Chapter 27 #2
“She’s asleep.” Oleks plucked her off of Griffin, wobbling just a bit under her weight, but Maverick was there to help him. “Let’s get her onto the cushions, she needs sleep. We all do.”
Griffin got up on shaky knees, surprised that Julian lent a hand to stabilize him.
Enzo was standing against a wall staring slack-jawed at Raven. It was clear there were a lot of consuming emotions cycling through him, but Griffin didn’t care. He didn’t like the useless man.
Griffin moved to the cushions, taking up the free space on one side of her, curling his body around her smaller frame.
He knew that when the buzz of the drugs wore off, they would all come crashing down, that they would be irritable, angry, and empty. It was how Oleks had come to him.
Griffin met Julian’s eyes as he settled on the other side of Raven, her body covered in bruises, her energy drained.
And as he fell towards his own exhaustion, his mind flashed back to the first time he had learned of Julian. Of when he had been put to task to get to know the man.
Over Four Years Ago – Violencia
Griffin lulled in and out of consciousness as time spun around him. He had been in this room for a month…two? Three? Six? He wasn’t sure at this point.
Huddled alone in this corner with nothing to hold onto except a pregnant woman’s face who he had never even met. Who might not even be alive. The screech of the steel door to their prison opening didn’t even pull his attention, it was only when boots marched to him that he lifted his head.
“Get up.”
It took longer than he cared to admit to recognize the man before him. Perhaps it was their time apart, the Official’s clothes he wore, or the fact that he half-expected to never see him again.
Not after his encounter with Niko.
“Prisoner, come with me.” Viktor bent down, wrenching Griffin up and off the dirty concrete floor.
Griffin didn’t fight as he was half-dragged from the room, but he desperately searched for Oleks. He found the man’s attention on him, concern and anxiety reaching for him but never touching.
They hadn’t spoken a single time in this cell. Regret leeched into him.
And then the door slammed shut blocking his view entirely.
“Play victim,” Viktor spoke under his breath as he continued out into the main space of the prison. It was half-underground and hotter and smellier than any space Griffin had been before.
Melted decay folding on top of burnt copper as they continued further into it, down a long hallway before turning off into a small concrete space.
Niko was already sitting on a chair inside. A hook swung ominously in the center of the room, a drain below it, the ground stained a dark brown.
Even still, Griffin chose to accept it, if they killed him here, so be it.
He didn’t fight as Viktor pushed him in, shutting them inside before turning to Griffin. “We don’t have much time.”
“Felix won the first Redemption games for Violencia,” Niko started, his eyes staring into Griffin’s. “I didn’t want to take him, but there wasn’t any choice. I’m sorry we couldn’t come for you sooner. Truly Griffin.” Niko’s voice broke in emotion.
His words were sincere, and they landed in Griffin’s heart, releasing the vice which had been wrapped around it tightly.
It was instant relief that circumvented Griffin. He had never stopped trusting these men, but he had been afraid. Terrified that his last tangible connections had betrayed him too.
Griffin opened his mouth to speak, but shut it. He wasn’t sure what to say. Wasn’t sure how to express the gratitude he felt at being taken from his cell.
“Your brother will be here in three months to release you. He’s already working out the details.
There is an uproar in Grypheem at the fact you were jailed in the first place.
There are politics involved, but you will be returning home.
” Niko got up from the chair, his finger flicked the heavy metal hook, causing it to sway a bit further, a bit higher.
“Your brother does not have our allegiance.”
The words were hot in Griffin’s stomach. His confidence built in this instance.
A reminder of who he was, at all he had accomplished. Violencia was still a horrible place, but the lies were splintering. There were many he had saved.
It just had never been enough.
“He wants one last piece before he comes. You are going to be thrown into a cell with a man named Julian. Talk to him. Listen. Learn what he has to say. Your brother wants to hear it all, but I suggest you don’t relay a word.” Viktor bent down, scraping some dirt off the ground.
He gave Griffin an apologetic smile as he rubbed the mud into his hair, caked it on his face, as he dirtied him up.
Another cell.
But this one had an expiration date. Three months.
I can do that. It will be nothing.
“From what I know, Julian is a good man,” Viktor advised, stepping back and admiring his work. “You look a lot more pitiful like that.”
“Three months, Griffin. Three months and your brother will be here to rescue you.” Niko promised, grabbing hold of his shoulder. “I’ll take you to his cell.”
Griffin was aware at this point he was a puppet. That his strings had been pulled and tugged by his brother. That his father may have sent him here to remain safe, but his brother had an ulterior motive.
“What happened to my father?” he asked the question he had held onto deep in his gut. The one he had been terrified to voice.
Niko stiffened. “All I am aware of is that he missed your mother desperately. Enough to go to war against the High Priestess.”
“How do you know that?” Griffin turned back, watching both men with a steady gaze.
“Your brother informed us,” Viktor easily admitted.
Griffin had spent years in this country, attempting to make some prophetic difference. But really he needed to turn his attention homewards.
Towards the crumbling foundation of the Sacred Trinity.
“Griffin, the people of Grypheem know what you have been up to in your time away. You are garnering support. Your brother is pushing it further. It almost seems he doesn’t want to remain there much longer,” Niko explained. “But we have to go.”
And then he was leading Griffin back into the depths of hell.
Griffin allowed the hum of energy in his gut buzz to life.
He would complete this mission and then he would return home and find the answers he needed for himself.