Page 68 of The Protective Gryphen

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing inside.

Gryphen moved over and peeked inside, almost expecting to see bones.

Thankfully, that one was empty.

“It looks like pages of something very old,” Gryphen said.

That’s when he knew what was about to go down, and he didn’t like it.

“And you’re going to ask me to get it for you, aren’t you?” he asked.

Ian stared at him.

Was he crazy?

“I wasn’t going to ask you to jump down in there. I was going to go myself, but I was going to ask if you could pull me out if I got stuck. You would pull me out if I was in there, right?”

Yep.

He was crazy.

“Well, I sure as hell am not leaving my boyfriend in a crypt in the basement of a castle owned by my boss. Of course, I’m pulling you out!”

Ian actually laughed.

“You think I’m insane, don’t you?” he asked.

Well, the thought had crossed his mind a few times since coming deep into this area.

“Yes, but I think you like a mystery, and if Elizabeth was here, she’d jump in and ask me AFTER the fact if I could pull her out. So…go ahead. I can get you out.”

There were spider webs, but Ian wasn’t afraid of spiders.

Only, he was curious.

“Does that look like a solid bottom to you? It’s not going to give way and I end up in some well where I die, right?”

Gryphen picked up a stone and dropped it in. They heard and saw it hit.

Only, the thought of losing Ian…

That was something Gryphen couldn’t handle. He wasn’t built to cling to the side of a crypt.

“I’ll go,” Gryphen said.

Again, there was another thing that he never thought he’d think he’d say. Scotland was really causing him to make questionable choices.

“You don’t have to…”

He stopped him.

“I’ve been in worse places,” he admitted. “At least the bodies are out of it this time,” he added.

Ian stared at him.

Was he kidding?

Sometimes he couldn’t tell with Gryphen.

---