“The gate can only be opened by true love’s kiss.” The words tumbled out of her so fast, it was like a blur of sound, and it took me a minute to realize what she said. Heat flashed across my cheeks, and I wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“Well, we can try?” I offered, my voice the tiniest squeak and Sekhmet stopped in front of me.
“You and I won’t be able to open the vault that way, Thes.” Her words were angry and hurt, though I wasn’t sure why. “That is a fact.”
“You seem awfully sure of that,” I replied before I could stop myself. “I mean, I just leapt into the void to save you.”
She spun so quickly I could barely follow the movement and pressed one finger to my lips. “Please don’t force me to have this conversation with you.” She huffed. “We’ll try, but I think we should be prepared for our inevitable failure.”
I was about to argue with her, but her eyes were pleading with me so hard I had to let it go. “Fair enough,” I said, my words strangled as I looked around at the ice and snow and tried my best not to feel like she’d smashed my heart into fragments. I’ll be honest, the thought of walking off alone into the cold was suddenly appealing. The only problem was the cold always bothered me because, as I’ve said before, I was a southern California boy, and let me tell you, seventy degrees was sweater weather back where I was from. It was a far cry from a frozen wasteland.
Sekhmet stared at me for a long time before standing on her tippy toes and kissing me on the lips. It was just the barest brush of her lips, and as she moved away, I realized tears were filling her eyes. But why?
“Why are you crying?” I asked, but instead of responding, she waved my question away with her free hand and turned away, pulling me forward. We walked like that for several minutes, the silence stretching between us until it filled the whole of the void.
“So what happens if we fail to open the gate?” I asked, my voice sounding strangely intrusive in the silence of the place.
“The shadow guardians come. Their blood can also open the gate. In fact, there’s a carafe outside on a pedestal just for collecting their blood.” Her shoulders sagged as she said the words, though I didn’t know why. “Fill it up and the gate opens.”
“Doesn’t sound that hard,” I replied. “There’s a lot of blood in a body.”
“Each guardian has less than an ounce of blood,” she replied, and the horror of what she said wasn’t truly apparent until we reached the gate a few minutes later. The carafe was the size of a goddamn garbage can. If we had to fill that thing one ounce at a time, it was going to take forever. I had no idea how difficult it would be to make a shadow guardian bleed, but something about the sound of them didn’t make me think it would be easy. Then again, nothing ever was.
“Ready for our big moment?” I asked, trying to smile at her as best I could. Sekhmet nodded to me like I’d just slapped her across the face and thrown her into the mud.
I swallowed, suddenly nervous as she reached out and put one hand on my chest. “Even if nothing happens,” she said, but the rest of her words were lost as I kissed her. Remember what I said earlier about her kiss feeling like the whole of the universe opened up and revealed its secrets? Well, this kiss was better.
The gate beside us shuddered on its icy hinges, slowly moving in the dense snow. It creaked, the huge lock in the center glowing with white light as it fell open and hit the ground with a heavy thud. Sekhmet’s eyes went wide and then she was on top of me, pushing me onto my back on the snow as the gate moved one inch, two.
She ground her mouth against mine and our teeth clicked together. I reached around her back and pulled her into me. She was so warm and fit against me so well, I almost forgot about the gate entirely as her hands slipped into my hair, pulling me upward into her hungry mouth.
The gate slammed shut.
Chapter 20
We didn’t speak after that. I wasn’t quite sure what to say or do as I stared open-mouthed at the goddamned gate in front of us. I had half a mind to go and rip it off its stupid hinges. In fact, I’d tried it to little avail. Sekhmet sat beside me in the snow, arms wrapped around her knees as she stared off into space, tears dripping down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Thes,” she whispered, voice tight with emotion. The sound of it broke my heart.
“This isn’t your fault,” I said for perhaps the hundredth time, but no matter how many times I said it, she didn’t seem to believe me.
“You don’t understand.” She shook her head, sending tears flying into the snow. “I guess I should be happy, but somehow I’m not.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, uncomprehending.
“Nothing.” She got slowly to her feet and turned toward me, running one ebony finger along my bicep. “But it was nice while it lasted.” My heart shattered with her words. Was she saying what I thought she was saying?
“No…” I whispered, trying to reach out to her and pull her close to me, but my fingers slipped off of her like she was made of smoke. She took a couple steps backward out of my reach and looked at the ground. “I don’t understand.”
“I know,” she replied, spinning away so her back was to me. “If you did, you’d understand.”
“Is that supposed to be funny?” I roared, suddenly angry. I was getting sick and tired of everyone knowing everything about me, knowing there was some big secret everyone was hiding from me.
“Not really. It’s sad, more,” Sekhmet said, wiping her face with the back of her hand before turning to face me. “I don’t know why I thought it could be different. I’m a goddess, I should have known better.”
“Why should you have known better?” I asked, practically growling the words as I tapped my chest with my finger. “What is wrong with me?”
She threw her hands up in exasperation. “What would you have me do, Thes?”
“Be with me, dammit!” I snapped before I could stop myself. Silence filled the space around us in an instant, cloying and overbearing as she stared at me, biting her lip. Sekhmet nodded once and reached behind her back with one hand.
“I can do that if it’s what you want,” she said, looking at her feet. There was a snapping sound behind her back. Her hand fell to her side as her armor sloughed off of her body and hit the snow, piling around her feet like a discarded evening gown. “Is this what you want, Thes?” she asked not bothering to look up at me as she stood before me naked. “Because if it is, we can—”
I smacked her. I’m not proud of it, I’ll admit, but I didn’t know what else to do. She stared up at me with wide eyes, one hand clutching her bleeding lip.
“That’s not what I want at all!” I growled, reaching out and grabbing her chin with one hand and forcing her to look me in the eyes. “Throughout my life, I’ve had girls offer me this.” I gestured at her with one hand. “What I’m trying to say is I want more than that.”
“I know, Thes. That’s the problem,” she whispered, shaking her head. “That’s the problem, entirely.”
“How is me wanting more the problem?” I asked, not comprehending as she pulled herself from my grip and knelt in the snow, slowly pulling her armor back up over her body. It was curious stuff, seeming much more like fabric than the hardened metal it appeared to be.
“Because you’re engaged,” she whispered, shaking her head as tears dripped down her cheeks.
“To a woman I’ve never even met. By my pack. In my time. Five thousand years in the future.” I reached out toward her, but she moved away. “I might not even make it back home.”
“You will,” she replied, voice distant sounding.
“I believe you when you say that, but believe me when I say I don’t care.” I tried to swallow, but my mouth was suddenly dry.
“But you will.” She nodded at me, eyes far off like she was watching a scene unfold in her mind. “You will care, Thes. A lot. More than is humanly possible and then some.”
“But I don’t care,” I growled, my hands clenching into
fists. Was she being serious right now? Was the reason she wouldn’t be with me because my pack had arranged for me to marry a girl from another pack to seal a treaty? Seriously?
Her eyes flicked to my hands, and she exhaled sharply. “Is this where you slap me again?” and with those words, I felt lower than dirt. I turned away from her, but that wasn’t good enough because I could still feel her looking at me. I had hit her… Why had I hit her? If I loved her, I wouldn’t have done that, right?
I swallowed, not sure what to do, but knowing I’d screwed up. I ransacked my brain, trying to think of what I could do to fix this when a wolf the size of a freaking school bus ambled out of the snow. Its sleek, gray coat shimmered as it plodded toward me on trashcan-lid-sized paws, each claw gouging holes in the ice so deep it could have fit my entire arm.
“Amarok,” Sekhmet said from behind me, her voice hard and angry. “Why are you here, Shadowspawn?”
“Why do you think, She Before Whom Evil Trembles?” the wolf asked, voice raking across my senses like a cheese grater. “You failed the test.” It gestured at me with its snout, nose twitching. “Though I’m not sure why you even tried with this one. He is spoken for.”
“I was a fool,” she said from behind me. Her words were so cold they chilled me despite the temperature of the frozen abyss.
The wolf nodded, ambling toward me and sniffing the air. “I never thought I’d get to meet you, Thes Mercer,” it replied, dropping into a weird sort of kneel at my feet. “The honor is mine.”
“Um… okay?” I said, not sure what else to do as it raised up and padded past me toward the gate. It reached out with its jaws, seizing the carafe and bit down. The sound of crunching plaster filled my ears as I whirled around to see the creature swallow it whole. The gate behind the massive wolf shuddered and sprung open as the wolf threw a long, hard look at Sekhmet.
“This one time, Mistress of Dread, I will allow you access without battle. I think you have wounded his heart enough for one day, wouldn’t you say?” With those words, the giant wolf vanished into a flurry of sleet that settled amongst the ice until it became indistinguishable.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” I asked, confusion filling me as I looked from the spot to Sekhmet and back again.
“What just happened is the Amarok leading the Shadowspawn felt bad for you and is letting us pass.” Sekhmet shook her head. “If I’d known it would be that easy to get through the gate, I’d have broken your heart ages ago.” She shot me a smile, but there must have been a weird look on my face because she sighed. “Too soon, I suppose.” And with that, she grasped my hand and pulled me forward through the gate.
“What are you doing?” I asked, staring at our intertwined hands.
“Is it too much to want to hold your hand and pretend for a few more moments?” she asked, looking at me, and I felt her hand start to slip from my grip as she stared into my eyes.
I squeezed her hand. “No, I don’t think so.”
Chapter 21
I stood on the surface of a mirror staring at what looked like a silver rubber ducky. It glided along the surface of the mirror as though it was bathwater. It was weird to look at because due to the mirrored roof above my head, the images cascaded down below it into infinity. I shut my eyes and rubbed my face as Sekhmet smirked beside me, no doubt unfazed by the weird surroundings.
“So a duck,” I murmured, still not opening my eyes. I’d found I couldn’t keep them open for very long in the cavern of the void. Every few minutes, I’d had to shut them to keep from going insane.
“Is that what you see?” she asked, voice amused as she patted me on the shoulder. “And don’t worry about slowing us down, time flows differently in here. No matter how long we spend, it will only be seconds in the outside world.”
“So like a reverse black hole?” I asked, opening my eyes to find the duck had been replaced by a red plastic lobster wearing a bib.
“I’m not sure I follow,” she replied, staring at the lobster. “I see a giant snail. The void looks different to everyone, Thes.”
“So how do we do whatever it is we need to do?” I asked, not really wanting to move toward the lobster. For all I knew, touching the thing would reduce me to atoms.
“Um, you slice it open, spilling entropy across the cavern. It will rend open reality long enough for us to step back through. It will heal itself so we’ll have to be quick,” Sekhmet said, stepping toward the lobster.
“Sounds easy enough,” I replied, moving next to her and taking her hand in mine. She stumbled a little when I did it, glancing at me with a sad smile on her lips. There was a question in her eyes, and while I wasn’t sure what it was, I had an answer anyway.
So what? So what if we weren’t bound by the awesomeness of true love? So what if it was all destined to end? Right now we were together, and for me, in this place, there wasn’t anyone I’d rather be with. If this was all we had, if the moment we stepped from this place it was all over, I was going to make every moment count.
“It really is,” Sekhmet replied, sidling closer to me. “I guess if you can get through the endless winter and the gate guarded by Shadowspawn and its ilk, this is the easy part.” Her voice came out sort of bitter and sad though.
I nodded because her premise seemed reasonable. It wasn’t long before we reached the lobster, although it took longer than I’d expected. As we approached it, the force of it trying to suck me in was noticeable. It sort of felt like standing behind a huge fan as it tried to pull you toward it and spit you out the other side.
I reached out toward it and noticed the color of my flesh fading and spiraling off toward the plastic creature. It was disconcerting to say the least. I was about to inquire about it when Sekhmet moved in close to me and kissed me. It caught me off-guard, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do until it was over.
“For good luck,” she said, smirking at me as her free hand trailed down my chest and gripped the mace at the side of my hip. I’d forgotten all about it. “Now whip it out and smash the snail.”
I blushed so hard, I could see the color from my cheeks cascading into the air, and she laughed. It was a low, hungry sort of sound that made some very interesting thoughts ripple through my mind along the lines of, was her offer from earlier still on the table?
I shook my head, ignoring my rapidly beating heart and rising blood pressure and grabbed hold of the mace, my hand squeezing hers as I did so. I wasn’t sure how long we stood like that but it didn’t feel nearly long enough. When she finally broke away from me and nodded, I got the sense she wasn’t very happy even though she was smiling like a movie star on one of those parade floats.
The mace was heavy in my hand as I held it out in front of me, the huge ball of light on the end flickered into existence as I strode forward, swinging it idly. I tossed one last glance at her. Sekhmet was still smiling, but it was marred by the tear dripping down her cheek. She wiped her face with one hand and made a hurry up gesture with her other hand.
“Go on, I haven’t got all day.” She smiled though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You know, we could spend a lifetime together here and it’d only be a moment outside,” I said, looking back at her.
“Except you’re mortal and I’m immortal. You’ll still age, and I don’t want to deal with your gray hair and saggy, wrinkled skin.” Sekhmet grinned at me. “Now go do your duty, Thes Mercer.” She cupped her hand conspiratorially and leaned in close. “And don’t worry. I remember my promise.”
I was about to ask her what she was talking about when it hit me all at once. I blushed, and it felt like I was on fire. She winked at me in a way that told me her offer was still very much on the table. Evidently, she had come to a similar realization as me. We had the now. Why not make the most of it?
I turned back toward the lobster and smirked. It was going down. Hard. I reared back and swung at the stupid plastic thing with my mace. It hit with a sound like shattering glass, and for a moment, nothing
happened.
“That’s odd,” Sekhmet said from behind me, and as I turned to ask her about it, sunlight exploded from the shards of the lobster, nearly blinding me. I threw my hands up, dropping my weapon in an attempt to keep myself from going blind.
My skin felt sunburned and raw by the time I was able to open my eyes. Ra stood before me, his metallic, golden armor gleaming regally as he strode from the broken bits of plastic. His staff was held high in his right hand and his dark face was set in a genial smile as he knelt down and offered me his left hand.
“Thank you,” he said, voice booming like a bass drum. I took his hand and let the king of the gods help me to my feet, more than a little awestruck. The last time I’d seen Ra was when Aziza and Apep had banished him into who knows where. Evidently that who knows where had been here.
“You’re welcome,” I said because what else could I say, really? Ra nodded, one quick movement of his chin before looking past me toward Sekhmet. “So you have also come, Sekhmet? My thanks to you as well.”
She looked like she was about to say something but instead, just nodded her head.
“Well, it’s time we got out of here, eh?” Ra said, kneeling down and scooping up my flail. He held it out to me, and as he did so, the weapon began to glow with inner sun fire so it looked like it had a hearth inside. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt you,” he added when I didn’t take it immediately. Evidently, I looked apprehensive.
“Okay,” I replied, taking the weapon from him, and he clapped me on the shoulder with enough force to make my knees almost buckle.
His face turned sheepish for a moment. “Sorry, sometimes I don’t know my own strength,” he said, and I wasn’t quite sure if he was making a joke or not.
“No biggie,” I said and the god smirked.
“I didn’t think it would be Dune—” he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes looking past me to Sekhmet once again.
I spun toward her, and she ceased waving her hands frantically and looked away. Then she whistled. I fought the amusement rising in me as she opened one eye, glancing at me, before shutting it again and whistling more as she ambled toward us.
All Wrapped Up: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 2) Page 12