Chapter Four #5
“It’s probably my Purple Heart. I left it with him. I don’t think it’ll be in there, though. I saw him holding it before he jumped. It fell off the cliff.”
It wasn’t lost on Michael the irony. He’d left his heart with Graham once before, and he’d dropped it then too.
Gryphen felt bad about that.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know that had to hurt to see—both him and the heart go over.”
Oh, it was.
But he brushed it off.
What was one more thing of his that was destroyed in some relationship?
His soul.
His heart.
His morale.
His ego.
There was a growing list at this point. Why not pile the fuck onto it?
“Anyway, I don’t think it matters what’s in the box. All I know, Gryph is I’m in over my head. This really blindsided me, and I know I keep saying that, but it bears repeating. It’s like a kick to the balls. That memory lingers.”
Oh, he was aware.
For the most part, Gryphen knew that his friend was struggling. When he became a bodyguard for the Blackhawks, Michael was the one who trained him and taught him how to do the job.
“Want me to come there and cover your six, Michael?” he asked without hesitation. “Because if you need me to be there, I will be. Graham is important to me, but so are you. We’re brothers. We’re family. We’re Marines. Say the word.”
That hung there.
Nothing was said, and Gryphen went there again, repeating it.
“I mean it. Just say the words, Michael, and I’ll be there for you. Just do it, and I’m on my way. I can be there for both of you. I love you both.”
He went to say no, but that’s not what came out of his mouth.
Not.
Even.
Close.
It was clear this had him more rattled than even he knew. His mouth and brain were betraying him.
What was next?
His heart?
“I saw him, and I feel everything I did before the moment he broke me,” he whispered. “I don’t know how to do this, Gryph. I need someone to protect me from making incredibly stupid mistakes when it comes to my heart. I can’t trust myself. Can you come? Please?”
The man was already packing his bags.
He’d already gone to Elizabeth, and she greenlighted their trip out of there. He couldn’t stay long, but he could go and make sure everything was stable and not ready to blow up spectacularly.
“I’ll be on the next flight. Elizabeth already spoke to Ivan and cleared it. I’ll see you at the castle.”
Bless him.
“Thank you, G.”
He reassured him.
“You know it’s not a problem. How long were you parked by my hospital bed when I didn’t wake up?”
The answer was days.
And even after that too.
Gryphen was to the point.
“Just catch up on all the shit that went on there. Unfortunately for us, we have to work while we’re there. I have a feeling we’re all about to be in over our heads. If what Tony said about that entity is right…”
Now, Michael was edgy.
REAL.
EDGY.
“I don’t want more of my family in danger. Maybe we just tell Elizabeth and tap out?”
Yeah, that couldn’t happen.
Callen and Chris were dead men if they took that route.
Bet.
On.
It.
Instead, he reassured him.
“There’s safety in numbers. I’ll be there. Just give Gabby a heads-up in the morning. You’re not a solver, but her husband is. We’ll need his help. Hell! We might need all of us to handle this.”
To him, that sounded like the best idea.
Having people there who grounded him would help when it came to dealing with Graham.
It might keep him from doing something stupid, like opening the door that broke him in the first place. Oh, he’d never take Riley back.
But with Graham…they’d been different.
Their love had been…real.
Honestly, he couldn’t ignore that weakness around him. It was the big, pink elephant in the room.
“Thanks, Gryph. I owe you one.”
No, he didn’t.
Not at all.
“Absolutely not. We’re family, and Graham is my friend. I want to help him. I’m sure seeing you was rough for him if he wanted to jump.”
Oh, well, he was to the point.
“He did jump, Gryph. I caught him, and then, as I was losing my grip, the two, dead, gay ghosts came to my rescue and helped pull him up.”
Oh, wow.
“And not only that, Gryph, but is it true the one guy laid over the other to protect him during an attack?”
Gryphen was honest.
“Yeah, that’s how he died, or that’s what Tony told us. Why?”
He was to the point.
“How do you think I got that Purple Heart? I laid over Graham during a skirmish, and took a bullet for him and nearly died. I nearly bled out.”
Well, shit.
“Oh, boy. They are relating to you and Graham. They’ll be fixated on you.”
He was aware.
Unfortunately.
On top of that, it was brutal enough to make the man want to jump off a cliff.
Unless…
“Do you think all of this is because of the energy here, and he’s actually fine? Gabby’s man said it made her nearly toss herself off the tower. What if it’s slowly eroding at Graham since he’s already depressed? Wouldn’t that add to the depression and likelihood of taking one’s life?”
Gryphen didn’t know.
“I’m not sure.”
Michael had an idea.
“Can you quietly ask Ethan? He’s the shrinky-dink of the family. Before you leave, can you ask him if that depression could be manipulated?”
He could do that.
“I’ll ask him.”
Then, Gryphen thought about it.
“When we were there, we didn’t feel like we were in danger. Ceit wasn’t mean. She was scary as fuck with the crying and singing lullabies to her long-dead baby, but she never hurt us. In fact, she was helpful.”
Michael was horrified.
“I swear to God if I hear one spooky dead-kid lullaby, I’m freaking out and running to the airport. I’ll drag Graham with me over my back if need be.”
He laughed.
That would be quite the sight, but he believed him.
Completely.
It also wasn’t lost on him that already, Michael was willing to save Graham and take him with him to safety. Honestly, he didn’t think the man realized what he’d said.
“Just let me get there, and we’ll figure it out together. Just be very careful what you do. Watch your back until I can arrive. It’ll be morning your time. Okay?”
That was all he could do.
“Thanks, Gryph. I hope Elizabeth can spare you. If she can’t…”
He reassured him.
“She already offered to send me. Just do me a favor. Tomorrow, at some point, call her. She feels horrible that you’re angry with her.
She’s heartbroken that you think she’d do this to hurt you.
For the record, in case it needs to be said, she wouldn’t, Michael.
She loves all of us and would never do this to any of us.
She was caught in the middle of this, and didn’t know what to do. ”
He sighed.
And he was aware.
Oh, he felt bad for yelling at her.
For.
Sure.
He was honest.
“I’m not angry. I was blindsided and lashed out at her.
Callen called me after and explained. She didn’t do this intentionally.
I get that. I’ll speak to her tomorrow and make this right.
I just need time to get my bearings. I showed up here to escape an ex, and found the one that would have been my husband had he just put his faith in me.
I’m rattled, Gryph. I’m really rattled.”
The man understood.
He told him everything, sharing what happened weeks ago when he’d gotten that goodbye call from the Scotsman. Michael deserved to know.
“After nearly dying in the alley, Graham asked me to have Elizabeth find you, Michael. She didn’t do anything for four weeks.
She sat on the information that she knew who D’Artangnan really was.
It really was the Riley situation, and her needing to send you somewhere safe that was the cause of all of this.
In fact, Ian was the one who pushed her to send you when she did, and he had no clue about any of this.
It looks as if fate was intervening on all of our behalf. ”
Oh, wow.
Now, he felt worse.
“So she really didn’t pull the trigger on this?” he asked, knowing Gryphen wouldn’t lie. They were Marines, and that meant something.
The big Marine was honest.
“At the moment, losing an Archangel was a bad plan. It was right before Wyler got grabbed trying to save his friend. She wasn’t going to send you until Ian updated her about the ex, Riley, and his shenanigans in DC. That’s when she decided. That was DAYS ago.”
Crap.
“She held the information, but the universe pointed everything in this direction. It just so happened that you and Graham had a past. If she was interfering, why would she wait so long?”
Yeah, he had a very valid point.
He believed that the universe was stirring the shit pot to do something.
He just didn’t know what.
It was at the back of his mind that there was the parallel nature of their lives with the two dead men.
It was creepy.
And he knew what he needed to do.
“I’ll call her. Just let me know when you’re coming. I can pick you up…”
He was to the point.
“Stay there and watch Graham. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I can get a cab there. Don’t stress it. Just watch your back until you have backup.”
He didn’t understand why everyone was so adamant that a combat Marine who was also a decorated soldier and Archangel couldn’t manage to keep himself safe.
Were they all loco?
Really?
He could diffuse a bomb under pressure, and he could dive and hold his breath for over three minutes like a Navy Seal. He wasn’t easily taken down.
What was the ghost going to do?
Watch him take a piss and poke him in the ass?
Instead of going there, he was curious.
“Should I read the book that Finn told me to read?” Michael asked, hoping the man knew which one.
So, he described it.
“The brown leather one?”
Gryphen laughed.
Should he?
Absolutely.
Was he going to be prepared for it?
Nope.
“Be ready to go down the rabbit hole on this one. But yeah, get acclimated. It’s for the best. You’re going to need to be up to speed and reading those letters are the best way to do that. Tony also left some notes there on what he discovered, and when Ceit’s skull was smashed by the other ghost.”
He made him stop.
“What? How did a ghost smash a skull?”
Oh, Gryphen said one thing.