Chapter 33
Tryp and Erus had returned to the warehouse the following day with the beaten-up truck we kept out the back of the compound. As I unloaded boxes and boxes of things, I felt only minorly guilty that I’d gone so crazy.
She still looked like she was adrift, and I hated it. I wanted her to moor herself to me, knowing that I was a safe port for her. And that started with providing for them. Making her laugh. Making her happy.
I knew I was feeling too much too fast. Teron had warned me that I was overdoing it, that I was just as likely to scare her away with my attention as make her feel safe. But for so long, I’d lived in a vacuum of darkness—years upon years of nothing, with no purpose, and no future but hoping that the end would come sooner or later.
When she’d turned up, a small spark had flickered in the depths of my abyss, and I’d found myself moving toward her like some kind of ugly fish in the deep trenches of the ocean, searching for the light. When she’d chosen me first, it had given me a duty, a reason to be the best man I could, to drag myself from the ennui that had insulated me from feeling for so long.
My life had shifted in that moment, and it had been a constant war about doing what would make her comfortable, and throwing myself at her feet in supplication.
However, now, as we stared at all the boxes, she didn’t seem particularly happy. Grateful, and a little overwhelmed, which I could understand. Even I was overwhelmed, and I’d bought most of this stuff. There were a few things in here purchased by the others, but only I’d gone overboard.
Guilt grew in my chest, and I couldn’t resist the urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders and hold her tightly to my side. The thought that Teron was right, that I would make her run away with my attention made me panic slightly.
“Don’t stress, sweet one. I’ll construct everything. You just have to relax over there on the couch and give me directions. I can even do it without a shirt on,” I said with a lascivious wink, earning a laugh that spread through my veins like a drug.
I was addicted to that sound. It was my opioid of choice.
She wrapped her arms around me, and I bundled her up close to my chest. I wanted to lift her into my arms and drag her back to my bed where I could worship her, but she was tired. I wasn’t going to add to her exhaustion.
Well, maybe I could just lick… No. Her needs came first.
So I nuzzled her cheeks, smelling Tryp on them—the fucker couldn’t go five seconds without scent marking her—but I found I didn’t mind at all. I loved them. I loved her. It was right.
“Are you mad at me? I promise, I did this because I wanted to. I wasn’t trying to buy your love. I’m excited about the babies’ arrival.”
She let out a choked noise, and I pulled back, looking down at her large, tear-filled eyes. Had I said something wrong?
Brushing her hand across her eyes, she sniffed. “I’m fine. Sorry. I just realized I don’t think anyone has been excited about the babies coming into the world, until you. Worried. Stressed. Fearful. But not excited. Not even me.” I frowned, and she continued. “I’m excited to hold them, but I’m also so fucking scared, Milo.”
Ah, this woman. “Don’t cry, Wren. You’re breaking my heart.” I kissed her cheeks. “Want me to make love to you? It’ll stop your tears, and hopefully make you happier.”
She laughed, squeezing me tighter. “You make me happier, Milo. Thank you for being excited.”
I lifted her easily into my arms and carried her toward the bed. “I can tell you that I’ll protect you all with my life. I can tell you that I’ll love you and all three babies with my whole heart and soul. I can tell you that you make me happier than I’ve been in so long. But I think it’s best if I show you all these things… with my tongue.”
She giggled and buried her fingers in my short hair. “Show me, my love.” Her words were like an injection of happiness straight into my heart, resurrecting that battered old organ and making it pump once more.
My eyes snappedopen in the darkness of predawn. I sent out my senses, trying to work out what had woken me. Wren tossed and turned uncomfortably, but she did that every night. Being heavily pregnant meant she was being used as an arena in the fight for womb space going on inside her, which didn’t often lend itself to restful sleep.
The urge to shift was strong. I looked over at Néit, who was sleeping on the other side of Wren, and his eyes looked back at me. “Something’s wrong,” he said softly, trying not to wake her.
I nodded. Slipping from the bed, I looked out the window. The darkness of the moon set made the landscape dense with shadows. My instincts were telling me there was something out there, though. I searched and searched until I saw a flash of movement. It could just be Cy and his unruly pack. But it felt like something else.
Another flash of movement on the other side. Nothing had tripped the wards yet, but they were circling.
“We’re under attack. Wake Wren,” I murmured. “Take her down to my rooms below the building. I’ll get Tryp and Erus to come and guard her.” Néit was a warring God. He wouldn’t babysit. He’d fight.
On this, we could relate. I was no God, but my purpose was to protect. Demke was a rejuvenation God. Of life and fertility, but what people always seemed to forget was that energy was a finite substance. You could only have new life with death, and he was more than happy to dispatch the energy of the unworthy back into the universe. Teron’s Gryphon was… terrifying in battle.
No, the only ones of us who didn’t particularly relish a good fight were the Genii. Tryp and Erus could and would fight, but they were made for more hedonistic pleasures. Drinking, fucking, partying. They’d been designed as playthings. Bringers of joy and merriment. They would protect Wren with the ferocity of their lions, but they didn’t enjoy killing.
Néit didn’t argue, gently waking Wren as I rushed from the room. I wasn’t surprised to find Teron’s Gryphon already walking the halls. He freaked me the fuck out, even after all these years. The Gryphon and Teron weren’t the same person. The Gryphon was something else, and even though I’d say we were friendly, I knew he tolerated us only because Teron loved us. The Gryphon didn’t feel one way or another for us.
I bowed my head at the regal creature who stood eye to eye with me in this form. He was huge. His eagle eyes looked at me appraisingly, the long talons on his lion paws scraping gouges in the slate flooring. “We’re under attack.”
He tilted its head at me, then nodded.
“Néit is taking Wren down to my rooms beneath the building. She’ll be safest there.”
The Gryphon lifted the feathers around his neck and shook them out. That could have been an agreement with my decision, or it could just be a reaction to the mention of Wren.
When I’d asked Teron recently if his Gryphon might be an issue regarding Wren’s safety, he’d snorted. “Your safety might be more of an issue when it comes to the relationship between Wren and the Gryphon.”
Between his words that day, and the slightly haunted look on his face, I’d made an educated guess that it meant the Gryphon liked Wren. Mate-liked Wren. Though Teron had never said as much.
Now, I was beginning to think I was correct. We needed to sort this out now and quickly. “I love Wren. I will lay my life down to protect her. I know she’s your… mate.” I hesitated over the word, in case he decided to gouge me for my audacity, but he just tilted his head at me. “But she’s my mate too. She’ll need all of us.”
The Gryphon’s golden eyes watched me for so long, I began to sweat. Finally, he inclined his head, and I resisted sighing with relief. Instead, I smiled. “Glad we’ve sorted that out. I’m going to wake Demke and the others. Do you want to fly out and see what dares to step foot into our territory?”
He made an angry snapping sound at that, his outrage clear. I hurried around him, down the hall to Demke’s wing. Thumping hard, I yelled, “We’re under attack.”
But then the wards went off, waking the whole house. Rushing to Tryp and Erus’s quarters, I found them already stumbling out the door, half asleep.
“Down to my rooms. That’s where Wren is. Protect her. Soothe her. The stress is bad for the babies.”
They didn’t ask questions. They just ran.
Demke strode into the hall, fully dressed with a sword in hand. He looked like a bloodthirsty God of old, his power whipping around the room. It would be a good reminder for these fucking Mythics to know exactly who they were fucking with. That we wouldn’t give her up.
That we would fight for what was ours, and this time, we wouldn’t lose.
Néit appeared at the same time as the Gryphon flew back in the window, and if I hadn’t been watching, I wouldn’t have seen the normally unflappable God of War actually looking surprised. He cleared his throat and stepped around the Gryphon, and over to us.
Demke stopped him. “This is Teron’s Gryphon. He’s not Teron. You should treat him with respect, or he’ll bite your head off in a rather permanent manner,” Demke informed him.
Néit bowed to the beast, and to my surprise, the Gryphon lowered his head in return. Interesting. I’d unpack that at another time.
The Gryphon looked over at Demke, and they were clearly doing that ESP thing they had. Eventually, Demke nodded. “The Gryphon thinks this is just a probe attack. Checking our weaknesses. Six lower-level monsters, including some Verserpent and other little night demons. Nothing as powerful as the Lamia, or any of the Old Gods that Néit’s contact mentioned. He said Cy and his pack have already torn apart one of the night demons.”
Néit’s jaw tensed, and his ax glowed as he grew twice his size, the runes on his chest beginning to grow. “No survivors.”
Demke nodded and looked at me. “No survivors,” I agreed. I walked over to the weapons that still hung on the wall like this was medieval times, and palmed my favorite mace. “We’ll probably have to put these in the armory or something when the babies come,” I muttered to myself. “I’ll take the south.”
We all took a direction, splitting up. Feeling the cool weight of the mace, and the unnatural stillness of the air as I stepped into the courtyard, I went out to defend the woman I loved.