Ariston’s grip on her arm was vice-like, and she cringed as she realized the stranger had a hold on Donovan in a similar fashion. Yet, where Donovan was clearly being restrained, Ariston placed himself in front of her, keeping a hold on her as if to assure she was in place.
“Melancton,” Ariston said finally, addressing the stranger. “I was afraid you’d show your face around here eventually.”
Chapter Nine
Daphne’s words had haunted Ariston since the moment he realized Lily was a nymph. Trust Melancton. Keep her safe. Were these things connected? Would Melancton protect Lily, or was there danger elsewhere at another time? Too many variables and too many questions.
“Ariston,” Melancton bowed his head cordially. “If I am not mistaken, you expected me?” He gave the mortal a tug, gaze never wavering from Ariston’s. Donovan grimaced and tried to shrug off the Boeotian’s grip to no avail. “Any other day I would question why; however, this is most unfortunate timing.”
“Caught in the act?” Ariston snapped. He couldn’t resist goading, “Couldn’t find a willing female?”
“Hardly.”
It was probably true. If Melancton loved Daphne as unconditionally as she did him, other permanent lovers would be out of the question. And there had been rumors back in Greece that Melancton somehow avoided the worst of the curse. That when everyone else had been in agony, needing sex until they were nearly feral from it, Melancton had hidden in a cave alone. Orestes once claimed Melancton had never been seen with a lover, or at least never caught in the act. It was impossible though. Ariston knew how the curse worked, and the more he struggled against it, the more it affected him negatively. No way Melancton could fight it on his own.
The way Lily gawked at the Boeotian made Ariston’s temper coil up, ready to strike at the first sign of weakness or threat. He really needed to work on his emotions. If he wasn’t horny, he was pissed off, and neither helped convince Lily to stay. It didn’t help that Melancton could easily steal her away from him with his cool, composed manner and eloquent speech either.
Ariston placed himself in front of Lily, shielding her from Melancton and her ex. The action produced a cry of outrage from her former lover.
“Desist, human.” Melancton growled at Donovan, keeping a firm hold on him.
“Leggo of me!” Donovan cried out. “Beast! Foul Demon! The power of Christ compels you to take your hands off me.”
A wild guess concluded that Donovan had seen Melancton without glamour, which meant they’d been in each other’s company since before dawn at least. Melancton didn’t seem amused by the religious outburst. In fact, Ariston detected a hint of boredom coming from the satyr.
“Better listen to your handler,” Ariston added as he thwarted Lily’s attempt to shove him aside for a better view.
“You stay away from her. You’re one of them. I saw you! I saw you with your horns. Devil! Lucifer!”
Ariston frowned. How had the human seen him without Ariston remembering such an encounter?
“A little late to fall back on Catholic values now.” Lily mumbled to herself. She shot a glance at Ariston. “Pray tell, how does he know you have horns?”
“I’ve never seen him before in my life, Lily. I can honestly tell you I don’t know. Maybe he thinks it is a conspiracy, and everyone is a satyr.” It was possible his wits had cracked like an egg.
Melancton, not one for displaying emotion, appeared positively perplexed. “What am I missing?” His gaze locked on to where Ariston’s arm was raised to prevent Lily from passing.
“You have the nymph here with you? I had forgotten they are invisible to us.”
“How could you forget such a thing when they are the only way to release us of the curse?” More importantly, why had Daphne never freed him if she was so in love with him? Unless he’d screwed up and screwed her before the Satyr Moon. Ariston had always wondered.
Melancton tilted his head as he considered his answer. “I have never sought one. Which nymph do you hide behind you? I will not harm her.” His voice softened.
Never sought one, my ass, Ariston inwardly scoffed. “I’m not worried about you harming her.” Because I’m supposed to trust you, so you’d better prove yourself trustworthy. “She’s not the one you want.”
The other satyr smirked. “Daphne would not hide herself. Your nymph is safe from me.”
“She’s a what? A nymph? As in nymphomaniac?” Donovan’s voice grew shrill as he darted glances between the three of them. “I knew there was something weird about her.”
Lily yanked against Ariston’s hold and attempted to rush around him, baring her teeth, but he caught her waist and kept her by his side. Even if Melancton couldn’t see her, and his new desire consisted in leaving Donovan a stain upon the dirt, Ariston wasn’t letting his nymph near the other satyr. It wasn’t about the Satyr Moon so much as he didn’t have a cause to trust Melancton. Despite the fact they shared much in common, they didn’t know each other at all.
Ariston lowered his voice so only Lily could hear him, “Just because he can’t see you and he claims he won’t try anything, doesn’t mean he won’t. Melancton was a warrior. He’s quick and calculating, and when he strikes he does it with precision. He waits for the perfect moment to act. If you go over there, I cannot stop him from grabbing you. He could make you show yourself, Lily.” How, Ariston didn’t know. The risk would be too great.
Lily darted a glance between them. “And catching me would be bad?”
Ouch. Stab me straight in the heart, love. Did she desire Melancton in a way she didn’t desire him? Visions of Melancton being invited to the everyone-but-Ariston clubhouse flashed before his eyes.
He stomped down his jealousy as best he could and bit out, “He was found in the company of your boy, which means he had a part in why you were alone and in my territory. They’re playing at something here. I don’t like it.” So what if Daphne said to trust Melancton. Trust was never so easily given.
Lily narrowed her eyes. “Donovan seems to recognize you and knows you have horns.”
“And I told you I don’t know w—”
“What are you two whispering about?” Melancton asked. “I have many pressing objectives to fulfill, and would rather see to them than stand here whilst you gossip and bicker.”
“Who the hell talks like that?” Lily asked and then added, “I’m really invisible to him?”
“Until you reveal yourself.”
“Interesting. How did I reveal myself to you? I was trying to stay hidden.”
“By choosing to follow my lure when I played the satyr song. You may have unconsciously done so when you decided to give yourself to me.”
“Gi-give? Give myself to you!” she sputtered, face flushing crimson at the notion. “I only wanted to see where the music came from. I never decided to get freaky in a field of wildflowers.”
“Hey, that song has a specific tune, and you locked on to the frequency.” Ariston smirked. Her objections were cute. He liked seeing her blushing and off her guard. It wasn’t the time nor place though, and he returned his attention to Melancton as Lily berated him with vile names.
“You’ve found the nymph’s missing boy toy. Mind explaining how that happened?”
Melancton turned his head to the left and then back. “I cannot.”
“Don’t you mean won’t?”
“Semantics.” Melancton raised his right hand and wiggled his ring finger. Sunlight sparkled against the steel band there. “You know what this is? Of course you do. So you know what happens if my loyalties shift.”
His opinion on Melancton subtly started to shift. He’d revealed exactly who was behind his presence regardless of saying very little.
“Dionysus is behind this.” Should have known a god was responsible when a nymph appeared a week before an eclipse. When things seemed too good to be true, they usually were.
“The god of wine and excess is a force to be reckoned with. Nothing personal, Ariston, but I a
m not forfeiting my thyrsus for a chat about when, where, and why. There are powers at play far more dangerous than what you are involved in.”
Lily inched forward, shrugging off Ariston’s arm. “I understand why you won’t tell Ariston, but I deserve to know why I this happened to me. Can you please enlighten me why I had to be dragged through the figurative mud for no apparent reason?”
Melancton blinked. “You revealed yourself to me. I am honored.”
Ariston snorted. Kiss ass.
“It’s not an honor I give you.” She planted her hands on her hips. “What I mean is, if you can’t see me I would assume you can’t hear me, and I want to know what the hell is going on.”
Donovan took it as a cue to chime in, “I’m sorry, Lil. They made me do it. He made me do it.” The human stabbed a finger in Ariston’s direction. She faced him momentarily, suspicion etched in her features, before returning her attention to the others.
“Yeah, I made you do that right after I rode a unicorn into the Underworld wearing a tutu.” At three blank stares, Ariston cleared his throat. “That was my attempt at sarcastically informing him he’s mistaken.”
“I don’t know about unicorns and tutus in hell or anything like that,” Donovan seemed to be gaining courage. “But you did this. You approached me with this elaborate scheme of leaving her in the woods for some experimentation TV show or whatever it was. I don’t want the money anymore. I was wrong. I was tempted by you devils into signing my name.” He placed his hands over his face, like he meant to weep. “I’m Dr. Faustus, holy shit.”
He dropped his hands and attempted to look fierce, but instead resembled an awkward gosling longing to pass as an eagle. “I changed my mind. I’m not selling my girlfriend to demons. You have to let me out of the arrangement. I won’t damn my soul over this. I won’t.”
Lily stared at Ariston with horror. “Is this true?”
He was certain the expression on his own face matched hers because he was completely baffled. “What? No! For the third time, I’m in the dark here. I don’t even own a TV let alone know the lingo to mimic a representative of the industry.”
Still, Lily backed away from him, closer to Melancton and the pathetic excuse for humanity that had betrayed her. In that moment, Ariston worried more about losing her, her trust in him, than losing his shot at being human again. When did that happen?
“What’s he talking about?” Ariston echoed Lily’s words and whirled on Melancton.
“I had no part in this experiment. I knew there would be a nymph, but was not informed of the details. Nonetheless, I was transported here to collect this mortal.” He shook Donovan by his arm for emphasis. “I located him wandering through the wilderness long past the witching hour. Frightened enough of his own shadow by then. Unfortunately for him, the sun wasn’t due to break the horizon for several hours, and you know what we look like before.” He gave Ariston a pointed glance. The thyrsi they wore made them appear human by force of will. Sometimes it seemed unfair Arcadians had to learn a tune to do it on their own.
To provide his own side to the story, Donovan spoke up, “I saw him, Lil. It was awful. It was like meeting the devil. I thought he’d murder me on the spot and bathe in my blood.” He shuddered. “It was even worse than when I saw him.” Donovan stabbed a finger in Ariston’s direction once more.
Implicate me falsely again human, and I will shove that finger up your—
“He urinated on himself.” Melancton added helpfully.
“You made me do it. Unhand me, Satan!” The human tore free of Melancton’s hold, leaving a chunk of material from his T-shirt behind. He barely made it eight feet before Melancton tackled him, pinning him with a knee to the back, and a firm hold of both Donovan’s wrists. The struggle didn’t last long, and Donovan was soon sobbing incoherently into the dirt. Bursts of words were barely discernible through his mewling. Something about Christ, demons, and harlots from hell. Melancton glared down at his captive and swiveled, driving his knee into the man’s back. Ariston’s attitude toward the Boeotian improved by the minute.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Lily rushed away from Ariston and attempted to pull Melancton off the human. “Stop it! Leave him alone.”
Melancton stilled. He raised his head and stared at Lily’s hand on his shoulder for longer than necessary. Finally, he tilted his head back farther to meet her gaze, but when he spoke it wasn’t to Lily, “Treat this one well, Ariston, for it is a rare day on this Earth to be graced with such beauty.” He sounded almost reverent. As though Melancton hadn’t seen beauty in a really long time.
Ariston’s heart clinched at the despair saturating Melancton’s words. He took a step forward to pry Lily off Melancton, but Lily shook her head and waved him away. Trust Melancton. Daphne’s voice continued to mock him. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain silent and not drag her away like the caveman she’d accused him of being.
“I need to speak to Donovan. Please, let go of him.” Lily moved her hand over Melancton’s and squeezed. The Boeotian sucked in a breath and dropped Donovan like a sack of rotten potatoes in his haste to put distance between them.
“Why?” Melancton asked once he’d backed considerably further away from Lily than was necessary. “He abandoned you for money. A man who loves a woman would never give her up, not for anything so trivial. He’d do anything in his power to keep her even if the gods themselves demanded he do otherwise.”
Donovan latched himself to Lily, begging her to forgive him. She didn’t hug the man back, nor did she acknowledge his apologies. In fact, if Ariston could describe in one word how Lily regarded her ex, he’d have to go with bored.
Ariston became more agitated with each passing second. Every “I’m so sorry” out of Donovan’s mouth made him want to beat the human to a pulp. Abandoned her for money? Ariston needed to hit someone, badly, but underneath the current of violence awakening in him lay suspicion. If Dionysus was up to some scheme, then the nymph had been planted in Ariston’s path. To what end though?
“Do not touch me.” Lily shoved Donovan away. “I am furious with you. What the hell? You left me there? Really? You left me—alone—with no map or compass, in the middle of the mountains. The only reason I even looked for you is because the part of me that loved you was worried sick you’d been eaten by a bear. But no! Here you are”—she waved her hand with rampant exaggeration—”alive, no worse for wear, and apparently getting paid a considerable sum of money. You fucking sold me and left me in the woods. You broke my heart, humiliated me, for money. Ugh!” She slapped Donovan hard enough that his head whipped to one side and the crack reverberated like a shotgun blast.
Lily’s fierceness made Ariston’s blood sizzle as the need to protect her and ravish her coursed through him, warring with each other. He spotted Melancton glaring daggers at the back of Donovan’s head.
“But, Lil—”
“Don’t even start. You’ve done enough to mentally damage me for the rest of my life. Was there ever really another woman? Was the whole spiel about me draining the life out of you like a succubus through sex even true?”
“Apparently I wasn’t wrong, since everyone keeps referring to you as a nympho,” Donovan gritted out as he rubbed his reddened cheek. His pale complexion made the handprint stand out all the more. Ariston barely noticed it since his brain stopped registering anything said after the succubus statement.
“What did you say?” Ariston balled his hands into fists. “You told her she what?” He lunged, losing control of the temper he’d barely kept in check. The fool had been with her, recipient of her love, her desires, and he’d made her ashamed of her passionate nature? No wonder she was so horrified at the thought of being a nymph and all it entailed. The front of Donovan’s shirt found its way into Ariston’s clenched fingers. He drew back his right arm and his fist connected with Donovan’s face. A crunching noise followed, and the man’s upper lip ran scarlet.
“You broke my nose, you, you...evil..
.thing,” Donovan wailed. He sobbed like a little bitch. Disgusted, Ariston shoved him. “You need to leave here, go as far away from Lily as you can. She’s mine now, and I will protect her until the last breath leaves my body. Understand?” When Donovan reluctantly nodded and stumbled away, Ariston turned to apologize to Lily. She gave him the most peculiar look. She didn’t appear outwardly upset or angry.
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry,” she said when Ariston began to speak. “He deserved it. I’ve never punched anyone in my life, but I was about to throttle him. Saved me from breaking my hand on his face.” Lily fiddled with the bottom of her shirt. “Uh, we will talk about the other thing later.”
What other thing? It slowly dawned on him he’d shouted that she belonged to him. Like a possession. Great, she’d probably summon Hermes to collect her as soon as they returned to the cabin.
Donovan wiped the blood with the back of his hand and pointed at him while pinning Lily with an accusatory glower. Ariston was getting really damn tired of seeing that digit aimed at him. “You can’t seriously want to stay with this monster. He’s the one who paid me.”
“Seriously? Back to this? You. Are. Mistaken.”
“Liar! You called me in. Told me some mess about a reality show, and it was all fun and games. When you spoke to me after I left Lily, I knew there was something off. I realized I’d been tricked. I knew the hooves and those horns weren’t some weird costume. You want her for a sacrifice, is that it?”
“You still sold me off like property,” Lily whispered.
“What’re you going to do after you finish with these accusations?” Ariston crossed his arms. “Kill me with angry words and religious drabble? I’ve never even seen you bef—” Ariston gaped at Donovan, comprehension dawning, and then turned to Melancton. “Adonis is behind this, isn’t he?” Why the most obvious answer hadn’t struck him before was beyond him. Did his own brother hate him that much? He hadn’t seen Adonis in over three thousand years. Surely he wouldn’t show up out of the blue to pull something like this?
The Cursed Satyroi: Volume One Collection Page 40
