After Lucinda had finished cooking the needed meals for the bonfire on La Push beach, the boys in the pack had helped her carry things out to her car. Then Sue had helped her set everything up on the beach.
She'd cleaned up all the garbage and done all the dishes — with the help of Seth — and had finally made herself comfortable on a log between Leah and Seth.
"I'm assuming you know our legends, Lucinda," Billy smiled knowingly at her.
"I do," Lucinda nodded. "Back when we were here in '37, Carlisle explained to me what you all were. So, I decided to familiarize myself with your customs and legends so I could — um — wipe you out if the occasion came up, as my brother would put it."
"Then there is really nothing for us to tell you," Old Quil piped in, his voice soft and raspy.
Lucinda furrowed her brows. "I don't mean to be rude," she murmured quietly. "But I'm not quite certain why I'm here, then."
"Because they want to learn more about you," Leah whispered to her quietly. Seth hooked an arm over Lucinda's shoulders and tugged her into his side.
"Oh."
"As long as you don't mind," Sue assured her with a small smile.
"It's not that I don't mind," Lucinda frowned, resting her head in Seth's shoulder. "It's just that — well — I'm not sure you have enough time to hear everything."
"Then tell is what you think is important," Sam shrugged.
Lucinda let out a small sigh. "Alright then. Some parts of my story aren't exactly pleasant, so I'm going to ask for you all to restrain yourselves from interrupting. Including you, Seth."
"I can do that," Seth shrugged. Lucinda eyed him skeptically, knowing he wouldn't be able to when they reached certain parts of her story.
"Well, I was born as one of the very first people on Earth," Lucinda began carefully. "I don't remember a lot from that time, but I do remember that I grew up with one of my oldest friends, Virginia."
Embry held up his hand, as if he were a third grader asking his teacher a question. Lucinda rolled her eyes. "Yes, Embry?"
"Is that Virginia the one you went to spend time with in France?"
"Yes," Lucinda smiled faintly, happy they were already able to make connections. "Moving on. I grew up in a small Village on an island called Capri near what you now call The Mediterranean. I spent most of my time as a child collecting berries, playing and climbing in the trees, hunting and catching fish with my friends and family, it was all quite lovely.
"I don't remember much after that, just that I had separated from Virginia for a little bit. I was in Italy when Mount Vesuvius when it erupted, and that I was I spent some time in Greece and Rome. But I — uh — the next thing I can remember is—"
Lucinda sucked in a sharp breath. She leaned closer into Seth's side, her hands trembling.
"Well, I'm sure you know all about Vampires."
"Definitely," Paul smirked. He jokingly flexed his arms and wrapped his arm around Rachel Black's shoulder.
"Well, I didn't," Lucinda murmured. "I didn't know what they were like. And one morning, I woke up tied to a chair in the middle of a shack with bloody bite marks covering my body."
Lucinda felt Seth tense up next to her, but she didn't react to it. "They kept me there for almost a year, drinking my blood in hopes of gaining an ability from my magic. They didn't."
A sadistic smile tugged at the corners of Lucinda's lips. "Of course, once I got free I killed them all," she murmured. Seth's grip on her stayed tense and wrapped his other arm around her stomach, pulling her into his lap
"That was when I realized just how powerful I was," Lucinda explained, pursing her lips. "So once I managed to escape, I reconnected with Virginia and told her what had happened."
"Do you still have the scars?" Emily asked softly.
Lucinda wordlessly stood up and moved to the center of the circle. She closed her eyes and let out a breath. She allowed her magic to flow through her body and reveal all the scars that the vampires had left on her.
When she opened her eyes, she could feel the coolness of them all over her arms, legs, and throat. Some were more easily visible than others, but as supernatural creatures, they could see them all the same.
But Lucinda didn't pay attention to any of them. She kept her eyes focused on Seth, her lips pressed together and expression cold to hide her emotions. But she was still upset.
As she sat back down, Seth's arm immediately wound around her again. His hand rested over the largest bite mark on the skin where her neck met her shoulders, his warmth flooding through her.
"Anyways," Lucinda breathed, rubbing her hands together before tucking them in the pockets of her sweater.
"After that, I just traveled around with Virginia. I met people, fell in love — with both men and women alike — and I had enough baby boys to form my own personal army." A wistful smile formed on Lucinda's face. She hooked her arm through Seth's and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Then I separated from Virginia for a while. We both had different ideas of what we should do next, so we decided we'd better from a little bit of space." Lucinda sucked in a breath. This is the hardest thing for me to tell. "I traveled for a while, exchanging magic for secrets or money; whatever people could spare, really.
"But somehow, I wound up in Galway. Back then it was called Harpoon, but I don't expect you to know that. No one knows of it's existence. Anyways; I continued on with my old habits for about a year or so, until I guess the people had enough. And they burned me at the stake."
"Sorry for interrupting, but how are you still alive?" Brady asked curiously.
After taking a short glance around the fire, Lucinda realized everyone's attention was focused solely on her. There were no side conversations, no quiet complaints of someone running out of food; they were all intrigued by her story.
Lucinda offered Brady a weak smile. "I'm getting to that part," she promised him. "Anyways. I had made friends with the daughter of the richest family in Harp — Galway — because we did each other favours. I helped her get rid of her father so she could marry the local baker's boy, and she helped me remember what it felt like to have proper friend.
"But she wasn't the only one who knew someone of my kind." Lucinda inhaled sharply, wiping her now sweaty hands off on her jeans. "I'm going to go out on a limb, so to speak, and say that you know about Dorian and Leon's brother, Kane."
"We didn't," Embry said as he made a face. "But continue on."
Lucinda rolled her eyes, but did as he said anyways. "Well, they did. He saved my life, and," she smiled sadly, her eyes focused on Leah, whom she knew would give her the support she needed, "we fell in love." She felt Seth tense up next to her, so Lucinda simply laced her fingers through his.
"I wasn't able to spend more than a year with him. He was killed before I had the chance to talk to him about anything...beyond what we had."
"Who killed him?" Paul asked softly, which was a very strange occurrence.
Lucinda's expression hardened, her eyes becoming a stormy blue/grey that hadn't been seen since the day she lost Kane. "The humans living in the village poisoned him," she spoke through pursed lips, her jaw clenched tightly in anger. "As you know, the town is no longer there—"
"—What happened to it?" Quil piped in, his eyes wide in amazement.
A dark smile crossed Lucinda's face. "I burned it to ash; humans and forest alike."
She watched as everyone shuddered before she began speaking again.
"I traveled with Leon and Dorian for about three years after that, but the grief became too much for me to handle. So I did what I thought was best for me, and got rid of it."
"That's possible?" Jacob frowned, tilting his head to the side.
Lucinda let out a quiet sigh. "Very possible; why do you think I hated Seth and the rest of you so much? I couldn't feel a thing. With Virginia's help, I'd rid myself of all the pain I was feeling. But because emotions are a fickle matter, and they're all tangled together, I was practically soulless."
"So all that time you spent it Alaska..." Seth began.
"I was trying to bring myself back to the way I was before I met Kane. I owed you that much. And I owe you a hell of a lot more now. I owe all of you."
"You don't owe us anything," Leah promised, giving Lucinda's shoulder a light punch. "You're family now. We take care of our own."