26 Staking His Claim

I stare at Gryphon, baffled. The words come out before I can stop them. "Have you lost your mind? How do you go from threatening me to flirting with me?"

Gryphon caresses my cheek again, looking thoughtful. "If I had known you were innocent from the beginning, perhaps we would have started with the flirting. Even if I had to fight my sister for the chance"

I feel my face flush with anger and indignation. "That's not an acceptable answer! You can't just switch between murderous rage and creepy flirtation on a whim." I shove against his chest, but it's still futile. He doesn't budge.

His smile widens. He's unfazed. "But you find me charming, don't you, little angel?" His voice drops to a lower, huskier register. "You were watching me every chance you had."

I stiffen. Did he just purr those words? I swallow hard, steeling my nerves against the unbidden attraction fluttering through my veins. My body is not listening to my brain, which keeps screaming that I hate this man, and I have no business being in any sort of compromising situation with him. "I find arrogant men who make assumptions to be rather off-putting, if you must know. What happened to your ice prince personality?"

Gryphon shakes his head. "You'll learn soon enough. I ignore what doesn't interest me. But you, angel, interest me. And I pursue my interests with single-minded intensity, or so I'm told." He studies my face, his fingers trailing from my forehead, down my nose, and pausing at my lips.

I snap at them, and he chuckles; he avoids the bite and rests his hand against the side of my neck. "I'm known to be a bit obsessive when I find a puzzle that gets my attention." This time when our eyes meet, there's a newfound intensity smoldering in his dark eyes. He leans in closer, his breath warm against my cheek. "Keep fighting, angel. I like to chase."

I turn my head away, my pulse racing. Stay strong, Aria. Don't let him see how flustered you are. "You're being completely inappropriate right now."

"Am I?" His fingers trail along my jaw, tilting my chin back towards him. "I was under the impression that you found me handsome. Isn't a little innocent flirting allowed between friends?"

Friends? Did he really just go there? I shoot him an incredulous look. "We are not friends. You threatened to kill me less than ten minutes ago!"

"All a misunderstanding." He smiles. "One that's been cleared up now that I know you had no ill intentions. I told you, I'll grovel."

"This is groveling?"

"No, this is…" he pauses, amusement fading from his face as he looks at me. It's all intensity now, and my heart stutters beneath the weight of his regard. The side of his mouth quirks up just a little. "You can consider it staking my claim and making my intentions known."

"Staking your claim," I repeat, like an idiot.

"Yes."

"Making your intentions…"

"Yes."

I take a deep, shuddering breath, furiously trying to tell my body and brain to calm down. My heart is pounding, and there's a traitorous flutter of excitement coursing through me that I can't quite rationalize. How can Gryphon's words bring such a thrill when the memories of his sword piercing my chest, of choking on my own blood as I died, are still so vivid in my mind?

His fingers trace along my jaw as he he leans forward, brushing his lips against mine with only a hint of pressure. "Don't fight it, angel," he murmurs, his voice a low rumble. "I can see the way you looking at me. You want this as much as I do."

I close my eyes, unable to handle another second of his face so close to mine. Part of me wants to give in, to let myself get swept up in the electric current crackling between us. But the rational part of my brain is screaming at me to resist, to remember the agony of that shadowy blade cutting me down without a second thought, that it's insane to have these kind of feelings right after Gryphon was ready to choke me while thinking I was some kind of villain in his story.

"Aria!"

I jump at Darius' voice, shame rushing through me in a hot second. I'd completely forgotten his existence, lost in Gryphon's presence. What kind of friend does that make me?

"Aria, I submitted a report for you. They should be handling it any second—"

The familiar alert of a system window interrupts him.

[Administrator has interfered. Synchronization error for player, Gryphon Vale, and player, Aria Lucaris.]

[Administrator is overriding the system.]

[You have uncovered a clue to your unfulfilled fate.]

[Override failure.]

[Synchronization in progress.]

[Administrator is overriding the system.]

[Synchronization error.]

[A bond has been created.]

[Player, Gryphon Vale, and player, Aria Lucaris, have entered into a Bond of Fate.]

[You will be transported in 30 seconds.]

[Administrator override has been received.]

[Overwriting server data.]

[LOADING…]

[Synchronization complete.]

Gryphon's grip on me loosens as he looks at something off to my right. "Synchronization error… Administrator override? What's this? Bond of Fate…" he laughs. "I like that."

"That's the important part to you?!"

[You will be transported in 25 seconds.]

I point at the status window with the countdown. Gryphon must be able to see it, because he looks at it, too.

"Interesting," he says, excitement flooding his face. He looks at me and swoops down for a brief, intense kiss, laughing like a madman. "I knew it. You're my angel."

"Damn it, if he could only see me," Darius seethes, trying his best to pull Gryphon's arm away from me. "Get off her!"

[You will be transported in 20 seconds.]

I gape at Gryphon. "You can't just—"

He kisses me again, in a feather-soft caress. "Shh. Just enjoy the ride. We'll see what's going on when we get there."

[You will be transported in 15 seconds.]

"Stop kissing me!"

"No."

This time it isn't a chaste meeting of lips. His hand slips into my hair and yanks my head back before his mouth devours mine. All rational thought slips away.

[You will be transported in 10 seconds.]

[You will be transported in 5 seconds.]

[You are being transported.]

[Good luck.]