Page 32 of Crown of Wings and Whispers

He didn’t bother coming up the steps—he was just there, standing in front of me, holding my wrist. My heart pounded violently…and then stopped.

10

The Mud Puddle

By ten o’clock, Fallon had worn herself ragged. She alternated between building a castle, running from the waves, and returning to the blanket to ask questions about Lennon. She was keenly disappointed my friend wasn’t married, for if she were, she would have children, and could have brought them along to play with her.

She didn’t know what she would do if she didn’t have a friend of her own soon. “And the sea doesnae count.” She sighed and dragged her feet back to her pebble and sand castle to build the corner tower yet again. She could never get it quite tall enough to suit her, but he let her figure that out for herself.

“If she asks me to recite the tale of Cormac and Aslyn one more time, we’re going back to the house.”

Annag peeked at him from over the top of her sunglasses. “Her tantrums are getting worse. When you tell her ye’ll be away for a while and she won’t be allowed to come, we must be well away from the water.” She gestured to all the people sharing the beach with them that morning. “Not fair to ruin the day for everyone.”

“Ruin their day?”

Annag rolled her eyes. “Since her birthday, her powers have grown in earnest. No doubt about it now--what Fallon feels, the sea feels. I cannae imagine how much worse it will be when she’s a teen. I only hope I will be agile enough to help her then.”

Griffon made no comment. Annag knew the two forces who wanted Fallon’s powers, and the fate of that power, and possibly the world, would be decided well before Fallon grew much older. And each time the subject came up, the old woman would find some way to make her wishes clear—she hoped someone would release both of them from the responsibility.

Hope and Despair. Power enough to sway the world one way or the other? That wasn’t a blessing, it was a curse.

Griffon pointed out the obvious. “She’s bored. Let’s go back. Maybe seeing Lennon will make her happy enough to offset my bad news.”

Annag gathered their things into her oversized beach bag and waved to Fallon. “We’re goin’ in, child. Lennon’s waitin’.”

His heart raced at the idea that he and Lennon would be leaving soon, on their own, finally. He’d chosen a remote location in Finland, away from witnesses, while they discovered just what it meant to be DeNoy. It would be cold, of course, but he could remedy that. All Lennon needed was a good fire, a healthy supply of wood, and a warm-blooded Fae to keep her happy.

While he waited for Fallon to destroy her castle, he mentally reached out to the pinfeather he’d given Lennon hours ago and tried to sense if she were sleeping still. If he had his way, he would cover her with pinfeathers whenever they were apart, but more than one would prove just how obsessed he was with her.

One invisible heartstring to bind them would have to be enough.

He covered his own heart with his hand, felt hers beating alongside his. Then suddenly, he felt her shock, her panic. Something was terribly wrong! Adrenaline rushed through her, sent her heart pounding—and then nothing.

He felt nothing!

Nooo!

* * *

“Annag,listen to me. Something’s wrong at the house. You must take Fallon and go…go shopping in town. If I don’t find you in one hour—one hour—you call Mr. Brooke’s number on this phone. He’ll get you in touch with Wickham. If you think you’re being followed, don’t wait.” Griffon fumbled to get the battery into the back of the mobile, along with a pinfeather, then pressed it into her hand. “Don’t lose it. Give me one hour.”

Panic muddled his mind. After all, it might be Wickham himself who had found Lennon at the house. The fact that he felt nothing now could mean she’d dropped her feather or had laid it aside, but it was her panic that terrified him.

Though everything in him screamed to fly, he ran to the car, got onto the road, and turned inland. If Orion had spies looking for him, flying would give him away. A cloudy glamour worked well with humans, but not with higher Fae.

The road was endless, and all through the ten-minute journey, he kept reaching out with his senses, waiting for that heartbeat to return. He had no sense of that feather, either. He was blind to it, to her, and in a world he shared with Orion, he couldn't afford to be blind.

He sifted through his memory for mentions of Yarmouth. That night they'd gone to dinner at The Ivy, he'd mentioned the place. Wickham and Persi had been there. They might have remembered.

If he were Wickham, he would have scoured his memory for any location where Griffon might have taken Lennon. He would have searched them all.

If Wickham had taken her, however, Griffon should still hear her heartbeat.

Unless...

The car swayed wildly on the road as he shook his head in denial. "Wickham wouldn't kill her! He wouldn't!"

No matter what the Grandfather and The Covenant had said? After all, Lennon believed he would.

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