by Sandy James
But he’d left her. He’d betrayed her. He’d tried to destroy her.
The lioness growled deep in her chest. “You err in coming back to me. I will kill you now.”
He shook his head and set his jaw, refusing to tremble before her anger. “You won’t kill me, Sekhmet. At least not until you satisfy your curiosity about why I’m back and how I found you.”
Sekhmet lowered herself back onto her pathetic wooden throne and draped a leg over the carved arm. She fluffed her wild mane of human hair. “Perhaps. Or perhaps I will drink your blood this day. The power I would get from a creature with your magicks would be splendid and last for a long, long time.” She ran her tongue over her teeth. “I can taste your lifeblood now.”
“You won’t kill me.”
“Then you shall tell me why I will not.”
“I succeeded.”
Richard now had her complete attention. “Succeeded? At betraying me?” She scoffed at him. “And you have returned to gloat? I do not wish to hear your excuses. I no longer need you.”
“Ah, but you do. The Amazons are onto your plan—even before I went to them, they’d been alerted. I knew they would figure everything out too quickly for you to succeed. That’s why I left. I needed to discover their plans and keep them at bay while you prepared. I’ve made sure you’ll achieve your ultimate goal. All I ask is to be allowed to enjoy it with you.”
Sekhmet picked up her jeweled goblet. A loose ruby dropped into her lap as she drank the cold, clotted blood. She forced herself to swallow and thought about how Richard’s fresh blood would taste. Would it still be warm and full of fire as it had been when she fed upon him as he mated with her?
No. No sentiment. She would not have feelings for this demigod. He was merely a Son of Gaia and unworthy of her. The gratitude and adoration he’d given had fed her powers, and he’d weakened her when he fled. The love of his brothers was strong, but not as strong as the love of their leader.
She picked up the ruby and threw it at his head.
Richard caught it midair and smirked.
“Why have you returned?” she demanded.
“I told you, I want to share your victory.”
Sniffing the air, she picked up the scent of his unease. “You lie.”
He shrugged. “I’m here now. That’s all that matters. I can tell you about the Amazons.”
“Ah...the Amazons. Freyjr has told me all I wish to know. These women seem intent upon spoiling my plans. They will fail.”
“You’re wrong. The Amazons could stop you. The Air Amazon took Zach Hanson from right under your nose.”
“Had your brothers done their jobs properly, he would be with me now.”
“Gina still would’ve got him,” Richard insisted.
Understanding dawned. “It was her—the woman who fought at your side. You were infatuated with her.”
His eyes narrowed. “So what if I was?”
“She spurned you, did she not?” Sekhmet chuckled. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Richard, leader of his brothers, comes to me to shelter him. Richard, the great lover, now turned away by a woman who prefers other women.”
He fisted his hands at his side and glared. “Gina doesn’t prefer women.”
“Ah, but your brothers tell me otherwise. She looks like a man. She fights like a man. She is an Amazon. One who prefers her own gender.”
“Your spies are idiots.”
“And Freyjr? Is he also wrong?”
“Gina’s all woman. All the Amazons are all woman.”
“Oh, then you took her, this Gina, as a lover?”
“No,” he answered in a whisper. “She wanted someone else. She wanted the inventor.”
“So you were spurned. Now you come to me for revenge. You want to see the Amazon and the wise man dead, and you wish for me to exact your vengeance. You want me to destroy them.”
She searched his face as he thought it over. How amusing that Richard—the pious man who’d escaped when he’d caught wind of some of her plans—was petty enough to bring down the entire human world because a woman had pushed him aside to take another man as her lover.
How the mighty had fallen indeed.
The poets warned of the wrath of a woman scorned. How ironic that the world would end because of one man’s jealousy.
Richard gave her a curt nod. “I want them both dead.”
“Then you shall tell me about the woman who hovers at your back. Is she to take the Amazon’s place in your bed?”
“He doesn’t need to speak for me,” the blonde answered. She stepped from the shadows to join Richard before Sekhmet’s throne. A woman of power, another who would not cower at the Destructor’s feet. “I speak for myself. I’m the one who helped Richard find you. I’m the one who can tell you every secret, every way you can use to destroy the Amazons.”
Sekhmet’s gaze swept the woman, taking in her velvet gown and the gold crown she had set upon her head. The air around her fairly crackled with magicks.
“You are an Ancient? I do not know you.”
“I’m a goddess by right of birth. I’m a daughter of the mother of the universe itself.”
“Richard’s sister,” Sekhmet said. “Is that why you are here with him? Do you wish to die as well? Do you not know who I am and what I am capable of? Go back to your life, woman. Go back to your home.”
The blonde squared her shoulders and met Sekhmet’s stare. “I’m here to offer an alliance.”
Sekhmet purred deep in her throat, loving the change of the winds that were now blowing her direction. “Do you know that I could snap your pretty little neck and drink your blood for the sheer pleasure of doing so?”
“You can’t, and you won’t.” Her voice held a haughty tone. “You need me.”
Sekhmet’s laughter rang through the hall. “Need you? Need you? I need no one.”
Richard put his hands on his hips and braced his legs apart, such a cocky stance that she felt a grin tug at her lips. “You need us,” he insisted. “We can help you.”
The man’s sheer boldness excited her, but she would never let him know that. Narrowing her eyes, she glared at him. “Why? Why do I need you? What do either of you have to offer for seeing my destiny fulfilled? I am the Destructor, and I will not be denied—with or without you as allies.”
“I can give you the Amazons,” Richard replied. “I can help you bring them down so you have no more obstacles and you can do what you have to do. Their deaths bring about your victory. They are all that stands between you and your destiny.”
“And I,” the woman said, placing her slim hand over her bosom, “can give you aid in defeating the Amazons. I know these women. I know their powers, and I know their weaknesses better than anyone.”
Although inclined to focus on her ultimate goal, Sekhmet considered Richard’s warning. The Amazons could end up being a stronger obstacle than she’d anticipated. “So you believe they will be more to me than insects buzzing by my ear?” She scoffed. Yet their cautions lingered.
“Much more,” the woman replied. “They’re strong. They’re smart. But they aren’t invincible—they have husbands, children. They’ve made themselves vulnerable in a way Amazons have never been before.”
Putting aside her now empty goblet, Sekhmet lounged back on her throne. Perhaps it was time to alter her plans. Perhaps the Fates had decided to be kinder to her this time around. “How do you have such intimate knowledge of their weaknesses?”
“Because I used to be an Amazon. I used to be Earth. I’m Helen, daughter of Gaia.”
Chapter Seventeen
Gina grabbed the hand Sarita held out. She let Sarita help her back to her feet then brushed the sand off her own ass. “Nice shot.”
Sarita flipped her long ponytail over her shoulder. “It wasn’t a nice shot. It was pathetic. You’re not paying attention to training at all.”
Of course she wasn’t paying attention. She could still feel Zach’s warm hands on her body, taste him on
her lips and conjure up his masculine scent. She could—
“Gina?”
She sighed. “Sorry. Lost in thought.”
“I know. That’s why I knocked you on your ass for the first time in six months.”
“Yeah, well...you’re getting better.”
“No, I’m not. I’m still way too short and woefully sad at sparring. You’re just preoccupied.” Sarita shot Gina a motherly look she had to have learned from Rebecca. A scolding was sure to follow.
“Save it, Sarita. I’m not in the mood.”
“Like I care. You need to hear what I have to say.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“Tough turkey giblets.”
“Did you really just say ‘tough turkey giblets’?” Gina laughed until she felt Sarita’s anger and heard the growl coming from her sister’s throat.
Sarita’s motherly look morphed into the stare that could scorch even Megan. “You can’t let what you feel for Zach drown out your training. Love doesn’t change your job. You’re still an Amazon. Act like one. You’re not concentrating. You’re not trying.”
“I was trying,” Gina grumbled.
“Bullshit. If you were trying, I wouldn’t have taken you down with something as wimpy as a sweep. You’re better than that. Much better.”
Gina tried to dismiss the whole conversation with a wave of her hand.
“Gina, so help me...”
“I’m fine, sis.”
“You’re not fine. If you don’t hear it from me, you’ll hear it from Ix Chel soon. Rebecca and Megan, too. I’m sure Johann and Artair will get in line to tear a chunk out of your ass. Get your head together. You love the guy. Good for you. Screw his brains out. But the fact you’ve got it bad for Zach doesn’t change the fact you’re an Amazon and you’ve got a job to do. An important job. We’re saving the Earth from Sekhmet. Or have you forgotten?”
“I know my job,” Gina snapped—not that her tone ever affected Sarita in the least. The Water Amazon was still frowning and appearing on the verge of launching a full-out, ear-splitting lecture.
“Then prove it. Let Zach and Johann fix things on the technical end while you stay sharp enough to guard their backs.”
Hell, yeah, she’d guard Zach’s back. Johann’s, too. She’d lay her life down to protect either of them.
“Then knock me down, damn it,” Sarita replied as if she’d heard Gina’s thoughts, which she probably had. If their Amazon bond got any stronger, they’d soon be communicating telepathically.
This time, Gina thought about another SOG attack on Zach as she went after Sarita, letting her anger grow as if it had a life of its own. She wanted to rip the head off the shocker SOG from Starbucks. She wanted to knock Richard on his ass for what he’d almost done to Zach. Johann had always told her a good Amazon could channel her anger and turn it into true power. Like a shot of adrenaline, she let the rage rip through her and turned it on Sarita.
Driving her sister back with blows and kicks that seemed to come faster than ever before, she watched for the perfect opportunity. One good punch to the stomach brought Sarita to her knees.
“Better,” Sarita said from down in the sand. “And ouch.” She raised her hand to Gina.
Gina grasped her wrist at the same time Sarita grasped hers. She pulled Sarita to her feet. “I’ll straighten up and fly right. It’s just...all I can do is worry about what will happen to him. God, Sarita, if you could’ve seen him when he got hit by those shocker SOGs.”
“I saw you when you got hit by Richard. I’ve got a good idea of what Zach looked like. Shit, Gina, when Richard zapped you, you could’ve died.”
“Richard didn’t mean to hurt me. He was going for Zach.”
Not that his intentions were an excuse for her friend’s reckless act. She owed him a good, hard smack and some major bitching for shocking her.
“Have you heard anything from him?” Sarita asked.
“Zach?”
“No, not Zach. Boy, you’ve really got him on the brain, don’t you? I meant Richard. Have you heard anything from Richard?”
“No. And I’m worried. He’s not supposed to be gone this long. All Artair wanted was for Richard to slip into San Francisco, get some info to Zach’s mom and Jenny so they’d pipe down, and come right back.”
“You agree with Artair—that Jenny would recognize Richard?”
Gina couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled to the surface. “Oh, yeah. You should have seen the way she gawked at him. She was in lust. She could never forget Richard.”
They walked out of the sand pit and hit the lodge. Gina looked around for Zach.
He sat exactly where she’d left him—at one of the long tables, working with the new laptop Ix Chel had given him as a gift when she popped in a few days before.
Once he found out he could log onto the Internet absolutely anywhere and at speeds faster than any normal computer could manage, he’d appeared on the verge of happy tears. He hadn’t left the laptop for anything—eating with one hand while he typed with the other. Last night, he’d actually fallen asleep with the thing on his lap, hands on the keyboard.
Only one thing made Zach close the computer. Making love. That thought made her smile. She rated above his new gadget, and she knew how he felt about his gadgets.
Well aware of their lack of privacy, she bent down to put a chaste kiss on his cheek. Although unaccustomed to being so free with her affections, she felt the need to reconnect whenever they had been apart, which thankfully wasn’t often. Her heart refused to consider what would happen to their relationship when Sekhmet’s threat ended. For now, Gina would keep Zach as close as she could.
His hand shot out to stop her, then he pulled her down into a deeper kiss that made her feel like she was floating a few inches above the floor. When he released her, he gave her a smile with worlds of promise for things to come that warmed her from the inside out.
“Think I’d let you get away with something as pathetic as a kiss on the cheek?” Then he winked before going back to pecking away at the laptop’s keyboard.
“Love you,” Zach said over his shoulder, right there in front of Sarita and Johann.
Her cheeks heated in response to both the kiss and the declaration. Sarita’s beaming smile made the blush hotter. Would she ever get used to sharing so much about her feelings with everyone? Her life had been solo for so long...
The words of love were there, sitting on her tongue, waiting to spill out. She knew how desperately Zach wanted to hear them, even if he didn’t push. He said them to her all the time.
What in the hell was wrong with her? They were just words—just three stupid words that shouldn’t be so damned hard to say.
Not here. Not now. But soon.
They would come. She felt the love in her heart. She would find the courage to declare it. And perhaps someday she wouldn’t be afraid that everyone she loved would be left behind like they’d been when she was a child.
Her Aunt Carla could always say the words. “I love you, Gina. Now be a good girl while I’m gone.” She’d been so young when she’d learned the words “I love you” were always connected with the word “gone.”
She wasn’t that girl anymore, and she knew deep in her heart that saying the words shouldn’t be this difficult. But every friend she’d ever made, every crush she’d ever had, became nothing but another person she waved goodbye to through a car window or at an airport checkpoint. Yet she loved her Amazon sisters, and they were still in her life.
But Zach?
God, she was confused. He’d have to go back to San Francisco. She’d tried to protect him to make that an easy transition. If she lost him now, she didn’t think she could stand it.
Johann joined them when he came from the kitchen, carrying two cans of soda and handing one to Zach. He acknowledged Gina and Sarita with a nod then sat down at his own computer.
“Any news from Megan?” Sarita asked.
“She’s still tailing that
Wall Street broker. Stopped two attempts to nab him.” The pride in his wife came through in his arrogant tone. “She thinks he’s off the SOGs’ radar now. She’s got him stashed in a safe place, and he thinks he won a free vacation in some damn contest he doesn’t remember entering.”
“Did she send him to one of the goddess’s islands?” Gina asked.
“Yep. Freya’s. The guy will be hung over, tan and very, very happy, what with all the priestesses there to keep him company.”
“Priestesses?” Zach asked.
“Yeah,” Gina replied. “And priests, but not as often. They pledge themselves to serve an Ancient.”
“They’ll take care of that guy?”
Sarita plopped down on the end of the bench. “Oh, yeah. They’ll take really good care of him.”
Gina grinned at her sister before turning back to Zach. “Some of the goddesses have uncharted islands in the Caribbean and South Pacific. They let their priestesses vacation there. Let’s just say...those women don’t see many men.”
“If he’s on Freya’s island,” Sarita added, “he’ll get jumped the minute he steps off the plane.”
Johann chuckled, something Gina had seldom heard before he married Megan. “Well, here’s some good news. Looks like the first real attempt to start a financial panic fizzled like a bad firecracker. There was a spurt of stock sales, but nothing like Sekhmet has been gearing up for. The Dow fell six-hundred points again today, but...” He shrugged. “Could’ve been a lot worse. If SOGs had taken the identities of all the guys she targeted, the world could have found itself in a deep, dark depression.”
“Just what she’d hoped for,” Sarita said. “How many of the men Sekhmet targeted were compromised?”
“From what Rebecca and Megan are saying, just three,” Johann replied. “Three important guys. Sekhmet might get a recession, but she won’t get the crash and burn that could’ve started the chaos she’s looking for.”
“Richard said Sekhmet wanted the financial panic first,” Gina told Zach. “Seems like she screwed that up.”
Zach stopped typing and glanced up at Gina. His brow was knit. “I thought she was after the Toy to start a nuclear war.”