Page 16 of My Guardian Gryphon

GRETCHEN

I slipped from my room the next morning, trying desperately to avoid being seen by any of the Sisters or the men who had stayed the night. Midmorning breakfast had already been served, but I wasn’t hungry. The only thing that mattered to me was making it through one more night without choosing someone. Without being forced to choose someone. Not that they would physically force me. They wouldn’t, but my life would become increasingly unbearable until I chose to follow through on my own.

“Morning, Gretchen,” said May, her voice bright and shiny like sunlight reflecting on a dew drop. The child was barely eight years old, if that. I couldn’t remember exactly. She was so happy, so content. Not burdened yet with the destiny that struggled to choke me, but since she’d learned to speak, she’d always been at peace. She was wise beyond her years, and Arlea knew her niece was truly the most gifted in the castle—just too young to serve as the official Oracle.

“Morning, May,” I said, keeping my tone level and cheery. The last thing I needed was her running to her mother and tattling anything about me. The Oracle of the House of Lamidae was May’s aunt. Even May herself had experienced visions of a so-called Protector, and they’d come true. Eira had joined Sanctuary with Killían, and we were only two Protectors away from fulfilling the prophecy. From freeing ourselves completely.

Thankfully, May didn’t press me for more interaction. She kept going down the hallway in one direction, and I continued in the other. My only goal was to get upstairs to the second level and into the library.

The library was safe. It was rare for anyone to go in on the weekend. The Blackmoor’s closed it to the town when the club was active. The books were contraband, illegal to own. Not that any of the humans would remember seeing it if they did wander through. The vampires made sure they remembered nothing about Sanctuary, except their desire to return for more sex.

Even if someone did come in, no one would see me. It was easy to stay hidden until they left. The room was huge and filled with at least a dozen rows of bookshelves, not to mention a half-dozen reading nooks.

I’d stay there all day if need be. Alek and I didn’t usually meet until after lunch, but I wanted nothing to do with anyone else today. Not the Sisters, not the Blackmoor’s, nobody but Alek.

Very few of the Sisters were up and moving around after the joinings last night. Mostly I saw children, a few of the pregnant Sisters, and a couple of the more elderly who no longer participated in the sacred weekend coupling. If you asked me, the supernaturally overwhelming urge to procreate really sucked—a colloquialism I’d picked up from an old novel, but it sounded appropriate in this instance.

I skirted the edge of the rooms, slinking through the kitchen and pausing only long enough to grab an apple from the basket on the counter. No one stopped me. No one asked me why I wasn’t curled up in my room with a man trying to get pregnant.

The whole process would start again this evening. Once again, I would be faced with having to hide my feelings and reasons for not wanting to participate. I was the Sister everyone talked about and was disappointed in, but it didn’t matter to me how much they gossiped. I knew my future lay with Alek. I’d seen it, and I would never forget it. No matter how hard my body screamed for a baby, I wanted Alek’s love and devotion more.

The castle was quiet. My soft footsteps echoed down the marble-floored halls. The stone walls carried sound the full length of the castle walks. If anyone was listening, they would hear me, but no one came. No one appeared to stop me from reaching my destination.

I pushed open the heavy glass French door and slipped through into the library. My senses were flooded with the musty scent of books, and it took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the soft lamplight. The couch where he typically sat, waiting for my arrival, was empty. I was early though, very early.

Strolling toward the couch where the copy of Antony and Cleopatra lay undisturbed, I sat down and leaned back into the cushions, inhaling his lingering scent. Spice. Musk. Male. My body quaked from the inside out. Nothing was more important to me than finding a way to be with Alek. I touched the book he’d held yesterday, closed my eyes, and slowed my breathing. The vision came—pulling me deeper into the trance I sought.

The air was foggy at first. Then clear. Alek and I were sprawled across a bed—perhaps his. I’d never seen his home. The sheets were twined around us, and I could feel the heat of his body on my skin like I was right there next to him instead of watching like a spirit yanked from its corporeal form. He kissed my neck. My lips. My cheeks. Soft and tender. Every touch was purposeful and loving. I was his. He was mine. We belonged to each other. We were happy. Joy permeated every moment of the vision.

I pulled my hand away from the book, drew in a deep breath, and then opened my eyes. The vision of us together had come to me almost seven years ago, a few days before I would’ve participated in my first joining.

From that moment forward, I’d done everything to avoid that fate. Even when I’d been attracted to the male visitors—desired them—strangers in my bed weren’t my destiny. No matter how loudly my body ached for a baby, I would not succumb to something less than what destiny herself had taken the time to show me over and over and over.

I grabbed one of the couch throw pillows and hugged it to my chest, taking another deep breath of Alek’s comforting scent. The human males that visited the castle didn’t have a distinct trace like many of the supernatural ones. I could always tell who was around, whether they were Lycan or Vampire or Drakonae. Even Jared, Alek’s friend, had a very unique and pleasant fragrance. The female supernaturals had unique smells, too. The pixies that frequented the club part of castle smelled like the vanilla sugar scrub I used every day in the bath.

“Gretchen?” Diana’s crisp voice filtered into the dimly-lit library like a stream of sunlight.

“Yes, ma’am.” I opened my eyes quickly and stood from the small couch before turning toward the beautiful blond woman Alek and Jared both referred to as their queen—snøen mor. I’d asked him once what the words meant. He told me it was a title of honor bestowed on her for feeding the hungry children of her kingdom. That it meant Snow Mother.

Diana’s belly was rounded, and her alabaster skin glowed pink, unusual since she typically leaned toward a more bluish hue. Unlike her mates, Miles and Eli, who were fire-breather Drakonae and heated up a room just by entering, Diana was an ice-breather. And had quite the opposite effect on the air around her—cooling the humid Texas air in an instant and often making it snow in the middle of a sunny day, much to the delight of the children in the town.

“You look well, Lady Blackmoor,” I said, using the title her husbands had requested all the Sisters use to address their mate.

“It’s been so warm lately. These babies are like carrying glowing hearthstones inside me.” Her comment about the babies distracted me from my dreams. Alek would be here soon. The clock on the wall to my right read just past noon—I’d slept for several hours.

“Have you had anyone try to see them?” I asked, running my sweaty palms along the skirt of my white linen dress. If I could keep her talking about the babies, perhaps I could avoid the conversation concerning why I was napping in her library.

“Please feel free if you like, but don’t tell me what you see. Several of the Sisters have seen them as you say, but I only ask that you keep it a secret. I want to be surprised.” Her bright, hope-filled tone carried into her wide smile.

I approached slowly, reaching a hand toward her stomach. Trying to get a vision from a single baby was difficult, but Diana was pregnant with triplets. My fingers touched her round belly, and I jumped in surprise. Spots were warm and spots were cold.

“Your skin... Even through your dress.” I couldn’t hide the astonishment in my voice.

Amusement sparkled in her ice-blue eyes. “I’m quite sure at least one of them is an ice-breather like me.”

A second later a vision filled my mind.

Joy and pain mixed with anger. Some emotions belonged to Diana, and some belonged to the babies. Visions of death and new life mixed with love and romance. Two male Drakonae, eyes blazing with flame, stood out in front of a crowd of hundreds of warriors of all different races. Another, a female with silver-white hair, stood apart from the two leaders. Another man stood behind the female— a large figure hidden in shadow. He wasn’t a Drakonae. Something else.

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