The Lily Harper 8 Book Boxed Set

by HP Mallory

  “Alaire desires Lily for her brains,” Asterion said suddenly before he faced his feet which were still kicked up on the table before him. “Not just her beauty.”

  “How do you know?” Coatlique asked. She didn’t appear jealous so I wondered at the relationship between the two of them.

  Asterion shrugged. “He’s had her. He’s been inside her. But, he thirsts for more. That had nothing to do with her body and everything to do with her mind.”

  “You never cease to surprise me, Asterion,” Coatlique said and gave him a broad smile. Then she faced Bill. “And you, my amusing one? What is your name?”

  I didn’t think it possible but Bill was completely tongue-tied. “Um, Bill, William… eh, my friends—well, everybody else too—call me Bill. I used ta be a guardian angel.”

  A loud snort from Asterion focused our attention on him. “Going by your profound boldness, I would say you still consider yourself one, little angel.”

  Bill’s expression went from perplexed to annoyed. “Is that yer way o’ callin’ me ‘Shorty’?”

  “You do not call me by either of my names. Why should I extend you that same courtesy?”

  Feeling the tension between these two was enough to make me clear my throat. “Speaking of names, I must apologize on behalf of all of us. We honestly had no idea that you were—”

  Asterion made a growl that sounded like a scoff. “Why would you? Although I was born of his wife and the bull he refused to sacrifice, I have always been known by Minos’s name.” The disgust deepened after he took another swig of his wine. “‘Minos’s bull.’ I was actually Minos’s prisoner and he used me as a convenient way to punish his enemies in Athens.”

  “I’m sorry,” I started.

  Asterion all but hurled the drained goblet back onto the table. “I am not always like this. All I need to change back into my human form is some meat.”

  “Meat?” I repeated.

  Tallis’s eyes hardened. “Ye’re talkin’ human meat?”

  Coatlique got right into Tallis’s face, her finger pointing right at his nose. “How dare you!”

  This time, it was Asterion who put his hand on her arm to calm her down. “He has heard the stories of the yearly tribute of seven youths and seven maidens from Athens. And we both know they are true.”

  While I tried to casually keep eating my grapes, my free hand slipped down to my blade. “So you’re planning to eat us?”

  While Coatlique withdrew her arm, the Minotaur shook his head. And then he laughed as if my comment was downright ridiculous. “I would never plan to eat you,” he said as he eyed me and I swallowed hard. “Or not in the way you’re thinking,” he corrected himself with a suggestive smile that seemed strange on his bull face.

  “Whoa,” Bill said as I tried to pick up my jaw from the floor. “She has a boyfriend, dude,” Bill said.

  Asterion turned to face Tallis. “Apologies. I did not realize.”

  “Your first offense,” Tallis responded with an incline of his head. “Nae harm done.”

  Then Asterion faced me again. “Humans have no flavor. And so long as I have enough of it, any meat will do. Chicken, cow, goat, even rat…”

  Tallis looked at the foods on the table. “An’ that’s why there’s no meat o’ any kind here.”

  Asterion nodded. “Only when I win a great victory am I permitted such an indulgence. And I never stay human for longer than a week.”

  My heart completely melted when I saw the pain in his eyes. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until I strode over andplaced my hand on his shoulder, even as Tallis stepped forward, clearly worried.

  “I’m sorry for what Alaire has done to you,” I said in a soft voice.

  Asterion closed his eyes and opened his mouth. I assumed he was inhaling my scent. When he opened his eyes again, they seemed a bit shinier than they had before.

  “I appreciate your concern, Lily. May I call you Lily?”

  I nodded. “Yes, you can.”

  “Your kindness is greatly appreciated,” he continued.

  For just a second, I found myself wondering what he looked like as a man…. I couldn’t say why but I felt something for this brutal, abused creature. Something deep inside of me felt like it was pulling me to him.

  It was almost a relief when Asterion started speaking again. “So, Minos sent the three of you to find me?”

  Tallis nodded, taking another sip of wine. His eyes were riveted on my hand which was still on Asterion’s muscular and human shoulder. “Aye, he did. Ah’m at a loss as tae why he never mentioned yer more famous name, which he didnae tell oos.”

  Asterion bowed his head, as if his propped up feet were suddenly a lot more interesting to look at. “Truth be told, I have no idea myself. Maybe it is shame on his part. Maybe he hates me enough to never speak of the Minotaur.”

  Bill placed his cup of wine on the floor, prompting me to slide another jug to his side of the table. But first I released Asterion’s shoulder. He reached up where my hand had been and covered his skin, almost on a reflex, like he missed feeling my hand there.

  “When Minos was talkin’ ‘bout ya, he wasn’t hatefulish. An’ before ya say anything, I gots the eyes ta know what anybody’s feelin’, a word ta yer mother on that,” Bill said.

  Some of the anger crept back into the man-bull’s eyes. “So what was he feeling, love?” he laughed over the last word. But, the laugh was pained.

  Bill was too busy pouring himself another cup of wine to answer right away, but after he took a swig, he finally responded. “It was a tangle o’ clashin’ things he was feelin’. But if I had ta boil it down ta one word, I’d call it regret or maybe guilt.”

  The Minotaur’s eyes blazed with a fire I feared might erupt into ultra-violence. “How very thoughtful of him to feel either of these things, especially so long after it could have made a difference.”

  I made a point of ignoring the man-monster’s blistering stare. Instead, I took a few steps nearer him. He stood up then and I had to arch my neck up so I could look him in the face. He began breathing through his nose and his breaths were deep. I couldn’t escape the feeling that he was scenting me on the air, that he could smell my… interest in him. Interest? Was that what it was?

  Maybe?

  “Minos wants you to guard a gate in this Circle for him,” I said.

  He took a few steps towards me. “You don’t fear me?” he asked as he speared me with his angry eyes.

  “I want… to help you.”

  Asterion’s big bull eyes narrowed on me. “What gate does Minos want me to guard?”

  I took a minute to tell him about meeting Minos in the Dark Wood and the gate Alaire constructed on the other side of the Blood Plains. When I finished, Asterion appeared torn.

  “I would never guard that gate or any other for him,” he said and glared down at me.

  This time, Coatlique walked towards me. “And that is assuming we are being told the truth.”

  “I am telling you the truth,” I said, my jaw tight.

  She nodded. “But was Minos telling you the truth?”

  Asterion looked at her with utter weariness. “No matter how much I hate Minos, one thing any friend or foe can rely on is his honesty.” Then his eyes shifted over to me again. “And anyone representing him is never any less than the same.” I didn’t like what I saw in his eyes. I’d seen it often enough in my own when I was alive… an aching, a hopeless longing. He might pretend that he hated his… pseudo father but he didn’t. There was still love there, in Asterion’s heart.

  Tallis looked at Asterion with a combination of pity and hope. “If ye’ll nae guard the gate fer him, will ye at least do it fer those who need yer help?”

  The Minotaur glared down at Tallis with a bit of contempt. “With all respect, Tallis Black, you strike me as a man perfectly capable of providing his own help.”

  Tallis swiveled the wine in his cup unhappily. “Well, first, ye’d be wrong aboot sooch an assumpti
on. An’ second, it isnae me Ah’m speakin’ aboot.”

  Coatlique looked at Tallis. “And who are these unfortunate people that you wish Asterion to serve?”

  Tallis kept his calm as he related the information about the Soul Retriever situation, including the time we’d all spent in captivity. Coatlique’s expression grew more and more thoughtful as she tapped her chin a few times before speaking.

  “We were both under the impression that the former Soul Retrievers Asterion fought in the arena were willing volunteers,” she said in a soft voice.

  I winced, and flashed back to Jenny’s words on the conference call. “Yeah, well, ‘willing’ is a relative term. When you’ve only got the stellar choices of doing something awful to survive or being killed on the spot, what kind of choice is that?”

  Asterion muttered the answer, looking at his feet. “No choice at all…” I saw a change in his eyes as he spoke, going from self-pity to bold determination. It was still there when he looked at Tallis. “Provided that you can free me from this place, I accept Minos’s task.”

  Coatlique looked at him in despair. “This is merely exchanging the prison of luxury with the prison of duty.”

  One of the Minotaur’s long arms—roughly the length of two of mine—reached across to gently squeeze her shoulder. “But I would be protecting others from the fate I have been condemned to. Surely you, of all people, see the goodness in such an act.”

  Bill climbed up on the table so he could see Asterion closer to eye level. “An’ hey, we’d bring your girlfriend with us. I mean, ya both gotta be sick an’ tired o’ being stuck down here.”

  Coatlique arched an eyebrow at him. “I am no prisoner, angel William. As your companion noted, this plain was my home long before any others claimed it. I can and do come and go as I please.”

  Asterion faced me then. “Coatlique is my friend,” he said simply, as though he wanted me to know.

  I felt myself swallow. I had wondered at the nature of their relationship.

  God, what was wrong with me? My boyfriend was standing right beside me and yet I was acting like a cat in heat around Asterion.

  I didn’t understand what was going on with me! I’d never ever had such a… sexual reaction to a man before. It made no sense to me.

  Bill’s face scrunched up. “I don’t git it, yo. Why ya stickin’ around then? Why ain’t the two o’ you bustin’ through here to your freedom?”

  Coatlique gestured towards the dark corner she emerged from. I could just make out a small drain about the width of my shin bone in the shadows. She stepped over to it and squatted down. “I think we can all agree that it is nigh impossible to squeeze Asterion through these narrow passages.”

  Bill raised his eyebrows in appreciation. “Not shittin’ us there… that looks tighter than Tido’s asshole!”

  Tallis just grumbled as Asterion faced me in question. “Tido?” he asked.

  I motioned to Tallis. “It’s Bill’s pet name for Tallis.”

  “Why?” Asterion asked.

  “No one knows,” I answered with a shrug.

  Coatlique walked out of the shadows towards Asterion. I thought I saw tears in her eyes as she rubbed his horned brow. “With all that said, I certainly would take you from here if only it were possible.” Her tone throbbed with love and pain. Yes, Asterion had said they were just friends and Coatlique hadn’t argued that. But, was there more feeling on her side of things? I wasn’t sure.

  The man-bull accepted her strokes but still hung his head. “I know, but we also know that such a notion is utopos, ‘the place that cannot be’.”

  The shattered expression on her face told me that Asterion was talking about more than just getting out of the arena. Coatlique pulled her hand back and spent a minute rubbing her face. I considered eating more grapes but suddenly lost my appetite. Bill and Tallis looked like they lost their thirst for the wine, no matter how good it was.

  Finally, Coatlique cleared her throat, pretending her soggy cheeks weren’t swollen by her tears. “If you are going to triumph in the Ancient Game tomorrow, you will need help. I shall seek it on your behalf.”

  Saying that, she turned to face the drain and her whole body poured itself down the drain like a mixture of rubber and slime.

  “Holy shit!” Bill yelled. “That’s one hell of a trick!”

  Asterion barely glanced over his shoulder as Coatlique disappeared, but I saw a twinge of regret as he did. Then he poured another cup of wine for himself. He wasn’t nearly as subtle about looking at me as he pretended to be.

  Tallis drank what was left of his wine before asking an important question. “Any idea where she’s gone?”

  The Minotaur shook his bull head. “No, but I trust her. She promised you help. She will find it.”

  I twisted my head slightly to the right. “That’s good enough for me, then.”

  Asterion’s eyes became kinder as he slid a plate of assorted cheeses over to me. “You should eat. You will need all the strength you can muster for tomorrow’s trials.”

  I smiled and reached down for the nearest cheese wedge. I could see Bill squirming as he helped himself to a handful of dates next to his wine jug. “So, uh, how’s the cell receptionation down here?”

  THIRTEEN

  Tallis

  The next morning, we were roused by a squad of Pure guards as they raised the portcullis. Me head was still a mite sore from the previous day’s wine but that wasnae why I slept so poorly. I kept thinking about the glances Asterion gave me Besom the night before. I knew such wasnae his fault; Besom is a beautiful woman. Thus, it should and does follow that men will be interested in her. With regard to Asterion, I might have felt a wee bit better had he lived up to his legend as a man-eating monster. Jealousy gets complicated when the other man is actually a decent sort.

  And Besom… Was I just imagining it or did she seem… interested in the bull man? She had touched him willingly and she seemed roused by his depression. Perhaps it was just her caring nature? I wasnae certain.

  I noticed him scenting her in the air, as though she were in heat. Owing to the fact that he was mostly animal, he would have been capable of smelling her arousal. Mayhap she was aroused by him? He was certainly large, muscular and had the appearance of… a virile male.

  Ach, it was too much to further contemplate.

  As was his habit, the angel overdid the previous night’s drinking. He spent a solid minute throwing up all the food he ate down into the storm drain, and I could only hope Coatlique was not in the midst of her return visit.

  Lily did the sensible thing by staying away from the wine entirely and Asterion seemed none the worse for wear despite all that he imbibed during our impromptu feast.

  Once the gate opened completely, we were ordered to surrender our weapons on the spot. The solid line of rifles aimed at our heads guaranteed we’d cooperate or else. I felt a twinge over surrendering me blade and watching Besom do the same with hers. But that twinge surged into hatred when Lily was made to strip off her chainmail entirely.

  Watching Alaire’s soldiers leave her in naught but her brasiere and knickers was near enough to make me ignore the guns pointed our way. But to their frail credit, they didnae act on the undiluted lust I saw dancing in their eyes. However, Asterion and I made a point of flanking Besom as we were all ferried down the corridor.

  And the man-bull did his best nae to stare at her breasts and her ass which was nae covered at all by her thong knickers. Aye, he did his best but he failed. Nae that I could blame him. Every male’s eyes were riveted to her lithe and muscular body.

  A larger, closed portcullis lay ahead of us in the chamber they shuffled us into. Between that door and the one we stepped through was an armory area. It had racks of crude wicker armor and even cruder wooden clubs, studded with obsidian. The weapons and armor were all lined up. The sizes and quality varied, which spoke of a good many folk who passed this way before us.

  I asked the nearest Pure what we shou
ld be armed with. His only answer was to jab his rifle at the racks. I shrugged and began looking over the equipment. I finished examining the nearest three clubs when I heard the portcullis shutting behind me. The pack of Pure was gone by the time I glanced over me shoulder. Good riddance to bad rubbish, that.

  Asterion grabbed what looked like his own special gear, an armor set and a club that were so large that naught but him could wield either. Naturally, nothing was small enough to fit the stookie angel aside from a wicker helmet that damn near fell over his eyes, which he threw aside. He tried compensating by grabbing a club that was half a head taller than him. Lucky for him that the little bastard couldnae die. Therefore, whatever weapons he chose mattered little.

  The same couldnae be said of Besom and me. The wicker armor that Besom picked out for herself was at least one size too large and looked a bit awkward upon her small frame. But even with it on, she swung the club she chose with grace. Fortune smiled on me in the form of armor that covered me chest perfectly and a club I made hum through the air with me own swing.

  Seeing Lily struggling to move with her armor, Asterion knelt down and fiddled with the straps. I noticed his fingers missed the armor more than once and touched her skin in more than one place. I also noticed the goose flesh they left upon her. Anger began to strum through me and ‘twas all I could do to keep it restrained.

  “You need this to be bound tightly against you,” Asterion explained as he assisted her. “It will make you less flexible but will also deflect more blows.”

  I had to admit me teeth ground together at this sight. While I didnae doubt Besom’s love for me, I did doubt the Minotaur’s intentions being purely for her own good. What did he look like as a mere man? Was there something about him that I couldnae hope to match in kind?

  I chided meself, trying to focus on getting me own head ready for the match. After all, this man was naught but a monster from legend. And Lily and I dearly loved one another. So I had nae cause to fear. And yet fear I did; the gnawing rat of uncertainty kept nipping away at the corners of me mind.