Sawyer sighed. “Can’t we just have one day? No one knows yet, and until then, we’re fine here. Is it wrong that I just wantoneday to bask in this with you guys? To not worry about all the stuff I don’t know? To not have to question why the two of you completely freaked out last night when I told you? One day to wallow in bed and fuck and have fun?”
“It’s not too much to ask, Sawyer, but it can’t happen.”
“Why not?”
Eduard glanced at Andvari, who scowled and led Sawyer to the leather chairs across the room. Eduard pushed away from his desk and sat down in another. “You clearly read from our reaction that you’re in danger, Sawyer. But you knew that already, because you’ve already been attacked once.”
“And to be honest with you,” Andvari added, “I don’t think whoever attacked you at school knew you were the chosen one. I think they were trying to mess with Henry, scare him into not interpreting his visions correctly. They were playing a mind game with him.”
“Well, it worked,” Sawyer said. “The only way they knew I knew Henry was if they saw us here at the house or when Henry was down at mine. So they were close.”
Andvari reached out and grabbed his hand. “I wondered if you’d realized that.”
“Again, I’m not an idiot.”
“And again, I know that. But you are new to this world and its possibilities.”
Sawyer’s glare softened, ever so slightly. “I’ll concede that point.”
Eduard reached for his hand. “Then know that we take our pledge seriously. Wewillkeep you safe.”
“Okay, I get that this world is full of dangerous creatures but… I guess I don’t understand why I’m in so much danger. Haven’t you guys been waiting for the chosen one for centuries? I mean, you said the prophesy in ancient Greek. And didn’t Henry tell me that the prophesy was several hundred years ago? That’s a long time, you know? And how come no one but me ever thought to question the language? Why didn’t the original people involved realize that nothing could have different meanings?”
Eduard sighed. This was the part he’d been wanting to avoid. “Sawyer, there are certain expectations for the chosen one. Expectations that have been building for an extremely long time, as you’ve pointed out. Hundreds of years of waiting.”
“Do you know who the sisters in the prophesy refer to?” Andvari asked.
Sawyer shook his head.
“They’re the daughters of the Mother goddess you met. They’re the ones running the show. So if you met the Mother, and she’s intervening on your behalf, that means her goddess daughters are being overruled.”
Sawyer’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “But…but…”
“The chosen one was expected to have powers impressive enough to combat several angry goddesses, Sawyer.”
“And instead you got me. A big pile ofnothing.”
Andvari moved from his chair and knelt at Sawyer’s feet. “And yet, as frightened as I am for you, I trust in the Mother. Don’t you? She must have given you something, Sawyer, some clue that gave you the confidence to tell us. And when you came in that room last night, I jumped at your command. Draco didn’t take a breath before he did as you asked. You were born for this. Please believe it.”
“He’s right,” Eduard added. “My entire way of thinking of myself as a guardian changed last night. I grew up thinking that my powers of money management would be the only use for the chosen one, that his or her powers would make my own seem negligible. I provided the cash, as griffins do, and that would be my contribution. But you’re going to need my physical strength as well, and my griffin is eager to step up to the challenge.”
Andvari grinned. “And I think that my vampire side is as eager for the upcoming battle as I am to taste the blood pumping through your veins. Can you guess how eager that makes me?” As he spoke, Andvari had pulled Sawyer forward and out of the chair. He ended with him straddled across Andvari’s lap, proof of his desire separating them only by thin layers of fabric.
Sawyer’s pupils widened as desire filled him. His breath quickened, that sweet gasp that Eduard was beginning to cherish. This hadn’t been in his plan either. Insatiable desire to just touch Sawyer, be inside him. The prophesy definitely hadn’t mentioned how hungry he would be for the chosen one’s touch. He wondered what else the words he’d been living by for so many years had neglected to mention.
“That’s a whole lot of eager there, Andi,” Sawyer teased.
He got a flash of fang in reply but it just made Sawyer groan and tilt his head back to expose his throat. The young man toed the line of danger and seemed to come away unscathed. Each of their beasts wanted to devour him, but only in the most pleasurable ways.
“My name is—”
“Andi,” Sawyer said again. “So speaketh the chosen one. From here to forever more, Andvari the vicious vampire will be known as Andi.”
“And Andi will bite you if you tell anyone else to call me anything but my name.”
Sawyer grinned and licked and Andvari’s lips. “Do you really hate it?”
Andvari hummed as Sawyer’s tongue teased oh so carefully over one of his fangs.
