AllFreeNovel
Share Us
King Constantine chuckled. "If you do, be sure to send me an invite."
He started to talk back toward King Nicolae when I heard a loud shout. "No! I won't allow you to shame my family like this."
I turned just in time to see Armando's father rushing toward King Constantine with a large knife in his hand. The man's back was to Armando's father, and he was turning, but I didn't think he would be able to defend himself in time.
Also, because he was on his way back to where King Nicolae stood, he didn't have any guards surrounding him.
He was totally vulnerable.
I gave one brief thought to my mate, shifted, and then dove for the king, pushing him out of the way just in time. I grunted when I felt the knife slide into my back. It was amazing that the blade could feel so cold and the pain so burning hot at the same time.
I hit the hard marble floor with a painful thud. For a moment, a stunned silence hung in the air as everyone stared in disbelief, and then it sounded like a freight train was rushing through the room.
I jerked when I felt hands touch my body.
"Alessandro."
"René."I winced as I tried to turn and look at him and a streak of pain shot down between my shoulder blades.
Wasn't going to do that again.
I laid my cheek on the cold, hard tile instead.
"Alessandro," King Constantine said, "I need you to shift fully back to your human form so we can pull the knife out. The blade is right between your wings. I fear if I pull it out now, it will damage your wings."
Oh man, this was going to hurt.
It was hard to concentrate on shifting when I was in so much pain. It was slow, much slower than a normal shift, especially since the more I became human, the more agony burned through my back.
"I'm sorry, love," René whispered into my ear. "This is going to hurt."
I wish I knew what "this" was.
I knew a moment later when I felt someone yank the knife out of my back. Not wanting to frighten René anymore than he already was, I ground my teeth together to keep from crying out.
"Just hold on, Alessandro," King Constantine said. "You should start to feel better in a moment."
I doubted that was going to happen. Yes, gryphons healed at an alarming rate, but that knife had gone into my back between my wings. It had made the damage even worse.
Something warm dripped onto my back.
"What is that?" I asked.
"It's just a little blood, Alessandro," the king said. "It should help with the healing."
It was actually. I could feel the pain lessening. It was slow going, but I could breathe again. "Thank you," I whispered.
"No, thank you," King Constantine countered. "If you hadn't pushed me out of the way and taken the knife aimed at me, he could have killed me."
"I couldn't let him kill you. You're our king."
King Constantine was the most important person in the gryphons world. Losing him would have been devastating to our entire species.
"Can you sit up?" René asked.
"I think so."
With René's help, I slowly turned over and sat up. I could still feel a twinge in my back, but at least it wasn't the deep agony I had felt before.
