spot female lamia for the first time ever, and I try not to stare at them. I’ve only ever seen males, and even though Siah said there were females, it didn’t register as real until now. I don’t really know what I expected, but they possess the same impossible beauty as their male counterparts, and I would guess the same speed and strength too.
A tall male walks into the room. He’s holding a leash that’s attached to a black leather collar that’s been secured around the throat of a female who’s walking behind him. He plops down on a lush black leather sofa and pulls on the leash roughly until the female is forced into his lap. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to be there, and my hackles rise as I watch him forcefully position her the way that he wants.
Adriel is boastfully telling me something, but I can’t even be bothered to pretend I’m listening to him as I watch the grimace on the female’s face when the lamia brushes her hair over her shoulder and drops his lips to her skin. The lamia says something to the woman in his lap, and she pales ever so slightly. It doesn’t take a genius to guess what whispered words would have her on the verge of tears, but the picture grows even clearer when he fondles her breasts, and she shudders and squeezes her eyes tightly shut.
I run my gaze around the room, calculating if I can reach them before any of the indifferent lamia in this room would think to stop me. If I sprint, the couple are maybe twelve paces away. Could I get to them? A cheer goes up around the pool table closest to the black sectional couch, and it pulls my attention away from the couple. Adriel says something to Siah, and before I consciously make the decision to do so, my bare feet are slapping against the stone floor as I sprint toward the noisy pool table.
I’m surprised that my body responds to my pressing demands as quickly as it does with how weak I was feeling, but I don’t focus on that as I close in on the rowdy group of pool playing lamia. I drive my foot into the back of a male’s knee and rip the pool cue out of his hands as he yelps in surprise and falls forward into another lamia. I turn like a cheetah cutting prey from the herd, and leap over the back of the couch to land next to the couple. I’m shocked that I’ve gotten this far in a room full of beings that I know first-hand have supernatural speed and strength. Maybe I just shocked the hell out of them with the stunt I’m pulling, or maybe they’re more comfortable and complacent at home than they are out in the world.
Shock registers on the face of the lamia on the couch, and he moves to shove the female off his lap. Before he can even shift his weight to stand, I’ve sunk the pool stick into his neck. He grabs at the wound and a blood-filled gasp escapes his stunned mouth. I move my makeshift weapon from side to side widening the hole I just put in his neck, but I know I don’t have enough time to try and rip his head off as roars of indignation fill the room. I give up on my goal of decapitation by pool cue and pull it out of the lamia’s neck with a sickening squelching noise. Lamia can die if their magic stores get too low, and Siah said magic is found in the blood. So maybe this asshole will bleed to death.
I wipe the blood off the wood on his shirt so it’s not too slippery and turn, my weapon in hand, and step in front of the woman. I’m about ninety percent sure she’s human. I know that Talon mentioned something about Beth being a blood slave, and that’s exactly what this set up between the lamia and the girl looked like. She’s still on the ground, looking up at me in terror, and the rest of the room is very obviously pissed about what just happened. No one has taken one step in my direction, but I’m sure once the shock wears off, that will change. A rage-filled cry echoes around the room, but I don’t look for the source as I focus on Adriel and ready myself for an attack.
Surprisingly,