Chapter 9 #2
Griffin reached for Raven, needing human contact. Needing her specifically. She shook under his touch as he stroked her wrist, up her forearm. Following the path of the scars she had left.
Raven claimed Griffin had saved her.
She never should have told him that, it had grown his possessiveness past the point of control.
In Grypheem, once a Sacred Cherished was claimed, there was no sharing.
At least not yet.
However, regular Cherished women? Or those crafted in laboratories?
While outwardly it was still frowned upon, he had heard the rumors of the underbelly of his country.
He was glad to have not witnessed the atrocities in the Sacred Trinity, but he had seen proof of them in Violencia.
In the disgusting nature of the people of the Sacred Trinity.
Of what they did to the citizens of Violencia.
“You had a run in with Ivan?” Griffin had wanted to know the whole story, he had gathered bits and pieces, but he needed to hear it from her.
Understand why Ivan was risking everything to journey with them to Grypheem.
“He wanted to turn me into one of his pets,” Raven rasped. “He failed.”
Griffin’s hold tightened, the pads of his fingers digging into her skin.
This isn’t good.
He had met Ivan early on in Violencia. It had not been a pleasant encounter.
His mind bent as the memory surfaced, it wasn’t enjoyable, reminiscent of a huge slippery fish slapping him across the face.
Fourteen Years – Ten Months Ago – Violencia
He had been in Violencia for a few months, and the differences had quickly become abundantly clear.
Music pulsated around him as he stood against a back wall, his arms folded across his chest. Viktor and Niko were in the foray. They had climbed the ranks of Violencia long ago and were not quite Officials in the Government here but just below it.
The space was filled with higher ups and their significant others, a party in full swing, glasses raised high in the air as they celebrated another promotion.
He surveyed the movements around him. The people gathered in this space. It reminded him of the galas his father threw. Except the people of Violencia did not have kings. They had Officials.
And they did not have the term cherished, sacred or otherwise. Women were everywhere—in here, on the street, in Facilities. They weren’t hidden away as they had been in his country. Nor were they treated as a commodity like those who hadn’t earned the title of Sacred Cherished.
He wasn’t used to it. And he had quickly fucked his way through more than he cared to admit. He still didn’t understand why he had been sent here. But tonight was meant to change that.
And it appeared this entire country was filled with natural-borns, save for the ones who came from outside. From Grypheem or Luscinia.
Viktor and Niko had dragged him to a Facility that was known for its depravities, and imagine Griffin’s surprise when he recognized the person in charge.
Griffin saw him advancing now and forced himself to appear relaxed, unfolding his arms.
An Official.
“Stephan,” Griffin greeted as the man approached. He didn’t like him. Hadn’t cared for him when he met him as a child. He was a Luscinian through and through. The brother of the king of Luscinia.
Stephan clasped a hand on his shoulder, clenching it tightly and stepping aside to reveal a person behind him.
It was someone Griffin hadn’t met before.
His hackles immediately rose.
“Griffin! What a pleasure to see you here.” There was an edge to Stephan’s voice that indicated the exact opposite. Back home they were allies…on paper at least. “This is Ivan, he is a great man to know. He can get you anything or anyone you may want or need.”
Ivan lowered his head in greeting, stringy hair falling forward, but didn’t speak.
“Well, I will leave you both to it, I have a party to enjoy. And you may see my son Bryton floating around, you should recognize him.”
Griffin contained his expression, the grimace that threatened to overwhelm his face. He remembered Bryton.
A laboratory-born.
An unnatural.
They were all just a bit off. Their skin never marred with wrinkles, their features too sharp.
Nearly a clone of who their fathers were meant to be.
Bryton was the product of impatience. Stephan hadn’t had any luck on his trips to visit the Sacred Cherished and decided to go this route instead.
It was an indication of his greed. He wanted a better claim to the throne if his brother were to perish.
But then Stephan came to Violencia five years back with his son and never returned.
Now Griffin knew why.
Ivan stepped into Griffin’s space, and it took everything for him not to jump back. Ivan’s movements were similar to snow in the sea. A silent and cold affair. More dangerous than it had any right being.
“I’ll show you around.” The voice sounded distant as if it were coming from across the room, and if it weren’t for the fact Griffin watched Ivan’s lips move, he would have doubted he spoke at all.
“Sure.” Griffin didn’t want to go anywhere with this man.
He had a hard time determining his eye color, let alone his intentions.
Ivan was dangerous. But maybe this would lead him in the direction of why he was in Violencia in the first place.
So far, it didn’t seem like a bad nation at all.
If anything, they had more rights than the people of his country, and they didn’t have priests breathing down their necks either.
And the best part of all, they didn’t have a High Priestess.
Fighting through his uneasiness, Griffin followed Ivan. Even as he led him outside of the room, down a long thin hallway with a low ceiling that caused him to duck. They carried on towards a gloomier section of the building, one that almost appeared forgotten.
When Ivan opened the door at the end, a rush of smoke billowed out. As Griffin stepped closer, it cleared. What he saw made him realize that perhaps Violencia was exactly like the rest of the world.
Just as fucked up and evil.
He swallowed down the bile that had risen up his throat and found exactly who would join him.
The victims inside the room.
Those who needed hope the most.