Chapter 14 – Lamia
LAMIA
It’s time for us to fly once more, and I turn to the men, feeling uneasy. If they were scared of me before, what do they think now that they’ve seen me kill?
Ryker is the one to move towards me and reach out. Tentatively, I wrap my arms around his neck, then jump up to wrap my legs around him.
His eyes widen, and I watch his pulse jump.
“Is this okay?” I ask, my voice coming out soft and husky.
He nods then flaps his wings, and we shoot off into the sky.
A small gasp escapes my lips. I’ve been trying not to be scared of this whole flying thing, but it’s strange. I’ve lived for so long, and yet I’ve never been a fan of heights.
My legs tighten around him.
“Gentle,” he whispers into my ear.
I relax ever so slightly. “Sorry,” I say. “I know you won’t let me fall, but it’s still scary.”
He’s quiet for a minute. “Why won’t I let you fall?”
The question catches me off-guard. “I guess because you need me to reverse your curse.”
Again, he takes a long time to respond. “Why did you kill me?”
I’ve asked myself that same question more times than I can count. “Because I’m a monster. I’m dangerous. Uncontrollable. I hurt everything I touch.”
“Is that why you were on that island?”
I nod. “It’s oddly hard to find places in this world where you can be alone. I’m sure a lot of people feel that way. But for me, anyone who stumbles upon me forfeits their life, so there’s a lot more at stake to being sure no one will find me.”
“You hardly seem…like an uncontrollable monster right now.”
I give a pained laugh. “That’s because you guys are feeding me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be starving all the time?”
His entire body stiffens.
“What is it?” I ask, pulling back from him enough to see the tension in his strong face.
“It’s nothing,” he says, his gaze far away.
But I know it’s not nothing. “Ryker—“
“I know we have to work together to achieve our goal, but that’s all this is. Understood?”
I nod, lost for words, and settle my head back against his chest. It hurts to know that that’s all he sees this as.
That that’s all he sees in me. But at least when I close my eyes, I can pretend things are different.
I can pretend his strong arms hold me because I deserve to be held.
I can pretend that the hard length of his erection pressing into my belly is because of me, and not because he’s lonely.
It’s a fool’s way of finding happiness.
“The lighthouse!” Ryker calls.
I feel the air stir around us. Lifting my head from his shoulder, I see Darius and Vincent at our sides.
“Swords?” Vincent asks.
Ryker nods.
One of his hands moves from around my waist, and he removes a sword from the sheath at his back.
“It could be nothing,” I say.
“Gargoyles are always ready for battle,” Ryker tells me, and there’s tension in his voice.
My body feels anxious and shaky. “Okay.”
Turning slightly away from him, I look ahead. Sure enough, there’s a lighthouse near the end of a long peninsula. It looks old, worn, and painted white. The light’s off, but there’s a sense that something isn’t quite right about it.
Around the lighthouse, black birds fly in lazy circles.
“I don’t know about this,” I say.
Vincent looks in my direction. “What do you mean?”
“Something’s wrong,” I tell them, and I know deep inside that I’m right.
“I don’t see anything wrong,” Darius says, but his words are kind.
“You can’t feel that?” I ask them.
“Feel what?” Ryker’s frowning down at me.
“I don’t know…death…. Danger. I don’t like this.”
“That just means maybe we’ve found the right place,” Ryker says, and now he sounds like he’s talking to someone who’s a little slow.
My arms tighten around his neck. “Let’s turn around.”
“Lamia—“ Ryker says my name with annoyance.
But Darius interrupts. “This is what we have to do.”
My mind is in a panic. “Leave me here. Let me walk the rest of the way, alone.”
My words are met with silence.
“Lamia, we’re gargoyles—“
“Who can die,” I say.
“How do you know?” Ryker asks. “Have you ever heard of someone dying twice?”
I close my eyes, and suddenly I’m seeing flashes of my husband and my children. “Put me down,” I say.
“Lamia…”
“Put me down!” And this time I’m shouting.
They fly lower, but I don’t relax until my feet have touched the ground. Then I spring away from the gargoyles.
“We’re gargoyles. We’ll be okay,” Darius says, in an oddly calm voice.
I put my hands over my ears to tune him out. I feel tears rolling down my face. I curl over myself, trying to hold back the meltdown I know is about to pull me under.
Suddenly, strong arms pull me against a hard chest.
My eyes flash open, and I find Vincent holding me. Rather than looking confused or frightened, he looks calm and serious.
He holds me tighter against him, and his head lowers so that his chin is slowly brushing the top of my head.
A hiccup explodes from my throat. “More people can’t be hurt because of me.”
“We won’t be.”
I shake my head, feeling more tears raining down. “You don’t understand.”
“We don’t,” Vincent says. “But we do know that this path leads to what we all want the most, so we have to face whatever’s up ahead. Do you understand?”
“If you’re hurt—“
“It’ll be because of our own choices, not yours.”
Those words sink past the panic that was pulling me under. I see my children and my husband, and I see these three men. Vincent is right. It’s not the same. They were innocent. They did nothing to deserve being killed by me.
And these men didn’t deserve that same fate either.
But now, right now, they are choosing to come with me. We’re working towards a common goal. Without them, I can’t make it. And without me, they can’t ever have their lives back.
So, I have to keep it together.
“Sorry,” I say.
The men seem unsure.
Vincent gives a smile. “It’s okay, but how about we all go face death now?”
I’m so surprised I almost laugh. “You think it’s death up ahead too?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I think we already went through the whole death thing.”
I smile, noticing for the first time Vincent’s dimples.
He’s cute in a completely unexpected way when he smiles.
With his red hair pulled back at his nape, and his beard, he’s got this strangely rugged look.
But also not at all. He’s more like a clown than some strong man.
The combination is kind of nice. More than kind of.
Suddenly, a shadow falls over us.
I turn to look and something drops from the sky. In an instant, it surrounds Darius, and he’s plucked from our group.
The creature is wrapped entirely around Darius. The gargoyle is struggling, but his struggles are in vain. Ryker and Vincent take off after him, shooting into the sky, and I’m left on the ground, staring in shock.
Against the sunlight, I finally make out the creature that has Darius, and my heart thumps to a stop. It’s a manticore. A creature with the body of a lion, a scorpion’s tail, and the face and upper torso of a man.
I know many things about this world of darkness and monsters, and what I know about manticores has been burned into my mind forever. They are unbelievably dangerous. And the sting from their tails can kill any creature, any except a god.
Shifting, I feel my legs melt away and my lower body turn into a tail. I begin slithering across the rocky shore, following below the struggling manticore and gargoyle. Ryker and Vincent have their swords drawn, and yet neither of them goes too close.
Probably being cautious of the creature’s stinger.
I slither faster. The tower overwhelmed with black birds is just ahead. And that, no doubt, is the manticore’s destination.
And then something strange happens. The black birds stop flying in their lazy patterns. Instead, they launch toward the gargoyles. The manticore moves easily through the sea of birds, but the birds aren’t aiming for it.
They’re heading straight for Ryker and Vincent.
I hear one of the gargoyles cry out. My heart thumps wildly in my chest.
What is it about these birds—?
One drops onto the ground in front of me. I freeze, breathing hard, watching it. Knowing instantly what I face isn’t just a bird, it’s the Stymphalian birds. Creatures with beaks that can pierce through metal…and stone.
Above me, I watch in shock as Ryker and Vincent are covered in the creatures. Dead birds drop from the sky around me. But it isn’t enough. They’re coated in the birds like a second skin.
Then, with a roar of fury, Ryker explodes from the birds. Vincent follows quickly after, and they fly further and further until the birds drop away and head back toward the lighthouse.
I turn back to the bird in front of me. It hasn’t attacked, yet. But it watches me with far too much curiosity.
The smart thing to do right now is to turn back. To turn around and hope like hell I can escape without having my body filled with bloody gashes. But I think of Darius. I owe him a life-debt.
And I know what the manticore will do with him.
He’ll torture him. Sting him. And eat him.
So, taking a deep breath, I slither toward the bird with cautious movements. It hops out of my way, but more and more of the birds land. I slither through them, watching, waiting. Knowing that if they choose to attack, I might not be able to get away.
And yet, I continue on. Toward the lighthouse.
Toward danger, and the gargoyle who deserves better than me.