I looked up. “Who’s there?” I asked. “And what do you want?”
A figure rose to standing at the peak of the roof. The outer garment they wore stiffened and opened out to the sides, and what I thought was clearly a tall man in a billowing overcoat became a tall man with wings. With a repeated, sharp-edged whoosh, whoosh, he swooped down the long expanse of the A-frame’s roofline and landed a few feet from me.
The night had painted his cloak a charcoal black when he was on the roof. Up close, the cloak—his wings—were mostly white with pale gray speckles. His silvery white hair was longish, sweeping across his forehead and covering his ears, and he was old. Not nearly as old as Clifford, but his face was lined and the stubble along his jawline and under his throat shone white in what little light was coming off the torches.
I had never seen this man before. I had never seen a bird-man before. I wasn’t sure he was even real.
He took two steps toward me, tapped the pins attached to my T-shirt, and enveloped me in his arms and wings.
“Granddaughter, I have so much to tell you.”
Chapter 24
Tanner was gone. River, Rose, and Belle had bundled Peasgood and Hyslop into Rose’s sedan and driven off soon after they heard Tanner was going after the Apple Witch. Rose wanted to take the young men to the Pearmains’ farmhouse and continue the search for Cliff and Abi from there. River gave me a knowing look and expressed the hope he might be able to catch up with Tanner.
The bird-man followed me across the lawn and into my house, the tips of his feathers brushing the grass. I stared toward the road; Josiah and Garnet’s limbs were shackled to the exterior of their SUV, and their lips were clamped together through magical means. Inside, Malvyn was at the head of the dining table, ringed to either side by James and Leilani, Rowan and Wes, and Sallie, Kaz, and my sons.
“I am on the Province’s Board of Magical Governance,” Mal said, leaning his weight onto his fingertips as he surveyed the group of gathered Magicals. “Josiah and Garnet Flechette will be remanded into custody pending our investigation into their involvement into the murders on this island and others.”
Sallie’s face paled, and she dropped to her knees, her elbows against the edge of the table and quiet sobs wracking her body. Rowan wrapped her arms around Sallie while Wes bent to lift her into his arms. They walked the young woman to the couch.
I turned my attention back to Mal. “You can take them now?”
He nodded, his face a mask of impassive gravity. “I have not had to invoke my authority in this manner very often. Taking custody of those two means I will be off-island for at least three to four days.”
James drew Leilani snugly against his side. “We’ll be okay, Mal. We have the safe room.”
A quiet hand on my shoulder reminded me my grandfather was in the house. Harper tore his gaze from Leilani and scratched at his upper back. “Mom,” he said, drawing out the sound, “who’s behind you?”
“That’s the bird-man I told you about the other night, Harper,” said Kaz. “You picked a hell of a night to show up, Christoph.”
“My granddaughter was in trouble. I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time for all the excitement.” Christoph walked around the table to Harper and Thatcher and studied my sons.
“Are those real?” asked Thatcher, pointing to the wings Christoph had pinned tight against his back.
“Yes.”
“Did you just call our mother your granddaughter?” asked Harper.
“Yes, I did.”
Kaz cleared his throat and stepped closer to me. “Calliope, I had no idea you were related to Christoph. I should have seen the connection the night Harper first feathered.”
I pressed my palms to my face and scrubbed, letting my fingers massage my hairline. A headache of epic proportions was brewing behind my forehead. “It’s okay, Kaz.”
“Granddaughter, do you have an extra bedroom I could use?”
I rolled my eyes behind my hands.
“Can you prove you’re related to our mom?” Harper shouldered his younger brother to the side and planted himself in front of Christoph.
My grandfather—the bird-man—stood taller and appraised Harper slowly, from the top of his head to his feet. “For this moment, you will have to take my word, Harper. You have the gift of flight. Would you like to learn how to use the wings that are waiting to break free?”
Harper’s gaze wobbled side to side. He unbuttoned his dress shirt, slid the shirt off his shoulders to his elbows, and turned. “Are you telling me these will turn into wings?”
Christoph took one step closer to Harper, hesitated, then placed his palms and fingers against the reddened area near Harper’s upper spine and the backs of his shoulders. Harp’s chin dropped, tension eased out of his body, and my grandfather closed his eyes and chanted until the follicles disappeared.
“They will turn into wings when you are ready, great-grandson. The choice is yours to make.” He lifted his hands from Harper’s skin and repositioned the shirt over his shoulders. “You should know you are in possession of a rare gift.”
Harper turned and focused on buttoning his shirt. “I’ll take that into consideration,” he said. “Right now, I just…” He pressed his fingertips against his eyes, unable to stop the tears. He shook me off when I reached for his arm and fled to the stairs and the sanctuary of his room.
“Great-grandpa?” Thatch glanced at the ceiling and back to Christoph. “Please don’t leave. You can have my room. Harp’ll be okay. He’s just really kind of fucked up about our dad right now. And the feathers.” Thatcher wrapped his arms around Christoph’s chest in a quick, tight embrace and ran up the stairs.
“Dad? Papa? I need to talk to Harper before we leave,” said Leilani.
James and Mal nodded.
“James will help me get Josiah and Garnet
