Empusa's Hunger: A Reverse Harem Romance (Monsters and Gargoyles Book 8)

by Lacey Carter Andersen

  And then, I sense someone near me. I react, shoving Em a little, but the man is too fast. The blade in his hand slashes Em, catching her arm rather than her chest, where he was aiming.

  His eyes widen, and I attack. I’m distantly aware that he’s lodged his dagger into my shoulder. I hear him screaming about Ceuthonymus, blaming him for this, saying he told him to do it. But I don’t stop or slow. My fists just keep slamming into him until the alley grows silent.

  “Narath,” she says my name in a breathless way.

  It draws me back from the dark edge, and I look up to see Em staring at me, even though I can’t read her face. “He’s dead. Now we just need to remove his head and destroy the evidence.”

  I give a sharp nod, yank the dagger out of my shoulder, and use it to saw off his head. Then, I sprinkle the black powder from my belt onto his body and toss a match. He goes up in a puff of smoke, all evidence of his existence disappearing.

  When I turn back to Em, I see she’s bound the bleeding wound on her shoulder.

  I see red.

  Motion above me draws my attention before Rokad, Conley, and Lucas land in the alley.

  “You found him?” Rokad asks, but the note to his voice says that he knows we couldn’t have killed Ceuthonymus so easily.

  I can’t seem to speak. I can’t seem to form any words. My gaze goes back to my pregnant woman and the wound on her arm.

  “It was a minor monster,” Em says, “but he knew Ceuthonymus, and it sounds as if that big bad asshole has told others to come after me.”

  A growl slips from my lips, and everyone turns to look at me.

  And something inside of me snaps. “Gargoyle babies are rare and treasured! Our mates are rare and treasured. There’s no fucking way Em is going on these hunts any longer. They’re too dangerous!”

  “You don’t tell me what to do,” Em says, glaring.

  I take a step closer to her, hands balled into fists so I don’t reach out and touch her. “This is no longer a conversation or a debate. We will fly you back to that cabin and leave you there, safe.”

  Her mouth draws into a thin line. “Actually, this is the end of our discussion. I’ve always been fine hunting monsters on my own. And you know what, I think I’ll go back to doing it on my own.” She spins on her heels and starts marching from the alley.

  Panic flutters in my chest. “No! You can’t leave!”

  “I can do whatever the hell I want!” she shouts, without looking back.

  When she disappears around the corner, I launch after her, but Rokad and Lucas are suddenly in my path. “Move,” I order them.

  Rokad shakes his head. “If you keep this up, she’ll walk away from us all together and we’ll lose her.”

  “Never,” I say.

  But my brother’s expression simply hardens. “Narath, you have to get control of yourself. You have to fight your instincts to protect her like a possession, rather than a person. We won’t let you risk our relationship with her. Because whatever you do, or however she feels about you, we’re staying close to her and our child.”

  The implications of his words surprise me. If I can’t gain control, they’re willing to leave me behind. They’re willing to cut me out like a cancer and leave me without my mate, my child, or my Brotherhood.

  “Think about it,” Lucas says more gently.

  And then, Lucas and Rokad take off after our mate.

  Conley lingers an extra moment. He opens his mouth, closes it, brows drawing together, then turns and follows my brothers.

  My heart aches, and I stagger, touching my bloody shoulder, yanking the blade out. Somehow the wound is nothing compared to the wound in my soul. Em brings me peace. She makes me feel like a real person, not controlled by the demon within me.

  But what if my own actions push her away? What if I end up alone, or I ruin this for my brothers and I?

  And then, it hits me, and I want to curl up into a ball and cease to exist. My brothers. They gave up everything for me, over and over again. Trying to control me and my demon cost them so many things. They were lumped in along with me and forced to live outside the sanctuary, away from the other gargoyles. They didn’t have chances to make other friends, or to meet a mate, all because of me.

  WillI ruin this for them too?

  I couldn’t. No matter the cost.

  Turning, I choose a direction and start flying.

  Chapter 16

  Empusa

  * * *

  I didn’t let any of them into the hotel with me. I told them I needed some time to myself. So, I bound up my wound, which would likely require quite a few stitches for a human, but was nothing for one of my kind. Already, it had stopped bleeding, so I kept it wrapped, then stared around the hotel.

  For some reason, I really miss Charm. Leo had said she was doing fine, although still no babies. But I missed her quiet presence. I missed the fact that with her there were no complications, no misunderstanding, no pressure, just a faithful best friend.

  I sit on the edge of my bed, feeling lost. Then, 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 needed some loving! And Charm is doing great, although my other dogs are mad 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 that’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 could 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 had 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 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 go smashing 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.

  Chapter 17

  Rokad

  * * *

  When I saw Narath take off, I knew I had to go and find him before he did something stupid. Conley and Lucas agreed to grab food for everyone, and I followed my emotional brother. Fortunately for me, Narath’s huge body didn’t move quite as quickly as mine, and I caught up to him in no time. He agreed to talk, if only for a little while, so we settled on the edge of a building, silence between us.

  I glance at the big man, debating about the right direction to go with this. He’d upset all of us earlier because he’d upset Em. Some deep instinct inside me wanted to fight anyone and everyone to keep her safe, which apparently extended to my brother. But now that things had cooled down, I regretted being so hard on him.

  “I’m thinking it might be best if I went back to sleep.”

  Every muscle in my body tenses, and I glance over at him. His face has fallen, and his gaze is filled with sadness. He’s serious. He actually wants to go back to a state of undead when we have a chance at being with a beautiful mate and a child soon to come.

  “Narath…”

  “No, you’re all right. I’m still too unstable. I’m dangerous. My behavior is pushing her away. And I’m going to ruin all our lives. Again.”

  Ah, that’s what this is about. I look out over the skyline and I think of my brother as a child. The three of us may have been triplets, but I always seemed to understand the world in a way they didn’t. While Lucas was silly and brought fun and laughter, I brought rules and a deep desire to fit in.

  Narath brought none of those things, but he was still important to us. He was fierce, loyal, and protective. The first time another gargoyle muttered about me under his breath, Narath bit him in the leg. As a five-year-old, he clamped on while the adult male screamed, but he didn’t care, he just saw the look of pain on my face and acted.

  I smile at the memory. “You, Lucas, and I are different. But we’re a Brotherhood. We’re a family. And even though before you were bespelled because I didn’t know what else to do, I regretted it every day of my life. I wished with all my heart that I’d stood up against our grandfather and found another place for you in this world.”

  “But I still don’t have a place in this world,” he mumbles, staring down over the city.

  “Yes, you do. Your job is to be there to protect Em and our child… as much as she wants you to. Right now, you’re still figuring out what that looks like and what she wants, but you’ll get it soon, and then our child will have the biggest, badest dads to kick the crap out of anyone who bothers him or her.”

  “You really think I can do that? That I can keep them safe?”

  “Narath, would you ever hurt Em or our baby, even if at your angriest, at your most lost?”

  His face hardens. “Never.”

  “So,” I shrug. “You’re just learning how to be with Em, just like the rest of us. So give her a little space, follow her lead, and hopefully, we’ll all have it down by the time the baby comes.”

  Narath smiles. “You really believe I can do that?”

  “Absolutely. I’ve never seen you with more of a purpose than since Em came into our lives, so just focus on that.”

  Narath and I hug, and I sense in him a peace that I only ever imagined he’d feel. Em may have been the catalyst for his changes, for the changes in all of us, but I have a feeling it’s deeper than that for us. That we’re no longer the same gargoyles she meet months ago.

  “Should we go back and apologize to her?”

  Narath gives a small smile. “Absolutely.”

  We fly back to the hotel, but we don’t make it all the way there before we see the lights from a police vehicle. Instantly, my stomach twists. Narath and I exchange a look, and then we duck into a nearby alley and shift, so that our wings are no longer visible. We walk toward the hotel, my heart racing, and see Conley and Lucas to one side.

  Rushing toward them, I hope that this isn’t as bad as I think it is. I hope that Em is okay, and they’re just avoiding the police scene.

  Maybe there was a car accident. Or someone was getting a ticket. Maybe this has nothing to do with us.

  But when I get closer, I know that I’m wrong. Lucas and Conley look to be in shock, their faces pale, their gazes far away.

  “Where’s Em?” I ask, even though my gut already knows the answer.

  Lucas answers after a long moment. “A motel employee saw a woman being taken. He tried to fight the guy, and witnesses saw him get burned alive. We don’t know anything else.”

  “Ceuthonymus took her?” My words come out shaky.

  Lucas nods.

  It’s strange. At that moment, the demon within me roars to life, and I don’t see anything. I don’t hear anything. All I’m aware of is a deep sense that I will get my woman and child back.


  And that there will be hell to pay.

  Chapter 18

  Empusa

  * * *

  My eyes flash open, and I’m instantly on alert. I look down and find my hands bound by chains that are tied to the wall of the cave I’m in. My throat instantly closes up, and my heart races. I’m prey again. The thought comes in an instant, and as much as I try to push it away, I know that it’s true. I’ve been a prisoner before.

  And I guess I am again.

  But when I see my baby bump, my disbelief turns to rage. I will not allow my baby to be born in a cell. I will not become my mother, fighting for a child with few options. The first chance I get, I will kill my captor, and my baby and I will be free.

  “You’re awake.”

  My gaze goes to the fire in a pit in the cave. Ceuthonymus seems to meld out of the fire, standing before me in his natural form. His skin is as dark as tar and has pockets that ooze out more of the tarlike substance. His eyes move like lava, and his lips are curled into a smile.

  Every instinct I possess says to run, but my chains prevent me. This monster is insane. He leaves nothing but death and charred bodies in his wake... and I’d pissed him off. The only possible reason for him to take me is to kill me, slowly, to make a point to his other enemies.

  “Cat got your tongue?” he asked, followed by an unpleasant chortle. “Don’t worry, that often happens when people are around me.” He shifts to the side and kicks something, rolling it closer to the fire. A gasp slips past my lips when I see the dead man. “This guy wasn’t the least bit chatty before I killed him and took his body.”

  Fucking hell.

  “But in all honestly, I expected differently of you. You, daughter of Hecate, never seemed to be the type to fear anyone or anything, including me.”

  I stare at him and try not to fear for my baby as I speak. “So what is it that you want from me?”

  That creepy grin of his is back. “Why, Empusa, I just want to get to know you. I want to spend time with you. And eventually, I thought you and I might even be able to work together.”