“Someone should stay with Cat.”
Griffin’s eyes spark dangerously. “She can handle whoever hit her.”
“Someone should still stay,” Kato insists.
Griffin sweeps me behind him, his voice dropping to a low growl. “Why? Do you want it to be you?”
Kato glances at me. I shake my head. Our exchange is subtle, but Griffin still notices. His hands ball into fists. He looks ready to use them.
Flynn mutters something unintelligible and steps between them. “Because she screams bloody murder every night and is terrified of being alone.”
My jaw drops. “Flynn!”
Griffin gives me a sharp look. “Why haven’t I heard about this?”
“You saw for yourself,” Kato says. “Before we got here.”
Griffin frowns, shaking his head. “It happened a few times. Not more.”
Flynn sighs. “That’s because she was almost always with y—”
I dart around Griffin and punch Flynn in the kidney. He grunts and stops talking, but it’s too late. Everyone knows what he was going to say. Griffin looks nauseatingly gleeful, and every member of his family suddenly has a hideous gleam in their eyes. I hate them all.
Well, maybe not the girls.
Or the parents.
Or anyone, really.
Gods! What is wrong with me?
Piers, who rarely speaks or pays attention to the usual bickering says, “She can stay in the castle.”
I groan. “We just had this conversation.”
“If you have nightmares, you can stay with me,” Jocasta offers. “My bed is big enough for at least four Flynns.” She glances at the auburn-haired warrior and then blushes kalaberry red.
“No.” I shake my head, turning to Griffin. “I could kill her before I even woke up.”
“Stay in my room.”
“What? No!”
His generous mouth lifts in a sly smile. “See if it helps.”
“Absolutely not!”
“It wasn’t a request.”
“You don’t own me!”
His voice deepens, making me shiver. “Ownership isn’t what I’m after.”
“It’s useless,” I croak. “Give up.”
Griffin pins me with a steady gaze. “Never.”
My insides somersault, drop, and combust. Never give up on me? Does he mean that? “Why? I’m not that pretty, I’m a huge pain in the ass, and people around me usually die.”
Griffin laughs, and right then he’s so compelling, so utterly unafraid of all the things that terrify me, that I want to jump on him and kiss him until my lips bruise.
“You think I’m kidding?” I demand. “You. Will. Die.”
“Worried about me?” He winks, and I see red. “And Cat? Modesty doesn’t suit you. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
My jaw goes slack. My whole body does. Did he really just say that? In front of everyone? “Y-You’re delusional,” I sputter. “And I’m staying in the barracks!”
Griffin turns to his brother. “Piers! If Cat hasn’t moved into my room by tomorrow night, you will forcibly remove her from the barracks and bring her to the castle. Is that understood?”
Piers nods and then goes back to the scroll he couldn’t put down long enough to finish his dinner.
I’m stunned. Discussion over. Again. “How do you know I won’t incinerate him if he touches me?”
“I trust you,” Griffin says.
Those three words squeeze all the air from my lungs. I don’t deserve his trust. “Why?”
“Because I want to.”
“That’s idiotic!” I cry, ready to pull my hair out and wail. Protecting this family is going to be like trying to stop a Cyclops with nothing but a stick.
“Don’t leave the castle grounds while we’re gone,” Griffin says.
“Where do you even think I’d go? I’m bound to you for the rest of your life!”
“Just while we’re away.” His hands circle my upper arms, his eyes darkening with concern. “Promise, Cat. Please.”
Something in his tone annihilates my need to be stubborn. This time, anyway. “Fine. I promise I won’t leave unless there’s a dire emergency.”
“At all,” he grates, giving me a little shake. “I won’t leave the castle at all.”
“Unless there’s a dire emergency. If everything is burning down around us, or we’re under attack, do you really want me physically incapable of leaving this place?”