Well, going insane will really not fit into my short-term scheduleormy long-term life plans,she thought, feeling vaguely dizzy.So I guess acceptance is what it’s going to have to be.
Gathering her courage, she stood up from the couch on shaky legs and made her way over to him. He looked weirdly tentative – well, as tentative as a giant, regal mythological creature could look – and she thought maybe he was worried that she might reject him, or run screaming from the room.
But Maisie wasn’t going to do either, she decided, gritting her teeth. How could she, when she still hadsomany questions she wanted answers to?
How did you get like this? Is your whole family this way? Did you get bitten by a were-griffin on a full moon?She frowned.Does that imply the existence of were-quokkas and were-cassowaries?!
The part of her brain that never really stopped being a nurse wanted to know all kinds of things too – such as how any of this was physically possible, and if there were specific shifter hospitals they needed to go to if they got injured.
Maybe that was why he was so insistent I didn’t take him to the hospital today,Maisie thought. That seemed like areasonable explanation. The doctors at her hospital were good, but they weren’ttreating griffinsgood.
And… she kind of wanted to touch him. Maybe it was just to confirm that this wasreal. But maybe, she also justwantedto.
With a shaking hand, Maisie forced herself to reach up and gently stroke the feathers on his neck.
They were amazingly soft –It’s like touching a cloud, she thought dazedly – and the griffin leaned into her touch.
Definitely less threatening than a cassowary.
She stood there for a moment, just stroking his head, the physical sensation grounding her after what had been a very confusing day. Her brain started to tick over in the background, sorting through the day’s events, when suddenly something jumped out at her.
Wyvern venom.
That was what Rhys had called the green goo. She’d thought it was a street name for some new drug or something, but could he actually have been just stating the truth? Did wyverns really exist?
At this point, she was willing to believe it.
But more important even than that was what had happened with Rhys earlier today. Clearly, there was still something more going on here.
Maisie knew, on some level, that this waswaymore complicated than anything she ever wanted to get involved in. But shealso, as she well knew, had more than a little bit of a weakness for complicated men.
She looked up into the griffin’s golden eyes. It looked a little worried, and she found a small laugh burbling up inside her – washescared ofher?
“As nice as this is,” she murmured to the griffin – thegriffin! –“you should probably go back to your human form, so you cantell me what the hell’s going on. I want to help you out however I can, but I need to know what I’m dealing with here.”
The griffin nodded, a little crooning sound emerging from its enormous, hooked beak. Obviously he hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d know her, even in this form, and clearly he understood every word she’d said to him as well.
Maisie took a step backward, giving him a little space. Another shimmer, and Rhys was standing in front of her once more, a range of emotions parading across his face. He looked worried, overwhelmed… and tentatively hopeful.
Maisie found herself smiling. Rhys smiled back – and Maisie suddenly realized that in the hours she’d known him, she hadn’t really seen him smile properly. His whole body seemed to relax a little, relief removing some of the tension from his shoulders and jaw… and if Maisie had thought he was hot before, now she was blown away by just how damn attractive he was.
Wow. He’s really… wow. And he turns into a griffin!
Clearly, this was the complicated man to end all complicated men.
It was a long time before she was able to stop staring –well, okay, I’m still staring a bit– and get down to business. She cleared her throat.
“So. How about we sit down, and you tell me what’sreallygoing on?”
Chapter 8
Perfect! Our mate thinks we’re perfect!
Rhys barely managed to refrain from rolling his eyes.She said nothing of the sort.
The griffin huffed.She said we werenice.
He frowned.She saiditwas nice –it, notwe– and that’s not even close to perfect!
