“If it didn’t eat you instead,” he now snarls. “And now what are you going to do? Sit on it?”
I blink. “Siton it?”
“To keep it warm until it hatches. That is, of course, unless the griffin notices an egg has gone missing and comes looking for it.”
I look down at the heavy egg in my arms. “Oh no…”
“Not sure they can count, they aren’t clever like phoenixes and dragons, but you never know.”
“Griffinsareclever. And you’re not helping.”
He folds muscular arms over his chest, his mouth twitching. “Not sure how I could help with this particular problem.”
“Fair enough. Well, I’m holding onto the egg until I make up my mind.”
“Oh, sure,” he breathes. “Take your time. No need to worry about anything.”
“You have the phoenix.” I lift my chin and meet his strangely still-amused gaze. “You could return it for me.”
“For that,” he says, “you’d have to beg on your knees.”
“Would I?” I frown even as the image sends a pang of heat through me. “This isn’t funny.”
“I’m serious. I’ll have to think of some service you can offer me before I even consider doing anything crazy like that. You do realize the griffin can bite my head off. I’d be risking my life.”
“True, I…” Suddenly, I’m dizzy. I see the griffin turning its eagle head toward me, crowding me inside the nest, shoving me over the edge?—
“Whoa, steady.” Roane’s hands land on my shoulders, tugging me back to his body. This time, I’m firmly wrapped in his arms, my cheek resting on his solid chest, the egg in real danger of falling and smashing to the ground. “Why are you still unwell? Are you sick?”
“I almost died, you…” I choke on hysterical laughter. “I was carried away by that monster and it almost ate me and then I almost fell and?—”
“You’re safe now.”
I lean back a little and glance up. His handsome face is set in earnest lines, that frown making his gray eyes so intense they shine like stars. “Roane?—”
“I’d never let any harm befall you,Ellin. So rest easy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BAD SHEPHERD
ADELINE
Ardruna lopes through the meadows to meet us. She nudges me with her massive head. “Are you all right?”
But Roane gets right in her face. “What were you thinking, Druna? Taking her out on the balcony?”
The lioness growls. “She wanted to see what you were doing.”
That seems to knock the breath out of him. He turns toward me, eyes a little wide. “Why?”
“I was curious.” To hide my embarrassment, I scowl at the lioness. “I thought you said the balcony was safe.”
“We’ve never been attacked up there before,” she growls.
“I’m just that unlucky, then?”
She licks her chops. “Finding the book, entering a forbidden library, and getting attacked on the balcony? It sure looks like it.”
