Chapter 4: Griffins

Emma

The man who makes me feel safe and tingly isn't a man but some kind of beast called a griffin. “Like Buckbeak from Harry Potter?” I ask because those books have become my reference for most things mystical.

Niko snickers. Chase shakes his head. “Not exactly. That creature was a hippogriff. In the Underworld, hippogriffs are usually possessed by evil spirits and rode by sorcerers. They are only ever in their animal form as they are a mystic beast. As you can see, I no beast unless I have to be.” He looks at me and his eyes darken. Oh! He meant beast differently. A blush creeps over my cheeks.

Niko chuckles, “Save that for the bedroom unless you both want company.” That makes me blush harder. Chase touches my cheek and that electric fire returns. I am not sure how long I can resist him or if I even want to.

“Anyways, I could never hurt you nor would want to. I am your mate which is why we can hear each other without speaking. It goes beyond your telepathic ability why you feel this,” he said as he ran his finger down my arm as his fingers intertwined with mine. I felt nothing but warm tingling pleasure. I hadn't ever felt this before except with Chase. My ex that I ran from had a similar feel to this but not nearly as intense and it was cooler almost chilly but not frigid. No that happened later. But my ex never called me his mate. Chase just lets it roll off of his tongue.

“Oh! But what is a griffin then?” I ask.

“I am an eagle mixed with a lion which gives me certain traits,” he explains.

That doesn't sound scary and I bet it is really pretty too. “Don't you mean we are,  as there are others?”

Chase shakes his head. “There aren't others. I'm it.”

“Oh, oh! I'm so sorry.”

He smiles a sad smile as his free hand cups my face. “It's alright because now I have you.”

I touch his face. “Why can I feel you? How can your touch feel so, so?”

“Feel like what?” he inquires.

I blush and look away. He brings my eyes back to meet his. “Good, it feels really good.”

Chase smiles, “Because you're my girlfriend.”

Niko lightly squeezed my hand. “Emma, it will always be that way. It's just how we know when we have found our mate. It just feels different from any casual fling we have ever had. It's intense and extremely intimate,” he explains.

“I don't do touching.” Touching has always led men to jump off the cliff of sanity and plunge straight into batshit crazy hell. I try to avoid being touched because I don't want to cause insanity and I don't want to risk seeing any visions.

“Yet at this table, you have and still are.” Niko pats my hand that is holding Chase's. I blush. He just smiled. Then I look at Niko. He smiles, “In time all of this will make sense. It is the reason you feel pleasure from certain people's touches while in others you feel nothing, pain, coldness, or evil. Charming, you're going to have to learn to let up a bit.” He growls. Niko rolls his eyes, “I said in time I didn't say right now.”

I look between them. “We need to go,” Chase says abruptly.

Niko sighs, “Not before you explain it to her, because she needs to hear it from you.”

Chase sighs. “Griffins were known as the king of all creatures and beings besides the Gods. We were creatures of myth and legend. There were many of us all ruling different areas of this realm and others but we were hunted to extinction. I am the last. The Underworld is my territory and so is Earth. My kind was noble, fearsome, and protective. We will fight to the death to keep evil and corruption out of our territory.”

“I don't need a daddy, you know.”

“I understand but understand this. I'm rare because I'm the last, but you have to be even more so especially since you are my mate and not a griffin or even a shifter,” he explains.

Niko says, “Emma, remember today? You needed us to help keep you safe. None of this is your fault. I can't tell you what I think you are until I'm sure. I don't want to be wrong and I don't want to put you into further danger if you are what I think you are.”

“Please allow us to protect you,” Chase says as he strokes my cheek.

“Before I decide, what was that Maximus guy?” I inquire because he really got under my skin and terrified me.

“Demon,” Chase spats.

“He is one of the worst in how he treats humans but we can't trap him,” Niko adds.

“Could he be the one abducting Underworlders?”

Chase shakes his head, “No, plus you'd have seen it when he touched you. You only saw humans.”

“I didn't tell you what I saw! Besides, couldn't he hide it?”

Chase strokes my hair. “We don't have to speak to communicate, Emma. We can do more than just feel and hear each other. Our bond makes everything possible. The stronger the bond the more abilities may surface.” He taps the amulet under his shirt. “This amulet blocks everything but you.”

“Do you have to always wear it?”

He looks at me and smiles. “Not anymore.”

“Why?”

“You,” was the only word he said as he gazed into my eyes.

“Ме?” I don't understand how I could influence him like that.

“Our bond should protect me from others as the amulet did. Thus, it can replace the amulet,” he explains.

“Then still wear it.”

He brings my knuckles to his lips and kisses them, “Why? I thought we were getting on well.”

I blush. “We...we are,” I stammer. “But what I meant was that to fool others, wear it still.”

Niko nods, “That's actually a good idea. Pretend she's just a girlfriend, not a powerful mate.”

“I'm not powerful.”

Niko chuckles, “Oh, you so are, but you will see. We all will.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. What does he mean ‘we’? Why can't he just tell me? Could I be something that's evil which is why he won't tell me? But if I'm evil Chase couldn't be near me like this since he said griffins fight evil. I don't want to fight either of these guys. In fact, I would like to do so many naughty things with or to these guys. Fuck! They're both looking at me with dark lidded eyes. Did they both hear my thoughts? Or did my allure make them go batshit after all? Smirks grace both of their lips. “Holy fuuck!” They both heard my thoughts!