Chapter 7 – Medusa
MEDUSA
Istare down at a city tucked away in the center of a tangled jungle. It’s a strange mix of ancient buildings and modern wonders. Roads have been cut through the jungle to connect this place with the outside world, and from this high up, they look like black snakes weaving through greenery.
I know this place. Although it’s changed. A lot. My mind goes back to hundreds of years ago when this was nothing more than a little village.
The people were kind… until they found out what I was.
My stomach twists. Somehow, even after so long, I can still remember some of the villagers’ faces. It’s strange that they’ve all been dead and gone for a long time.
That was another thing about living forever; you try to accept all the changes, but sometimes it kind of feels like a punch to the gut. Everything keeps changing, but you just stay the same.
But I guess nothing has been normal since I met these damned gargoyles. Which is… kind of nice.
I look up at Byron’s face. He looks focused on the sky ahead of us, but I sense he’s aware of my stare.
Who would have thought my enemies would be so damned hot?
Gargoyles used to be everywhere, in my younger days. Humans carved them, and their desperation brought the creatures to life. Monsters everywhere feared them. I even feared them, even though I’d never actually seen one. I remembered a time when just seeing a shadow overhead made my heart race.
But it had to have been more than two or three hundred years since I stopped looking for them in the sky, since I stopped worrying about them discovering me. Gargoyles just didn’t feel like terrifying enemies anymore, more like nightmares from my childhood.
The presence of them should frighten me. They kill my kind. In fact, if I'm honest, I suspect that these intend to kill me. And I already know my powers don't work against them, even if I were inclined to try, which I'm not.
So why am I not afraid of them?
I want to believe it’s because I know I have nothing to fear from them, but a small part of me worries it’s because being around them makes me feel alive again, excited for life. I hate to admit that I'm eager to see what will happen next.
I must be more messed up than I thought. I’m practically chasing death.
We fly past the busy city until we reach a deeper part of the jungle. Byron begins to circle, slowly bringing us closer to the ground. I tense, wrapping my legs more tightly around him.
He swears, and his breathing grows more rapid.
In response, my own pulse speeds up. That ache comes back, the one right between my thighs, and I grit my teeth. I’m supposed to be trying to frustrate this stoic gargoyle. Touching him shouldn’t frustrate me.
We land in pretty much the only spot we can without his wings getting tangled.
My legs shake as he pulls my arms from around his neck, and I’m sure I’m going to crumble to the ground again.
But to my surprise, the angry gargoyle holds me against him for a long moment, my chained hands pressed between us.
I inhale, enjoying the smell of him. He smells like the wind and earth, all rolled into one. Like freedom.
For some reason, a shiver rolls through me. Why does this jerk affect me like this?
While he continues to hold me, his wings disappear, and his skin changes back to a human-like color. It might be my imagination, but his skin seems to warm beneath my touch. It feels pleasant… more than pleasant.
“Better?” he murmurs against my hair, and for a second I think the word is almost tender.
“Yeah,” I whisper back, my breath puffing against his neck.
He practically leaps back from me, and it’s pure luck that I manage to keep my balance. “Good, because we’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time.”
My hands tighten into fists. There he is again, Mr. Grumpy. “You keep saying that, but you still haven’t said what we’re doing or why we don’t have a lot of time.”
He strides forward and grabs my arm too roughly.
“Hey!” I jerk free of his grip. “I’m sick of this! Use your damn words!”
The flecks of gold in his brilliant hazel eyes seem to flash with warning. “You’re my prisoner, I’ll treat you however I damn well please.”
My chin lifts. “Careful. I’ve been pleasant up until this point, but if you push it, I’ll make your life hell.”
“Pleasant?” he practically snarls the word. “Is that what you call nearly fucking a strange nymph when I take my eyes off of you for one second?”
I raise a brow. “Is that what’s got your panties in a twist?”
He grabs for my arm again, but I step out of his reach. “Just shut up and come with me!”
“Not until you start treating me a little more nicely and answering some of my questions.”
He stares, breathing hard. “I’m done with this shit. Push me a little harder and see what happens.”
A challenge? I hide my smile. Boy, this asshole doesn’t know me at all.
When he grabs my arm again, I let him.
He looks relieved. I give him a minute to haul me along. I wait for his shoulders to relax and his focus to shift to our destination. And then, moving with lightning fast reflexes, I spin, kicking him as hard as I can in the groin.
A guttural shout tears from his lips and his knees hit the ground, but I don’t give him time to recover. I spin again and kick him in the face. He hits the jungle floor behind him, and I turn, racing to freedom.
I’m fast, but I don’t know how fast he is, so I don’t slow, even though my path is tangled and uneven.
The shackles on my wrist make it awkward, but I manage.
I barrel over branches and vines, moving further from the light of the clearing and into the shadowy darkness of the jungle.
I hear him crashing through the tangled chaos behind me, and pick up my speed.
It's even darker with the sunglasses on, but I don't dare take them off. Not ever.
My heart says he won’t hurt me, but my brain keeps flashing through my experiences with him so far. Byron has a temper, and I’m pretty sure kicking him in the crotch really pissed him off.
I sense him, too close behind me. Turning slightly, I see him. Shit! He’s almost caught me, and his face is twisted in rage.
My feet catch on something, and suddenly, I’m falling. Pain rips through my head as my skull cracks against something. For a second, everything goes black. I don’t think I’m breathing. I don’t think I’m still in my body.
Then I gasp. My vision comes into focus, and Byron’s face is inches from mine. I stiffen and start to fight, even though I feel weak and confused.
He catches my hands and pins them against my chest. “Stop. You’re fucking hurt.”
I stiffen, but don’t move as he releases my hands.
He reaches up and touches my head.
I gasp as my skull gives a painful ache.
His expression grows concerned. “You’re bleeding.”
Closing my eyes, I take deep breaths. “It’s fine. I’ve had worse.”
He says nothing for a long time, and neither do I.
My head hurts like hell, and a headache is forming behind my eyes.
I’ve got the sudden need to sleep. The thing is, immortals don’t need a lot of sleep.
Flying with Byron for the past couple days hasn’t been hard.
I’ve nodded off a few times, but other than that, I’ve been painfully awake.
But now? I just want to sleep for a month.
Because we might not need to sleep, but we still enjoy it.
“I’m tired,” I say, and my voice sounds different, even to my own ears.
He shifts beneath me, and I realize he’s got me cradled in his lap. “Then, sleep.”
I shake my head, then hiss, because it hurts like hell. “You might kill me in my sleep.”
He chuckles, and the sound rolls through me like a wave, deep, beautiful, and completely unexpected. “I give you my word not to hurt you while you sleep.”
The need to argue rises up inside me, but instead, I snuggle closer to him, and sleep pulls me under.
Most of my dreams are a pleasant escape from my crappy life. But this time, I dream about two gargoyles fucking me slowly.
This is definitely one dream I don’t want to wake up from.