“That would be nice. Thanks, Cris. We’ll be there shortly.”
“I look forward to seeing you and Beast again and meeting Tess and Maia.”
She disconnected and I turned to see Tess holding up her phone. There was a map on it, centered on our location and a score or so of miles north of us was a blue dot.
“That her address?” I asked.
“Yep, shouldn’t take any time at all to get there.”
“Okay, then. Mount up.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were flying over a dense pine forest. I was wondering what kind of signal Cris was planning when Tess spoke up. “Over there, Rafe. Can you see it?”
I looked in the direction she was pointing. There was a break in the trees where a stream cut a winding path through the forest. It led away from a good-sized lake in the distance, but I could see no sign of anything abnormal. I shook my head. “I don’t see anything. What is it?”
“It looks like a green spot light shining up from the area we’re traveling toward. It’s about a half mile farther.”
“Can you see it, Beast?” I asked.
“I see it,” he growled.
“Okay then, set us down near it. Stay glamoured until we see if anyone else is around.”
“Got you.”
A minute later, he banked a little left of our flight path and glided to a landing in a wide grassy area behind a large brick rancher. The thick pine forest encroached on the yard and the grass ended a dozen or more feet from the nearest tree. A layer of pine straw covered the ground. Azaleas were blooming at the edge of the trees.
I had no more set my feet on the ground than I heard a shout and the bang of a screen door. I looked toward the house and saw Cris striding purposefully toward me. She hadn’t changed in the six months since we’d parted. She looked to be a teenager, but her actual age was twenty-seven or maybe twenty-eight. I hadn’t gotten around to asking her when her birthday was. The vampire spell I’d used to restore her youth after she’d saved me had left her looking a decade or so less than her true age. She wore a sundress with material so thin that she could have tanned through it, and a pair of light sandals. Her skin was still the color of a well-stirred latte. Her pale brown hair hung loosely about her shoulders and moved lightly as she walked. When she grew nearer, I could see her brown eyes were dark and could pass for black. Her full lips were pulled back in a wide smile as her arms came up and around my neck and she pressed those soft lips into mine in a hungry kiss.
I closed my arms around her, my hands cupping her cheeks, and I lifted her from her feet as our kiss deepened. I’d almost forgotten how sweet her lips were. I found myself stirring with passion as her fingers played in my hair, holding my face to hers as she pressed her body tighter into mine. For a moment, I forgot all about my troubles and just held her to me.
A low growl from Beast snapped the moment and Cris dropped her hands from my head and pulled back enough to look me in the eye. Her smile was more than playful as she twitched her pelvis from one side to the other. “I’ve missed you, Rafe.”
“I’ve missed you, too, Cris.”
She planted another kiss, quick and light, on my lips and then pushed against my chest with both hands. I eased her to the ground and she took a step back.
Turning toward my companions, Cris said, “Beast, I’m happy to see you again.”
“Not as much as you are to see Raphael,” Beast growled.
Cris laughed lightly. “I wouldn’t be so sure, but you’re probably correct.”
The fingers of her left hand found my right and intertwined with them.
She turned to my apprentice and smiled warmly. “You must be Tess. Wow, Rafe she’s gorgeous. You didn’t give her near enough credit when you described her to me.”
For a moment, Tess appeared embarrassed, but she recovered quickly and awkwardly said, “Thank you, Cris, you are very beautiful yourself.”
“And this must be Maia,” she said, studying the hippogriff. “You are a magnificent creature, Maia.”
Maia shook her head, standing the feathers of her crown up. “Thank you, lady.”
“Please call me Cris. And who’s this little fellow? Is he friendly?”
Tess raised a hand to stroke the leathery skin of Bruno’s head. “He’s friendly, sometimes, but I wouldn’t get a finger too near his mouth if he hasn’t eaten recently.”
“He’s a wyvern, right?” Cris asked.
“Yes, I named him Bruno.”
Cris nodded thoughtfully. “A good name for him. Ah, pardon my manners, I’m normally a hugger when it comes to friends, but I didn’t want to upset your pet. Maybe later?”
Tess smiled sheepishly. “Ah, don’t worry about it, my family was never much in the way of hugging, besides I wouldn’t want you to have to let go of Rafe’s hand.”
Cris laughed cheerfully and raised my hand to her lips. She turned my hand over and kissed me slowly in the center of my palm. Then she met Tess’s gaze. “I appreciate that, Tess. Well, where are my manners now? Beast, Maia, if you’re thirsty, there’s a clear creek about twenty yards that way,” she said, indicating the north side of her yard. “Or, I can bring you something from the house. I never did find out what you like, Beast.”
“The stream will do well. Thank you. Raphael?”
I stepped back to him with Cris still holding my hand and grabbed my
