Embrace (The Gryphon Series) (20 page)

My stomach knotted
, and I found it impossible to look him in the eye. “No.  He wouldn’t do this.” I hated to lie, but I couldn’t have Caleb going after Alec.  I had to deal with him myself.  It was the only way to ensure that if there was even the slightest glimmer of hope to save him, it would be utilized. 

Caleb’s jaw
tensed.  But he didn’t push the matter. “Then it could be the Countess sendin’ you a message. I’ll do some snoopin’ in the Underworld and see what I can uncover.”

I grabbed the sleeve of his leather jacket in a deathgrip before he could even think about moving.
“Isn’t that dangerous for you now?  If she thinks you’ve failed or turned on her…”

He looped his fingers in the
tied belt of my coat and drew me to him.  Our foreheads almost touched as his green eyes fixed on me.  “I’ll be fine.  Stay safe and be on ya’r guard.  I’ll be back to ya just as quick as I can.”

I tipped my face up.  He moved in to fill the space between us. 
“Promise me you’ll come back.”  I whispered.

Caleb breathed the words softly against my skin.
“I promise.”  Our lips met in an urgent kiss that gave away our mutual fears he might not be able to keep that particular promise.  He pulled back and stared at me as if trying to memorize my face.  “Be safe, lovey.” He murmured.  Then sprinted off into the darkness. 

Unable to force myself to watch him go, I turned back toward my coworkers. 
Melissa had returned to her spot by Sophia.  Tears streamed down her face as she watched the officers remove Becca’s boxed up belongings.  Sophia, on the other hand, stared after Caleb with narrowed eyes and utter contempt.  My blood ran cold.  A blink, and then she focused on me.  Her expression softened, and she tilted her head in an almost demure fashion.  In an instant, the only friend I had made in months became my prime suspect in the Countess’ hidden identity.

My hands balled into fists at my
sides.  I waited for her to twitch.  Smirk.  Anything.  That’s all it would take.

“
Excuse me, Miss?” Behind me a young officer with milk chocolate skin and eager eyes stood with his pen and pad at the ready.  “This young lady mentioned you work here.”  He motioned to Melissa.  “Could I ask you a few questions?”

As r
eluctant as I was to turn my back on Sophia now, I didn’t have a choice.  “Yeah, sure.  Don’t know how much help I’ll be though.”

“
Oh, you’d be surprised!”  Exuberance bubbled off of him.  “Sometimes even the most minute detail can break a case wide open!”  He clicked his pen to ready.  “Do you know if your boss was seeing anyone?”

“No idea.”  I admitted with a shrug.

“Did she have any hobbies or interests you know of?”

“She never mentioned any.”
  I sagged under the weight of the guilt that I never took the time to get to know my manager at all.

“She was in the photography program at the college.  Do you know if she had any outside subjects?”

“Becca was into photography?” To myself I added, “I didn’t even know she was in school.”   

“Carlson!” 
A middle-aged cop with a thick spare-tire, and a red puffy face yelled.  “You about done? We’ve got nothing here. Found all we’re going to at the apartment.”

“Yep! Just wrapping up.”
Officer Carlson answered. He clicked his pen again and folded his pad shut. His teeth gleamed as he smiled.  “If you think of anything that may help, anything at all, please give us a call.”  He pulled a business card out of the breast pocket of his shirt, handed it to me, and then jogged off to rejoin the other officers. 

Without a backward glance at
Melissa or Sophia I strode to my truck.  There would be time to deal with Sophia later, when we weren’t surrounded by innocent people.  Right now I needed to find Becca.  If her apartment held the most information about her abduction, that’s where I needed to be.  Hopefully, there was still time to save her.  And Alec. 

But first
, a quick stop at home.  I needed my sword and my shield, aka Gabe and Keni.

CHAPTER
26

              As soon as I got in the door I shook off my coat and sat on the bench in the foyer to yank off my boots.  A wardrobe change into something a bit more inconspicuous was mandatory if we were going to go break into my manager’s apartment.  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Alaina enter the narrow room. 

“Hey.  Where are Gabe and Keni?”  I asked.  “We’ve got some
Mission Impossible
style work to do tonight, complete with a little breaking and entering.”

“They—you—we—
UGH
!” Ranted our normally eloquent Spirit Guide.  Her ruffled feathers negated any need for my empathe ability. 

My eyebrows raised so high they nearly shot o
ff my face.  “Whoa.  Try throwing a verb in there, Alaina.  Makes communication more effective.” 

Grams rounded the corner from the living room
, arms crossed firmly.  Well-manicured nails drummed against her skin. 

“What’s going on, Grams?”

              “What’s going on,
Celeste…
” She managed to say my name like it was a bad word, “…is that we learned some
incredibly
upsetting news today.”

             
“Did you hear about my missing manager?  Was it on the news?”  I pulled on my tennis shoes and laced them up.  “Don’t worry, I’m on it.  Came to get Gabe and Keni, so we can go scope out her apartment to see if this is Dark Army related.”

             
“This has nothing to do with anyone but
you
.” Grams stated, her red painted lips pursed in disapproval. 

             
I pushed myself up off the bench and then grabbed my black hoodie from the coat rack. “About me? 
What
about me?”

             
Alaina’s milky white skin flushed red.  “Members of counsel contacted me to inform me that the Conduit has been consorting with the enemy!”

             
“I most certainly have not!”  I argued indigently and zipped my sweatshirt with as much vigor as anyone can put into that particular task. 

             
“Really?  Then you were not out on a date with a
Seeker
?! ” Alaina yelled.  “He did not transport you in a black cloud of smoke
this very evening
?”

             
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.  “Oh, that.  Well, yeah, that’s all true.  But it’s not what you think.  Caleb’s on our side!” 

             
Grams blue shadowed eyes narrowed.  “Caleb?  The one we met?  I knew nothin’ good could come in a package that pretty.”

             
“But he is a good package!  Or—uh—a good guy.  His circumstances have sucked, but that’s not his fault.  He wants to help us!” 

             
“Is that her?  Is she here” Gabe pounded down the stairs in a white hot rage.  In a burst of feline speed he was in my face, hissing and spitting out his anger.  “You went out with a
demon
?!  What is the matter with you?  Are you really
that
hard up for a boyfriend?”

             
My nostrils flared.  “First of all,”  I began through clenched teeth, “I just learned tonight that he is
half
demon.  Secondly, you wanna talk about hard up?  Your girlfriend has a beak!”

             
“That’s true.”  Kendall interjected as she wandered in from the kitchen apple in hand.  “Looks like I’m the only one that has a normal sweetie.  You two have freaky taste.”  She bit off a huge chunk of apple.

             
“Yeah, Keith’s a real prize, Keni.”  Gabe shot.  Kendall scowled.  “So, you’re dating a demon, and the Glee Club is your new band of BFFs.  You get these guys are supposed to be our enemies, right?  Your role is to fight them, not hang with them.”

             
“It’s not that cut and dry, Gabe.”  My hands trembled as I raked them through my hair.  “You’ve met the Glee Club, you know their situation.  Don’t throw that back at me.”  Gabe huffed, but didn’t interrupt.  “As for Caleb, Barnabus and his men took him when he was only a kid.  They forced him to pledge himself to them when he was too young to even understand what that meant.  He needs our help almost as much as we need his.”

             
“I don’t need anything from a demon.”  Gabe growled in a way that was more animal than human.

             
The fury and color drained from Alaina’s face as she pushed her way past Gabe and latched onto my upper arms.  “This Caleb, when was he taken?”  She demanded.

             
I shrugged, more than a little freaked.  I’d never seen her so agitated.  “I don’t know for sure.  Sometime in the seventeen-hundreds, I think.  He’s been in the Underworld for like three centuries.” 

She
jerked as though I’d slapped her.  “Stay away from him.”  She ordered.  “Trust
nothing
he says to you.” Alaina swiveled around and sprinted for the door, her glow already begun.   Gabe opened the door in time for her to morph and soar off into the night.  

             
“See what you did?”  Gabe pointed after her.  “She has to go clean up
your
mess!”

             
“What mess?!”  I threw my hands in the air.  “There is no mess!”

             
“Let’s all simmer down now.”  Grams positioned herself between Gabe and me and raised a hand to halt both our reactions.  “We won’t get anywhere by yellin’.  Now Celeste, I’m sure this boy has been sweet as pie to you.”

             
“He has!”  I let my arms fall to my sides.  Finally, someone could see my side of this!

             
“And I’m sure he hangs on your every word and has been open and honest about his past.”

             
“Well…now he is.” I stammered.  “After I figured out what he was.”

             
“Do you think maybe, just maybe, he’s saying and doing all the right things just to win you over?  That it’s part of his plan?” 

             
I hesitated only because she switched tracks so abruptly.  “No.  No, he couldn’t be.”

             
“
How can you not see what he’s doing?” 
Gabe raised his hands like he wanted to grab me and shake me.  “Do you think you are the first girl to ever fall for some guy’s lines?  He played you, Cee!  Why can’t you see that?”

             
Kendall came to stand beside me and threw an arm over my shoulders.  “Unclench, Gabe.  Celeste, like, never has boys interested in her. She was probably so happy he was talking to her she would’ve believed any line he fed her.”

             
I stared at her for a beat.  “Don’t help, Keni.”

“Just sayin’,”
Dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and a hot pink zip-up jacket, she lifted one shoulder and let it fall.  “He grew up surrounded by nasty, evil dudes, Cee.  Even if he wants to be honest with you, he might not know how.”  She punctuated her point with another bite of apple.

             
Despite my earlier doubts about Caleb, I brushed Kendall’s arm off and adamantly shook my head “No.  He’s a good person.”

             
“You’ve looked into his emotions and know that to be true?”  By Grams’ tone I knew that a “yes” would leave no room for doubt in her mind.  But I couldn’t lie to her.

             
“Only a little,” I admitted.  “I couldn’t hold the connection for very long. His anguish was just too painful.”

             
Grams dropped her hands as she faced me.  Her head angled to the side.  “Then you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”

My spine straightened when I thought of the risky situation Caleb had put himself in
for me—for
us
.  “He risked his life by going back into the Underworld to hunt for information for us.” 

             
Grams pressed her lips together like she was trying to figure out what words would get through my thick skull.  “Honey, if the whole thing was a set up, there was never any risk for him.  What about your missing manager?  How do you know he didn’t have something to do with that?” 

             
“No.  No way.”  I waved my arms in front of me.  “We stumbled onto that scene together.  That has Dark Army written all over it.”

             
“And who do you think they would send for something like that?  A demon that’s already in the area, that’s who.”  Grams answered her own question before I could interrupt.  “Was he with you all night?”

             
I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut.  It sounded too incriminating to admit I had been unconscious for a good chunk of time,
and
lost sight of Caleb for over a half-hour after I discovered he was a Seeker.  “Mostly…”

             
Gabe’s face burned beat red.  “Mostly? 
Mostly
?”  He started for me—probably hoping to get a choke hold on my throat—but Grams spun and slammed both hands against his chest to stop him.  Her tiny frame was no match for him, but Gabe still halted where he was out of respect for the Grams.  “Well, let me ask you this,
oh-chosen one
.  If Caleb didn’t abduct your manager who did?  What other demon is even around to do it?
Huh
?!”

             
“Alec!”  I regretted it as soon as his name left my lips.  I clapped a hand over my mouth as if that would someone draw it back in. 

             
My brother’s hulking shoulders sagged, a bit of his anger shifted to annoyance.  “Nice, Cee.  Just because a guy dumps you doesn’t mean he’s evil.  Fantastic though that you’re willing to throw him under the bus for a demon.”

             
In utter defeat I dropped my hand.  This was going to get ugly.  No way around that.  Grams kept her arms up in case Gabe charged again, but turned to me with questioning eyes.  Kendall’s hand wrapped around mine.  I glanced over at her.  With a nod, she encouraged me to go on.  She would be on my side.  I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and told them everything.  The hospital visit, Alec’s stop in to the café, even about Kat—his new plaything.

             
I ended with the only explanation I had.  “I don’t want to hurt him.  He’s my friend.”  I stared down at my hands.  “I just thought if I had a little bit more time I could figure out how to save him.  But the more time passes the more I wonder if there’s anything left of him
to
save.”

             
Gabe gave Grams’ arm a quick squeeze and then slid around her.  With surprisingly quiet steps for a guy his size (I think that was a cat thing) he came to stand right in front of me.  I peered up into his broad face, unsure of what to expect.  He placed his big, meaty paws on my shoulders. 

“
I understand why you kept this from us.  But he’s not just
your
friend.”  Gabe’s voice was soft and sad.  “And he’s only in this situation because of us.  So, if there’s a way to save him, we’ll figure it out.  Promise.”

Overcome with relief, I latched onto my big brother in a tight bear hug.  Tears welled in my eyes.  “Uh, Cee?  Breathing becoming an issue.”  He gasped. 

“Sorry.”  I released him and swiped at my eyes with my sleeve. 

Jangling metal interrupted our moment.  The keys to my truck dangled from Grams finger.  “Whether it’s Caleb, Alec, or some other non-demon,
someone
took that girl.  You three need to go see about bringing her home safe.” I reached for my keys, but Grams pulled them away.  Her heavily mascaraed eyes bored into mine.  “And if you find out Caleb is behind this, young lady, what do you plan to do about that?”

That simple thought caused my heart to seize in pain.  The words were bitter on my tongue, but I forced them out. 
“Then I’ll kill him myself.”

CHAPTER 27

Having driven Becca home from work a couple times I knew right where to go. I parked in front of the refurbished industrial building that housed her apartment.  A little well distributed application of strength to her front door was all it took to gain access.  Her apartment consisted of one room, which acted as the living room, kitchenette, and bedroom.  Off to the side was a tiny bathroom with a door so small even I had to enter sideways.  Yet with its exposed brick wall, decorative crown moldings and polished wood floor it held plenty of charm.  If I could ever afford anything more than the gas in my truck, this was exactly the kind of apartment I would want.  Only minus the part where it had been ransacked by a stranger. 

Becca’s mismatched furniture
and eclectic décor only added to the appeal.  Above her couch hung framed black and white portraits she probably snapped herself.  A dandelion blowing in a gentle breeze.  The backs of a little girl and her mother as they strolled down a dirt path wearing matching sundresses.  An elderly, black saxophone player with his eyes shut as he blared out a tune.  The final shot was the profile of a handsome man standing shirtless in front of a window as the curtains danced around him.  The window on my right matched the one in the picture.  I wondered if the guy was someone special to her.  Was he somewhere worrying about her right now? 

             
“That poor girl!”  Kendall fretted as she glanced around. “She has no closet space
at all
! It’s a tragedy.”

             
Gabe rolled his eyes and pushed up the sleeves of his grey sweatshirt.  “Here I thought her being kidnapped was the real concern.  Cleary, I was mistaken.” 

             
“That too, but still.”  Kendall murmured.  Her cheeks reddened.

             
“Let’s get to work.”  I maneuvered my way around the overturned DVD stand, over the mess of pillows and couch cushions, and carefully through the other assorted paraphernalia strewn around the room.  “Look for anything out of the ordinary.  But put everything back where you found it.  We don’t want anyone to know we were here.”

G
ingerly, we poked around.  We righted the overturned furniture long enough to glance under it, then put it back.  We opened cabinets, rifled through drawers, and shuffled through the items on the floor.

             
“If this was a robbery gone wrong, or if the abductors were looking for something, don’t you think they would’ve gone through her drawers?”  Gabe pulled open a drawer of Becca’s oak dresser.  “Everything here is in perfect, almost OCD, order.”

             
“Kitchen’s the same.”  I answered after I closed the last of her whitewashed cabinets.

             
Kendall’s brow creased in confusion.  “Why would only the stuff out in the open get messed up?”

             
Gabe raked his hands over his buzzed head as he peered around at the mess.  “Because she put up a fight.” 

             
Kendall’s hand rose to her throat.  Tears immediately flooded her sapphire eyes. “Oh, that poor girl.”

             
“Why Becca?”  I muttered to myself as I clicked on the bathroom light for another cursory glance.  “What do you want with her?”  I chewed on my lip as I poked through her medicine cabinet. 

A heap of towels in the corner by the
tiled shower caught my eye.  Perched on top of them sat a red satin ribbon.  The exact same kind that came wrapped around my mysterious scrolls.  My pulse quickened.  I snatched it up and ran my thumb over the silky material.  Someone left it for me.  Freshly motivated, I sifted through the towels.  There it was, at the very bottom of the pile—as if purposely hidden.  Dread washed over me.  I knew what it meant.  And now I knew what I had to do.  I never hated my calling more than I did in that moment. 

“
Hey!”  Gabe hissed.  “Someone’s coming!” 

             
I shoved my discovery in the pocket of my hooded sweatshirt.  Then sprang to my feet.  “We need to hide.”

             
“Hide where?”  Kendall gestured at the cramped space.  “The girl lives in a shoe box!”

             
“Is there a fire escape?”  Gabe asked Keni, who stood nearest to the window.  “Can we get out that way?” 

             
Keni peeked out the window.  She made no attempt to hide her unease when she spun back to face us.  “That’s, like, the sorriest excuse for a fire escape I’ve ever seen.  It’s so rusty a pigeon could bring the whole thing down.”

             
“We don’t have a choice!”  Gabe herded us toward the window.  “They’re right outside the door.  Go!  Go!”

             
A frantic Keni tried and failed to open the window.  I pushed her out of the way and yanked it up.  As I stepped out onto the rickety, metal frame it shifted and swayed under my weight. 

“
Nuh-uh. I’ll think of some excuse to tell whoever it is.  Let’s just go back in.”  I tried to duck back into the window frame, but instead smacked into Gabe’s mega-muscular man-boobs. 

             
“Go!”  He barked.

             
“You suck.”  I whined.  Then went down on my hands and knees to ease one foot onto the flimsy ladder.  That was all it took.  The ladder broke free and crashed to the pavement below with a clang.  “
Now what
?”  I hissed as I pulled my leg back up.

             
“Keys in the door!  Jump!”  With one fluid cat-like motion Gabe bounded over the rail.  He plunged down from the second story and landed gracefully on his feet. 

             
Kendall scanned the area and then unfurled her wings.  Over the rusty rail she went in an elegant swan dive.  I panicked at being left there alone, and jumped on her piggy-back style.  Keni squealed as we dipped in the air.  Her wings struggled to flap under me. 

“Celeste! Get off me or we
’re both going to fall!  I can’t fly with you on my wings!”

             
“You were going to leave me there!”  I yelped.  My arms and legs wrapped tightly around her.  My eyes pinched shut.  I knew we were in a free fall, but still clung to her.

             
“Jump down!  You’ll be fine!  Just let go!”  She screamed. 

             
“I can’t!” 

The wind whistled pas
t us as we careened straight down into the open—and overly full—dumpster below.

CHAPTER
28

“Hey, Raiders of the Lost Garbage, the coast is clear.  You can come out now.”  Gabe snickered.  “And FYI, whoever it was must have gone in the apartment across the hall.  My bad.”  He didn’t even attempt to sound sorry. 

             
I rose up out of the nasty, pungent mess and came nose-to-nose with Kendall.  For a “creature of love” the expression she wore was far from loving.  “There are chow mein noodles in my hair.”  She hissed through her teeth. 

             
“I don’t think that’s chow mein, Keni.”  Gabe’s nose crinkled in disgust.

             
“Ugh!”  Kendall shook her head frantically to dislodge whatever the unidentified grossness was.             

“I
’m so sorry.”  I apologized.  “It was really high up and I freaked.”

             
Kendall glared.  “You’re practically—friggin’—invincible.  You wouldn’t even have scraped your knee.” 

             
“Guess I’m still getting used to that, huh?”  I chuckled.  Her look made it clear my joking about it was a tad premature.  “Would it make you feel any better to know I found what we were looking for?  So, you falling on a bag of dirty diapers wasn’t in vain.”

             
“I fell on what?!”  Her head whipped to the side as she hiked up a cheek to check.  “Gross! That is just so nasty!”

             
Probably could’ve gone without pointing that out.

             
“Yes.  It is gross.”  I admitted.  “And again, I can’t apologize enough.” 

“You probably can’t.”  She snapped and then vaulted over the side of the dumpster.  “But keep trying.”

As I followed her out, Gabe moved upwind of us.  I didn’t blame him.  The extravaganza of stink and squishiness had made my nose burn and my skin crawl. 

“Now
,” I plucked what I hoped was wilted lettuce off my chest,  “we could hold grudges and dwell on this unfortunate incident,
or
we could act on what I found and go save Becca.  What do ya say?”