by Becca Van
Although she wasn’t as sticky as she should have been after having sex with her two mates, she didn’t exactly feel clean.
After drying off she wrapped the towel around her waist and went in search of something to wear and quickly pulled on a pair of worn jeans and a T-shirt. She was thirsty after a vigorous night of lovemaking and she was hankering for a cup of coffee, so she padded barefoot across the bedroom and out of the apartment toward the large communal kitchen/dining room.
Lavinia flipped the light switch on out of pure habit rather than necessity and set about making a pot of coffee. A glance at the clock on the microwave let her know that although still early, it probably wouldn’t be long before the others roused from sleep, depending on what time they’d come home.
She didn’t envy them going out in search of and fighting those shadow demons. Just the thought of encountering another of those evil things sent chills racing up and down her spine. She nearly jumped out of her skin when the coffeepot started sputtering as the last of the water filtered through the ground beans and paper filter, and she gave a small chuckle after lowering her hand from over her racing heart.
Lavinia filled her mug and then decided to explore. She hadn’t seen that much of their underground home, but for some reason she was drawn to the other end of the hallway.
After stepping into the corridor she peered down the long hall and when she didn’t see anyone, started walking. She froze for a second when she realized her ankle no longer hurt. When she looked down, she noticed the swelling was totally gone. Balancing on one foot, she twirled and flexed her ankle, and she smiled with amazement as she lowered her foot back to the floor. Mating with En and Men had healed her.
She sipped her coffee as she began walking once more, stopping now and then to stare at the Egyptian hieroglyphs placed in sporadic places on the walls. She would love to know what they meant, what the story of each painting was and filed that away in the back of her mind to bring it up with her mates later.
She turned right at the hall intersection and found herself in a room that took her breath away. Hieroglyphs covered the walls and when she looked up her mouth gaped open. In the ceiling was a glass pyramid that had water covering it, but she could see through the thin layer of water and saw that the sun was just beginning to rise, turning the dark sky to a light pink color.
It was the most amazing sight, but as she stepped farther into the room she felt calm and peaceful. She’d never experienced such tranquility in her life and now that she had she knew it was going to be hard to leave the room, but she couldn’t spend the rest of her life in here staring up at the sky.
When she got beneath the highest point of the glass pyramid she closed her eyes and tilted her face up and sighed as the weak sun’s rays warmed her face. Love filled her heart and the tumultuous thoughts of the shadow demons faded into the background of her mind.
Lavinia didn’t even realize she’d moved until her butt contacted the tile floor and she blinked her eyes open. The sunrise held her attention as she sipped her coffee and although she knew she should probably head back to the kitchen and start breakfast for everyone she couldn’t make herself move.
By the time she’d finished her drink and placed her cup on the floor by her knee she felt as if she were in a trance. Her body was heavy and warm and yet she began to shiver. Just thinking about her mates made her pussy wet until her panties were soaked through and when she crossed her arms over her chest she nearly cried out with pain. They were so sensitive to the touch. Her arms brushing over her nipples had made them feel raw.
The heat and cold seemed to war in her body and she didn’t realize she was trembling until she lowered her arms and reached for the mug. Her vision was blurry and when she tried to close her fingers around the cup handle she missed. That was when she noticed she was seeing double and although she blinked her eyesight didn’t clear. There was a roaring sound in her ears and she could hear someone gasping for breath and she wanted to ask if they were okay, but her tongue felt thick and swollen and wouldn’t move.
Lavinia felt herself slipping sideways and she tried to stop her fall, but her arm was too heavy to lift. She groaned when the side of her face smacked into the tile floor and she tasted blood when her teeth sank into her own tongue. She tried to swallow, but even that was a chore and she felt the blood and saliva in her mouth dribble out over her cheek and down her chin.
She laughed hysterically in her head and hoped if her mates found her in such a predicament and state they wouldn’t be turned off by the way she was drooling. She managed to open her mouth with the intention of crying out for Men and En, but her tongue and lips wouldn’t form the words.
When she remembered their bond she felt for them she looked inward and found two strings wrapped around her heart. She tried to follow them back to her mates, hoping that they would feel that she was in trouble, but she only got halfway before exhaustion swamped her.
All of a sudden the muscles in her body clenched really tight and she could feel her limbs and frame jerking.
What’s happening to me? Am I dying? Somebody, please help me!
* * * *
Men bolted upright when he heard Lavinia screaming in his head. He glanced around the room frantically and when he didn’t see her he leaped out of bed, pulled his jeans on sans underwear, and spun toward the door. He hadn’t even noticed that En was awake or pulling his jeans on, too, but he couldn’t miss his friend when they both tried to get through the doorway at the same time. Their bodies slammed together and Men cursed as his shoulder slammed against the doorjamb.
En managed to get through the exit first and Men followed so close his toes brushed his friend’s bare heels. Men tried to connect to the mating bond he and En now had with Lavinia, but when he delved into his heart, it flipped over in his chest when he felt absolutely nothing. He sniffed the air, thankful for his enhanced sense of smell and raced ahead of En down the hallway, taking the right corner fast enough to brush against the wall and went into Ra’s temple.
His breath caught in his throat and fear lodged in his heart when he saw their mate on the floor, her body jerking and twitching with convulsions. His knees slammed onto the hard tile floor, but he barely felt the contact as he reached out and slipped a hand beneath Lavinia’s head.
“Fuck!” En was beside him in an instant and he placed his hand over Lavinia’s forehead. “She’s burning up. We need to cool her body down.”
Men nodded and carefully maneuvered around until he was on the side of Lavinia’s body all the while keeping his hand under her head so she wouldn’t do more damage. He managed to lift her upper body from the floor and En shoved his arms beneath her legs and waist. Between the two of them they lifted her from the floor and met each other’s gazes.
“Teleport,” they both said at the same time.
En nodded. “Three. Two. One. Now!”
In the blink of an eye they were in the bathroom. Men adjusted his hold on Lavinia’s rigid quaking body and En spun toward the bath. As soon as the water began to flow En turned back and began to strip Lavinia out of her clothes. Men glanced at the tub and although the level of water wasn’t very high as yet, he didn’t care. He stepped closer to the tub and began to lower Lavinia into the cold water.
“Protect her head,” Men ordered, keeping her upper body up out of the water until En moved to the head of the tub before carefully holding Lavinia’s head with both of his hands.
Men eased her down until the water was lapping at her sides and wished the tub to fill faster. He stripped off his jeans, climbed over the rim, drew in a deep breath, and held it as he sat in the cold liquid beside his mate. He shifted around until his ass made contact with the molded seat in the big spa bath and then took hold of Lavinia’s shoulders and pulled her upper body toward his. At first he had her jerking head resting on his thighs, but as the tub filled he moved her up so that her face wouldn’t end up covered.
He looked her over and gasped when he saw
the large knot near her temple and the developing bruise. He mentally cursed himself and En for not even feeling her leave their bed. If they had maybe she wouldn’t have gotten hurt. He felt guilty, but since he couldn’t do anything to change what happened he concentrated on the now.
“Is it the transformation?” En asked in a worried voice.
“I think so.” Men’s voice cracked on the last word and he took a moment to clear his throat. “I know that Nina and Zara got sick with it but I don’t think they were this sick. Zara did when she drank the poisoned wine but…”
“You think she’s been poisoned?” En asked.
Men leaned down and placed his nose against Lavinia’s neck, inhaling deeply. When he didn’t smell anything he shifted closer to her mouth, inhaling again. He didn’t smell any poison, but they would have to keep a close eye on her. He perused her body, but other than the lump on the side of her head he didn’t see any other injury or evil flowing through her veins. “I don’t think so.”
En sighed with relief before reaching over and taking hold of one of her hands. The convulsions had slowed and now there was only the occasional twitch that wracked her frame. En placed his free hand on her forehead and met his gaze. “The heat is receding.”
“Thank the gods.” Men sighed with relief, but he wouldn’t stop worrying about Lavinia until she opened her eyes. The lump on her head was swelling even more and that was a huge concern, but hopefully now that she was going through the transformation her body would heal a lot faster. He knew sleep was the best thing for her, but still he knew he wouldn’t rest until she was awake.
Chapter Ten
Lavinia was hot, yet she was surrounded by cold. Her whole body was aching, her muscles so sore she wondered if she’d been in a car wreck. Her head was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach. She tried to remember what had happened, but nothing would come and it just made her head hurt all the more as she tried to think. Her body was heavy and she’d never felt so exhausted in her life. Maybe she had a bad case of the flu and was sicker than she’d thought.
Although she knew her eyes were closed and it was really dark she felt as if she wasn’t alone. She tried to force her eyelids open, but just even thinking about doing it was an effort let alone trying to get her body to cooperate. The air around her was oppressive with a thick oiliness and it scared the crap out of her. It also made it difficult to breathe, although that could be fear that was impeding her efforts to fill her lungs each time she inhaled.
She wrinkled her nose when the strong scent of sulfur burned her nostrils and almost choked her as it invaded her lungs. With great effort and a determined will she forced her eyelids up and while she couldn’t see anything she knew she wasn’t alone. The heat in her body didn’t prevent the ice cold from invading her bones making them and her muscles ache more. Even though she didn’t want to move she started at her fingers, concentrating on flexing them and trying to get her body to obey her brain’s command. At first nothing happened, but she pushed through the exhaustion and bone-deep ache until her fingers curled and met the palm of her hand.
She almost coughed when she drew in another deep breath, but some intuitive instinct warned her to suppress the noise. It was a hard thing to do, but she managed to refrain by taking short, shallow, panting breaths until the urge to cough or gag, or both, waned.
When she saw two red points glowing through the thick darkness she blinked, sure she was hallucinating, but they didn’t disappear. The longer she looked the brighter they seemed to become and although she had no idea what it was she got more frightened.
However she continued working on her body, moving one muscle at a time until she could move her arms and legs enough to feel the lethargy leaving her exhausted, aching body. It didn’t matter that she felt like shit or that all she wanted to do was close her eyes, curl up in a ball, and sleep for a week.
There was an insistent tug in her gut telling her to get up and out of wherever she was. It seemed to take hours but was probably only minutes before she was able to push her body up off the floor until she was sitting with her back against what felt like very warm rock.
The moment that thought coalesced, memory slammed into her mind. The knife-like pain that shot through her brain had her reaching up to hold her head and although she wanted to cry out her agony she bit her lip instead. No noise left her mouth as shards of excruciating pain stabbed in her brain until she was so coated in sweat she felt as if she was submerged in a pool or tub of water.
She was mated to Nehi and Menna and she’d been in Ra’s temple. So where the fuck was she now? And who or what was in here—wherever here was—with her?
* * * *
“Shit!” En shouted when he saw blood trickle from the side of Lavinia’s mouth and that was when he noticed she had her teeth clamped down on her lower lip so hard her two front teeth had pierced her own flesh.
He wrapped his large hand around her under her chin and dug his fingers and thumb into her jaw joints, trying to get her to release her lip. He nearly sighed with relief when her mouth opened but flinched when a long, low moan of pain emitted from her mouth. That sound had been so deep and low he knew she was in agony. He wished he could feel what she was feeling, but somehow the mating bond wasn’t working and that scared the shit out of him. So did the fact she had to be in a terrible amount of pain to make the noise she had.
“Should we call Ra?” En asked more than ready to summon the sun god to their side and help their mate.
Men shook his head, but En knew from the look in his eyes that he wanted to call the sun god, too. “He didn’t come when Pen and Paser called him for Nina. I hate seeing her this way as much as you do, but Ra won’t let her die.”
“You don’t know that,” En snarled. He wanted to get to his feet and pace, but he didn’t want to leave Lavinia’s side. “What the fuck are we supposed to do? I hate seeing her in pain and not being able to help her.”
“You think I don’t?” Men snapped angrily, glaring at En. Men took a deep breath and released it slowly.
En did the same. In all the long centuries they’d been friends they’d never once fought each other. He knew he was being an ass, but he was so scared for Lavinia he couldn’t seem to help himself.
“We need to have faith,” Men murmured. “Faith in Ra and faith in our mate.”
En knew he was right, but he was so used to fighting and didn’t like feeling so useless, so helpless. If Ra was testing Lavinia, he could be testing him and Men, too. If that was the case, he was probably failing miserably.
How was he supposed to sit idly by and do nothing when Lavinia was sick, maybe in danger from the demonic when it was his—their—job to fight those fuckers?
He wished there was some way to connect with Lavinia through the mate bond and fight alongside her if that was what she was doing. The only consolation was that she was no longer convulsing. Maybe it was time to get her out the tub. If she was tucked up in bed beside him and En, hopefully wherever she was she would be able to feel them and come back to them.
He couldn’t lose her after just finding her. He wasn’t sure he’d survive an endless existence without her by his side and he wasn’t sure he wanted to.
* * * *
Lavinia tried to peer through the thick darkness all around her, but she couldn’t see anything, not even her own hand in front of her face. What she could see, however, were the two glowing red dots that seemed to be floating in midair. She had no idea what it or they were, but each time she looked at it—them—she was creeped out.
The pain in her head had settled to a dull, consistent throb and although it was hard to keep her eyes open, she did. She realized she couldn’t sit on her ass forever and as she rolled to her hands and knees she kept her eyes on those two red glowing dots. She might have blinked, but wasn’t really sure since it was such a reflexive action like breathing, but she was almost certain those eyes were closer than they had been.
After lifting one tired,
heavy leg and getting her foot beneath her she placed her hand on the almost hot rock wall and gathered her will after taking a deep breath and pushed to her feet. She wavered when her head pounded and swam and even though she didn’t really want to, she ended up closing her eyes as she breathed in deeply, trying to circumvent the light-headedness assailing her. The last thing she wanted to do was pass out because she had a feeling if she did she would never wake up again.
The moment she forced her lids up she nearly screamed. Her heart slammed against her rib cage and the air caught in her throat as she swallowed the sound of fear. She pressed her back against the wall and stopped breathing when those eyes moved closer while she was watching.
Fear skittered up her spine and although she didn’t even want to think about those shadow demons she’d encountered right before Men and En had burst into her life, she couldn’t dispel the feeling that was what was stalking her. She didn’t remember the shadows having glowing red eyes, but that didn’t mean she was right. She’d been too scared to do anything but scream.
Even though she wasn’t feeling very well at all, she felt much stronger than she’d ever been even if her body was screaming in exhaustion at her to sleep. Plus, she knew what she was up against since her guys and the other sentinels and women had informed her of what she’d encountered and what they’d been dealing with. She just hoped that she was strong enough to fight this thing off. It didn’t matter how well informed she was. She could die right here and now and she would never get to see Men and En again.
That thought sent a shard of pain piercing right through her heart and although it wasn’t a physical pain it still hurt more than she’d expected. Her knees buckled slightly and it took every ounce of her control to fight her lax muscles and push through the terror riding her very heart and soul. She drew another deep breath of the noxious sulfur-tainted air and gained control of her emotions.