Chapter 16 – Empusa
EMPUSA
Idon’t let any of them into the hotel with me. I tell them I need some time to myself. So, I bind up my wound, which would likely require quite a few stitches for a human, but was nothing for one of my kind. Already, it has stopped bleeding, so I keep it wrapped as I stare around the hotel.
For some reason, I really miss Charm. Leo had said she was doing fine, although still no babies. But I miss her quiet presence. I miss the fact that with her there are no complications, no misunderstandings, no pressure, just a faithful best friend.
I sit on the edge of my bed, feeling lost. Then, I pull my cell phone out of my pocket and hit the redial for the only number I have.
“Hello,” comes a second later.
I bite my lip. “I hope I’m not bothering you.”
Leo laughs. “Never! You have no idea how lonely I was before you came around. People call me socially awkward, but I’m like an expert compared to you, no offense.”
I smile. “No offense taken. I know nothing about social skills, but I know I enjoy talking to you.”
I can feel her happiness over the phone. “So, how are you doing?”
A sigh escapes my lips. “I don’t know. How are you?”
“It’s been a busy day at the clinic, but a good one.
No deaths. Nothing awful. Just a lot of healthy pets that need some loving!
And Charm is doing great, although my other dogs are mad that she gets my bedroom all to herself.
I figured since she won’t be with me long, it’d be better to keep everyone separate and safe.
I’m actually laying with the pretty girl right now, and boy is she looking big and healthy. ”
My heartache eases just a bit. “I’m so glad to hear that. I know what I’m doing will be best for her too in the long run, but I hate having to leave her after we’ve finally bonded so well.”
“You’re doing the right thing,” Leo tells me for the millionth time. “I promise. She’s huge, pregnant, and just chilling until her babies arrive. She’s in good hands. Now, how about you? How’s it going with the four sexy guys and the monster hunting?”
“I don’t know,” I say, then stare down at my feet.
“Come on. Out with it.”
I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t know. I feel like I don’t know if I’m the issue or they are.”
“How so?”
“Well, it’s all of them, but mostly Narath.
They’re treating me like…like I’m made of glass or weak.
No one has ever treated me that way before, and I find it insulting.
I know they’re big and strong, but that doesn’t make me weak.
I can take care of myself. I can take care of my baby.
And I can destroy our enemies, just as my mom did for me, to keep my child safe. ”
Leo laughs. “Oh, hon.”
I can hear it in her voice. There’s something I’m missing here.
“They’re not trying to say you’re not capable of taking care of yourself or protecting your child, they’re just worried about you and their baby.
They don’t know how to deal with having someone they care about being put in dangerous situations.
It’s their natural instincts. In the shifter world, if you mess with someone’s mate, you should be ready to have your face torn off.
It isn’t because they think their mate is weak, but it’s just their instinct when it comes to someone they love.
And a pregnant mate?” She laughs again. “Oh, hon. They probably want to wrap you in blankets and tuck you into a giant bed. Their instincts are screaming to keep you safe at all costs, and then you’re diving right into dangerous situations.
That would be enough to make any man crazy. ”
“Really?”
Is this normal for men? I never knew my father. My mom wouldn’t speak of him other than to say he was a dangerous demon. But he left us both in a prison cell in the Underworld, so I kind of figured that was more normal for a father than to lose his mind like Narath.
“Narath also has a temper. At any other time, watching someone rip apart a dangerous creature for me would be…nice. But when I think about my baby and that man, it makes me feel nervous.”
I can almost see Leo nodding. “Listen, there’s something you need to understand.
If a human woman came to me and said her partner could be scary and lose his temper, I’d tell her to run as far and as fast as she can from him.
But the supernatural world is different.
Most of us are more…animalistic. As a shifter and a monster myself, I can tell you that I know if I end up with a shifter, he’ll tear the head off of someone if they try to hurt me.
But the one thing you can know for sure is that they don’t hurt the people they love.
Not if they’re good people, anyway. That has more to do with who they are than what they are.
So, do you think they’re good guys? Do you think they would honestly hurt you or the baby? ”
I’d been thinking the whole time she’d been talking.
No one has ever spoken to me about these sorts of things.
I never understood what a good or bad relationship looked like, and I knew just as little about what supernatural relationships looked like.
But what she said made a strange amount of sense, especially about focusing on who they are versus what they are.
Technically, I’m a half-demon monster, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be a good mom.
I sigh. “They’re good guys. We still need to get to know each other, but I can sense their good souls. I might have been too hard on them.”
“Em,” her voice is gentle, “you grew up as a prisoner. You’ve been tortured, mentally and physically. It’s okay to have some triggers. It’s okay to need to take things slowly. Just go easy on yourself.”
I feel tears prick my eyes and cast my baby bump a glare. Since when have I been this emotional? Still, it feels good to have someone who seems to understand me.
“Thanks. I think I’ll make things better with Narath and the guys. And I’ll try to keep everything you’ve said in mind.”
“Of course! You know I’m always here! Now, go fix things with those hunks!” She hangs up.
A yawn escapes my lips, and I’m tempted to just lay down and take a tiny nap. But I know I need to fix things first, so I go to the door and look outside. They’re all gone.
But knowing them, they aren’t far.
I close the door and start exploring around the hotel. Still, no sign of them.
Frowning, I feel my pulse starting to race. We’ve been tracking a dangerous demon. The guy we killed tonight said something about Ceuthonymus having sent him. What if the demon got them?
I’m rushing around a corner when I smash into a huge body. Before I can react, they spin me around and pin my arms to the side of my body. I struggle to get free, but the arms are like steel.
“Em, it’s so good to see you,” the deep voice rumbles, and then laughter follows. Smoke rises from the person behind me, and I know.
I’m in trouble.