Chapter 137: At All Cost
Griffin~
Cole Lucky’s mansion was the kind of place that echoed with silence no matter how many people were inside. I leaned against the window frame, staring out at the courtyard where Natalie and Jacob stood, heads bent close together like they were plotting the downfall of empires—which, knowing what they were, they probably were.
I closed my eyes, steadied my breath, and opened the mind link. The familiar hum vibrated in the back of my skull until I found the thread I was looking for.
"Father? Grandfather? You there?"
The response came a heartbeat later, like thunder snapping across the mental plane.
"Griffin?" my father’s voice roared, slicing through the quiet like a blade. "Where the hell have you been?!"
Before I could answer, a deeper, slower voice cut in like a cloak of smoke and fire.
"Where have you been for the past five days? You were supposed to check in," my grandfather’s voice was cool and commanding as ever. "The mission—what happened? I tried everything to find you. Used my Sight. Called to the spirits. Even burned a hawk feather at midnight. Nothing. You vanished, child."
I swallowed hard. My throat felt like sandpaper. I couldn’t tell them the truth—not the part where I actually died, or how I literally woke up in the spirit realm, or the fact that a demon and the literal god of darkness were out there searching for me.
So, I lied.
"I’ve been working," I said, my voice firm despite the ache in my chest. "On Natalie. On everything we talked about. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m in. I’m with her right now."