Michael glanced at her for a moment as if he could read her thoughts but then turned to Ethan. “How soon?”
“Ten minutes tops, dudes. I have enough monitoring equipment up the time estimation should be about 95% accurate. According to the readings, this is the real thing. Not manipulated by anything. Not sure how long the Gate will stay open.” Ethan tapped furiously at one of the remaining functioning keyboards.
Alexandria started shaking violently. She could hear the Gate calling to her dark side. Whispering promises if she would only come back to her Wraith brethren. The inner Wraith shrieked within her trying to surface and take control of her. She shook her head back and forth and pressed against the sides of her head to make the sounds and sensations stop.
Joshua grabbed her hands pulling them away from her head and brought them to his chest. He threaded his fingers through hers and didn’t let go even when she tried to pull away from him. She didn’t want to end up hurting him or drawing Power from him which he didn’t have to spare.
“What is it Alexandria? Talk to me. Please.” She could hear the worry in his voice.
A pressure started in her chest and bubbled up into her throat. A low hissing growl escaped for a moment before she choked it back. Coughing violently, she fought to control the sounds. When she finally spoke, the duality in her voice could be heard. Part her voice, part a deep hissing overtone which completely unnerved her but she had to let them know they were more out of time than they thought.
“Five minutes.” The duality was still there. Alexandria swallowed hard, pushing down with all her might against the darker side of her genetics. “Five minutes is the most that you have. The inner Wraith knows the Gate is going to open by then. You have to hurry or you’ll be too late.”
“Fuck!” Khenti Michael blew up, his frustration obvious to Alexandria. He froze in place a moment, his expression one of concentration. She could tell he was broadcasting hard across the Warrior’s Link. After a second, his expression cleared and he continued his directives out loud, “Listen up, Warriors. We obviously don’t have time for a Transference with Stormy, so we’re going to have to make this quick and dirty and hope the Gate will stay open for only a short time. Raven is already with the Guardians Elite, drinking no doubt, but will lead them down to the staging cavern. The rest of you head down and gear up. Eleina, get with Jenny and get the medical team down to the trauma cell as soon as possible.”
The reaction from everyone in the room was immediate. Warriors quickly filed out, including Eleina who was side by side with her Power Mate, Jacob. Alexandria thought they all looked tired and hoped the battle wouldn’t be long. Somehow, she knew from the feedback within her from her dark side that the battle probably wouldn’t last long since the Gate wouldn’t be stable enough to stay open for an extended amount of time.
Michael stepped closer to Joshua and Alexandria, “I’m sorry, Joshua, but I need you to get us set with the updated weapons you’ve been working on for the Elite. We’re out of sorts right now and need them even if the adjustments aren’t completely ready.”
Alexandria was sure Joshua was going to blow at the directive. His eyes narrowed, the grip on her hands tightened painfully, and the Life Power he did have swirled within him violently. She had never seen him so aggressive towards his leader. Always the supportive second in command, this new side showing in her life-long protector was un-nerving. “I won’t leave Alexandria. She needs me and I don’t trust anyone else to watch her,” Joshua growled.
“You’ll leave her, Warrior. You have duties to your brothers in arms, to the Elite, and everyone else who would be affected by your choices. I know you have protected my sister for years and I respect you for your actions. But now isn’t the time! Now get a fucking grip!”
Michael’s fury as leader was something to behold. Alexandria knew her brother was powerful, but he loved all of his Warriors and for him to have to verbally chastise Joshua in this way had to be tearing him up.
“Warren will watch her and already has possession of the remote for her Collar. And before you have a fit over the fact, know Warren has been nothing but professional and caring with her even though he was permanently damaged by several Wraith. Remember this Joshua, I wouldn’t lightly give my sister’s care over to anyone.”
“Josh.” Alexandria called to him. Called to the man who meant everything to her. She didn’t want him becoming a weak link in the chain of Warriors because of her. “He’s right. Warren is the perfect choice. He won’t pause in containing me if something happens. No one else here can say that. Not Michael, not the Warriors, not Stormy or Eleina, and especially not you. Don’t you see, I’m your weakness. You need to let me go and be the second in command who you were meant to be.”
Watching Joshua, she hoped she had gotten through to him. She couldn’t take it if she was the cause of his continued attitude toward his leader. He seemed lost in his inner conflict and the fact his Life Power was continuing to degrade within him wasn’t helping the situation. He was running out of time and she had to find a way to help him.
Finally, he calmed a bit, his energy level spinning back down, and he loosened his grip. He let go of her hands and brushed a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. For a moment, he just stood there looking at her, but finally he murmured, “I apologize, Khenti, for my behavior. I’m afraid I haven’t been myself lately.” Joshua ran a hand over his eyes and sighed heavily. “But know this. If anything else happens to her, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”
“Be safe, Alexandria.” Joshua turned to Warren fixing him with a penetrating stare. “Make sure you take care of her, Guardian.” With that, he stormed from the room with heavy footsteps.
Alexandria watched him go and then turned to Michael. She started to reach out to him needing to be hugged by her older brother, but realizing what she was doing, snatched her hands back. She took several steps back checking to see if Warren was going to consider zapping her. He seemed to be only watching her closely at the moment, though.
“Sis, I’m so sorry this has happened to you. If I could have stopped it…” Michael took a step toward her obviously torn with needing to touch her and not being able to. “Damn it. Listen. I appreciate Joshua has always been your protector, but with everything that has happened and his unpredictable behavior and control of his Powers it may be a good idea to put space between you and him.” Alexandria started to argue but he interrupted her, “I know you care for him and want him near but until we can get a grip on some of the crap going on around here staying away from him might be for the best.”
She didn’t want to reveal the secret she had kept about Joshua but she could see there was no choice and the time had come to confess. “Michael, I do care for him. I…I love him.” Alexandria bit her lip in nervousness but her brother only nodded his head.
“I thought that was the case. He’s a good man. But he needs to focus on his duties. You can see that, right?” Again, her brother was torn, but this time he wouldn’t have to make the difficult choice on the matter. The choice was already made through Joshua’s weakening body.
“You don’t understand Michael. If you keep Joshua away from me, he’ll die. He’s…he’s dionic.” Alexandria waited for the explosion from her brother she knew was coming.
Chapter Six
The wait didn’t take long, but his reaction didn’t manifest as she had expected. Michael’s face went pale as a sheet when the revelation she made sank its teeth in. He staggered backwards and sank into the nearest chair, “That’s impossible. No one has lived from the condition past adolescence. And even if there was the slightest possibility of living a long life, there would be no way he could have become a Warrior with that kind of weakness. If in fact he was dionic, he would have known. We would have all known. Wouldn’t we?” He sat there a moment, running his hands through his hair while he processed the next revelation. Slowly, his confusion cleared and Alexandria could see the wheels turning in his head. “Alexandr
ia, explain this to me. Now.”
Biting her lip, she had to dive in. The secret was revealed now. “Well, he always hung around me trying to be the other big brother. He always wanted to be a Warrior. Being a Warrior was his greatest goal and I think he thought if he watched over me it would be a way to get closer to all of us. You know how different he was in those days, a little slower, a little weaker. Everyone thought his Life Power and skills were just manifesting slower than everyone else’s. But I knew differently. Even back then, I could see the broken energy rhythms of injuries and sickness. I didn’t know what the actual problem was then but I could tell he wasn’t processing the Life Power he could draw from the living things around him like the others. I could tell eventually the difference would do harm to him building up like a diabetic human who couldn’t process sugar correctly.”
Crossing her arms across her chest, she shrugged when Michael scowled at her and continued anyway. “So, I gave into his over-protectiveness even when I didn’t really need it so he was always around me. He was always hovering, not that I minded.”
She gave Michael a rebellious smile. “Touching him was easy enough and that’s when I changed the dionic Power in him to the normal rhythm. Besides, his whole life was based on becoming a powerful Sphinx Warrior and you know damn well had anyone known about his condition, he would have been marked weak and rejected.”
Standing back up, Michael began to pace again. “Damn it, Alexandria. There are reasons for those rules. We are protectors. If we are weak, then we can’t protect our people and this world from the destructiveness of the Wraith. Now with you out of commission, what will happen to him? No one else can do what you do.” He stopped in front of her. “He has to be told.”
Alexandria quickly backed up a couple of steps. The inner Wraith was prowling too close to the surface with Michael, its target, so close.
Upset now, she cried back at him, “No! You can’t tell him. The truth would be too much of a shock to his system. And I don’t want him to be beholden to me. I want him to care for me because he wants to, not because he thinks he owes me his life. I couldn’t handle that. Not now, not ever.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, just breathing deeply and trying to calm herself. “I love him too much to let him think he owes me in that way,” she whispered.
“What do you want me to do then?” Michael’s voice cracked and he sounded defeated. “I can’t watch another one of my Warriors die. In the condition you’re in, can you even help him?”
Opening her eyes, she was determined to convince him of what she needed to do.
“First, please don’t tell anyone.” She glanced at Warren a second. “That includes you.” Rubbing at her forehead she continued, “Since he hovers anyway, I can try and convert some of the energy into its appropriate form.”
Michael’s expression told her he was doubtful. “Can you even work your healing ability in your current condition?”
“Umm. I’m not really sure. I think I started to change the energy earlier when I was in the cell, but the Wraith rears its ugly head sniffing around the Power. It might be I need a slightly higher suppression concentration so I can help Joshua long enough for me to do some research.”
“Alexandria, I don’t know that’s such a good idea. You running around right now. I’m sorry, sis.” He reached out to her, but stopped and looked at his hand in sadness. He dropped it to his side sighing deeply.
By the Ancients, she had to convince him or Joshua could very possibly die.
“Look, Warren can set my processing equipment up in the cell in medical. He’ll be there to watch me and I can still do the research. The experiments will be two-fold to try and fix me and to come up with a genetic venom which can destroy the unstable Sphinx DNA combination inserted into the Wraith that Turin created. Those Wraith are even more of a threat than the ordinary Wraith themselves.”
She waited for Michael’s answer. He seemed torn. She couldn’t even think straight from the thought of him not letting her do this. If he said no, it could very well be the end of Joshua and of her. She didn’t care about her life but her heart broke and her eyes watered at the possible loss of Josh.
“Please, Michael. Let me do this. Remember, I’m Collared.”
Michael appeared haunted, exhausted, almost broken to her. He ran a hand through his already messed up hair. She thought she heard his jaw pop, he was tensing it so hard.
Finally, he said, “Alexandria, I see your reasoning even if it has a lot to do with your feelings for Joshua. Damn it, we all care for him. There has to be a way to save him. I agree to your conditions but Warren will be responsible for guarding you when Joshua isn’t there for you. Two, his condition won’t be revealed unless it starts causing complications beyond what already exist with him and his moods. It’s not like the rest of us are in any better shape. Third, you won’t try anything on yourself without consulting with Warren first. Understood?”
Thank the Ancients. Alexandria felt the stress lift just a little bit. She was determined to find a fix for all of them. “Understood.” Her doctor mind-set kicked in with those particulars taken care of. “Now, Michael, about you and the Warriors looking like hell. What’s going on? Is there a problem with the Power Transference, with Stormy?”
She suddenly knew from the closed off expression on Michael’s face she wasn’t going to get anywhere with the line of questioning. Michael moved a fraction closer to her, his voice lowering. “I’m sorry, Alexandria, I can’t talk to you about Stormy right now. Not in your current condition. I hope you understand?”
Nodding, she mumbled, “I do. But if things come to a head, I hope you’ll at least consider accepting what help I can offer.”
“I will, sis.” Michael reached for her again and Alexandria felt the Wraith inside instantly focus in on his movements. Cursing under his breath, he must have picked up on it because he backed off again.
“Warren, take her up to her living quarters. The battle is underway and I need to be there,” Michael lowered his head and strode by her in silence. As he passed, she quietly wished him luck and to be safe. He did the same in return, keeping his distance.
Only after Michael left the planning room did Warren approach her. Even though he knew what she was now, he showed no fear and perhaps no common sense because he moved up within arm’s reach. Maybe the Guardian had a death wish. “Can I get you anything before we head up, Alexandria?”
“No. I think I’ve had enough of everything for the day.” She rubbed at her eyes and almost jumped a foot when Warren took her hand and checked her pulse. “Aren’t you afraid of me? Or at least wary?”
Seeming to be satisfied with his medical check, he sighed. “You have to understand. The Wraith already took everything away from me. In the one screwed up attack, they took my physical well-being, my ability to be a Guardian, and…and any hope of anyone wanting to be with me. So you see, what more could you do to me.”
Alexandria was appalled. If she could just get herself right, then perhaps she could help Warren in some way. His injuries were mostly healed and he wasn’t a Sphinx so the probability of being able to correct the damage was pretty slim. But she wanted to try anyway. “I’m sorry, Warren,” was all she could say. What more could she say to a man who had lost pretty much everything.
“Anyway, let’s get you up to your quarters. You better get a break while you can. We can set up your equipment tomorrow.”
Alexandria thought the plan for tomorrow sounded good, but right now her head was ringing and she was dead on her feet. Leading the way with Warren following closely behind her, she made her way out of the planning room and over to the elevator bank. Warren reached past her and hit the button.
“Sorry. You’re access permissions with your fingerprint have been taken out of the system for now.”
“Yeah. Can’t have me running around sucking people dry of their Life Power. I understand.” She answered sarcastically. After she said it, she felt bad about unloadi
ng on Warren. But he seemed to understand. He simply shrugged.
Once both of them were on the elevator and he had hit the button to the Warriors’ quarters and cleared his fingerprint on the scanner, he turned to her.
“Listen. I know you’re one of the best at what you do. I have no doubt you’ll find the answer, Alexandria. I have faith in you.”
Before she could respond, they arrived at the Warriors’ quarters. The elevator doors slid open with a silent whoosh and she stepped out into the entryway of her home. A home she had been yanked from only a few weeks ago. It felt like forever since she had been here and at the same time strange to her. Her eyes even rebelled at the bright colors and light. The expanse of polished tiger’s eye marble flooring with its swirling patterns of silver flashed into her sensitive eyes. The carpets of dark gold, red, turquoise, and other bright Egyptian colors dug into her brain giving her a headache. Even the elaborate tapestries of nature, frolicking royalty, and Warriors depicted in battle made her dizzy and her stomach upset. The things she had so loved before didn’t seem to mean anything now.
Alexandria choked trying to hold back emotions which were ready to boil over. Everything was wrong with her, with her world, and with her relationships. How could she take this? Visibly, she was frozen in place and could only call out in her mind to Joshua. She had never Joined with him, though, so she knew there was no way he could hear her. The thought crushed her even more never having had his love returned to her.
When everything blurred behind her tears, Warren gripped her arm steadying her.
“Come on, Alexandria. Let’s get you upstairs.” Guiding her, Warren assisted her up the sweeping mahogany railed staircase without any incidence even though Alexandria could barely see anything. At the top, she paused before the golden Sphinx shining so brightly under its spotlight. She rested both of her hands on the head of the Sphinx. Joshua always touched the Sphinx as he passed it for luck.
Sphinx Transformed (The Sphinx Warriors Series Book 3) Page 10