by Sandy James
An enraged growl rose from Sekhmet’s chest. She raised her hands, and Gina tried to anticipate where the shockwave would hit.
It never came.
Sekhmet gasped and her growl became nothing but a gurgle in her throat. She slowly sank to her knees, then to all fours.
“Sekhmet, your time has finally come.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Zach couldn’t believe what was right in front of him.
Helen pulled her jeweled dagger from Sekhmet’s back. Black blood dripped from its tip before she plunged it into the goddess again.
Sekhmet’s low growl turned into a shriek.
A cool smile crossed Helen’s lips. “My thanks to your father for sending me this weapon. He blessed it himself.”
“No!” Sekhmet screeched as she writhed in pain. “He would not betray me again.”
“Oh, yes, he would. And not just with me. With him as well.” She nodded to Zach. “Bind her.”
“No.” Sekhmet struggled to get back to her feet. “I am the Destructor. I will not yield.”
Zach took a deep breath and stretched his hands out. Thinking only of Gina, he let the emotions swell inside him until the tendrils shot from his palms, seeking the lioness.
Her face now more animal than woman, Sekhmet twisted against the bonds. “No. My father would not do this.”
Concentrating on keeping the goddess in his control, he gritted his teeth and dug deep for whatever it was Ra had seen in his soul that made him worthy of this power. The tethers strengthened and held Sekhmet as fast and strong as a cocoon. He had control of his power, but he drowned in the searing heat pouring through his body.
He pushed aside the pain and kept her right where he wanted her.
Helen stepped to the edge of the marble floor and raised her hands high. The earth rumbled as the sand beside the marble oasis began to split as it had when the throne room pushed its way up to reach the desert surface. This time, a granite tomb buried deep in the sand was revealed. With a clenched jaw and an unladylike grunt, she focused on the lid. It slid back at a snail’s pace until it finally rested on the sand.
The trap was set.
Sekhmet looked at the tomb and roared. “I will not be buried again!” She turned to throw her powers at Zach. Her shockwave hit him square in the chest.
He felt like someone had slammed him into a stone wall.
The bindings snapped as he flew through the air to again find himself buried in a sand dune. He’d underestimated her, thinking she’d lost her juice. Now he was paying the painful price.
“Shit.” He tried to dig his way out, wanting desperately to get that bitch in the hole in the ground.
Gina jumped on Sekhmet’s back and wrapped her legs around the goddess’s waist. The dark blood oozing from the stab wounds soaked Gina’s pants and shirt.
He clawed his way free of the sand and ran to where Gina was riding Sekhmet like a bucking bronco. He pulled his Amazon back with him several feet. Then he pushed his palms out as he furrowed his brow in concentration. The tethers shot from him to wrap around the goddess’s chest.
It was time to end this fight.
He jumped into the tomb, dragging a bound Sekhmet with him.
Zach rolled with the landing, but he hit harder than he’d intended. Blinding pain shot through his right leg when he tried to stand, and he fell back against the stone floor. Judging from the pain, the damn leg might be fractured. The only comfort was that Sekhmet was losing her powers. On all fours, she kept trying to stand, but tripped on her long gown, landing face first against the granite floor.
The race was on to see which could gain control first.
Struggling to his feet, Zach reached out, letting the pain fuel the powers thrumming through him. Picturing the binding power like some long piece of rope that wrapped itself around the goddess, he tied her down. The sting and heat from using the binding were there, mixing with the agony of putting weight on his leg. He tried to keep the sensations from prodding at him because he knew how important this job was. He’d been given this task because it was his destiny.
He’d see it through no matter the cost.
Sekhmet got back on her feet, fighting and thrashing against the invisible bonds. The harder she struggled, the more difficult it was to contain her.
Zach buckled down, not bothering to wipe away the blood trickling from his nose. A passing thought about whether his brain was going to explode from the pressure building inside his skull drifted through his concentration.
Just when he thought he was gaining the upper hand, a loud grinding noise drew his attention. Helen had begun to force the granite lid over the tomb.
* * *
Gina’s heart pounded as her greatest fear played out before her eyes. Zach in the tomb with Sekhmet. She wasn’t sure what to do.
His face had flushed bright red, and sweat coated his forehead and upper lip. A steady trickle of blood came from both his nostrils, and she couldn’t tell if it was because he’d hit his nose against the floor or because the powers were taking a high toll on his body. The cords in his neck stood out as if he was lifting an incredible amount of weight. The pain had to be almost unbearable.
Gina dared to hope Zach could really bind all of Sekhmet’s powers and keep that bitch in the tomb. Then Helen would have to finish putting the lid in place. But there was no way in heaven or hell Gina would let him be sealed inside forever.
No, she was damn well getting him out.
A glance back to Sarita told Gina there would be no help from her sister. Sarita lay on the granite of the throne room, still unconscious. It was just Gina and Zach. And perhaps Helen, so long as she didn’t turn on both of them when the deed was done.
Gina moved to the side of the deep hole, trying to decide her best plan of action. Her options were limited, so she settled on watching the lid to the tomb until the right moment. She’d jump in, grab Zach and jump right back out.
Quick and easy.
A snort slipped out before she could stop it.
About as simple and easy as brain surgery.
Sekhmet faced Zach from the far side of the tomb. The two looked like gunslingers from the nineteenth century ready for a quick draw.
“Let me go,” Sekhmet begged, her ragged voice full of desperation.
He couldn’t summon up an ounce of pity—not after all she’d done and all she’d planned to do. She’d turned his creation into something evil.
No, Zach found absolutely no pity inside himself.
“I will give you riches. I will give you immortality.” She shrieked as if in pain, flailing against his invisible bonds. “Save me!”
Zach didn’t budge.
Gina positioned herself on the edge of the vault behind Zach, threw one more look to Sarita with the hope Water might have regained consciousness, then crouched in anticipation.
Inch by agonizing inch, the lid slid over the tomb, throwing a dark shadow over Sekhmet. Gina kept her eyes glued on Zach until the shadow covered him as well. Then, with a prayer to any Ancient who might be listening, she made her move.
She jumped down, landing behind Zach.
“Save me, Amazon,” Sekhmet called. “The world will be yours.”
“Fuck off.”
Sekhmet’s angry shriek echoed off the marble walls.
Zach’s greeting was exactly what she’d expected. “Get the hell out of here, Gina. I have to finish this.”
“No. I’m gonna wrap my arms around your waist, then we’re both getting out of here. Keep her bound as long as you can, but when I say so, I’m taking you out of this tomb.”
“She’ll follow us out.”
“She’ll try, but she won’t succeed.” Gina snaked one arm around him, pressing her chest to his back. She whispered in his ear. “On three, let her go.”
“No.”
“Zach, one way or another, I’m getting you out of here. If I have to fight against your powers, so help me, I will. Spare me an ordeal and do
what I ask.”
“Gina... Just go. Now.”
“Shut up.” Pressing harder against him, she let her lips touch his ear as she whispered, “I love you. Don’t make me watch you die.” She was glad he couldn’t see the tear tracing a path down her cheek. “On three...”
Bending her knees, she prepared to jump. Probably a little over a story and a half. Easy as pie if she’d been alone. Bearing almost two-hundred pounds of dead weight would make it next to impossible.
She didn’t care. If he died, she was going to die with him. Their fates were joined from the moment they’d met.
She’d known it all along.
“One. Two. Th—”
Her word was lost as Zach fisted his hands. The breaking of the binding pushed him back against her hard enough she almost took a stumbling step. Thank the Ancients, her legs were strong enough to hold them upright. Gina took a deep breath and jumped.
She wasn’t going to make it. That realization hit hard and fast when she shifted her burden so that most of Zach’s body hit the upper edge of the tomb. He threw a leg up and hoisted himself out. The only thing Gina could do was grip the edge with her fingers as she dangled back into the sarcophagus.
Zach scrambled back to the edge. Reaching over, he tried to grab for Gina’s hand.
The lid was only feet from closing, and all that held her up were her fingers.
They were almost out of time.
She groped for the edge with her free hand. Zach caught her wrist and pulled. Gina struggled to walk up the wall as he hauled her up. Just when they were about to succeed, a growl rumbled through the tomb.
A clawed hand grabbed Gina’s ankle and yanked.
Sekhmet almost pulled both of them back into the grave with her. As it was, Zach dangled head-first over the edge, his hold on Gina the only thing keeping her from falling in.
As the lid edged closer, he shouted, “Get rid of her, Gina.”
She landed a solid kick on the lioness’s face. “I’m trying.” Two more kicks and Sekhmet shrieked, tumbling into her dark grave.
With a loud shout, he pulled. Gina’s arms cleared the side as she walked up the wall and the rest of the way out. A moment later, the lid settled over the crypt with a resounding thud.
Gina crawled to Zach, who’d rolled to his back. She collapsed against his chest, and they both gasped for air.
She rubbed her cheek against his chest, wondering if she’d ever be able to move again. The jump had drained her to the point she could barely hold her head up. Zach didn’t seem to be in much better shape, lying sprawled on the warm sand.
But they were both alive, and Sekhmet was gone.
An eerie laugh reached through her mental fog.
“Bravo.” Helen’s words and clapping mimicked Sekhmet’s earlier condescending response. “You beat the lioness at her game.” She scolded them with a cluck of her tongue. “Now how will you protect yourselves?”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Gina had known all along that Helen would turn on them. She’d known a scorpion had been lured into their nest.
Unfortunately, she had nothing left inside. Every ounce of her strength had been used up to fight Sekhmet and rescue Zach. From the way he lay crumpled in a heap under her, he’d used all his reserves as well. All either of them could do was sit in the scorching sun and wait for what would come next.
They were royally fucked.
Helen’s laugh sounded raucously smug. No wonder. She’d won and wanted to revel in it.
Why did all villains feel the need to gloat?
“Just as I planned. Two Amazons down, and that will leave me only two to destroy.”
“Bitch,” was all Gina could squeeze out.
She’d never been so exhausted. The zap from Richard. The shockwave from that damned SOG. Sekhmet tossing her around. Getting Zach free of the tomb.
There was nothing left in her tank.
“Ah, Gina.” Helen glided like a queen over the lid of Sekhmet’s tomb. “I wish you could give me a fight. It would make the victory so much sweeter. But first things first.”
She’d reached the other side of the sarcophagus and stood next to where Gina and Zach lay breathless and exhausted. Turning back to the tomb, Helen chanted some Latin words, causing the ground to rumble. The whole structure sank into the desert. Sand poured over it until the last of the gray granite disappeared. Soon, there was no evidence it had ever been there at all.
Helen gave the sand a flippant wave. “Enjoy eternity, Sekhmet. Do try not to get too bored.”
With another wave, she sent Gina and Zach rolling like a couple of errant tumbleweeds until they hit the marble floor of Sekhmet’s throne room. They toppled down the stairs and came to rest at the foot of the dais.
Gina used the last of her strength to crawl on top of Zach again to act like a shield. He was too spent to do more than shake his head at her. She nodded.
Helen acted like she had all the time in the world—probably because she did. She strolled over to the dais, climbed the stairs and stood before the gold throne. “Fit for a goddess,” she said as she turned and sat her divine ass on Sekhmet’s throne.
Damn it all if she didn’t start a villain’s litany, the type of smug rub-your-face-in-it soliloquy that Gina always hated in movies.
Just get on with it. Gina had come to terms that she and Zach were toast. Having Helen take her own damned time was adding insult to injury.
Shit, if she only had her powers. Then she could shut Helen the hell up.
Helen smoothed her hands over her silk gown. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
Gina wished the heat of the desert would at least look like it was getting to the neo-goddess. But, nooo. Not an ounce of sweat. Skin the color of a porcelain doll. Not a blond hair out of place.
“By killing two of the Amazons, I’ll be able to have free rein. The two remaining cannot possibly stop me.”
Zach stirred beneath Gina. “Hate braggarts,” he rasped out.
She actually found the strength to chuckle, although it sounded more like a groan. “Me too.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
“Well, aren’t you two the sweetest thing ever, saving the last of your strength to declare your love. My Romeo and Juliet are prepared to die together. Far be it from me to spoil your ending.” Helen rose and stepped to the edge of the dais. “In appreciation for your help in sealing Sekhmet back into her tomb, I’ll be merciful and make this as painless as possible.”
An explosion of water hit Helen square in the chest.
Helen sputtered and flailed against the relentless stream of water flying from the fountain with the pressure of a fire hose.
“Sarita,” Gina whispered.
The force of the water pushed Helen back to the throne and forced her into the seat. She struggled, twisting and trying to speak, but the water was getting the better of her. It drowned her hair, her clothes, her dainty satin slippers. A moment later, the stream of water began to harden, cracking and growing into an enormous block of ice.
“No!” Helen’s scream died as she was quickly encased in a tomb of ice.
“Gina,” Sarita called as she stumbled over to her sister, looking like she’d had entirely too much to drink. “You all right?”
Gina found the strength to nod.
“Zach?”
“Fine.”
“We’ve gotta get out of here.”
Easier said than done.
“I heard that,” came Sarita’s reply. “One of these days you’ll learn to believe in me.”
“I already do, sis.”
The pounding desert sun wouldn’t allow Helen to stay encased in ice too long. There was just no way they would survive without divine intervention. About to rub her earring and beg Ix Chel for help, Gina was pulled into a void again. Panicked that Zach might be left behind, she wrapped her arms around him.
The next thing she knew, she was lying on the grass, Zach still
at her side. Sarita was sprawled a few feet away.
Megan and Rebecca stood over them, holding hands. They didn’t look much better than Gina felt.
Rebecca’s blond hair had been blown in every direction, as if she’d been in a wind tunnel.
From the amount of snarls and frizzes in Megan’s red hair, she could have stuck her finger in an electric socket.
Gina laughed, although it sounded more like a cough.
“How?” Sarita tried to get up. A groan escaped her lips, and she sprawled back on the grass.
“We brought you back,” Rebecca replied. “An old Amazon trick that Artair wanted us to try.”
“Hurt like hell.” Megan dropped Rebecca’s hand and rubbed the heel of her own against her furrowed forehead. “My head feels like it’s gonna explode.”
“Thanks,” Zach said, rolling over and wincing.
Gina wanted to help him, but she didn’t have the energy.
Right before she passed out, she heard Rebecca say, “It didn’t really work, though. We were trying to go to you.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
When she opened her eyes, Gina smiled. The familiarity of her cabin wrapped around her like a fuzzy blanket. Zach’s grasp of her hand made her eyes sting with tears.
She rolled from her back to her side and tried not to groan in pain. Not pain really—more like deep down ache all the way to her bones.
She’d survive.
Zach still slept. She rested there, content to stare at his face. A layer of light brown whiskers covered his chin and cheeks. No bruises she could see, thank the Ancients. His leg was thrown over her thigh. A thick Ace bandage was wrapped around his muscular thigh from right below his knee until it disappeared under his boxers. From the way he’d favored it back in the desert, she’d feared he had broken his femur.
He breathed deeply and evenly, a slight snore coming from his parted lips. As bad as she felt, he had to feel ten times worse. Amazons healed so rapidly, she’d forgotten how long it would take a mortal to recover.
Days?
Weeks?
Months?
However long it took would measure the amount of time she had left with Zach. She’d made up her mind. Watching him almost die only cemented her opinion. He didn’t deserve facing death on a daily basis.