For the first time, Lisa felt uncomfortable in Achilles's arms. This wasn't because he was making her feel uncomfortable but rather that she suddenly felt silly and undeserving of being there. He looked different. His hair was shorter, his usual waved hair was cropped and he definitely hadn't shaved in a while and had the beginnings of a beard.
His hands were placed interlocking on the small of her back and his wolfish grin was slightly uncanny to her.
'Achilles' Lisa said breathlessly, not sure whether to be relieved or terrified. Before she had time to consider either of these options, he had lifted her legs around his waist and was carrying her upstairs.
Achilles set her down on one of the beds and when he pulled away from her, she could tell by his face that he certainly was not happy with her. His face had darkened an awful lot, she had never seen his this angry before.
'We need to have a talk.' he growled at her.
'Achilles...I...I was so worried about you, I missed you...I'
'Bullshit.' He snarled. His voice remained dark and cold. He moved as he said it, jerking forward and Lisa flinched.
'I....Achilles please, don't....hurt me.' She cowered into the sheets.
'Lisa, you don't get to play the victim here. You know I won't hurt you.'
'I read your letter Achilles, I'm sorry, I didn't know, I....'
'I know you read the letter, or else you wouldn't be here. But I wrote that letter in the case that Hercules got me, not that you got me caught.'
'What are you saying? That you don't love me anymore?'
'Well I never said that to begin with, did I?' His eyes were unreadable and his face held a hardness Lisa had never seen before.
There it was. The knife in her throat that Lisa was waiting for. She didn't want to imagine that he meant what he said, but it felt so real.
'He doesn't mean that Lisa.' Aster was standing in the doorway with his arms folded, staring at her from behind Achilles. 'He doesn't mean that.'
Achilles kept his mouth shut and Lisa could almost hear his jaw clench. Lisa was still slightly turned away from him.
'Lisa, look at me.' Achilles said, his voice toning down slightly. 'Look at me.'
Lisa turned to look at him.
'God Achilles, don't be such a dick. You don't know how worried this girl has been about you for the past while. Cut her a break.'
Achilles turned to look at Aster and laughed.
'All due respect Aster, you weren't tortured for the past few weeks. I don't need the third degree from you.'
'Yeah, and you don't need to be so confrontational to a pregnant woman, she's only human, you don't want to harm her.'
'I wouldn't hurt her.' Achilles said through his teeth. 'I'm just trying to figure out why she did this to me.'
'Well you can figure it out downstairs, all sitting around the table.'
Within a few minutes, they were all downstairs, not exactly all sitting around the table though. Lisa was sitting at the table, staring into a milky cup of tea while Achilles was leaning against the countertop and Aster was standing in the doorway.
'Can you sit down please.' Lisa began, looking up briefly, 'You're making me nervous.'
'Well that's too bad.' Achilles sneered. Lisa wasn't used to him being so nasty.
Aster sat down and then stared daggers at his brother.
'Sit down Achilles.'
'Or what Aster? You'll make me?'
'I'm not going to fight you over something so stupid.' Aster rolled his eyes.
Lisa continued to stare at the table. Achilles was furious and she didn't blame him. It was such a relief to see him but it was still hurtful the way he was acting.
Lisa looked up at him briefly and he stared hard at her. Something flashed in his expression and he sighed and sat down reluctantly.
'Thank you.' Lisa said softly, to which he didn't reply.
So Achilles, have you seen our father recently?' Aster asked.
'No.' Achilles scoffed at his brother. 'I haven't seen him in years.'
'Well that's a pity. I'm sure he'd be just thrilled to see you following in his footsteps.' He smiled. Lisa sat awkwardly, not sure what to say.
'Oh ha ha Aster, where are you going with this?'
'Well, since I know absolutely nothing about a human-incubus pregnancy, the only people who can help us are our parents. I don't know exactly what's happening to Lisa that her eyes have gone red, but it's not really something that I can deal with. So I think it'd be for the best if we go to our parents and see if they know what to do.'
'I'd like to meet them.' Lisa said softly.
Aster gave Lisa a soft smile and said 'I'm sure they'd like to meet you too Lisa.'
Achilles gave her a strange look. 'I don't recall ever meeting your parents Lisa.'
'Well that's because I have parents in my hometown who I am very much keeping out of this mess Achilles but you are welcome to meet them after this situation blows over.'
Achilles didn't pursue the question any further and just sighed. 'I haven't seen our parents in years Aster. Not since....' He trailed off. Lisa could see the pain in his expression and she felt bad for knowing exactly what he was talking about, it felt like she was intruding on a personal secret of his.
'That's all well and good Achilles, but this isn't about you.'
'How the hell are we going to travel anywhere though? Hercules are probably looking everywhere for us and we can't teleport with a pregnant woman.'
'Well that's an easy one. You're going to put an illusion on. If you were able to hold up one of me even though you haven't seen me in so long, you must be getting good at it. Plus, it's no secret when your eyes go red that your powers get stronger, so I guess that side of you is helpful for once.'
'Fine, and what about Lisa?'
'Well, they don't actually have a picture of Lisa, so they're probably going on description and they're looking for a human girl. With those eyes, I don't think she looks very human, do you?'
'I suppose that could work.' Achilles sighed heavily.
'Well it's the best chance we've got. So we better get going.'
Achilles looked sideways at Aster. 'You're coming with us?'
'Well, if that wasn't evident, yes I am Achilles.'
'You do understand that this is going to be incredibly dangerous?'
'Of course I do Achilles, hell, the way you're talking, you'd think it's more than just humans we're up against.'
'Well I can imagine Hire an Incubus aren't happy about this either.'
'You think Hire an Incubus are really going to care? Once we get our father involved, Damian isn't going to come anywhere near us.'
'What about Alma Stack? Lisa's new BFF?'
'We can deal with Hercules when they come knocking on the door okay? First and foremost we've got other problems. We're leaving tonight, okay?'
It wasn't until nightfall that they left, the three of them bundled into Aster's car and they started the drive to their parent's house. Lisa hadn't realised how exhausted she actually was and found herself nodding off fairly quickly. However, somewhere between consciousness and sleep, she caught a bit of an exchange between the two brothers.
'You didn't need to stay so distant you know? I was right here Achilles, you knew that.'
'I didn't want anyone to find out anything about my family, as far as everyone else is concerned, I'm alone. It was just safer for everyone that way.'
'I mean before all this, when you first left home, why didn't you keep in touch?'
'I....' there was something different in his voice that disappeared quickly.
'I get it, there's no point talking to you when you're like this.'
'Like what?' Lisa didn't even have to see him to know that he was smirking.
'I'm not a human, you don't have to be coy with me Achilles. How long have you not been able to control your demon side for?'
'Probably since I met Lisa I suppose, there's something about her that just drives me crazy.'
'I don't buy it, that alone wouldn't bring it on. What were you doing back in that city? I thought your Hire an Incubus days were over?'
He laughed. 'I suppose it was before that then. I guess she just triggers it more. I was looking for Damian, I'm going to kill him.'
'How did you meet Lisa then?'
'Well, I'd actually only been around a few days and it was the first time I'd been back to my house in a while and then I heard a phone go off, and believe it or not, I actually still had the phone from my Hire an Incubus days. It was an address. Her address.'
'Why did you go?'
'I think at the time I thought maybe it was a way to get close to Hire an Incubus again without actually marching in there, because obviously they'd be on high alert for me. But then, I met her and me being me, I got attached.' He sighed heavily and glanced over his shoulder. 'And look what she did to me.'
'You must know she regrets it Achilles.'
'I know she does, it's just whenever I talk to her, I just get this irrational sense of......something....I can't describe it. I just know that I become more demonic. Like I look into her eyes and I just want her to belong to me completely, and I know that's not healthy, the rational, human part of me knows that.'
Lisa was still listening in and she swore she could hear the Achilles she was used to talking, she wanted to reach out to him, but she was sure if she made any kind of movement to indicate that she was still awake he would stop opening up.
'You should tell her this.'
'And then have to deal with her breaking down and then I feel like the bad guy? Not likely, it was her that did this to me.'
Aster sighed deeply. 'Looks like the demon side is back in control again. Let me know when I'm talking to my actual brother.'
Lisa didn't hear anything except silence until she eventually fell asleep properly.
hi guys!! Sorry it's been so long, I was really busy with uni which kinda took over my life for a while, thank you so much to everyone who stuck with me! Don't worry, I am very determined to write this, even though it's taking me so long!