphon who interrupted Lawrence with a firm right fist is Torrent, Cooper
’
s
younger sibling and the bastard who
’
d
been more than happy to lead the devastating raids on Vancouver Island and Welch Peak. Talon
’
s alleged ass-kicking back at Welch Peak left Torrent with a gash on his lip that makes his smile positively menacing.

The last member of the Will stays by the
door. She
’
s young and scared and can
’
t be any more than sixteen. If she were
much younger then she wouldn
’
t have survived the trial of
Aledaar
’
s gold relic. Instead of
guarding the door, her eyes dart back and forth between her wings and Lord
Fury. Damn, it may only be weeks since her sire tried to kill her in order to
force her into full dragon form for the first time and it
’
s clear by her attention on her leather
wings the novelty of not having feathers still effects her.

“
I
’
m quite certain the relic is here,
”
Aledaar says. He doesn
’
t
address Cooper by his gryphon name. Nobody does. As an exile, he no longer has
one.

Cooper looks at his daughter. She
’
s as fearless and loving as her dame,
Lady Eve. Although she stands with her head high like any proud member of the
Will, she chews her bottom lip with worry. Conflagration, Lord Fury
’
s son and her beloved, glances at her. He
knows as much as Cooper how Aledaar
’
s
blackmail of the only green dragonkin in the Will hurts her. Her co-operation
ensures Cooper
’
s life as his co-operation now
ensures hers.

“
It is, grand-sire.
”

Aledaar
’
s long white hair dampens his lapels. He
’
s nearly nine hundred but his mind is as
sharp as any young gryphon
’
s and he can be as cruel and
playful with his quarry as any hunter.

“
Let
’
s go then,
”
Torrent
stomps toward Cooper. He wears the red of the Will although he
’
s never been a good enough ranger to meet
Fury
’
s expectations.

Cooper doesn
’
t argue and leads Torrent to the master
bedroom.

“
Fury,
”
Aledaar tilts his head toward Lawrence.
“
See he regrets his bad manners.
”

As they enter the room, Cooper winces at Lawrence
’
s grunt.

“
Open it,
”
Aledaar
orders.

With a sigh, Cooper places his hand on
the stone panel.

“
Well?
”

Cooper does it again but nothing happens.
He tries to contain his relief that passing control of the door to Cloud
worked.

“
It won
’
t open,
”
Cooper shrugs. Sparks fly before his eyes from a blow to the back of his head then in them as his
forehead strikes the door. When he gets his eyes open he still stands but his
vision is tinted red with the blood trailing towards his lips.

“
Again,
”
Torrent
hisses but he doesn
’
t wait for Cooper to move.
Instead he twists Cooper
’
s wrist, driving him to his
knees as the bones groan. Cooper crawls closer to the stone door to ease the
pain but Torrent only forces Cooper
’
s
elbow forward, wrenching his shoulder and tearing the tendons in his wrist.