“Love you more.”
“Doubt it.”
As I leave the third floor, the guard stationed there looks curiously at the ridiculously large grin I have on my face.
Like a barn cat sitting on the butter-churn, as my grandmother would say.
My plan had been to go to the library, but the beast inside me disagrees. He’s pulling me towards the lake and I don’t see a reason to induce a struggle between us.
It’s a beautiful night. The stars out. Theo loves me. And we have a plan, albeit incomplete, to end the ascension.
Something at the back of my brain nudges, telling me it’s very unusual for me to have this level of optimism, but still I walk on. Within fifteen minutes, I can no longer see the academy, and I’m walking along the path alongside the lake.
The water is still, and the moon reflection glimmers on the surface.
Here is where my gryphon wants to be.
I cannot wait to transform. The need to fly, to learn, to see, is overwhelming. And so I shift.
It’s a violent, beautiful metamorphosis. My bones lengthen and snap into place, fur erupting along my forearms as the heavy, powerful wings of an eagle take shape on my shoulder blades.
The cold air over the lake is a tonic. I spiral upward, my eagle eyes cutting through the darkness to see the heat signatures of small creatures in the brush. But the beast isn't hunting for food. He’s scanning the ley-lines that converge on this water, looking for something.
What?
We circle the area, diving low then climbing high again. Suddenly, I bank hard left, my talons itching. My instinct is screaming that there is something I need.
Something to learn from.
The dock of the old boathouse.
A figure is standing there.
I’ve been spotted, and for some reason, that’s the way my gryphon wanted it. So I accept the fate that awaits me and glide down, landing with a heavy thump that makes the planks rock.
Silhouetted against the silver water is a woman wrapped in a heavy charcoal coat. I pad closer but I already know who it is.
Dean Crankshawe.
Her mouth is wide open with shock.
I don't keep her waiting. Having her run off screaming will do neither of us any good. So, within a breath, I let the shift pull me back to my human form.
“Professor Feniks," she gasps after several beats, finally finding a voice. “Alexis.”
She looks at me as if I’ve just stepped out of the pages of a storybook. And indeed, her next words confirm that. “I thought it was the thing of myths and legends, the ability to shift into the form of your inherited DNA. The Conclave... they believe it’s impossible.”
“The Conclave do not have as much knowledge as they think, Dean.” And then, given the circumstances, I remove the honorific. “Larissa.”
“My hands are shaking.” She holds out her fingers and I see the tremble. “Awe. I’m in awe. If this is happening in the world, what else do I not know?”
My instinct is always to teach, to inform, but not right now. There are more pressing issues. “My gryphon led me to you. He seems to think you’re holding onto something I need. An object?” I cock my head to one side, listening to my beast. “No, not an object. Information. You have information for me.”
She plunges the shaking hands back into her coat pockets. “Information. Well, there is only one thing that I can think of and it’s not something I thought to share. What I know is painful, not helpful.”
“Painful and not helpful to whom?” I ask, but I think I know.
“Theodora,” she sighs. “Dear Theodora.”
