Page 50 of My Guardian Gryphon

I slipped between the houses and walked quickly down the street. People were rushing here and there—Lycans probably. Most of the town’s population were werewolves. At least that’s what I’d heard.

Several women passing me with their children stared for a second, but everyone was in a hurry. None of them said a word. None of them made a move to stop my progress down the street…away from the town center.

I got past the neighborhood. Empty lots lay on either side of the street where I walked now. No cover and nothing to hide behind. The open space made me nervous, but I had to get out. I loved him more than anything, but I couldn’t survive if he put me back into that stone cage. The Sisters could make do without me. The visions would be weaker for a while, but several of them were ready to deliver soon. As soon as they did, Astrid would be able to see her visions clearly again.

Footsteps behind me made the hair on the back of my neck prickle. I turned, but the street and sidewalks were empty. When I turned again, I screamed, but the sound was cut off by a heavy hand over my mouth. One man grabbed me from behind, and the other removed his hand long enough to put a white cloth over my mouth and nose.

“We got one. I can’t fucking believe they let a Sister out of that castle.”

A strong pungent smell filled my lungs, and my vision darkened. My arms and legs got heavy, and I sagged. My knees gave out, but the man behind me held me up, keeping me from crashing to the asphalt.

“Take her to the house outside the border and then come back for me. The General will be beyond pleased with this turn of events.”

The General? I fought to stay conscious, but the smell permeated the air, and darkness pressed my eyelids shut. Then everything else faded away, too.

Chapter 19

XERXES

“Commander Martin has arrived with an update from Sanctuary, Master.” Cal stood halfway inside the Oval Office and half in the hallway while he waited to be granted permission to enter.

“Send him in,” I said, continuing to stare out the windows onto the outdoor spaces filled with my soldiers near the White House. Vehicles traversed the once-green lawns. Where trees had been, now metal buildings stood—quickly constructed bases of operation for my two Lycan commanders and their growing troops.

The smell of Lycan permeated the room before Martin stepped one foot through the open door. They were a necessary evil and would be disposable once I was through taking over the entire continent. Until then, they were useful and typically got the job done.

Their habit of reading human thoughts had come in handy on more than one occasion. Interrogations were also a comical spectacle. Most humans were unaware of the Lycan ability to mind read, and those that were interrogated and found out about the ability were not left alive long enough to pass along the information to anyone else.

“General Xerxes, Sir.” Martin marched into the office, his boots snapped together as he saluted. When I turned, his hand was still at his forehead, waiting to be released to an at-ease position.

“I hear you have an update. Have you taken down the Bateman’s barrier?”

“It is starting to crumble, Sir, but it’s not down completely. We are able to jump in and out with the help of the witches you send with my units.”

I sighed and turned back to look out the window. “Is that all?”

“No, Sir. I’ve been informed that my men captured one of the Sisters of Lamidae.”

My heart skipped a beat, and I whirled on Martin, grabbing him around the neck with my magick and hauling him to within inches of my faces. I could smell the fear on him, but to his credit, he didn’t struggle or panic. Even as I squeezed his trachea closed, he merely gagged, waiting for me to decide whether he lived or died.

If he was teasing me, I would kill him…slowly and excruciatingly. I unclenched my fist and released his neck from my magickal chokehold. “Why is she not with you?”

“If she is not what we think, I didn’t want to risk bringing someone into your stronghold here. If she’s a spy or—”

I raised my hand to silence him. His reasoning was logical, except that his men should’ve been able to tell that she was a human for damn sure if they could read her thoughts. “Cal.”

My Djinn servant stepped through the still-open office door and bowed.

“Take me to the units outside of Sanctuary. Then come back and fetch Commander Martin.”

“Yes, Sir.”

I stretched my hand to Cal, and he took it, pulling us through a vortex. Moments later, we appeared in the encampment I’d had Martin set up twenty miles from the edge of Sanctuary, far enough that Rose and her minions couldn’t sense the movement of my Djinn and close enough that they could get back and forth quickly enough to run effective attacks on the town.

Several Lycans saw me and froze in place, their hands raised in salute. Cal left my side and reappeared moments later with Martin in tow.

“Where is she?”

“This way, Sir.” He gestured toward a brown temporary warehouse structure and waited for me to take the lead, which I did.

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