Chapter 19

Damon put his arm around her, enfolding her inside his cloak as they returned the way they’d come.

She looked over her shoulder. “Clara.”

Damon growled. “Her again! Leave her. She’s unimportant.”

“I need to find her. The monsters—”

“The monsters will not harm her.”

“Where have I heard that before?”

He bristled. “She is safe. Come!” And he dragged her along.

They walked for some time, Damon’s hand large and warm around hers.

“What is it that you have to show me?”

“Patience.” He squeezed her hand.

They arrived at an overhanging ridge, large rocks and twisted shrubs scattered beneath. A fire flickered near the wall, throwing the shadow of a seated, hooded figure against it.

Hearing their approach, the figure looked up. “Keep away!” it bellowed.

It hunkered to the ground, and with a rattle of chains, slunk away.

Lilitha’s heart flipped in her chest. “Father?” She looked at Damon in disbelief. “What’s going on?”

“He’s here to give us answers. To give ~you~ answers.”

“You brought him all the way up from Norfolk? That was where you went?” He stood motionless, arms folded, silent. “Why? How?”

“How is not the question.” He pointed an accusing finger at her father. “Ask him.”

Her father spat and swore. “Devil. You Godless devil!”

“Devil, am I?” Damon said with a sneering laugh. “You’re probably right, but I don’t think even I could hold a candle to your crimes.

“Why don’t you tell her about it? Tell her the truth about her mother.”

Lilitha went cold. “What truth?”

Her father yanked at his chains. The fire leapt and snapped, casting a blaze of light against his face. He was dirty. His beard was matted.

But his eyes were gleaming as he glared into Lilitha’s. Then he looked up at Damon and he cowered.

“Well?” Damon said. “Tell her, or I will make you tell her. You know what I am. What I can do.” He stepped toward him.

Her father recoiled. “You are no daughter of mine. Thank God. Thank ~God~!”

Damon looked at her as though it should mean something. Lilitha shrugged. “He says that all the time.”

Damon turned back. Her father yelped and reeled away as Damon swiped his boot at him. “Tell all, ~human~.”

Lilitha glanced at Damon with a start.

“I found her half-dead on the edge of the forest.”

“You killed her,” Damon snarled.

“No. ~She~ killed her.” He nodded at Lilitha, teeth gritted. “Even as a baby, you were as monstrous as they come. Pulled her insides right out of her. I’ve never heard someone scream like that before.”

Lilitha felt the heat rush up her throat.

“And then what?” Damon said.

“I took you,” he told Lilitha. “Might as well. Babies can sell for a good price. But no one would have you. Not with that thing on your arse. I had to cut it off.”

Lilitha’s heart was pounding. “Cut…cut ~what~ off?”

Her father sneered. “Despite what you might think, I saved you. In any other hands, you would have been slaughtered even before you took your first breath.”

“Then why?” The heat rose into her face. “Why did you bother if you were only going to make me suffer my whole life?”

“I needed you. Pure and simple. You were far from ideal, but you served. I saw you as a favor from God, a recompense for all my hard work.” Her father glared into her eyes.

“You think I’m wicked. But I tried my best to subdue your devilry. To save you.” He looked up at Damon with a sneer. “All for nothing. Now you’ve come full circle.”

Lilitha stood frozen, feeling numb. Her father drew his cloak around himself and pulled up against the wall. Lilitha stared at him, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes, hood pulled over his face.

Shaking, she turned away, stumbling over the rocks out of the cave. Damon followed close behind.

“Don’t let his foul words hurt you,” he said.

“I killed my mother.”

“You were a baby.”

Damon turned her to face him. He put his arms around her. Lilitha stared past his shoulder into empty space. “Do you think it’s really true?”

“I think so. It fits.”

“It fits what?” She shook her head in disbelief. “What was she doing near the forest? What—what did he mean that he ‘cut it off?’” She grabbed at her bottom.

Damon kissed her on the forehead. Lilitha closed her eyes as he nuzzled her cheek. He pressed his lips to her ear.

“Know this. He might not have loved you, but there are plenty who do. They’re by your side, holding you. They’re in the forest, waiting for you.”

She opened her eyes. “Who? Who’s waiting for me?”

He gently took her chin and raised her mouth to his. Lilitha kissed back, softly, then more furiously. She reached for his hood.

He pulled back with a start and grabbed her hand. “Not yet.”

Lilitha glared at him, heart pounding madly, so hot she was sweating again. “Let me see you.”

“Not yet. When the time is right.” He smoothed out her fringe. “Let it all sink in first.”

“I’m ready.”

“Be patient. Soon. Very soon. Come, let’s get away from the likes of him.”

She glanced over her shoulder one last time. Her father had never looked so small. So pathetic. So ~hateful~. As they walked, Damon pulled his cloak around her.

Bats were squawking. Frogs were croaking.

“I need to find Clara,” she said.

“She’s safe.”

“How do you know?”

“Your friends are keeping her safe.”

Lilitha stopped with a frown. “~My~ friends? I don’t have any friends.”

Somehow, she thought Damon was smiling.

“I don’t trust you,” she said.

“Not surprising, but that will change.”

She tried to pull away, but Damon kept a firm grip on her hand, dragging her along.

“Where are we going?” Then she smelled it. She raised her nose.

“Hungry?”

She licked her lips. “What is it?”

“I told you.”

“What is it ~really~?”

He was silent as he pulled her into a little clearing. There was another basket. Just sitting there on a small pile of rocks beside a smoking fire.

The light flickered against the trees, making it seem like there were figures dancing around them. They sat down on the damp grass together.

Damon pulled her into his cloak, their sides touching, gripping her hand in his lap.

“You know what it is,” he said.

Saliva trickled down Lilitha’s chin which she quickly swiped away. It wasn’t cooked this time. Entirely raw. And yet she hungered for it like it didn’t matter.

It had never smelled so strong. There was blood all through the basket. The leaf was soaked in it.

“It is yours. Take it,” he said.

Lilitha took a rattling breath. “I shouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“It’s... it’s monstrous.”

He snorted. “It’s monstrous to be what you are meant to be?”

“And what is that?”

“That’s the ultimate question, isn’t it? ~What~ are you?” He picked up the hunk of flesh. “What are we?” He went to take a bite.

“Stop!” she seized his wrist.

“Why?” The flickering light made his eyes flash.

“You know why. You can’t…you can’t eat people!”

“Like you, you mean?”

Lilitha went cold. She felt sick. He wasn’t even bothering to deny it. Her assumptions were right. She was ~right~. She crawled away from him, rising unsteadily to her feet.

Damon put the flesh back and stood alongside her. He reached for her but she thrust him aside. “Leave me alone.”

As she walked away, Damon followed.

“Where are you going?” he said. “You going to deny it forever?” He seized her elbow.

She tried to pull away, but he slung an arm around her waist and drew her against him, his chest hard against her back. “You think I’m evil too?”

“I can’t believe… I can’t believe… You are a devil. ~We~ are devils.”

He drew off her hood, tangling his fingers in her hair as he whispered in her ear, breath hot against her neck.

“We are far from that. We are haters, yes, but we’re also lovers. We’re cruel and kind. We are no more good or evil than the humans you so dearly aspire to be.”

“I ~am~ human.”

“You know very well you are no such thing.”

She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her go. She grabbed at his arm. “Let me go.”

“Why? So you can go back to the torment that was your life? If life you could call it,” he spat.

“Stay out here with me, and you will want for nothing. You will have food, warmth, shelter, family, and friends. You will not suffer. You will know no pain. And you will be loved.”

“I am already loved.”

“You mean your little blonde friend?” he scoffed. “She might love you now, but it is a shallow love. Reveal the truth of what you really are and watch her scuttle away like a rat.”

He spun her around to face him. “What will you do when you tell her all? When she turns away from you? Imagine it, her face twisted in disgust, her eyes full of hate.

“Could you stand that? Because I promise you, it will happen.” He stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I, however, will not do that. I will never turn from you.”

Lilitha turned her eyes to the trees, dizzy and weak. She was hot again, despite the icy air. Her hair was damp against her shoulders. The smell continued to overwhelm her, making her stomach gnaw.

Her backside was throbbing. But Damon felt nice. Really nice. Too nice. He seemed to keep the worst of her discomfort at bay.

“Stay with me,” he said.

Slowly she turned her eyes back to his, and Damon bundled her against him.