Entranced by the Basilisks (Monstrous Matches, #3)

by Lillian Lark

“You know what this is?” I ask. “You know how to make it go away?” My question snaps Ari out of whatever has given him that faraway look. “Make it go away?” “Yeah, break the curse?” I ask, my laugh soft but high. “It’s a little hard to go about my life with snakes for hair and turning people to stone.” Ari leans back and chews his lip. “Well, that’s your first problem. It’s not a curse. It’s a blessing from the Goddess.” “Uh, what?” I blink. “She’s bestowed powers to you that have been unheard of for decades.”

“There’s no reason it would cause this unless the Goddess took a special interest in Emilia.” “Why would she take a special interest in me?” I ask. Ari’s gaze rests heavily on me and his lips curve. “Perhaps you are noticeable.”

Family is family wherever you go, but you only have one life and that’s for happiness and adventure,

“Cheer up, little Medusa, I’ll fix this.” And he does before Emilia can snarl at him for the nickname. Ari grasps one of Mrs. Rivera’s outstretched hands, and in an instant, the gray and cold stone disappears. “Mrs. Rivera, I presume? My name is Ari, and I have the pleasure of healing you today. Where did you get bit? Oh, never mind, I see it. May I?” Now Ari waits for Emilia’s mother to catch up to the world around her. Including the sight of Ari in front of her. After a second, she nods. “Yes.”

“If you break her heart, you’ll regret it,” she says. I give that comment the respect it deserves because it doesn’t matter how old I am, how dangerous my gaze or my venom can be, I know that Mrs. Rivera will make good on that promise. “I can’t control if Emilia gets emotionally hurt in all of this.” I start to gesture with a skewer of meat but think better of it. “There are too many factors, and her feelings are her own. I can say that breaking her heart is the furthest thing from what I want.”

All the years we’ve spent together, and I’ve never picked up on this craving of his to be needed. How tempted he is by Emilia because she needs him. Doesn’t he know that I need him too?

“Is that all you’ve got?” Ari taunts me. “You think that’s going to stop a fly, let alone a serpent kin? You can do better.” His words invade my mind and my pride bucks. “You’re a jerk.” “Ouch, trying to hurt me with your words rather than your gaze.” Ari’s words are flat even as his eyes are alight with mirth. “With your eloquence, you have a better chance using your gaze.”

“You don’t regret last night?” he asks. I unwrap my legs from Ari and let them drop to the surface of the desk. He still stands between my legs and I’m still hot for both of these men, but this conversation is deeper than physical. “No. It was a lot at once.” My cheeks burn. “But it just makes me more curious about everything else. I have feelings for the both of you, and now I need to make sure that we do more to date than just seduce each other. It would be so easy to fall into a relationship together based on sex, but I want more from you two.” Jasper lifts his brows at Ari’s and my compromised position. “Do you now?” But his tone is playful rather than judgmental. “I mean…” I trail off, biting my lip. “You both also make me horny as hell, so my self-control is obviously going to be tested. But I do want to be together for more than the sex.”

“I’d be honored if you mothered me,” I say. Her hands are soft as she cups my cheeks. “You are not done yet. You’re on a journey with two other people who rely on you. You are not allowed to throw in the towel because of one speed bump. That’s the perspective of someone who doesn’t expect that the people they love are able to save them. A loner would assume that no one else could solve the problem, and wouldn’t trust anyone else to solve the problem. You want a family, but you must act like you’re a part of a family.” The question that’s been plaguing me slips out. “What if I don’t know how anymore?” “Then you let Emilia and Jasper teach you. It may take time for them to forgive you, but if they are the mates you know them to be, then you have to trust that they will come to that conclusion. You have to be ready for the moment that they do forgive you.”

I hadn’t thought my money made me feel invincible, but it did. I felt that if I had enough time, eventually I’d be able to win back Emilia’s and Jasper’s trust. I would have given gifts, sent notes, been there until one of them took mercy on me. I would have given them my fortune to be forgiven if that’s what it took… but now it’s gone, and I’m left dangling. All I have left to offer is myself. This is an inconvenient time to have an identity crisis.