Chapter 11 – Lamia
LAMIA
Ipick up the book and stand on the shore, looking out at the rising sun. We’d decided to spend the night here before starting our journey, so we’d have a full day to travel, but the reality of what we were doing was just starting to dawn on me.
This is it. The moment I leave my isolated island behind and return to the world of the living.
I’m excited, and so scared. Unbelievably scared.
And the gargoyles at my side radiate a similar nervousness, even though no one would know it by looking at them. They truly are good at masking how they feel behind expressions of stone.
“So, you’re really going to do it?”
I whirl around, as do the three gargoyles beside me. Leaning against a tree is a god. I know it without question. His hair is blond and glows with an unearthly light. He wears jeans and a white t-shirt with wings on the front of it. And shoes with little golden wings on the sides.
“Hermes?”
He smirks. “The messenger god himself.”
Beside me, the gargoyles fall to their knees, kneeling. The god looks from them to me, and that smirk of his widens as he moves closer.
“You don’t bow?”
My back feels stiff. “Not for your kind.”
He nods, but there’s still humor in his expression. “Ah, but I’ll have you know that I’m not as bad as Hera and Zeus. I can keep my dick in my pants, and I don’t go around blaming other people for the assholes in my life.”
“Good to know,” I snap back at him.
Suddenly, all his humor drains away. “I’m actually here for you, Lamia.”
I take a step back, and my hands curl into fists. “What do you want?”
His soft voice takes on a kinder note. “I want you to succeed. I want you to find some happiness.”
I stare at him. “You bastards took that from me.”
He nods. “What I mean is, that the fates have intervened. You have knowledge you’ve never had before. The map shows you a place that you could have everything you ever wanted.”
Something catches in my throat. “Everything?”
He avoids my gaze. “But you have to be careful. Everything has a price. You don’t just need to make it to the Cave of Blood. You need to bring items of great value there to trade for the things you want.”
“What?” I ask, heart hammering. I’ll pay any price if it returns my children to me.
“On the map you’ll see that different locations along the way are circled and there’s a drawing next to them. Each place, you’ll be expected to get an item of great value. And items that are dangerous to reach. Don’t go to the cave without them, no matter what. You only get one chance at this.”
“I don’t understand,” I say. “Isn’t the cave just a place for my kind?”
His gaze holds mine. “It’s so much more than that, Lamia. And there are good gods still. Gods who have watched you suffer. Gods who want you to find some happiness. It won’t be easy. But we’re rooting for you.”
“I find that hard to believe,” I say.
Ryker speaks from near me. “And for us—“
“Ah, the chosen protectors. Three gargoyles who are fated to lead Lamia to the cave. You will indeed have the opportunity to have true happiness too, if only you’ll be smart enough to take it.”
Ryker’s expression grows fierce. “We’ll fight any and everything to reach our goal.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Hermes tells him. “But just be careful. There are also gods rooting against you. And gods don’t like to lose.” He starts to turn away, then looks back at me. “And maybe you can forgive yourself a little too, Lamia. Nothing that happened was your fault.”
Tears sting my eyes, and I blink them away. Where the god had stood only a second before, he was now gone.
“What does this all mean?” Darius says.
I don’t look at him when I answer. “When the gods get involved with the lives of the people below them, it’s never good. If we thought this was just about us and our goals, we were wrong.”
“So all of this is a game to them?” Darius sounds confused.
My hands tighten into fists. “Our lives are just a game to them, but for us this is everything. Don’t forget that.”
I turn back to the sunrise and take a deep breath. Somehow the visit from the god has changed everything. Because now I know it isn’t just myself I have to be scared of. I always have to be ready for whatever sick challenges they throw in our way.