“My men said he killed them without raising a sweat.” Yet it took half the night to kill one and only after Stella returned gifted with all the spirits Elyssian inhabited. Roman wished his cup held more than tea.
“Not him, his sword. Mother, it spoke in your ancient tongue,” Tyrone said.
“How did he kill them?” Roman leaned closer. Avery and EJ had told him their version of events, one more perspective could help.
“The sword turned crimson and the beast disappeared,” Tyrone said. “He incinerated them.”
“Crimson? Those are Nephythys’s colors,” Hathoria added.
“How many more of the animals are there?” Roman said.
“Depends on how many Anubis made. I doubt he stopped at four.” Hathoria placed her cup back on the tray.
“But now we know how to kill them.” Tyrone started to fill another cup for his mother, but she waved him away.
“No, Reign knows how to kill them. We know nothing.” Roman looked at Hathoria. “Can you kill them?”
“I-I,” Flustered, she rose. “I am the Goddess of Love. My vis’Ra cannot kill.”
“Mother.” Heads together, they mumbled in their own language.
“But what does it matter? They are all dead,” she cried. Her hands trembled.
Roman sensed there was more at stake here than finally killing Alamut. “Not all. Alamut is dismembered, not dead. I have him stored in my vault.” Roman stood. Grim, he was ready to plead his case to get her cooperation.
They whispered more until Hathoria nodded.
“Come with me.” Roman escorted them from the solarium. As they passed the game room, Avery, EJ, and Thane joined them.
Yet one person was missing.
They crossed the vestibule and the doorbell rang. Hector opened the door.
Tyrone leaped in front of his mother. “What is he doing here?” he shouted. Hathoria moved from behind her son’s protective shield and approached Reign and Detective Lever with her son close on her heels.
“Hello, I’m Hathoria Gregory. You are Roman’s missing twin.” She spoke. “Yes, Nephythys’ signature vis’Ra taints you…however, something else is there.” She pressed a finger into the center of his chest. “A deep well of untapped power.”
She glanced at Roman. By her raised brows and pursed lips, a question had formed.
“Why is he here?” Avery growled.
Tensions in the room took an upswing. “He killed three of the beasts. I invited him here to kill this one.” Roman led the way to the cellar. He walked over to the barrel and pressed. The wall receded and slid to the right revealing the steel door of the vault. He punched in the code and the door hissed before it swung open. Interior lights automatically flickered on. Roman entered the vault.
The canisters which held Daniel were scattered on the floor, empty. Roman stormed back out. “What have you done?” He charged across the room.
The first punch slammed into Reign’s chin, rocking his head back. He ducked the next, but Roman waited for Reign’s head to snap around and landed a one-two jab and an uppercut combo that dropped Reign to one knee.
In a boxer’s stance, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet, fists ready for more, Roman waited.
***
Alexis’s heart lodged in her throat. Since watching her brothers, John and Thomas, beat each other daily in the backyard, boxing was not her favorite sport. She hated standing here watching Reign and his brother slug it out. Yet she couldn’t help rooting for one particular man.
Reign exploded to his feet. His shoulder smashed into Roman's gut and lifted him. He flipped him over and tossed him into a wine rack. Bottles shattered and the heady bouquet of fermented grapes filled the air. Roman dropped down and aimed a kick at Reign’s kneecap. A sickening crunch echoed. The unexpected shift caused Reign’s other knee to give out and he fell into the glass-covered, wine-soaked floor.
He didn’t stay there for long.
Roman hoisted Reign and slammed him into a row of barrels lining the wall. He clocked two jabs into Reign’s face before his brother grabbed his fist and hauled him off balance. A headbutt knocked Roman into the opposite rack.
Alexis couldn’t take anymore. She took a step forward. Hathoria blocked her path and gently touched her arm.
“You're worried, yet he’s in no danger. Look at him.” Hathoria nodded at the men destroying the cellar. “They're doing more damage to the room than themselves. They're letting off steam, as only men can do.”
“By beating each other to death?” She grimaced as Reign slipped in the spilled wine and cracked his skull against the side of a fallen rack. Jagged pieces of glass protruded from his thigh. He yanked them out and continued to fight.
“Yes, stupid I know, but alas, they are only men. Immortal men.” The elderly woman pushed her back, out of harm’s way, and smiled at her startled reaction.
“If they wanted to kill each other, they would have drawn weapons, yet neither have. Look around you at the men gathered. They’re enjoying this because this isn’t about death.”
Alexis glanced around the room. Stationed near the vault, she had a bird’s eye view of the night’s entertainment and the other occupants. Roman and Reign were the center of attention, but those relegated to the sideline drew her attention. Avery and EJ shadow boxed, grinning wildly with each punch Roman landed and flinching with every bone-numbing connection. So did the other men. With each blow Reign received, her refrain shattered a little bit more until she gasped every time he groaned and she clasped her hands together to keep from reaching for him.
Reign had his brother in a headlock, while Roman punished Reign’s kidneys with blows to the back. But, by the delight on his bruised face, Reign enjoyed every second.
“It’s about reconnecting.” A smile spread across Alexis’s face and Hathoria joined her.
“I'm taking you home, Mother.” Tyrone took her arm.
Hathoria slapped his hand away. “No, you are not,” she said without taking her eyes off the action. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a while and I can take care of myself.” She glanced at her son and giggled.
A piercing scream stopped the fight and everyone turned to the entrance. Hector tripped down the stairs and nearly face-planted on the concrete landing. The butler paused after his Cole Haans took the first step on the wine-soaked floor and made his way over to a splintered rack. He lifted a fragment of a bottle.
“You’ve destroyed an entire rack of Rothschilds!” He cradled the label in the palm of his hand. He dropped it and ran over to another smashed rack. “The Conti,” he sobbed. “They’re all gone.” He turned to Avery and EJ and pointed a finger. “Move!” His voice boomed around the room and the two men scattered like chastised children.
Hector rushed over to one of the last intact racks and gently caressed each rare bottle. “Thank you, Jesus, for sparing the Latife and the Massandra.”
“We protected them for you, Hector.” EJ sucked up and Avery wisely stepped away from his sibling’s side.
Standing at opposite ends of the room, both heaving in great gulps of air, Roman and Reign glared at each other…but prideful identical smirks crossed their faces. They enjoyed this stupid display of brawn. Hathoria caught Alexis’s eye and both women shook their heads in disgust.
“Are you two idiots done, ‘cause this trip and slugfest accomplished nothing.” Alexis folded her arms under her breasts.
“You are correct, Alexis.” Reign wiped the blood from his lip and plucked glass fragments from his arms. In front of their eyes, his wounds fused together.
“Damn, he heals faster than Roman,” EJ mumbled to Avery.
“Come, Alexis. We go.” He held out his hand for her.
He did not just use that master-slave tone with her.
“You’re not leaving until you tell me where you hid Alamut’s body,” Roman growled.
Reign’s hand dropped to his side. “I do not have his body.”
“You broke into th
e vault the last time. You could have done it again and taken him.” Thane jumped in.
Reign’s gaze never wavered from Roman’s. “You question my honor, brother?” Alexis heard the warning in Reign’s voice and tensed.
“If you don’t have him, then who?” Roman stated.
“I suspect another god.” Hathoria's calm voice seemed to echo in the room.
“Anubis retrieved his slave?” Tyrone moved closer to his mother. “It’s more than likely.”
The two worked as a unit, Alexis noted.
“If it was Anubis, why did he wait so long to pick up his pet?” Roman demanded.
“Time moves differently in Chemmis, Roman.” Hathoria picked her way through the broken glass and wine-soaked floor without her son’s help, and stood between the combatants. “An hour there is more like two to three days here.”
“Do you detect the presence of another god here, Mother?” Tyrone asked.
Hathoria shook her head. “No, Anubis’s trace has long since disappeared. Nothing remains, however, I believe Reign. I see no deception in him.”
“When we find him, you will kill him,” Roman commanded Reign.
Reign’s face contorted in fury. His blade appeared, glowing crimson. “You, brother, have never ordered me to do anything and you will not now. You lead this gang of misfit lost boys, a false prophet promising salvation when you have never saved anyone or any—”
Alexis blinked and she and Reign were standing in the driveway, next to her car. “What just happened? Did you do that?”
“No, I did not. That old woman. I sensed there was more to her than at first glance.”
“How could she?”
Then she thought of Mrs. Kelly and her hidden skill at sifting through people. She had to stop looking at things and only seeing the obvious. Otherwise, she wouldn’t last long.
***
Mother, what did you do? Tyrone asked privately.
Hathoria Gregory shrugged her shoulders. I returned them to their car. Another moment and true blood would’ve flowed. Brother shouldn’t kill brother.
Roman turned to her. “Did you do that?”
“Yes,” Hathor answered.
Footsteps clicked on the cellar stairs. Stella stopped at the landing and gasped as she took in the damaged wine racks. “What the hell happened?”
“You must be Stella.” Hathor threaded her way through the debris to the landing. “I’m Tyrone’s mother. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Your husband and his twin decided to use their brains to settle their disputes.” She gestured to the chaos around them. “Unfortunately, the two half-wits didn’t get far.”
Roman joined them. He pulled his wife into his arms, but she pushed away and whipped the blood from his forehead and chin.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
He gave her a smile which she warily returned. The love between them was deep, lasting, forged through millennia of trials. Hathor was never able to puzzle who had cursed Roman Nicolis. His past was an enigma, which refused to be solved. Still, it was good to see a couple survive the whims of fate.
The goddess within her stirred and sent a blessing their way. A barrier flared, blocking her power. She recoiled. Wards—unseen until her blessing reached for them—surrounded the couple. The origins were somewhere in the house.
“Mother?” Are you all right?” Her son’s voice filled her mind. His arms steadied her.
She ignored him and turned toward the stairs. The presence of another god resided in this mansion. She focused her energy and pinpointed its location. As she flashed, Hathoria Gregory melted away. The goddess, Hathor, swept through the house, passed through a closed door and into a bedroom.
A child lay in a sick bed surrounded by machines, which monitored her bodily functions. But illness wasn’t what threatened the child’s health. Waves of forest green tinted energy leaped from the body and suffused the room. Bright and healing, so many of its strands mimicked hers, but their vis’Ra eclipsed Hathor’s paltry energy. She fell to her knees cowering, praying this unknown deity would only imprison her, and punish, not kill her son.
“How dare you,” the voice hissed hovering above her.
Afraid to lift her head, Hathor mumbled, “Forgive me, Great Goddess.” The light faded and she could see the hem of a brown gown trimmed in gold. Only one god wore those colors. Hathor raised her head and stared at the mother of the Egyptian Pantheon.
“Rise, Hathor.”
She obeyed and considered Nu, while the Eldest Goddess, studied her.
“Why have you come here?” Nu demanded.
“I am an invited guest by Roman Nicolis and mother to one he claims as his own, though my child is not of his seed.”
“I know of him. And you. Your time here is short, Hathor. The body you inhabit is close to its end. That is how you passed through my outer wards unencumbered.” The goddess’s eyebrows knit together in deep thought.
“The body you inhabit, Great Goddess, withers from your infestation.” She noted, purposely looking at the declining child.
Anger sparked in Nu’s eyes. Hathor lowered her gaze.
“My weaves protect this family from harm. What are your intentions, Hathor?”
“I have no intentions other than to be of help to my son and those who have always been a friend and ally to me and my offspring.” Hathor bowed low.
Running feet pounded down the hallway.
“You will tell them nothing of my presence,” Nu commanded.
My son will question me. How to deceive him? They had never lied to each other.
Nu vanished. The door flew open and rebounded from the wall. Hathor spun around as the room filled with Tyrone, Roman, and Stella.
Stella rushed to the child.
“Everything is fine. The child’s ill spirit called to me. I came to heal her.” The lie twisted her gut and Tyrone looked at her sharply. So in tune with each other, she saw the suspicion in his amber eyes.
“Did you heal her, will my sister be okay?” Stella held onto the child’s hand.
Feeling courageous, she extended another strand of energy and skimmed the little girl. The body was well-formed and strong, but she couldn’t handle the essence contained within. Nu used the girl like a parasite to hold her spirit and every time she used her vis’Ra, the child’s life force drained, thus limiting the goddess. That potent display of power would cost her.
“Yes. She will be fine and eventually, she will awaken.” Hathor faded and Hathoria replaced her. “I tire. I shall leave you now.” She retreated from the room.
Back in the hallway, Tyrone touched her arm. “What was that all about?”
“Leave be, Tau. There is more here at work than Anubis and Nephythys,” Hathoria whispered.
“Tell me.”
She shook her head and felt her abnormally long years weighing on her body. “No. On this you will have to trust and not question.”
His features shuttered. He gave her a stiff half-bow, then pivoted and stormed down the hall. She wanted to order him to stay away, but that would only spur him to action. On this, she must remain silent and pray whatever plans Nu had for this Nicolis family, didn’t involve her or her only child.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The long drive home didn’t help Alexis’s frayed nerves. Especially with Reign sitting next to her. He stared straight ahead, focusing on nothing. Still bloody from his recent brawl, his brooding silence didn’t answer the questions pounding against her temple. And it annoyed the hell out of her. Alexis swore she didn’t want to speak to him, but his complete ignorance of her presence grated her resolve.
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” she snapped. “Had a grand time beating Roman to a pulp?”
A wicked grin tugged at the corner of his sensual mouth causing a responding tug low in her groin. A horn blared.
“Shit!” Alexis jerked the wheel and corrected her drifting car.
“I could get us home in an instant.” He offered.
Even though her head pounded and exhaustion tugged on her senses, she didn’t like the whole ‘Beam Me Up’ thing. She needed all her atoms in one fixed location, thank you. And since when did her home become his home.
“Just answer the question, Reign.” Her gaze darted between him and the road.
“Yes, I should have beaten him before.” His hands balled up. “It felt…” he paused, searching for a word, “good.” A wide smile transformed his harsh face. The cuts on his lip and cheek had vanished, leaving nothing but perfect skin.
“Would you have killed him?”
His brows furrowed and his gaze turned distant, unfocused. “No. Never would I harm my brother.”
“Then why did your sword appear?”
“Did it?” He shook his head. “No. It did not appear.”
“Yes, Reign. If that woman hadn’t flashed us out of there, I think you would’ve stabbed him.” How could he not remember clutching it in his hand?
“I do not remember the sword.” He scrubbed a shaky hand across his forehead.
“So, what about you and that goddess your brother mentioned?” She tried to change the subject and ended up sounding like a needy girlfriend. Damn, that was the last thing she wanted.
He paused so long she thought he wouldn’t answer. “She and I have a pact.”
Jealousy shriveled her tongue. What type of pact could he have with a goddess? Her mind raced through the endless possibilities, each one worse than the other. She had no right to ask and he had no obligation to answer. That didn’t stop her heart from wanting an explanation. She was a detective, damn it! Questioning people for a living was what she did.
“Is she pretty?” Alexis blurted at a red light. Oh, God. She groaned and wanted to bury her head in the steering wheel. Humiliated, she couldn’t look at him.
“Yes. She is beautiful.” His frigid voice matched the icy waves rolling off him. Her breath curled in the air.
Alexis looked at him and nearly drowned in the depth of his eyes. Those eyes did something to her. They made her think of long nights surrounded by his naked body and orgasms that didn’t come from Duracell. A ripple cascaded through her core.
Everlasting (Descendants of Ra: Book 2) Page 21