Iron and Hemlock #7
She lowered her eyes to her salmon and buttery fried parsnips.
She noticed the gargoyles were served the same, and plenty of it.
Unlike her, they didn’t seem to be as careful of fish bones.
She drank the last of her wine and poured some more.
“Mrs Y. is a good cook,” she said, trying to make small talk. “You’re lucky to have her.”
Rook coughed, amused. “The local farmers are lucky we have her! Happy for them, not all of us enjoy raw meat.” Like the others, he didn’t bother with tableware, deeming his fingers utensil enough.
“And the farmers frown on missing sheep,” a sharp-edged gargoyle called Vicious said between bites. He had black hair, blue skin and wings. Chuckles followed his statement.
“They wouldn’t really steal,” Sage explained to her calmly. “The estate provides for all of us. As night guardians, they hardly have to beg for food.”
Jordon looked to Griffin. “If you’re all awake at night, who guards the place when you’re asleep?”
“Unlike the gargoyles, we can be awake in the daylight. We need little sleep,” Griffin explained.
The blue gargoyle grinned a sharp white grin. “It gives him more time to cat around. The ladies like his company.”
Griffin growled in warning, and Vic lost his smile. “What?”
The wolf-like creature next to him, Howl, snickered. He had roast beef stuck in his teeth. “Don’t mind him. He’s not too smart.”
“Vic’s barely thirty,” the thin purple one across the table from him spoke up, cutting across the brewing fight. Jordon thought his name was Lance. “He probably hasn’t noticed what’s happening between you two.”
Jordon stiffened, set down her fork. “I wasn’t aware there was anything happening,” she said with strained calm. She didn’t like to think of the relationship between her and Griff as public, not when she barely knew what to make of it herself. She nervously took a sip of wine.
Lance stared at her. Cornered, he shot a glance at Griffin, and quickly changed the subject. “I’m the best flier. Howl tracks like a wolf.”
“Better,” Howl shot back. He crammed a whole boiled potato in his mouth.
Jordon let them change the subject, but her appetite was completely gone.
What was she doing, sitting here like this?
She should be trying to convince the house to take her home.
She didn’t belong here. “Excuse me. I don’t feel well,” she said.
Avoiding Griffin’s eyes, she quickly stood and left the table, praying he wouldn’t follow her.
She was quite sure she would start wigging out if she had to sit still one more minute and pretend that everything was normal.
Everything was not normal! She was trapped in a living house, out of her time, and slightly drunk. She stumbled on her skirt as she was climbing the stairs and upgraded that to “definitely drunk”.
Since it was either leave the table or climb the walls, screaming, she thought she’d made the right choice.
She didn’t even try to reach her room. Tonight she rather wanted to be lost. She didn’t want Griffin to find her too soon, not when she felt so confused. She needed time to think.
That was how she found the balcony. Stumbling through dark rooms until she found one lit by moonlight, she followed the white path to a double French door. It swung silently open to reveal a cosy balcony overlooking the front lawns. A brisk wind blew at her, perfect for clearing her head.
Jordon closed the doors and leaned on the rail. As long as no one went for a flight, she’d have her privacy. She smiled a bitter smile and closed her eyes. Ah! How did things get so complicated? This had all come on her much too fast. Was there a way to prepare for something like this?
“Take me back,” she told the house, putting her heart into it. “We are not a good match. You know it, too. I’m no good for him.”
“Is he good for you?”
Jordon blinked. The quiet thought hung there, as if waiting for a response.
She didn’t have one. Griffin good for her?
Jordon broke it down, simplified it. Was Griffin good?
Of course. Though she hadn’t known him long, she felt sure of that.
Was he good for her? She bit her lip and stared over the shadowed lawns.
Though she wrestled with the question for a good long time, she couldn’t find an answer.
The chill finally forced her inside. Somehow she was not surprised to find him waiting there, and in his human form. At least he was dressed.
He bowed, very formal. “This place can be confusing. I thought you might have gotten turned around. May I lead you back?”
She sighed. “I wish someone would.”
They were silent as he escorted her back to her room. When they reached the door, he looked down at her solemnly. “Am I invited tonight?”
Part of her was tempted. She would have loved to be held. Instead she shook her head. “It’s no good, Griff. I’m not good company tonight.”
He nodded soberly, reached for her chin. He hesitated just before touching her. When he spoke, there was unhappiness in his voice. “May I kiss you goodnight?”
His pain made her heart ache. She nodded softly.
She recognized that kiss for the mistake it was an hour later, when she’d had time to think. Griffin was a ruthless seducer. Only now, draped naked over his drowsing form, did she have time to acknowledge it.
He’d worn her out. She closed her eyes, promising she’d deal better with him tomorrow.
At first she didn’t realize she dreamed. She was twined with Griffin, but there was another presence in the room: the shadow man.
He studied the pair of them critically. “Well, that was quick! I see my sister has gotten her way again.”
“Naturu,” she whispered, barely able to speak, to move. She felt as if the air had become a pressure, holding her down. “G’way.”
“I’m afraid not.” He examined his cane, his tone off-hand.
“You realize I don’t approve. We’d whittled the numbers down to seven, my friends and I.
I’ve no interest in seeing a population explosion.
” He looked at her with regret. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you.
” He took a brisk step forwards, raising his cane that now sported a barbed tip.
His eyes were locked on Griffin’s chest.
“No!” she shouted as the paralysis abruptly lifted. She sat up, threw a pillow to deflect his aim. “I won’t let you kill him!”
He took aim again . . . To her surprise, Griffin was shaking her, telling her sharply to wake. Her eyes flew open, and she looked around wildly. “He tried to kill you!”
Griffin’s jaw tensed. He put a calming hand on her shoulder, then looked to the spot where she’d last seen Naturu. “Come out. I can smell you.”
Naturu’s voice came out of the air, bored, as if he hadn’t just tried his hand at murder. “What would be the point in that? I find it’s much easier to kill you this way.”
Griffin smiled grimly. “Brave fae! Noble foe to come at your prey in the dark. I had heard that you’d become craven over the years, O hero.”
“One does not require chivalry to slay an animal.” Naturu’s voice had a distinct edge.
Griffin smiled as he baited him. “And in your sister’s house no less. She’ll certainly forgive that.”
“What is it you want? Shall I give you a sporting chance?” Naturu spat. “Very well. Tomorrow, at dawn. I will meet you before the house. Winner gets the girl . . . and any monsters she might be breeding.” The voice held sinister promise.
They waited in tense silence. Finally Griffin said, “He’s gone.”
“Was he really here?” she whispered, still shaken. “He was in my dreams . . .”
He tucked the blanket around her shoulders and held her close. “He’s fae. They do that.” He nuzzled her temple. “This one won’t bother you again, however. I’ll take care of it tomorrow.”
She jerked her head up, nearly clipping his chin. “What? You’re going to fight him? That’s what he meant, didn’t he? No! I don’t want—”
He shushed her, first with his voice, then with gently persuasive kisses. “I’ll be careful. I promise. All will be well.”
She tried to argue, but his lips stilled every argument, until she finally just pushed him back. “Look. There has to be a better way.”
He took her hand in his, kissed it. Then he slowly coaxed her to lie against his chest. “Very well. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. We’ll sort this out.”
Her breathing slowly began to calm. “You will? You think he’ll listen?”
“I can be very persuasive,” he said reasonably, stroking her hair. “I’ll have my brothers with me, too.”
That calmed her. It wasn’t as if he’d be all alone. She didn’t know what she could do against Naturu, but she would be there too, of course. She’d talk to the house if she had to, get her to intervene.
As her pulse slowed, her eyes got heavy. Promising herself she’d sleep lightly, Jordon drifted off.
A bone-jarring thud woke her the next morning. She opened her eyes, stared out the window with bleary eyes. An angry groan came from somewhere far below her window.
She glanced at the lightening sky and gasped. Dawn! Grabbing her dress, she dashed for the window. She was just in time to see her Griffin climb to his feet and launch himself at the giant black griffin snarling on the lawn.
Jordon bolted for the door, struggling into her dress as she went.
The hall seemed endless, the stairs a dangerous slope as she flew down them barefoot.
The front door was ajar, and she threw it open, skidding to a stop on the landing.
The griffins were locked in unequal battle, Griff biting and feinting viciously at the monster twice his size.
“He allowed Griffin to choose the form,” Sage said calmly as she stared, appalled. He didn’t seem surprised to see her barefoot, with the back of her gown hanging open. He did hold out an arm to block her as she tried to run past. “He doesn’t need your help.”
“He needs someone’s!” she cried, trying to get past. “Why are you just standing here? Help him!”