Chapter 27 – Ryker
RYKER
We’re sitting in the bar feeling like complete assholes. After Lamia left, we’d been so uneasy with her going by herself that we went after her. We snuck through the woods, trying to keep pace with her.
How were we supposed to know that we were screwing everything up?
Vincent takes a sip of a beer some woman bought us. “Any of you ever thought we’d be rescued by monsters?”
Darius snorts. “No.”
It’s embarrassing as hell. And not something we’ll live down any time soon.
“What about the whole exchange?” Darius asks after a minute.
My hand still clutches the necklace, which I stare at, feeling odd. Lamia had the chance to leave. To take her prize and abandon us to save her children, but she didn’t.
What did that mean?
“She cares about us,” Vincent says.
His words make my heart race. She does…doesn’t she? The thing is, we care about her too.
Then I remember her in the shower and everything inside of me feels hot and tense. She’s beautiful. It isn’t just that she tastes amazing and feels amazing when she touches us.
It’s that I like her too. Every opportunity she’s given to show her true self, she shows that she’s a good person. So maybe it’s time to accept that that’s who she is: a good person.
If my brother who saw the world in black and white could love a monster, isn’t it possible that I can too?
“My brother’s mate is a harpy.”
Both guys turn to me. “What?” Vincent sounds shocked.
“Yeah.”
“But she’s a monster!”
Darius’s entire focus seems to be on me. “How is that possible?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, but he and his Brotherhood seemed happy.”
“You saw them?” Darius presses.
I tense. “Yes.”
They’re quiet for a long minute.
“Lamia’s goal is to get her children,” Vincent says. “She’s a monster, with kids, who could be monsters too.”
“And right now we’re monsters too,” Darius argues.
“For now,” Vincent debates back.
Darius takes another swig of his drink. “I’ve always wanted kids.”
I tense. So have I. Children are a blessing. The greatest blessing that any gargoyle could have. In my mind, I always thought it nearly impossible to ever have any. Children are rare, as are female gargoyles. But when I imagined having a family, it wasn’t like this.
Suddenly, I try to picture a life with Lamia and two children. It scares me that the idea makes me feel good. Happy. It wasn’t what I imagined for my life. But could it be?
A slight commotion in the bar makes me turn my head. Lamia is in the doorway, her long, dark hair framing her face. Her brilliant green eyes are wide.
She steps lightly into the room. Her white skirt flows around her ankles and the dark blouse hugs her curves.
I watch her like she’s a siren, calling to me. Drawing me to her.
Rising from my chair, her uncertain gaze goes to me, and a slight smile touches her lips. She takes a step toward me, and a man steps into her path.
I freeze. The man draws far too close to her.
My protective instincts flair to life.
“He’s hitting on her,” Vincent says, and he sounds pissed.
“She won’t be interested,” Darius responds, but he doesn’t sound any happier.
And then the man takes her arm and leads her to the jukebox.
What the fuck? I’m moving before I know what I’m doing. There’s no reason for Lamia to be touched by the human male, nor is there any reason for her to go anywhere with him. She’s here for us.
Unless she’s hungry. The idea of her biting the man makes me see red.
Storming across the room, I pause as I stand behind them. She’s saying something in a low voice.
He laughs.
Are you fucking kidding me?
“Can I help you?”
They whirl around, and Lamia looks up at me as if confused.
My gaze goes to the man, and his gaze moves slowly up, up to my face. That’s right, asshole. I’m a big man. You might want to think about if it’s worth it.
“Uh,” he says, then clears his throat. “Did you need something?”
“Just for you to stop talking to my female.”
His eyes widen. “I didn’t…I didn’t know she was with anyone.”
Lamia frowns. “I’m not.”
For some reason, my anger grows. “We have things to do. Better things than to waste time with this hu—this man.”
Her eyes narrow. “If you’re in a hurry, go. I won’t stop you.”
My pulse races. “So your plans tonight involve this man?”
“Yes,” she says, and there’s a challenge to her voice.
To fuck or to suck?
The thought makes my hands curl into fists. “I don’t think so.”
I reach for her.
She steps back.
“Lamia…”
She turns to the man. “Excuse me for a moment.”
A second later, she’s advancing on me. Her small hand presses into my chest and she shoves me back several steps. When we’re far enough from the man, she glares at me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I glare back at her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
She looks even angrier, but she speaks in a whisper. “This is the first time since becoming this…thing…that I can be around people without losing control. What’s wrong with enjoying it?”
“You want to fuck that guy?”
Her eyes widen. “What?”
Suddenly, Vincent is at my side. “Are we leaving?”
“Apparently she’d like to spend her night with a human first.”
Calm, funny Vincent suddenly looks as angry as I feel. “Not a chance.”
“I don’t need your permission to do what I want.”
I want to break every fucking thing in this place. “We have a mission.”
“Not tonight.”
Tonight. The word seems to echo through me. She plans to spend the night with the human.
“We aren’t letting you out of our sight,” I tell her, somehow unable to catch my breath.
She shrugs. “Fine, but I’m not leaving yet.”
She turns away from us and returns to the nervous man from before. I watch her every move, aware of every curve of her body. Up until now, I’d never had a problem with the clothes she’d chosen. But now, feeling every man staring at her, I’m enraged.
My mind reminds me that she wears nothing at all under her clothes.
My mind’s an asshole.
“Does she plan to fuck him?” Darius asks, his tone tense.
“Well, we did leave her wanting,” Vincent answers, not a trace of humor in his voice.
“Perhaps that’s a mistake we should correct,” I say.
My words hang between us. Slowly, we go back to the bar and sit down, clutching our beers in our hands. From there we watch the scene unfold. A beautiful woman whose fate is tied with ours, laughing and talking to a human in a way she hasn’t with us.
There are many things we need to correct.
The first? Claiming this woman as our own.