It was Griffin he despised.
Julian he distrusted.
Levi he wanted nothing to do with.
Enzo he…still hadn’t really spoken to.
Shame lived within him now, and it had nowhere to go, except into learning. He would discover anything he could, all the truths that these countries kept hidden. It would be his contribution.
“Hey Maverick, we were just about to get some food. Want to come with?”
Maverick met Levi’s gaze.Is it safe? They were wanted after all.
But he didn’t think Raven knew that.
“The castle is practically empty as they prep for thecelebrationtonight. There’s a dining hall tucked away with food I was told we should peruse, and we can all catch up. I know there’s a lot approaching, but we should take this rest while we can.” Levi squeezed Raven’s shoulder.
Raven turned to leave. “You coming?” she called back to him.
Maverick needed a moment to compose himself, to get his desires and wants and needs under control. To accept that Raven wasn’t his at all. That she was going to be married to two other men. And while there might be space for Oleks and Levi by her side, he doubted there would be for him.
“Yeah, one second,” Maverick said.
Oleks came to a halt behind Raven, he fully spun, his eerie gaze taking in the rest of the library, the overstuffed shelves, the single table in the middle, the discolored walls, the lingering shadows. “No. Comenow.” He grabbed hold of Maverick’s wrist, not offering a choice, and began to drag him down the hall and out the door. Just as they were through it, something begged Maverick to look back, and when he did, he saw the table was empty.
The book he had been flipping through… It was gone.
Chapter 19
Thank Fuck You’re So Small
Griffin
Seven Years Ago - Violencia
Griffin’s eyes watered as he opened a door and thick smoke billowed out. Eight years in Violencia.
Eight.
He could no longer move in the shadows. He was infamous, and it wasn’t long before the people of the Sacred Trinity guessed who was behind the murders.
He left a fucking wooden griffin behind, after all.
The griffin started as a representation of hope and quickly shifted into a warning.
To all the people who were not from Violencia, he wanted them to know who was after them. Consequences be damned.
He was angry. And that anger fueled him now.
“There you are, boy!” Harold’s voice was rock against metal as he emerged from the smoke. “Don’t go in there, it’sstrong. Unless you want to.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Griffin took in the man, his bare chest, his hard cock poking a tent in his briefs, a stain already forming. His unfocused eyes, the dilated pupils.
It took everything for Griffin not to kill him here and now, his rage blinding him. But he recognized that he still needed the Rogers. They were on the outs just as he was, and in that they had a mutual enemy…for now. Griffin shook his head, stepping back away from him.
He had heard of the Rogers proclivities. Of the drugs they enjoyed using to make their victims willing. The ones that came from the Sacred Trinity.
It was despicable.
