Cela hesitated, then shook her head. “I’ll stay here and talk to Gaby about the job.”
Accompanied by the two shifter bodyguards, Tyr went through the kitchen, full of sweet cinnamon and baking smells, and out the back door into the alley that ran behind the row of businesses on Main Street.
“So Derek said you’ve been asking some pretty specific questions about griffins,” Ben said. “Or rather, asking other people to ask for you, since you can’t.”
“Yeah. Have you had a chance to ask around?”
“I’ve had a quiet word with a few people,” Derek said. “You know, the irony is that not long ago we were here to protect Paula fromyou.” He crossed is arms in a way that clearly showed off every bulging muscle.
“I know,” Tyr said. He refused to back down or be intimidated. “I can’t change the past, but I’m trying to atone. I really want to help her.”
Ben had been watching him with quiet intensity. Tyr recalled that Ben’s inner panther could tell when people were lying. Abruptly Ben said, “Is she your mate?”
“None of your business,” Tyr snapped. “That’sherbusiness, and if she wants to talk about it, she will.”
Ben raised his hands. “Whoa. No worries.” He shared a swift glance with Derek, the sort of look that suggested a silent conversation between two people who had been working together long enough to communicate without speaking.
“I was hoping you could ask the local dragon some questions, if possible,” Tyr said to Ben. “If regular shifters don’t know much about griffins, or even know about griffins at all, perhaps your dragon contacts might.”
“I can ask. What was it you needed to know, exactly?”
“How our tattoos work, and if it’s possible to unravel griffin tattoo magic.”
“Can I get a picture?” Derek asked.
Tyr hesitated, but it wasn’t as if he kept it hidden in particular. He rolled up his sleeve, and the magic didn’t stop him. Probably their griffin ancestors had no way to anticipate cameras. Derek snapped a few cell phone shots from different angles.
“I’m sure you have reasons,” Ben said. “But why can’t you ask your people directly?”
“Because they’re the ones who did it in the first place,” Tyr said grimly, rolling down his sleeve. “Anyway, Cela doesn’t want to; she’s afraid of making things worse. If we have to, we will, but ideally we can find a way to take off her tattoo, and mine, without dealing with them.”
Ben raised a shoulder in a shrug. “I’ll ask Dad. As a dragon clanlord, he’s in the loop with a lot of the older generation and they’re the ones most likely to have heard something.”
“Will he help?” Derek asked.
Ben grinned. “He’s mellowed a lot since Loretta. I don’t think it’ll be that much of a problem.”
Tyr felt as if there were undercurrents here that he was missing, but they were helping him, and that was the important thing. “Thank you,” he said earnestly. “I really appreciate it.”
“You can thank us by taking care of that woman and her kids,” Derek said.
Tyr nodded wordlessly.
They went back inside. Gaby was just getting up from the table with Cela. Seeing Tyr, Cela broke into a wide smile.
“Tyr, I have a job!”
“No need to sound so happy about it,” Gaby said, grinning. “I’m going to try her out on some part-time workaround the bakery. We could really use some help in the mornings, when we’re having to bake and do deliveries to the other businesses we supply with their morning donuts and muffins. So Cela’s going to be our part-time delivery girl and early morning kitchen assistant for a bit.”
“I can do that!” Cela said brightly. She dimmed a bit. “The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is what I’m going to do with the twins.”
“That’s no problem,” Tyr said. “Leave them with me. Right now all my work is in the house and yard anyway, getting the greenhouse set up.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Cela asked, almost shyly.
“No, of course not.” He didn’t say it out loud, but already he and his griffin already thought of her children as their own.
CELA
