“Nothing wrong with a good mac and cheese.” He smiles again, taking another bite of his food, which reminds me that I need to eat. I take a forkful and put it in my mouth.
“So, five brothers…” He takes a sip of his wine.
I nod, chewing, and swallowing. “Yes, five older brothers.”
His mouth twitches, and his eyes glint with humor.
“What?” I ask.
He lifts a brow. “It would explain things.”
“What does that mean?” It’s my turn to give him the stink-eye.
“All good things, I assure you. At least, mostly good things.” He chuckles.
“Mostly?”
“Yep…you can hold your own. You have a fighting spirit. You can run fast. You’re a damn fine shot. I’m sure you could scale a wall, crawl through mud, and hold your own against most men.”
“All men, human or not,” I correct him.
He nods once. “It could not have been easy growing up with five older brothers.”
“It wasn’t, but it was also great.” I smile. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Then I remember what he said. “You said my having had all older brothers led to mostly good things about me…mostly. Care to expand on that?”
He throws me a half-smile. “You have a fighting spirit.”
“You named that as a positive.”
“It is.” He picks up a piece of garlic bread. “It can also be damned annoying.”
I laugh.
Lyre’s smile widens, then he takes a bite of the bread. I eat more of the pasta. We stay silent for a few minutes, enjoying the food.
“How long are you going to keep watching me?” he asks.
“Watching for the harpy, you mean?” I say around a small bite of food.
“You know what I mean.”
“As long as it takes. I told you it might take days, and it could take weeks. I don’t think it’ll be that long, though.” Please, Lord, I don’t have the funds for weeks. I’m worried Andy might not last that long. I swallow down a piece of pasta, my chest feeling tight.
“How can you be sure?”
“In all the documentation I found on harpies, they talked about them having a hunger. Of their hunger being powerful. They likened groups of harpies to locusts. I’m telling you, Lyre, you still have something she needs or wants. Since she already took your power, I have no idea what it is she’s after. I’m sure she’ll be back. Her hunger will drive her out. I will watch out for her…and therefore trail you for as long as it takes.”
“What if it’s months?”
I shake my head. “It won’t be that long.”
“So you’ll keep following me to work? Being my shadow?” He sighs like he hates the idea. I guess I can’t blame him.
“Look, I know I’m annoying…that being followed can be annoying. I’m sure you want to get on with your life, but—”
“You’re right, you’re seriously annoying.” He smiles. But I’m not sure if he’s teasing or if he really means it. “Thing is, I need my power back. You can follow me, use my bathroom, eat my food, for as long as you need to. I’m grateful for your help, Morgan.” He reaches over and touches my arm for a second.
I feel warmed inside by the compliment. I don’t like how good it’s making me feel. “I’m doing this for my partner,” I say, setting the record straight. “If that means helping you in the process, then I’m glad,” I have to add because I mean it.
“How is Andy?”
I feel everything tighten. “No change.” I shake my head. “I only hope she turns up soon so that I can make her pay. I hope I’m not too late. I feel like I have to make things right before he...” I can’t say ‘dies’. I still have this crazy notion that killing Lilith will save Andy, but it’s just that…crazy. “It’s all my fault he’s lying there.” I stop talking and shove some food in my mouth instead, even though I’m no longer hungry. I’ve also said too much.
“It’s not your fault.”
“Oh, but it is. It really is.”
“You’re not responsible for the actions of others.” He shakes his head.
“It was my stupid actions that got Andy hurt. I trusted her. I let her into my life. I was wrong.”
“Who…the harpy?” He frowns.
I nod. “Yes, Lilith. I have mentioned that I know her. I know her personally. I thought she was a friend. I knew she wasn’t human. I found out what she was…” I shake my head. “I chose not to listen to anything anyone said. I chose to be her friend anyway. I don’t know why.”
“She has a way about her,” he says. “In the short time I knew her, she got under my skin in a way that’s never happened before.”
I feel something I don’t like – jealousy. I think it’s more because I hate Lilith rather than because I feel anything for Lyre. “That’s because she’s freakishly beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen men fall over themselves more for a woman. Then again, she isn’t human.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Careful…” he touches his chest, “you’ll hurt my feelings.”
“In my experience, most non-humans are trouble…sorry.”
“And you have a lot of experience?”
I shrug. I’m not going there.
“So what did Lilith do? What was this betrayal?”
“She set Andy and me up. We walked straight into an ambush. Only because I insisted we could trust Lilith. I was so gung-ho on obtaining information on a herd of centaurs…I walked us straight into a nest of the things. Lilith had assured me that they were long gone. They were still there and waiting for us.”
“Centaurs, as in half horse, half man?”
“Yes.” I nod. “They’re shifters. They can take on human form or half horse form. They’re evil creatures; their diet consists of grass and human flesh. Ideally, the heart should still be beating when consumed. You never knew about centaurs?”
“We keep to ourselves.”
“I suppose that is true of the dragons.”
“We do go onto the dragon lands from time to time. My mom is still part of the main Weyr – dragon group.” He takes a sip of his wine. I can see that his mind is working. “We’ve never been fully accepted by the dragon shifters. We’re loners.”
“Because you’re only half shifter?” I take a bite of my bread. My meal is nearly done, but I want to know more about Lyre.
He nods. “We don’t fit in.”
“There are more of you.” He wouldn’t say ‘we’ if it was just him.
I see him close up. His lips press together, and his jaw tightens. Yes, there are definitely more of his kind. I wish I knew something about demigods.
Instead of pushing for more information, I place my knife and fork on the mostly empty plate. “Thank you for the food.” I take a drink of water. “I’d better head back out there.”
“You’ll let me know if you see anything?”
“Of course.” I nod.