Page 15 of Let Go My Gargoyle
Griffin draped his arm around the back of the bench, just like the guy had a moment ago. Sofia stared at him with wide eyes. He wondered why she didn’t jump up and rush over to check on Penelope’s safety, unless… unless she did not want Darius to know about her.
“Get the hell out of here,” the guy snarled in his ear while Griffin scanned the playground, searching for Penelope. Ah, there she was, once again waiting to go down the slide.
“This is private business,” Darius added.
Griffin gave him a humorless smile. “Good thing I’m involved in Sofia’s private business.”
The dragon narrowed his gaze, and smoke curled from his nostrils.Go ahead and shift in front of all these humans, Griffin mentally dared him. Sofia placed her hand on his thigh and squeezed, and Griffin was distracted because damn, that felt good, even though she was probably doing it as a warning and not because she wanted to reenact the night they’d spent together.
Something grabbed the back of Griffin’s hair, and when he turned to see what it was, Darius headbutted him, dazing him and causing him to fall forward off the bench. He heard Sofia make a strangled noise, and then she was kneeling next to him, helping him to a seated position on the grass.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He blinked open his eyes and saw two of her, their gazes scanning his face, concerned.
“Doubly beautiful,” he slurred.
“Oh my goodness, I think he concussed you.” She touched his forehead, and he winced and shied away from her fingers. All ten of them. On one hand.
Griffin reached out and flapped his hand several times until he caught hold of hers, and then he brought it to his lips, kissing each finger and thumb in turn. “Only five,” he murmured, relieved that she hadn’t mutated.
“Okay, I think it’s time to go,” Sofia said, grunting as she struggled to pull him to his feet. She let out a shrill whistle that made him squawk and press his hands to his ears. “Sorry,” she said. “But it’s the easiest way to get Penelope’s attention.”
After a few moments, he became aware of another presence, and then Penelope was at his other side, apparently helping her mother guide him away from the playground. “What happened, Mommy?” she asked.
“He fell,” Sofia said, “and bumped his head.”
Yeah, he bumped his head on an asshole dragon. “Who was that?”Please don’t say he’s an ex-boyfriend. Or worse, a current one.
They were a good half a block away from the park by now, and Griffin was pretty sure they were headed back to Sofia’s house.
After a long moment of silence, she sighed and said, “My brother.”
Chapter Six
Darius coming ‘round never boded well for Sofia. That was why she’d seized the opportunity to make a deal with the devil—aka her brother—four years ago. She’d needed to ensure he was out of her life, and Penelope’s, at whatever cost.
They’d happily co-existed in the same city yet kept a wide berth ever since. Until now.
She’d heard through the grapevine that Antoinette Dupré, who was the new reeve of the Rojo dragon colony, had cut off his drug trade and ousted him earlier this year. Sofia had been worried he might show up back then, but he hadn’t, and all indications were that he’d left town, so she’d figured he planned to honor their deal and go on about his life.
Why was he making contact now?
The timing was a crazy coincidence, but surely that was all it was. He didn’t even know about Sofia’s existence, so there was no way he knew what she was. Besides, it was unlikely Darius even knew what a Daughter of Light was, and even so, how could that possibly connect to whatever devious plan he had up his sleeve this time?
First things first, though; she needed to make sure Griffin was going to be okay. Darius had hit him pretty hard. She’d witnessed him pull that routine on other dragons before, and it had damn near killed them. To be honest, she wasn’t sure he hadn’t killed one or two, but she’d never stuck around long enough to verify, and she certainly never asked after the fact.
Being Darius Redd’s illegitimate younger sister tended to cause one to be well versed in self-preservation.
Part of the deal she’d struck with him was that she’d never, ever tell a single soul of their connection, which was why she kept her job as a waitress at Mitch’s bar instead of, oh, going to the reeve’s mansion and demanding she be given her rightful share of Trennon Redd’s fortune. Or at least a job within the colony’s ranks that paid a decent wage.
Except now she’d told Griffin that he was her brother, which meant she’d broken the terms of the contract. Maybe he wouldn’t remember, given the concussion and all.
By the time they reached her house and she gently sat Griffin on the couch, the fog in his eyes was already clearing, the goose egg on his forehead receding and turning an ugly shade of yellow. Gargoyles healed as fast as dragons, apparently.
“Let me get you a glass of water,” she said. Penelope climbed onto the couch and sat down next to him, tucking her purple dragon into the small space between them.
“Whisky would be better,” Griffin said, gingerly touching the bump on his head. “It’ll dull the pain.”
