As the ladies left, Dominic and I had a quick moment to chat before following them into the dining hall. “Go ahead, say it, I’m waiting,” Dom blurted. “You said it would go down like this, and I was wrong.”
He noticed the smirk on my face before I crafted my reply. “I’m not about to say, ‘I told You so,’ Dom, but I will say this: I’ve been doing this a long time. You’ll learn where I’m coming from in due time, but for now, let’s finish things so we can take the rest of the week off, shall we?”
THIRTY-FIVE EPILOGUE
“Thank you all for coming.”
We finally made it down to the dining room, greeting all who wanted our attention, watching in awe at the crowd that had taken advantage of the accommodations on the grounds and wanted to take part in the brunch festivities.
At His space, also waiting to greet us was Amenhotep, grinning at the familiarity of the ritual that I had taken great pains to duplicate as much as I could. paka was at His feet, suppressing a smile of her own, which warmed my heart, as they were the only two I truly cared if the festivities were to their liking.
Even though this was nearing the middle of the summer, I enjoyed the holiday feel of the morning. The mimosas were being brought out with fervor by the NEBU slaves, the main buffet table was stocked as heavily as in past occasions with pastries and fruits, and breakfast foods were also loaded, for those that might have worked up an appetite before attending.
“I’m not saying anything, except to say the Lady of NEBU will say a few words first.” I looked at my Beloved, who blushed to some degree, even though I’d already told her beforehand she would lead the brunch for this special occasion.
She kissed me slightly, giving me a look that said, I’m going to kill you later.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Beloved and I would like to thank you all for coming down to help us with the grand reopening of NEBU,” Neferterri began as sajira and shamise took their positions on either side of us, and Damian knelt beside her other hip. “I am pleased the evening turned out to be such a grand success. It is a sign of some good things to come, and we are proud to announce a few things this morning to be spread to your respective communities.”
She looked in the direction of Master Seti first, raised her glass toward him, and stated, “Master Seti and the contingent up in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia area will be overseeing the compound in that area, Thebes. We want to thank Him for His assistance with that project.”
After the applause died down, Neferterri turned to me to continue the announcements.
I was drinking my mimosa when she decided to turn things over to me, and I nearly choked on my drink, which inspired a chuckle out of Amenhotep first, and then spreading through the rest of the audience.
I looked toward Master Osiris and Lady Hatshepsut, raising my glass in their direction. “Master Osiris and Lady Hatshepsut are taking care of the project we are beginning out in the Las Vegas area, the Temples of Deshret. I am sure the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas will be very excited to have a private compound to call their own also.”
More applause, like the news was something long overdue. Amenhotep was the loudest of the audience, enjoying the fruits of his plan coming together. I cracked my own smile, more from relief all of the buildup had finally been completed, and without too much drama, at least for now.
Finally, now that Damian was in his place, and after last night’s performance Neferterri told me about while the girls were away, now was as good a time as any.
“Now that the formalities are out of the way, I have a personal announcement to make.” I waited for the crowd to calm down. “Damian, as a few of you know, has been training within the House, earning his way into the mix. After receiving various kudos from several attendees last night on his performance, both professionally and intimately, it is our pleasure to announce Damian will be given his training collar, and his name will be recognized within the community as amani.”
The look on his face was one for the books.
Neferterri bent down and kissed his forehead, and sajira and shamise hugged him tightly, happy over the surprising news.
“Okay, folks, I’m out of any more news at this time. I want you all to know we had a wonderful time with you, please enjoy the ride home, and our drivers will make sure you get to your destinations in one piece.”
“You did all right, youngster.”
It’s funny how hearing those words from someone you respect highly does certain things to you. Hearing those words from Amenhotep was like music to my ears, especially after four months of having to go back and forth with Him concerning the schematics and having him sign off on everything.
That was the detail I’d left out when it came to explaining everything to the other members when I pitched the other compounds. It had to look like the whole idea was mine to resurrect the compounds or else the plans would have hit a stalemate, especially with Seti.
Amenhotep figured that there might not have been as much resistance if I brought the idea up this time around. As I found out throughout the night, Osiris and Seti, despite their differences at the time, were absolutely against the idea of a compound at all, saying that it would bring too much attention to the Society, and they were comfortable with the anonymity of it all.
I will admit, operating under the radar does have its perks, but in the Information Age, there’s simply no such thing as privacy anymore.
I guess, in the end, even dinosaurs had to adapt or they would find themselves extinct.
“Thank You, Sir, but I couldn’t have pulled this project off without You.” I shook His hand as we headed out to the gazebo by the pool to enjoy the unexpected coolness of an Atlanta summer afternoon. “Last night turned out very well on a lot of fronts.”
“I’ve heard about the security firm You started with Dominic also, kid. I’m impressed, and I’m sure Your father is proud You’ve come full circle and put Your true skills to some good use.”
I cracked up on the security reference, but he was right; some things do come naturally.
“That wasn’t too hard to set up, Sir, and I have some good people working under Dom and Me,” I bragged. “I think it will serve a good purpose, and it might fill a need that’s been lacking in the community for a while now.”
“Well, there’s no need to rest on Your laurels just yet, Ramesses,” Amenhotep pointed out, sitting down on the bench as we watched the male service slaves working on the pool and cleaning the water. “Are Your immunizations up to speed?”
“I hate it when You get all cryptic and cloak and dagger, Sir.” I rolled my eyes and exhaled. I had just helped pull off the mother of all openings within the kink community, even set up another business, and He’s already talking about the next big thing. “Just spit it out, already.”
“I want You to take a trip with Me, youngster,” Amenhotep directed. “I’ll give You a few weeks to get everything in order, and then after that, I want You to block out about three weeks so we can take care of something overseas. Something I’ve been cooking up since I moved to the island.”
“Can I at least know where You’re talking about, since we’re talking about going overseas?” I was ready to strangle Him, but the funniest thing was I did the same thing to my employees at the firm, including Dominic.
There’s a method to His madness, and His track record let me know I could trust the direction He was trying to head in.
“Yeah, I guess I can let You know what’s going on.” Amenhotep stroked His beard as He sized me up for my reaction, then answered my question with a question of His own. “How would You like to create our own version of Hedonism?”
Credit: John Crooms Photography
Shakir Rashaan currently lives in suburban Atlanta with his wife and two children. Rashaan’s catalog includes the Chronicles of the Nubian Underworld (The Awakening: Book One, Legacy: Book Two, and Tempest: Book Three), Deviant Intent (OBSESSION, DECEPTION, and RECKONING), and a collaborative novel series with Anna
J, Motives. Other credits include several anthologies, including Erotic Snapshots Vols. 5 & 6, Lies Told in the Bedroom, and Zane Presents Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3. You can see more of Rashaan at http://www.shakirrashaan.com.
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ALSO BY SHAKIR RASHAAN
The Awakening
Strebor Books
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Largo, MD 20792
http://www.streborbooks.com
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
© 2014 by Shakir Rahsaan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means whatsoever. For information address Strebor Books, P.O. Box 6505, Largo, MD 20792.
ISBN 978-1-59309-546-8
ISBN 978-1-4767-4879-5 (ebook)
LCCN 2014931189
First Strebor Books trade paperback edition June 2014
Cover design: www.mariondesigns.com
Cover photograph: © Keith Saunders Photos
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Contents
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Introduction
Special Note to Readers
Prologue: Ramesses
Chapter One: Sajira
Chapter Two: Neferterri
Chapter Three: Ramesses
Chapter Four: Sajira
Chapter Five: Neferterri
Chapter Six: Sajira
Chapter Seven: Ramesses
Chapter Eight: Neferterri
Chapter Nine: Sajira
Chapter Ten: Neferterri
Chapter Eleven: Shamise
Chapter Twelve: Ramesses
Chapter Thirteen: Sajira
Chapter Fourteen: Ramesses
Chapter Fifteen: Sajira
Chapter Sixteen: Neferterri
Chapter Seventeen: Shamise
Chapter Eighteen: Ramesses
Chapter Nineteen: Neferterri
Chapter Twenty: Shamise
Chapter Twenty-One: Shamise
Chapter Twenty-Two: Ramesses
Chapter Twenty-Three: Sajira
Chapter Twenty-Four: Sajira
Chapter Twenty-Five: Shamise
Chapter Twenty-Six: Ramesses
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Sajira
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Ramesses
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Shamise
Chapter Thirty: Neferterri
Chapter Thirty-One: Neferterri
Chapter Thirty-Two: Sajira
Chapter Thirty-Three: Neferterri
Chapter Thirty-Four: Ramesses
Chapter Thirty-Five: Epilogue
About Shakir Rashaan
Legacy: Book Two of the Chronicles of the Nubian Underworld Page 21