Twin Flames (11 page)

The woods started roughly a quarter of a mile from the bank of the river. When we were well into the trees, I slowed Socks to a steady trot and turned west. I looked behind me, trying to locate my wolves, but other than the brief glimpse I'd had of the one before we were chased into the trees, I couldn't see them. Looking skyward, I tried to glimpse the creature that stalked us.
I cursed because I didn't have a weapon. No gun, no sword, and my power was still missing from its place in my chest. I checked my cell phone just in case, by some miracle, it would give me some bars this far from the house. I growled and felt like throwing the useless thing into a tree in my frustration. I couldn't turn around and go home; I was too far away and there was no cover from above. Scrub grass and erosion gullies wouldn't protect me from some unidentified flying oddity.
The raptor scream came again and I tried to see through the tops of the trees. Whatever it was, it was huge! Bigger than anything in the natural world. Fuck! Could it be magically drawn to me in some way? If so I didn't dare rely on slipping out unnoticed in wolf form.
I could feel the warriors who were shadowing me but something had changed. Their presence was stronger, exerting a sharp tug on my body that was almost like a physical pull. When Ushna had transformed into the Lupe in Seattle, the magic from his third form had pulled at my core. This was the same but on a much larger scale, with multiple Lupes reaching out to be anchored through me. The predator within me awakened, roaring in response as it looked out from my eyes but didn't fight or try to wrestle control from me.
I angled Socks in the direction of the river, toward a place I knew. The watercourse roughly created the boundary between my property and the Kendrick's spread. The grove spread out from the water a quarter of a mile on either side of the banks, and the trees almost reached to the Kendrick's ranch buildings. They were close enough together to protect us from what was in the sky. If I could get near John and Sandra's home, I knew could call for help. But to get to their house I had to ford the river and there were only a couple of places I would be able to do so.
Once across, I would follow it as quickly as Socks could go. When I received a cell signal I'd call Gregori and Ushna, letting them know where I was and that I was being followed. They would be able to make it to John and Sandra's in just a few minutes. There was a point where the trees had been cleared because John had insisted we keep both sides of the river clean so we could see each other's homes. That meant there was five hundred feet of open land between the edge of the trees and the Kendrick's back door. I would break for the house and bar myself inside until help arrived.
When I reached the sandy banks of the river, I guided Socks into the water. The river was about twenty paces across and four to five feet at its deepest. I carefully steered Socks into the stream, praying she wouldn't break a leg on the rocky, uneven bottom. The water slowly rose around us. Halfway across, the it was thigh high to me and Socks was fighting the current. When she suddenly stopped, I looked down to see if she was caught on something. A noise ahead of us grabbed my attention.
From the foliage stepped something that took me a moment to process. The four-legged creature was as large as my horse. It had the head of an eagle and was covered in dark brown feathers, with feathered equine-like ears jutting up from the skull behind golden brown eyes, and a wickedly sharp curved beak. The plumage flowed down the base of the neck and front forelegs until they reached the eagle-like talons. Behind the head, wings rose from the shoulder blades, curving up over its back. The wingspan was easily twenty feet across. The body was a long, sleek, and golden, ending with the legs and tale of a lion.
Standing on the opposite bank from me was a fable, an ancient myth, a creature that shouldn't even be able to fly, much less exist. In the Sumerian tongue it was called Shirdal but the rest of the world knew it by the Greek name, gryphon. The lion-eagle had once been depicted in ancient stories as a guardian of the divine. A king of land and air, they symbolized strength, vigilance, and… they were myth. Myth, damn it!
I snapped. What I knew or thought I knew was rapidly changing. My world was crumbling right before my eyes and it was too much. Confusion, panic, adrenaline and fear all combined together and coalesced into a consuming irrational rage.
Of all the fucked up things that had happened, this was it, and I was done. I pointed a finger at the creature, as if the gesture would cow it, "You. Do. Not. Exist!" I bellowed, jabbing my finger at it with every word.
A small voice whispered I should make small movements, so as not to startle or upset the creature that could bite my head off with one snap of its beak. I knew I should look for a way out of the situation, but I was so fucking mad any reasonable thought was shoved deep as I continued to jab my finger in the air at the creature. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but you better get out of my fucking way. I cannot believe this day! You have to be fucking kidding me! This shit is going to stop and it's going to stop right now!"
Again, that small sensible voice wiggled up to the surface and told me I was losing it. Maybe I was, but I didn't care. This craziness had to stop!
Behind me, another Shirdal stalked to the edge of the river, putting me and my girl Socks between two dangerous and lethal creatures. Well, if this didn't just suck! Not just one but two. It couldn't get worse than this. Or at least that's what I thought until six Lupes came snarling through the trees, surrounding the Shirdal behind me.
The lion-eagle looked at my Lupe warriors with disdain, and I knew if they fought the beast, most of them would die. The Lupe was the Lycan battle form and strong though it was, it wasn't a match for the mythical creature without weapons. My men would lay their lives down to protect me, but in this situation I wouldn't be safe for long. Once the Shirdal slaughtered the warriors, it would kill me and there wasn't anything I could do about it.
Husky feminine laughter filled the air. That one sound made everything go still. Socks shivered with cold beneath me. If we made it out of the water, she wouldn't have any strength to run. The laughter came again, closer this time, from in front of me. I searched the trees until I saw her.
This was a morning of revelations because coming toward me in a long flowing gauzy dress was sweet Ann, with whom I'd danced last night. Her dark cocoa skin gleamed in sharp contrast to her white dress. On her braided hair sat a crown of ram's horns that circled and spiraled on each side of her head above her ears. A bow and quiver of arrows were slung over her left shoulder, and at her waist hung a cudgel. In her hand was a leash to a lion cub that wasn't more than three or four months old.
"Tristan Javed Ksathra Janick, Prince of the Enkidu, do you know who I am?"
My throat constricted in alarm. Nothing that had happened today had caused me to lose hope. I had believed, however illogically, that whatever took place, I'd be able to overcome it. The threat of MacCuill. The invasion of the warriors of my home. Ushna wounded. The loss of my newfound power. Even facing off with the Shirdal, I believed I could still get out of the situation as long as I was alive.
But this? This I could not fight and win.
"You are the Goddess Ki, consort of Enki, Lady Life, mother of all living things, nourisher of kings. I greet you, Goddess. Do with me as you will."

Lexi has always been an avid reader and at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother's romances (the ones she was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she

knew of who would be grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their

reactions. A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband and her 80 pound puppies named after vacuum cleaners.

SUMERIA'S SONS
Twin Flames
Songs of the Earth (Coming Soon)