Page 13 of My Guardian Gryphon

My jaw caught Jared’s fist, and a haphazard pattern of white stars skittered across my line of sight. The fucking Phoenix could really hit hard. I shook my head and rubbed my jaw, shaking off the blow.

“Fuck,” I growled under my breath.

I rotated and swiveled, changing angles, raising my fists. Jared backed off, but my quick jab forward and then an uppercut caught a solid hit to his gut.

“Better,” he said, his voice wheezing while a painful smile curved his face.

He took a step toward me on the soft blue mats, faking right then left then right again before striking home.

Fucking hell!

“I never get you this good, man. Something’s got you off your game.” Jared rolled his neck and raised his eyebrows. He backed off, rose out of his crouched fighting stance, and stared at me with that brotherly look that said he was about to put his foot in my business. “You need to get laid?”

I roared, barely reigning in my beast. Breathing deeply, I halted my body, flexing my hands to fists at my sides. If I changed inside our small back-office sparring area, my wings would tear up the ceiling and my claws would decimate our padded mats.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, no need for that.” His tone was light, but his eyes burned with his Phoenix fire, prepared to put me on the ground if I went that far. I might be in the worst mood I’d dealt with in centuries, but the threat of his fire made my beast take pause.

There was truth in his accusation. I actually couldn’t remember the last time I’d been with a woman…it hadn’t mattered and I hadn’t gone looking, but now—now that I knew I’d been bottling up feelings for Gretchen…

Heaving a sigh, I let my shoulders slump forward. How did this happen? How had I let myself fall for the child who’d made me smile fifteen years ago? Who’d continued to warm the heart in my chest I’d considered long dead?

“There’s no way out of the proverbial grave I’ve dug.” I crossed the room and took a long swig from my water bottle. Sweat dripped from my forehead. The two-hour sparring session was supposed to clear my head. Instead, I was sore, and I found my thoughts even more focused on Gretchen. On what caring about her meant for my life.

“Really? Is it someone I know?”

I shrugged. He’d probably met Gretchen at one point. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not an option, no matter how many different ways I look at the situation.”

Jared took a long drink from his bottle of water, giving me an appraising eyeball-glare for the duration. “You can’t go back to the library, man.”

My stomach threatened to upchuck everything inside. Fuck. “How did you figure it out that fast?”

“I can’t remember the last time you got some pussy, but you go see that damn girl in the Blackmoor’s library every fucking day.” He took a step closer. “You’re going to piss off Rose. Where will that leave us?”

I didn’t have an answer to that question. My normally strategic thought patterns had locked into a formation that refused to do anything but spiral around Gretchen. How beautiful and grown-up she was… How had I not noticed that until just now? How I wanted to flay any man who dared lay a hand on her.

My entire existence centered on spending time with her or taking care of the town or doing something Rose needed done. Somehow she had become more. More than just the girl I told about history. More than the girl I read books to.

So much more.

“I can’t stop thinking about her. Since I left the library today, she’s been on a loop in my brain.”

“Why today? What changed?”

“There were people talking about her. About how she was going to have to pick a man for the joining this weekend. They were mad that she’d been avoiding it.” I glanced up at Jared, hoping to hear the advice I wanted instead of the advice I needed.

“Why would she avoid her destiny? Is she interested in you?” He stalked closer. “Have you already taken her?”

I snarled again. “I’ve done nothing. I just realized I didn’t want her to choose another and… I don’t know what to do next.”

“Nothing, brother.” He stepped closer and laid a gloved hand on my shoulder. “You can’t act on this. They are the Sisters. We protect them, not fuck them, and think about it, she’s human-ish. Even if you were granted permission to be with her, she’d grow old and die in a few short decades. Why put yourself through that?”

“She would be worth… she is worth every moment.” The last fifteen years were fleeting in comparison to the life I’d already lived, but it didn’t matter. Even if I only got another fifteen, I’d still show up every day to be with her.

“But you can’t go against Rose. This would break the very foundation of the trust she’s put into you. If she came at you, I’d fight. You know that. If she told you to leave, I’d leave with you.”

“I know.”

We’d been together since escaping the Veil. Our friendship had been forged in fire and steel and pain thousands of years ago. Like many others, we’d gone through the portal. But unlike the hundreds who’d crossed that day for the last time, we knew our families were dead, burned alive by Incanti fire. Their screams would forever haunt my sleep the same as they haunted Jared’s. Both our families had served the Blackmoor royal line for generations. Once we’d heard Miles and Eli Blackmoor lived and served a Lamassu, we’d sought out Rose and joined.

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