Captive to the Chimera Read online

  Just to be fully complete, they’d also invited a Rat. SueSue Mint. The old woman looked as trapped as Griffin felt – and three times as terrified.

  I know what that look means. She’s thinking, ‘If they keep staring at that Chimera, maybe I can slip out in the middle of this trial and escape.’

  No Rat ever enjoyed being the center of attention, and Griffin couldn’t blame her. People didn’t attack things they didn’t notice. Neither Rats nor Chimeras expected friendship from the Shifter ‘community.’

  That was everyone. Maybe not a sea of hostile faces, but a pond of them. Not one friend in the lot.

  Except Maddie, by his side. Sitting so close to him that her knee pressed against his. A constant, unwavering reminder that she was here and she had his back.

  For what little good that would do. When it came to a fight – and it would, because he wasn’t going to die quietly – his little Hare wouldn’t be a bit of help. Hell, he’d probably get himself killed trying to protect her. He should tell her to leave. He’d do better in a fight if he didn’t have to worry about her.

  Yet he didn’t. Useless though she was, her presence gave him comfort.

  Griffin wasn’t going to die quiet – but he wouldn’t die alone or unloved, either. That was a blessing he’d never dreamed he’d possess. One he wouldn’t surrender for any price.

  The Witch Queen’s cool voice broke through his musings. “Shall we begin? Casey Briggs, perhaps you would open this hearing? I believe you are the only one here who knows anything about Chimeras.”

  With a grimace, the Dragon rose to his feet, dusting a smudge of dirt from his sleeve. “Unfortunately, much of what I know about them was told in confidence, and I will not betray the trust of the Diné. However, I can say a few things. Over the years, a handful of Chimeras have plagued the south west. Their Kind is well known to the people of this area and they are viewed with the greatest of mistrust. My Flight has found six. Every one of them we killed.”

  A dark, bitter triumph welled in his heart as he glanced at his ashen-faced Mate.

  I told you. I told you what your ‘Shifter community’ did to my Kind.

  Not a word passed his lips, though. She was his Mate, his only friend and supporter. None of his anger would touch her.

  The Witch Queen pursed her lips as Briggs finished. “Your Flight didn’t think to warn the rest of us about this threat?”

  “No.”

  Griffin almost laughed. That was a Dragon for you. ‘We’re in charge, screw all you lesser Kinds.’

  Pain and irritation soured the LePierre’s smile. “Perhaps I could suggest a different course in the future?”

  The Dragon remained silent.

  “Or not,” she sighed. “Well, I don’t have a lot to add. My Warren has collected extensive folklore about Skin Walkers, which is what these creatures are generally called.” Briggs’ lips pinched, but he said nothing. “I can’t add a lot. They are universally reviled as the greatest of monsters. Some stories claim that you can’t become one unless you commit a horrific sin, like cannibalism or murdering your parents. But the stories contradict each other, and honestly they’re vague enough that we dismissed them as fairy tales. Since we didn’t know about the executions,” she added, with a dour stare at Briggs.

  “Murders, you mean.”

  Maddie rose to her feet, ignoring the stunned looks around her. No one talked to Dragons like that. No one.

  Except his crazy Hare.

  Briggs bristled at her reprimand. “My Flight did not murder these people. They were punished for the crimes they committed.”

  “And what crimes has Griffin committed? All you have against him are rumors and hearsay. Oh, and some ‘knowledge’ that’s so super secret it can’t even be mentioned.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Well, he did steal the Aegis,” Rex Fairburn interrupted.

  “So did Lucas Clay – and he’s not on trial!”

  “And he kidnapped you,” LePierre pointed out.

  “For which I forgive him. It was an act of desperation. All I’m saying is that you can’t condemn a Shifter just because their Kind ‘usually’ commits crimes.”

  “Unless they’re Rats!” SueSue Mint warbled. “What?” she whined, as the rest of the Shifters turned to stare at her. “You lot condemn us all the time.”

  Maddie seized that at once. “Which is not fair, is it? So I’m sure you won’t vote to condemn him.”

  “Not sure I’m getting a vote,” the old Rat muttered.

  “You are. All here will vote,” the Witch Queen said.

  SueSue was not reassured. Not at all. “Just cuz people give you a vote don’t mean it’s safe to use it.”

  Again, Griffin understood exactly what she meant. Too bad more Shifters weren’t like Rats. Ugly as hell – but they were a damned sensible Kind.

  Briggs cleared his throat. “Let us keep to the topic at hand. Griffin Davis stands accused of theft and kidnapping.”

  “Plus a host of lesser crimes,” LePierre added, “like trespassing on my Warren and stealing the shapes of our employees.”

  “We also know that his Kind is universally despised. Without exception, every Chimera the Flight of the Snows has encountered has been despicable.”

  The other Dragon leaned forward, frowning. “I’m afraid I have to toss more fuel on the ‘hearsay’ fire. I’ve met – and killed – two more Chimeras. Davis just admitted to me that he knew these people. They were his teachers. Foster parents, maybe, or is that going too far?”

  Griffin gave him an icy stare. “Too far. But who cares?”

  This revelation startled most of the Shifters. Maddie was horrified. “You killed his teachers? Why?!?”

  The scarred Dragon actually looked apologetic as he answered. “Cannibalism, ma’am. They’d acquired a taste for human flesh and had begun to make clothes out of their victims’ skin.”

  Beside him Maddie wobbled, as if Donnelly’s words were a physical blow. The horror on her face drove a dagger through Griffin’s heart. “I didn’t know that at the time, I swear. I found out later, when I investigated their deaths.”

  They were going to kill him. That was how Shifters ‘dealt’ with his Kind; even they had admitted it. But he would not go to his grave with his Mate believing he was a monster.

  Her fists clenched and unclenched. Then she glanced down at him, and her eyes were bright, undimmed by any doubt or revulsion. “I believe you. And I repeat what I said earlier: this tribunal has nothing except rumors and a handful of lesser crimes. Things that don’t deserve capital punishment.”

  “Kidnapping is not a minor crime,” the Witch Queen replied.

  “I told you I forgave him for that.”

  “But we have not – and it is us he needs to persuade, not his Mate.”

  And still his Mate defended him, furious and rebellious. “What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’?”

  “He has been proven guilty of theft and kidnapping,” LePierre shot back.

  “But…!”

  Griffin laid a hand on Maddie’s wrist. Finally, the words he’d held in from the start slipped lose. “I told you they wouldn’t listen. They’ve made up their minds.”

  “But this is America! Even among Shifters, I shouldn’t have to prove that you’re innocent! This should be illegal.”

  “Extenuating circumstances.” The words, so odd and formal, silenced the budding squabble.

  Bree Donnelly, Finn’s Hare Mate, rose in the midst of that pause. “I’m not a lawyer but I’ve been in enough courtrooms to know the term. It’s information a lawyer gives the court to show that his client’s deeds aren’t as bad as they seem. No one’s arguing about the facts here. Griffin Davis stole the Aegis and kidnapped you, Maddie. Those are facts, full stop. Finn, Casey, and Danielle gave reasons why this tribunal ought to be harsh. Now it’s your turn. We’re not asking you to prove your Mate innocent. We’re asking you to give us reasons to be lenient to him.”

  Maddie t
urned towards Bree like she was a lifeline. Her path out of this mess. “Well let’s start with the obvious: Griffin is my Mate. Fallen Shifters – like Dragons who’ve lost their wings and become Worms – don’t Claim Mates.”

  “He rebuked you,” Briggs protested. “He claims that some ‘Rite of Parting’ dissolved your bond. No clean Shifter would ever dream of performing such a Rite! The ties between Mates are the most sacred bonds of our people.”

  Maddie held up her fingers and began ticking off points. “One, it didn’t work. We’re still sharing dreams and he knows when I’m threatened. Two, he did that to save me. I wouldn’t leave with him and so he ‘freed’ me.” She waved at the seated figures, watching somberly. “A lot of you have Mates. How much do you love those women? If you had to sacrifice your Claim to protect her, wouldn’t you do it?”

  Briggs looked appalled by the suggestion, but a couple of the men nodded.

  “Anything for family,” Fairburn said.

  “I, uh, actually tried to ignore my Claim at first,” Donnelly muttered. “If I’d known there was a ‘Rite of Parting’, I probably would have given it a shot.”

  The mood in the circle shifted suddenly. Hostile stares grew thoughtful and pensive. Were they… listening? Was it possible that his Mate could convince them to spare him? Bafflement filled Griffin, and beneath it, the first flickers of hope.

  Maddie, meanwhile, was on a roll! “There’s more. Talk to the people in Stillwater. They love Griffin. Every single one of them will vouch for him. They’re also mostly Diné, the people that are supposed to know these ‘Skin Walkers’ better than anyone. If a bunch of Navajo will testify in favor of a ‘Skin Walker’, doesn’t that mean something?”

  “It does.” Those two words were heavily laced with doubt – but Casey Briggs spoke them.

  Griffin’s jaw nearly hit the ground. His firmest enemy, the Dragon who’d help kill a half dozen of his Kind… spoke in his favor?

  “I’ve got one last argument,” Maddie said. “You can tell he’s innocent just by looking at him.”

  Even to him, that didn’t make any sense. Until his Mate pointed.

  Not at him. At his Chimera.

  Glowing with a soft golden light in the darkness, it sat defiant and proud. Neither towering Dragons nor swirling Packs of Wolves cowed it. Gleaming fur, long, regal mane. Each feather on its sweeping wings seemed carved from purest gold. Griffin wasn’t exactly neutral, but to him, the Chimera was even more beautiful than a Dragon.

  “A Shifter’s spirit tells you a lot about them,” Maddie said. SueSue snorted; her dog-sized Rat spirit, crouched by her leg, farted loudly. But his Mate ignored them both and continued with her argument.

  “Our spirits are our souls. One look at that Chimera and you know it’s noble. That is a proud, honorable, glorious creature. It would not stay with a villain. You all know what happens when Shifters go bad. Bears’ fur falls out. Hares begin to drool and froth. And Dragons? Dragons chew their wings off and become Worms.”

  Once more she jabbed a finger at his Chimera. “If there was something wrong with Griffin, we’d see signs of it there. In his spirit. His soul.”

  Silence met her words, but a good silence. The stillness of thought and reconsideration.

  Only Danielle LePierre remained doubtful. “The fact that his Shifter spirit is beautiful doesn’t prove anything.”

  “Maybe it does.” Finn Donnelly, the man who killed his mentors, rose to his feet. “The Chimeras I put down didn’t look anything like that. In fact, I didn’t immediately know Davis was the same Kind as them. Their spirits were hideous. Mangy, bat-wings… ugly as hell. What about you, Briggs? What did the Chimeras you fought look like?”

  Slowly, reluctantly, the horned Dragon spoke. “They were as you say. Deformed. I, too, was surprised by the appearance of this one.”

  “You see?” Maddie crowed. “You can’t condemn Griffin because of them! That would be like… like… saying all Dragons are evil because all you’ve ever known is Worms!”

  No one spoke… until Donnelly cleared his throat. “Right. You’ve convinced me, young lady. I vote for leniency. That,” he jerked his thumb towards Griffin’s Chimera, “is nothing like the people I killed.”

  “Agreed,” Rex Fairburn rumbled. “He’s got a Mate and a family he protects. That’s enough for me.”

  “The Diné, the People, speak for him.” As always, Briggs’ words were slow and deliberate. “Those who know him, those who know the monsters we fight, lay no evil at his feet. That… persuades me.”

  The man didn’t sound happy about his vote – but he voted.

  Giddy delight lit Maddie’s face, then dimmed somewhat as her Witch Queen spoke. “I myself am not inclined to trust this man. His gifts are as dangerous as those of the Darkborn. SueSue Mint, how do the Rats vote?”

  “I’m used to people spitting on me because of my Kind, so I won’t do that to him. Screw all your rumors. As for the facts, well, sometimes people take stuff they shouldn’t.” The Rat’s reedy voice never shook, despite being the center of attention. “Maybe it’s food or money. Maybe it’s a magical relic and a woman whose help you need. Doesn’t matter. We start killing Shifters for stealing and half of us Rats will end up dead. I say give him another chance.”

  Hope, fierce and terrible, shook Griffin. Could they actually spare him? Could his worst enemies, the Shifters he had hidden from all of his life, forgive him?

  But the Wolves hadn’t spoken yet. Four Shifter had voted for him, one against. Three Packs attended this meeting. If they all got a vote, he could still go down.

  “Packs of the Four Corners,” LePierre said, “how do you vote?”

  A look passed between the Alphas, one Griffin couldn’t interpret. Only Aaron King, the Alpha of the Sand Pack, spoke. “Lady, Wolves are outlaws. We’re not big on rules or trials or judges. We’re not going to ‘vote’ to punish some guy. He screws with us, we’ll kick his ass. Until then, what he does is his business. Let him go.”

  Griffin stared about him, baffled.

  With a squeal of delight, Maddie threw herself into his arms.

  Chapter 17.

  That night, they made love. Not in some dream, surrounded by fantastic destinations. They made real love. Two hearts, two bodies joined. Transforming a dull little camper into a corner of heaven. Afterwards, Maddie showed him another delight. One that even his dreams couldn’t provide – because they always ended the same way. He awoke, alone, in his bed. His body tingling with the echoes of pleasure – yet oddly empty.

  Tonight, he discovered the crucial missing piece: cuddling. When he lay, spent with passion, no collapsing dream dragged him back to reality. This was reality. He was truly here, with Maddie. His Mate. His woman. Instead of vanishing, he curled up next to her. Drawing her close, their hot bodies united, still damp with the sweat of their ecstasy. This time, no empty bed cast a pall across his lovemaking. He nuzzled against his love’s hair, letting the sweet, feminine scent of her surround him.

  There were things they needed to do. Choices and plans that had to be made. But that could wait. For now, all he wanted to do was lie here, his Mate in his arms. To drift off to sleep next to someone he cared for.

  Loved? Could he use that word yet? He wasn’t sure. Again, that could wait. Now there was only sleep, and her. One night of peace was all he wanted.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t get it. Sometime in the middle of the night, the screech of a whistle dragged him awake.

  Blinking, Maddie pushed her bangs out of her face. “What’s happening?”

  “No idea,” Griffin barked as he bolted for the door.

  The source of the shocking noise was a scrawny Rat woman who stood in the middle of the town. She blew her whistle with a force that shook her tiny form, her face bright red from the effort. When she spotted the Chimera, the whistle dropped from her mouth.

  Her eyes also dropped, briefly, below Griffin’s waist.

  Oh right. Pants.

  C
lothes and fur were included in his Shift, however. A quick thought summoned a faded pair of jeans. He was decent. Or, well, looked decent even if he actually was nude.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Around them, half-dressed Hares and Dragons spilled out of their campers. The Rat pointed up at the Cauldron. “Parachutes. Bunch of ‘em. Heard ‘em swoop, they was moving fast.”

  With a curse, Griffin Shifted. Golden wings spread wide, feathers glittering in the moonlight, as he threw himself aloft. Strong beats sent him soaring, rising in the night sky. Below him, Dragon roars split the night.

  As he crested the top of the rocks that hid the Cauldron, Griffin tensed. At any moment he expected gunfire to blaze up at him. Yet not a soul stood near the malign pool. Oh, the Rat was right: six parachutes lay scattered around the Cauldron’s waters. None of the men they’d carried remained, however.

  Which meant…

  They went through the gate. Into Nemagorix’s lair. What kind of idiot would drop down into a demon’s home?

  But he knew the answer to that.

  The Fangs of Apophis.

  The Fangs had landed around the edge of the small clearing. Both the salt ring and the permanent ward seemed unharmed. Griffin banked gently and Shifted about five feet off the ground, tumbling to the earth. Last thing he needed was to have the demon freed by some stray gust of wind.

  Above him, two gigantic forms cast shadows across the sand, sharp in the full moon’s light. Fearing that their wings might break the fragile ring of salt, Briggs and Donnelly Shifted in mid-air.

  THUD! THUD! Both men dropped thirty feet and slammed into the ground.

  Griffin almost chuckled. Show-offs. Nothing was as tough as a Dragon – and they knew it.

  “We’ve got a big problem. Looks like a half dozen people went through that gate. Probably Fangs.”

  The Dragons joined him at the water’s edge. “That can’t be good,” Donnelly muttered.

  Bit of an understatement.

  Briggs pursed his lips, considering the gate. “What could they possibly want on the Other Side?”

  “I’m assuming they don’t like Nemagorix,” Griffin replied, “considering what his Darkborn did to the Fangs.” Baxter, the Hare who’d kidnapped Maddie, said as much. Not that he wanted to confess that he’d agreed to work for the man, back when his Mate was in danger.