I grinned. Familiar ground. "So I've been told. I think it's a good thing, don't you? Come on, be a pal. I won't tell if you won't."
He smiled with startled, twisted amusement. "A pal, is it? If that is what you desire. As a 'pal, I shall now escort you back to your room. I shall also require your solemn promise that you tell your men of your little adventure."
He was going to be a stick in the mud about it. I gave in with pouting ill grace. "Oh, all right. I promise."
He presented his arm and I took it with a huff. "Let me guess," I said as we headed back. "You're over a hundred, right?"
He gazed at me in a most peculiar manner. "That is correct."
"Figures." I waved my hand at him. "Your manners. The way you talk. The only person I've met that is my age so far is Jamie."
"Jamie?"
"The redheaded Mixed Blood."
"Ah. The son of one of the house cooks, I believe."
"He's great. Talks just like me."
"Does he, indeed? Many of the young Queens do not come to High Court unless they have something to petition."
"Great," I said grumpily. "Which means all the Queens I'll be meeting today will be mean, nasty old crows."
He threw back his head and laughed, no doubt at the accurate image, a true belly laugh with nothing held back. It made me happy to see him so. Like Gryphon, I had a feeling that he did not laugh often.
"Ah, Mona Lisa. I shall enjoy watching you. Very much indeed."
Gryphon and Amber burst out the front door as Halcyon and I were crossing the lawn and making our way up to the porch. One glimpse at their grim, set faces and I knew I was in big trouble. Bigger than I expected, even, when their faces blanched as they saw who accompanied me. They froze into a dangerous predatory stillness. Amber drew his sword.
"Hi, guys," I said brightly, my nerves shimmering in the sudden ratcheting tension. "I was just coming back."
Beside me, Halcyon gently eased my hand from his arm. Moving with deliberate slowness, he stepped away from me. "She is unharmed." he announced calmly.
"Prince Halcyon was escorting me back," I said. "You can put the sword away, Amber."
The gleaming sword remained in Amber's hand.
"Oh, for heaven's sake." I stomped over to the giant, tilted my head back, and glared up at him. "Put the sword away, now!"
The blade slammed back into its sheath, screaming protest all the way home. His eyes never leaving Halcyon, Amber lifted me like a doll and put me behind him. I hated being treated like a child. Hated being made to feel in the wrong, especially when I knew I was.
I stepped out from behind Amber and whacked the big lug's arm. "Stop it. Halcyon's a friend."
All three men, including Halcyon, who had been smiling with sardonic amusement up till that moment, turned to look at me with equal parts horror and shock.
"What?" I asked them.
Eyes swung back to Halcyon as if to ask, Is this true?
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on. He made me come back to the house and promise to tell you that I had, um, slipped outside for a little while."
There was a moment of stunned silence.
"If that is true," Gryphon said slowly, "then we are indeed indebted to you, Prince Halcyon."
"Not at all. Just being of service to the new Queen," Halcyon returned then added more kindly, "She is young. It will take her time to learn our ways."
"You have our sincere thanks, Prince Halcyon." Gryphon bowed.
Halcyon bowed in return and took his leave gracefully.
I watched Halcyon's departure with deep regret, especially when Gryphon turned and fixed me with his piercing stare. "Upstairs, now, milady." It was not a request. He gripped my arm and hauled me inside. We moved at a fast clip up the stairs and didn't stop until we were back in our room. Amber remained out in the hall.
"Did he touch you?" Gryphon bit out.
"Not really. Just my wrist."
Both my wrists were grabbed in a blur of motion and examined minutely.
"I'm fine, Gryphon," I laughed shakily, a little frightened by his brittle intensity.
He looked up and his dark turmoil struck me full-force. He was furious, as I had never seen him before. He grabbed my upper arms and shook me hard. "Don't you ever leave without us like that again. Do you understand?" He shook me again, then wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me so tightly that it almost hurt.
"Sweet Light. Sweet Light," he muttered hoarsely, trembling.
My arms went around him and stroked his back soothingly. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm fine."
Gryphon shuddered and buried his face in my hair. "Never do that again. Promise me."
"I promise," I whispered. "But I was never in any danger outside."
He drew back and eyed me incredulously. "Never in any danger? Do you know who you were with?"
"Of course I know. Prince Halcyon. He's different, like me."
"Different." Gryphon gave a harsh bark of laughter. "He is one of the demon dead."
I looked at Gryphon, stunned. "Oh. That's why I didn't hear him. He had no heartbeat."
"His father rules the underworld and Halcyon is his only son. Do you know what that means?" Gryphon demanded fiercely. "Halcyon is the High Prince of Hell."
"Oh," was my faint reply. "He was still a gentleman."
Gryphon sank down onto the bed, his laughter sliced with a raw edge.
"Do they drink blood?" I asked timidly.
The laughter stopped abruptly. "Yes. Did he take yours?" Both of his hands fisted tight.
"No," I reassured him. Then could not help asking, "Would it have been dangerous if he had?"
Gryphon closed his eyes briefly. "It is not unheard of for demons to drain their donors dry, though I have not heard that of Halcyon."
"Can they control you?"
"No. But the pain or the pleasure they can make you feel… many are willing to do anything to either stop it or have more of it. It is not an experience I would have you endure, just seeing him touch you… those nails against your skin…" He raised his tortured eyes to me. "I have seen him rip a man's heart out from his chest with those nails. And you were not even afraid."
I swallowed at the sudden disturbing image he had painted. It was hard to imagine the quiet, elegant man I had seen, doing something that bloody, that brutal. "He held no malice toward me."
"How do you know?"
"I… I just sensed it. He seemed sad. And lonely."
Gryphon reached out and reeled me to him, gripping both of my arms. He was trembling. "Mona Lisa, he is not someone you need to save like Amber or I. Our powerful Warrior Lord Thorane, even our Queens fear Halcyon for good reason. Halcyon is not bound by the laws of our land. All that holds him back from the slaughter he is capable of is his own sense of honor. He is powerful. And dangerous. And I do not want his attention focused in any way upon you. Do you understand?"
I nodded, more shaken than I cared to admit. "I'm sorry. I just… I'm just used to taking care of myself."
He sank down until his cheek rested against my belly, his arms holding me tight. "I am yours, heart and soul, committed to you wholly until my last dying breath. But you cannot ask me to live and then carelessly risk your own life so."
"No," I murmured, remorse flaying me.
"As our Queen, you hold our lives, our well-being along with yours. When you endanger yourself, you endanger us all."
My breath soughed out. "Yes. Yes, you're right. I will try to do better."
"You are doing incredibly well. Beyond what anyone would have ever expected. Just… let us protect you," he finished helplessly.
I sank down until I held his face in my hands. "Yes, I will," I promised and kissed him. With the touch of Gryphon's lips against mine, his fear, worry, and anger transmuted into vivid sensual urgency. He tugged the gown frantically off me, unsnapped my bra, and yanked my panties down in a fast blur. My hands tugged his shirt out of his pants just as urgently and slid beneath, seeking the smooth muscles of his back, feeling them against my palms with aching relief as I planted wild kisses over his cheek, his jaw, down his neck. Gryphon's shirt sailed to the far corner and his pants were roughly shoved down. And then I had him, warm and hard and vibrant in my hand. I stroked the length of him, squeezed, and watched with dark satisfaction as his head tossed back, the cords of his neck taunt, and he moaned, color slashing his cheeks.