by Anne Marsh
He’d been unprepared for the bright sizzle of attraction that had flared between him and Miu. He suspected that it would only get worse.
Until he had her.
So he’d take her, and he’d save her at the same time. She’d have her second chance and he’d have her. Punishment and pleasure, all bound together.
First, however, he had to convince the Amun Ra to release her into his custody.
The Amun Ra was sprawled on a large divan when Jafar entered the chamber. Jafar’s eyes swept the shadowed corners of the room. None of his fellow Guardians was present.
Acknowledging the Amun Ra with a terse “My lord,” he approached the male. His alpha. He’s giving me a chance. No Guardians meant the Amun Ra had left them both negotiating room. Space to talk.
“Heard you wanted to talk.” Lifting his female companion gently from his lap, Amun Ra set on her on her feet. “Run along now,” he said quietly, not taking his eyes from Jafar.
The female pouted, but ran from the room, the slap of her bare feet mingling with the musical chime of the bells that dangled from her ears. Not a mate, but his lord had marked her. Cats were territorial, although willing to share with their pride members. Memories threatened to drown him and he fought them off. He’d brought another female here once, her cool hand clasped in his larger, warmer one. He’d thought the coolness had been due to nerves; he hadn’t realized . . . No. He wasn’t going to revisit those memories. Not now.
Amun Ra rose swiftly from the divan with serpentine grace.
“You’ve betrayed me, Cat.”
With a grim shake of his head, Jafar responded, “Not yet.” Reluctantly, he added, “my lord.” No point in angering the Amun Ra. Not when the alpha could and would put a fast period to his life.
“Not yet?” The air crackled as Amun Ra drew mazhyk into himself and a glow of power surrounded him. “You stand there and tell me not yet? Unless you’ve got information I don’t—which I doubt—no male in this building would deny me the right to send you straight back to the vortex. Better still, send you elsewhere and let your spirit disintegrate into a thousand bits and pieces. Bad enough being without a body, Jafar, but without consciousness either? Better off dead, but that you wouldn’t be permitted. I can make you suffer for an eternity and we both know it.”
True enough, he supposed. “Hear me out. You ordered me to apprehend her. I have done so.”
Hard eyes stared at Jafar and the relaxed man with the elegant facade disappeared, an illusion. Yeah, the Amun Ra was a master of illusions. Mazhyk wavered in the air around him. Not a Guardian, but something else entirely, he’d been the one to summon the Guardians’ spirits from the vortex, had given them these forms.
“You will bring her to me for execution,” Amun Ra ordered. Razor-sharp silver tips appeared on the ends of the male’s hands. He examined them casually.
A second, more powerful throb of mazhyk in the air had Jafar tensing. Stubbornly. “She’s mine,” he said harshly. “Mine. I protect her.”
“Even if she breaks the laws that you swore you would uphold.”
“I will not see her executed. Is there no other way?”
“Can’t bend the rules for a bit of a female.” Amun Ra’s eyes held his, hard and unwavering. “Wouldn’t do it even if I could. The law’s the law,” he said, instead of answering Jafar’s questions. “Rules are there for reasons that maybe you and I don’t know about. You guard the Doorways. I provide the guards.” Knives appeared in his hand, materializing out of the air with a fine shimmer of mazhyk. “I’ll send you back if I have to. Two hundred Cats out there, waiting to rip your little lady to bloody bits if you can’t give me a reason to keep her alive. Convince me.”
This was it. His one chance to sway the Amun Ra.
“Which do you really want?” he demanded. “Tell me, my lord,” his voice mocked. “One thief, sent to do as she was told? Or the thief master himself?”
The blades stilled betrayingly. “She did not come in here alone,” Amun Ra said.
No question there. “You know she didn’t. Three followed her. One, I killed. The two others were probably crushed in the cave-in.” He shrugged casually. “There could be more, but these penetrated my sector. And only one of them human—Miu. If I were you, I’d be asking myself why so many thieves? And why all of them seem to know precisely where to go and how. How the hell did they know where the entrance to the lower levels was and what to steal once they got there?”
The Amun Ra’s eyes flickered. “They had a specific target?”
“Yeah.” Interesting that Amun Ra hadn’t known that. Or, perhaps he had and was merely bluffing. Only fools underestimated the male. “A necklace, one of the pieces from Pho’s tomb. The ‘princess’ buried in the pink and white burial chamber. Of course, you and I know the truth of that story.”
“We do, indeed.” The Amun Ra tipped his head. “And I doubt either of us has forgotten your lapse of judgment.”
“I took care of her.” Jafar’s voice was cold as ice.
“You did.” Amun Ra nodded. “Although not before she’d done a great deal of damage. But, yes, you took care of her. We all did. And we tossed her into the first burial chamber we found and warded her body just in case any of her companions decided to come looking for her. Do you think it’s an accident that so many of our recent guests have made a beeline for her final resting place?”
“You don’t think it’s a coincidence.” Jafar studied the face of the Amun Ra. No expression flickered in the male’s eyes, but some instinct warned Jafar that this opportunity was too important to dismiss. “Nor do I. And Miu may be able to lead us to the man behind these thieves.”
“Interesting.” The Amun Ra’s face changed, melted. “I just might be in the market for a bargain then.”
Dark satisfaction roared through Jafar. “Yes. I thought you might be.”
“Terms.” One long silver nail flickered through the air. “Tell me the terms you propose.”
How the hell did you negotiate terms with an immortal who had the ability to yank your ass straight out of this realm and send it to another?
Carefully, Jafar decided. Very carefully.
He kept his eyes on the Amun Ra’s face. All cold planes. No expression. He wouldn’t have wanted to play cards with the male and he suspected that most of the Guardians felt the same way. The man was a cipher and none of them liked puzzles. His power was immense—and yet he refused to go belowground. He’d hosted orgies whose very memory made Jafar’s skin flame, and yet he held to an esoteric code of honor that made a mockery of his licentiousness. Which was the real Amun Ra?
Either way, he couldn’t imagine his Miu confronting this hard, cold figure. Her irreverent sass would get her killed before she’d finished her first sentence. Disrespecting the Amun Ra was a good way to die. If you were lucky, it was a quick death. Miu was like a living, breathing flame of life, all hot passion and delectable chaos. She’d brought his orderly existence down around his ears as effectively as the banshee had brought the tunnel crashing in.
Strangely, he wasn’t sure he minded all that much.
Terms. Right. “You give Miu to me,” he proposed.
Amun Ra smiled slowly. “And how do we explain such leniency to the others? She’s a thief. The rules are explicit. Death.”
Miu’s death was not acceptable to him, although he hesitated to examine the reasons why. “No,” he said.
Jafar marshaled his arguments. He’d made sure there was no concrete evidence of Miu’s crime. Hell, the first thing he’d done was get rid of the damn necklace. While his brothers stormed about the chamber, posturing and bellowing, he’d popped the glittering stones back into the stone coffin, reaching behind him to stir the now-disassembled bones with a careful hand. While the destruction his femi had wrought would still be clear, it would simply look like a minor act of desecration. An insult to the not-so-dearly departed, sure, but not a killing offense.
As theft was.
No harm, no foul, or so he figured it. He’d bribed the treasure daemon to keep quiet; the stones were back where they belonged; and he would take his little thief in hand.
Where she belonged.
“Got no proof,” he pointed out. “Hebon and Badru claim Miu came to remove the necklace from Pho’s neck. Gaudy thing, set with a large moonstone in the center.” His hands mimed an ostentatiously large jewel. “I’d argue that, even if she found it, she didn’t take it. Stone’s still there, though the grave is a wee bit disturbed. Wouldn’t be right to punish her for a crime she didn’t commit.”
“A crime she didn’t commit—or that you covered up?” Amun Ra’s eyes bored into him. “You know the prey’s name, Cat. Have you sided with her over us?”
He did know her name, but it hadn’t occurred to him that naming her would be a weakness. He should have realized. Guardians didn’t bother with names— only with deeds.
“There has to be a reason for all this sudden interest in Pho’s necklace.” He felt his way cautiously. “Miu came for it. The dark faerie we trapped mentioned it as well. And the male she calls Master wanted to know if she’d obtained it yet. He threatened her. He mentioned only that piece, so it would seem he has a very particular agenda.”
“She’s not your typical treasure hunter,” Amun Ra agreed.
Jafar shrugged. “None of them are. That’s what makes me want to learn more about this necklace. Let me take Miu and I’ll get the answers from her.”
“She may not have them.”
“Then she’ll lead me to that Master of hers,” he vowed. “I’ll get my answers from him. This is more than just a simple ring of tomb robbers, and we both know it. There have been too many attempted break-ins. Too much of a pattern here, and I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it, either, but I need your word, Jafar.” Amun Ra’s eyes bored into him. “I need to know she’ll not be running around my temple, unchecked. That she’ll be at your side day and night. Tell me she’s yours and I’ll back off.” He left the implicit threat unspoken. Refuse the bond and Miu died. “Swear to me, Jafar. Mate her and pry the information from her. One way or the other. Find this master thief and bring them both back here for us to deal with.”
This was exactly what he’d been angling for. Mating would let him keep Miu safe—and, his body reminded him, would let him indulge his erotic fantasies about her.
Surely, she’d see the benefits of partnering with him. And he’d finally have her right where he wanted her: in his bed.
“Mates,” he snapped, before he could get cold feet. “I’ll do it.” There was no other way to keep her safe. To find out the answers that he needed.
“Your word, Jafar.” Amun Ra regarded him over steepled fingers. “Your word that you’ll do it now.” His heavy-lidded gaze dipped downward. “You appear to be up to the task. And, just in case you’re thinking to get clever with your words, you vow to mate her by sunrise.”
“Three hours.”
“I’m feeling generous,” the immortal mocked. “I should make you do the business out there in the gallery, so everyone can satisfy himself that the deed is done.”
“Bastard,” Jafar said, but the words held no heat.
“Quite,” Amun Ra agreed. “After all, I’m only giving you what you want, Jafar, and we both know it.”
CHAPTER NINE
Miu was lying on a pallet rather than in her grave.
Unless, of course, the Cats had simply skipped the killing and gone straight to burying the body. She tried to sit upright, but collapsed, wincing at the residual pain in her head.
When her nausea subsided, Miu levered herself into a sitting position, more slowly this time. The world tilted, whirled, and resolved itself into a small, four-sided room with no obvious door. A prison. Of course. It had been too much to hope that the Cats would settle for banishing her unwelcome person outside their walls.
Looking up, she realized that her prison had no ceiling. The Guardians had chucked her into a grilled cage set into the floor of the temple’s antechamber. Dramatic. And it put her at an immediate disadvantage, forcing her to look up at her captors.
The grating above shuddered as something large and heavy strode over it. Not too far away, a Cat roared. A sitting duck, that’s what she was. If this was what Jafar had had in mind when he’d said, “Trust me,” well, she’d been right to fight him with everything she had.
Jafar. There was a name she was trying to forget. Who would have guessed that he would turn out to be one of the damn shifters who guarded the temple and its treasures? “Enjoying your stay, my femi?” The familiar, raspy voice came from directly overhead. Looking up, she saw Jafar hunkered down over her prison.
Flipping up the grille that had sealed her into the cell, he reached down and extended one large hand.
She stared at it, considering. Stay here. Die.
Go with Jafar—and what?
Her merck-turned-Guardian hadn’t made her any promises. He didn’t need to. Right now he definitely had the upper hand in their battle of wills and they both knew it.
“Take my hand,” he snapped.
She hesitated a moment longer and then slid her fingers into his. She was out of options.
Sliding his other hand along the smooth curve of her forearm, he cupped her elbow and then lifted. She rose effortlessly from the cell, the robe sliding back from her wrist. When she was steady on her feet, he strode toward the main gallery, pulling her along behind him.
“Where are you taking me?” she demanded.
“To the Amun Ra. To be sentenced.”
The bald starkness of his words was warning enough. Was Jafar leading her to her execution? Her body felt oddly cold and the roar of the cats stalking the edges of the gallery retreated to a distant, metallic whine. Was that her breath coming in those frightened, shallow pants? She’d known that she could die in her line of work— she just hadn’t really believed it would happen.
“Breathe,” he instructed in clipped tones. “Don’t fall apart on me now.”
“You’re not the one about to die. I think I’m entitled,” she got out. The words opened up her throat and she sucked in oxygen gratefully.
He wrapped a large hand around her arm, halting her out of earshot of the cats in the gallery. “Listen to me,” he said. “You’re not going to die. I’ve made a bargain with the Amun Ra. But we’ve only got one chance to get this right. Are you listening?” He gave her a small shake.
“I’m going to be right here. Next to you. The Amun Ra has agreed to spare your life, but the Guardians don’t know that. My pride brothers saw what you were up to in that burial chamber. Now we’ve got to convince them you’re not guilty.”
“I’m not guilty?”
His golden eyes bored into hers. “I’d say it’s a matter of proof, love. Do you have anything stolen on you?”
The bag. Her hand patted her side out of habit, and she realized that, at some point, she’d lost her bag. Which meant she no longer had the necklace on her. And no one had actually seen her remove it from the princess’s neck.
“Figured it out?” Jafar slanted her a look. “They may not believe you’re innocent, but they can’t prove you’re guilty either. The Amun Ra knows the law must be upheld. It’s the Guardians’ duty.”
“Right,” she said sarcastically. “Your duty. Why do I get the feeling you Cats enjoy doing your duty a little too much?”
He dropped her hand. “We have a deal with the Valley. Made a promise, so we keep it. When the Guardians revealed themselves to the Valley elders generations ago, they met us with fear and loathing. They didn’t want us anywhere near their homes; they wanted us dead. Because we were different and that difference was a threat. But the Amun Ra showed the Valley men why they needed us. We’ve got a purpose here, and it’s not just to thwart petty thieves like you.”
She wasn’t a petty thief. Not by a long shot.
“The Amun Ra ordered me to follow you yesterday,” he continued. �
��We wanted to know what you were after, whether you would go down to the lower levels. There’s a reason why we keep those off-limits. It’s the same reason that the Valley elders are so glad to have us here. There are far more than thieves and dead men down there, femi. Some of those passages lead straight to Qaf. Trust me when I say that the Valley dwellers know very well they don’t want those sorts of creatures coming through. Makes even the most bloody-minded of thieves seem tame. Have you ever faced an Ifrit?” he asked conversationally.
All she could do was shake her head. No. If she had, she’d have been dead.
“That’s what I do, femi. Day in. Day out. I come up here to report on one of the latest Doorways to open between our world and theirs. Amun Ra wants to know when that happens, so he can dispatch more of us if necessary. See, the temple is more than just a place for sticking dead people and those shiny trinkets to which you’re so partial. It’s a battleground, love, and we’re fighting a war here.
“And somehow,” he continued, “you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in it. I think you know perfectly well that you’re part of something much, much larger than you signed up for. You know what happens to the middleman,” he said darkly.
“Woman,” she corrected, licking suddenly dry lips.
“Woman.” He nodded tersely and the hot gaze that moved down her body, lingering on her breasts for just a moment too long, told her he hadn’t forgot she was a female. “I offered you my protection before. Heqet knows why, but I still want to stand between you and danger.”
“This is your idea of protection?” She glanced at the Guardians descending from the gallery ahead.
He shot her an unfathomable look. “You’re not dead yet,” he pointed out. “And no one’s touched a hair on your head. I’ve kept my end of the bargain.”
“Some bargain,” she groused.
He swung her around to face him. “I can offer you another bargain.”
Hadn’t she learned her lesson from the first bargain? “No, thanks,” she said bitterly. “That first bargain of yours didn’t work out too well for me, did it?”