“Makes sense.”
Griff closed his eyes and rested his hands behind his head, putting all of those powerful arm muscles on display.
I turned away from him before I did something I regretted. It was becoming stranger and stranger to me that he was here every night. Sometimes I saw him watching me with a look in his eyes. A hunger? A need? It would cause something in me to stir, longing to reach out to him. But then he would wipe his face clean of all expression, his mask reappearing. And sometimes, he wouldn’t show up until after I went to bed, and I would lie there wondering if tonight was the night he wouldn’t appear. But he always did. I hadn’t asked him about it. I hadn’t asked him a lot of things Iprobably should have. But until I knew that I could handle the answers, I was staying quiet. And I had to wonder if he was faced with the same dilemma.
“Do you know if she’s local?” I asked instead.
His eyes opened. “Fiadh? I doubt it. She was always a fairly private person, reclusive even as a child. She was enamored with Finn, as so many were.” I searched his voice for any hint of jealousy but found none. “If I had to guess, she’s made her home on some remote mountaintop in the Mistrael Mountains, with just the birds to keep her company. What’s the face for?”
“You’ve spoiled me,” I said with a grin, trying and failing to lighten the mood. “Traveling by an essence-bound medallion doesn’t live up to your standards.”
“I’ll take you.” The words came out rough, almost possessive.
“I didn’t mean to imply?—”
“I know.” He looked directly at me, a flash of vulnerability in those hazel eyes. “I want to. I need to know you’re safe. Besides, you’re not supposed to travel outside these walls without me, remember?” He kept his tone artificially light to alleviate some of the harshness of his words. His eyes swept over me as I continued to braid my hair back. “You look so different with your hair down. Softer,” he added at my quizzical expression. “Why do you always braid it?”
I shrugged. “Too much hassle to leave it down.”
“You should.” His voice was unguarded and dropped to almost a whisper. “You’ll be careful tomorrow? Even with me there?”
I nodded solemnly. “Promise.”
I was standingon the battlefield once again. The darkness blocked out the sun. I squinted and turned, attempting to see anything through the carnage around me. Bodies littered the ground, but I couldn’t tell if they were friend or foe.
I heard my name, screamed in fear. It was Griff’s voice, desperate. But no matter how I searched, I couldn’t find him in the chaos.
Then I heard the snarling. The snapping. Wolves. Wolves everywhere. Massive creatures, their eyes glowing like flames in the darkness. They circled the battlefield, threatening everything in their path.
One of them turned toward me, teeth bared like daggers. It gathered itself, muscles bunching, and launched itself through the air. Before I had time to think, to duck, to do anything, he had leapt?—
And went sailing over my head.
He had missed? I turned to look, readying my sword for a second attack, but before I could?—
“Lexa, Lexa, come back to me.”Griff shook me awake, his voice tight with worry.
I brushed the sweaty hair that had escaped my braid away from my face, my hands shaking slightly. His eyes were dark with concern, but there was a rawness there, too, a yearning that hadn’t been there before tonight.
I attempted to gather my thoughts, but they were scattered to the winds. I said the first thing that came to mind. “Wolves.”
“Wolves?” he repeated, his voice rough with sleep and something deeper—grief and a bone-aching tiredness.
“So many wolves. Massive wolves.”
“Were they attacking?” His hand found mine, steadying me, but I felt the tension racing through him.
I shook my head to clear it. Parts of the images were still crystal clear, but others were becoming hazy. “Yes? But not me. At least I don’t think they were. I think they were fighting something else. Something dark.” I gripped his hand tightly. “You were there. But I couldn’t reach you.”
“Wolves,” he said again, wondering. His jaw tightened almostimperceptibly. “That’s… unusual.” His voice dropped as he said, “Lie back down. I’ve got you.”
I did as he said and curled on my side. He slid into his usual position behind me, his chest pressed to my back. I had missed this, this past week, feeling him nestled up against me. Being able to relax against him. Although, his heart was beating faster than usual and his breathing wasn’t quite steady.
“Are you alright?” I murmured sleepily, sensing the tension still coiled through his body.
He let out a rough exhale against my neck. When he spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. “Sometimes I have nightmares, too, Princess. About losing people. Not being fast enough, strong enough, good enough.”
His arm snaked around me, higher than it usually rested around my waist. Tonight, it was threaded between my breasts. My hand found his, our fingers interlaced together. I could feel the calluses on his palm, the slight tremors in his chest that showed he was barely controlling his emotions. He held me tighter to him than usual, as if I might disappear into the darkness of my dream, but I offered no protest. If anything, I shifted back against him, offering what comfort I could, should he decide to take it.
