Protector of the Flame

by Isis Rushdan

  They wanted him to say he was wrong, to show humility, to beg forgiveness. Well, they’d get no such contrition. “I was given no orders to shackle my kabashem and drag her by the hair to Herut against her will.”

  “Your mate is but a child. Merely what? Thirty? And you let her control you,” Constantine said. A bitter scoff followed. “Your weakness astounds me and shames this House.”

  Leta placed a hand on Constantine’s forearm. “A strong female knows her heart and follows her mind regardless of her kabashem’s objections.”

  Lord Orazio rolled his eyes, stroking his mustache. “Yes, Leta, you are a paragon of such a female.”

  The backhanded compliment referred to Leta taking Cyrus’s father, Dominicus, as her consort-misère, despite her kabashem’s profound objections. According to Herut law since his mother had died, it wasn’t only permitted but encouraged by ancient tradition. It was the only union not between kabashem sanctioned, as an act of mercy. However, when the protests of a sealed mate shake the walls of a House, threatening to rip apart a family, tradition had a way of falling to the wayside. Unless the one making the decision was Leta.

  “Let us not forget,” Leta said, “Serenity is not of House Herut. Unlike Cyrus, she is free to go wherever she wishes.”

  Cyrus stepped closer, his paltry thread of patience unraveling. “My kabashem will come to Herut once the necklace is off. I ask for permission to retrieve her at once.”

  “The immortals bait us,” Constantine spit. “You and your mate fall for their tricks, and now you want us to let you leap into their trap.” A derisive laugh grated like nails on a chalkboard.

  Why wouldn’t they listen to reason? “Salvation, freeing all Kindred from the afflictions of the curse is of the utmost importance to Herut.”

  Lord Orazio leaned forward. “Do not presume to lecture us on the desires of Herut. We. Are. Herut.”

  “In order to break the curse,” Cyrus continued, shifting his gaze to Leta, hoping his aunt would aid him, “I must be reunited with my kabashem, regardless of the immortals’ schemes. Without her, I am nothing to this House.”

  Constantine flew down from his throne with the whiplash speed of the warrior he was born and slapped Cyrus backhanded. Blood pooled in his mouth.

  “After all we’ve done for you,” Constantine growled, “how we’ve believed in you, despite your mistakes that cost your mother her life, to speak such words is to spit in our faces. You are the future of Herut. One day soon, you will take my seat and fulfill your duty, make no mistake about that.”

  Fury boiled, the thread snapped. It took all of Cyrus’s self-control to keep his wings from unfurling and choking a concession from Constantine regardless of the truth he spoke.

  “The issue remains,” Leta said. “Cyrus must go to House Aten to bring Serenity to us so they can fulfill their destiny. We can’t allow him to go alone and we can’t send battle-guard.”

  Constantine turned his back on Cyrus with indignant flourish and retook his seat.

  “This is a delicate situation that must be handled with care,” Lord Orazio said. “Perhaps one of us should accompany him, along with an entourage of warriors such as Abbadon and necessary attendants.”

  Gritting his teeth, Cyrus exhaled frustration. “Then it’s decided. I leave for Aten today.”

  Leta smiled while her eyes sparked of warning. “Patience, Cyrus. We’ll send you to Aten.”

  “Once we are certain of how best to proceed,” Constantine said with steely finality.

  Chapter Ten

  The plane engine chugged, warming up. Compartments overhead were opened and closed.

  Serenity’s assailant came into sight. He knelt, raised goggles and removed his ski mask. Wisps of long dark hair fell around shoulders. Her captor came into full view. Serenity stared into almond-shaped violet eyes, her mother’s eyes.

  Fear washed into shock. If she could’ve spoken, she had no idea what she would’ve said.

  Sothis removed Serenity’s backpack, allowing her a glimpse of the four-seat aircraft as she was lifted. Her mother propped the bag under Serenity’s head before going back to the front of the plane.

  Although she was breathing, all of her muscles were constricted. It would’ve been better to be knocked out than fully alert and utterly helpless. Staring at a white spot on the roof of the cabin, she made a list of questions for the woman who had abandoned her twenty-five years ago.

  No letters, no birthday cards, no phone calls, nothing from her mother until today.

  It seemed as though they’d been in the air for hours before she could blink. They landed. The door opened. Warm air coasted in.

  A moment later, the smell of gasoline permeated the air. They must’ve been refueling.

  She wiggled fingers and toes, but still wasn’t able to take off the damn parka and gloves. The heat was stifling.

  The plane took off again.

  The changing light of day shifting in the aircraft was the only way to track the passage of time. Hours dragged by as she bathed in her sweat stuck in the jacket. Being trapped inside her body was a new kind of torture, captive to her thoughts and a woman she yearned and feared to see since her father’s death.

  In her wildest imaginings, she never thought the chance to finally get answers to the questions that had haunted her would come like this.

  Twilight came. Evening passed. The full effects of the potent paralysis drug still hadn’t worn off. Feeling returned inch by inch to her legs. She curled her fingers, slowly moved her arms.

  Sometime after sunrise she finally had the strength to sit up. Rolling off the backpack, she hit the floor in a thud. She waited to see if she’d be subdued.

  Seconds slipped into minutes.

  She tugged at the jacket’s zipper with a breath of relief. After struggling to an upright position, she crawled toward the cockpit. Her feet and hands had a pins-and-needles sensation. The heaviness of a full bladder hit, but she refused to piss on herself. She flopped against the empty co-pilot seat.

  “What…where?” She couldn’t feel her tongue.

  Sothis tossed a bottle of water into her lap. “Drink all of it.” Her voice was like the sound of wind chimes carried on a summer breeze, so unexpectedly pleasant.

  Serenity fumbled with the cap. Her mother snatched the bottle, opened it and handed it back. She sipped the water until full feeling returned to her mouth.

  Her thoughts raced, but she pinpointed Spero, another warrior slain trying to protect her. “Why did you kill them?”

  “They’re all alive, merely incapacitated like you were.”

  Relief oozed. “Why attack us?”

  “No one could know I was the one taking you. I’m sorry about the drug. I wasn’t certain about the strength of your ingenium and I didn’t want to give you the chance to show me.”

  Serenity wanted to touch her. Put hand to flesh, ensure her mother was real. “Where have you been all these years?”

  “Serving the Sodalitas, the fraternity of Paladins.”

  Shock crashed into horror. Her mother could obviously be ruthless, coldblooded even, to leave a five-year-old child alone in the world, but Paladins were skilled assassins capable of unspeakable evil. “Are you taking me to your fraternity of cutthroat murderers?”

  Those intense violet eyes bored into her. “Never.”

  “After Daddy…” The words clogged her throat, but she needed to ask. “After Daddy died, why didn’t you come back for me?”

  Sothis shot her a queer glance. The same face from the photos, radiating incandescent beauty. Only her mother’s hair was different. Instead of black, it was chocolate brown with red highlights. Glossy, straight tresses pinned high on her head. “What do you remember?”

  “You leaving us. The memories are choppy. I mostly remember Dad. I remember him shooting himself.”

  “Your father didn’t commit suicide,” Sothis said in an uneasy tone.

  “I know. Cyrus showed me a report stating he was m
urdered, but I clearly remember that he killed himself.” Her father falling to the floor, blood leaking from his head into a crimson pool. The image was always with her.

  “That bastard.”

  “Do you know who messed with my memories?”

  The aircraft jerked and vibrated as they hit turbulence. Sothis looked straight ahead.

  “Mom?” Serenity waited. “Mother!”

  Sothis pinned her with a steely look. “Do not call me Mother.”

  For years, she’d dreamed of the moment when she could confront this woman, learn why her life had been ripped apart, unleash pent up anger and pain, but instead she cowered like a scared child. “What happened to our family?”

  “I gambled with the wrong person and lost everything.”

  Silence cut deep as Serenity waited for an elaboration that never came. “After twenty-five years, you owe me more than that.”

  “I owe you?” Indignation rang sharp. “Everything I’ve done has been to keep you safe, so you could grow up free and you almost threw it all away going to Aten.”

  “I had to go to Aten. That bitch Seshata gave me this cursed necklace.” Serenity yanked the collar of her shirt down. The chain lay entrenched in her flesh, but the amulet rested on the surface of her skin.

  Sothis reached for it and then froze. “Ah.”

  “You can’t take it off?” Her mother had been born and raised at House Aten. Surely that counted.

  “I no longer belong to Aten.”

  “You’re loyal to Sekhem now.” A disgusting, horrible truth, which couldn’t be avoided.

  “Sekhem?” Sothis smirked. “My allegiance is to the Paladins.”

  The Paladins were a wing of Sekhem. “To be loyal to one is to be loyal to both. Right?”

  “We’re here.”

  The one question she’d forgotten to ask. “Where are you taking me?”

  Through the clouds, Sothis pointed to a small island in the distance. A speck in the endless sea of blue. “To the Great Library.”

  “To Neith, the historian?” Neith was the oldest living Kindred to walk the earth and Blessed. “Why?”

  “It’s the only safe place for you now.”

  Serenity pulled off the parka. “Take me to Cyrus at House Herut.”

  “You wouldn’t survive the month at Herut. This is the only way to keep you alive.”

  The plane jerked. The engine puttered. A roaring buzz filled the cabin. According to the fuel gauge, they were on empty. She cringed at the thought of crashing. “Do we have life jackets? I’d hate to survive this long just to drown.”

  “You never learned to swim?”

  “Daddy was supposed to teach me, but…” Serenity’s gaze flowed from her mother’s face to the stretch of watery blue below. “Who killed my father?”

  The question had gnawed at her since Seshata revealed someone had tampered with her memories.

  Sothis stiffened.

  “I don’t have memories of you, besides the day you left. I could never remember your face, just your eyes…and that fucking smile.” Anger roiled and her energy stream stirred. With a deep breath, she suppressed it. She didn’t want to lash out. She wanted answers. “Why didn’t you come back for me? You didn’t know if I was safe or even alive.”

  “I couldn’t go back for you,” Sothis said in a flat voice.

  “Why not? You have no idea what I went through without you. What really happened?”

  Face ashen as death, Sothis remained stoic.

  The petering buzz of the engine filled the dead space. Serenity’s heart throbbed for more. Inches from her mother and they might as well have been on separate planes.

  “Don’t you want to ask me any questions?” Tears stung her eyes. “Don’t you want to know anything about me?”

  “No.” The answer was sharp, final.

  Serenity twisted in her seat. She closed her eyes and concentrated on sublimating the ire bubbling. The last thing she needed a few thousand feet above the ocean was to lose control of her ingenium.

  Chugging turned to a strange silence. The engine died and the aircraft coasted downward.

  Drowning was number three on her list of horrible ways to go. Maybe being torn to pieces by sharks should be number three. She clutched her seat. “If we’re going to die, you could at least give me answers first.”

  “I refuse to let you die.” Sothis kicked the steel panel in front of the engine twice.

  After a click, followed by a long sputter, the engine jolted to a start.

  A cloud bank parted. A majestic island came into view. Serenity’s gaze fixed on an immense iridescent white building in the shape of an octagon with a sparkling dome in the middle. The impressive structure glittered in the sunshine like something from a fairytale. Tall pillars lined the front reminiscent of an Athenian temple.

  Gears shifted on the aircraft and they descended, landing on a strip of grass. The aircraft coasted to a stop.

  Massive trees and dense foliage surrounded them. A less precise landing definitely would’ve hurt. Serenity put on her backpack and followed Sothis off the plane.

  “How did you find me?”

  Sothis slung a black duffel bag across her body. She was taller by two inches, but they had the same lean frame and curves. “Oracles had visions of you and Cyrus. I heard Sekhem sent scouts. By the time I got to Valhalla, Mrs. Carter told me you’d left for your honeymoon.”

  “Mrs. Carter wouldn’t tell you anything.” The old woman had been a loyal cook and housekeeper to Cyrus for more than thirty years. She’d never betray them.

  “She didn’t believe any of my stories, regardless of how creative. So I told her the truth, that I was your mother. Strangely, she accepted that.”

  Her mother hadn’t aged a day from the photos, so lovely, so youthful.

  “She’s been around Kindred for decades and knows we don’t age like ordinary people.”

  Sothis closed her eyes, raising her face to the sky, then lowered to her knees, cheek canted toward the ground.

  “What is it?” Serenity looked around for snakes and wild animals, less concerned with the ground.

  “There’s something peculiar about this place.”

  They trekked through grass and trees until they came to two Sphinx statues carved out of the same shimmering white stone as the octagonal building. The statues stood thirty feet high and at least fifty feet wide.

  Sothis stopped. “I can’t go any farther. Ask to speak to Neith. Show respect by kneeling. Tell her I humbly request an invitation.”

  This was the big plan? Separate and beg for entry. “You’re not coming with me?”

  “It would be seen as an act of aggression, provoking a violent response. Make it clear I’ll leave if I’m denied permission.”

  “I wasn’t invited either.”

  “You don’t belong to a House. Technically, you’re as neutral as Neith.”

  Gritting her teeth, Serenity proceeded forward, gripping the straps of her backpack. She approached a fountain unlike anything she’d ever seen. At the center, an obelisk with Egyptian hieroglyphics sat in an open stone flower. Water flowed over petals made of rock, pooling into a base so large it looked as if giants had constructed it.

  A path cut through the middle of landscaped gardens, leading to the steps of the monumental building. A white tiger purred to her left.

  She swallowed hard, slowing her pace.

  A bald woman strolled parallel to the tiger, squirrel monkey perched on her shoulder. She had an attractive face and wore an ivory tunic with matching pants.

  Serenity walked around a sundial and ascended the front stairs of the building. Cameras mounted to pillars followed her. A man with cropped hair, wearing the same ivory outfit, waited in front of carved stone doors.

  “I’ve come to see Neith. I’m—”

  “I know who you are,” the man said. He extended his arm in a graceful motion. Coarse grains of power brushed her energy stream and the doors opened.

 
; Neat trick.

  She entered a marble foyer the size of a house.

  Men and women dressed in dark blue, fifty or more, stood shoulder to shoulder in a semi-circle, eyeing her from head to foot. Although they didn’t have weapons, their confident stance, the way they protectively held back the crowd beginning to form told her they were all warriors or had some power that could harm her. Of that she was certain.

  The cool, airy room had an exceptionally high ceiling, but did little to ease her sense of containment. She flexed her fingers and curled them back around the straps of the backpack, glancing at the Egyptian statues separated by columns around the periphery. Scanning the faces in the crowd sent jitters flurrying in her stomach, so she looked down. An emblem of a shield with a key and sword across the front adorned the middle of the marble floor.

  Doors straight ahead opened. The whispering crowd peeled to the sides, making a path.

  A woman with silver hair floated in on a cloud of ivory. Her silk gown hung down to her ankles. Lustrous, thick hair fell loose about her shoulders. Centuries of wisdom was etched in the porcelain face. Deep wrinkles pinched the mouth. Crow’s feet cut around shrewd eyes, an opalescent shade of gray kissed by shadows of sky blue, that studied Serenity.

  “I am Neith. Why have you come?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Unquestionable authority and unearthly grace radiated from Neith.

  Serenity knelt before the ancient beauty. “My mother, Sothis, brought me. She humbly requests an invitation.”

  Whispers echoed throughout the hall.

  “Rise, Serenity, daughter of Lucien. You’ve no need to kneel before me.”

  Mouth dry, heart galloping, Serenity stood.

  “A Paladin on my sacred grounds? Why has she brought you?”

  Serenity dug her nails into the leather straps of her bag. “She said it was the only safe place for me.”

  Neith stared at her with the same clean slate expression she’d grown accustomed to with Abbadon—shielding all thought, all emotion. “Soren—” she turned to the man who had opened the doors with telekinetic powers, “—bring forth the Paladin.”