Page 103 of The Verdant Cage
My ankle shackles freed, Gryphon stands. He doesn’t know that I just tried to kill his father. Yet his onyx eyes are full of emotion.
It looks, weirdly, like he’s going to kiss me.
“Please forgive me,” he whispers.
Then everything goes black.
64
I blink. Sit up. It’s evening. My wrists are restrained, but rope has replaced the shackles. My ankles are bound as well. I’m somewhere in the forest, a chubby moon climbing to the ceiling of the sky. I think I hear the creek singing nearby, accompanied by the chirp of crickets.
I’m alone except for Gryphon. He’s standing guard, but he glances over when I rouse.
I rub at a sore spot near the base of my neck. He’d used the same nerve lock on me that his father had, only he’d gone deeper, jamming so hard I passed out.Traitor.“You’ll have to teach me that move,” I say. “Either that, or I’m going to start wearing a metal collar.”
Gryphon steps closer. He’s so tall, outlined by the moon. I can’t read his expression.
I hold up my restrained hands. “Like father, like son?” It’s a low blow, but he’s earned it.
He drops to his haunches. I can finally see his face. His eyes are aching. “If you’re free, you’ll run back to the village to fight. If you fight, you’ll die. The Guardians were regaining control.”
“That wasn’t your call to make, Gryphon!” Despair sinks its claws deep into my chest. We’ve left the others behind.I’veleft them, and not for the first time. Meryl, Oscar, Sal, Eero, even Lozen. Where were Uncle Richard and Aunt Florence in the crowd? Are they still alive? “Whatever happened to letting me make my own choices?”
He doesn’t respond to my verbal strike, but I know it registers. “We can still save the Valley, Rose,” he says simply.
“Not tied up, I can’t.” I try to make my voice light, as if I’m willing to concede to him, but the truth is I’m desperate to break free so I can help my friends and family. I have no illusion that I can stop a well-trained Guardian holding a sword, but neither can I hide out in the woods while Jarek kills those I love.
“I know there’s no hope for my father,” he says. “I accept it.”
My heart breaks for him, but now isn’t the time. “We have to get back and help our friends, Gryphon.”
He shakes his head. “The others are meeting us here, if they’re still alive.”
I make an angry noise. “You could’ve said that.”
“We regroup,” he continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “And decide together what to do next.”
I hold up my hands. “If we’re ambushed, I’m dead.”
He narrows his eyes. He wants to argue, but he knows I’m right. With a grunt of frustration, he cuts the rope binding my hands and then my feet. I stand slowly, massaging my wrists. Gryphon stands, too. I’m considering attempting a nerve lock onhim. I study his neck, stalling to get my bearings. Which way lies the village? I don’t want to hurt him, don’t think I can, but I can’t understand why he’s keeping me here. We have to help the others.
“It must be terrible to give up on your father,” I say. Do I hear a clash of metal from the east? See a lighter swath of sky? “But I’m glad you chose the Valley.”
“I didn’t choose the Valley, Rose.”
The intensity in his voice draws my gaze. I look into his obsidian eyes. They’re full of heat…and something tender. “I chose you,” he says simply.
“About time you were honest about that,” Lozen says, gliding as quiet as a ghost from between two trees. One of her eyes is swollen shut.
“A little late, if you ask me.” This from Augustus, who follows her, the front of his tunic drenched with blood.
“Seconded,” Sal says, limping from the other direction.
I run over and hug her. “You’re alive!”
“For the moment.” She pulls away from my embrace and steps to the side.
Albert appears from behind her. My rage surges and then almost immediately dampens. His face is so warped with grief that he’s nearly unrecognizable.
