Free The Conduit (Gryphon Series) by Stacey Rourke Page A

again.”
    “See, that’s where you’re wrong.” He pressed his forehead against the window pane.
    “What? Of course Dad would want us to be happy.”
    “No, that it was an accident.”
    I choked on a shocked, humorless laugh. “He was hit by a car during a routine rescue. How can that be perceived as anything other than an accident?”
    His anger reignited . He spun on me. “Because he didn’t have to be there! He knew he had a family at home that needed him, but he didn’t even stop to consider us before he strolled out into the street to save a guy that he didn’t even know!”
    I softened my voice to mask my brewing anger. “It was his job, Gabe. He was an EMT. What was he supposed to do? Let the guy die?”
    “If he had, he’d still be alive. And I needed him here because I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t ready for any of this!” Gabe waved his arms in the air in a broad gesture.
    “Any of what?”
    “To be the man of the family! As soon as that title was given to me, look what I did. Look at how I screwed it up. I’m a failure because I wasn’t ready. If Dad had just walked away…” Gabe’s rant trailed off. He stared at the wall instead of me. His chestnut eyes glossed over with tears he was too proud to shed. I wanted to comfort him but didn’t dare touch him. I knew he’d bristle at any act that threatened to expose his vulnerability in any way.
    I twisted my hands in my lap as I sought out the right words. “If he had walked away, he wouldn’t have been able to live with himself. That’s just who he was.”
    “Because we weren’t enough for him.” Gabe rubbed his hand over his head and donned his best “unaffected-by-life” facial expression. His go-to façade to cover his pain. “He had to be the hero and get his name in the papers.”
    That was it. That was my limit. I felt bad for the pity party my brother was enduring, but I wasn’t going to let him rewrite history and paint our Dad as the villain. I stomped across the room toward my gigantic brother. At the sound of my heavy footfalls , he pivoted toward me. The sting of my unexpected slap snapped his head to the side and reddened his cheek.
    Tears rimmed my eyes , and I was fairly certain I was snotting on myself, but I was too angry to care. “The only paper he got his name in was his obituary. He was doing his job. What happened was a freak accident. He wasn’t thinking about leaving us behind. He was thinking about the man lying on that street and how much his family probably needed him.” I turned to leave the room and then paused at the doorway. “So you made a mistake, Gabe. No one holds it against you. We don’t think you’re a failure. But we will if you don’t grow a pair, get over it, and move on. Then maybe someday you’ll be half the man Dad was, and you’ll understand what it means to put other people first. Oh, and if you are doing steroids, knock it off. You’re scaring Grams.”
    With that I slammed the door.

     
     
    CHAPTER 11
     

     
    After that little episode, Gabe’s invitation to join me in the mountains had been revoked. And if he wasn’t going, I saw no point in dragging Ken dall along. I shoved supplies—a couple flashlights, bottled water, bug spray, matches, and a sweatshirt—into a backpack for a solo excursion. The feathered woman had answers. I was going to find her and learn how to stop the man-panther. Manther?
    Heaven help me!
    That’s the only way to describe the emotion that jolted through me. My hands white-knuckle-gripped my backpack, and I doubled over as a swirling, tumultuous mess of emotions slammed into me. The heavy heart of deep seeded humiliation. The outstretched compassion of sympathy. Gnawing isolation. Gut wrenching pain. One by one they came at me with a speed and strength that took my breath away.
    I didn’t have to reach out for these. They pounded into me like waves against a rocky shore line. I couldn’t stop them. Couldn’t hold them back. But I knew who they