Page 24 of The Milliner and the Griffin Rider

Although my egg was recovered, the squad was not able to uncover the whole of the operation behind its theft. We believe those who remain have continued to abduct and misuse creatures of intelligence. They must be discovered and stopped.

“You want me to help with that?” Chloe’s voice came out as a squeak. Not because she didn’t want to help—she just had no idea how.

It is the only way. Sage sounded a little too eager, as if she hadn’t sought hard for another alternative.

Chloe looked at her warily as the griffin continued to outline her plan.

The squad has concluded that someone must have asked you for the egg. They cannot believe that you came up with the scheme on your own.

Chloe’s heart lifted. Had it been the griffins who insisted as much, or did Harrison still retain some belief in her?

You will hand over the egg to this person. Then you and I will follow and see where the egg is taken. She shook herself, feathers rustling, a clear look of pride on her face. Ranger said I am best for the task since I am the smallest.

Chloe nodded eagerly, no thought of caution in her mind. Harrison believed in her enough to set her this task. He was giving her a chance to prove that she didn’t mean any harm to the griffins—to take back the mistake she had nearly made.

“Let me get my hat,” she said, whirling to retrieve both a hat and a light cloak. It was dark out, and the spring nights had started to grow cool.

Sage managed to back out of the workroom without causing too much more chaos, and Chloe locked the door behind them with eager hands. They should be able to reach Gannon’s office through backstreets, hopefully avoiding too much attention along the way. Sage might have been the smallest of the griffins, but she was still a beautiful and unusual creature—at least in the streets of Everard.

The cobblestones disappeared beneath their feet, and before Chloe could believe they were there, they were ducking into a side alley two buildings down from Gannon’s office. If he had already departed for his home, she would have to think of a way to discover his address.

Her nose wrinkled at the idea of approaching him in his home. But she wasn’t alone. Sage’s sturdy, intimidating presence lent her strength.

When she approached his office door, however, a light burned behind his window despite the lateness of the hour. She cradled the satchel carefully in one hand as she knocked on the door.

The seconds ticked away, and she started to wonder if Gannon had left a lamp burning when he left. But at last the door was pulled open, and Gannon glared down at her from inside the room.

His face transformed as he took in her identity, his gaze focusing on the satchel in her arms.

“You’ve got it?” he breathed, naked greed in his eyes.

Chloe swallowed and nodded, the arm around the satchel tightening. She knew she was acting on the griffins’ instructions, but reluctance lingered now that the moment had actually come to hand it over.

“I’ve been hearing some rumors about you.” Gannon’s eyes didn’t leave the satchel. “You turned out to be far more effective at gaining access to the griffins than I hoped.”

“Don’t think I’ll help you again,” Chloe snapped. “I want your signature and our mortgage in my pocket before I hand this over.”

His eyes finally moved to her face, and she tried to look fierce and strong. He merely smiled in amusement.

“Of course. Wait here.” He stepped back inside, and she waited with rising impatience as he rummaged around inside the room.

She had made the demand in an attempt to sell the performance—if she handed the egg over too easily, Gannon might grow suspicious. But as he leaned over a desk to sign a piece of paper, she was hit by a startling thought. He was about to hand over their mortgage—fully signed off and paid. She had been so focused on averting catastrophe that she hadn’t stopped to consider the result of success. The two girls had expected to spend years paying off the mortgage from their profits, but now the entire debt would be wiped clean.

And Gannon couldn’t take back the signed mortgage once the night was over. Chloe had done what he had demanded. She had given him a griffin egg. What happened after that had nothing to do with her debt. If he was running an illegal operation to capture and abuse griffins and other creatures of intelligence, then the egg would be confiscated. But that was quite separate from their deal.

Chloe’s breath caught in something close to a sob as Gannon returned, handing her the document. She scanned it, but everything seemed to be in order. No matter what happened next, Maddie’s business was safe. As were Chloe’s sisters. Even if something terrible happened to Chloe, Maddie would bring the girls to Everard, Chloe was sure of it. And she would buy out Chloe’s half of the building too. Even if that had to be done in small payments, as they had originally been making toward the mortgage. Chloe’s sisters could live on those payments for years.

But Chloe’s dreams had grown bigger. She didn’t just want to run a successful business and bring her sisters to Everard any more. She wanted to soar through the skies as a griffin rider. And she wanted to regain Harrison’s trust.

By handing over the egg, she had achieved her old dream. What came next would determine her ability to achieve her new dream.

She handed over the egg, her hand shaking only slightly. Gannon snatched the satchel eagerly from her, peering in at the egg. When he looked up and nodded, she fled, stuffing the signed mortgage into her pocket as she ran.

Looking over her shoulder, she checked Gannon had already disappeared back inside before she ducked into the side alley where Sage waited.

“He’ll want to get the egg somewhere safe and warm as quickly as possible,” she muttered to the griffin. “So we shouldn’t have to wait too long. I just hope he doesn’t mean to take it to his home for now. Hopefully he’ll want it somewhere more secure, given how illegal it is for him to have it.”

As she had predicted, they only had to wait minutes before a heavily cloaked Gannon reappeared, the satchel slung over his shoulder.