Page 33 of My Guardian Gryphon

“I don’t want you to be miserable for the rest of your life. I have no idea if we’re genetically compatible. I can’t give you what you want. What we both want.”

“What’s that?”

“Children.”

“What if I just want you?” Her eyes widened, and she leaned backward, toward the windowpane again.

“You’d be lying to yourself and to me. I’ve heard you talk about your kids, about naming them, playing with them. You wouldn’t be happy with just me. Perhaps you would convince yourself of that for a while, but soon resentment would fester. Then there’s the entire issue of going against the Sentinel’s rules. And you can’t say fuck her rules, because we both know they are necessary or they wouldn’t exist. She’s not heartless.”

“Oh, no? What kind of race enchants a group of women, knowing it will take thousands of years and generations to fulfill a single prophecy, but meanwhile they have to live in hiding and with the fear of being stolen by a madman?”

The door behind us flew open, and Rose stomped in, preceded by a wave of magickal energy that nearly put my ass on the floor.

“You can be together on one condition, Gretchen.” Rose’s voice held an edge of promise mixed with manipulation. I’d heard this tone before.

“You would let us?” Hope bloomed in Gretchen’s tone, like a field of blossoms on an early summer day. “Be together?”

“You participate in the joinings. Get pregnant, and during the pregnancy you can be with Alek. That is my compromise, and the only one you’re going to get. Alek is wrong. He could give you what you want, but it is not allowed. A supernatural baby born with the abilities of the Sisters would be catastrophic to this world. That kind of power would corrupt even the kindest of hearts.”

My heart both broke and soared at Rose’s words. He could give you what you want. I could have a child with Gretchen. The rest didn’t matter. Rose was worrying about something nearly impossible. A child born in a loving family wouldn’t turn evil. Supernaturals existed all over this world with unbelievable powers, and they didn’t slaughter everyone in their path.

Gretchen jumped up from the window seat and took a step toward Rose. “You lied to me.”

Rose barely reacted, looking down at Gretchen’s fuming face. “It was necessary.”

“Necessary,” Gretchen bit out, grinding her teeth. “Now look what else is necessary. I just have to do the one thing I don’t want to do. Let a stranger fuck me—then I can be with Alek. So there’s no chance of my baby being his. How can you give me a choice like that?”

“That is the only choice you will be given. The second you are pregnant, I won’t stand in your or Alek’s way. The magick in the House will remain at a deficit until more children are conceived and born. However, if you choose to continue not participating in the joinings, Alek will be banned from the castle. Permanently.”

A snarl ripped from my chest. My hands fisted, and I struggled to contain my outrage.

Rose moved her harsh gaze from Gretchen to me. “Astrid’s visions are blurry, unclear. The House must be at a certain power level to have usable visions. Gretchen must conceive to add to the collective reservoir of power. Only then will the Oracle be able to pinpoint where the next Protector will be found.”

Fuck.

I could have Gretchen…but only if she was pregnant by another fucking man. And I’d never be allowed to have a family with Gretchen, ever.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Chapter 14

GRETCHEN

I stared at Rose, not able to believe what I’d just heard.

You can be with Alek.

But I had to get pregnant first. Gods, he’d never want me after that…

“That isn’t a choice.” My voice croaked like I’d swallowed a toad.

“Oh, but it is. It solves everyone’s problems,” she said, her tone sticky and sweet like honey for a fly trap. “The House gains strength and you two get to enjoy this short-lived affair.” Rose turned her hard glare to Alek. “Once her baby is born, you will not be allowed to be together until she is pregnant again. You will only be allowed to see each other unsupervised if she is carrying a child. No more unsupervised visits to the library. Do you understand?”

Alek nodded, and I sucked in a quick breath. I had to have sex with a stranger, get pregnant, and then we’d be allowed to see each other.

“There are those here that would and could give you a family, Alek. Those that wouldn’t die a few decades later.”

Others? My heart constricted, caught between what I’d assumed to be true and now what I knew to be true. Would he choose to be with someone else? Would Rose’s lure work?

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