Everlasting (Descendants of Ra: Book 2)

by Tmonique Stephens

  But that steamy look wasn’t for her.

  She turned away and focused on the red light. Traipsing down this path would lead nowhere. Better to think of the investigation than the man sitting next to her.

  Daniel Nicolis had more lives than a cat, she thought. This was the third time he had been resurrected and vanished. The blare of a train drew her attention to the station on her left. Brakes hissed as the train rolled in and lined up with the platform. Doors snapped opened and people tumbled out. The commuters disembarked and streaked in front of her car to the parking lot on the opposite side of the street. Mainly business people comprised the lot, with a few college kids thrown into the mix. A commuter tossed a greasy bag and drink into the trash. Not five seconds later, a homeless man snatched both items from the bin and shuffled away.

  Alexis couldn’t take her eyes from him as he entered the train station. A car horn beeped behind her, but she couldn’t move. Her mind had stuck at the crossroad where the businessmen, the college kids, and the homeless man intersected.

  “Alexis.”

  Reign’s voice snapped her out of her reverie. She glanced in her rearview mirror at the line of angry drivers and hit the gas a second before the yellow light turned red. She made an illegal U-turn at the next light and raced back to the station.

  She parked and jumped out of the car. The few remaining stragglers gave her a wide berth as she ran inside the station searching for a map. She found it framed in a dim corner. A layer of dust coated the commuter railroad map with its listings of stations extending through New York, Long Island and parts of New Jersey. Mario’s words came back to her. Tarrytown was where the businesses were found. Her index finger landed on the station.

  Riverdale—where the students were found. Another finger, another station.

  Downtown covered a wide area. She didn’t know where they found the homeless, but she’d bet her paycheck it was near Grand Central Station. A shadow cut the glare of the overhead fluorescent bulbs.

  Alexis glanced up. She was surprised Reign hadn’t interrupted her thoughts with demands for answers. His inquisitive eyes searched her face, but he waited for her to speak as if he respected her opinion.

  She turned back to the map. “I think the unaccounted beasts are feeding.” The word stuck in her throat. She opened her phone and googled the information. “The businessmen were killed first, the students next and then the homeless, here in the Bronx. A station was near each scene, leading away from the factory. “I think they're following the railroad tracks.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s an easy way to travel. Access in and out of the city.”

  “Again, I ask why.”

  She had no answer to a good question. “A better question is what if Daniel has met up with the missing animals and he’s leading this merry band.”

  That shut Mr. Twenty Questions up.

  “We have to find him,” Reign said.

  Again with the ‘we’. She studied the map. If they were feeding, where would they go next? No matter how hard she studied the map, it offered no clues.

  “May I make a suggestion, Detective?”

  He’d never called her that before. Did he just mock her? Alexis whipped around, ready to take an inch off his height and a yard of skin off his ass. Concern, not arrogance, graced his face. She didn’t trust him or the concern, at least she shouldn’t have. But some of the fight went out of her. “What?”

  Another train pulled into the station. The doors dinged and opened, releasing a stream of commuters. Like a boulder embedded in a riverbed, people swept around Reign and Alexis.

  He pointed to the train. “Do these machines rest at night?”

  Alexis stifled a laugh and shook her head. “Machines don't need rest, Reign. They need—”

  Maintenance! She searched the map again and pleaded with God for it to be there.

  Yes!

  She found it. And only twenty miles from south of the factory, in The Bronx.

  The High Bridge Train Depot was situated yards away from a homeless settlement living under the stone arch of High Bridge.

  One mile from Yankee Stadium.

  And the opening game of The World Series.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The train yard was easy to find once you knew where to look. Alexis parked her car on Sedgwick Ave. She glanced at the time on her cell phone. The game had started an hour ago. And give or take ninety minutes the stadium would empty, sending seventy thousand fans into the street at one time.

  Somewhere out there a dinner bell would ring.

  The access road to the train yard was straight ahead, however, after crossing the overpass Alexis and Reign made a sharp left. The street-lights failed to illuminate this dark strip of land between the street and the chain link fence. The tall brush on the embankment snagged Alexis’s hair and coat. She stifled a yelp, but couldn’t stop the grunt of pain. Strong hands grasped her shoulders. Fingers spread through her hair, freeing the tresses.

  “Better?” Reign asked when she turned around. His deep, soothing voice came out of the darkness. Calloused fingers stroked her cheek.

  She couldn’t help turning her head into his palm. “Yeah.” How had this happened? How had he wormed his way into her heart in a few short days? The wind kicked up, whipping her hair and sending a chill down her spine. Yanked away from her thoughts, she wrapped her arms around her body and shivered while Reign stood coatless next to her.

  “Aren’t you cold?” she asked.

  “Yes, but I have fought in worse climes, dressed in less.”

  Okay. If ever there was an image to post on Facebook. Nope. That image will forever remain in my personal file.

  Reign walked ahead of her, his sword clasped in his hand. He cut a path through the brush. She had to admit they worked well together. He listened to her, actually looked her in the eyes, and paid attention. Even followed her lead.

  She didn’t complain when he sliced an opening in the barbed wire fence surrounding the train yard, which saved her from crawling under. Weak sodium vapor lights cast rows of boxcars and tracks in a yellowish glow. The pungent scents of gasoline, tar, and manure, overlaid with decaying wood, assaulted her nostrils.

  Their feet crunched the gravel lining the track bed. So much for the silent approach, yet nothing unexpected leaped out at them as they walked the perimeter. She grabbed a handhold on the side of a railcar, hauled herself up onto a ladder, and crossed between the cars. Reign waited on the other side. Firm hands grabbed her waist and he lifted. Her breasts and belly skimmed his hard torso.

  Now wasn’t the time for this. And never was perfect. Whatever she thought she felt was futile. This relationship—scratch that—this temporary partnership would end as soon as the quimaera were defeated and he returns to her…his goddess. That should have quelled her libido.

  Her feet touched the ground, but he didn’t release her. His hands slid to her hips and settled. He pulled her closer against his hard shaft.

  Her body wanted this, craved a spark, any attention he could throw her way. She wouldn’t give in.

  “Must be nice having a goddess so lovesick she loans you her powers.” She wanted to sound angry. Instead, she ended up breathless and needy.

  His hands tightened on her hips. “It was not nice.”

  His rough voice dragged over her. She looked into his shadowed face even though she didn’t need to see his expression when she could feel his anger in the hands clutching her.

  “Nothing about it was nice,” he said.

  “Really? Is that why you hung around so long? I find it hard to believe a big strong capable warrior such as you couldn’t find a way to escape in two thousand years, if he wanted to. Or die trying.”

  His hands dropped and balled into meaty fists. She’d struck a nerve, yet he didn’t move away.

  “You loved her, didn’t you,” Alexis whispered.

  His chest heaved and a long sigh passed between them. “Once. So long ago, I no lon
ger remember the emotion. All that’s left is hate.” He turned away.

  Alexis touched his arm, halting him. “The opposite of love isn’t hate, Reign. Hate is just love gone bad.”

  A faint scream drifted on the wind.

  Reign and Alexis both spun.

  “Where did that come from?” Alexis scanned every direction, hoping to catch the sound again.

  “I do not know.” Reign studied their surroundings.

  “We should split up. You go in that direction.” Alexis pointed south. “And I’ll go this way.” She didn’t wait for his approval to start walking north along the tracks.

  “Have you forgotten I cannot leave your side? And even if we could ‘split up’, I would not leave you.” He strode ahead of her.

  Fine. If he wanted to be Mr. Bulletproof, she wouldn’t stop him. They jogged between the rows of boxcars until one row ended and the yard opened up showing a few brick houses and five rows of empty tracks. Up ahead were more trains and High Bridge, the oldest standing and only pedestrian bridge in New York City.

  “I see light.” Reign pointed toward an arch of the stone and steel structure.

  With his height, of course he did. She couldn’t see anything but train cars. They started in that direction. A breeze brought a mixture of scents to her: wet decay from The Harlem River, machine oil, a hint of smoke from burning wood…and That Smell!

  A scream shattered the silence and abruptly ended on a gurgle.

  She pulled her phone from her pocket and pressed 911. “I need an ambulance at the High Bridge train yard. Under the bridge. Multiple people injured.” Alexis ran, but the crunch of their feet didn’t drown out the sounds of flesh hitting flesh or the snap of bones breaking.

  Reign’s big body darted in front of her. She struggled to catch up as he outpaced her stride. He shouted what sounded like a curse and skidded to a halt. Alexis swerved and stopped beside him.

  The boxcars had ended but the yard had widened in a work area then narrowed to a single track under the bridge, which passed a homeless encampment.

  Quimaera, too many to count, swarmed the encampment.

  “Holy—” Alexis pulled out her gun. She steadied her shaking hand, aimed and fired. Shell casings plinked as they ejected and hit the gravel. By the time she emptied her clip, she had all of the quimaera’s attention.

  “What now?” She looked at Reign.

  His glowing eyes pulsed in time with the jagged, crimson sword in his hand. He glanced between her and the advancing animals.

  “Run.”

  Reign grabbed her hand. Breathing hard, Alexis kept pace. She could hear them; their claws scraped the loose gravel as they gained ground. Their rancid odor filled the air. Reign scooped her up and continued to run.

  “Where are we going?” She wheezed, breathless.

  He stopped at a boxcar. One slice from his blade and the handle fell to the roadbed. He pushed the door open and flashed them inside. The car smelled of stale air and rotted food.

  “Why didn’t you do that before?” she asked as Reign backed her into a corner.

  “I needed them to follow.”

  One beast leaped into the car. Others followed. Eager to join the party, they filled the interior.

  “B-b-but, you’ve trapped us in here.”

  “No, I have trapped me in here.” Reign stabbed his sword into the roof of the stock car. One circular swept opened a hole. He hoisted Alexis up and shoved her through.

  “Go,” he shouted and the rest of his words were lost in a cacophony of snarls. One second he was there, the next gone.

  “Reign!” She almost jumped back into the car.

  “Go.”

  The muffled word halted her Wonder Woman instincts. He didn’t need her in there distracting him from surviving.

  Alexis jogged across the curved roof and descended the ladder. She heard a shout, a deep guttural sound that wrenched her soul and nearly made her return to the opening and throw herself into the fight. She didn’t, because conventional weapons were useless against these things. That didn’t mean she couldn’t help. One hundred feet, not a great distance. That’s all she needed to yank him out of there.

  The tip of his sword shot through the side of the car, near the handhold. Blood trailed from the edge and dripped down the wood before he—or something—yanked it out.

  She stared at the wet wood.

  It’s not Reign. It’s not Reign.

  The words became a litany in her head until the warble of a siren caught her attention. She jumped and rolled to her feet. From a jog to a run, one hundred feet became a marathon as she ran toward the growing wails and flashing lights.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Reign backed up as the quimaera piled into the tight quarters inside the stock car. Five became eight, then ten as more continued to enter, including Alamut. Reign couldn’t see him in the mass of beasts but knew by the humming of his senses that Anubis’s champion was here.

  He flexed his shoulders, widened his stance, and braced for the coming battle. His sword throbbed in time with his increasing heartbeat, which drowned out the snarling animals.

  The first one lunged. Reign planted his sword deep in its gut. The blade incinerated the beast from the inside out as he kicked another back into the pack.

  He yanked his sword free and flashed to the doorway. A hard tug slammed it closed. He faded and passed through the crowd before the beasts reached him. The darkness of their combined souls amplified the churning pit within him. The Vanquished howled. They wanted blood and wouldn’t be denied.

  “We meet again, Reign,” Alamut barked.

  “I remember. You tormented my brother and his wife. She stopped you. Twice. Fallen by a slip of a woman. Now you challenge me?” The blade dimmed a notch, losing its ability to incinerate. No quick death for Alamut. The Vanquished wanted sport. They craved Alamut’s blood.

  No! Reign shook his head to clear the rage-induced haze clouding his mind. He couldn’t kill him. No matter what the cost Alamut had to survive.

  Reign evaded, buying time for his need to kill his enemy to subside. Alamut charged. But the blade would not be denied. Two swipes, a duck, and fade, left two beasts armless and the blade piercing the chest of his enemy with a knee pressed against his neck. Behind Reign, the remaining pack of quimaera closed in.

  “Order your minions to cease,” Reign roared.

  “Kill me and be free to return to your slavery.”

  Reign faded and passed through Alamut. He wrapped his arm around Alamut’s throat. His other hand grabbed the beast’s snout and yanked in the opposite direction. He knew it wouldn’t kill him. But the satisfying snap appeased his personal demons. He jerked his sword free as Alamut fell and returned his knee in the center of Alamut’s chest.

  “What? No flaming death?” Head at an abnormal angle, the beast’s words slurred.

  “If you want to continue drawing breath, never cross my path again.” Reign crouched close to Alamut's head.

  “You don’t want to kill?” A crooked smile further warped his face. “Don't like being a goddess’s bitch? Can’t blame you. So you and I need to come to an agreement—”

  “I let you live and you disappear. That is our agreement.” Reign growled.

  “Why? When you are bound by Nephythys to kill me? As I am bound by Anubis to bring you to him. We need to have an exchange.”

  “You have nothing I desire.”

  “Not even Alexis’s life?”

  A cold knot formed in Reign’s chest. He grabbed Alamut’s throat. Crimson light bled from his hand. Alamut’s skin smoked beneath Reign’s palm. Alamut vanished. His true form—Daniel Nicolis—returned.

  Reign hauled Daniel up and dangled him in the air. “Touch Alexis and you will never know a day without agony. You live at my discretion. You live because I choose the timing of your death.”

  Daniel’s face tightened, but he didn’t struggle as Reign expected a warrior would. A warrior would fight to the end; die wit
h honor cloaked around him. Even in defeat, he would leave his heart, along with his body on the battlefield knowing that with his final breath, he gave all for his cause. He refused to believe this pile of dung descended from his father’s bloodline.

  Reign flung Daniel to the ground. The blade to his neck stopped Daniel from moving. “How could Anubis think you worthy to be a champion? You are a poor excuse for a man.”

  “Yeah, but you keep talking of killing me. So, you want something.”

  Reign warred with the Vanquished before he managed to ease the blade from taking Daniel’s head. Reign stepped back and allowed Daniel to rise.

  Reign’s pulsating blade touched his enemy’s gut. It glowed brightly, prepared to incinerate as Daniel transformed into Alamut. The beast towered over Reign and the hostile crowd at his back bristled. “You will leave this place, this land and never return.”

  “Ah, now, we bargain. Well, bargains are made with blood,” Alamut snarled.

  Reign ran his hand along the edge of his blade, slicing his palm open. He flicked his wrist and the tip of his sword parted the skin over Alamut’s heart. Reign slapped his hand against Alamut’s wound. “There. You have my blood promise.”

  “That’s not whose blood I’m talking about.” Alamut face stretched into a horrific grin. Before Reign could move, Alamut’s jaw unhinged. He seized Reign by the shoulder. Muscles shredded. Bones snapped. Reign’s howl of pain drowned in the yapping and barking of the beasts as Alamut tossed him to them.

  Claws and teeth tore into his flesh as they fought over the right to devour him. Fury burned through the pain, leaving unquenchable rage. His barriers dropped. Reign became the thing he most despised, el Mortem.

  Cold fury singed his nerve endings. He drew on it, poured the energy into his sword arm, and channeled it into the blade. The quimaera fell like wheat at harvest. Some tried to escape, but Reign shielded the car, trapping them inside.

  Flames consumed them before their bodies hit the floor. Death came quickly with nary a scream to mark the end, leaving none standing. But their souls attached themselves to Reign, weighing him down, dragging him to the lip of the precipice. Only thoughts of Alexis kept him from succumbing to the waiting abyss. He held on, focused on her beautiful face, and what lay in his heart.