by Jean Murray
“Are you hurt?”
Bomani feared this moment. His dishonor had found him. This was not how he envisioned the reunion with his brother.
Bakari squeezed his shoulder again. “Bomani?”
“Are you here to gloat?” Bomani asked, feeling an overwhelming amount of anger. The fact he was buried under a ton of rubble did not help his feeling of being trapped by his past.
“I am here to save your ass,” Bakari replied, his tone on edge. “Looks like we got here just in time.”
Bomani hissed, his pride wounded. His legs were numb, probably crushed. Unparalleled pain raced across his skin. And the one male he hated above all was here to drag his ass out of the fire. Fate had a real sick sense of humor.
“I need to pull my hand out. They are lifting the heaviest load.” Bakari squeezed Bomani’s shoulder again and slipped his hand away.
Bomani had never felt more alone and helpless than in the minutes following. He closed his eyes and reached out to Siya through the bond. He needed to know she was safe. He forced his waning energy across the thread. The frayed bond vibrated but her energy remained elusive to his call. The emptiness was too much to bear.
A faint ripple of her fear filled Bomani’s chest.
“Siya?” He grasped onto the phantom energy.
Bomani? A faint voice echoed in his head. The sour scent of overwhelming panic and worse, her terror filled his senses.
Siya! Where are you?
Seconds passed without an answer. Finally, the soft scent of flowers floated in the air around him.
I am sorry.
Tell me, damn it.
You will not be forgotten.
The wreckage shifted over his hips. Razor sharp pain shot up his spine. Sheer agony consumed him and broke the connection. “Siya,” he hollered with the pain.
“I have you,” Bakari said, standing over Bomani.
His brother’s face and shaved head blurred as Bomani struggled to force the darkness from his vision.
“I need to transport you. The weight is too great to remove it completely.”
Barely holding onto consciousness, Bomani grabbed Bakari’s hand.
“Now,” Bakari commanded.
The weight lifted against Bomani’s legs. Dematerializing muted the pain until Bomani reappeared on a medical gurney. Pain shot up through his legs to his torso. He screamed, unable to contain the explosive agony resonating from both his body and soul. A curtain of blackness enveloped him.
Bomani floated in the darkness. He assumed this realm was the equivalent of death for a god. Separated and lifeless. No pain. He drifted in the black hole. Only when the light scent of vanilla and lilacs tickled his nose, did he rouse. He had someplace to be. Someone to find, he reminded himself.
He fought against the blackness holding him so tightly. Small sparks ignited around him. The more he struggled the more stars appeared in his vision. At last the veil lifted, and he stared up at the bright light above the table.
Bomani thrashed, his lower body refusing his commands.
“Bomani! You are safe,” Bakari shouted and pinned Bomani’s shoulders to the bed.
Registering the pain in his body, Bomani stilled. His brother’s hard gaze held him a moment before looking towards the foot of the bed. Bomani followed and stared at the mangled bloody limbs unmoving on the blanket. If not being attached to his body and draped in the pants he had been wearing this day, Bomani would not have believed it. Despite the large light above, blackness threatened to take him again. He sagged back on the mattress. Again he forced his limbs to action, but they failed to move.
“Easy,” Lilly said, coming into view. “This is going to take a while to fix.” Her delicate hands were covered in blood. Her bright green eyes glowed with the inherited gift of life and healing. The oldest of the Carrigan sisters and his father’s wife.
Where Lilly was, Asar was not far behind. Bomani’s nightmare had manifested in a worst case scenario. “Get me out of here,” Bomani said, refusing to lie flat. He jerked up, only to find Bakari’s hand planted on his chest.
“You are not going anywhere.”
A wave of nausea and cold sweat forced Bomani to slump back.
“Care to explain how you got mixed up with Menthu’s daughter?” Bakari demanded.
“She is a friend,” Bomani said, knocking Bakari’s hand away. How could he explain his relationship to Siya, let alone his deal with Bast? No matter how many times he ran over it in his mind, it all sounded maniacal. Not to mention, Bomani was drowning in his own hypocrisy.
“Well, your friend saved your life,” Lilly said and glanced at Bakari across the bed. “Along with fifty other souls.”
Bomani jerked his head up to look at Lilly. “The younglings are here?”
“The eldest, Dennu, brought us to the warehouse. Told us you engaged a god named Theris,” Lilly said and cut away his torn pants.
“Sekhmet did not tell you of her plan?” Bakari asked with a suspicious edge to his voice.
Bomani refused to answer. Had Siya seen this coming? Why would she not tell him? Unless, this was her way of securing his safe return to his family.
Isis, Siya. Why?
“How long before I can walk?”
Lilly blew out a breath. “Your long bones are shattered. You lost so much blood your innate healing is almost non-existent. It will be a couple hours at least. If my mother wasn’t called away, it would be a lot sooner. This is the best I can do at the moment,” she said with a frown.
“Can you give us a few minutes?” Bakari asked.
“Sure, but not too long.” She wiped her hands on a wet rag and grasped Bomani’s shoulder. “It is good to have you back.” Despite her smile, sadness filled her eyes. She turned and walked out the door.
Bomani stared at the ceiling. He did not want to be having this conversation right now, let alone being trapped in the room with his brother. The tension between them was about as thick as the smoke from the fire.
Hot white flames shot through his kneecaps. His bones meshed a new network of calcium underneath his raw flesh. Bomani hissed through gritted teeth and gripped the edge of the mattress. Fuck.
“Father sends his apologies for not being here,” Bakari said without looking at him.
Honestly, Bomani was relieved. Asar had always held him to a higher standard, and right now he could not be further from his father’s expectations. “As soon as I am able to walk, I am gone.”
Bakari’s silver gaze pinned him. “Father’s orders are never optional.”
“We both know it would be for the best.”
Scrubbing his hand over his bare scalp, Bakari kicked off the wall and began to pace. “What were you doing in that warehouse?”
“Terminating a threat.”
“Did you succeed?” Bakari’s words were hard and pressed.
“Unfortunately not.” Bomani fisted his hand. Theris slipped from his grasp the minute the roof collapsed.
“The Creation Council has asked Father to surrender you to the Pantheon,” Bakari blurted.
Bomani rolled his head to the side to assess whether his brother was joking. Based on the grim set of his mouth, the joke was on Bomani. “The Creation Council? What for?”
“Murder.”
Bomani scoffed. “Theris is the piece of shit that torched Khalfani. If I see him again, I will kill him.” If he could harness his power to take Theris’ soul, Bomani would rip the life from the god. The sooner he healed, the sooner the god would meet his end.
“The Protectors are dead, Bomani. Haru and Meti. Bast is the only survivor, and based on how Menthu left her, death would have been preferable. Menthu and the siravants left nothing standing.” Bakari shook his head.
“Gods can only die at your hands, remember,” Bomani said with a hint of jealousy and disbelief. Bomani glanced at the Mevt daggers strapped to his brother’s chest. The very daggers that put Kepi in the grave. Unfortunately, Kendra had been on the receiving end of one of t
hose, wielded by Nebt’s hand and indirectly by his own when he did nothing to stop the Underworld traitor.
“The siravants consume souls.” Bakari paused and met Bomani’s stare. “And everything else.”
The gravity of the news settled into Bomani’s soul. The Protector gods were among the strongest of the Pantheon. The Creation’s first line of defense had been massacred by a handful of siravants. The full picture began to take shape. In the ancient war, the Creation Pantheon was losing. They had to call upon those they despised, those of demon descent. Siya and the Underworld legions. The Pantheon could not lose Siya to the other side, the very reason Bast wanted her destroyed.
“I need to get out of here,” Bomani said, jerking up. The feeling in his feet had returned, now if he could just move his legs.
“I do not think you are hearing me, brother. The fact you were anywhere near there implicates you. As does the fact exilers sent to Asar for judgment speak of a rouge warrior in the human realm. The Council believes you and Sekhmet conspired with Menthu to kill the Protectors. They have demanded your surrender to Creation authorities.”
“I do not give a fuck about the Council,” Bomani hissed as a new wave of pain racked his body.
“Sekhmet’s immediate execution has been called forth.” Bakari grabbed Bomani’s shoulder. “She has been compromised.”
“Siya’s compromised?”
“Calling her by a different name does not change the fact—she is the Goddess of War and half demon. She has Menthu’s blood running through her veins.”
“She serves the Mother Goddess and cared for the younglings when no one else gave a shit. This is how they repay her?”
“She may not have a choice,” Bakari said and broke his gaze.
“What in duat are you saying?” A renewed sense of dread welled up in Bomani’s gut.
“Menthu snatched Sekhmet at the warehouse.” Bakari’s expression was filled with resignation.
Remembering the distress communicated through their bond, Bomani closed his eyes. She was trying to say goodbye. He refused to hear it. Refused to accept it. A new level of agony settled in his chest, the source far deeper than his useless legs.
“I am going after her,” Bomani repeated, unable to accept the most probable outcome, losing her completely.
“Your body says otherwise.”
Bomani drew on his energy to dematerialize. His hopes of escape fizzled when his body remained solid.
“Not going to happen. Like I said, father’s orders stand.”
“I suppose he sent you to keep me in line,” Bomani growled, hating being trapped.
“I asked to be here.”
Bomani stared at him in stark surprise. “Why?”
“Things are unresolved between us.”
Bomani had nothing to say to his brother. Males of the same blood could not have been any different. After five years of torture, Bakari claimed to be a changed male. Kendra had been the catalyst for his recovery, a fact that still soured Bomani’s stomach.
On the other hand, Bomani’s life had changed and not for the better. Pride and jealousy, two traits he thought himself above, had led him down a path he was not sure how to recover from. Siya had been the only constant brightness in his otherwise dark life, however short. He could not let go of it, or he feared to be truly lost.
“I am not sure we have anything to say to each other,” Bomani said without looking his brother in the eye. Despite all that had happened, Bomani was not ready to let go of his hatred. A few months of being righteous could not wipe away millenniums of lies and deceit.
“What is it you want from me?” Bakari snapped. “Have I not proven my loyalty to our father, to the legion?”
“For how long will that last, brother?” Bomani spat, inflamed by the fact Bakari had won their father’s favor after so little time, when it took Bomani centuries to prove himself worthy. “How long before playing the martyr gets old and you slip back to your old ways, taking Kendra with you?”
“Do not bring her into this.” Bakari jabbed his finger at Bomani. “We both know this is not about her. Kendra was just a convenient excuse for you to attack me.”
“Bullshit,” Bomani hissed and lurched forward on the gurney. Had he not been saddled with slabs of mangled meat for legs he would have slammed Bakari up against the wall. “You used her, just like you used everyone else.”
The room chilled along with Bakari’s steel eyes. “Kendra sacrificed her life for you. Our lives. If not for the Mother Goddess and Lilly, Kendra and I would both be dead because of you. Do not dare tarnish that for your wounded pride.”
Bomani bared his teeth. His brother was the epitome of everything Bomani hated about gods and the primary reason he never fully embraced his god-like powers. All Bomani’s years of honor and sacrifice meant nothing in the end. It was Bakari who claimed Kendra and his Command. “Your sacrifice paid off.”
Bakari paced the foot of the gurney. “Shit, I never wanted your Command. Asar put me in charge because you left. I would gladly hand it back.”
“Yeah, right.”
Bakari glared at him. “After all that has happened, you sit there with that same holier than thou attitude. I may never regain your trust or forgiveness and I accept that, but I am trying change. To be the male Kendra and this family deserves.”
“You will never be that male,” Bomani said under his breath, unable to suppress his anger at both himself and Bakari. He was wrong and he knew it, but he could not bring himself to admit his mistake. His brother was right, he was using Kendra to fuel his festering hatred.
“Yet, she chose me, not you. Maybe if you loved something other than yourself, you would understand.” Bakari shook his head. “I do not know why I bothered, other than Kendra believes you are an honorable male worth saving.”
Bakari planted his large hand on the door and shoved it open. “Kendra prayed every night for your safe return. I will send your regards and spare her the disappointment.” He walked out and slammed the door.
A heavy weight pressed down on Bomani’s chest along with the realization any opportunity to save Siya just walked out the door. Why when it came to his brother could he not let go of his grudge? He thought his hatred had waned during their separation, but instead it consumed him. He wanted to blame someone for Siya’s loss, when the truth be told, it was he who made the mistake. No one else to blame but himself.
He should have stayed in the temple. Made love to Siya the right way and told her how he felt. Instead, he had tramped off to prove himself and terminate the male threatening to take Siya from him.
His brother claimed Bomani loved nothing but himself, but that was not true. The warmth in his chest flared when he thought of Siya.
Bomani swallowed against his tight throat. The honor he had toted on his shoulders all those many years now seemed nothing more than a front.
In the end Bakari had become the better male.
Siya?
The bond remained cold and silent.
The door slid open and four guardians filled the doorway. Larger than the average warrior, these guardians provided security for the palace and prison. Based on the venom dipped shackles in the leader’s hands, Bomani’s new accommodations were ready.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
The bitter taste of venom filled Siya’s mouth as Menthu withdrew the poison blade from her side. Asp venom, a god’s only weakness, robbed her of her powers. She had fought him before her strength gave out fully. Not that she had a chance of escaping with the pungent smell of death flanking Menthu in the form of six siravants.
“You are making this harder than it needs to be, daughter.” He jerked her arms up behind her back.
Pain shot through her shoulders, but paled in comparison to the venom burrowed deep into her tissues and triggered a cascade of muscle spasms. Her demon form retreated under the onslaught of pain coursing through her body. Robbed of her strength, she stumbled to her knees.
Menthu tightened
the grip on the back of her hair. “I did not want it to be this way, but you gave me no choice.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She could sense Haru and Meti’s souls in the siravant just to her left. Flashbacks from the war assaulted her mind with each breath. The dark demons had combed the blood-soaked battlefield, searching and consuming the perished souls. She had seen it time and time again. If they were not poisoning a god’s soul, the siravants would consume it, feeding off the energy until nothing was left. She had tried to save the Creation gods that had fallen. But no sooner would she kill a siravant and release the souls than another would gobble them up. Those gods she had freed were often catatonic to the point she had finally given up.
She prayed for a quick death, despite the knowledge her father had something more devious in store. He had transported her several times, enough to disorient her to their location. Based on the energy, they were still in the human realm. The cold air cramped her already contracted muscles. Small puffs of white vapor formed when she exhaled.
Thick concrete walls flashed in her narrowed vision. A bunker? She had difficulty forming any rational thought before Menthu dropped her to the ground. The siravants went to work restraining her hands and legs in thick studded cuffs linked to a heavy gage chain.
The spurs on the inside of the manacles dug into her wrists and ankles, effectively rendering them escape proof. Her skin burned with the all too familiar poison, weakening her further. The sound of the chain and pulley echoed in the small room. She grimaced as the cuffs pulled and dug deeper into her flesh. Her arms were raised above her head until the tips of her toes touched the floor.
Warm blood trickled down her arms and dripped down to the cracked cement. She swayed with each strangled breath, sending ripples of pain through her wrists, arms and shoulders. The room spun and her vision dimmed for a moment. She closed herself off as best as she could, but nothing could extinguish the sorrow in her soul.
Without Bomani, her father would break her. Of that she had no doubt. His cruelty was beyond measure. The fact that she was his daughter made it personal.