She went back to the kitchen after Gaby. Peyton was cleaning up the tea things. “Peyton!” Gaby said. “We’ve got something to tell you.” She turned to Cela and held out her hands like she was introducing a game show prize. “Griffin Island has real griffins, and Cela can turn into one. That’s why she didn’t know much about the real world when she first came to us. She has to go get Terry—I mean Tyr, that’s his name apparently, back before .... whatisgoing to happen, anyway?”
“Uh ....” Cela was wide-eyed at the flow of information. It reallywasdifferent to be a human. “I’m not sure ... They might kill him. The other griffins, I mean.” Her tattoo tingled a little but didn’t try to stop her.
Peyton said, “What?”
“Maybe you should show her,” Gaby said.
“We don’t have time for this!” But Gaby was right, she would get farther faster with a guide. Restraining her griffin’s impatience as well as her own, Cela fought her way past the deeply ingrained caution and let her griffin flow out of her. Right there on Gaby’s kitchen floor, in front of a human who had never seen a griffin, she let herself become her snow-leopard-and-falcon shift form.
Peyton stumbled back into the door.
Cela shifted back. “Now you know,” she said. “You must never tell anyone—Peyton, please?”
“Yeah, I ...” Peyton ran a hand over her face. “All of asudden a few things are making more sense about this town. Who else ...?”
“We can talk about it later,” Gaby said briskly, as if her work here was done and she was moving on to the next task. “Cela, do you need any help packing?”
Cela shook her head. “I left the island with nothing. I guess that’s how I’m going back too.” She looked at Peyton, who was still staring at both of them. “You don’t have to come.”
“Are youkidding?” Peyton said. Her voice rose into a squeak. “This is the most incredible thing that’s ever happened to me in my life. Also, hon, don’t take this the wrong way, but Gaby’s right. You really could use my help if you haven't flown before.” Her voice faltered. “Er ... on a plane.”
Gaby had her phone out. “I’ll pull up Travelocity and see when the next flight is leaving for Maine.”
It really was good to have friends.
Wait for me, Tyr. I’m coming.
CELA
If not forthe urgency and fear of her mission, Cela would have enjoyed traveling with Peyton. As much as she loved and missed her babies, it was nice to be without them for a few days. She felt free and also strangely bereft.
Gaby had examined Cela’s shiny new identity documents before she left and declared them more-or-less okay. “You don’t have a passport, so you can’t go into Canada—er—officially. But I’m sure that’ll be no problem for you. We’ll just get you both plane tickets to Maine, and then you can go from there the other way.”
Peyton drove them both to the airport. From there, Cela simply followed her lead. Gaby and Peyton had been right, she thought; she would have had trouble doing this on her own. Peyton explained everything from how the security line worked to which documents she needed to show to which people. It was all very complicated and confusing.
“Your people can’t possibly do this every time you travel anywhere,” she whispered to Peyton after they were through the security line and waiting for their flight.
“Well, on planes, anyway. You get used to it.”
“But what if you don’t have the right papers?”
“Then you just don’t fly,” Peyton said.
Cela was glad there was no way anyone could stopherfrom flying.
Aside from all the paperwork and rules, it was simply weird to be in the air as a human. She couldn’t get used to it; she kept feeling nervously on the verge of a shift.
“I didn’t expectyouto be a nervous flyer,” Peyton said quietly. There was an empty seat in their row, so it was just the two of them, and as long as they spoke softly they could talk without worry about being overheard.
Cela peeled her fingers off the armrest of her seat. “It’s just different.” She forced a smile. “I suppose no one here could shift and fly if we fell, and they all seem perfectly calm, so I should be calm too.”
“Thanks,” Peyton muttered. “NowI’mnervous.”
“Don’t worry; if we fall, I’ll catch you.”
Peyton blinked. “Okay .... thanks, I guess? Can you actuallycarrypeople?”
“Yes, we can.” Cela kept expecting her tattoo to interfere, with everyone around them on the plane. But talking quietly seemed to be all right. “As long as they’re not too big and heavy, and you’re not.”
