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Having lived on the streets much of his early life after escaping a witch, Tristan knew how to be silent and invisible.
Following Cavan presented little problem.
Tristan had picked up even more stealth skills while imprisoned by majik in a South American jungle through no fault of his own.
That bitch goddess Macha had stuck him there because he’d been born an Alterant, half Belador and half Medb blood. It did warm his soul to know she’d feared Alterants even before they evolved into gryphons.
Carrying the blood of his enemy was fucked up enough, but Macha had penalized him and other Alterants for something none of them could have changed. Then Queen Maeve and Cathbad the Druid thought to possess all of his gryphon pack, since those two had been behind the crossbreeding. They’d planned to compel gryphons to do their wet work.
Not now.
The day Tristan and his Belador friends rescued Daegan from TÅμr Medb then broke the curse holding him, Daegan threw Macha out of Treoir.
Being of King Gruffyn’s immediate family, he could do that sort of thing.
Best day ever.
Tristan bet Macha never saw that coming. Bonus.
If Tristan had a calendar, he’d mark the date to celebrate each year since he could count the best days of his life on one hand. The other four had been spent with Mac.
She’d love this place.
He should bring her here sometime when he wasn’t hunting a preternatural. In fact, he should do a better job of spending time with Mac when this all settled down and he could insure her safety.
At what point would his life ever settle down?
Maybe never. That was okay.
Tristan would do whatever Daegan needed, be his right-hand man for as long as Daegan wanted him. No one had ever looked at him and seen anything but an Alterant beast even after he’d evolved into a gryphon. He’d been at the butt end of life for so long and Daegan opened up a whole new world for him.
For the first time ever, he felt respected.
Cavan slowed the steady stride he’d been at for the last twenty minutes and turned off the main thoroughfare. He headed into a wooded area thicker than before, but stayed on a hard-packed path. He seemed to be in no rush.
Was Cavan meeting someone else or heading home?
Tristan had a difficult time believing that being lived anywhere around here because of the glamour. How was Daegan doing following that unknown Luigsech woman? Tristan had a moment of concern about Daegan going without backup, but that dragon shifter could handle himself in any situation.
Tristan had been present when Daegan backed down three deities, while the two of them stood in the Tribunal realm. Few things could harm Daegan, but being attacked in an unfriendly realm upped the chances of him being killed.
His boss should be fine in his homeland.
Daegan’s knowledge of the players from so many centuries ago and their lack of knowledge about the identity of his goddess mother kept everyone from risking a power play.
But that didn’t mean they weren’t all strategizing how to take out the Treoir dragon shifter.
Tristan executed a quick zigzag to avoid making noises as he paralleled Cavan’s route. He picked his way carefully over dried leaves and branches that had fallen.
Cavan paused and lifted his head, turning it from side to side, as if looking for something.
Or someone.
The guy stepped off the path as if he’d found what he’d been searching for.
Tristan hurried his steps, grumbling silently at the unexpected shift in direction.
He stopped short and squatted down to watch through an opening in underbrush as Cavan circled back to his right, pausing again every few steps. Then he’d stare up at the trees overhead from time to time.
What was he doing now?
Suddenly, Cavan flipped around and started walking the other way this time.
After making that pass, he stood still for a moment then shook his head and heaved a deep breath. Then he struck out deeper into the woods.
Tristan hurried to follow the circular path Cavan had taken to figure out what he’d been looking for above his head. He kept an eye on Cavan as the strange guy moved slowly through an area of thicker vegetation.
Once Tristan determined if there was anything of note here, he’d teleport to catch up to the druid. He quickly finished tracing Cavan’s steps then did an about-face and walked back the other way. Nothing up in the trees.
Nothing weird stood out.
When next he checked on Cavan, the guy had continued on a straight path until he’d had to sidestep around two fallen trees.
Losing patience with this meandering that seemed to go nowhere, Tristan hurried to finish the half circle path, then did his best to track the straight line to Cavan.
He started to teleport to catch up, but he reconsidered. Too risky to make a disturbance when he landed again if he did not know exactly where his feet would hit. Tristan had fifty feet until he reached the two trees Cavan had circumvented.
Deep in the woods with the sun having set, twilight made it harder to keep an eye on the squirrely guy until Tristan realized this weirdo had a pale glow about him.
Was Cavan creating the glow for a way to see?
None of this made sense because—
Tristan plowed into an invisible energy field at full force.
The power reached for him.
That bastard had probably set an obstacle to keep anyone from tracking him. Tristan remained calm. He’d worked his way out of other situations. Cavan continued walking without turning around, which he wouldn’t be doing if this was a trap, right?
Tristan tried to pull backward from the invisible net, but the energy felt like a sticky web. Next he tried to teleport and got nowhere. So the invisible web interfered with his teleporting, huh?
He called up his gryphon close to the surface for more power. His head altered shape. His jaw dropped, enlarging for huge fangs, and he snarled.
He batted his fists at the energy, pushing deep into it. His legs dragged against what felt like a rubbery gel.
Fuck it. He called up his gryphon to shift.
Daegan would back him doing this in the human realm, but his boss couldn’t help him if Tristan didn’t survive. His gryphon pushed hard to be freed, cracking his bones and stretching muscles, painfully slow.
Tristan would break free of this or call Daegan.
His body stopped halfway through the shift.
Oh, shit.
