Chapter 29
A Mountain Moves an Inch Each Year
Griffin
Just Over Four Years Ago – Violencia
Agony ricocheted throughout Griffin’s body as he was dragged from the cell he had spent the last two months in, as the realization of who Julian was crashed around him.
He had grown close to the man, too close. The truth that he was connected to Raven and Sparrow wasn’t anything he had expected.
“You’re leaving now. That was her signal.” Niko continued to tug him along, taking him down a long dingy hallway that reeked of sweat and salt. “Anadil is going to take you to your brother.”
Griffin’s nose scrunched up. “Who is it? Who is the mastermind? Her? Him?”
But Niko didn’t answer, continuing to lead him away, until they came to a set of stone stairs. They took them all the way up until a hatch opened above them, letting in the fresh air. Niko pushed him through it first before exiting behind him and shutting it.
Looking around, Griffin found they were in a patch of trees just outside the northern part of the wall that wrapped around Violencia.
The scenery and breeze were a welcome change from the stuffy air he had been in for months. But his heart went back below. “What will happen to Oleks and Julian?”
“Nightingale has plans for Julian. Felix has already been placed inside the games now. More of our allies will slowly join him.”
Griffin had witnessed Felix win the first game with Violencia citizens…after being forced to go against his brother. “Can’t we bring Oleks along? I need an ally back home. Someone I can trust.”
“Viktor is helping him escape the prison, but he can’t leave with you, we need him here. He needs to assist from the inside.”
Griffin’s stomach filled with a sour acid. “He deserves to be freed of this. To decide to leave.”
Niko rolled back his sleeve, the griffin tattoo shining in the moonlight. “This is a beacon. A symbol. He wears the same mark, and as long as he does, he will continue to fight for the cause. He chose to join you. After all, a griffin’s wings—”
Griffin tackled Niko to the ground, his entire being possessed by a level of anger he had never felt before.
He didn’t speak as he laid fist after fist into Niko.
As he allowed his time in the prison, his experiences in Violencia, the betrayals, the failures, the evil, everything.
All of it came out of him and Niko was his unintended victim.
But Niko didn’t fight him. “You are rightfully angry. But I promise I am on your side.” The words were hissed through clenched teeth.
Griffin paused his merciless beating, leaning back and staring down at Niko. The one he had entered Violencia with all those years ago. “A griffin’s wings will take them all the fucking way if no one stood in their path! If their demise was not expected! If their wings were freed!”
Niko offered a bloody smile. “When Raven joins the games, the King of Luscinia’s brother will die. It will be a reason for Luscinia to ally with Grypheem in the war against Violencia. But your job is to flip the script. We must end Luscinia’s reign of terror.”
A slow clap from behind Griffin had him jumping off of Niko and turning around.
Anadil stood, a hand cocked on her hip, a gun holstered on the other.
“Exactly that. All large transformations take years. A mountain moves an inch a year, but over time those inches add up and real change is established. I will return you to your brother, to Grypheem, but your job here isn’t done. ”
Griffin helped Niko off the ground, eyeing Anadil warily.
“And why should I trust you? After everything you have done.” Griffin cracked his neck, acutely aware of the bruises she had left on his body just before he had been whisked away.
“Because, as they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Anadil offered a mirth-filled smile.
“The people of Luscinia?” he asked.
“Not quite.” And then she was turning towards the sea and marching out of the trees onto the beach, each step taking her closer to the edge. But she didn’t stop at the shore, didn’t stop when she was past her hips in the water.
Griffin wasn’t sure if she ever stopped as her body disappeared into the rolling waves.
“She’ll be back with a ship. It will take time, but Viktor and I will be here when you return. Best of luck.” Niko landed a hand on his shoulder blade, offering it a reassuring pat before heading back to the prison, to the hatch that was hidden in the brush and sand.
Griffin stared out at the sea, waiting for Anadil to resurface, but she never did.
Instead, a large familiar ship came into view.
Present Day - Grypheem
Griffin jolted awake, the remnants of the dream dissolving too quickly to grasp, slipping through his mind as the cold at his side seeped in. Where Raven’s warmth should have been. His brain was a foggy mess, but Oleks was staring down at him.
“Get dressed. Levi was taken, I couldn’t do anything to prevent it.
Raven is with Drago and Felix in the throne room.
It seems the High Priestess has demanded an expedition to the wedding.
” Oleks dropped clothes on him, his eyes flicking around the room.
“It will take longer for the rest to come out of this. Levi was much larger, and you and I have the most resistance to it.”
“You didn’t…you didn’t let the drug take hold.” Griffin scrambled up, he was careful not to step on the others if only for the sake of not having to deal with what they had all done.
Oleks’s eyebrows furrowed together as he breathed in and out a few times. “Touching her was enough. I didn’t want to…” He trailed off.
Oleks’s other words finally landed in Griffin’s swirling brain.
“Levi was taken? Expedite the wedding?” He nearly fell over, one leg in his pants, but Oleks caught him, helping him the rest of the way.
“Yes,” he clipped. “I imagine this was an intentional ploy. Your brother is impatient.”
“He wanted Raven to actually be pregnant. He wants to go to Violencia. He wants Anadil,” Griffin rapid-fired.
He thought for a single instance he should bring Julian, but decided against it.
Rousing him from this state could lead to a brain fog that would leave Julian practically useless.
It was best he came to on his own terms. “How did Raven wake earlier than us?” But Griffin didn’t pause for an answer as he made his way out of the now unlocked door and into the main part of the castle.
“She orgasmed the most. In my experience, the more your body trembles and your nerves bundle up, the faster you come down from the high,” Oleks advised, catching up to him easily.
The thought of how many times Raven had done exactly that and by more than just him caused piercing stabs of jealousy to shoot out, but he stomped them down. “They can’t see you.” They were almost to the throne room now, but he didn’t wait for Oleks’s response.
He trusted the man to take care of himself.
Griffin threw open the throne room doors and marched into the space, staring his brother down. Ignoring everyone else, even as much as he wanted to glance at Raven to ensure she was okay.
That would be a weakness.
“What has happened?” he asked angrily.
The High Priestess stepped into view from behind Drago. “Your sacred cherished needs to be kept on a shorter leash. You cannot allow her to dally with other men, to wander the halls of the castle freely. Especially if she is pregnant, as your brother has advised.”
Griffin’s attention shifted to the High Priestess, she was practically radiating with joy. It did not bode well for him, for any of them. “She spent the evening with Julian and me. She did not wander far.”
“And yet none of you were in your quarters. And yet she is covered in bruises.” The Priestess reached for Raven, but Raven stepped away, placing herself on the other side of Drago.
Griffin flicked his eyes across Raven’s form, at the hickeys covering her skin. The ones in varying shapes, sizes, and colors.
“Clearly my brother and Julian have been spending the time needed with their future wife. She may be pregnant, but that does not mean they cannot enjoy her company.” Drago stood from the throne, placing himself further between Raven and the Priestess.
“What proof do you need that their claim to her is unchallenged?”
“The wedding must be moved up. Not in three weeks, but a week.”
“Ten days,” Drago countered. “That will give you sufficient time to ready the pre-marital ceremony you have insisted upon.”
The Priestess’s ghoulish face held no warmth as she mulled the words over. “Agreed, but we will keep the prisoner. If any evidence comes to light that he has injured this cherished woman he will be sent to the sea in the Iron Mother.”
Raven’s face paled, her eyes turning glassy but she didn’t react otherwise.
Felix stood behind her now, his arms folded over his chest as if he were a guard. But Griffin wasn’t sure if the man was a friend or foe. They had hardly spoken since the games and it was as if he was being ignored by him entirely.
“We will return in nine days to prepare for the ceremony. As he is the King, it will need to be a spectacle for the countries to watch and enjoy. A beacon of hope. A reminder that we must cherish the women who bear our children. And perhaps they might see why having two partners is not the optimal choice.” The High Priestess did not wait for a reply, she moved in Griffin’s direction, missing him by centimeters as the wind from her cloak billowed around him and she rushed from the room.
The sweet scent of hibiscus suffusing the air.