He indicated to one of the chaises he had scattered around the room and I took a seat, helping myself to a date from the platter he set down between us.
"This is delicious," I said after a few more bites.
"Everything tastes good when you're hungry," Sed assured me.
A laugh escaped me. "More like everything tastes good when it's homegrown.
He relaxed into his seat, clearly put at ease by my compliments. "Yes, I miss the food here when I'm away. Coming home and getting to eat it is like a treat again. It's something I look forward to."
"I get that. Do you grow all of it here?"
"Some of it comes down from the fields outside the city too, but all of it is grown and tended to by my priests in one place or another."
I smiled weakly at the unintended reminder that I didn't have any of that. There was no chance of having my own food grown and tended to by priestesses. Not unless some kind of miracle happened.
"I'm sorry..."
I waved away his apology. There was no need for it. "I know you didn't intend to."
"Is it something we can rebuild?"
I frowned. I hadn't thought about it that way. Would it even be possible to build a following again? Especially in this world where not everyone believed in our existence anymore. That was one stumbling block too many for me.
"I doubt it."
"Are you sure there aren't any followers around still?" He took a flatbread from the platter and folded it in half to eat it easier.
I thought for a moment, considering everything I knew about how our magic and our names worked. "Potentially. I still have a little magic though it takes a crazy amount of time to recharge it."
"You must still have some followers. But where are they?"
I shrugged. They were never going to have been at the temple, not after I shut it down long before any human was born. The only people who could possibly still be around who knew where it was, were the two demi-goddesses who were members of my priesthood. I doubted they'd risk betraying me though. It wasn't worth their lives. The magic that made sure they existed also didn't allow for that betrayal. They'd die where they stood the moment they decided to go behind my back.
"You look lost in thought," Sed observed.
"I'm trying to work out where to go from here," I admitted. "There doesn't seem to be much left for me."
"That's not true." He leaned across the platter and placed a hand on my knee.
I wasn't able to ignore the warmth of his skin as it seeped through the thin material of my skirt. I leaned into him, not fully in control of what I was doing. Like the gentleman he was, Sed shuffled away and removed his hand, breaking the contact between us and removing the intimacy of the moment.
As much as I didn't want to admit it, I missed the closeness. I hadn't felt like that about another person for years. Not even just for fun.
Sed coughed loudly. "Who would even have a reason to do this to you?" he asked.
I shuffled in my seat. The question had been playing on my mind since the moment I'd seen the scarred wall and one name kept coming forth. I just didn't want to admit it to Sed.
"Sera?"
"Can we focus on healing Osiris first and then working out who is trying to erase me from existence?"
"No."
I jumped, his answer not the one I expected at all. He'd been so supportive up until now, it was difficult to believe he didn't want to be that person.
"I don’t mean to be harsh, Sera. But they're all tied together. You said yourself that you don't have many powers at the moment. How are you going to help Osiris if that's the case?"
I shrugged, not really wanting to deal with the implications of the very true statement. "I'll figure something out. Not all of my worth is in my magic." In fact, most of my worth wasn't in the magic I could do. I'd trained to practice healing and medicine thousands of different times over the years, each time learning more skills I could use on gods, humans, and animals. It wouldn't even be bragging to say I was the most trained healer in existence.
"Can you heal a god without magic?"
"Probably not."
"Then we're not risking it. Can you imagine being the one to tell Isis you can't heal her husband."
I shuddered at the thought. Isis was a lovely woman until Osiris was threatened, then she was a force to be reckoned with, and not one that anyone would possibly want to go up against. Ever. I certainly had no plans to get on her bad side.
"Good point," I admitted.
"Right, so who do you think it could be?"
"Kuk," I answered instantly. "He's the only one I can think of who'd go out of their way to do this to me."
"Why?"
My feet suddenly became far more interesting than they ever had before. My history with Kuk was complicated at best and I didn't particularly want to talk about that with Sed, especially not with how he'd made me feel with something as simple as a hand on my leg earlier. I definitely wasn't ready to ruin the chance of anything between us.
No gods. Remembering that rule was becoming difficult with him around. He definitely muddied the water a little.
"Sera?" he prompted.
"It's complicated," I muttered.
"I guessed as much." He chuckled before taking another sip of his wine.
That seemed like a good idea and I picked up my own, taking a far bigger sip than I intended to and ending up spluttering as it went down the wrong way.
Sed's palm slapped against my back and the wine spewed from my mouth. Never mind my history with Kuk, I was going to put him off by my weird drinking habits. I wasn't sure what had gotten into me, I was normally a lot smoother than this in life.
"You okay?"
"Been better." My voice rasped over the words, the effort of coughing stealing any pretences of my voice being melodic.
"One second." His palm left my back and a pang of loss travelled through me. I liked having him touch me. Far more than I should. "Here."
I took the glass of water he offered and took small sips, the cold liquid smoothing out the crackle in my throat.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now will you tell me about Kuk?" True curiosity lingered in his eyes, though I didn't want to linger too much on why. It would go away as soon as I started talking after all.
"There's not much to really tell. We had a relationship during the tenth dynasty. It ended."
"Because of Kuket?"
I laughed heartily, as if the fact my lover had a male and female aspect had anything to do with it. We were immortal beings, gender meant very little to us. "No. It never mattered to me which form he was in."
"But you call him he?"
I shrugged. "That was the form he was in when we broke things off. He'd been in it for a few years so that’s what stuck in my head."
"He didn't switch between the two?" He leaned forward, clearly intrigued in a way that people only were if they didn't have any experiences with one of the gender switching deities.
"At some points he'd switch almost daily, and then not again for years at a time. I'd describe it as maddeningly inconsistent."
"It sounds like it. So why did things end if it wasn't to do with him switching?"
"We had a difference of opinions," I muttered.
"Sera..."
"He wanted to officially merge our temples and I..."
"Didn't want to reveal your secret scorpion hideaway?" he joked.
"No. I didn't want to be one of those couples. It works for some..."
"Like Osiris and Isis?"
"Exactly. But just look at Seth and Nephthys. They hate one another and the whole world knows it. I didn't want that for me and Kuk."
"I get that. But it might not have turned out that way." There's something odd in Sed's voice, almost like relief that what he was saying wasn't actually true. I didn't want to delve too far into it.
"Given the evidence now, I think it probably would have turned out exactly that way," I countered. "Whatever
the reason, I ended it and he didn't take it well."
"Did he know about your secret scorpions?"
"Yes."
"And he'll know what to do to remove your name from everywhere."
"Yes." I was fairly sure he didn't need my answer. He was just thinking aloud. I did it myself from time to time, I couldn't begrudge him that.
"Where will he go next?"
"I don't know. I still have a little bit of magic, so I suspect he'll be heading for my secondary temple."
"Which is?"
"Just over the border." I'd watched the shape of Egypt change so many times that it was hard to keep track of where they were. Thankfully, things seemed to have settled down recently but that meant my other temple was outside what would now be considered as Egypt.
"You have two temples?" His eyebrows almost shot off his face and I had to suppress a snigger. I did love the fact everyone was so clueless about the second one.
"It's a lot smaller but I had it built for precisely this reason."
"Smart," Sed muttered.
"Oh very."
"We'll set off in the morning?"
I nodded, not knowing what else to say to that. We needed to go there, even if I felt funny about sharing the secret with someone else. Then again, there was something about Sed that made him feel far safer than any of the other people I'd told.
Sed felt safe. And like trusting him was the right thing to do. Not that I knew what to do with that. Or I did. I just didn't want to consider the option. I wasn't ready yet.
Chapter 8
"NO!" I screamed, my eyes snapping open and my hand grasping at my neck, trying to loosen the hold the dream had on me.
Scuffling outside increased my panic as I tried to work out where I was and how I'd gotten here. Memories of the night before slowly made themselves known but I still couldn't work out what the scuffling was and what it would mean to me.
Reaching within me, I let out a sigh of relief when I found a tiny spark of magic inside. Summoning it up, I held it in my hands without quite letting it get to the surface. If I could help it, I didn't want to use it. Magic was rare enough for me these days. Even so, I could feel the urge for it to let go and fill the air with a show of power. Despite the situation, I wanted to roll my eyes. Magic sometimes had a mind of its own and did whatever it wanted to, despite the will of the person controlling it.
I padded over to the door, pressing my back against the wall next to it and waited. I wasn't stupid enough to rush into unknown danger, especially when Sed's priests would have security covered. I was a good example of why it was important to keep temples secure, he wasn't idiotic enough to have ignored that. On the contrary, he was a smart man. That would all have been in place long before I arrived, dragging my problems behind me.
"What's going on?" Sed demanded.
Relief flooded through me along with something else at the gravelly, sleepy, tone in which he spoke. I could listen to that voice for hours. Hopefully I wouldn't do anything that would make him realise how badly I had it for him.
"We heard screaming from the lady's room," a man answered, sounding much more awake than Sed. Did he have someone actively guarding my room?
Warmth spread through me at the realisation. I liked being protected like this. No one had done it for me in so long.
"Thank you, Mo, I'll take it from here."
Only footsteps retreating answered. I assumed the man must have nodded, leaving Sed just on the other side of the door. I released the hold on my already weakening magic and it retreated back inside me, hopefully to grow some more. I didn't want to think about how vulnerable the lack made me. My sanity was far too important for that.
"Sera?"
"Yes?" I answered instantly.
"Will you let me in?"
Without even thinking about it, I turned the door handle and let him in. The lack of hesitation should have stopped me but I didn't think I was ready to truly consider what that meant.
"Are you okay?" Sed slipped through and closed the door behind him.
"I think so," I replied honestly. The dream was already fading.
He looked me up and down, clearly trying to assess whether or not I was actually hurt.
"A bad dream, nothing more," I muttered, turning away as I said it so he wouldn't see the embarrassed look on my face.
Lightning fast, Sed's hand closed around my wrist. Not very tightly and not enough to startle me, but I knew he was there. He pulled me back towards me and I crashed into his chest, leaving me looking up at him and completely aware of just how thin my sleep shirt was. And how short. I might be completely covered but only just.
"Tell me about it?"
"There's not much to tell," I answered honestly. "I woke up thinking something was strangling me." I didn't add that it wasn't the first time I'd had the dream. It'd been going on for about five years from my best guess. Not every night but enough that I knew it was a regular thing. And one I couldn't do anything about. It was what it was.
"Sera..."
"There's nothing that can be done about it, Sed," I whispered. "Can we drop it please?"
His gaze flitted to my lips before his eyes moved back to meet mine. "Of course, I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable." His voice lowered, probably due to the intimacy of the room. The dim light was certainly affecting me more than I wanted to.
I wasn't the only one wearing sleeping clothes either. All Sed appeared to have on was a thin t-shirt and a pair of shorts. His body was warm against mine and surprisingly comforting. I wasn't used to this and didn't know how to deal with it.
This time, it was my eyes that flitted to his lips. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him. He'd taste warm, I somehow knew that would be the case. I didn't want to examine how I was so sure. Or how much I wanted to discover if I was correct or not.
We stared into each other's eyes for a few more moments, both of us lost in the moment and the atmosphere around us. My magic made itself known within me again, no doubt reacting to Sed's being in a similar way my body was. I knew his magic wasn't the same variety as mine. It would manifest in stronger stamina and strength rather than the ability to perform magical feats like mine.
Without any clue who initiated it, our lips were suddenly pressed together. I melted into him, slipping one of my arms around his waist and flattening my palm against his back, pulling him as close as I possibly could. His body felt incredible against mine and he tasted just as warm as I expected.
A small involuntary moan escaped from me and we broke apart. He looked at me with glazed eyes and an expression of pure want on his face. For the first time in centuries, I felt like the only woman who mattered in the world, all because of Sed. Without thinking about it too hard, I drew him back towards the bed. It might be risky to introduce something physical between us, I couldn't ignore the desire building within me. I wanted this far more than I'd wanted anything in recent years, who was I to deny myself when Sed was just as willing.
I tugged him onto the bed beside me and leaned in to kiss him again, our hands beginning to wonder all over each other's bodies, searching beneath fabric for the smooth skin that lurked there.
"Are you sure about this?" he whispered against my lips, the hot breath tickling and only making me want this more. I hadn't even realised I could want this even more. He was driving me far more insane than anyone else ever had.
"Yes," I whispered back. "More than anything."
He didn't wait a moment longer than he had to and deepened the kiss between us while tugging on the hem of my shirt and drawing it up my body. We broke apart so he could pull it over my head and I missed the feel of his lips against mine.
He threw my shirt onto the floor and began peppering kisses over my collarbone. I whimpered and pushed my now naked body up into his. Tugging on his shirt, I soon had it on the floor next to mine, with his shorts following just after.
Our bodies moved against each other, our skin slick and warm, the two of us fitting t
ogether as if there was no other possible piece that could fit. My magic twitched inside me, feeling stronger than it had in awhile. As if it knew it was the only thing that could make this moment better.
I got lost in the sensation of Sed surrounding me, unable to think or feel anything else. The only real thought going around my head was how perfect this was. How right. And how this was like nothing I'd ever experienced before.
I just hoped Sed would feel the same when Ra shone his light once more.
Chapter 9
I waited on the runway, trying not to focus in on how I'd felt when I'd woken up alone. It didn't matter that Sed had left a message for me. He'd still been gone from my bed, almost as fast as he'd ended up in it.
A smile twisted at my lips. I knew that realistically, there was nothing to worry about. He'd spent well into the early hours of the morning with me. I had vague recollections of him whispering in my ear before he left but I'd been too asleep to be able to remember what he'd said.
"We're ready now."
I shivered just at the sound of his voice, not worrying about how far gone that made me. I'd promised myself I'd never fall for a god again and be satisfied with being celibate for the rest of my days and yet, here I was, falling all over again. A small voice in my head kept telling me this time was going to be different but I really didn't have much proof that was going to be the case. For all I knew, I was going to end up with a broken heart again. Whether I liked it or not, that was my lot in life.
The plane's engines were already up and running, reassuring me that we were going to be on our way within minutes. I needed that given the realisations of the night before. I didn't quite understand why Kuk was so upset with me, it had been so long since we'd parted ways and it hadn't been a bitter break up. At least, I hadn't thought it was but maybe I was a bad judge of that. I never intended to hurt him, I was sure of that.
Stepping inside, I was surprised by how relaxed the whole environment was.
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