“The days are upon us once more, my sisters,” one of them said as they walked away.
As their footsteps faded in the silence of the temple, reality pressed in on me. I took short, sharp gasps.
If the priestesses hadn’t been here…
My hands began to shake. Killing the hufen had been hard enough, but its darkness had spread so fast, consumed everything immediately. The innocent worshippers had been terrified. Finn had almost been hit when the shadow dagger had flown past his head. If I hadn’t raised the shield fast enough, if my aim had been off…
What if the corruption had left these walls? Spread into the city?
I couldn’t get enough air. The temple walls were closing in. How many more hufen were out there? How many times was I going to have to make split-second decisions that either saved someone’s life or doomed them to be transformed into that hollow, rotting shell?
What if next time my fire wasn’t enough? What ifIwasn’t enough?
How the hell was I going to fix things so thatpeople were safe?
A hand touched my shoulder and I jumped, my breaths still coming in pants.
“Easy, Lexie.” Finn sat down next to me and carefully wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Just breathe. In and out.”
I leaned into him, focusing on matching my breaths to Finn’s, when I felt his presence striding toward me. I looked up, the emotions resonating from him breaking through my panic.
Griff was furious. I’d never seen him like this before. While the mask was intact—barely—a primal rage was radiating off of him, pouring from every line of his body. The set of his shoulders. The careful way he moved through the temple, holding himself back. I was starting to realize that the calm was simply a facade Griff maintained. Underneath, he was just a man barely holding himself together, and there seemed to be only one thing that could break him.
Me.
As he strode through the destruction, past shattered glass and scorched stone, his wild eyes never left mine. I felt a momentary hesitation before steeling my spine and slowly making my way to my feet. When he saw how much effort it took me to stand, saw the steadying hand Finn rested under my elbow, his jaw clenched so hard I could see a muscle jumping.
His burning gaze roved over me like a physical touch, taking in every inch as though he could see through me, assuring himself that I was unharmed.
“Tell me he didn’t touch you.” His tone was measured, deadly quiet. His fury was leashed, for the moment, like a barely contained storm.
“He didn’t touch me,” I assured him, in a steadier voice than I thought I’d be able to manage.
“Good.” There was a world of violence contained in that single word.
Then, to my surprise, he rounded on Finn with such speed that Iflinched. And I saw something I’d never predicted I’d see—Griff lost control.
“How the fuck could you let this happen?” His voice was even quieter, if that was possible, and twice as dangerous. “She could have died, Finn. She could have been corrupted. She could have—” He cut himself off, his hands held at his sides through sheer force of will, trembling with the effort.
Finn stepped back, genuinely shocked. “No one could have expected a hufen here?—”
“I don’t give a damn what was expected!” His roar echoed off the scorched rafters, the few bystanders scattering. He tried to regain the mask, but the damage was done. I’d seen underneath. Seen the man terrified beyond reason. “You took her out here without protection, without clearing things with me, without even being armed. There’s more than just hufen after her. What if all seven priestesses hadn’t been present? What if there had been two hufen? What if?—”
“I didn’t realize I need to clear ‘things with you,’” Finn interrupted, his own temper flaring. “She’s not your possession, Griff.”
Something dangerous flickered across his face. “No. She’s my—” He cut himself off, angrily swiping a hand through his hair.
“It was my fault.” I stepped between them, before this could escalate further. Although I very much wanted to know how he’d been planning to finish that sentence. What exactly was I to Griff? Was he so furious right now because his charge had been placed in danger, or was it more? It shocked me how much I wanted an answer to that question.
He turned to me, eyes flashing. The fury that had been directed at Finn was now pointed at me. “Don’t worry, you’ll have your turn.” His voice was low and dangerous, all control gone.
Finn made to step in front of me, as if he could physically shield me from his brother’s wrath.
“No.” I stepped around Finn, my anger rising to match Griff’s own and fueling me through my exhaustion. “You’re done beratingFinn for something that wasn’t his fault. I asked to come out to the city. I called up the fire to destroy the hufen. Finn had turned his dagger on him and was ready to slit his throat when I fired the place.”
“Which she did because he had spread darkness and started infecting the very foundation before I killed him,” Finn said mildly.
“And you thought burning everything in sight was a good solution?” Griff’s voice cracked with rage as he took a step closer to me. “Do you have any idea what could have happened? What forces you were playing with?”
