Secrets of the Guardian (Waldgrave Book 3) by A.L. Tyler Page A

anything. I’m telling you there’s no way he’s out there alone, no matter what he’s telling you. I think he’s up to something.”
    Lena swallowed and tried not to let Cheryl’s words seep too far into her. Devin was right; Cheryl had a gift. She didn’t know why she cared so much, but the fact that Griffin had been living in silence with an anonymous female guest irritated her to no end. She couldn’t stop thinking about it; she couldn’t identify the voice. Perhaps it was because she had missed him so much, or perhaps it was because she had missed him more than she had known. She knew for a fact that she cared about Griffin’s unknown guest more than she thought she would, and she hated to admit that a twinge of jealously had been worming in her stomach that he had chosen someone over her to help him cope with his problems.
    In the baking silence of the car, Lena suddenly realized she had been sitting still, not eating, for quite some time. She compulsively picked up her burger and took a bite. Devin caught her eye.
    His thought was so quiet that Lena barely caught it.   That’s it, isn’t it? He’s not out there alone.
    “What?” Cheryl called from the backseat; Lena looked in the rearview mirror and watched as she looked back and forth between her companions. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
    Lena took a deep breath. It couldn’t have stayed a secret much longer. There were no secrets among human-borns. Lena undid her seatbelt and turned so that she faced Devin and could easily turn to see Cheryl, who had leaned forward in her seat to be closer. “He’s not out there alone. I heard another voice over the phone.”
    Cheryl’s eyes went wide. “Who was it?”
    “I don’t know,” Lena said. Then, knowing it would get out eventually, with a twinge in her chest, she added, “It was a woman’s voice.”
    The car went quiet. Devin was caught halfway between looking very not surprised and trying to be sympathetic. Cheryl sat back in her seat looking dumbfounded, and then said in a quiet voice, “I’m sorry, Lena.”
    Lena turned back to sit in her seat properly, staring fixedly out the windshield at a crow picking at a french fry on the sidewalk before refocusing on her own white knuckles gripping the steering wheel. She put her seatbelt on, and moved her food from her lap to the space between the driver’s and passenger’s seat. She was disgusted with herself for telling them. She was disgusted with herself for caring so much, and for the mixed look that Devin was still giving her.
    “It’s okay.” She muttered. “I don’t know why I care so much, anyway. It’s just weird, that’s all.”
    She turned the ignition, determined not to let Devin and Cheryl drag the discussion out. It was likely to be a point of contention among them now; Lena knew Griffin had an antagonistic history with both of her friends. Cheryl thought he was an incapable, arrogant, poorly tempered child, and Devin detested him because Griffin had frequently and loudly voiced his opinion that he, and by his order Lena, was above hanging around stupid, dirty, lowly bred human-borns. In short, Griffin was as bad as they made him out to be, but he was also Lena’s first friend. He had saved her life many times over, literally laying his own down for her sake; despite the fact that he was a terrible person, she couldn’t just leave him behind. They were a part of each other.
    Or at least, Lena had thought that they were.
    They drove on to Missouri that night without stopping, and no one brought up Griffin again, or talked much at all afterwards. Lena wished they would have, because it might have helped her to forget for a while. Cheryl fidgeted in the uncomfortable silence the whole way. She kept complaining that the car was either too hot or too cold, she wanted music or silence, or she was tired but she couldn’t sleep. Devin kept shooting Lena ominous looks; it was clear that he didn’t think she was fidgeting. He