Page 66 of Tangled Threads Of Fate

Milo kissed the top of my head, then gently passed me to Nate. “It’s okay,mo stóirín.Everyone is fine. The threat wasminimal,” he said softly, brushing his lips across mine. “Come back up and we’ll all debrief together.”

I nodded and followed him, the solid warmth of Milo at my back as we walked up the stairs. Finally, I could breathe easier.

I was unsurprised to see Teron in the sitting room, holding a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope. He looked fine, but Erus had said he would fight as the Gryphon. I found it hard to imagine that this gentle man turned into a giant bird-lion, but I’d seen his glamor drop enough to know it was true.

Milo sat on the couch and pulled me onto his lap, nuzzling his nose into the back of my neck with a happy sigh. I held out my arm, and Teron dropped into a squat beside me, strapping the blood pressure cuff around my bicep.

“You’re okay?” I asked him softly, and he looked at me with those molten gold eyes.

“I’m fine.”

“And the Gryphon?”

There was a deep rumble in his chest, the sound not in the least bit human, and Teron cleared his throat. “The Gryphon is also fine. He, uh, wants me to tell you that it wasn’t even a hardship for him to eradicate the demons, and that he could have taken them all single-handedly without assistance from anyone else.”

His cheeks were pink, and it was kind of adorable. Milo was silently laughing beneath me, and I had the feeling he was enjoying Teron’s embarrassment.

Erus had explained that the Gryphon and Teron were two entities that shared a body. His wasn’t a glamor; it was an actual form. What did I say back to a Gryphon to let it know I appreciated it?

“Tell the Gryphon that I know he’s a fierce hunter, and thank him for coming to my aid.”

Teron nodded as he checked my blood pressure and noted it down. Then he listened to my stomach. His jaw was tense, and I got the impression he was conversing with the beast inside him.So weird.

“Everything sounds good, though your blood pressure is a little high, which is to be expected. We’ll take it easy over the next couple of days.”

I nodded, and Demke sighed, leaning back in his chair. I always thought of it ashischair, because it was a high wingback that looked a little like a throne. “I think we are long past the ability to make any promises of normalcy for a while. This attack was a probe—that much was obvious. And the fact that so many demons of darkness got this close to the compound is concerning. Tighten the island wards, Erus. Block anyone with any ill intent for now.”

Erus nodded, and I realized once again that I knew hardly anything about them.

Teron cleared his throat from where he now sat cross-legged on the ground. “It’s because the wards are only made to block our neighboring Pantheon, and the Verserpent aren’t part of the Greek Mythics. They are creatures of the underworld, a shared domain.”

“Then we ban everyone who isn’t us,” Milo rumbled.

Demke shook his head. “We will soon need assistance from others, and I don’t want to be trying to untangle wards when we need help the most. But we can plug up this problem and hope it gives us a little more time. Until the babies are born, at the very least. The power will pass and no matter what the Fates wish, there’s no getting it back. Even if they kill the infants, the power will never pass back to them.”

I shuddered at the thought of the Lamia eating my babies. Of those nightmare creatures getting their hands on my children. Awhimper passed my lips, and Milo held me tighter. “No one is getting to you, or them,” he swore to me.

“I don’t want to lose any of you either. Maybe I could hide somewhere they won’t look.”

There was silence around the room, until Demke stood. “Wren, walk with me?”

Chapter 35

DEMKE

The Gryphon had done a thorough sweep of the surrounding area in the darkness and declared it safe, and I trusted him with my life. Cy and the pack would also keep an eye on the grounds and village, both day and night. Somehow, this diminutive woman had earned their loyalty.

She had that effect. Even I felt protective of her now, and I’d done my best to ignore her existence completely. It was the weave pushing us together, destiny trying to tie us in knots to complete whatever it decided we needed. Who knew which Fates had set this in motion. The ones who were in power during my birth and rise to Godhood? The Norns? The Moirai? That was the thing about fate; sometimes it left you with more questions than answers.

I led Wren over to the tapestries that hung on the wall, depicting battles and wild monsters, fantastical creatures and brave heroes. They looked like picture books, but they were our history, and I kept them here as a reminder of what failure could mean: to my people, to my friends, and to me. This one in particular was painful for me to look at, even after all this time.

“I don’t know how much the others have told you about how things were… before.”

She wet her lips, looking up at me with those soft eyes and shaking her head. “Uh, not a whole lot. Just little bits here and there.”

I nodded, because I understood. No one wanted to drag up ancient history, especially when it was painful. “Before, we were the deities in a reasonably simple faith. We all worshiped the Goddess, even me.” I’d loved her too, but it was in the way a blind man loves the sun. Before her, there was no one and nothing but darkness. “She was a beautiful, benevolent Goddess who believed in feasts, plenty, and very few sacrifices. She had this tiny island domain, with the humans and the Minotaurs, who all prayed to her. She didn’t want to expand her reach. She just wanted to look after her people.”

And me.

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