Darkest Misery by Tracey Martin Page A

calling.
    â€œJess, honey, do you want to explain to me why the cops are keeping an eye on me?”
    â€œHuh?” Shoving the uniform aside, I sat and turned on my computer. “What happened?”
    Sirens wailed in the background. Given the time, my mom was probably on her lunch break. The doctor’s office she worked at was adjacent to a hospital. “An officer stopped by the house this morning before I left. He said they’d been contacted by the Boston Gryphon Office and instructed to be alert. They were letting me know why I’d be seeing more frequent patrols or something to that effect.”
    Wow, so Tom must have actually done something when I’d told him I wanted my family protected. It wasn’t Gryphons watching over her, but Gryphons were in short supply. This was better than nothing.
    â€œIt’s a cautionary thing. I’m working on a…” How did I explain this quickly yet honestly? “A kind of high-profile case.”
    She sighed. She hadn’t wanted me to be a Gryphon because of the danger, so to be putting her in danger too… “What sort of case? Have there been threats?”
    Oh, just the end of the world as we know it. There was nothing she could do to protect herself from that. “No threats. I asked for the precautions because I’m paranoid. The case is kind of hard to explain.” Or to believe, for some people.
    â€œI see. I need to get back to work. Is there anything else you should tell me?”
    I rested my head on my hands. Only that the Gryphons had turned me into a satyr and I’d been lying to her about my life since I turned eighteen.
    I’d done it to protect her. I mean, who wanted to hear these things about their daughter? She’d be horrified and outraged, and she’d probably cry if she knew half of what I’d neglected to mention over the years. Yet as I ran my fingers over the uniform, I feared my time to come clean and tell her everything was running out. I guess I’d assumed I could lie to her my whole life.
    Only now, my whole life didn’t feel like it might be as long as I’d once believed. And it might well end in a way I could never have predicted. Suddenly, perhaps because of that, I felt like I owed it to her to confess. She deserved the truth.
    Except here and now weren’t the time. I just wished I knew when I’d get another opportunity.
    â€œJess? You there?”
    â€œThere’s a lot I should tell you.” My voice quivered a touch. Damn it. I grabbed a sip of water and sat upright. “I’ll call you when I get a chance. Maybe this weekend.”
    â€œAll right. You do that. Take care, honey.”
    â€œYou too. Love you.”
    The hairs on my neck rose as I hung up, and I jumped, sensing someone was watching me. It was Tom. Figured. He must have been in a decent mood because I couldn’t detect any negativity.
    â€œSo you do have a softer side?”
    I flipped him off. “Even I have a mother who worries.”
    â€œOh, yes. Did the police contact her?”
    â€œThat’s why she called. Thank you.”
    He nodded and motioned toward the uniform, which was sitting in a heap. “You should change before the meeting this afternoon. In the meantime, why don’t you meet Theo to finish your glyphs, then come find me and Ingrid.”
    â€œAbout the uniform? I’m not wearing it.”
    Tom’s decent mood drained away, and I could taste annoyance settling in its place. “Why not?”
    â€œI’m not a Gryphon. Seems disingenuous for me to wear a uniform.”
    â€œYou are a Gryphon. You might not have been formally inducted into the organization, and Director Lee might have only hired you as a consultant, but we can fix that. You and the others were always intended to be Gryphons.”
    â€œThen how come you never mentioned this before? Why am I only finding out about it before we go marching into a meeting