Griffin Undone: Archai Warriors 1
Chapter One
Arik
Present day
The roads were rank with the scent of recent rain, exhaust, and unwashed human. I stalked through the darkened streets, holding back an ugly grin at the expressions on the faces of the few bums and far-gone club hoppers I encountered. Fear sparked in every gaze that witnessed my passage through the night, and those that could, fled. I didn’t need the stereotypical trappings of a Hollywood vampire or shifter—no long hair flowing like a curtain behind me, no leather duster flapping in the wind. Who the hell needed the theatrics anyway? I existed; that was all that was necessary to terrify humans.
They should be afraid, and not only of me. I wasn’t the only one on the hunt tonight.
My senses flared as I tracked the group of rogue shifters through the maze of sidewalks scattered with flashing neon lights and the occasional roar of sound when a bar door opened abruptly. Downtown Nashville swam with nightlife, but the middle-of-the-night cold kept most of the revelry inside rather than spilling onto the streets as it did in the summer. Hunting was harder then, but tonight, with a full group of Anigma moving through the heavily traveled area, most of the population wisely kept their sport indoors. They might not understand the sense of dread any more than they understood their fear of my shadow, but sense it they did, and that dread kept them out of my way. Safer for them, faster for me.
A yellow cab, the “available” light a beacon for customers, passed on the narrow street. A blast of exhaust clouded the air, fucking up my nose, and I coughed, irritated. The sound echoed between the buildings, part bird, part lion—all animal—startling a drunk on the crumbling steps jutting out from a nearby alley. The man jerked, his bottle of cheap liquor rattling as it hit the concrete. Wild eyes skimmed me before the drunk hurried farther into the yawning cavern between the two buildings.
I ignored the interruption and continued on, focused on following my prey. Maddox was close; I could feel it in my bones. He and his cadre of Anigma soldiers wouldn’t escape me tonight.
As I approached the next corner, I allowed my animal to rise until I felt him just beneath my skin. My griffin’s superior senses enabled me to scan the next several blocks, and despite the darkness of this less frequented section of downtown, I instantly honed in on the group of males dispersing at the entry of a local blues bar. The lit sign that proclaimed the place to be Lenny’s shone weakly on the half-dozen black-clad figures entering the building, while the rest of the Anigma team faded into the surrounding shadows. Those males would stay close, I knew from past experience. If I followed their team members inside, the rest would know.
Not what I wanted quite yet.
My back ached as I allowed my massive wings to emerge. Holding in a groan, I stretched the thick appendages through the slits in my shirt and jacket, shaking out the stiffness. A feral grin escaped as a yelp echoed in the darkness behind me—the drunk venturing forth from his alley.
That booze is some good stuff, isn’t it, old man?
A psychic push allowed the words to whisper from my mind to the drunk’s, low and mean, rough with the hunger of my animal. I channeled that hunger, the adrenaline of the hunt, into my muscles and, too fast for human eyes to see, lifted my wings. A single flap down, hard, and I shot myself skyward.
The roof of the building was a wasteland of vents, tar, and debris, the line of sight broken by the occasional shed-like structure. I settled quietly and tucked my wings away, then strode toward the far corner and the roof access to Lenny’s Bar. A flimsy lock protected the door, but a quick jerk and pull gave me access to a set of stairs disappearing into a dim upper floor. Even this far up, a blue-gray haze hung in the air—smoke. Fuck that anti-smoking law, right, people?
My griffin rumbled under my skin, hating the filth coating our nose, but nothing could deter the animal’s sight as I descended to the first floor. An empty hallway waited, with closed doors and a couple of dingy bathroom entrances at one end. I turned in the opposite direction, following the sparse circles of light thrown from the occasional wall sconce.
The hazy air of the main room matched the hallway. Lenny’s patrons weren’t interested in seeing anything but their drinks, obviously, but my animal scanned the crowded area easily, peering through my eyes. A long wooden bar stretched the length of the wall closest to me, the majority of the barstools occupied with huddled figures nursing their alcohol and, occasionally, conversation. Likewise, most of the tables and booths scattered from the bar to the empty dance floor were filled. Humans mingled, drank, touched, on a hunt of their own for something far less dangerous than deadly predators. I quartered the room with my gaze, searching, senses on alert for the smallest hint of my prey.
What I found wasn’t a hint; Maddox wasn’t hiding. The bastard sat right out in the open, at a table near the grand piano tucked into the farthest corner from where I stood. There was no mistaking that bulk—most shifters were big, especially werewolves, but Maddox had always gone above and beyond, even in his build. The disheveled head of brown hair stuck out in all directions, exactly as it always had, and when the male shifted in his seat, I finally caught a glimpse of that hated face. The face that had incited my nightmares for the past nine hundred years, since the night of my parents’ murders.
My griffin snarled, hatred and an almost uncontrollable anticipation mixing with the animal’s volatile nature until I had to fight not to step forward and confront my enemy right then. Maddox might be out in the open, but the Anigma soldiers he’d brought inside with him were carefully hidden. No stupid mistakes for Maddox; the Anigma general was too intelligent, too savvy.
So was I. I hunkered against the wall to watch and wait. And what I saw surprised me. After a few minutes I realized Maddox’s focus was fixed on a single spot in the room—he had something or someone particular in his sights. I followed the shifter’s amber-tinged gaze to the piano, to Maddox’s prey. Not a warrior or another shifter; no, this was prey of the soft, delicate, female variety.
Interesting.
She sat at a piano on the small stage tucked into one corner of the large room, the smoky curtain hanging in the air obscuring her from prying eyes—but not mine. I easily traced the rounded slope of her hips as she bent toward the instrument. The gentle sweep of her delicate spine led to a bare nape visible above her collar. Her neck was fragile, vulnerable. Easily broken. Tendrils of autumn-red curls fell down from a gold clasp to tease that naked skin, and the sudden urge to brush them aside, to bend my body around her small frame and bring my aching fangs to that tantalizing curve where throat met shoulder roared through me without warning. The vivid image of biting her very human throat while gripping that mouthwatering ass, forcing her still for a hard, deep male thrust almost had a groan escaping. I straightened, tension gathering in my gut, not to mention my dick.
Using my griffin’s enhanced smell, I sifted the air, singling out the woman’s scent: tendrils of vanilla and something distinctly feminine even my shifter senses couldn’t put a name to. Something distinctly her, the blend smoother than the finest alcohol I’d ever tasted. The scent made my mouth water.
A quiet chuff escaped—my griffin declaring his interest. Before I could think, my foot stepped out, my body pulled toward her as if she were a lodestone and I was a willing—
No.
Holy shit. I barely drew back before making a fatal mistake. Why—
My eyes narrowed on the woman.
The animal inside me roared at the denial of his need. I resisted the pull of his instincts, the screaming awareness, and forced my attention back to Maddox. The shifter seemed fixated, just as I had been. Or was he?
What the hell was going on here?
Don’t get me wrong; I was no fucking monk. Such a thing was an impossibility, in my opinion, with the drive my animal and I shared. But I wasn’t here, in this bar, looking for a hookup or to scratch an itch. Females were a convenience, not a need. As the general of the southeast quadrant of the Anigma army, Maddox would be the same. The way he watched this woman, however…
My brain spun out options as I stared at my enemy staring at the woman. If she belonged to Maddox, what better revenge than to take her? As a start, anyway. Not like it would be any hardship. My dick hardened in a rush at the mere thought of finding the source of that tempting scent somewhere on her body.
My animal took the interest as permission and moved us into the room. The red light of the emergency exit sign a few feet along the wall drew my attention, highlighting the perfect niche to watch the woman’s performance. I’d barely settled my shoulder against the wall before the woman’s head turned from the piano keys and her gaze slammed into mine.
My breath choked off in my throat. Hazel eyes. The mysteries of humanity stared out of those eyes, swathed in a cocoon of softness that dared me to wrap myself up inside it.
Fuck. No wonder the Anigma leader was watching her like she was a rare steak dinner. That gaze was dangerous. I’d given up softness a long time ago—it only got you killed. You or the people around you.
And Maddox loved delivering the final blow.
I told myself to look away, screamed it in the deepest recesses of my mind, but still her gaze held me captive. One short moment stretched into eternity—
“Well, well, well. What have we here?”
The words whispered through my mind on an all too familiar path. Maddox. Narrowing my eyes, I met the gaze of my enemy head-on across the dim room. “You’re a thousand years old. Could you get any more clichéd with a hello like that?”
Maddox’s laugh rolled like used motor oil through my mind. “Considering it’s been five hundred years since the last time you laid eyes on me, I’d think you’d be happy with us both being alive. Hello, brother.”
Every muscle in my body tensed almost to breaking. “I’m not your brother.”
I hadn’t noticed the song ending, but at that very moment, the woman stood from her place behind the piano. I turned my head, gaze tracking her movement across the room as I forced myself to breathe away the anger surging in my chest.
“Beautiful, isn’t she? Do you want her, Arik? She’d make a tasty snack. Too bad I plan to rip her throat out after I drink my fill.”
“I see your MO hasn’t changed.”
Maddox’s smile was all teeth as he tracked the woman as closely as I did. When she approached his table, Maddox said something too soft for even my animal to pick up.
The woman startled. I couldn’t see her face in that moment, turned as it was toward my enemy, but her body language screamed unease. She wasn’t working with Maddox, then. A twinge of pity surprised me. Whatever Maddox wanted with her, it wasn’t good.
“I dunno, Maddox. I don’t think she’s that into you.”
A flash of white teeth appeared in his sun-dark face, though those amber eyes remained fixed on the woman. “All the better.”
The woman shook her head and continued through the room, her movements hasty, lacking the grace her body had held at the piano. I watched, helpless to pull my focus away. That alone shouted a warning in my head—dangerous for me, even more dangerous for her. Especially with Maddox here. I knew better than to signal interest of any kind where that fucker could see. Maddox had taken advantage of my weaknesses plenty in the past nine hundred years. His hard-on for me was the only weakness I’d found in him, and I had every intention of exploiting it.
Of course, maybe there was another way. I could use the attraction surging inside me to my advantage. The woman could be the bait I needed to reel Maddox in. What was one human compared to taking out my mortal enemy?
“You’re wondering what it is about her, aren’t you? You know there’s something, even if you can’t put a finger on it,” Maddox said in my mind.
“I’m wondering something, that’s for sure.”
Maddox chuckled. “Keep wondering, brother.” He gazed hungrily at the woman’s retreating figure. “She’s special, Arik. So special.”
I kept my smile inside. “How?”
I caught the shake of Maddox’s shaggy head. “That’s not how this game works. Or has it been so long you don’t remember?”
“I remember.” Every detail. Every human I’d dared to get close to who’d died, just for knowing me. My chest echoed with remembered rage and pain, but my words were casual in my mind, my gaze secure on the female as if nothing else mattered.
“I thought so.” Smug satisfaction dripped from his words.
A few yards behind me, three Anigma soldiers stalked into the room, taking the same route I had. They formed a wall of muscle blocking off my exit. I met the biggest one’s gaze as anticipation surged in my blood. Apparently it was time for a game of a different kind.
I strode into the crowd. When the goon squad followed, herding me toward the front door, my griffin reared its head. I passed the end of the bar where the woman now stood, absorbing the hit of vanilla in my nose, then pushed the heavy wooden door open and stepped onto the street. Frigid winter air slapped me in the face as the Anigma soldiers who’d remained outside walked into the light to meet me.
I didn’t bother to hide my grin. “Evening, boys.”