AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At the mention of earth affinity, my stomach dropped and the emptiness in my chest pumped. The cost of speaking to the Ancient One—losing the affinity I didn’t know I had still left a gaping hole in my heart, in my being. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t thought about it since getting back from New Orleans. I hadn’t used my magic much, but now that Morgan brought up the affinity, it was hard to ignore.
“Can we stop, please.” I said quietly. Morgan kept flipping the pages, as if she didn’t hear me. I looked around as tears started to sting my eyes. Griffin was watching me intently. “Morgan, I need to take a break.”
She looked up at me questioningly, but I couldn’t sit there any longer. I stood up and walked to the bedroom, before closing the door I looked back at her. “Thanks for helping. I just… I have a headache and I’m nauseous all of a sudden. I’m sorry for cutting it short.”
I didn’t wait for her to respond. I closed the door and slid to the floor, unable to hold back the tears. How could I forget about the bargain? Everything came crashing into me. I didn’t feel whole and I couldn’t stop crying. Grief dug its claws into my heart, and at that moment, it felt like I’d lost someone. This is crazy, I didn’t even touch my earth affinity. How can it make me feel like this?I buried my head in my hands and tried to breathe through the sobs that wracked my body.
I don’t know how long I sat there for. I vaguely remembered hearing Griffin and Morgan talking, then the front door opened and closed, and it was silent. My phone beeped as I stood up and sat on the edge of the bed. It was Griffin.
Griffin: You okay in there? You seemed upset.
I sighed, I didn’t have the energy to deal with his mood swings.
Me: What do you care? Leave me alone.
Griffin: Okay, well if you need anything…
I didn’t respond. His attitude changes were giving me whiplash. I fell back on the bed and closed my eyes. Sleep started to pull me down when my phone beeped again.
Griffin: I don’t not like you, by the way. This whole thing confuses me. There’s so much going on… I’m not good for you. You’re better off with Cassian. Anyway, you’ll be safe here until I get back. Goodnight, Princess.
I rolled my eyes at the pet name that clearly wasn’t going anywhere. Annoyance rolled off at the comment about being good for me. I was old enough to make my own choices, neither he nor Cassian could make them for me. I hated being treated like a child; being coddled and taken care of, being told how to feel, what to do, and where to go. It was infuriating.
The annoyance subsided slowly. Griffin was leaving tomorrow into a pack of werewolves that wanted him dead. I didn’t want to stay mad at him, not if there was a chance that he wouldn’t come back. I couldn’t even remember where the cabin was, or how to get there. If something went wrong, I had no idea how to help Griffin.
The ceiling darkened as night settled and an idea started to form in my mind while I lay there. He wouldn’t tell me where the pack was, and Cassian wouldn’t share it with me either in case I felt like a hero and rushed in or something like that. I needed to get to Griffin’s phone, to turn the location tracker on so that I could find him. I could just ask him to borrow his phone, but then he would most likely check what I did afterward. Or he wouldn’t give it to me at all. Finally, an idea came to me, and I grabbed my phone.
Me: I want to see the change… Cassian won’t let me anytime soon. Please.
For a long time nothing happened, I started to think that Griffin had already gone down to the basement. Or he was ignoring me. I was about to walk out and investigate when a message came through.
Griffin: Fine, but if you have nightmares, don’t blame me.
I scoffed, won’t be worse than the ones I already have.
I pushed myself off of the bed and grabbed a sweater and thick socks. I hadn’t been down to the basement yet, but I figured it would be cold down there. I opened the door and jumped.
“Shit, Griffin! You can’t do that!” I put my hand on my chest, my heart banging against the skin.
He grinned. “Sorry, I was about to knock.” He looked me up and down. “Glad to see you’re prepared. It’s really cold down there, for you anyway.”
Griffin turned and walked toward the door in the kitchen that led down to the basement. A glance at the clock revealed that the change was an hour away. I looked at Griffin and his back was tense, his muscles pulled taut under his shirt. He must feel the change as it grew closer. I couldn’t imagine what they went through every night, the stress and pain, I could understand why some of them gave in to the pain and went insane.
Griffin took the first steps down and turned to me, his hand outstretched to help me down. “You sure about this, Princess? It’s not pretty.”
“I’m sure. I want to see it,” I said confidently.
“You just want to catch a glimpse of me naked.”
I rolled my eyes. “You wish.” He winked and heat pooled in my stomach.
The rest of the descent was quiet. The tight staircase gave way to a large brick area with four thick steel stalls. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought it used to be an old prison. The doors deadbolted into the walls and a small flap was the only opening in the solid steel.
“You’ll be safe. The cells are built into the brick and concrete. No matter how much I want you, I won't be able to get to you.”
His wording made me look at him. He winked again and I wanted to shake him for flirting with me when a few hours ago he shut me out.
I sighed heavily as Griffin placed his jacket and phone on the bench outside of the cell. He kicked his boots off, and with his gaze fixed on mine, he pulled his shirt off. I fought to keep my eyes on his, but eventually the urge to look took over, and I scanned his bare chest. Griffin looked deceptively small and lean under his clothes, but now I could see he was all muscle. He wasn’t bulky, but his shoulders were wide and strong, his abs made my fingers twitch, and the muscles peeking out from his pants made me swallow. There was a tattoo that crawled from his back over his shoulders. I couldn’t make out what it was, but it was big. My gaze stuck on his chest, not just because of the muscles there but because it was decorated with scars. One of them ran from his collarbone and up his neck. I wanted to trace them with my fingers. They were terrible but beautiful.
