Page 82 of Gryphon’s Fire

“I’m going to miss you,” Phina stated, squeezing just a little tighter before dropping Jima to the ground. Phina might not be an adult, but she was still taller and physically stronger than Jima.

Jima chuckled as he got his wind back. “That’s what phones are for. You’ve got my number. Feel free to use it anytime.”

Lulabelle rolled her eyes. “I didn’t realize you were a glutton for punishment, Jima. Telling a teenager they can use their phone to contact you anytime is a dangerous proposition.”

“Hey!” Phina weakly protested.

Lazarus joined our small farewell group, his entrance quieter than Jima’s. “Everything is ready and waiting,” Lazarus informed me after greeting me with a kiss to my temple. “However, we are in no hurry. Duncan and Jenna can wait.”

Our pilots might be able to wait, but it was rude to make them do so. “No,” I answered. “I think we’re ready. Jima?”

“Good to—is that food?” Jima scrambled to the table with the snacks and sweets.

Lulabelle’s grin was full of fondness. “Consider it a little going-away present.”

“Whoop!” Jima snatched the box off the table with an enthusiastic, “You’re the best.”

Lulabelle and Phina’s laughter followed us out the door and warmed me from the inside out. I carried that feeling all the way to the airport, onto the plane, and into the air. That good feeling lasted all the way to Minnesota. I should have known such lightness was too good to last.

Twenty-Nine

Lazarus

“We’re getting ready to make our descent into the airport, Mr. Azure.” Duncan’s warm voice softly filled the cabin speakers. It had been a long, but quiet trip back to Minnesota.

I couldn’t wait to get Keir home. I’d wanted to wait to mate him until we had time to do it properly. I was beginning to question that decision. My body was strung tight with the need to make this gryphon mine in every way possible. My heart scale embedded within Keir’s skin was the only reason I’d had the self-control not to jump him, timing be damned. If Jima had a problem with it, he could transform into his ferret form and burrow into one of the suitcases.

And yet, when I glanced Keir’s direction, I felt entirely chagrined. Keir’s continued exhaustion was obvious. He’d fallen asleep almost as soon as his ass hit the chair. Jima wasn’t much better. After eating half the treats in the box Lulabelle provided, he’d shifted to his ferret form, curled up in Keir’s lap, and now peacefully slumbered.

Mine.

The word whispered through my mind in a contented loop. Only it wasn’t just Keir that word applied to, but Keir’s family, and by extension, my family now as well. Jima, Martin, Grayson, Tabitha, Henry, even the ghostly Elvira… They were mine now. Mine to protect and keep safe, as were all the members of the Magical Usage Council. And that was saying nothing of our biologically related relatives. Vi and Blu. Eldon and Saraphina. Within the past few months, my family had exploded.

Following Vidia’s death, I’d felt so terribly alone. That solitary feeling had only intensified when I’d left my thunder and headed across the Atlantic. I’d been so alone for so very long, I hardly knew what to do with myself now that I had so many in my life. I hadn’t realized how bereft my wyvern side felt until we had others to protect again. The need was woven into our very natures.

“You’re thinking very hard over there.” Keir’s soft, muted voice melodically entered my ears. I wasn’t certain when he’d woken.

“Hmm…not so much thinking but taking solace in my change of circumstances. Who could have known what the future would bring when I answered your call?” I did not want to contemplate my continued, lonely existence should that call have never come. If Keir had buried his head in the sand and ignored the warnings regarding what Tenzen Huxley left behind within the walls of the compound. If Keir had never hired a will-o’-the-wisp to find all those hidden treasures. Left long enough without the warmth of fire, Vi and Blu would have perished.

Keir’s fingers lightly skimmed Jima’s fur, making Jima’s whiskers twitch. “I’ve been thinking about the girls’ names,” Keir softly said, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb Jima.

“Oh? And what names have you been considering?” With everything that had been going on, I was embarrassed to admit I hadn’t given it as much thought as I should.

Keir’s cheeks flushed and his gaze darted to the side. “I’m not sure about wyvern culture, but is naming one based on their colors considered in poor taste?”

“Not at all. There is no set protocol that needs to be adhered to.”

Licking his lips, Keir gave a slight nod. “In that case, Ianthe and Nilasha. Ianthe means violet-colored flower in Greek and Nilasha is blue in Hindu. What do you think?” Keir’s uncertainty was one part endearing and two parts concerning. Regardless, I had centuries to rebuild Keir’s tattered confidence.

“I think those names are⁠—”

The plane wildly tilted to the side, twisting and groaning. Keir barely managed to snatch Jima within his hands, keeping the ferret shifter from falling and potential harm. Our seatbelts kept us within our chairs.

“Duncan, what⁠—”

“Something large just hit us,” Duncan screamed, his voice barely rising above the shrill alarms going off in the cockpit. “I don’t know what it was, but—” A second crash thudded against the side, the sound of metal being torn apart landing in my ears before we lost cabin pressure and everything not tied down was thrown against the hole in the side of the plane.

“I can’t keep us in the air,” Duncan yelled. “The whole plane’s coming apart!”