Page 42 of My Guardian Gryphon

Diana’s head leaned to the left. The decision to let me leave the castle went against everything the Drakonae worked for each day. She was struggling. I could see the shout on her lips forming like a perfect storm. This was my only chance, I’d never get another. Not after what I’d done. No one would ever trust me again.

“It’s either this or lock me in a cell for the rest of my life.” My voice trembled, fear and longing and desperation poured out of me all at once. “I need to do this. I have to know.”

Her eyes widened slightly, realization dawning like a brand new sun welcoming the day. “Alek?” Her tone barely more than a whisper.

I nodded, climbing to the window sill. Turning around, I grabbed the rope and slid one foot down the stone wall until my toes found a small gap and a little leverage.

“Do not leave the town.”

“I’m not.”

She bit her bottom lip, rubbed her rounded belly, and then whirled, leaving me alone to finish what I’d started. I held still until she disappeared through the large doors in the shadows across the great library. Relief and gratefulness and a good dose of surprise swamped my brain. I’d been an idiot to think I could get out without one of them hearing me. She’d actually been in the library. Had probably been napping and woke up when I opened that damned window.

Still, I’d hadn’t expected her to let me go, but I wasn’t about to ruin the chance she’d granted.

The wind gusted, sending the hat flying into the air. I watched it sail to the ground and said a prayer for strength. Holding my weight with the rope and one foot, I lowered my other foot to the same stone outcropping and sucked in a quick breath. This was it. I was climbing down the side of the castle. I was leaving the Sisters. I was claiming a new life.

I was slipping.

Oh shit!

My heart lurched in my chest, slamming into my throat. I tightened my fingers over the knot, ignoring the painful cramping in my muscles. My right toes slid off the rock edge of the brick that’d been holding me. Pain sliced through my foot, and I winced, bracing for the impact my shoulders would take. My body thunked into the wall, and I waited a moment for everything to settle before I struggled to find footing again. My arms burned from the strain.

The rock I’d been standing on had crumbled, and the edge was gone. I slowly unfolded my arms, lowering myself inch by inch until I found another edge. This time I moved a little faster, not willing to wait and see how long the old rocks would last.

Move hands down a knot, find another toehold, again and again. Breathe. In and out. The hot breeze swirled my hair, and sweat trickled from my forehead down my temple, continuing its course until it melted into the heavy dress shirt I was wearing.

I got to the last few knots and looked down at the ground in surprise. It was much farther away than it’d looked from the window above. My rope didn’t reach, but I couldn’t go back up. My arms shook each time I moved down the rope. One misstep and I’d lose my grip completely. I couldn’t take another slip, and I didn’t have enough strength to pull myself back up.

I could yell for help. Someone would come. Everyone in this town had super-hearing. I would be off this wall, safe and sound in a matter of seconds. All I had to do was open my mouth…and give up.

“Fuck that.” I kept my voice at barely a whisper. This was not the end of my dream. This was just the beginning.

I pushed away from the wall and twisted in the air, hoping to let my shoulder and legs take the brunt of the concrete below.

Ughffffffff. Air fled my lungs like I’d been hit in the chest with a battering ram. Pain radiated through my whole body, and I lay still on the warm concrete for what had to be several minutes before I managed to roll over and look up at the window I’d come out. The rope barely showed in the dark. The sashes were black. The stones were black and gray. No one would see it until morning. At least I hoped they wouldn’t.

I pushed up to my elbows and held in a cry, forcing my unhappy and offended body into a standing position. Alek’s house was two streets over on Avenue C. He’d showed me on a map once before, and I’d long since memorized it, hoping one day I’d get to see the town through more than a castle window.

I limped down Avenue A and turned onto First Street, keeping to the shadows. No one seemed to be out, and I made it faster than I thought across to Alek’s street. A left turn took me away from the town’s center, and I walked slowly along the dimly lit sidewalk, trying to tell one house from another. Few of the houses had lights on, and none of them had lights illuminating the fronts.

Alek had said his house had a blue door, but in this light, everything just looked gray. I had to find it soon. Someone would see me or hear me or smell me. Then I saw the gold emblem of the Gryphon on the door of the house to my right. Body of a lion, head and wings of an eagle. I’d never seen him shift, but he’d explained to me what he was once. What his beast looked like.

I couldn’t imagine having a part of myself that could change like that, but I would’ve given anything to be able to fly. It’d been one of the rare days he’d shared a smile with me. He loved to fly, too, and because of how low-key everyone tried to stay in the town, he was rarely allowed to shift, though he had shared that he snuck out from time to time and would fly at night, circling the town, the empty prairie, and woods that surrounded Sanctuary.

The dark velvet blue sky above beckoned, and I gazed up, wondering if he was up there looking down at me. He wasn’t. I knew he wasn’t. If he’d seen me, he’d have already come down from the expanse to tell me how dangerous my actions were. I didn’t think he’d be mad that I came, just worried about my safety. He was always worried about me. Probably as much as I worried about him each time he left on a mission for Rose. Each time I had to go more than twenty-four hours without seeing him.

I walked up the path to his front door and leaned against the cool wood, tracing the faint gold outline of the Gryphon. Such a wondrous creature. Perhaps one day I’d get to see the other side of the man I loved so desperately.

“Alek.” I spoke softly, letting my voice caress the face of the door. “Alek, please let me in.” The lever didn’t budge when I tried to depress it, but before I could raise my hand to knock, it opened with a swoosh, and I fell into his chest.

Chapter 17

ALEK

“Gretchen.” I grabbed her around the waist and swept her inside, shutting the door in the same movement. “How?” I didn’t even begin to know how to phrase a logical question. How had she gotten out? How did they not see her leave? Did I even want to know what she’d done this evening to end up on my doorstep, in my arms?

“I couldn’t do it,” she said, her tone thin and weepy. “I want you, Alek, only you.”

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