Interlude 6: LANDON

"Having the right information is where you'll have an advantage and I can help you there, kid," Charlie continues from next to Landon in the car. "Other than Shaldorn and the wyverns coming from Mexico, who you've got to get on your side, there's the Hippogriff of Detroit, the Chimera of Chicago, the Manticore of Montreal, the Kelpie of Huston and the Phoenix of Phoenix."

"Emerin?" Landon's face lights up with a ferocious gleam. "Emerin's coming?"

"I don't like that look..." Charlie says.

"That Phoenix and I go way back." He laughs deep in his throat.

"So what if you used to be friends with the Phoenix, the rest of them will be searching for your weakness."

"I don't have a weakness," Landon says dismissively, rolling his eyes to look through the window while his mind races. "That's exactly the problem. They distrust me so much because I'm dangerous."

Charlie cackles, smacking his short thigh. "Spoken like a true gryphon."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment. May I remind you, kid, that you're the very last of your kind? What other species of monster is dumb enough to go extinct?"

Landon's anger flares up, making the air inside the car crackle with heat. There's a hum of fiery danger rumbling beneath the sound of the engine.

"Keep it down back there," Dianne hisses from the wheel. "Or else."

"For now," Landon says in a low voice.

"What?" Charlie's voice is weak.

"I'm the last of my kind, for now," he says, but then something catches his eye and he straightens up in his seat. "Stop the car," he commands.

There she goes, head held high, auburn ponytail dancing as she walks. What brings her here just when he's thinking about all the possibilities she has in store? Providence? Coincidence?

It doesn't matter, not in the least.

Landon's lips curve into a small, excited smile.

He doesn't wait for Dianne to even slow down, he opens the door and leaps out of the moving vehicle, landing lightly on the balls of his feet on the pavement right behind her.