Chapter 32 – Lamia
LAMIA
Istand before the Cave of Blood, and now I know why it has such a name. The cave is red, the stone a coppery color. And a stream seems to flow down the rock inside, on both sides; a river of blood-red water.
Other than that, it’s quiet. Unthreatening.
But also too quiet. Too peaceful-looking.
I take two more steps toward it before I sense something moving within the cave. A second later, my jaw drops. A woman like me, with the lower half of her body that of a snake, slithers out of the opening.
Her eyes are blue and kind, with wrinkles on the corners. Her lips are thin. She has an ageless beauty about her that leaves me stunned. I always thought I was so ugly in my snake form, but there’s nothing ugly about this woman.
“Lamia,” she greets me.
I stare in surprise. “How do you know my name?”
She smiles. “You’re the only one of our kind that hasn’t found a home here, where she belongs.”
I swallow, hard. “I didn’t know there was anyone else like me.”
“You weren’t meant to know yet, not until you had your Protectors.” Her gaze slides past me. “Where are they?”
It’s hard to breathe. “We were attacked. They sent me ahead.”
She frowns. “There has been something dark going on. Forces working against you.”
“The gods,” I say.
She nods. “Those bastards need more hobbies.”
I smile, already feeling a bond with her. “Yes, they do.”
After a quiet moment, she tilts her head. “You’ve come for your children.”
I nod. “But I don’t know how…or if it’s possible…or if—“
“They’re here. They’ve been here since the day you began their Turning. The day you were overcome with a need to change them.”
My mouth goes dry. It’s true then… They’re here. My babies.
“Their bodies were brought here and preserved until you could come for them. Until you could bring them back. It’s only unfortunate that you’re different from us, cursed and not born as a shifter.
Our children require nothing but our blood to come back.
You needed powerful items.” She glances between my backpack and the saplings in my hands. “Which it appears you brought.”
I nod, my throat dry. “So, I can have them? Is this it? I heard the cave was dangerous. That there would be more challenges.”
She smiles. “The cave is very dangerous for those who come uninvited. But for you, my sister, it is your home. Enter it and find everything that you’ve ever wanted.”
I look behind me. “My men…?”
“We can wait for them. They’re almost here.”
And then she sniffs the air, and her eyes go wild. “Smoke.” The word holds immense horror. “They couldn’t have. No one would destroy such a thing.”
“What’s going on?”
The woman’s eyes fill with tears, and she says nothing more.
A minute later, a shadow darkens the sky above me. I look up in time to see my gargoyles drop beside me. When they see the other woman, they withdraw their swords.
“No!” I say.
They freeze.
“She won’t hurt us. She’s here to help. To bring back my children, and to return you to normal.”
The gargoyles slowly sheath their swords, but don’t look at me.
Her eyes roam over them, and then a tear slides down her cheeks. “The tree?”
Darius gives a sharp nod.
She closes her eyes tightly, then flashes them open. “Follow me.”
The gargoyles exchange a nervous glance, but I follow the woman, heart in my throat, and hear my men follow after us.
At first the cave is dark and filled with a coppery scent that seems to surround us. The stone under our feet is slippery, and there’s an unwelcomeness to the place that makes me wonder if we’re still walking into a trap.
But then I see a light up ahead.
When we exit the tunnel and step out into the room, I freeze in shock.
Above us is a canopy of greenery, lit by beautiful flowers that look like stars.
The room is massive, stretching out to an underwater lake that expands out like the ocean.
A waterfall falls from one side. The sound of rushing water and the scents of life makes the place feel like an oasis.
If only I had found this place after first Turning, maybe my life wouldn’t have been so sad. So lonely.
I expect her to go to the water, but she doesn’t. Instead, she steers us to the side of the cave. Massive pods line the walls, with huge glowing veins that creep down the sides of the cave and connect to the pods. When we draw closer, the woman smiles and points to two of them.
I frown as she stops, but move closer on my own. Cautiously. My gargoyles at my sides.
When I stop at the first one, my heart races. What is this thing? And what does it have to do with my children? I take a hand and rub away the cloud of moisture on the top of the pod, and I freeze. Every muscle in my body is tense. There’s something in the pod.
A person.
Drawing my hand back slowly, I see his face. My son.
Tears explode, filling my eyes and running down my face. I stroke the strange see-through surface of the pod, wishing I was already touching my child. Holding my baby.
My son looks just the way I remember him, his face still rounded with the youth of a six-year-old. His eyelashes are still long and dark. His expression is peaceful.
I look to the woman, rubbing away tears. “It’s really him,” I whisper, my voice soft and filled with amazement.
She nods, then points to the other pod.
I move to it as if in a dream and rub at the top of the pod, already knowing what I’ll find. At least, hoping what I’ll find.
An instant later, my daughter’s face comes into view. Her long tangle of dark hair frames her like an angel. Such a tiny creature, lying as if asleep. A tiny person who looks just like me.
“They’re just waiting for you to wake them,” she says.
Ryker’s hand squeezes my shoulder and reassurance flows from his touch. “What do we have to do?”
“Put them in the same pod,” she says. “Drape the necklace around them both. Fill the cup with your blood. Put the coin on one of their foreheads, and then the other. And then press the saplings into their chests. Then, they’ll live.”
My hands are numb as I try to open the pod that holds my daughter, Sofia. But Darius comes in an instant and opens it for me. Vincent is there in a second, sweeping her tiny body into his arms.
I long to touch her. To hold her myself. But I don’t trust myself to hold her. Not when I can barely feel my feet beneath me.
And so, the men help me lay my babies next to each other. Something I’ll be forever grateful for.
Ryker opens the bag and lovingly pulls the necklace over them. Darius places the coin on first Atticus’s forehead, then Sofia’s.
I use my teeth to gently prick my wrist and let my blood run into the cup, but when I go to press the cup to their lips, her voice stops me.
“No! You need their blood too!”
I freeze and look to the gargoyles. “Why?”
“Because they’re your Protectors.”
I don’t understand why that should matter. I’m their mom. I’m the one who would give everything to bring them back. These gargoyles were killed by me and turned into these creatures because of me. They shouldn’t have to do this too.
My gaze meets hers. “They won’t be my Protectors for long. They brought their saplings. They want to be the way they were before I bit them.”
Her brows rise, and she looks to the men. “Is this true?”
Ryker answers, not quite answering her question. “We can give the children our blood.”
I’m shocked when one after another of the gargoyles pricks their wrists and fills the cup with their blood, then hands it back to me. They already brought me here. They didn’t have to do that too.
“Thank you,” I say.
They smile, but Vincent answers. “It’s nothing. Now, wake those kids up!”
My hand trembles as I try to bring the cup to their lips. Ryker wraps his hand around mine, giving me the strength to pour the blood into their mouths. Their lips move as they drink, making my heart race, but neither opens their eyes.
And then, Darius slowly hands me the saplings.
I press them to the chests of my children and watch as the saplings seem to take root and grow.
In seconds the saplings get taller, develop more branches, green leaves.
The leaves turn the colors of fall, then brown, then fall off.
Before a minute has passed, the saplings fall from my children, all the life spent from their wood.
My chest aches. Was that what was supposed to happen? Did it go wrong?
Atticus’s eyes slowly blink open.
My heart stops.
His blue eyes, the same shade as Darius’s, flutter into view over and over again. His mouth opens, and a soft word leaves his lips. “Mom?”
I burst out crying and gather him to my chest. Unable to contain myself. Unable to stop myself from touching him, from holding him.
How will I ever let him go again?
“I feel…strange,” he says.
I’m crying, hard, but trying desperately to keep it together.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper to him.
He’s quiet for a moment. “For Turning us?”
I stiffen and draw back from him, meeting his gaze. “How do you know about that?”
“In my deep sleep, I learned a lot. I understand what you did and why you did it.”
I can’t breathe. “Do you hate me?”
He laughs, the sound heartbreakingly familiar. “Never. I love you, mama.”
“Me too.”
I look down at the sweet voice of my daughter. She’s staring at me, her green eyes, the shade of my own, fill me with happiness. “I missed you.”
I’m not ashamed to say I cry hard, holding them, never wanting to let them go. Their bodies are soft. Their scents are familiar and perfect.
These are my children. The children I thought were lost to me forever.
Dreams do come true.
Time passes. I hold them. I touch them. I kiss them and memorize their faces. The way they smile. The way they laugh.
They tell me of their time since I Turned them. In their minds, they both understand that time has passed and that they are different, but they also feel as if they’ve only been “sleeping” for a short time.
But best of all? They are the way I remember them.
And they’re perfect.
And even though I feared what they would think of me now, how they would feel about me now, it seems that their love for me has trumped all else.
Our love is the purest thing in this world, the love between a mother and child. And until this moment, I didn’t realize just how strong it was.
“Can we play now?” my son asks, smiling.
I touch his face, then my daughter’s face. I don’t want to do anything but hold them and stare at them. But I also know what they want matters more. “Yes.”
They climb out of the pod with the energy only young people have, and I have to stop myself from reaching out for them when they race to the river’s edge and laugh as they splash in the water.
“They’re different from before.”
I turn to the woman, stiffening. Are they? “They seem the same.”
“They’ll need blood to survive, but not as much as you do,” she explains, her voice calm and patient. “They can live normal lives and do normal things; you’ll just have to ensure their need for blood is met.”
“I can do that.” I can do anything for them.
It takes everything in me to tear my gaze from my children. “Ryker, Darius, and Vincent, thank you.” I’m embarrassed that more tears clog my throat. “You’ve done your part. You’ve helped me get my kids back. Now it’s your turn.”
None of the men move.
“Guys?”
Ryker looks away from me and to my children. “That’s not possible.”
“What do you mean? Why?” I look between them, confused.
“Our saplings were broken in the fight, and then they burned the tree.”
No. This is why they helped me. This is all they wanted.
They deserve to have their happily ever after too.
I feel sick as I turn to the woman. “There has to be another way.”
She shakes her head. “There is no other way. Another tree will grow. But it’ll take many lifetimes before it can be used again.”
No other way? They’re stuck like this?
My entire chest aches, and it’s hard to breath.
If they didn’t hate me before, they must hate me now. They had a small chance to get back what they were, and they lost it. For me.
The moment with the other gargoyles turns in my mind. If they had killed me, they would have their saplings. They would have their lives back.
I look to the gargoyles, trying to read them. “I’m so sorry! Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you—?”
Vincent gives me a soft smile. “Are you disappointed?”
“Disappointed?” I shake my head, confused. “This isn’t what you wanted. You wanted a real life. You wanted—“
“A woman to love,” Ryker says.
“Children.” Darius says and looks at my kids.
“And happiness.” Vincent smiles as he says the words.
I continue staring.
Ryker has merriment in his eyes. “All things we think we could have with you.”
My brain seems to sputter to a stop. “Are you sure? The saplings…”
“It’s okay,” Darius says. “We weren’t actually sure if we could go through with it. Being normal again would mean losing you, and we didn’t want to lose you.”
“You didn’t?”
Vincent grins. “We kind of like you.”
My heart warms.
“Maybe even love you,” Ryker adds.
I laugh, and suddenly they’re all hugging me.
“Does this mean you’re okay with this?” Vincent says against my hair.
I kiss him, hard. “What do you think?”
And then we turn to look at my children.
“Will this be too much for you?” I ask, feeling a flicker of unease. “I’ll be trying to build a life for them. Some normalcy.”
“You mean we’ll be trying to build those things,” Ryker says, slipping his hand into mine.
I squeeze it, then smile when my kids turn to look at us and race our way.
All of this…it’s almost too good to be true.