Page 59 of My Guardian Gryphon

“I know.” My gut twisted again, and bile found its way into the back of my mouth.

“It was bad, Alek. She’s been…” Her tone dropped, the words cracking as she tried to get them out. “She’s been raped multiple times. Bailey said she scented both Lycan and Lamassu…on her.”

My Gryphon raged inside me. It was my fault. If I had been listening better, she would never have gotten out of my house. They would never have found her, never have taken her. “I had her. She was safe, and then…I lost her.”

Bella placed a gentle hand on my arm, and I jerked away. I didn’t deserve comfort. I deserved nothing.

“She chose to run, Alek. You can’t blame yourself any more than you can blame her.”

“It was my fault.”

Bella shook her head and lifted her hands to cup my face. Warmth. Peace. Love. Forgiveness. I couldn’t describe it, but she imparted all those through her hands, magick in a touch. I pulled her hand down.

“I don’t deserve any of your reserve magick, Bella. Save it for someone who really needs it.”

Her eyes brightened, and she pushed her hands back up to my face—apparently, she had a little more power left than she appeared to. “I give when I see fit, and you, Alek, are in desperate need of a little peace. You won’t be able to fix Gretchen. She will never be the same person she was before this happened. You need to be okay with that and support her as she learns to deal with the scars she carries.”

“I will always love her.”

“That was not what I said. I said support.”

“Anything, Bella, she is my mate…at least—”

“She is, Alek. You wear your kind’s marks. She is part of you now, but men typically try to fix. That’s not what she needs.”

“I will be what she needs. Rose called them mate marks, too. Do you know what they are? Or how—” I clammed up, not sure how to finish that question. The marks had appeared when Gretchen and I slept together. She’d been a virgin, but I hadn’t.

Bella sighed. “I know they are unique to Gryphons. I know that they appear when a Gryphon gives his heart, and I know they will link her to you for as long as you live. It’s a soul bond. That’s why you can feel things when the marks are activated.”

“Do you know how…”

“No. I’m afraid the intricacies of the marks were known specifically to your people.”

Of course they were.

“I used to think the prophecy was all that mattered.” My shoulders slumped. “Learning about my kind, taking revenge for the atrocities done to my family, but in the end, Rose sacrificed herself to save Gretchen. We can’t finish the prophecy without Rose to cast the spell to open the portal.” My chest tightened. The contradiction made my head pound. Why? “There are still two Protectors that need to be located.”

A frown darkened the pixie’s face, making my hands clench. There was so much about Rose no one had questioned. She took in all supernaturals who needed a home, and she gave them sanctuary. No one had ever thought to ask why…

“Above everything, even the prophecy, keeping the Sisters out of Xerxes’ hands was Rose’s first goal. She was truly afraid of what might happen if he succeeded in taking any of them. That is why she fought. That is why she traded herself for Gretchen.”

“What if she’s dead?”

“It is likely. Though I think she must’ve wounded him as well or our town would be overrun by now. Instead, we have quiet streets, and Calliope has said there are perhaps only two or three Djinn still hanging around.”

“What do you think they are they looking for?”

“Weakness.”

The Pixie’s words echoed in my mind, a haunting warning of what was coming. Our fight had just started.

Chapter 22

XERXES

I stood silently, grimacing as my girls bandaged my abdomen. The slash marks from Rose’s talons were an inch deep and stung like a bitch. Any other wound would’ve already healed, but these would take weeks. They would bleed and seep and burn. I could take the pain. I’d had worse.

What I couldn’t comprehend was Rose’s carelessness. She’d shown up to save that slip of a woman. In the overall scheme, one Sister wouldn’t have slowed her little prophecy down by more than a few decades. Instead, she’d thrown herself into the fray so that fucking Gryphon could steal my prize right out from under me, literally. Even if I did get the wench pregnant, it would be years before the child would be a threat to this precious world or any other, but Rose had always been a big-picture kind of girl.

---