Those protection spells in her mind. That’s where she disappeared to. She pulled back into that elegant citadel. He couldn’t get at her unless he smashed through the barrier and broke her mind.
He scowled. Somehow he would figure out a way to get inside that citadel. He would have her. So help him, if it took the rest of his considerable life, he would have all of her.
Anything else was unacceptable.
Determined to try to shake it off and focus on something useful, he opened his door and strode out of his office to see if Kris had an update for him.
Nobody was in the outer offices. That was when he noticed the uproar. His pace increased as he stalked down the hall. He rounded a corner.
People had collected in the hall outside the gym. They were staring in the windows. As he approached a shout went up, and people inside cheered and clapped.
He brushed people out of the way as he entered the gym, caught sight of Graydon and Bayne at the edge of the tumbling mats. The gryphons stood with their arms crossed. They were watching something on the floor and laughing.
As Dragos approached, Graydon caught sight of him over the onlookers’ heads and grinned. “Hey, boss. Thanks for the new toy.”
Dragos demanded, “What are you talking about?”
Graydon told him, “We’re playing pin the herbivore. None of us can figure what the hell she is, but damn, she’s fast. So far Team Gryphon is two for ten. Get her greased up and I bet we couldn’t pin her at all.”
He reached the edge of the mat and looked down.
Constantine was crouched, arms out, intent on the struggle that played out in front of him. “Get her—get her—”
Rune and Pia were in a tangle of limbs on the mat. Rune’s powerful body strained as he fought to cover hers. Pia’s smaller form twisted and flowed underneath him, her face fierce and reddened. They were both panting and slick with sweat. Pale, slender muscles flexed as she avoided his grasp. The gryphon swore as he shifted with her, into a position that was reminiscent of the very one Dragos had used yesterday morning when he had taken her from behind.
The dragon detonated.
FIFTEEN
The attack happened without warning, just as Rune said it might. One minute she was immersed in the move/countermove of her match against Rune, mind racing to strategize against his flow of intent. He’d gotten her down on the mat. Not good. It meant he was more likely to pin her. She had to get out from underneath him fast, or between him and Constantine she was done.
Then his weight vanished.
Thrown off balance, she tumbled onto her back. She gasped to catch her breath and tried to make sense of what was happening.
Constantine lay sprawled against a wall. He spat blood, rolled over and got a knee underneath him.
Bayne shoved people toward the door. “Out. Everybody out.”
Graydon knelt, slipped an arm around her and lifted her to a sitting position. He had gone pale. “You okay, cupcake?”
She said, “What happened?”
He wasn’t paying attention. She followed the direction of his gaze.
Dragos had Rune pinned to the wall, one hand at his throat. Rune held still in the larger male’s grip, arms lax and hands held open. His alert gaze was fixed on Dragos while his face darkened.
Constantine got to his hands and knees and coughed. “He’s killing him.”
Pia found her feet, avoided Graydon, who tried to grab her, and leaped forward.
There was nothing rational in Dragos. The dragon looked out of his eyes. He had partially shifted. The lines of his body and face were monstrous, all wrong. Talons dug into Rune’s neck. Blood trickled from the punctures.
She didn’t pause, didn’t think. She eased up to Dragos and touched him on the shoulder to signal her presence. She stroked his arm as she slid under it, insinuating her body between the two men. She put her hands to that alien, deadly face and stroked his cheeks.
His Power was an inferno. She tried something she’d never done before and brushed her own cooler, gentler energy against his.
“Hey there,” she said. Gentle, soothing. She took a deep, slow, controlled breath. “Dragos, I want you to look at me now, please. I forgot to tell you about the earlier part of my day yesterday. I sent my personal shopper to feed New York. The state, you know, not the city. So you’re going to get a really big grocery bill soon. Sorry about that except, well, I guess I’m not.”