Chapter 15
Stroke for Stroke. Swipe for Swipe.
Griffin
Eleven Years Ago - Violencia
Over three years passed, long and slow. They were grueling, a testament to his own strengths and endurance.
But he was making a difference. He was becoming a beacon of hope. He was rescuing victims, offering assistance, killing off the evil.
Griffin sat on the wall on the northern part of Violencia, he watched the waves lap at the shore and the stars twinkle in the sky. The calm at odds against the storm brewing inside him.
In his hands, he held a thin blade and a piece of wood. He had already made hundreds of these and would continue to carve hundreds more.
“Another griffin?” Niko settled down beside him, kicking his legs out over the edge.
Griffin didn’t acknowledge him, continuing on. “A literal symbol of hope. I want to give our people a physical connection to the promise I intend to keep.”
“They’re not our people. Our people are growing suspicious. You can’t keep killing Officials right after you visit the Facilities.” Niko’s bright blue eyes vibrated in annoyance. “You will risk Victor’s and my cover. We were sent to carry out a specific duty.”
Griffin pulled the blade back examining his work. The griffin wasn’t his best, but it would make do. He scrutinized Niko. “It’s to kill Stephan, isn’t it?” He had guessed as much. It would make sense to try to eliminate Luscinia’s royalty in Violencia. Harder to trace the perpetrators.
Niko stiffened beside him but didn’t answer.
“Yes, I understand, I think it is time for us to part. But you will have my support if you ever need it,” Griffin huffed.
Niko got to his feet, looking out onto the sea. “Do you ever miss Grypheem?”
Griffin mulled the question over, it was easier to answer than he expected. “No.”
He missed his father.
He missed his brother.
He missed the idea of his mother.
But Grypheem itself? The laws that governed their land? The High Priestess’s influence?
He’d never go back if he could help it.
“Neither do I, and I know Viktor doesn’t either. It’s better here. And it will continue to be the more we weed out our own people. Even those from Grypheem have fallen to the corruption.”
“Here”—Griffin offered the figurine—“take this. I know it’s ridiculous, but I promise if you ever run into trouble, it might just get you out of it.”
“The tattoos weren’t enough?” Even still, Niko pocketed it without hesitation. “Are you going to be okay? I don’t want to leave you alone here.”
Griffin’s heart beat rapidly as what he was waiting for came into view. A familiar ship illuminated in the moonlight. “We already are gaining numbers. I have people I can trust.”
“But none of them know the truth.” Niko appraised the ship, an eyebrow raising. “No one knows who you really are. And if they did—”
“They would kill me.” Griffin understood. He got to his feet, he knew there was a ladder about five hundred feet along the wall. Because he had put it there.
This wasn’t his first time here.
And it wouldn’t be his last.
“Maybe, or they would turn on you,” Niko amended. “Do you really think sending women and children to pirates is a better option?”
Griffin turned back to Niko. “Yes. There will be a war here and it is always the innocents who are the first to be hurt. I will protect as many as I can. And I promise you…the pirates are a better option than anywhere else.”
“I will put my trust in you.” Niko sighed, inclining his head. “Good-bye…for now.”
The wind picked up, Griffin’s coat whipping out around him, his hair covering his eyes. By the time he brushed it back, Niko was gone.
A stale emptiness settled in his gut. His last connection to Grypheem severing in a single instance. He knew when he went home, both of the men would be gone. No trace of them ever having lived with him.
Griffin didn’t hesitate further, scaling down the ladder and heading towards the ship. But as he did so, his mind whipped through the same question over and over again.
Do you ever miss Grypheem?
The answer was no, but he hoped one day that could change.
But first there was more work to do.
Present Day – Grypheem
The carriage jerked to a stop, bringing Griffin into the present.
He was back in Grypheem now, and he had never made it to the point of missing it.
In fact, he despised being here. “We’re at the apron wall, which means we’ll be at the castle soon.
We need to remain a unified front. Tomorrow night, there will be a… party.”
“A party,” Julian scoffed.
“Yes. I returned to Grypheem about four years back but not in any official capacity. This will be to announce my permanent fixture as prince.” Griffin didn’t like it.
He had no interest in staying in this country.
If it were up to him, he would take Raven and go to a new one entirely. He had one specifically in mind.
But it wasn’t up to him. And he knew that Raven would want to head to Violencia as soon as she could. It would be his duty to postpone that.
Let Anadil and Drago figure out this fucking war. They’re the ones who want it.
“What about him Ivan? If he snuck on board then it’s clear there’s only one reason why.” Julian snapped. “I didn’t have much in his file, but I heard what Raven said about him in the game. He tortured her, brutalized her. He wants her.”
Griffin jerked at the words. He had gathered as much, but hearing it solidified was unbearable.
The thought of her on one of his tables…
“If anyone has any hope of finding Ivan, it will be Oleks. He will continue to search for evidence of where he has gone. But it is doubtful Ivan will make it into the castle.” Unless he has help. But Griffin didn’t speak that part.
“That’s not enough! Drago should be sending men to search for Ivan high and low!” Julian’s voice must have finally been too loud because Raven rustled in Griffin’s arms. He hoped she would go back to sleep, it would be easier to get her into the castle that way.
But no such luck.
“What’s going on?” she asked, waking from a haze and separating from Griffin entirely. She offered Julian a soft smile.
“Come here.” He tugged her to his side of the bench.
It took everything in Griffin not to react. But this was how it needed to be. They had to share her.
Griffin found Raven’s bleary eyes. She rubbed them a few times, and the move caused a prick of warmth to surge in his gut, her fully pink lips begging for him to claim them. But he held back. Now wasn’t the time.
The carriage came to a halt again and he flicked his eyes outside. “We’re at the castle.”
She followed his gaze, and her mouth opened. The sun was setting just behind it, casting the entire scene into shadowed lights.
To him it looked terrifying, a cage that he could not easily escape. But it was clear she didn’t feel the same way.
“It’s beautiful, but off. The juxtaposition of old and new is unsettling,” she mused.
He supposed she was right. The castle was in its original form, but new technology had been added. Cameras that lined the arches, a sizable screen above the main entrance that showed a griffin circling endlessly on a video loop.
Griffin got up first, just in time for the carriage door to open. He offered his hand to Raven.
To his surprise, she took it without hesitation, reaching for Julian to follow suit in the process.
Griffin stamped down his annoyance. This was his plan. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.
Stepping down, he turned to help both of them exit with him. Ignoring the crowd that gathered outside.
A man broke from it, offering a half bow. When he straightened he was forced to push his clunky glasses back up his nose and brush back his wiry ashen hair striped in gray. “Sir, your quarters are made up. I can take this man to our guest—”
The man was one of the many advisors that filled both the castle and Drago’s ears.
“Troy,” Griffin hoped he was remembering his name correctly, but didn’t particularly care if not.
“This man is Julian, and he will be joining me in my quarters. An official announcement will be made tomorrow at the party. Please leave us. My brother will be right behind, and I am sure you can relay any of your concerns to him.” Griffin attempted to put as much authority into his voice as he could.
He knew that what he had just proposed was sacrilegious.
But he needed to start the ripples now. The large wave would come tomorrow.
Two men. Marrying one Sacred Cherished?
Unheard of. Blasphemous.
But Griffin didn’t understand why. It made the most sense. He had questioned it before, but now he would test the waters.
Troy opened his mouth to argue, but Griffin didn’t want to hear it. “Leave us.” He would be explaining everything at the party, they could fuck off until then.
He didn’t wait for Troy’s response, tightening his hold on Raven’s hand and dragging her with him into the castle.
The wide doors were already swung open, and just inside, there was a double helix staircase.
He headed towards it, happy when she didn’t resist him.
Happier still to find that it was mostly empty inside.
He circled up the staircase, passing landings on each side until he was three levels up, exiting it with Raven still in tow and Julian holding on to her.
“I’m going to be sick,” she murmured, wobbling a bit. “What about Levi, Enzo, Maverick, and Oleks?” Raven narrowed her eyes. “I thought they were right behind us.”
“They will be, but we can’t wait for them.
They need to be kept separate from you. A Cherished can’t be with other men in public, it could cause…
issues.” Now wasn’t the time to explain that if her men were caught with her, they could, at the very least, be sent to prison.
And at the worst? Harold’s screams echoed around his ears.
Griffin didn’t pause as he spoke. He didn’t want to be out here much longer.
It was best for no one else to see them entering his chambers.