WingSpan (Taken on the Wing Book 1) by Elizabeth Munro Page B

was each other.”
    Mark has to grab her before she falls over. Something is terribly screwed up for her if they were abandoned. Terribly, terribly screwed up.
    “Enough,” he insists, scooping her up in his arms and carrying her down the hall. She seems to weigh nothing and feels smaller and smaller with each step. Dear Lord, he’s not asking her another thing unless she brings it up.
    Jenn won’t lie down. Instead she curls into a ball against the headboard, barely allowing him to get a pillow behind her. He wraps himself around her, keeping everything away.

Chapter Ten

    By the time their dishes are put away the dryer is done. Mark folds her clothes, leaving them on the counter and is hanging her underwear over the shower rod when he’s interrupted by a loud thump on his roof.
    Why can’t gryphons knock on the damn door like everyone else?
    As he checks on Jenn the footsteps make their way in the other direction to the street out front. She’s lying down at least though it was a struggle. All he can see is her brown hair sticking out from under the blankets.
    A quick look past the living room curtains tells him his night isn’t about to get better.
    Torrent, royal heir to Talon’s adopted home eyrie in Jasper, stands in the street. With his wings extended he tries to exude every bit of intimidation his station lends him. Unfortunately the warrior in Torrent has never truly been tested; something about not embarrassing him or some other brilliant bullshit though Talon would love to forget that simple rule if only for a minute.
    Three hundred years of being a prick has left Torrent with little in the way of personality. His long black hair is loose and he wears nothing more than jeans.
    Talon pulls his boots on, already pissed. If he has to take wing he’ll have to tear off one of his favourite shirts to do it. Halfway down his stairs he’s distracted that Shadow is so far away even though the distance grants him some perspective on her feelings.
    As Talon steps onto the street Torrent spreads his wings further and beats them down, blowing up a cloud of fresh snow. It’s fucking cold enough for Talon already with his coat off and now even more snow clings to his skin.
    “Torrent,” Talon drops to one knee.
    “Cut the shit, Talon. You don’t mean it.”
    Talon shrugs, getting on his feet and jamming his cold hands in his pockets. Disrespect it is.
    “I guess if I hadn’t nailed your sister we could be friends,” Torrent goads.
    Talon’s reply is an insincere nod. He doesn’t understand what Feather saw in Torrent and why she made him swear to stay out of it.
    “Well, perhaps I can change that.”
    Not likely. The only things which keep Talon from running him off are his royal status and Feather’s wish he let their ‘thing’ go. He’d like nothing more than to tie Torrent’s wings in a bow and drop him from a building.
    “I’m listening, Torrent,” Talon grudgingly remembers his manners. “I should offer you the hospitality of my home.”
    “Indeed,” Torrent smirks. “I’ll keep it out here. You look cold.”
    A winged gryphon can survive any climate given sufficient protein and at the moment Talon isn’t winged. He’s relieved, however that Torrent isn’t getting near his mate.
    “My sire’s guard is aging, Talon,” he starts. “His right wing is retiring as are several others. Sire Sher extends his invitation to you to return to Jasper for consideration as a replacement.”
    Talon doesn’t do a very good job hiding his surprise and suspicion. Sher has led the Jasper Eyrie for several hundred years and his guard is known for their size. Torrent has four inches on Talon and wouldn’t make the height requirement himself. Also an invitation to serve would come from the Sire himself, not his son. And why now? Sher’s guard isn’t as old as Torrent makes it sound.
    “LIAR!”
    Talon flinches at Shadow’s volume. His hope of avoiding an altercation with Torrent is