A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)(97)

“She attacked me for no reason in the bathhouse,” Daphne pursues, her lie igniting a fire in me that’s even worse in my weakened state. “I’ve watched her. She’s violent and unstable. With the amount of power she obviously has, she’s a danger to everyone.”

“Cat’s…lively,” Griffin says, his eyes narrowing.

Daphne snorts before scoffing, “She’s insane.” She closes the space he put between them. “A few months ago, I was fighting for the realm with you, battling with you during the day, staying with you at night. Every night.”

Gods, it’s hard to breathe. Son of a Cyclops! We’re in the bloody outdoors, and there’s no air!

Irritation sharpens Griffin’s tone. “You were battling for the realm because that’s your job. As for the rest, ambition is clouding your memory. I wasn’t your first lover, and I won’t be your last. No promises were spoken.”

Daphne leans into him, undeterred—and apparently delusional.

Griffin grips her shoulders, stopping her. She turns partway. Even in profile, Daphne’s come-hither look is a work of art, something I couldn’t master in a thousand years.

He sets her away from him. “It’s over, Daphne. Go back to your fire.” He lets her go with a soft shove, stepping back to drive his point home. “If you bother Cat again, you won’t be a part of this army anymore. Ever.” Infinitely calm. Infinitely threatening. Griffin.

Daphne’s hands curl into fists. When she speaks, her voice is so low I have to strain to hear her. “Why are you doing this? What does that dark little Fisan have that I don’t?”

Griffin looks at me. He sees me watching them and doesn’t look away. “My heart.”

At his words, my chest contracts with a sharp spasm, squeezing the air from my lungs.

I guess Daphne can’t argue with that. She leaves without another word, never once glancing at me. I wish she’d stormed away. Exploding and stomping off I can deal with. Cold, controlled rage reminds me too much of Mother.

Griffin doesn’t spare her a second glance. Our eyes stay locked, and he looks so…happy to see me awake that I start to melt inside. Or maybe it’s just that he’s so handsome—tall, hard, and broad, with humor and warmth and stability in his eyes. I’ve never known anyone like him.

He approaches swiftly, his focus entirely on me. I shiver, anticipation making my pulse quicken.

He ducks into the tent and then crouches next to me, resting his elbows on his knees. His easy smile makes my heart skip a beat. “You’re awake.”

“You jilted Daphne for me?”

His smile fades. Griffin sits on the edge of the blanket I’m on, laying my head in his lap and stroking his long fingers over my scalp. The massage feels foreign, and nice, and I tingle from head to toe when he unravels my braid and spreads long strands of hair across his thighs, carefully arranging them. “She misunderstood, or wanted to see what wasn’t there. I’ve never given a woman any indication of permanence. The day I saw you, I understood why.”

Emotion roughens my voice, turning it husky and low. “Why?”

A smile pulls at the edges of his mouth. “Because you were made for me.”

A thrill shoots through me. “Don’t tell me you plan on keeping me?” I somehow manage to tease.

Goose bumps rise on my neck when Griffin winds a curl around his finger and gently tugs. His white teeth flash in the dim light. “I informed you I was keeping you shortly after we met.”

“You didn’t give me any choice. Stupid, bloody rope,” I mutter.

His fingers stop moving in my hair. “You have a choice now. I freed you.”

“You caught me,” I huff. “It’s very frustrating.”

Griffin chuckles, sobering when I don’t join in. “Why are you so limp?”

“I can’t move.” I pick up my hand as far as it will go—barely an inch off the ground.

He curses colorfully enough to impress even me. “Can we risk more blood?”

I shrug. Sort of. “We may have to.”

Griffin carries me out of the tent and then sits me upright, propping me against his side while he slips his knife from his belt and burns it clean in the fire.

I glance at our surroundings. Campfires dot the area around us, none too close. I can’t make out people in the shadows, or hear their conversations. I don’t see Beta Team, Piers, or Egeria anywhere, although they can’t be too far.

“Did you get my knives?” I ask. “And my sword?”

He nods, cooling the hot metal in the evening air. “Flynn has everything. I know how attached you are to your blades.” Holding my arm, he rubs the sensitive skin on the inside of my wrist with the pad of his thumb. Warmth spreads through me until he replaces his thumb with the knife. “Ready?”

Not really, but Griffin doesn’t wait. He cuts shallowly across the veins in my right wrist before doing the same to his left. I inhale sharply at the sting while Griffin doesn’t appear to even feel it. He stacks our hands together, lacing our fingers in a way I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.

He looks around, frowning. “I need something to tie us together.”

“Where’s an enchanted rope when you need one?” I grumble.

Griffin barks a laugh. “Contrary to what you may think, I don’t enjoy bondage.”