Chapter 30

After the sun had set, Lilitha left and headed toward their usual meeting place by the cave. She paused and cocked her head at the sound of singing. It was a high clear peal through the trees—Carmella.

When she arrived, she found the fire lit, the others lounging. Carmella smiled at her but kept singing. Mateus hadn’t noticed Lilitha’s arrival, head in Carmella’s lap, eyes half-closed as she stroked his hair. Unlike Carmella’s mane, which she kept tamed in a big pile of braids atop her head, his was a wild tangle around his horns. Same with his chest. Same with the patch between his legs. Lilitha stole a glimpse. His immense cock was swollen and glistening. Clearly, he and Carmella had recently made love.

On the other side of the clearing, sitting in his usual spot was Silus, bent over something in his hands. Seeing her, he quickly tucked it away into his pocket. The fire flashed and leapt, the glow catching upon the log, drawing Lilitha’s gaze. Damon was right; the carvings ~did~ need to be seen at night. They weren’t just carvings anymore, they were alive: leaping and climbing, swimming and burrowing.

Silus smiled as Lilitha joined him.

“What were you doing?” she asked.

“Not important.”

She nodded at the log. “Your carvings are beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

Lilitha crouched to take a closer look. She ran a finger along the rabbit’s ears, the fish’s waving tail. She looked up at Silus. He was smiling at her sadly.

She sat beside him and closed her eyes as she tried to listen to Carmella’s words, but they were hard to understand. Something about lost love, the moon, and the stars.

“It’s a love song,” Silus told her. “It’s called Ivory Tears. It’s about the death of a Diablon and the clan’s journey to find him and bring him back.”

“Oh. Do they find him?”

“Well, yes and no, depends on your perspective. During their journey, they all fall down a mountainside and die.”

“But that’s terrible! How is that a matter of perspective?”

“Well, they would have found him in death. They would have been a clan once more. How do you see it? Do you think they succeeded?”

Lilitha listened. It was a haunting melody. She had never heard anything like it. The songs back home were usually strident and powerful and uplifting, in an attempt to reach God way up in heaven. This was like a lullaby. It made her a little heart sick.

“They succeeded, I think,” she said.

The song ended, and Carmella’s voice rang across the clearing, “Welcome, Lilitha.”

Mateus opened his eyes with a start, half-rose up, looked at Lilitha, looked away again, before sitting by Carmella’s side.

“Did you like the song?” Carmella asked.

“Lovely.”

Carmella was naked too. Some of her pitch-black hair trailed down her front. It concealed some of her body, but not all, and every time she moved, a breast, or a hip, or a curve showed. She was beautiful. Carmella caught her looking and Lilitha quickly turned her eyes away.

They all looked up as Damon entered the camp carrying a basket under his armpit. He put it aside and sat. Lilitha joined him.

The meeting began.

“After all that’s happened, do you think it safe to go to Mainstry’s feeding ground?” Carmella said.

There were three feeding grounds, Lilitha had come to learn. One for each great town: Norfolk, Mainstry, and Esteria. Each town would make their “deliveries” at certain times of the year. Lilitha had discovered she’d been unlucky enough—or lucky enough—to have been imprisoned on the cusp of one of Norfolk’s such deliveries.

“I think we’ll be fine,” Damon said. “If anything, we’ve probably made it more essential that they keep making the journey into the forest.”

“We can always rely on human folly to meet our needs,” Mateus agreed lazily. “Fear drives them. They ~will~ deliver. They always do.”

“Until they don’t,” Silus added. “We should never take for granted how quickly things can change.”

They all quietly agreed.

“We still have plenty left to keep us going until then,” Damon said.

Lilitha recalled the bodies hanging in the cave. ~Laymond~. Lilitha shivered. She hadn’t seen him since their last encounter. She hoped he was dead. She felt the guilt gnawing at her insides that she hadn’t helped. That she hadn’t set him free. That she hadn’t even checked on him. She was a weak and terrible person.

“When do we leave?” she said.

“A little while yet,” Damon answered, tugging playfully at the ends of her hair.

“Where is it? How long will it take?”

“South-east. Half a day for just Mateus and I. Two days with Carmella and Silus.” He looked at Lilitha. “Probably three with you.”

Lilitha frowned. “I’m not slow.”

“It’s not an insult. But you haven’t fully recovered yet and you’re not used to it. Besides, things happen…”

Lilitha’s frown deepened. “What things?”

“Good things,” Carmella said with a smile. “~Hopefully~.”

Lilitha looked at them all questioningly but they kept their secrets to themselves. She shrugged.

With nothing else serious to talk about, Damon buried his face into Lilitha’s shoulder and Mateus dropped his bull-like head back into Carmella’s lap. Silus and Carmella began to talk. Damon opened his basket and seized a hunk of flesh. Lilitha closed her eyes as he ate. He grunted as he gnawed, slurped it down, licked his fingers. Lilitha salivated. Her heart thundered. Her belly knotted. Utterly lost, she reached into the basket.

The conversation became a hum as she picked and tore. Damon didn’t say a word, but she could sense his eyes upon her and she knew he was pleased.

It was late into the night when the group disbanded. Damon drew Lilitha away, but Carmella stepped in front of them, stopping them in their tracks.

Damon frowned at her.

“Girl talk,” Carmella told him with a smile. She was wearing her cloak again. She’d fixed her loose braids back into the bundle atop her head.

He released Lilitha reluctantly and Carmella ushered her away.

“So,” Carmella began once they were out of earshot. “We haven’t really spoken yet and I thought we should get to know each other a little without the guys in the way. What do you think?”

“I guess,” Lilitha said, looking back.

“Don’t worry, I won’t steal you away from Damon’s clutches for too long. Much as he detests it.”

“What would you like to know?”

Carmella sat with her back against a tree and patted the spot beside her. As Lilitha joined her, she could smell the sweetness of her skin, the blood on her breath.

“Are you in love with Damon?” she asked.

Lilitha jerked. “What business is that of yours?”

“As a clan, it is all of our business.”

“Then, yes, I am,” she said, lifting her chin.

“And do you think Damon is in love with you?”

“I think so.”

“And are you confident he will possess you alone?”

“Yes. I have given myself to him.”

“And is that what the human beasts do? Connect with only one other?”

“Of course.”

Carmella sagged against the tree with a sigh. “Then I must tell you, Lilitha, that such a practice is not the Diablon way.”

“What do you mean?”

“We live as a clan, not in pairs. We are not beholden to just one other. In fact, we are not beholden to anybody. Clans can breakup and disperse and new mates are found. It is our way. We spread our love around.”

Lilitha’s eyes widened. “I could never do it. I ~love~ him. Besides, I don’t believe you. Silus and my mother were together.”

“That is true. But I do not lie. They were a rare thing. Very rare. Until I had arrived here, I had never heard of it. You are the same. Despite what you feel for Damon, I can see it. Damon might think he has you snug under his wing, bent beneath his will, but I can see how you eye Mateus. I can see your lust.”

Lilitha shot to her feet. “That’s a lie!”

“Then why so defensive? Don’t admonish yourself. We are what we are. ~You~ are what ~you~ are. Let go of your human teachings. Relent to your instincts. You’ll be much more content.”

“I am leaving,” Lilitha said and turned to stalk away.

“Don’t think Damon will be content with possessing you alone,” Carmella called after her.

Lilitha spun around. “Is that a threat?”

“No, a warning. You need to start thinking more like a Diablon. Fall for him too hard and he will break your heart. I love Damon, but he can be possessive and jealous, and what he is doing to our clan, particularly to Mateus, is wretched.”

“What are you talking about? He hasn’t been near Mateus.”

“Exactly. And consequently, neither have you. He has taken advantage of your vulnerability, bound you to his hip like a babe. Damon flaunts your love in front of him without shame, without conscience. For God’s sake, he even fucked you at our meeting place!”

Lilitha’s cheeks burned.

Carmella sighed. Her voice softened. “Silus has tried to speak with him but Damon doesn’t like to listen. It isn’t fair that you have limited yourself to him alone. It isn’t fair that you have denied Mateus his lot.” Looking into her lap, Carmella shook her head. “Poor Mateus.”

Lilitha narrowed her eyes. “If you mean to tear us apart it’s not going to work.”

“I feel sad for you, Lilitha. I feel sad for what’s going to happen. Damon will stray. There is no doubt.”

Lilitha scoffed. “If you really feel as sad as you say, then you wouldn’t try to pursue him in the first place.”

Carmella raised her eyebrows. “I’m not trying to pursue him. Damon’s leaving will be of his own making. And it’s not foregone he will seek ~me~ out.”

“What do you mean? There are no other females around.”

Carmella cocked her head. Her lip curled. “You have much to discover, Lilitha.”