Standing across from the priests was his brother, along with a dozen of Drago’s masked and armored men with guns.
Griffin made his way across the deck, tucking Raven behind him. The sensation of eyes stabbing at him as he did so. Stepping to Drago’s right side, he placed Raven between them, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
The priests shifted aside and made way for their Head Priestess to come into view. “You have one of our Sacred Cherished, and we have come to collect.” Her voice was a soft lilt, her blonde hair plaited back, gray eyes dull as she spoke. Her face void of wrinkles, completely smooth in an inhuman way. The setting sun behind the woman managed to light her up in an unearthly translucent glow.
Disgust lathered its way across Griffin's skin.
Griffin had neverofficiallymet the High Priestess, but he had always despised everything she represented.
Perhaps she didn't make all of the decisions for the Sacred Trinity, but she was certainly at the forefront of most of them. Her power exceeded even the royalty of Grypheem and Luscinia. She was the reason the Cherished were gathered up. She was why they weren't allowed to live in Grypheem or Luscinia. And in Griffin's mind, she was why his father was killed.
Drago spoke first. “Priestess Avana.” He offered the slightest of bows. “Surely you are not questioning the king of Grypheem’s honor. She belongs to one of our men and no other has laid claim to her. I am permitted to make safe passage with a Sacred Cherished who has fulfilled her duties and as she was never on the Isles, a blessing was not needed.”
“She may have fulfilled herduties”—Avana’s critical eyes narrowed in annoyance—“but how can she belong to one of your men? You have just taken her from the Redemption Games.”
The Redemption Games were the Sacred Trinity’s name for the Masquerade. He had always hated it, the falsity of a second chance.
It was Griffin's turn to speak for him, to give the reason why Raven would be safe, for him to push a wedge between himself and herandall of her men. But he would take on this challenge. He would step up to the plate of responsibility. If it meant that she would be by his side.
If it meant that she would not befall the same fate as his mother.
Game Eleven: The High Priestess
Chapter 6
Completed Her Duties
Raven
Present Day – Catastro Sea
This had been a whirlwind since I woke up. My questions hadn't been answered, my annoyance was growing ever present, and my concern and worry and grief were all compressing, one on top of the other.
But I was pushing it all down, forcing myself to focus on the here and now.
Here,I was on a ship headed towards an unknown country with an entirely new set of rules that I wouldn’t be privy to.
Andnow,I was outside in a very thin garment, a robe that covered me head to toe, but underneath, I was freezing. Even inthe games, I couldn’t remember a time when I was this cold. But I clenched my jaw as Drago greeted the woman across from us.
The one who hadn’t taken her eyes off mine.
She was terrifying. What I imagine a monster would be if it pretended to be a human. Her skin was tight against her bones, her eyes expressionless, her mouth in a thin flat line brought up only by the fullness of her pink lips. Her skin was translucent, nearly clear as if it were made of plastic.
She could be twenty. She could be one hundred.
The sight of her was a distraction from everything else going on. It was a reminder that even though I had escaped the games, what lay outside could be just as dangerous…if not even more so.
“—duties, but how can she belong to one of your men? You have just taken her from the Redemption Games,” the Priestess spoke, the words seemingly directed into my very being.
But they weren’t for me. And it was Griffin who responded.
“She is to be my wife.” He tightened his hold on my shoulders, squeezing me to him. “A claimed woman, one who is to be married, isnotto be taken to the Isles of Sacerdos.”
My stomach fell to the ground, my previous cold replaced with a fiery rage. But I knew better than to disagree with him here. He had advised me to follow his lead. And I would do so in this moment, but afterwards?
I will not be Griffin’s wife. There has to be another way.
Schooling my features, I forced a placating smile onto my lips, leaning into Griffin’s side.
