Griffin shook his head. “I don’t think it’s necessary anymore. Leaving you in the protection of a very capable colony of dragons is perfect.”
How the hell did he know they were “very capable?” Even Sofia knew precious little about them. Her mother hadn’t been part of the Rojo colony, and Darius had ensured that both mother and daughter maintained a healthy distance from the reeve while still keeping them close enough to be under his thumb.
She should have left New Orleans when he’d agreed to sign that contract. That’s what her mother had done. Except if Sofia had, what would have happened to Penelope? She had no idea how many gargoyles were in the world and whether they were stationed in every city; nor did she have any concept of where warlocks lived and how soon they might have become aware of Penelope’s existence.
At least now, Penelope would be trained appropriately to protect herself. Except this turn of events also meant Sofia was putting herself into danger. If Darius found out she was moving into the reeve’s mansion…
Hell, since Antoinette became reeve back in January, Sofia had deliberately avoided her. The women had been co-workers bordering on friends; two single mothers bonding over their shared desire to do right by their children.
Antoinette had been one of the first people Sofia had told when Griffin left Penelope with her. Antoinette had been a new mother herself, and Sofia had turned to her for guidance with figuring out what in the world to do with an infant.
Not that Antoinette had anything to do with Sofia’s relationship with the previous reeve, but it had struck Sofia as smart to keep her distance from anything associated with that position in the colony.
Antoinette relaxed her hold on Sofia’s arm. “We have plenty of room. And Henri will love having a friend around. Plus, there’s a half-witch living there, and as much of a pain in the ass as she is, she’s also extremely knowledgeable about her own kind, so she can answer any questions you have.”
Sofia knew next to nothing about witches. She remembered learning an overview about all the various magical beings in school, but that had been a long time ago. And she needed more than an overview if she was going to guide Penelope as she grew into her role as someone who would eventually help save the world.
Damn, this was a lot to take in. She ought to resent Griffin for inadvertently handing over this responsibility to her.
But she didn’t. Oh, she was still angry at the way he’d seduced her and left, but she loved Penelope far too much to resent the fact that she was responsible for the child’s wellbeing. As challenging as it had been to balance the agreement with Darius and raising a little girl to the best of her ability, Penelope’s fate could have been much, much worse.
Not to mention her own. Had she not become a mother overnight, Sofia might never have gotten brave enough to approach Darius with the idea of a contract. And while she wasn’t entirely free of him, after they’d signed the document, he’d left her alone for the first time in her life.
Until today.
“Are you cold?” Antoinette asked.
Sofia glanced down at her arm, which had erupted with gooseflesh despite the balmy temperature. Griffin wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Sofia’s dragon purred like a damn cat. Seriously, had the beast forgotten what happened the last time she’d hooked up with the guy?
“I’m fine,” Sofia said. “Listen, if we’re going to do this, can we make sure as few people as possible know about it? You know, for Penelope’s protection.”
“Absolutely,” Antoinette said with a nod.
Griffin watched her with a steady gaze, no doubt trying to read between the lines of what she’d said.
She turned away. “I, um, have bags upstairs. I’ll just go get them.”
Antoinette arched her brows but said nothing. Griffin said, “I’ll go with you.”
As soon as they hit the top of the stairs, she placed Penelope on her feet and instructed her to repack the toys and books she’d pulled out of her backpack.
Griffin put his hands on her shoulders and gently massaged. Her dragon was inside her head, trying to headbutt him like a cat demanding a back scratch. When had her dragon become a feline?
“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Griffin said.
She let out a hollow laugh. “Little late for that, isn’t it?”
He frowned, and she twisted out of his grip, wandering over to peer out the windows overlooking the street below.
“I will do whatever I must to ensure Penelope is safe and gets the training she needs. Even if those decisions aren’t exactly in my own best interest.”
He strode over to stand next to her. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” She’d already said too much. She really needed to figure out how to stop doing that. She’d been a closed book for nearly her entire life, rarely letting anyone in, keeping her head down in an attempt to avoid her brother’s wrath. Why now, all of a sudden, was she telling a virtual stranger things she wasn’t supposed to speak of to anyone at all?
Because he’s not a virtual stranger, her dragon said.
Okay, yeah, I realize we slept with him and—
And it was amazing. And we want to do it again.
She shook her head. No, we most certainly do not.
Do too.
Do not.
“Are you okay?”
Sofia cleared her throat. “Sorry. My dragon is talking to me. Do gargoyles do that? Does your inner gargoyle talk to you sometimes?”
He chuckled. “No. Our magic is not the same as yours. Whereas for
