Page 41 of My Guardian Gryphon

“I’m good,” I said, making sure my voice was soft and sweet. I gestured toward my door, and he released my arm and opened the door for me. I walked through and stepped to the left, wrapping my fingers around the iron candlestick on my desk. “Please close and lock the door behind you.”

He closed the door and looked away for just a moment to turn the latch on the deadbolt. In that moment, I swung. The metal thudded against the back of his head, and I closed my eyes. Please don’t be dead. Please don’t be dead. I hadn’t hit him that hard, but he dropped to the floor with a thump like a sack of potatoes.

I opened my eyes and jumped away from his sprawled figure. The candlestick in my hand didn’t have any blood on it. Thank the gods. I set it on my desk and knelt, reaching my hand over his nose and mouth. Warm breath moistened my palm. He was breathing. A quick nudge of his shoulder with my foot said he wasn’t waking up anytime soon.

I made short work of undressing him and discarded my own dress, pulling on his pants and dress shirt and jacket. I twisted my hair into a tight bun on top of my head and pushed the bowler into place. Granted I didn’t look anything like him, but I certainly didn’t look like myself at first glance, either. And most of the Sisters would be locked away in their rooms by now. No one would be patrolling the halls.

At least I hoped they wouldn’t.

His shoes wouldn’t fit. My feet would clomp about in those like a toddler playing dress-up with her mother’s shoes. I’d have to risk it. At least barefoot, I’d be able to move quieter on the stone floors.

I pushed him out of the way of the door and then turned the deadbolt to unlatch it. Turning the doorknob slowly, I inched it open until I could peer through a crack into the dimly lit hallway. No one. Not a sound echoed. I opened the door all the way and slipped out, my shoulders tense and my jaw locked—waiting for someone to call out my name and end this desperate attempt at freedom.

But it didn’t come.

I walked slowly down the hallway on my tiptoes, barely breathing for fear that I would make enough noise to be noticed. The dragons could hear everything. Every pin that dropped in this maze of stone somehow made its way to their ears. Male laughter rumbled down the hallway, and I pressed my body into an alcove, praying they would pass by and not turn toward me.

“I can’t believe she actually picked a man. We’ve been trying to get her to participate in the joinings for a decade.”

“Well, I can’t imagine spending the night with anyone but you. Hopefully, your friend made a wise choice.”

“You’re sweet for saying that, even though I know you don’t remember me, but that’s why I always choose you, Rawlins.” The female voice carried on. “Oh, and she did make a good choice. Karen has slept with that gentleman before. According to her, she’s never had better orgasms. Gretchen should be in for a treat.”

“Well, well, well. What do you say about me to your sisters? Should I work harder to impress?” The male she’d called Rawlins raised his voice, making a point to sound purposefully hurt.

“You never leave me wanting. Don’t you change a thing.” The female voice belonged to one of the Sisters who always felt the need to call out Gretchen after she’d avoided a joining.

Even though Lina’s words shouldn’t mean anything, I couldn’t help but feel hurt that she would share such personal details with an outsider. With someone who didn’t really care about her and who wouldn’t remember Lina the second he stepped out of the castle. Everything here was pretense and charade. We had no life. No choices. No free will.

We were no better than slaves to Rose’s whim, and no one even seemed to care. They all just helped her, saying it was for the greater good. Their lives were the sacrifice that had to be made.

Well, they were just going to have to sacrifice without me from here on out. I’d find Alek, and if he really wanted to be with me, then we could run. If he didn’t want me, I’d leave without him and disappear into some city somewhere. I’m human…human enough anyway. I didn’t look or act differently than any other person out in the world—except for the occasional vision.

There was that minor issue, but I could deal with it later. Right now, I just needed to find Alek.

The voices of Lina and her partner faded, and I pushed on, weaving quietly through the stone halls until I reached the foyer. One of the Lycans who frequented the club stood guard at the massive door. A door I probably couldn’t budge an inch on my own.

Backing up a few steps, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. You can do this. Think. There had to be another way out. The library had windows, but they were too high from the ground—three floors up. The second level breezeway had windows, too, but even I knew jumping from that level was beyond stupid.

I turned around and headed for the back stairwell. Even though it was higher, the library windows would be easier to go through than the steel bars on the breezeway. It took every scrap of willpower not to run. I couldn’t afford to make that much noise. The Blackmoors would hear, especially Diana who rarely left their personal living quarters on the third floor just down the hall from the library.

The stone beneath my bare feet was cold, and a shiver circled my spine. I climbed the dim stairwell. Step after step after step. I continued until the familiar sconces I walked past each day came into view. The third level of the castle was less cold. Large decadent carpets covered the floors. Beautiful tapestries hung on the walls along with paintings I’d been told were from masters all over the world. The Blackmoors enjoyed beauty and art and had salvaged as much as possible since the Riots destroyed a lot of American history. At least that’s what Alek had told me.

I passed a Pollock, a Durand, and—one of my favorites—a Leutze depicting a historical figure named Washington crossing a river with his soldiers. He looked strong and brave and like a man someone could trust. Alek had told me that General Washington had led this country to freedom hundreds of years before I was born. Of course Alek also added that it was good Washington was long dead and gone, because he would roll in his grave to see what his country had done with the freedoms he and his men fought so hard to gain.

I took one last look at Washington’s face before stopping in front of the open French doors to the library. The lights were out. Better for me. I walked in and closed the doors softly behind me. Anything to dampen the noise I was about to make would help tremendously.

Bee-lining for the floor-to-ceiling curtains on the far side, I scrambled to untie the sashes binding each panel into a perfectly gathered swath. The library sat at a corner in the big castle, so there were two long walls of windows and dozens of curtain panels. As I moved from curtain to curtain, I knotted the sashes together, creating a rope I hoped would get me near enough to the ground to drop without breaking any bones.

Once the last curtain had been relieved of its sash, I went to the farthest window in the corner, the one that looked out over the side of the castle and not the front circle where everyone and anyone might see me. The sun had set while I worked, but true darkness hadn’t swallowed the town yet, and from what I could tell, there were only street lamps here and there through the town, unlike the center circle where there were dozens.

I tied the end of my sash rope to the heavy foot of the love seat where Alek and I had spent many afternoons. It looked strong enough to hold my weight. The window screeched a little as I pushed it open, and I winced—each high-pitched wail echoed through the room. Please don’t hear me. I waited for a moment, but no one came. No one yelled for me to stop.

Tossing the rope through first, I leaned out and looked down the high stone wall. The sashes waved in the soft breeze, and I strained to see where they stopped. Quite close to the ground. It looked like a short jump from the bottom knot. I can make that. I have to make that.

“Gretchen.” Her voice froze every muscle in my body.

I glanced up through the dark into Diana’s cold blue eyes. “Please.” The whisper came out before I even thought about it. She must’ve been in the library when I entered. The door hadn’t opened since I came inside.

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