Chapter 28

Silus and the others were sitting around the fire. They looked up at their approach. Lilitha stopped. They made a truly hellish scene: horns, tails, brazen nudity, their shadows cavorting amidst the trees against the flickering light. There were open baskets. Blood stained their hands and necks. It was like a scene out of one of the Bible’s more admonitory chronicles, a warning against evil, a peek into hell.

“Come, Lilitha,” and Damon took her by the elbow and pulled her along.

They sat together, Damon’s arm around her waist.

“Welcome back,” Silus said with a smile from across the fire.

Lilitha grimaced at him.

The huge white tree stood tall, its white branches spread above their little camp, beautiful against the flames. Mateus sat against its thick trunk, watching her from across the fire, utterly bare. She flushed at the sight of his huge manhood lying right there, out in the open, like it was perfectly normal, soft against his thigh. She looked away.

Carmella was sitting next to Silus, weaving her fingers through her black braids. They were so long that they puddled in her lap and trailed onto the ground. She was naked too, but her hair concealed most of her flesh. There was something else hidden behind her locks. A necklace? It was white and polished and clicked as she moved. The same adorned her wrists and ankles. It all looked particularly beautiful against her black skin.

“I must say, it’s nice to be sitting out in the dry for a change,” Carmella said.

They were all silent and awkward. ~Lilitha~ was making it awkward. She should say something, ask something, do something. Her apparent father was right there and she had nothing to say. She thought back to the cave and suddenly remembered Laymond. It made her sick and she dropped her eyes.

Damon’s hip was burning against hers. He started to touch her, rubbing her back, caressing her hair, lightly brushing her cheek with his fingers. Lilitha looked at him and he leaned in and kissed her. It was long and hot and passionate, and Lilitha couldn’t help but kiss back. When he was done, she was left gasping for breath.

“You two, stop it!” Carmella snapped.

Lilitha whipped her head around with a start. “Sorry!”

“I’m not talking about you.”

And it was then that Lilitha realized what was happening. Mateus was watching them both, looking particularly unhappy; a vein bulged in his neck, his tail swayed and coiled. Damon was making him jealous.

“You two need to grow up,” Carmella told the two men.

“You tell ~him~,” Mateus snarled.

“You don’t have to react,” Carmella retorted.

“I’m not reacting. I’m sitting right here. I’m allowed to be annoyed.” He turned his burning eyes to Lilitha. Lilitha dropped her gaze. “It’s Damon who put us all at risk, remember? Not me. Be angry at ~him~ for once.”

“I am always angry at Damon,” Carmella snapped back.

Silus laughed. Carmella smiled.

“Are you saying I have a rage problem?” Damon said wryly, wrapping his arms around Lilitha’s waist as he rested his chin upon her shoulder.

“Stop doing that!” Mateus snapped.

“What? I’m allowed to love her.”

“Not in front of me! And you ~did~ it right here,” Mateus snarled. “Right here! I can smell it.”

It was several moments before Lilitha realized what he meant. Her cheeks burned hot. He could ~smell~ it? Then she remembered how Damon had left a smear of their cum on the ground. ~Just leaving a message~. Lilitha looked at Damon, appalled.

“Why don’t you come and sit with me and Silus?” Carmella said, holding out her hand. “Leave these two brutes to their stupidity.”

Lilitha got the message. Damon reluctantly released her as she stood. She felt everyone watching her as she walked around the fire. Avoiding Mateus’s hungry gaze, she took Carmella’s small, smooth hand. Silus shifted further on the log to make room. She sat down between them.

The female Diablon laid her hand companionably upon Lilitha’s thigh. “Is that better?”

Lilitha nodded. Silus was smiling at her. Lilitha looked back at Damon guiltily. He was frowning.

“Mateus is right. You ~did~ put us in danger, Damon,” Silus said. “You need to be more cautious. Who knows what repercussions lie ahead for us now.”

Damon narrowed his eyes. “I had to. To save Lilitha. Besides,” he shrugged, “it’ll only make them more fearful of us.”

Mateus snorted.

“What did he do?” Lilitha asked.

“He slaughtered the human knights,” Mateus answered. “We’re only supposed to kill their prisoners.”

“You were there too,” Damon growled.

“Just to scare them. It was only when ~you~ went on the rampage that I joined in. Just to protect your sorry arse.”

Damon was turning red. His tail was coiling and uncoiling, the tip glinting sharply in the firelight. “I don’t need your protection.”

“There were too many of them. You could have died.”

They glared at each other.

“Admit it. You ~fucked~ up,” Mateus snapped.

Damon leapt to his feet. Lilitha winced at the loud ~crack!~ of his whipping tail. She felt a lurch of dread, forgetting how terrible he could look. His horns. His swaying tail, like a snake about to strike. There was fire in his eyes.

“You would have done the same! Worse! You didn’t see what I saw!”

“And what did you see?” Mateus sneered.

He stabbed a finger at Lilitha. “One of them was raping her,” he roared. “~Right~ in front of me. In the grass like a beast. And I’ll admit it, I lost it! They all deserved to die!”

A hush fell around the group. Lilitha ducked her head, the blood burning her face. She could feel them all looking at her, boring holes through her clothes. All she wanted to do was curl up and hide.

“Oh, ~Lilitha,~” Carmella said.

Tears rushed to Lilitha’s eyes. She didn’t expect the pain to be so close to the surface. Carmella wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into her, giving her permission to let go. Lilitha did just that. Carmella held her tightly as Lilitha gripped back, shuddering.

Lilitha jumped and wrenched away as the forest exploded with noise. The log shifted as Silus stood. There were those whipping ~cracks!~ of their tails. Then there came the roaring. It was like the night of the slaughter again. And it was then that Lilitha understood—how they could have done it. How they could have literally ripped apart their victims.

“Why didn’t you fucking say something?!” Mateus bellowed.

“You didn’t need to know!” Damon bellowed back.

“She’s my female too!”

Damon was growling, teeth bared, all the big muscles bulging around his neck. Mateus slammed his fist into a nearby tree over and over again until bark and blood sprayed everywhere. As for Silus, he was pacing around the clearing, raking his fingers through his copper beard with a shaking hand.

“I hope you tore him open and feasted hard on his spleen while he still lived,” Mateus spat, baring his teeth. “You better have done nothing less.”

“I must have done. Or ~you~ must have done. He’s not among our spoils. I checked.” Damon was staring at the fire, breathing hard.

Silus stopped his pacing. “What do you mean ~you must have done~?”

“I let him go. I fucking let him go.”

“You WHAT?!” Mateus bellowed.

“I didn’t know she was one of us! How could I?!”

“How could you not?” Mateus spat. “I can smell her everywhere!”

“You can smell her ~now~! Now that she is what she is! But back then—” Damon shook his head “—there was almost ~nothing~ of her.”

“I cannot believe you let him go,” Mateus growled dangerously.

“I regret it every fucking minute.”

Mateus started circling him, horns lowered, teeth bared.

“That’s enough,” Silus said, stepping up to Mateus and shoving him hard in the shoulder.

Mateus straightened and shook his head, then clawed his fingers through his dark hair. His eyes drifted over to Lilitha.

“I’m sorry, Lilitha,” said Damon. “For not protecting you.”

“Me too,” Mateus added.

“Me most of all,” Silus said.

Lilitha looked up at them all, the blood still hot in her cheeks. Carmella’s arm remained firm around her waist. “Know that you’re safe here with us,” she spoke in Lilitha’s ear.

Lilitha looked away, the tears threatening to rise again. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Okay.” Carmella squeezed her waist. “Okay.”

Lilitha raised her eyes to Silus. To her ~father~. “What was she like?” she suddenly said, desperate to change the topic. “My mother?”

His face softened. He smiled. “You would have loved her. Charlie was beautiful, loving, spirited. Much like you. And I loved her like no other. It isn’t usual for a Diablon to have just one mate, but we were different, special, possessing only each other for many years.”

As he spoke, his face flushed and his eyes glistened. Sitting down beside her, he took her hand, holding it tightly. Lilitha held him tightly back, hanging onto his every word.

“Had she not died, I know she would have loved you beyond all else, and you would have adored her, and I would have adored you, and we would have been a family, moved on with the rest of the clan. Things could have been so different.”

He brushed at her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. “And you—you look so very much like her. My heart breaks at the sight of you, but I am glad. I am so glad you’re alive.”

He turned to the flames, dragging his fingers through his beard. The fire hissed and cracked. Lilitha brushed at her cheek where he’d touched her. Something seemed to break inside. Tears swelled in her eyes. Mutely, she touched him on the shoulder. He turned, saw her pain and pulled her against him.

“My daughter,” he murmured, kissing her roughly on the cheek.