Griffin moves casually toward their practice bout and I glare at his retreating back, wishing to knock his head from his shoulders.
“Not you,” I say, my tone laced thick with command.
He stiffens. “I thought you wanted me to evaluate Ajax?”
“You can do that while standing beside me,” I reply firmly, leaving no room for argument.
Griffin's shoulders expand, and he inhales a deep breath before spinning and striding to my side.
Folding my arms over my chest, I watch Kace swing a balled fist at Ajax’s cheek. Ajax snaps his head to the side, dodging the strike easily as he slaps a palm against Kace’s chest, sending him ass over end into the dirt.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I accuse.
Griffin’s nostrils flare, but he doesn't deny it.
Sucking on my teeth, I whirl on him. “What happened yesterday with Lena? What the fuck was that?”
After dinner with my mother, I silently refused to heed her commands and, instead, decided to avoid Lena altogether. But the longer I went without seeing her, the more difficult it was to stay away. As the days passed, it began to feel less and less like a desire to be near her, and more a demand. An imperative need to see her. To talk to her. To touch her. To be close to her any way I could. Distracting me from my duties, she burrowed within my mind and planted herself there, refusing to leave until I could think of nothing else but her.
It didn't take long for my willpower to fold to the clawing need and to seek her out. But every time I stood outside the inn, preparing to call on her, my mother’s orders played out in my mind and I couldn't do it. To bed her and use her, then toss her aside as if she meant nothing. I couldn’t do it. I may have been able to endure it with anyone else, but with her, I already know one taste will never be enough. That's something on which my mind is unwilling to bend. Whether she’s my enemy or not is of no consequence. I won’t manipulate her into some twisted relationship, and I sure as fuck won’t whore myself out to her. If I ever bed her, it'll be for our own satisfaction, not because my mother commanded it.
But now I wish I hadn't avoided her. Maybe yesterday wouldn't have been so disastrous or so overwhelming if I’d fed myself small drops of her presence instead of withdrawing completely. But I didn't. I foolishly believed that I would be able to control myself if I saw her again. That this oppressive need to be with her was all a delusion that could be controlled. But I couldn't have been more wrong. The instant I sensed her intoxicating scent and saw her watching me with a desperation akin to my own, every fiber of my being burned into a possessive rage and I lost my godsdamned mind.
The way I moved, the way I touched her, the way I spoke to her, it was all a manic-induced haze. As if my mind couldn’t fully grasp all that I felt and saw. But what I do remember is everything that happened after I released her. Gods! That'll forever be scorched into my mind. I've never felt such bone-deep terror watching her scream in agony all because of me. Because of my touch. I don't know what I did or even how I did it, but there’s no question that I did something. And it's been eating me alive ever since not knowing how I caused her so much pain. The worst part of it all is with Griffin's power of empathy, he can feel my fear. Feel my distress and confusion over this, and he could have helped me understand what happened. But what did the empathic bastard do? He ran out of the tavern like his ass was on fire and has been avoiding me ever since.
Griffin stares ahead, pointedly ignoring me.
“Griffin,” I warn, having long lost my patience with his evasiveness.
Blowing out a breath, he spins to face me. “She lost control of her Gift.”
I rub my brow with my fingertips. “Her Gift?”
He nods. “She’s an empath.”
I frown. That can’t be right. She’s human. An extraordinarily beautiful human, but human nonetheless. They aren’t granted Gifts by the gods, and even if the divine had chosen to take pity on her race, Lena would’ve been born with jewels. I’ve seen no sign of her possessing a single one.
“You’re wrong.”
Griffin shakes his head. “I’m not. I don't know why or how, but she is an empath.” Brow furrowing, he glances off to the side, appearing deep in thought. “I remember my father telling me stories when I was younger of humans with Gifts. Gifts that could rival an immortal’s. But that's all they were: Stories. I never thought there was any truth to them.”
At the mention of his father’s findings, my skepticism lessens. Laeon wasn’t the Queen’s advisor only because of the circumstances of his noble birth. He’s a scholar. Nose more often than not buried in ancient scrolls or the newest book, there’s not a question to which he can’t find the answer. He’s one of the most knowledgeable males in all of Vanyimar. If he told Griffin these stories, even in passing, the likelihood that there’s some truth to it is more probable than not.
I scrub my hand along my jaw, pondering Griffin’s revelation. This would explain everything about Lena and her companions. How they behave and dress. How naive and secretive they are. The defensive, deadly air they all exude. Then I think of why they would be so defensive. Why they would feel the need to be so closed off. Of what could have happened to her to create such suspiciousness, and anger burns at the back of my skull.
“The night we met them, you thought they were running from someone. Could this be why? Could someone be hunting Lena for her Gift?”
“Yes.” Griffin’s lips tighten. “Especially if you consider how powerful she is.”
“And how powerful is she?”
“More powerful than any other empath I’ve come across.” Eyes widening, he shakes his head in awe. “She hides it well, but I was able to get a glimpse of it before she suppressed it.”
The conversation with my mother pops to the forefront of my mind. Of how she thought it possible Lena could be working with Brecca. “Are Lena’s intentions malicious?”
He smiles softly. “Not at all. She’s a good soul.”
“Are you sure?”
“Auras don’t lie,” he replies, giving me a droll look.
Having trust in Griffin and his Gifts, I need nothing more to convince me of her intentions. But that won’t be good enough for my mother. If she finds out about Lena, she’ll kill her. Or worse, keep her for herself. She won’t allow Lena to fall into her enemy's hands.
“We’ll tell Kace about this,” I say. “But no one else.”
Griffin agrees with a grunt. Then he stares at me for a moment, opens his mouth as if to speak, and hesitates. “I saw something peculiar when I was looking at her aura.” His brows snap together. “A connection between the two of you. A bond of some sort.”
Dropping my head back, I blow out a breath in relief, a knot unraveling in my chest. “I can feel her emotions. I thought I was going crazy, but I truly do feel her.” Placing my hands on my hips, my gaze wanders to his. “Have you ever heard of such a thing?”
A shocked guffaw bursts from him. “Never. But it's real. I can actually see it.” He stares down at my chest, looking like he’s searching for it. “The bond has an aura all to itself. A mixture of you and her.” A soft smile tugs at his lips. “Almost like you're fated for one another.”
I scoff. “I don't believe in fate.”
“That doesn't mean it doesn’t believe in you.”
I groan, not in the mood to listen to any of his stories of fate or the Stars. I lost my faith in them long ago. If I were to place it in anyone or anything, it’d be the gods. At least with them, I've seen their presence. In my Gifts, my jewels, even with the Gods Cursed and their Soulless. But their touch is rare beyond that. Their hate, their love, their involvement with us lesser beings is fickle.
Accustomed to my aversion to speak on his spiritual ideals, Griffin adds nothing more on the subject, but steps forward, an earnestness to his eyes and a somberness lining his face. “You need to be careful around Lena. She has no ill intentions towards us from what I can see,” he reassures. “But your reaction to each other is extreme. For the both of you. Your emotions are heightened and more volatile around each other. I’m afraid that if you don’t learn to manage the bond, it may cause you to do something you’ll regret.”
