Page 37 of Last Resort

Estrya left the three to come to an agreement and headed to the main level to check on the snakes.

The guys were milling around, and she looked at Erol. “So? What are we waiting for?”

Erol reached into his pocket and pulled out the white cuff covered with twists of metal and scale patterns.

“This is a very specific thing.” She examined it while feeling the tension in all three of them.

Erol hissed. “Put it on.”

She smiled and opened the cuff, snapping it, tapping the surface, and looking at her stats.

Erol walked up to her, extended his wrist with a dark cuff, and it swirled as he tapped it against hers. A dark band circled her cuff. Erol’s shoulders slumped. “Compatible.”

Seviir walked up and did the same with his band. There was a flare in the text, and then the second band appeared. Seviir’s stats rolled across the screen.

Rizthan tapped, and his band appeared as well.

“Well, that’s not surprising. I’m a whore.” She tutted as she looked at the dark bands.

Erol gasped. “That’s not what—”

She looked at him and let her gold serpentine eyes glow. She rose up as her tail formed and rippled behind her. It moved until it extended past the patio and into the jungle beyond. She rose up as high as she could.

Rizthan and Seviir grinned. Seviir hissed softly. “Lamia.”

She let her tail and coils move restlessly. “Erol, you mentioned that you could not have a woman like me exposed to your family. Adil wouldn’t understand. The age gap would be embarrassing. You didn’t want anyone conflating me with your wife. I accepted, and I left. Now, you are trying to lay claim to me, and I am saying no, serpent king. I will avoid your city, and you will avoid me. Accept and leave.”

His eyes were blank as he took her all in. “You were always a lamia?”

“Yes. You didn’t want to know. I didn’t see your naga, and therefore, she remained hidden.”

He blinked. “You wanted to see the naga?”

She laughed. “Your cuff will be removable in forty-eight hours. Don’t worry. You will be rid of me soon.”

She slithered out of the open-air space and moved rapidly through the jungle, climbing higher and higher until she nearly plunged off a cliff.

She paused and exhaled slowly, curling and trying to guess how long he was going to sit there and stare.

An enormous onyx head slithered toward her through the green, and Rizthan shifted, walking toward her. “He hurt you.”

She glanced at him. “Just seeing him makes me doubt myself. When I was with him, I was learning, but nothing was ever quite right.”

“Seviir took him home. Your lamia took him by surprise.” He moved close to her.

“Right. It came so easily to me. I changed in the middle of winter. When I first met Erol, he was nice. He took care of me. Most folks would say grooming, but I was an adult, and he gave me a boost. It was a few years later when things got physical.”

“Never with a tail?”

She snorted. “Never with a tail. The lamia was so excited to have another snake to play with finally. She never got it.”

He held out his hand, and she dismissed her tail and walked into his embrace. She mumbled against his chest. “She was lonely.”

“She doesn’t need to be lonely anymore. We are not your first love, but we can be what you need. If he pulls his head out of his ass, we will welcome him if you do.” He was rubbing her scales softly.

She inhaled the warm scent of him. “So, why are you out here for this set of games?”

“My hotels host a lot of the conventions that the gamers utilize. I have seen the technology and the excitement that the games can create. It seemed interesting to become part of it by supporting the tech developments that make the games faster with more reality.”

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