To the woman, Hermes shouted, “Begone!” and waved the glowing caduceus at her. Suddenly, she was no longer beautiful—or human. The upper part of her body was pale human flesh, but the lower part was an enormous snake body with gray skin. Confronted by the power of Hermes, the thing shrieked and vanished back into the shadows.
Hermes pulled Thanos around to face him. “You must be more careful here. All is seldom what it seems.”
“Why not just let him have his fun?” asked Melinoe, licking her lips. “He clearly wants to.”
“Who…what…was that?” asked Thanos, still a little groggy.
“That was a lamia, a daemon who seduces young men so that she can drink their blood and eat their flesh,” said Hermes. “There would have been little ‘fun’ involved.”
“An object lesson in how s****l desires can be
