Embrace (The Gryphon Series) (6 page)

“That’s something!”  I encouraged.  “You hitting me with a scalding hot fi
st could do some serious damage.”  I waved him forward.  “ Let’s give it a try.”

He frantically waved his hands in front of him
.  “No, no, no wait!  I can’t make my whole fist do it!  Just my finger.  All I can manage is a menacing poke.”  He poked at the air with his glowing digit.

I rubbed my hands over my face.  I couldn’t tell if I was more disappointed or exasperated. 
“You live in the Under World.  Isn’t your whole purpose down there supposed to sit around coming up with more effective ways to be evil?  No offense but
what the heck else do you have to do
?!” 

They exchanged
determined looks and resolute nods that made my eyes roll.  It was Eddie that enthused, “We’re the Dark Army Glee Club!”

I
pressed my fingers against my throbbing temples hard.  “The Dark Army what?”

“
Glee Club!” Answered Boil Face. “You know, like the TV show?  We love it!  That’s where we got the idea.”

“I even shaved my head
to look just like Puck!”  Eddie tipped his head down and gestured to the mohawk.

I held up one finger to interrupt him
.  “First of all, Puck is hot.  You look nothing like him.  Second,
are you friggin’ kidding me right now
?!”

“Nope.  No joke.”
Boil Face declared.  “We aren’t a recognized club, but we meet almost every day to practice. We’re getting pretty good, too.  Wanna hear something?”

Together they began, “
Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world
…”

“
STOP!”  I barked.  “How is it that an army hell bent on world domination has a Glee Club?”

Red
’s eyes widened in an expression of genuine alarm.  “Oh, the others don’t know about it.  If they found out we’d probably be flogged—or worse.”

“We’re rebels!”
Came the muffled voice of the twin with his head partially hidden behind his brother.

I
stifled a grin.  “Oh, obviously.”

Red
shook his hand and blew on his finger.  “It’s kind of weird though that she sent us after
you
.   You’re famous in the Under World, especially after the way you took out Barnabus.  No one really liked him.  But to send
us
of all people after the
Conduit
?  Guess everyone else was busy.”

I snapped to attention. 
“She?  She who?”

All five of their pasty faces went ashen
.  Their jaws hung slack at the slip up.   

“She?  There’s no she.”  Eddie
was just about the worst liar ever.

I thought back to the tale Alaina had weaved for me of how Barnabus gained power. He had sought out the help of a former woman of stature that had been chased into exile because of her dealings with the dark arts. Could it be? I
narrowed my eyes and took a step closer.  They all cowered back.  “By chance did you mean the Countess?  And that would be the same sorceress that helped Barnabus turn himself and his army into demons, correct?”

When they didn’t answer right away I took another step forward. 
Squeals rose up as I backed them into the cement wall. 

“Yes! Yes!  Please don’t hurt us!” A twin shouted.

“Is she running the show now?”

“No.”
Red tried to deny in a weak whine of a voice. 

T
wo strides forward, and I pulled my arm back to strike.  The “hiding” twin tried to scurry further behind his brother.  They spun in a circle before landing in a heap on the ground. 

“Wait, wait, wait!” 
Red pleaded.  He held his hands held up for mercy.  “You’re right, okay?  It’s the Countess.  She’s been in charge ever since Barnabus enlisted her help.  She tried to talk him out of going up against you himself.  But he wouldn’t listen.  So, she refused to let him take the army with him.  She made him face you alone and he died because of it.  That’s all I know, I swear!  Please don’t hit me, I bruise like a peach!”

“And scream like a girl.”  I added.

I often wondered why Barnabus came after me alone.  Now I knew.  It hadn’t been by choice.  The power hungry ex-soldier lost control of his own army.  My gaze wandered over the ragamuffin demonic group before me.  They seemed harmless, but if I let them go the Countess would know I was on to her.  I couldn’t let that happen.   My change in stance and demeanor didn’t go unnoticed.

“We won’t say a word!  We swear!” Pleaded
Boil Face. 

M
y muscles tensed in preparation for the violent explosion to come.  “I just don’t think I can take that chance. What if she were to torture you?  From the looks of it, none of you would last long.  I really am sorry.  I promise I’ll make it as quick as I possibly can.” 

The twins were locked in a terrified embrace
as they sobbed in unison,  “No!  You don’t have to do this!”

“
I kinda do.” I sighed and shrugged.  “It’s my job to destroy the Dark Army.  And you are, in fact, part of said army.”

Even though he quak
ed with fear, Red bravely stepped forward.  “You’re even worse than the Countess.”  He declared.  “She may be an evil witch—with a capital B—but at least she’s honest about it.  You’re the Conduit.  You’re supposed to be one of the good guys.  But here you are acting like a bully.  We didn’t ask to be part of this army, and you
know
we can’t take you.  We’re no threat to you at all.  If you kill us you’re nothing more than a hypocrite!”

I just got told off by a demon. 
Hello, rock-bottom.  We meet at last.

But he
was right.  I didn’t need to hurt them.  I was just looking for a release after the crappy night—no, months—I’d been having.  It was wrong, and honestly kind of twisted. 

My posture relaxed.  I
had no intention of chasing them, but still I said, “How about if I give you a ten second head start?”

Their nervous
gazes flicked back-and-forth between each other before they chorused, “Okay.”

“Alright
, then.”  I closed my eyes and covered them like we were playing hide-and-seek.  “One, two, three…”

That’s a
s far as I got.  The Dark Army Glee Club harmonized as they vanished into the night.

“Good-bye!”

“Good-bye!”

“Good-
bye
!”

“Good-
byee
!
”

“Goood-
byyyyye
!”

They were right, they
were good. 

I absorbed the silence around me. 
Emotionally I was drained.  Tonight I had almost out badded the “bad guys.” Something had to change.  Red had it right, I fight for the good team.  No, not just good—the
divine
.  It was about time I started acting like it.

CH
APTER 7

“I really am sorry.”  I said to Sophia’s back as she stormed past me—again.  My failure to actually make it inside the premises of Smokey Joe’s, or call to say I couldn’t make it, had peeved her off royally.  She flipped her ponytail and ignored me as she rushed two caramel cappuccinos to table six.  I collapsed onto the speckled granite countertop, my head smacking against it with a dull thud. 

“You
know she’s playing you, right?”  Melissa muttered from behind her text book.  She was the most hard-core student I’d ever met.  I’d never seen her
without
a book in her hand.  

“
I don’t know.” The countertop muffled my voice.  “She seems genuinely peeved.”

“
Right before you got here she was going on and on about some specimen of raging testosterone she spent the whole night dancing with.  She’s just trying to make you feel guilty.”  I brought my head up to see Melissa push her silver framed glasses up the bridge of her nose with one slender mocha colored finger.  Her curly hair was sheered short to her head.  A look few women could pull off, but on her it was chic.

A
relieved smile tugged at the corners of my lips as Sophia approached the counter with Operation Ignore-My-Lousy-Friend in full effect.  “Melissa, I need a black coffee and a cinnamon bagel, please.” 

S
he couldn’t do much of anything for the few minutes it would take Melissa to fill the order.  It was as good a time as any to try and smooth things over.  “Sophia, please give me a chance to explain.”  I kept going even though she folded her arms and turned her back to me.  “You, as my kind, wonderful, and—may I say—incredibly pretty friend, tried to take me under your socialite wing and I messed up.  I got caught up in some crap and …well, that’s not important.  What
is
important is that I’m sorry.  I should’ve at least called.  And if a situation like this should ever happen again, I promise I will.”  She turned so I could see her roll her eyes, then looked away again.  I sighed and altered my approach.  “Would my apology be easier to accept if I took half your tables for the rest of my shift?” 

She mulled that over for a
bout half a second, then did an about face in my direction. “I’ll
consider
forgiving you under two conditions.”  Her professionally groomed eyebrows rose as if daring me to refuse.

Happy
we were making progress, I slapped my hands down on the countertop.  “Name it!”

“First, you
do
take half my tables.  Because I got new shoes that—while insanely cute—are killing my feet.” She held up her foot to show off a pair of cherry red stiletto heels.  I kept my judgmental comments about how incredibly inappropriate her choice of food service footwear was, and gave a tight lipped nod of appreciation.  Finally, her icy façade faltered and a smile broke through.  “Aren’t they fabulous?”

“
Absolutely
.”
I lied, then tried to steer her back to the matter at hand.  “What’s the second condition?”

“I
want you to let me be your dating guru.  To teach you how to talk to guys.” She said it casually. The idea chilled me to my core. 

I actually felt the color drain from my face. 
“What?”  Hearing how high-pitched and squeaky my voice came out, I cleared my throat and tried to sound less panicked.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  I can talk to guys just fine.”

Her
waist length pony-tail lobbed to the side as she cocked her head.  “When’s the last time you talked to a guy you weren’t blood related to?”

“Do my college professors count?”

“Are they hot?”

“
Ew!  Not even a little bit.”

“Then
, no.”

“This is crazy.
”  I sputtered and busied myself wiping nonexistent crumbs off the already clean counter.  “I don’t need a dating coach.”  

Sophia handed me a napkin to wipe away
the flop sweat that had sprung up on my forehead.  “Asking you to strip down to your skivvies and streak across the campus would be crazy. Talking to boys is a good thing that you should
want
to do.  Unless…”  Her voice lowered to a barely audible whisper.  “Are you gay?  ‘Cause it’s okay if you are.” 

“I’m not gay!”  I
spat loud enough that several customers stopped to stare.  My cheeks burned bright red.  “Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” I clarified to the random strangers.

Sophia ignored my embarrassment and pressed on. 
“See?  Then there’s no reason not to do this.”    

“
There is a reason.”  I argued and flung my sweat drenched napkin at the garbage can. It bounced off and landed on the floor.  “A good one.  I don’t
want
to do it.  How about that?”

When the last guy you dated turned evil for reasons you can’t explain it makes the prospect of even a casual coffee date seem far from appealing.

She crossed her arms and pursed her recently glossed lips.  “Do you want me to forgive you?” 

My arms fell limp to my sides as I realized I was going to lose this
debate.  “You know I do.”  I grumbled.  “But why do you even care about this?”

She lifted one shoulder and let it fall.  “Because you seem to need a dating interventio
n.  And I’ve decided I want to be your wingman, or wing-gal.”

“Fine.”  I
huffed.  “But if it ends so badly that I run off and join a convent you have no one to blame but yourself.” 

“Y
ay!” She squealed and clapped her hands. “This is going to be so fun!  You won’t regret it, I promise!” Melissa set the toasted bagel and coffee on a tray next to me, where Sophia nodded at it. “Now, you better get that to table three quick.  I spilled his first cup of coffee in his lap.  He’s
super
cranky and totally
your
problem now!”