Page 67 of My Guardian Gryphon

To Veil? My eyebrows weren’t the only ones in the group that shot up to full mast.

“When…how…” Eira asked the question all of us wanted to know.

“Soon.”

The raven-haired vampire turned to her Elvin mate with a question on her lips, but no words spilled from them. The Elf didn’t respond, either, but there was a mutual understanding that passed between them. They all shared a secret.

The only way home right now was with one of the daggers of Orin, which meant they’d gotten their hands on the one that had opened the portal and allowed Diana to pass through to the world of Earth.

“Miles, you can’t leave us,” Jared said, his voice rough and gravelly. “We’ve fought side by side with you for centuries. We owe Rose and Eli more than a cowardly retreat.”

“Eira, Killían,” Miles said, his voice calm and less emotional than it had been only moments before. “Please take Diana inside. I don’t want her in the open.” He kissed Diana on the top of her white-blond hair and sent her inside with the Eira and her Elvin mate. Both women had rounded bellies, and every male in the castle would die before they allowed a single blow from the battle coming to darken the door where the two mothers-to-be were staying.

“We will not leave you, Jared, but we are leaving. Rose is gone, and this fight has already taken my brother.”

“A lot of us have died.” A male Lycan I didn’t know by name stepped forward. “I’ve lost two brothers and several cousins. Loss is not yours solely to claim.”

Heat flared from Miles, and his eyes showed the Drakonae fire burning within them. “Will your loss turn you into a raging murderous beast with no soul that lives only to kill everything in its path? That is what will happen if I or Diana falls. You will be saddled with a full-sized Dragon that hates all living things on the face of the Earth.”

The Lycan didn’t respond, but he did step back into the quiet ranks where his kind had gathered in the corner. Mikjáll stepped up to the altar of ice and laid a hand on the cold tomb.

“We can’t stay here. We’re trapped and cornered. This castle will be a tomb for us all if we do.” Mikjáll pressed his forehead to the ice and then moved to stand at his father’s side, his tone solemn and filled with finality. “There are too many to carry to the portal. Not enough of them fly. We’re not like Xerxes, aided by an army of teleporting psychopaths.”

“Not all the Djinn are evil. I’m not leaving without Manda,” Jared spoke again, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “She deserves a chance.”

“Because she didn’t die in your fire?” Mikjáll shot back, a flash of anger bright in his gaze. “That shouldn’t earn her anything. According to what I’ve heard, she has enough betrayals under her belt to deserve anything coming her way.”

Jared snarled and his eyes burned. The ice surrounding him melted to water, and the frost on the closest walls turned liquid and ran into puddles on the stones of the courtyard floor.

“Enough,” I growled. “Even now, he’s winning, turning us against each other. Getting you to abandon people you’ve spent centuries protecting—”

“What about Sochi’s child? That monster still has her. You promised to help us.” A small slip of a woman, holding a sleeping baby in her own arms, stepped forward, Riza—the Kitsune who’d been rescued during our mission to save Charlie. Her dark eyes flashed. “Like the Gryphon says, how can you just leave? There are so many who still need your help. Without Drakonae, how do we stand a chance against that madman? You would abandon us all to die, one slow death at a time.”

“One mistake,” Miles said, his tone soft but sharp. “One more mistake. One slip turns my mate into a homicidal killer. You and everyone in this castle would die. She would either eat you or encase you in an icy tomb. Xerxes has already shown his hand. He possesses dragon steel and was crafty enough to surprise my brother. Do you really want me to take that chance with your life, with the lives of everyone seeking sanctuary in this fortress?” He waved his hand at the large group of Lycans standing next to a huddled group of Sisters. “What choices do I have? Leave now and pray that you survive, or risk being Xerxes next target and die knowing my mate will kill all of my closest friends?”

“Diana, stop. Please.” Eira’s voice cut across the courtyard.

Diana returned to Miles’ side. Her tall, silvery figure cut a breathtaking view against the snow and ice backdrop. Her hair was the color of the snow, and her silver dress shimmered with iridescence. Calliope had made it especially for her, and it was stunning. Fit for the queen she had been and the queen I knew she would be again one day.

Her bright blue eyes blazed with a white fire exclusive to Drakonae born as ice-breathers. “We can’t leave our friends, Miles,” Diana said, standing next to her mate. “There’s no way we can get them all out. So that option is invalid, and I know we said we’d leave if Rose was ever lost, but we can’t.” She shook her head. “They are all right. Perhaps our home is Veil, but your heart belongs here in this town. I haven’t been here long, but I already love these people.” Diana waved her had across the mismatched crowd. “These are our people, our family. If we can’t take them home when we go, who will stand with us against the Incanti? I know better than to believe an army is waiting for our return, to help us storm the city of Orin and take back what belongs to us.”

Miles slipped an arm around his mate and stared at her round belly for several long, silent moments before looking up and meeting my gaze then, and the waiting hopefulness of everyone in the courtyard. He rubbed his hand over the stubble on his chin and sighed—still not convinced. Still at war over protecting his mate versus risking everything to save the town and the people of Sanctuary.

The soft crunch of shoes on fresh snow drew my focus from Miles’ battle of indecision. My chest heaved, pain twisted through my gut. I wanted to rush to her side, but I didn’t. My skin itched, and my Gryphon paced, groaning and growling with anger. She shouldn’t be out here. She should be safe beneath the surface of this stone fortress. Hell, we all should. We shouldn’t be standing beneath a dome of ice, discussing our plans like we had a chance, Drakonae or not. I’d seen what Xerxes had. We didn’t have a shot in fucking hell if he came at us with his full force.

Gretchen moved slowly from behind the group of Sisters with Javier walking a few paces after her. Astrid stepped forward to stop her, but Javier threw the Oracle a snarl that stopped her dead in her tracks. He might be known as the asshole Protector, but he was an asshole on our side, and I was damn glad.

“Gretchen?”

She straightened and turned to face the group, standing at my shoulder but not touching. It would’ve taken so little effort to lean an inch to the right and brush my arm against hers. She was so close I could feel the warmth from her skin. Our hearts synced up in seconds, and I breathed a small sigh of gratitude. I could be what she needed. I’d promised to be what she needed, no matter what.

“We have to fight. We can’t let him win. If you go to your world, he will follow you. Maybe not today, maybe not for a hundred years, but he will come, and he will use us to create a race of Lamassu that will help him achieve that goal. He will be stronger than ever before.”

“We have the only key on this side of the portal. He’ll have no way to get through once we go and take it with us.”

“You don’t think he has Djinn guarding the portal? Lycans? Witches? What else does he have that you don’t know about?”

Miles’ mouth gaped open for a split second and then snapped shut.

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