As Lirin flew away, Cela leaned into Tyr’s side, still amazed by her ability to do it without pain. His arm slid around her waist.
Peyton tore her gaze away from the sea and turned to them. “Well .... guess we won’t make it to Mom’s tonight. How do you two feel about getting a hotel?”
Peyton handled the actual arrangements, which Cela supposed was for the best; she was more exhausted from this day than she could say. Peyton went out to find food, still seeming pensive, while Cela and Tyr went straight up to their room and made love almost frantically in the late afternoon sun shining through the curtains.
As they lay together afterward, with Tyr tracing patterns on Cela’s arm, Cela murmured, “What do you think wediddo to the magic on the island?”
“I don’t know. I guess at some point, we should probably go find out.”
“Not soon.” She rolled over to kiss him, thrilling to the wonder of being able to do it at all. “I think it’s time to live our lives now, without the shadow of the island hanging over us.”
Tyr held her close and petted her hair, stroking his hand across the blue and silver swirls of her tattoo. Cela foundthat she didn’t mind it anymore, now that it was no longer keeping them apart. It was part of her, after all.
After a long lazy while, Tyr said, “What was up with your friend?”
“I don’t know. I think ...” But she decided to keep it to herself. If her private suspicions about Kav and Peyton were true, what business was it of hers? “I think it’ll work out for her in the long run, just like it did for us,” she said, and believed it.
EPILOGUE: CELA
“Flap your wings, flap your wings!”
Cela was sure that all the yelling from her brother wasn’t making Lissy any less nervous. Lissy crouched in her griffin shape on a large branch of an oak tree in the backyard of Tyr and Cela’s house. Spring flower petals showered down around her.
A full turn of the seasons had passed since Cela first came to Autumn Grove. Lissy’s griffin form had fledged over the winter. Now, in the first flush of new spring, she had brand new wings and very little idea of how to use them.
Since Tyr was busy getting the Apple Blossom Orchard greenhouses ready for the spring surge of customers they were anticipating—or at least hoping for—Cela had offered to give Lissy flying lessons in the backyard. Lissy had managed to get herself up into the tree, but now she was clinging with all four kitten paws and hissing at Austin’s well-intentioned attempts to give her advice.
Cela had to firmly stop herself from laughing before she took a deep breath and said, “Honey, it’s okay. If you fall,we’ll catch you. But I think you already know you can fly, don’t you? Listen to your griffin.”
“Yeah, your griffin will tell you what to do.” This sage advice, loftily delivered, was from Austin, who had only been able to fly for the past few months himself.
Without offering further advice, Cela shifted. She spread her wings and saw Lissy straighten up a little on the branch, forgetting to be afraid as her griffin’s catlike curiosity was distracted by Cela’s griffin form.
Cela beat her wings and rose from the ground. There weren’t very many places for a full-grown griffin to perch in the backyard, which she supposed she ought to have thought of beforehand. She aimed for the roof instead and landed at its peak.
From up here, she could see everything in the neighborhood. The grounds of their house had erupted into a sea of blossoms as all the trees—cherry, apple, magnolia, and more—burst into spring bloom. It looked like the clouds had come down from the sky, white and pink in sunrise colors, to carpet the yard laid out at her feet.
Beyond that, the woods were soft with the first flush of new green leaves and dotted with more flowering trees here and there. The highway wound between farmhouses and patches of forest. She could see the tops of the taller buildings in Autumn Grove from here, including a water tower and a couple of church spires.
Closer to home, the greenhouses were surrounded by trays of fresh green baby plants set out in the sun. Tyr was moving around between them, shirtless in the warm spring air. The sight of him made Cela purr, low in her throat. Tyr looked up and saw her. He stopped and put his hands on his hips.
“I might have known this was how it would go,” he called up to her. “Stop giving my kids delinquent ideas!”
It was too late, because in an unpracticed flutter of wings, Austin landed beside her. He had fledged out in a classic griffin form, with a lion body and eagle’s wings. His mane hadn’t grown in yet, so he looked small and sleek next to Cela.
Acting on instinct, Cela gave him a friendly cuff with her paw, half greeting and half reprimand. She peered over the edge of the roof. Lissy was looking up at them.
It was impossible to talk in shifted form, so Cela chirped at her encouragingly.
Lissy spread her wings hesitantly and gave them a few flaps. Then, with a burst of courage, she beat them rapidly and took off. Her flight was awkward and wobbly, but she managed to land on the rooftop with the other two, digging in her claws to stop herself from sliding across the ridgeline and down the other peak.
Inwardly, Cela had to laugh at herself. Well, she’d gotten both of them to fly. Now she just had to get them down, and they were much higher than they had been.
Tyr had gone back to his work, but Cela noticed he was keeping an eye on the road, looking out for traffic in case he had to alert them.
Cela shifted human so she could talk. Immediately, she almost lost her balance on the sloping roof and hastily sat down. The kids both eyed her nervously.
Whoa—it was alongway down. Okay, she could work with this. Also, some of the shingles needed to be replaced after the winter storms. Good to know.
