Page 38 of My Guardian Gryphon

It didn’t matter. I still wanted her. Loved her. Even if she was completely human. Magick, supernatural, or alien, I would keep every precious day with her and treasure it like a rare diamond. There was no other and would never be another who touched my soul the way she did. In all my thousands of years of life, there had been no one like her.

The roar of a diesel engine vibrated through the air, and my muscles tensed. All the stress I’d released into the punching bag surged back along with even more. My vision reddened, and I forced myself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. My racing heartbeat slowed a little, and I stalked toward the door.

“Alek, this is not a good idea. You can’t do anything. She has to make the choice herself.”

“I can kill them all.”

“Alek,” Jared growled, his tone laced with irritation. He knew I wouldn’t kill anyone, but by the gods, I wanted to. I wanted to walk up to Harrison Bateman’s bus, climb aboard, and use my claws to eviscerate every single fucking male who’d had the nerve to come enjoy one of the Sisters. Any of the Sisters. Not just Gretchen.

The men were worthless human scumbags, paying to fuck and forget. They got to go back to their lives with no memory of their sins. They deserved to feel pain and fear and loss, but then I’d become the monster they feared. I’d be solidifying that they were right, that we were vicious animals to be hunted and killed.

I shoved the front door of our office open and stopped on the sidewalk. Miles exited behind me, but continued walking instead of stopping next to me. “Believe in her, Alek.” His voice was barely a whisper over his shoulder. He crossed the street to the green space and flat stone platform in the center of the town circle, and then continued across more street pavement to the front of the bus.

Jared came out to stand next to me while the Protectors escorted each male from the bus to the castle’s front door—influencing them to remember nothing of their human lives while inside the castle and then to remember nothing of their experiences outside the castle once they’d left. I’d heard the spiel before. I didn’t need to approach to know what was happening or be able to see the gray hairs on several of the human males’ heads. My eagle eyesight took care of that, zooming in like a powerful telephoto camera lens.

Most wore nice clothing—they were moneyed. They all looked clean. Of course Rose did a thorough background check and blood tests. Everything was checked and rechecked before they were even allowed onto the bus. Still my beast seethed. My skin tightened, and I felt the Gryphon press outward. They weren’t good enough for Gretchen.

None of them deserved to even lay eyes on her.

In Rose’s opinion, neither did I.

“I never thought I’d disagree with Rose. Or the plan to—”

“Get us home?”

I dragged in a deep breath. “Yes.”

“We’ve supported her a hundred percent since we joined this crazy caravan of supernaturals in the tenth century.”

“I know.”

“We wandered before that, never able to stay anywhere longer than a decade or so.” Jared’s voice held a tone of trepidation. “Should I plan to leave?”

He would leave for me. Abandon everything we’d both grown to love here. I couldn’t ask him to do that. I didn’t want to do it, either. “I don’t want to leave.” The answer was honest. Sanctuary was home. The citizens were family. Most of us had been together since Rose had helped the city of Genoa rebuild after it’d burned. It’d been a place we’d been safe from questions, thanks to the vampire Protectors influencing the townspeople by the droves. They were able to keep women from wondering why we never married and men from wondering why we didn’t age.

We stayed in Genoa until the 17th century when the French-Savoian army unsuccessfully invaded. Though they didn’t take the city down, the plague soon followed, and the House of Lamidae lost nearly half the Sisters before we could flee the city. None of us were susceptible, but the Sisters were…human.

“She’s human.” I whispered the words, realizing the significance of that fact for the very first time. I’d lose her so quickly.

“I know,” Jared answered. “And I know I called you crazy from the start, but if she’s your mate, you’ll never forgive yourself for letting her go.”

“I want to rip their faces off.” I curled my fingers into my palms, breathing deeply, willing the talons sprouting from my fingertips to recede. Warmth bathed my hand and I lifted them, opening my bloodied palms to the sky. The wounds healed within moments, but the blood remained. The reminder of what I was. The reminder of the beast I lived with day in and day out, that I knew almost nothing about.

“Removing faces would be a mistake.” Jared knocked shoulders with me. “Come on, I need you to go make rounds with me. After that last attack, I’ve started bringing food to the Batemans.” He held up a burlap grocery bag from Bella’s market. “Those two girls don’t eat enough. The spell they’ve created with their dad to encompass the town is slowly wearing them down. I know they’ve told Rose they can keep it up, but I have my doubts.”

I glanced toward my friend and nodded. Anything to distract my mind from the dark twisted thoughts about brutally murdering a bus full of horny human males was welcome. “What about Harrison? He doing okay with the stress?”

Shake it off, Alek. It’s her choice. Not yours.

Jared shrugged. We walked down sidewalk and turned off on a small side road. The Bateman’s house was just a few blocks down. I shifted my eyesight, allowing my beast’s supernatural sight to take full control. The magick pouring out of the Bateman house was invisible without supernatural aid, but even without looking, I could feel the waves of power. Amazing what three witches could do. The magick billowed upward from the small house, enveloping the town in an iridescent bubble of magick.

I stopped behind Jared on the porch. He knocked on the door, and Meredith Bateman answered it. Her naturally red hair, usually bright and curly, was dark and twisted sharply back and secured with a pin. Her alabaster skin was yellowish, and dark circles shadowed her tired eyes. Eyes that always had a smile for everyone. Not today. Today she looked like she was doing her best just to be alive.

“Meredith, Bella packed your favorites. She insisted you consume some of the chocolate promptly and in front of me.”

Something akin to a smile attempted to tug at the corners of Meredith’s mouth. “You guys don’t have to fuss so much.”

“Sweetheart, if your sister looks anything like you do, we need to fuss over you more. When was the last time your father pulled a shift?” Jared pulled a small gold box from the bag and opened it. “Eat. Now.”

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