Chapter 18 – Lamia
LAMIA
I’m just finishing making breakfast when the gargoyles stumble out of the bedroom.
My pulse races at the sight of the three men in nothing but boxers.
They are without a doubt the most beautiful men I’ve ever seen in my life, even with the pink scars from their wounds visible.
They’re big, muscular, and completely tempting.
And then there’s the fact that their hair is messy and their eyes sleepy.
It’s a combination of sweet and sexy that makes everything inside of me heat up.
So I look away from them to hide my feelings.
“It smells…strange in here,” Darius says.
“I—well there was only canned foods. So we have some kind of canned spaghetti, baked beans, corn, and cherries in a sauce.” I glance slowly up at them. “Sorry, that was the best I could do.”
Vincent flashes me a smile, and I wonder if he thought about our kiss last night as much as I did. “Sounds like a feast!”
His kindness almost makes me smile with gratitude.
The men move to the table, where I’ve put our plates and silverware. I scoop the strange meal onto their plates and mine, then seat myself at the table too.
“Do you all feel better?” I ask.
Their wounds certainly look better. Now they are just pink scars rather than a mess of wounds.
“Much better,” Ryker admits, his tone guarded.
“But I bet eating will help even more!” Vincent exclaims, then wiggles his brow.
Darius laughs.
We all dig into the food and eat in silence for a time. It’s oddly nice. Like we’re a weird little family.
The food isn’t great, but not eating alone is nicer than I ever imagined.
“What happened to your wrist?” Darius asks, breaking the silence.
I freeze, my gaze going to the bandage wrapped there. “Just cut myself. Not a big deal.”
“You sure?” Darius presses, and I can tell he doesn’t believe me.
“Absolutely,” I say, avoiding their gazes.
The last thing they need to know is that I spent the night giving them my blood, concealed by cranberry juice I found in cans. If they hated me before, I can only imagine what they’d say then.
Even though I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have healed without it.
Even if it did leave me feeling a little weak and dizzy.
“So, where do we go from here?” Vincent asks between bites.
I look at the Cup of Life on the counter. “We got the first item. The next seems to be in a place called Las Vegas.”
“Then that’s our next destination!” he says, grinning at all of us.
Ryker raises a brow. “And how many more items do we need after that?”
“Three,” I tell him.
He nods. “We should be able to get everything in a matter of days.”
His response makes me feel strange. Part of me wants to go to the cave, to see if it holds everything promised, and the other part of me fears going to the place and finding it empty.
What would we do then?
I set my fork down.
“Something wrong?” Darius asks.
I start to shake my head, then stop. “What if the cave isn’t…real?”
“Do you think it is?” Ryker asks the question, his tone holding an edge.
“I told you,” I say. “I don’t know. Until the book, I thought I was the only one of my kind. I thought…I thought there was no hope.”
They’re all silent for a long minute.
“How did you become what you are?” Darius asks.
I stiffen and the air seems to draw out of the room.
“Lamia?” Vincent says my name with concern.
I realize I’m shaking. “It’s a long story.”
“We have time,” Darius presses.
I close my eyes. “If I tell it. If I think of it. It puts me in a bad place.”
No one responds.
A deep breath wracks my whole body. “But maybe you guys need to know. So you understand how dangerous I am.”
Again, no one responds.
I open my eyes, but I can’t look at them. Instead, I look out the window at the beach. Seagulls fly overhead. The water crashes gently on the shore. And yet, all of it feels far away.
“I was married. I had two beautiful children.” The words sound hollow, and I’m glad.
Better that than filled with pain and regret.
“I was bathing and Zeus came upon me. He…he wanted to…but I didn’t.
Everything happened like it was happening to someone else.
And then, Hera came. She turned me into this thing.
” I finally turn and look at them one after another.
“I returned to my home and killed my husband and children in cold blood. The people who were my world. My everything.”
I stand, crawling out of my skin.
“Lamia—“ Vincent begins.
I start toward the door. “I’m going to go for a swim.”
Vincent says my name again, but I push open the door, run down the stairs of the porch and come to the shore.
Without hesitating, I strip off the red dress and race for the waves.
When I dive into them, I want the water to wash away everything.
The memories. The pain. The tears I feel welling up. But even I know that’s asking too much.
It’s just the ocean.
It’ll take more than that to wash away my sins.