Hyacinth - By Abigail Owen Page 0,34

fist pump while the others groaned. “What? I’m just sayin’… we’ve got Svatura gypsy royalty over there—” He waved a hand at Ellie and Griffin, “And now we’ve got the Vyusher wolf Queen over there. It’s pretty cool, if you ask me.”

“Um, no one is asking you,” Lila said, as the others looked at him with incredulous expressions.

Nate shrugged, unfazed. “Okay, so maybe now wasn’t the best time. I’m just sayin’ it’s awesome is all,” he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Adelaide shook her head but snuggled into him and ran a hand over his sandy brown hair, receiving a hug in return.

“As far as I can tell, Maddox wants to overthrow you,” Griffin continued.

Selene chewed on her lower lip as she thought through her options. Her people couldn’t afford to be deceived by yet another homicidal, power-hungry monster.

“You have proof of his plan, Selene,” Alex reminded her. He was standing beside Ellie with one arm wrapped around her waist. “Take Zara to your Council. Charlotte can take you there. Bring Ellie, Griffin, Lucy, and Lila, and they can help you convince the Council of the truth.”

Selene saw the logic in Alex’s suggestion. “All right.” She glanced at Griffin and was saddened to see hesitation in his face. With a nod, she added, “We’ll go first thing tomorrow.”

“Let’s all try and get some sleep tonight,” Hugh suggested. “Those of us who are able to contain her can take turns keeping tabs on Zara.”

“She has the wolf and the dream control but no other abilities,” Ellie said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to keep her locked up.”

Chapter 22

Selene couldn’t sleep. At least finals were over. She’d studied darn hard and was more than pleased with her perfect grade average. Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry about school right now on top of everything else. But still, too many thoughts ran around in her head like a dog chasing its tail. And even though she now felt confident she’d be able to keep Maddox out of her dreams, she was still wary.

After an hour of tossing and turning, Selene slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hallway. She paused outside Griffin’s door, and then after a few moments hesitation, knocked softly. There was no answer. She tapped a little harder.

“Yeah?” Griffin called out.

Selene opened the door and poked her head inside. “You awake?”

“Am now.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. Selene tried to ignore how sexy the stubble made him look.

“Can I talk to you a moment?”

“What about?”

Selene ignored his lack of enthusiasm and entered the room. She shut the door behind her and took a seat on his bed, sitting close enough to be physically charged up by his bare torso, but far enough away so that she wouldn’t run her hands over his smooth skin, no matter how incredibly tempting it was.

“Something bothered you tonight about Hugh’s suggestion,” she stated.

Griffin frowned. “Says who?”

“Says me.” She watched as Griffin’s lips compressed. “And now you’re irritated with me for saying that. You get irritated with me a lot.”

Griffin huffed a laugh. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Selene tipped her head to the side. “Was that sarcasm?”

“No, ma’am. I wouldn’t dare sass a queen.”

Selene couldn’t resist. She reached out and poked him in the chest with her finger. “I think that it was–”

Suddenly, Griffin’s hand snaked out and grabbed hers. She wasn’t sure exactly what he was up to until he pushed the cuff of her sleeve back and flipped her hand over. Selene tried to jerk her hand away, but he tightened his grip and wouldn’t let her go.

With his free hand, Griffin lightly traced the slightly puckered scar that ran the circumference of her wrist.

“He did this to you,” Griffin said gruffly without looking up. He was referring to her brother, Gideon.

Selene took a deep breath. “Yes.”

“How?”

She closed her eyes, shaking her head, “I can’t. I-I don’t talk about it.”

“Can you show me?” His deep voice washed over her, and the hypnotic feel of his finger tracing her scar soothed Selene and gave her courage.

She nodded, closed her eyes, and pictured it in her mind so Griffin could read her thoughts. It’d happened during the horrific days when Gideon was claiming his rule over the Vyusher. He hadn’t liked how she’d initially resisted his actions against their parents, so he’d tested her to make sure he had her under complete control.

For about a week, he’d hung her by her wrists to a wall using a thick piece