Chapter Ten

Darrien listened to Calli's story with minimal interruptions, but truthfully hadn't known what to say. Dear God, the story the woman spun and she didn't believe herself a storyteller – curses and mythical beasts... Surely, this story should be on the bestseller list for fantasy reads, or at the very least, a hopeful for the next Sci-fi show on the telly.

"…and then we came in here," she finished with a long sigh. She sipped her tea and obviously waited for his response, but he could only manage to stare at her in disbelief.

He forced himself to close his mouth before she thought he had a stroke. He still may have one. This woman – this thief, so she coined herself – claimed he was a cursed man, not any cursed man, but a Gryphon as well. His gaze shifted to the beastie sitting there regarding him with attitude. He blinked, hard and ran a hand through his hair, not caring it would probably stand up on end. This had to be a bloody joke, one he was not privy to the reasoning behind it.

He stared at Calli with her long ginger-colored hair, big moss colored eyes and… His gaze traveled down the rest of her, taking in every womanly attribute. The woman truly tried his restraint – not that he'd be in her league or that she'd look at him at all if she hadn't been deranged. Yes, that was possibly the case here. This woman was mad and he needed to ring the police before she came unhinged. Truly, he didn't know what she was capable of doing, but he had a hunch she'd do it well.

He caught sight of the broken window. Perhaps she'd smashed it with the intention of playing this elaborate jest. His gaze shifted to the Gryphon again. The beast stared at him with those unnerving golden-bronze eyes. The darn thing put him on edge, always had.

Finally, he leveled his gaze on Calli once more. She did lay claim to being a thief, but she couldn't have moved the heavy statue by herself, could she?

She could have an accomplice, he thought. And didn't that just up his panic response. No, the woman was alone or else the other guy…or gal would have joined them by now.

He smiled at the would-be-thief, knowing he'd have to tread lightly and play nice with the pretty nutter, at least until he could ring for help, but at this precise moment he needed to answer her. "It's a lot to take in. Yeah?" he said and leaned back in his chair. He folded his hands, pressing the tips of his forefingers together and tapped his chin. He glanced at the phone on his desk and ruled out using it, since she would subdue him before he could dial a number. Not that the itty-bitty thing could take him down. He wasn't completely useless, but who knew if she carried a weapon.

"Tell me about it," she said as she eyed him over the rim of her teacup then indulged again. She really had no idea how to drink tea properly. One simply did not gulp it down like a pint of beer.

"I'll have another," she announced as uncouth as a barmaid, which just proved his point.

He stared at the cup for a second before he reached for it with a sense of triumph. This was his opportunity. There was a phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. "I'll be right back." He stood, but she did also. He couldn't have her traipsing along with him. His gaze caught site of the large leather bound book sitting next to the computer. "Um… I can manage fine. While I'm warming the water in the kettle, you can browse through this." He placed the cup down to reach for the book.

"What is it?" she asked, curiosity lighting her eyes.

"It's a catalog of the cursed items here in the museum. I'm sure you'll find Hecate's Stone you speak of listed with the history of how it became cursed." He pushed the book toward her.

"Thanks," she said and plopped down in his seat, making herself right at home. He picked up the cup again and wondered if he should have been so willing to give her the information, but it proved too late to second-guess his willingness to help her now. He hurried toward the kitchen. At the door, he chanced a glance to see if her curiosity was still piqued. She flipped through a few pages then paused as if to read one of the passages. He let out a sigh of relief he'd been holding and turned away.

Once in the kitchen, he placed the teacup on the stove and rushed to the phone, mounted on the far wall. He'd only picked up the receiver and punched in two numbers when he heard the kitchen door behind him open. He closed his eyes and cursed.

"Hang up the phone, Darrien," she told him, her voice cold and unnerving.

He turned to face her and noticed the revolver. It fit nice and snug in the palm of her hand, but it might as well have been a machine gun for all it mattered. His hands flew above his head in surrender. "I'm sorry, but I had to try."

She rolled her eyes heavenward before she leveled her gaze on him once more. "I suppose you did have to try. I would have if I were in your shoes. I did warn you, I'm not a great storyteller, but I thought you and I had an understanding. We can't call the cops, assuming that's who you were about to call."

He didn't bother denying the fact. "What now? Are you going to shoot me?" he asked.

She waved the gun at the other room. "I want to show you something."

He lifted a brow, but didn't argue. The woman held a gun on him so options were at a minimum.

"Sit," she demanded once they were back at his desk. He did and chanced a look at her. She surprised him by placing the gun down on the desktop. "I don't want to hurt you, Darrien," she told him and he wished she wouldn't use his first name with her easy-on-the-ears voice. It distracted him and he needed to stay focused if he wanted to get out of this alive. "Believe me, I don't," she added for good measure. She must have sensed he didn't believe her.

"But you will if I don't cooperate," he said.

"No." She actually seemed insulted that he would suggest such a notion. "I need your help." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I really wish you weren't the one here right now. I need him." She pointed to the Gryphon.

"The statue talks to you?"

"Yes… I mean no." She moved so fast to sit down on the desktop, it startled him, and he pushed back in his chair with his feet, the wheels sliding him along until her boot caught the edge of the chair and she rolled him back in front of her. She did all this without pausing as she prattled on about her conversation with the Gryphon, or rather his other self. If he were inclined to believe her story.

"You can shift to your human side also when you're united with your Gryphon self, you see?"

No, he didn't see. "Let's for a moment believe what you've told me is all true, and you are indeed the sane one here…"

She opened her mouth to no doubt complain, but he held up his hand to halt her words.

"Let me finish, if you will. How do you propose I help you when…he," he waved toward the statue and all its finery, "could not?"

"You keep forgetting. You are the Gryphon."

"Right-o."

"You said the items in the museum are all cataloged. Find the Gryphon in that book of yours. You weren't lying about the contents were you?"

No, he hadn't lied, but she didn't wait for his response. She pushed the book toward him and waited for him to comply with her request.

He had a hunch if he just dismissed her and insisted she leave the premises, he'd have a real fight on his hands. The gun lay as a reminder of the fact, giving him no other choice. She claimed she wouldn't hurt him, but really, did he want to take the chance? Not really. He'd have to play along for now.

With a sigh, he leaned forward in his seat and scanned the contents, looking for the entry regarding the Gryphon. A few minutes later, he came across it in living color. There was a sketch of the beast, not a photo so the item had been with the collection for a long time. He read the description of the curse handwritten beneath it. "Cursed to guard treasures," he read out loud. "Never one with itself," he said with less confidence. What did that mean? Not one with himself. "Darkness is for the beast as light is for the human soul." He stared at the passage. Calli might have told him a similar story, but it didn't mean it actually referred to him. He was about to tell her so, but then she shoved her mobile phone in front of him. A video played and it took him a second more to register what he viewed.

He shook his head in disbelief, but how could he deny what she'd caught on film? He bloody well shifted into the Gryphon then something resembling a ghostlike being… "This cannot be real," he said, but his gut told him what he viewed was indeed all too real. He played it again. Then again…and yet again. All the blood seemed to rush to his head and the room tilted. "I don't feel so…well," he said. A silvery light blurred his vision right before everything went black.