Encore (Descendants of Ra: Book 4)

by Tmonique Stephens

  She swallowed and tears welled in her eyes. “I’d burned so many bridges with you. Took me a moment to gather my courage and come here. I needed to sever as much of the past as possible. So, I fulfilled Grand’s last wishes and turned over all of his possessions as he wanted. This morning I put the house on the market. Whether or not you and I worked out, I wanted a fresh start. I’m praying that start will be with you. That is, if you want it, too.” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears.

  “A fresh start.” His brain latched onto those words.

  Emeline’s head bobbed. “Yes. I didn’t come back because of the baby. I came back for you. I love you. Us. I love this baby and want what he or she represents. A family.”

  Love, so overwhelming and profound, engulfed him. “Just so you know, if it’s a boy we are not naming him Wilbur after your grandfather.” Avery kissed her, poured everything he had into Emeline as a chorus of ‘Congratulations’ echoed.

  “Now we truly have something to celebrate. Champagne for everyone, except for those expecting and those under twenty-one.” Hector patted Ember on the head and eyed Jackson as he walked out of the room.

  Stella and Alexis engulfed Emeline with hugs and squeals of joy while the men surrounded Avery. He’d never been so high. A father. Someone was going to call him Daddy. The responsibility staggered him. Being a father never factored into any of his equations. The most important job of his life had just landed in his lap. He wouldn’t fail.

  Between the hard thumps on his back, someone shoved a glass of champagne in his hand. He sipped and never took his eyes off the love of his life. His future.

  Except, something was missing. Someone. His brother. Now more than ever, he had to repair their relationship. Nothing was more important than family. His kid needed his uncle. Maybe her uncle. Whatever. His face started to ache from grinning.

  A screech blared from Quin’s phone, joined by an accompanying screech from somewhere in the house. Quin pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. “Guys, we got incoming.”

  “Who?” Roman asked.

  Quin tapped his screen a few times and said, “Daniel and friends.”

  Reign peered at Quin’s phone. “How many?”

  Quin glanced at Emeline, Alexis, Stella, and Ember, and then mumbled, “A lot.”

  ~~~~~~~

  Daniel scanned the back lawn of RockGate. He couldn’t say it felt good to be standing on Nicolis soil. Not when he’d planned this attack to be much grander. Next to him, Frederick Tanis, Declan Mairos, and his son. The Valkyries had bailed. That lying bitch Ingrit reneged on her promise to join her forces with theirs.

  Four vortexes popped open on RockGate’s back lawn, each delivering approximately eight men. The men of his allies. None of his quimaera were present because the bastard known as EJ fucking Nicolis and his red whore stole his dagger. Without the Harvester, Daniel couldn’t control his army. EJ fucking Nicolis now had that ability. And without his army, Daniel was nothing. Less than nothing.

  The men of his allies fanned out on the lawn. Daniel had told them all the entry points... except one. That one he kept for himself.

  Into the woods he slipped, to a hatch covered by a fake hedge of evergreens. He transformed into the beast and ripped his way into the underground tunnel. Certain an alarm had sounded, and just as certain its importance was lost amongst all the other tripped alarms, he jumped down into the tunnel. Motion lights flicked on and led the way back to the holding cells beneath the kitchen.

  He moved quickly down the tunnel, past the steel doors of the cells, and up the stairs to the kitchen. Only after he ripped the door off its hinges and stepped onto the decorative mosaic tile, did he pause and inhale the rarefied air of RockGate.

  Alamut/Daniel, black sheep of the Nicolis family, had officially returned home.

  Chapter Forty

  “You’re her twin?” EJ tried to wrap his head around the memory Hathor shared with them.

  “I am her spiritual opposite,” the Goddess corrected. “I am love. She is hate. I am joy. She is sorrow. I am kindness. She is cruelty. I cannot kill. She delights in the slaughter of everything, anything that draws breath.”

  “Thanks for explaining. Can you lift my curse?” Hands on her hips, feet braced apart, Ridley faced Hathor.

  And Avery thought I lacked subtly. EJ snorted.

  Hathor gave Ridley a tolerant glance and shook her head. “I did not curse you.”

  “Yes, you did. You’re the jealous goddess who cursed my ancestors,” Ridley snarled.

  A patient sigh, then Hathor said, “No. I am not.”

  “Why are you lying? You already admitted it!” Ridley raged.

  Serenity fled as Hathor’s face hardened and her shoulders squared. She eyed Ridley with disdain.

  “Not all love and joy now, huh?” Ridley snickered and swaggered around the room.

  “You try me, child. Sakhmet killed the only love she… I would ever have. Then she destroyed everything.”

  That’s a lie. EJ stepped between the two women. “Not to pry into your sexual history… I thought Tyrone’s father was the love of your life.”

  Pain flashed across Hathor’s face as if EJ had slapped her. Then, a neutral mask swept over her. “Yes. I sensed his reincarnation would occur here, though not the when. Not the who. I waited millennia upon millennia, so many years lost in a blur of longing. Waiting for the only man I would ever love and the only child I could ever have.”

  “You’re lying,” Ridley said.

  “I cannot lie,” Hathor growled.

  “Then you’re saying the entire history of my ancestors is a lie perpetrated against you. Why you and not the real goddess who cursed us.” Ridley pounded her chest.

  “Because it was Sakhmet who cursed you.”

  Ridley blinked and shook her head. “The Compendium I inherited on my sixteenth birthday described you, not Sakhmet, not that multi-mouthed whatever she was.”

  “You saw my memory. Sakhmet is a shapeshifter. The body I have is one of her many shapes.”

  Ridley sat on the stone bench, her face pinched, her hands fisted. “So Sakhmet cursed me. Is the rest of the legend true?”

  Hathor sat next to her. “Before Ra separated us, Sakhmet was a study in dualities. Equal parts of love and hate raged within her, yet there was balance. Until she fell in love. All of Sakhmet fell in love. Unfortunately, she didn’t understand it. The part of her that hated withered, would have died if the love was returned. The god loved another. He wanted Sakhmet’s power. He used her to conquer his enemies and rule a vast kingdom.”

  “The god loved a mortal?” Ridley whispered.

  Hathor nodded. “In Sakhmet’s rage, she killed the god and his consort. Next, through our combined powers, she took revenge on the child and cursed it. Finally, she rampaged through the village and killed every living thing.”

  “He loved another and you still waited millennia for him?”

  Hathor stared over Ridley’s shoulder, toward the open field and swaying flowers. “The heart goes where it will. When you love someone, truly love them, you willingly give up your soul because they already own it. You entrust them with everything you are, everything you will be. It is the most selfless—”

  “So you can’t free me from the curse?” Ridley’s voice shrank to a broken plea.

  Hathor took Ridley’s hand. “No child. To my knowledge, only Sakhmet has the power to free you. And you and I both know, she will not do so.”

  “The Harvester—the Sacred Dagger!” She retrieved the anu’Ra from a pocket in her coat. “This can save me, right?” She held the weapon in the palm of her hand as if a gift to the goddess. Hathor reached for the weapon, but Ridley zoomed to the other side of the room. The blade unsheathed, the tip pointing between her breasts.

  “Ridley, don’t!” EJ took one step toward her and she held up her free hand.

  “Child. First, you cannot remove your own soul with the Harvester. The dagger has to be wielded by another. Second,
and most important, unless there is darkness in your heart, the Harvester will not work.”

  “No! I’ve done things. Evil things.”

  “Were your actions directed by your desire to save your child?” Hathor asked.

  Tears welled in Ridley’s eyes and she gave a microscopic nod. Hathor’s sigh said it all. “No matter how misguided, there is nothing purer than a mother’s love. I speak from experience,” she murmured.

  Ridley raised the dagger. “This has to work! This is all I have left!”

  EJ lunged for her arm and knocked the Harvester out of her hand. It skidded across the floor to Hathor. He grabbed Ridley, but she pushed him away to stalk to the edge of the room and lean against a column. Her stiff back was all she gave him.

  “What if we kill Sakhmet? Will that break the curse?” EJ said.

  “Killing her will do nothing. She has to rescind the curse. And Sakhmet is very hard to kill,” Hathor said.

  “What about the Scroll of Heka? There must be something there.” Ridley said, her voice thin.

  “Heka was strong. Had powerful magic. Few rival Sakhmet in sheer brute strength.”

  Something about Hathor’s tone caught EJ’s attention. “Are you one of those few?”

  Hathor paused. That split second freeze gave EJ his answer. “Then kill the bitch and be done with it,” he demanded. Ridley joined him as he faced Hathor.

  “Could you kill your brother, EJ? Could Roman kill his twin, Reign? My dilemma is ten times worse. Killing her would be killing me. Not to mention, I can’t kill. I am the Goddess of Love.” Hathor picked up the Harvester and stood. Her steps faltered, and she glanced at the anu’Ra. “This realm is more than my personal haven. It can be a temporary sanctuary. Sakhmet’s curse holds no power in my realm. I can give you shelter here—”

  “Can I bring Josie here? Please say I can!” Hope flared deep within her amethyst eyes and EJ silently begged that this was an answer to their prayers.

  “I would say yes, though, I can only offer you temporary shelter. Not only are humans forbidden in Chemmis, I am hunted for my transgressions. I don’t know how long my presence here will remain unnoticed. When they come from me, I won’t be able to protect you from their wrath.”

  “Who are they?” EJ demanded.

  “They are the entire pantheon including the most powerful of the group, SET, the God of All Evil, and his lovely, pathological wife, Nephythys. Their unending ire is because I decreed their mating. Without Nu’s presence in Chemmis, I am vulnerable… Also, this realm is breached. None of Chemmis is safe.”

  And the bad news kept coming. “What the hell does that mean, in English please.”

  Though her face was serene, a wave of frustration hit him. “Imagine Chemmis is a garment, let’s say a dress. Somewhere on that dress is a tear in the fabric. Though small, that tear has caused a ripple of tears through the entire dress, making it unwearable, unlivable.” She sighed, seemed resigned to a fate already written. “I fear it is too late,” Hathor said.

  Well, that shit didn’t sound good. He tossed protocol out the proverbial window—since the damn thing was already shattered—and grabbed Hathor’s shoulders. “No more metaphors. Just spit it out.”

  Surprise flashed across her face, but she didn’t fry him. “The ripple will spread across the realms. Hundreds of realms. One by one, they will fall until nothing is left. Chemmis will fail. When that happens—”

  “—everything will be free—” EJ added.

  “—to roam your realm. Gods and Demons. Everything imprisoned in Duat. Do you understand, EJ?”

  Well yeah, especially when you explain shit like that. He released her and stepped back. “When?”

  She shrugged. “Time is a concept which has no meaning in Chemmis. Tell Ember. Tell Roman and Reign. Warn them.”

  He nodded. Instead of saying, ‘What the hell can they do about it?’ he asked, “Can we save Chemmis?”

  Hathor shook her head. “Without Ra, no. It’s not possible. Until his earthly reincarnation and ultimate ascension, Chemmis is doomed.” She glanced at the Harvester in her hand. Her forehead furrowed. “This blade feels dead when it should be alive with energy.” She held it up so the sunlight glinted off the edge. “This blade has been claimed.”

  EJ’s gut tightened and a wave of ownership seized him. “What do you mean?”

  “It has chosen a master. But who?”

  EJ extended his hand.

  Hathor stared at his palm, then her gaze traveled up his arm and met his. “EJ Nicolis. I would say I’m surprised, but given Nu’s affinity for the Nicolis family, I am not.” Anger crackled in the air between them. She slapped the blade into his palm and spun away.

  His skin touched the golden dagger and light flared from the anu’Ra. Power swept up his arm and into his body. Outside of tasting Ridley, it was the sweetest rush he’d ever experienced. For a second, he lost himself, savoring the experience. “Does this mean I control the quimaera?”

  Hathor watched him, her expression once again serene. “And more you will learn in time.”

  “So my only choice is to kidnap my daughter, who doesn’t know who the hell I am, and bring her to a sanctuary that may be a death trap. So we could have forever for me to explain why I’ve ruined her life, or a few minutes to get reacquainted. How do I make that choice?” Ridley threw up her hands and stomped away.

  EJ went to her. He didn’t hesitate to wrap her in his arms, and this time, she didn’t fight him. She clung, sobs racking her body, fingernails digging through his sweater into his flesh.

  He wanted to take her burden, tell her what to do, ease her suffering, anything to take away the pain. Instead, he held on and whispered lies in her ear. Lies he knew she wouldn’t believe, but needed to hear. Lies that didn’t make anything better.

  “We’ve been here a few hours but…how long is that time in our realm? How much time passed on earth?”

  “Nearly a day and a half,” Hathor said.

  Ridley glanced at her watch and sighed. “So my watch is correct. I have”—her sigh turned into a sob—“two hours left, then I die.” Her shoulders stiffened and her spine straightened as if she adjusted a heavy burden and found the weight acceptable. “Please send me back.”

  “Us back. We’re in this together.”

  Haunted eyes, devoid of the heat he so loved, met his. “I want to see my daughter.”

  “Of course.” Hathor waved her hand and opened a vortex behind them. “Know this Ridley, no curse lasts forever. They are all fatally flawed. The knowledge to break it has to be within you.”

  “I have two hours left. If there was anything hidden inside me, I would’ve found it by now.”

  Hathor opened her mouth to reply when a boom rocked the room. They all looked up as a chunk of the sky crashed to the meadow next to the room. Before anyone could react, the room undulated and tossed them about like a boat riding a rough wave at sea.

  “Dearest Ra! It’s happening!” Hathor lunged to her feet and immediately dove out of the way as a chunk of the sky crashed where she had been standing. Crawling away from the destruction, she screamed and pointed to the vortex. “Leave! Leave now while you can.”

  EJ wouldn’t leave Ty’s mother here to die. He pulled her to her feet and steadied both the goddess and Ridley. “Come with me.”

  “I can’t. With my host deceased, I have no anchor. Chemmis is my anchor until it fails. Here, I must remain and continue to search for my son. Tell Roman, Tyrone is lost in time. When and where, I don’t know.”

  She pulled away, but EJ wouldn’t let her go. “Is there a way we can reach you? You can reach us?”

  “The Scrying bowl. That’s how I knew you were in danger. There’s one at my home. Now go.” She knocked his hands away and shoved him and Ridley into the opening.

  EJ kept eye contact with Hathor as long as possible. Then a void surrounded him and reality ceased to exist. A hand clasped his and tethered him as nothing else ever could. He yanked Rid
ley to him and held on. How could he possibly ever let her go? The answer came easily, he couldn’t.

  Chapter Forty-One

  With Emeline by his side, Avery peered out of the solarium windows, surveying their uninvited guests loitering on the back lawn. A moment ago, Quin had left to kill all of the lights, plunging everything into moonlit darkness.

  “I count forty,” Avery said to no one in particular.

  “Agreed,” Roman answered.

  Roman turned to Stella. “Use the light on your cell, take Ember, and go to the safe room.” Her eyes closed briefly. When they opened, those gray orbs were focused. She grabbed Roman by his shirt and hauled him in for a kiss.

  Avery pulled Emeline into his arms, one hand threaded through her hair, the other pressed against her lower abdomen. Her hands settled over his. Eyes filled with confusion, Emeline murmured, “What’s going on?”

  He didn’t want to say, especially with so much more than his life on the line. His entire world stood in front of him. To lose her—them... He swallowed the bile rising in his throat. Better to tell her the truth and know what they faced.

  “The family is at war. Now, please go with Stella.”

  Her gaze shifted to the window again and the color leeched from her skin. A quick pan around the room at the grim expressions on Roman and the rest of the men, and she swallowed hard. “I can help—”

  “No,” Avery growled. “I can’t do what I have to if I’m worried about you and the baby.”

  Reign marched over to Alexis. “You should go—”

  “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Alexis shot him down. The Serpent necklace hissed. Ruby and emerald eyes twinkled in its dual heads as the necklace melted and covered Alexis in golden armor with a matching sword.

  Emeline’s fingers tightened around Avery’s hand. She pulled his face close to hers. Forehead to forehead he stared into her hazel eyes as she whispered, “Don’t die.”

  He kissed her with all the love in his heart. “I have too much to live for. Now go.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her away. She followed Stella and Ember out of the room, looked back once, then she left his sight. Hector followed them out as Quin and Brayden returned, each lugging two huge duffel bags. They dropped the bags on the marble floor. Metal clanked against metal.