Chapter 5
The Isles of Sacerdos
Griffin
Present Day – Catastro Sea
Griffin leaned against the cool metal wall just outside of Raven’s room in the passageway. The door was propped open enough for him to watch what was happening inside, but not enough to be seen. He didn’t want to intrude as she fell apart in Julian’s arms.
One day it will be me who holds her like that. Who she seeks in her time of need.
He had a plan, one that would ultimately keep her safe, but that would also put a large target on his back. One that would incite her rage.
Griffin clenched his fists before flexing his fingers out.
I don’t want to share her.
It had been hammered into him for years that you fought for who you loved. That the strongest man would win.
The winner would be the one to claim his Sacred Cherished.
Unfortunately, his father hadn't been the strongest.
A flash of crippling deep grief and agony weighed down Griffin's feet, his motley of emotions layering up until there was no room for them inside him.
And so he breathed them out, forcing them to escape the confines of his body. There was no time for rash decisions made off of his own rage. He breathed in and out a few times until a putrid scent infiltrated his grievances. “Oleks.”
“She is not your possession,” Oleks said.
“Not yet.”
A siren blared around them causing Griffin to push off the wall and towards Raven’s room.
He knew it was coming—knew that while they may have been able to bypass the people of Vanravara, there was no hope when it came to the Isles of Sacerdos.
They had an hour, tops, before they were stopped… and inspected.
Pushing open the door, just as the noise dispersed, he ignored both Levi and Julian, focusing on Raven.
“You need to listen to me. I don’t have time to explain, but we are going to be boarded soon.
There is no way around it, and if you don’t agree with everything I say, if you don’t follow my lead, they will take you, Raven. ”
“Who?” Julian’s voice sharpened with his outrage. “They cannot have her.”
Griffin cut his eyes to the man; he had mixed emotions when it came to the Host. But overlaying them all was the deep respect that he had managed to pull this off, even if he thought the man was an idiot.
“I imagine this world out here has a different set of rules. A different game that none of us have played. Except you.” Levi’s steady deep voice broke through the tension.
“There are,” Griffin agreed. “And I have played them. The priests from Sacerdos will board our vessel, they will attempt to take her. Because she is a Sacred Cherished. We cannot allow that to happen. As you are all wanted men, you must stay out of sight.”
“Except for me,” Julian said.
Levi leaned forward, helping Raven up into a seated position. “I don’t like this, but it’s up to you darlin’. Do you trust him?”
Her deep, glacier-blue eyes met Griffin’s. It was an immediate five hundred feet drop down into a crevasse, his heart rushing up his throat. He had attempted to not let his feelings control him, but they were doing exactly that.
Raven inclined her head. “Levi? Help me get dressed?” The cotton-thin dress she wore had been put on her by Levi days prior—after a near-physical altercation with the doctor.
“There’s a white gown under the bed, please dress in that.” Griffin chose to adhere to her wishes, he needed to prepare for what was to come, for what he was about to do.
Julian didn’t argue, accepting Raven’s choice and getting off the bed, but Griffin clocked the slight stumble, the pasty whiteness of his face.
The aftereffects of the drugs.
Oleks stood in the passageway watching the entire scene play out in silence. He was the only one who didn’t seem influenced but that made sense. The man had grown up taking microdoses of poison.
Griffin had, on more than one occasion, found Oleks face down in a pile of his own vomit, fearing the worst but realizing he was just unconscious. Oleks had pushed his body to the limits and then past them, but it had eventually paid off.
“You need to stay out of sight with the others, but that doesn't mean I don't want you near us, do you understand?”
Oleks inclined his head, but didn't speak, creeping down the passageway towards the deck.
Griffin knew that he would be in the shadows in case anything went awry.
He didn't want to admit how much it calmed his nerves that Oleks had become his family in more ways than ever before.
That the two men had grown side by side, enduring countless pains and suffering; Oleks had never ever betrayed him, even when Griffin wouldn't have blamed him for doing so.
Griffin cared for Oleks like a brother, but that did not mean he forgave Oleks for his infatuation with what was his.
“What is the plan here?” Julian asked.
But before Griffin had to make up some excuse, the door to Raven’s room opened, distracting him from his thoughts, and his mouth dried as he took in the sight of her.
She was in a long white gown that covered nearly all of her skin, and yet it seemed to highlight what remained.
Even though she had just woken up from her near deathbed, she didn't appear as such.
Her dark hair was partly behind her ears, but the rest spilt forward onto her shoulders.
Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were bright and clear, and her chin was jutted up in determination.
This was the woman Griffin pledged would be a formidable foe.
He willed his own desires and crippling emotions to settle.
He would need to have a clear head for what was to come.
Griffin would be making himself the enemy of every man in Raven's orbit, but he had to do it—there was no other way.
Either he would tell the priests what he had to say, or they would take her from them.
It was the law. It was how their countries worked.
Cherished women were to be “protected,” unless they had…
“You look a worthy opponent.” Griffin bared his teeth in the replication of a smile.
“Can you at least explain to me what's happening? Levi already told me we’re going to a different country, but why? I want to return to Violencia.” Raven stepped back as Griffin reached for her wrist, but he still managed to catch it.
He covered the scars there, his nostrils flaring at the awareness of them under his fingers.
Levi stood at her back, his arms crossed. “This is what your brother was talking about, isn't it? The Isles of…sucrose, sacrass?”
“Sa-SARE-dos,” Julian advised, but then the siren blared around them again.
It was louder, more urgent, and Griffin knew they had run out of time. Further evidenced by their entire ship rocking harshly as another grappled theirs. They only had minutes.
“We must go now.” Griffin used his hold on Raven to tuck her behind him. “Levi, I promise this is to keep Raven safe. You need to find Enzo and Maverick and stay hidden, you are all wanted men.” Griffin cast over his shoulder not caring if the man listened or not as he led Raven up to the deck.
His heart pumped in his throat, in anxiety and unease. He hoped this would work.
If it didn't, a war would start now, and not the one his brother planned on.
If it did, it would buy them at least a little bit of time before the people of Luscinia could fight against his claims.
He heard Julian’s heavier footsteps trailing behind them, but didn’t look back as he pushed open the door to the deck.
The sight nearly froze him in place, but he forced his feet forward, being gentle in the way he tugged Raven behind him.
There were over a dozen priests, dressed in elegant garbs even as waves crashed up onto the deck and water crept towards the gold-lined hems. The gowns were bright white but in the center of their chests was a vivid red hibiscus.
The flower of fertility.
Standing across from the priests was his brother, along with a dozen of Drago’s masked and armored men with guns.
Griffin made his way across the deck, tucking Raven behind him. The sensation of eyes stabbing at him as he did so. Stepping to Drago’s right side, he placed Raven between them, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
The priests shifted aside and made way for their Head Priestess to come into view.
“You have one of our Sacred Cherished, and we have come to collect.” Her voice was a soft lilt, her blonde hair plaited back, gray eyes dull as she spoke.
Her face void of wrinkles, completely smooth in an inhuman way.
The setting sun behind the woman managed to light her up in an unearthly translucent glow.
Disgust lathered its way across Griffin's skin.
Griffin had never officially met the High Priestess, but he had always despised everything she represented.
Perhaps she didn't make all of the decisions for the Sacred Trinity, but she was certainly at the forefront of most of them.
Her power exceeded even the royalty of Grypheem and Luscinia.
She was the reason the Cherished were gathered up.
She was why they weren't allowed to live in Grypheem or Luscinia.
And in Griffin's mind, she was why his father was killed.
Drago spoke first. “Priestess Avana.” He offered the slightest of bows.
“Surely you are not questioning the king of Grypheem’s honor.
She belongs to one of our men and no other has laid claim to her.
I am permitted to make safe passage with a Sacred Cherished who has fulfilled her duties and as she was never on the Isles, a blessing was not needed. ”
“She may have fulfilled her duties”—Avana’s critical eyes narrowed in annoyance—“but how can she belong to one of your men? You have just taken her from the Redemption Games.”
The Redemption Games were the Sacred Trinity’s name for the Masquerade. He had always hated it, the falsity of a second chance.
It was Griffin's turn to speak for him, to give the reason why Raven would be safe, for him to push a wedge between himself and her and all of her men. But he would take on this challenge. He would step up to the plate of responsibility. If it meant that she would be by his side.
If it meant that she would not befall the same fate as his mother.