Page 66 of Griffin Undone
I was almost afraid to ask, but, “Any casualties?”More casualties.
A pause. “No.”
I released the breath I’d been holding, a prayer of thankfulness whispering through my mind. “From what Baer told me, their losses tonight shouldn’t affect the Anigma’s ability to maneuver in this area, but it could escalate a confrontation.” Which my father would never forgive. In order to stay here in Nashville, in the home we’d built, we had to remain unseen. Outright war in the streets would only make us the targets of terrified humans.
Basile’s eyes were knowing. “What do you plan to do?”
Looking into my second’s face, I knew there was only one thing I could do. “Talk to the king.”
“And if he says no?”
“He won’t.”Desperate hope kept the words in my mind, off my tongue.
“But if he does?”
“Then we’ll do what we must,”I admitted to the persistent male.
“I never had any doubt.”Basile bowed his head, the gesture assuring me of his solidarity. At least one warrior would stand at my side.
But I would face that moment when we came to it. Not now. Now, Thomas waited. Nodding toward the memory card in Basile’s hand, I let my sorrow, my pain color my voice one last time before putting on the mantle of prince. “Go, Basile. Drop this with Lyris. Rest. I will summon you when the pyre is prepared.”
“And when the time comes, what will we say?” If the clan knew who had killed Thomas, at least one secret would be spilled: the fact that the Anigma had returned. Loyalty to the king’s wishes demanded I keep the information private. Love for my people demanded I tell the truth.
Looking deeply into Basile’s eyes, a father’s eyes, I made my choice. For Thomas. And for Basile. “We say he died a hero.”
The king’s wishes be damned.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Arik
It felt like the night would never end. Normally my kind squeezed out every moment of darkness we could before retreating from prying eyes and the sun, but I wanted nothing more than to close the door of the lair behind me and forget the rest of the world existed. Forget what I’d seen tonight.
Lose myself in soft flesh and sweet hazel eyes.
My griffin purred his agreement. I ignored him, ignored the heat and hunger catching fire in my gut. If tonight had served no other purpose, it reminded me exactly what I risked by giving in to emotion. That young shifter’s terror-stricken eyes, Basile’s grief-ravaged face…
No, I wouldn’t be going to Kat, not right now.
I beelined instead for the office and my computer.
Or attempted to. I’d taken no more than a step when rage thundered through my body. My griffin slammed against my breastbone, angry at being denied, especially after our evening hunt had ended without the satisfaction of blood in my mouth. Before I knew it, my feet were taking me toward the hall.
“Damn it, no!” Slapping the animal down, I ignored his roar and forced my body in the direction of the office once more. The distraction of a different sort of hunt was the only option I’d allow tonight. The only safe option—for all of us.
The office was cool, dark, soothing to the man’s senses if not the griffin’s. Until I saw the message icon flashing in the corner of the center screen. Brody. I dropped into the computer chair and ran quickly through the security protocols before linking to my informant.
Found girl. Laney Jennings.
Shit. I did not want to know her name. She was real enough in my nightmares as it was.Where?
Our Lady Cemetery, Lebanon, TN, plot 142G. Buried two days ago.
Cause of death?
Bear attack, national park.
Except it hadn’t been a bear, it had been shifters, and she hadn’t died in a national park. The sickening image of the dead girl’s attack played like a grisly reel-to-reel on the screen of my mind, a memory I would never be able to erase. Rubbing a hand along the back of my neck to relieve tension I knew wasn’t going away anytime soon, I waited for more information.
