Page 45 of Zodiac Demons

“Because you’re Lamia and he’s a damn vampire.” I wasn’t used to flustered Ceto, and the contrast from last night’s vicious Ceto was giving me whiplash. My intrusive thoughts noted that he was cute when he was so exasperated, while my reasonable self just passed my confusion through the mate bond. Fortunately, he picked up on the latter and explained. “Vampires have compulsion built into their eyes, which is powerful enough to cancel out my stone gaze. Conversely, though your eyes have no defenses, your body does, so I have to actively concentrate to hold your organs captive, and I can only sustain paralysis rather than literally turning your internals to stone, making it non-permanent. So you two are fine enough, but I can’t take that risk of looking at anyone else who is a lesser creature without a buffer.” No wonder he was so closed off around people.

“How can a hybrid of a species like that even exist? If your mom was a Zodiac Shifter, how did she survive your dad?” I asked, legitimately curious.

“A full blooded Basilisk has more control naturally and can choose how much of their power to use, but my Zodiac side is heavily reliant on the moon and the stars, so without that extra strength I get under moonlight that makes me a bit more dominant over my gifts, I can’t fully control it. The glasses filter enough of the power to negate it completely when my eyes are unshifted, or make it survivable when they are, but without them, my gaze is deadly even when my eyes look human. I’m not a safe person for anyone to be around.”

I frowned at that, as I could tell there was some unspoken hurt there. “Well, I’m glad I can survive you at least.” I squeezed his arm affectionately, and he didn’t respond right away.

When we reached his hotel room, he dug for his key, but paused before he opened the door. “I’m glad you can survive it too,” he said in a low whisper. Then he disappeared into his room, leaving me cold in the hallway.

I frowned and stared at the closed door. Maybe I really was lucky growing up without knowing about any of this—that I could grow up not knowing about it. The burdens these men have carried because of their unique characteristics was a weight I couldn’t imagine having to lift and carry every day. I experienced plenty of bullying, but fearing everyone around me somehow felt minor compared to having to be afraid of myself.

But if Marcus and I were rare exceptions who could handle the most destructive parts of himself, maybe in the end, we all kind of needed each other.

Chapter 20

I woke up in an empty bed, and for once, I was thankful for that. The sheets were still disheveled from my mates, but there was no sign of either of them still being in the hotel room. I exhaled, and sat up, rubbing crust out of my eyes from a too long night with a too short sleep.

What the fuck was all that?

I shifted my palm into a lion’s paw, examining every inch of it. Why didn’t I shift under the trigger last night? That should have been a night of power play, and instead, I was completely subjugated by a fucking Omega?

As much as I liked Ceto’s darker side, and by the fucking devil, his full moon shift was hot as hell, if I was submitting, it was supposed to be my choice and control I could easily take back as soon as I so chose.

I couldn’t have done anything last night.

Not a damn thing.

I’d lost my Cancer trigger.

How and why the fuck would the stars have abandoned me like that?

Wait…

It clicked in my head with a force that made my body physically jolt. I’d always been forced out of my shift when finishing in Lila under the full moon, and that had always been one of the most bizarre things about her. Was the reason I didn’t shift last night because of the same magic?

I’d fucked her on the dance floor under the power of the moon while her body was shifted. I may have been in my neutral form, but she wasn’t.

Had I prematurely lost my Cancer form because of… that?

Was she stealing my power? Stealing my blessings and curses from the moon? Why hadn’t that clicked until now? I told myself it was just negating the magic due to the intensity of the release, But was some part of her species makeup somehow taking it from me instead?

In another year, would I have that power again? Was this temporary, or was I losing a piece of myself every time I fucked her lunar Virgo?

I adjusted my jaw, and licked the flavor of her off my teeth—both her blood and her pussy—then I took a moment to step into the bathroom and splash water on my face to try to wash away a sense of dread.

Next month was the month of the Leo and the moon would hit right around my birthday. If her body was stealing my strength instead of simply negating it, would I lose my lion, too?

I shook my head, then I grabbed my phone and hit dial. I waited impatiently through four rings before he picked up.

“What is it?” Adrian sounded as tired and worn out as I was.

“We need to talk.”

“Can it wait?”

“It’s the morning after a full moon, and the first thing I did was call you. What do you fucking think?” I snapped, admittedly feeling more than a bit on edge. I glanced over my shoulder. Still no sign of Lila or Ceto. I shook my head and walked out to the balcony and shut the door, not wanting to share any of this until I’d sorted it out. Adrian was the only other Alpha involved, and this suddenly felt like a personal affront to my species, when Ceto had no issue shifting into the Gemini after he’d fucked her in Virgo form. “What the fuck are you doing that’s more important than talking to me?”

“This shouldn’t be news to you, but listening to you gloat after a full moon has always been low priority for me.” We hadn’t spoken since summer break started, and I was starting to regret breaking the streak.