Chapter 10

Anna

 

I relaxed on the deck and stretched my legs out on the luxuriously cushioned chair. Sitting here at sunset as I sipped on a glass of wine was loosening the tension in muscles that I didn’t even realize I had. The breeze was becoming cooler as the warmth of the fading sun disappeared, but I found it more refreshing than bothersome.

I admired Austin’s impressive physique from where he stood across the deck, checking in with the pack back home. His tall, muscular form was outlined by the pink of the sunset, giving me an enjoyable view. He must have felt my gaze because he gave me a knowing smile from across the deck that made me blush.

“These are the days that make it all worth it,” Arminius said in his rich voice as he took the seat next to me. He stretched out his long form and lounged comfortably. He was dressed similarly to Austin in linen trousers and a button-down shirt.

Austin and I had taken a helicopter to get to the airport, where a private jet had been waiting for us to fly us down to Florida. While I had been glued to the window in the helo, I had sunk right into one of the buttery smooth leather seats and passed out for the majority of the flight on the plane. Austin hadn’t complained, so I was guessing his week had been just as exhausting as mine.

“You’re incredibly lucky to have all this at your fingertips,” I told Arminius dreamily. We had taken his private jet to a small airport in Florida, and then a boat out to the yacht. I couldn’t imagine being able to just come out here for a lazy weekend any time I felt like it. The setting sun

“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Arminius said with a labored sigh. “Wealth is something I have now, but it wasn’t easy to get to this point.”

I looked at him out of the corner of my eye to see if I had offended him, but he still seemed relaxed. Austin had told me that the lamia were immortal and Arminius was one of the older ones among them. That meant that Arminius had the respect of most of his kind and the power to back up any promises that he made to us.

What I really wanted to ask was just how long that had taken, and how old he was, but I held my tongue. “Do you ever get tired of it all?” I couldn’t imagine centuries of struggling to be on top, but I guess there was no such thing as retirement for an immortal.

Arminius gave me a wry smile. “I’ll survive either way, but life is much more enjoyable when you have money.”

“I can agree with that,” I told him seriously. Living on ramen noodles and wondering if I was going to be able to make next month’s rent wasn’t so far in my past that I didn’t remember the struggle. I made it through that period in my life because I was confident that I would become a pharmacist and my life would get better once I graduated. But if something had happened and I didn’t graduate, I would have been stuck with thousands of dollars in student loans and no hope of ever paying them back. It was that desperate motivation that kept me at the top of my class for so long.

“So… how long did it take you to get to this point?”

He laughed. “Is that a polite way of asking how old I am?”

I gave an embarrassed shrug. “Maybe?”

Austin walked over to where to two of us were seated, and Arminius leaned in close to me. “Maybe later,” he said with a wink.

I blushed and looked up at Austin as he stopped beside where we were seated and ran his hand over my hair affectionately. “Everything okay?”

I gave him a smile and a nod before Arminius answered for me. “We were just making small talk before dinner.” Arminius got to his feet. “Speaking of which, Matteo should have things prepared for us by now. I hope you like Italian?”

“Oh, yes,” I said enthusiastically. My tummy chose that moment to grumble to punctuate my statement. Both guys politely ignored it but I saw Austin’s slight smile. The staff of Arminius’s yacht had greeted us with a fancy array of light snacks, but I needed something a little more substantial. Arminius had been delayed getting here, so Austin and I had been waiting around most of the day. After making myself presentable in what I hoped was a yacht-worthy dress, I had taken the opportunity to alternate between snacking and napping in the warm sun, so I was well prepared for the evening.

I don’t know what I had been expecting when I found out I was headed for a yacht in the Florida Keys, but the reality was even better than anything I could have imagined. This was like a palace floating on the water.

There were five decks, FIVE. You could take the glass-enclosed elevator or the glossy marble staircase to travel between them. There was a movie room, a gym, dining room, and multiple lounge areas, inside and out. Every inch of the yacht was impeccably decorated and screamed old money. I had no idea how much something like this would cost, but I was guessing you had to be a billionaire to afford it. I had never been on a cruise before, but I had been on the USS Comfort and believe me, the Infinity was nothing like that.

Austin put his arm around my waist as we followed Arminius down the stairs and to the dining room. I was grateful for his touch to anchor me as we made our way through the opulent yacht. A part of me was looking forward to dinner, but another part of me was nervous about what our host had in store for us.