Page 23 of My Guardian Gryphon

Even as I spoke the words, dread filled my gut. I didn’t know exactly what made our visions come and go through the years, but I had an inkling from listening to the older Sisters talk that each and every one of us was very important.

“No supernatural is allowed to be with a Sister. If our DNA was compatible, I would be no better than a Lamassu, trying to create a more powerful race. The visions are contained within the House of Lamidae for a reason.”

“I don’t care.”

“Yes, you do.”

“No, I don’t. Nothing ever felt right to me until I met you. And then you left me.”

He rose from the floor, and all seven feet of his sadness and regret loomed depressingly over me like a thunderstorm about to pour. It couldn’t be that simple. There was more to life than the black-and-white destiny the Oracle, and Rose spouted day in and day out.

There was more to life than searching for a way to have a baby and continue my line. If I never had a child, I could live with that. Right? The emotional pain of the thought tore through my heart, but if it meant I could be with Alek, I would bear the pain for as many years as Fate would gift us together. I knew I only had one lifetime, and I wanted to spend every waking moment of it in his arms. In his life.

I looked up, meeting his gaze once more, halting his backward retreat. “What if it was allowed?”

He shook his head, a mask of pain shadowed his face. “It is not.”

“But what if it was?” I pleaded for a tiny sliver of hope, something I could cling to. Something that might bring him back to me again.

“If it was allowed, Gretchen, I would take you in my arms again and never let you go. I would treasure you for as long as the Fates would allow. You would be mine.”

The last word twisted the sword in my gut. It wasn’t fair. He was mine. I was his. We were supposed to be together. I’d seen it over and over and over.

He took another step backward.

“Alek, please.” My voice cracked through the plea. I’d never begged for anything my entire life. But I would beg for him. I would crawl on my hands and knees. I’d do anything if it meant a chance for us.

He shook his head, slowly deciding our Fate for both of us. He wasn’t going to fight. He wasn’t going to beg or plead. I knew he wouldn’t. Alek was stoic and proud. He always did the right thing. Always followed the rules. Life was black-and-white for him. Why had I thought he’d change for me?

But I’d hoped he would.

Somehow, I had convinced myself that he’d drop everything he’d ever known, sweep me away from this stone prison and unwanted destiny, and save me.

“It is against the rules, Gretchen.”

“What rules, and who said specifically we couldn’t be together if we wanted to?”

His eyes darkened, sending shadows to dampen my hope. “It is common knowledge that Rose does not allow supernaturals to be with the Sisters. Why do you think so much trouble is gone to…to bring in…?”

He couldn’t say it, so I did it for him. “Studs?”

“Gretchen.” His tone highlighted his extreme discomfort with the topic.

“That’s what they are. We’re just cows. Here to breed and procreate and have visions that will fix something, but even we don’t really know how the prophecy will play out.” I stood, planting my hands on my hips, and sneered. “How about that for your black-and-white rules? The seers have never seen past a time when we were here. In this town. In this prison.”

“This is far from a prison. You are well taken—”

“We are stock, bred and birthed, and kept bowing to the almighty Rose’s every whim.” The anger in my voice turned venomous. Years of bottled-up frustration continued to pour out. “I’m nothing but a tool for her, and apparently, I’m nothing more than a distraction for you. We have a connection. I’ve felt it every day for the last fifteen years. Every time we’ve touched…I saw more.”

He took a step forward and reached to touch my arm, but I jerked away and walked behind the loveseat. I didn’t want to touch him now. What if I’d ruined it? What if the vision changed, or was just gone?

This wasn’t how it was supposed to have gone. “You were my future, my hope, but Rose’s big bad sheriff won’t—”

He turned on his heel and walked out before I could finish. His shoulders slumped in defeat. Nothing. No words of anger. No argument. I didn’t set out to hurt him, but I had. My chest tightened, and my heart burned beneath my sternum. The giant Gryphon of Sanctuary had taken my pain and verbal lashes and left without a single solitary cry.

“I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry.” The words echoed through the empty library. I knew he’d heard me. He could hear as well or better than any other supernatural I’d encountered. They could all hear a whisper through a wall of stone if they wanted. No privacy. Ever. “Alek.” I dropped my face into my hands, and tears poured again, burning trails of regret down my cheeks. “Please come back.”

What had I done?

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