“You’re the one who named him after people who are supposed to have ears down to their feet.” Griffin’s mouth tips up at the corners, drawing my eyes to the distracting curve of his lips. Full lips. Warm lips. Firm, demanding, possessive—
Gah! Get a grip!
“Panotii.” His oversized ears swivel in my direction. “Let’s ditch these southerners and find some people who understand us.”
Flynn pulls up on my left, so tall and broad he shadows me from the afternoon sun. “You like us too much for that,” he says, his cheerful smile threatening to infect me with something awful, like a good mood. “And everything’s going great.”
“Great? You almost died. Twice! We all did.”
He shrugs, grinning. “But we didn’t. And you’re funny.”
Funny? Funny! I grin back. I can’t help it. I’m such an idiot.
“So what are your conditions?” Griffin asks.
My smile dies as I turn back to him. “First, no one outside of this group ever knows I’m the Kingmaker. Most people don’t even know what that is, but I can’t take the risk. Tell them I’m a soothsayer and can read people. That’s it.”
“I’ll have to tell Egeria.”
“I mean it, Griffin. No one. If one day I decide to trust Egeria, I’ll tell her. But you won’t. None of you will.”
“Or?”
“Or I won’t help you. You won’t enjoy trying to get the truth out of me, and I won’t break under torture.”
“Are you sure?” he asks.
“Am I sure I won’t break? I thought we covered this.”
“Are you sure I won’t enjoy getting the truth out of you,” he clarifies. His eyes brighten with mischief, and I’m pretty sure his mind is somewhere it shouldn’t be. Definitely shouldn’t be.
A flush crawls up my neck, and he laughs. The warm, teasing sound seems to take up residence inside me, lightening my bones.
“Stop flashing your teeth,” I grumble. “They’re blinding me.”
“I don’t like it, but I’ll agree,” Griffin says, still smiling. “You’ll report directly to me on any lies you hear and the truths they reveal.”
I look around the group. Carver is staring straight ahead, but he hasn’t missed a word. Flynn appears unconcerned, huge ax slung over one shoulder. Kato grins at me, looking like Adonis—too handsome for his own good.
“Don’t worry,” Kato says. “Your secret is safe with us.”
“All of you?”
Flynn and Carver give their consent.
Okay then. “Second, no one knows the Fisans are after me, not even your family.”
Griffin frowns. “Why not? We can protect you.”
My heart trips a little at his gruff tone. “I’ll protect myself.”
His midnight eyebrows slam down, so I wave an ungracious hand in the air. “You can help, if I need you.”
He grunts. “How generous.”
“If no one knows Alpha Fisa wants me, no one will be tempted to sell me out. It’s simple. It’s human nature. People with knowledge betray that knowledge, sometimes out of greed, sometimes out of malice, sometimes out of necessity. It happens every time. That’s why I never told anyone at the circus who I am.”
“Who are you?” Griffin asks.
“What I am,” I amend.
He gives me a look that says he wasn’t born yesterday. So what? Neither was I.
“Third, no one mentions Poseidon, oracular dreams, or any of my abilities. Turning invisible, absorbing magic, possible creature driving, calling on a God—these are not things we casually talk about.”
“Why?” Flynn looks genuinely perplexed. “Our people will fall at your feet. They’ll worship you.”
I chuckle. “Like you all?”
Flynn grins. “Exactly.”
“Magic is a weapon. It’s always better when you can spring something no one’s expecting.”
He nods. “That’s smart.”
“Of course it is. I do have experience with this kind of thing.”
Griffin chokes on a laugh. “Astounding modesty, as usual.”
“You’re one to talk, Your Arrogant Highness.”
Griffin leans closer, his voice dropping to a low, suggestive rumble only I can hear. “There are things I could boast about, but I’d rather show than tell.”
My head jerks around, and our eyes collide. He winks, and my jaw goes slack. I thought that moment of insanity was over, left behind at the lake. What exactly is he referring to anyway? Oh Gods! Now I’m thinking about it. Him. Us. Together. Stop!