"Talk about natural chemistry. And here I thought it was my dripping charm and striking beauty that attracted men to me," I said sarcastically.

"All things you may doubt, but you must believe you are in danger now. I am being hunted by Mona Sera's men. They are tracking me by my blood scent. And if they find me, they will find you. Are you protected?"

"What do mean, 'protected'? I protect myself."

"No guards?"

I shook my head.

A genuinely pained expression swept across his face and I found my heart yielding to his deep concern. Although what he claimed was impossible, a part of me responded to his words. They resorted with rightness somewhere deep within me. And there was no denying his unusual power, so like mine. I started to believe him.

"Do you have anybody else like…" he waved his hand, searching for words, "… like you?"

"No," I whispered. "You're the first I've ever met."

"Sweet Mother Light." His head sank down. His perfect shoulders slumped. He laughed without humor. "What am I going to do with you?" The last was whispered as if to himself. He sounded weak, defeated, and that bothered me. A lot.

"Will you recover with time?"

He shook his head. "Not without the antidote."

"What is the antidote?"

"I was hoping you could possibly tell me," he said with that bitter, wry smile. "But, of course, that would be too much to hope for. Some claim there is no antidote, but others whisper that only Queens have it. And so I am fleeing to the nearest Lady of Light, the nearest Queen, to beg mercy and seek aid."

"You have more than one Queen?"

"Each territory is ruled by a Queen," Gryphon answered. "And the land is divided into many territories."

He said that I was a Queen, but not a true one, or I would be able to help him.