Gryphon and His Thief Read Online Free PDF

fear these beings?" Darrien asked
and she could tell he was curious.
    "No." she shrugged. "Everyone wants to be
respected, right? They left my father alone and he gave them the
same courtesy."
    "You say the words about respect, but these
are your father's beliefs. What of you?"
    "The world is full of different kinds of
beings and so what? I never met any of the beings my father told me
about, but it doesn't mean they weren't around. I have an open
mind."
    "I sense this about you," he told her.
    She rolled her eyes. Of course he did.
Right after he thought she was his soul mate, she said to
herself, but aloud she voiced, "Anyway, the existence of shifters
doesn't come as a complete shock to me. Heck, my cousin claimed he
dated a werewolf, but up until tonight, I thought maybe he had a
few screws loose, or at the very least was just making the story up
for a few laughs. Go figure, he probably told me the truth."
    He harrumphed. "You listened to your father's
stories, but you didn't truly believe, did you?" He repositioned
himself by scooting back to rest against the headboard, which
sported slats or he wouldn't be sitting like an offering for sinful
delights. Pity she had to run.
    She turned away because meeting his gaze just
made all this so much more difficult. "Really, I'd like to sit down
with you and have a deep discussion about shifters and other such
beings, but I have to go." She didn't quite keep the terseness out
of her voice. She couldn't let her guard down and she had a feeling
he was trying his best to distract her. She fastened her belt
around her waist with quick jerky moves, indicating her frustration
over this whole messed up situation. Her goal tonight: retrieve the
stone. Done. Everything else was irrelevant.
    "You cannot take the artifact." His voice
broke through her reverie and she paused. "It is dangerous," he
said, not pleading or demanding. He simply spoke what he believed
to be true.
    Her gaze met his, curious over his calm
approach. She thought he'd be breaking the headboard by now...or
turning into the beast. Maybe there wasn't enough room for him to
shift. "I've already taken it," she reminded him. "I just need to
deliver it to the rightful owner."
    His harsh laugh irked her.
    "Do you have something to say?" she asked
with her hand on her hip.
    "I do not know who claims this ownership of
something only the gods should have, but if it falls into the wrong
hands, it will be the end of mankind."
    "Plu…eeese," she said, dragging out the word
for effect. "Do you expect me to really consider your claims of
doom?"
    "Consider this, Callista… Calli," he
corrected, "you stole the stone from the Museum of Cursed
Antiquities. Can you not consider the possibility that an unsavory
sort wants the stone for their own personal evil deeds?"
    "Okay, you piqued my interest. What can the
stone do?" He hadn't explained exactly what it did. He'd only given
her his doom and gloom speech.
    "The one who possesses it will have the power
to open the portal between life and death, and if the person
performs the ritual on Halloween, it gives the conjurer more power
to bring back many souls all at once."
    "Because the veil is thinner this time of the
year," she stated, familiar with the folklore surrounding
Halloween. She'd been reading books about life after death, and not
because her father had recently passed away. The subject had always
fascinated her.
    Professor Leander had told her she wanted the
stone delivered to her before Halloween. She'd been adamant about
the date. Had there been a more sinister reason behind it? She
claimed if the stone was not returned by the morning of October
31st the institute funding the dig was going to close down the
excavation site and call it a loss. They'd lose millions of
dollars. That was the urgency to have the artifact delivered. The
other… "Who in their right mind would want to raise the dead?" she
asked.
    "How well do you know this person who wants
the stone?" he countered with a