Chapter 13

Lilitha’s eyes fluttered open, scanning the ridge to find they were alone. Mateus had vanished. She blinked again, the morning light piercing through the leaves.

Her gaze fell on her hands, caked in dried blood, then to the blood-stained rock floor.

Damon’s hand rested on her shoulder. “Let’s get you up,” he said, helping her to her feet.

Lilitha wobbled, clutching onto him, suddenly aware of her fatigue and stiffness. Her hands and feet were tingling, and her chest ached. Damon, with his arm wrapped around her waist, guided her away.

Their journey was silent. Lilitha’s body and mind were still buzzing from the exertion of the strenuous work. Her lower back throbbed with pain.

With each step, the dried blood on her skin cracked and pulled.

She licked the dried blood from her lips.

He led her to a small creek, gently lowering her into the water. He bathed her, using a slightly granulated rock to scrub away the dried blood.

He submerged her head, then began washing her hair, his touch tender as he massaged her scalp.

Lilitha rubbed her eyes, yawning. She was so tired she could fall asleep right there in the water.

“You did well today,” Damon said.

Lilitha didn’t respond, too exhausted and still upset with him. But she couldn’t deny the surge of pride. Damon was stingy with his compliments.

“You don’t have to prove anything to me,” he said, brushing her hair off her shoulders to wash her back. His hands were the only tools he used now.

“I didn’t do it for you. I did it for me. I don’t want to be useless.”

He paused. “I’m sorry.” His discomfort made Lilitha smile. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way.”

“You didn’t. This whole situation did.”

She turned to face him. His horns and eyes sparkled in the sunlight, his body shimmering in the water. Lilitha stepped closer and hugged him, pressing her cheek against his chest.

“No matter how hard I try, I can’t stay mad at you,” she said.

He returned her embrace, resting his cheek on her head. Lilitha pulled away. “You’re shaking. Are you cold? You’ve got goosebumps!”

Damon’s eyes were glossy, as if he was on the verge of tears. Lilitha grabbed his wrist. “What’s wrong?”

“He almost got you.”

Lilitha stared at him, confused. “Who?”

Damon turned away.

“You mean the Champion with the sword?” she asked.

He didn’t respond, but his silence was answer enough.

“But he didn’t get me. You saved me.”

“Only just. I almost lost you. It’s my job to protect you and I failed.”

“But you didn’t fail.” She grabbed his other wrist. “My safety is my responsibility too, you know. Is that—is that why you’ve been mad at me?”

Suddenly, Lilitha wondered if he had ever truly been angry with her. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it had always been about fear—and personal failure.

“It’s not your fault that I left, Damon,” she said. He jerked his head toward her. “See? I know you.”

“I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have left you alone. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

He took her hand and kissed her palm, pressing it against his cheek. His eyes were still glossy. His skin was still covered in goosebumps. He was still shaking.

He looked incredibly tired.

Lilitha grinned. “Always so serious, Damon. When do you ever get to have fun?”

With that, she pushed him into the water. He smiled back as she jumped on top of him. She dunked his head under the water.

Then Damon grabbed her and rolled over, dunking her into the water instead. She emerged, laughing. Damon was grinning broadly.

He looked younger. Climbing to her feet, water cascading around her, she stood over him. Gripping his horns, she pulled back his head.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

She ran her hands over his ivory, making him shiver and shake his head. She brushed her fingers through his hair as he stared up at her in a way that made her body flood with warmth.

He loved her. He loved her so deeply that it was painful. And she wondered if all his anger, all his fear, stemmed from the tragedy that had been his previous clan. The two females who had died. One of them had been pregnant.

Lilitha continued to run her fingers through his hair as her throat tightened. Had he imagined the same for her?

“You need to let go of the past,” she said. And she drew his head into her pelvis, clutching him there. Damon breathed heavily against her.

“It’s hard,” he said, his breath hot against her skin. “Sometimes I think this must all be too good to be true. That it all must come to an end.”

Lilitha frowned.

He kissed her bellybutton. Then he grabbed her hips and Lilitha shrieked as he pulled her into the water with him. He held her close to his chest, holding her tightly as they floated together.

They stayed like that for a long while before they finally exited the water. Finding a dry patch of earth, they made love—or tried to. Both were so exhausted they fell asleep together, Lilitha’s body curved into his, Damon’s lips pressed against her forehead.

When night fell again, Lilitha and Damon joined the others at the ridge. Carmella and Silus were in the middle of dismembering more bodies. As for Mateus, he was busy collecting their heads, filling up two large sacks.

“What are you going to do with them?” Lilitha asked.

“We’re going to use them for a warning,” Damon answered.

“A warning?” Then she realized. “Can I come? Is it far?”

A short while later, Lilitha was walking in between Mateus and Damon, both hauling a sack across their shoulders, wooden stakes clasped under their armpits as they walked in the direction of Mainstry. She was helping with a bunch of stakes of her own. They were awkward and soon became heavy. Lilitha could not fathom the two alphas’ stamina and strength.

They soon found the trail the humans used to make their deliveries. Lilitha felt her pulse beating in her neck as she looked at the flat, beaten earth, all the old fears suddenly rising up. She lifted her chin, holding her emotions back as they followed it.

The remnants of the Champions’ recent journey—and all the ones before—were everywhere. Decaying waste. Abandoned clothes. Leftover food. Every now and then, a body. Some still had flesh clinging to the bones. Others were mere skeletons. Lilitha found herself staring at one skeleton in particular—it seemed to be a child’s.

“You seem deep in thought,” Damon observed.

“I’m just finding it strange,” Lilitha admitted. “Being on this side of things. It’s so unreal. To have experienced such fear and now to see it all through a completely different lens. With a completely different understanding. It’s hard to wrap my head around.”

She glanced at the two Diablons, trying to recall her old perceptions, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. She could sense a faint echo of it. A distant memory.

She paused to examine an old fire someone had made, lost in thought. Was there really such a thing as good and evil? She looked up at Damon and Mateus, at their horns and swishing tails. To be so savage and yet so tender. So frightening and yet so utterly remarkable.

Then she placed her hands on her belly. And to have something so pure and beautiful come from all this. It was all so confusing. Everything she thought she knew had been completely upended.

Erased forever.

“I think I’m getting a headache,” Lilitha confessed.

They trekked for about five hours before the two alphas finally halted, setting down their burdens. Mateus stretched his back with a yawn, revealing all his sharp teeth. Damon cracked his neck with a sigh.

The path was broader here, the trees receding.

“How far are we from Mainstry?” Lilitha inquired.

“We’re still a good distance away,” Damon replied. “Another day or two.”

They took a short break, bathing and drinking from a nearby stream before getting back to work. Lilitha watched as they each drove a stake into the ground on either side of the path. She watched as they each retrieved a head, grimacing as they forced them onto their respective stakes.

Mateus adjusted his until it was facing the right way.

They repeated this process until fifteen heads stared blankly across from each other, jaws hanging open, eyes rolled back. Bodily fluids trickled down the stakes. Something wet and sticky fell from one of their neck stumps and onto the grass.

There was one head left.

Lilitha took a deep breath. “Let me do it.”

Mateus handed it to her. Lilitha studied it for a moment before lifting it up and forcing it down onto the wooden tip of the stake. Mateus adjusted it so it was facing its counterpart across the path. This one had long hair, soaked in blood.

Mateus dusted off his hands. “That should do it.”

“For a while, at least,” Damon added skeptically. “Until they try again.”

Lilitha stepped back to take in the sight, trying to remember how it had felt during her journey from Norfolk. There had been skulls—that was bad enough. But this was far worse. The flesh. The vacant eyes. The open, screaming mouths.

They were going to reek. And once the birds and rodents found them…

“He’s not here,” Damon said. Lilitha quickly turned her gaze toward him. “Your knight. He’s not here. I’ve checked.”

And Lilitha saw that he was right. No golden head. No lifeless blue eyes. So many young men in his place.

Mateus draped his arm around Lilitha’s shoulders. “We’re done now. Let’s head back.”