Chapter 17

Griffin smiled. “Plays into your fascination with the fanciful. And here’s your bear.” He took a crystal bear that stood about three inches tall from the box. “And a fox.”

Daniel grinned. “Maybe they come to life at night and go play in the forest.”

“Somehow I doubt that crystal animals can shape shift into real ones, as captivating as the idea may be.”

“Cynic.”

“Realist. It’s a nice fairytale, but that’s all.”

“Maybe I’ll do a painting with that as the theme.” Daniel continued putting out the paperweights, stopping several times to hold one up to the sunlight coming through the window, admiring the way it lit them up. “And the last one.” He smiled, handing it to Griffin. “Your namesake.” It was another crystal animal—a griffin, seated on its haunches, wings outspread.

“Exquisite detailing,” Griffin said, tracing the lines of the eagle head and then the mane separating the head from the lion body. “Very regal.”

“It’s yours, if you want it,” Daniel told him.