His face slowly drains of color. “You’re already married.” He sounds strangled. He looks as though he’s been struck.
I laugh. I can’t help it. It sounds a bit off. “No. What did you think? That I was some kind of virgin bride?” I wrap my arms around him and lay my cheek against his chest. Griffin’s hands slide down my back, drawing me closer. He smells like citrus and bright, sunny days, and I want to stay this way forever, never facing anyone, or anything.
“I wasn’t thinking. I just want the truth.” He hooks a knuckle under my chin and lifts my face. “You can trust me. You know that.”
My eyes prick, and I blink. I do trust him, but is that enough? “I’m trying to leave the past where it belongs. I don’t expect to live long. I never have. Can’t we just take the time we have and not think about anything else?”
“No.”
I frown up at him. “No?”
“You require an awful lot of sign language.” Griffin lowers his head and kisses me so thoroughly that heat and need flood me in an instant. His lips mold to mine like we’re two pieces of a whole, and my desire sizzles to life on a sudden storm, leaving a rumble of thunder in the air.
He breaks the kiss to speak, his lips still touching mine. “You’re intelligent, brave, skilled, and lethal. You’ve got Poseidon and Hades looking out for you. I don’t believe you’ll die young, and I don’t believe they’d let you. And even if they’re not paying attention, then I am. I won’t let you. I told you I was keeping you. I meant it.”
His declaration zings through me. I feel the promise in it, the utter, undeniable truth. “You have no idea what you’re getting into,” I warn.
“Then tell me,” he says simply, lifting his head.
He makes it sound so easy. I’m not who you think I am, and by the way, there’s this prophecy… Just thinking about that conversation makes me nauseous. “Later.” Maybe. “Tonight is about Sinta. Go down. I’ll come soon.”
“Your eye is twitching.”
Damn eye!
“This isn’t over.”
I’ll bet.
Griffin gives me his hard stare. “Soon, or I’ll come back for you.”
I grimace, feeling burned to a crisp already. “I know I have a job to do.”
“It’s not about the lies,” he says sternly. “I need you by my side.”
I nod, pretending there’s not a lump in my throat.
*
Invisible, I slip unseen into the crowd of snake-tongued nobles. My insides are about to fry. Melted bones. Roasted organs. Fabulous.
The guests are all staying in the castle, and unsurprisingly, most of them strut about as if they own the place—or think they should. Before even entering the vast reception room, I’d have bet my magic the more powerful families came here with just that in mind. An overthrow. They’re Magoi. They’re better. They have to be. Nothing else could possibly be acceptable. But no matter their prancing and posturing, after two full turns around the brightly lit room, I realize there’s not a single person seriously considering challenging Griffin and his family. They’re all scared witless of him and what he’s accomplished so far.
Sweating and prickly hot from what I’ve already heard, I start a third trip through the swarm of guests, weaving toward people I didn’t come across on the first two circuits. Once again, I hear private conversations and nobles lying to one another for no good reason, providing me with an increasingly pounding headache and instant, indisputable truths.
“They have so little education,” a woman sniffs. Truth: Alpha Sinta and her sisters are more well-read than I am!
“And all these healing centers everywhere. Can you imagine? It’s unthinkable!” her companion replies with disdain. Truth: If I’d thought of that, and actually done it, maybe the Hoi Polloi who live around me would have lifted a bucket to help me when my house burned down last summer.
I move on.
An older woman scoffs. “Beta Sinta did not kill a Dragon?” Truth: Beta Sinta killed a Dragon! He killed a Dragon!
The man next to her turns to look at Griffin. “I heard Beta Sinta has a powerful Magoi woman working for him. Maybe she killed the Dragon.” His face pinches. “He can’t possibly be doing all this on his own. Not like I could.” Truth: I could never do this on my own. I need the woman. Can I take her? Buy her? Seduce her? Use her? What would I do with her?
I snort. Silently, of course.