by Sandy James
“No, but—”
Rhiannon straightened her spine to draw to her full impressive height. “Water is much weaker than my Earth, much less talented than my Rebecca.”
“My Sarita has powers too,” Ganga insisted.
Rhiannon gave a rueful laugh. “She can swim.”
“She can heal your Amazons,” Ganga said, her anger rising steadily. “You should remember that.”
“Aye,” Rhiannon replied. “She is of use after a fight. But during...?”
Freya shook her head. “Turning water to ice is of no use in a battle. And your Sarita cannot seem to harness her fear of revenants. How can she help her sisters if she quakes with fear when those mindless minions of evil attack? How can an Amazon be afraid of creatures already dead?”
“She is not afraid. She is—cautious.” Ganga sighed. All they said rang true. So why had she not pushed Sarita the way she had her other Water Amazons over the centuries?
Because she’d developed an attachment—a deeply personal attachment—for the woman. Sarita’s heart was so pure, so loving. She gave of herself freely and without reservations to personal cost. Although badly injured, Sarita had been the one to step forward to save Gina’s life when Helen had tried to kill her.
Why couldn’t they see what Ganga did?
The old woman slapped her hand on the velvet-covered table, causing the snake on its surface to slither onto her lap. Silence would’ve reigned had not the sounds of the swamp swirled around them. The songs of frogs and crickets punctuated by the cries of birds. Her eyes fixed on Ganga, sending a shiver up the goddess’s spine.
The oracle picked up her crystal and held it on her palm. Then she shoved that hand in the air and frowned at the goddesses. “You are all wrong.”
Rhiannon bristled, swishing her velvet skirt in an angry motion. “I am never wrong.”
The woman shook her head until her gray hair began to pull free of the red and gold scarf binding it. “And yet, you are wrong this time.”
“How dare you speak to me with such insolence?” The Lady of the Lake narrowed her eyes. “I should strike you down.”
“I dare,” the old woman replied, picking the snake off her lap and setting it on the wood floor. “I am an oracle to all Ancients. None may harm me. Only time may claim my body, and it has had no inclination to do so yet.”
Rhiannon did nothing to the old woman despite her impudence.
“She speaks the truth,” Freya said. “Perhaps we should listen to what she is prophesying. If my daughter is involved—”
“I tire of your constant reminders that Fire is your daughter,” Rhiannon snapped. “She is no better than any other Amazon.”
“My point exactly,” Ganga said. “My Water might not be as strong as all the other Amazons, but—”
The oracle laughed, long and loud. “You, too, are wrong. The Water Amazon is the strongest of the four—stronger than any Amazon who came before.”
“The woman is too tiny, too timid to be a great warrior,” Ix Chel retorted.
“Great warriors are not found only on the battlefield.” The oracle swept her hands in invitation to the goddesses.
They reluctantly stood before her.
The oracle’s eyes glazed, turning dark and iridescent as black pearls as she held the crystal high. “See the color of the crystal?”
“The blue of my Water,” Ganga said. “The blue of my Ganges.”
The oracle gave her a curt nod. “Now watch what it predicts for the future of humankind.”
The light inside the crystal began to glow and throb until it became a bright white light before it suddenly ended as if someone had snuffed the flame of a candle. Smoke rose in wisps from the crystal as it darkened to black. With a loud pop, the gem exploded. Bits of it rained down at the goddesses’ feet like confetti.
“Nay,” Rhiannon whispered. “Nay, they cannot all die. ’Tis not possible. Our Amazons will stop this.”
“No. They will not.” The old woman leveled a hard stare at Ganga. “She will. Only she may find a way.”
Rhiannon dismissed the notion with a typical wave of her hand. “Water has not the power. My Earth, my Rebecca, shall save the humans. I shall send my Rebecca.”
“Nay, let my Fire take this important task,” Freya insisted. “Let my Megan save mankind yet again.”
Ix Chel shook her head. “Gina is the right Amazon for this threat. My Air is strong. She shall be the savior.”
Ganga closed her eyes and drowned out the continued boasts and brags of the other patron goddesses. When the crystal representing humanity had exploded, she’d understood what the oracle meant. She opened her eyes, glanced up and met the old woman’s dark eyes.
“Now you see,” the woman said. “Now you know.”
Ganga nodded. The time to protect Sarita had ended. There was no way for the tiny woman with the pure heart to avoid her destiny.
Water would face this threat.
Alone.
There would be no help from her goddess. No help from her sisters. No help from the two honorable men who trained the Amazons.
Sarita’s trial by fire had arrived.
Chapter Two
As warm lips touched her breast, Sarita arched into the caress. Strong hands stroked her arms, brushing down shivering skin until fingers entwined with hers and lifted her arms above her head.
“So beautiful,” the deep voice whispered against her skin.
The heat was almost unbearable as the man drew her nipple into his mouth. One of his hands pinned her wrists to the cool sheets. The other tickled down to settle on her other breast. She couldn’t hold back the moans that spilled from her lips, wanting more of his touch, wanting more than his touch.
The hand moved lower until it caressed her hip then trailed across her leg to stroke up the inside of her thigh. How was she able to stay on the bed when those fingers reached the part of her that ached and burned for that touch?
“Easy, loving,” he murmured.
The timbre of his seductive voice rushed through her in a wave of heat. She strained to see his face. Eyes like emeralds. Red hair that almost brushed his shoulders. Although red wasn’t quite the right word. Not brassy or bold, but more like a pleasant mixture of red and a rich brown.
“Only your love can save me,” he whispered.
She couldn’t find the words to reply to his enigmatic statement as tension knotted her body. A light sheen of perspiration coated her skin, causing more shivers to race over her. A long finger penetrated her, forcing her hips to meet the thrust. The tension spread and muscles tightened until she thought she’d go mad. About to find the release she craved, she arched her back and cried out... Only to suddenly awaken.
Her heart pounded, whooshing loudly in her ears. Sarita was no longer in the dream—the same dream that had haunted her for a long, torturous week. A groan escaped as she rolled over and buried her face in the pillow, feeling the hollow ache of unfulfilled desire.
Why? Why did that man come to her every night, torturing her and teasing her until she wanted to scream in frustration?
Were the dreams simply her loneliness and her long-term celibacy? She was, after all, a healthy woman who’d never taken a lover. Perhaps the heated dreams were nothing more than curiosity.
Maybe she just needed to take advantage of the gifts the goddesses gave to the Amazons—the protection from catching diseases or that they couldn’t get pregnant if the man was meant to be nothing more than a partner for a romantic tryst. Maybe she should go out, have a few drinks, a few laughs and finally get laid.
Her Indian culture—one of respect and honor—had been deeply ingrained by her “Aunt” Kamala—a high priestess to her goddess Ganga. More so by her nanny, Lalita—another Indian who followed the old ways and custom
s. Sarita couldn’t brush all that off and have a fling. Her whole life had been steeped in tradition, and a week’s worth of haunting dreams weren’t enough for her to throw away all that made her who she was. When she took a lover—if she took a lover—the man would be her soul mate. Her husband. If not in truth, then the husband of her heart.
Where could she find this Prince Charming? Amazons seldom had the chance to meet new people, let alone spend enough time to get to know someone.
The erotic dream lingered like a haze in the air. The temptation had been there all week—the lure to surrender to the dream and never wake up. To forget her duties and her destiny and be a woman.
A light exploded in the room, and Ganga appeared. All thoughts of sleep vanished.
Sarita rubbed her hands over her face to shake the last of the fog from her eyes. “I’m so glad to see you, Ganga.”
“As I am you.”
Ganga’s dark eyes seemed sad, something Sarita had never seen before. Goddesses tended to hide emotions, often to the point they appeared to have no feelings at all.
A cold lot, Artair MacKay always called them. The man was a Sentinel, so he would know. The fact he’d spent four hundred years in their service gave him far more knowledge of the Ancients—the gods and goddesses of every culture who shared the powers of this world—than any other person.
Before Sarita’s overwhelming curiosity forced her to ask why Water’s patron goddess sought her out, Ganga spoke. “I have a mission for you. The demon Marbas is loose and we wish him brought to heel.” She smoothed her hand over the iridescent skirt of her purple sari as Sarita pushed aside the covers and got to her feet.
“Isn’t he a lion? That would be Earth’s domain. Rebecca always captures the animal demons.” The hair on the back of her neck bristled. Ganga had never come to her like this, nor had she ever sent her on a demon hunt with no backup. What made Marbas so special?
“I wish you to go, Sarita. Marbas breathes fire. What better warrior to send than one who can quench that flame? There are children missing, and the voices of their parents cry out for justice.”
“I could take Gina and—”
“The aid of your sister will not be necessary,” Ganga snapped—another thing highly unusual for her.
“Yes, but...Helen is getting more and more powerful. I thought we’d agreed no one goes on a mission alone.”
Helen. The newest of the Ancients.
A former Earth Amazon, she’d murdered her own Amazon sister—the last generation’s Fire Amazon, Sparks—as a sacrifice to ascend to being a goddess. Once given a taste of power, Helen had become a megalomaniac who wanted absolute control of the human world. Which made her the main target of the Amazons.
The cult Helen established just over a year ago—The Children of the Earth—had grown by leaps and bounds. She’d burst on the scene with the power of a hurricane, and her image and voice were everywhere. Billboards. Television. Radio. She’d developed a new tactic—hiding in plain sight. Temples were built in her honor all over the world as the Children recruited more and more members. Some of those members even served in Congress, helping push through bills that shielded the cult and their money from local laws. At least Helen was easy to track now, whereas in the past she’d tended to pop up at the most inopportune moments.
With each new follower, Helen’s power grew, their worship feeding her like gasoline thrown on a fire. The last time the Amazons had checked, the COE flock had spread to twenty-two countries and had close to half a million people believing Helen held the answers on how to save the world from being destroyed by pollution, famine and war. She preached an appealing gospel much like cult leaders who’d come before her—peace, hope, and charity.
If only her followers knew her as well as Sarita did.
So far, she hadn’t come after the Amazons. But she would. None of them doubted that. It was merely a matter of time. Her hatred of them—because they’d defeated her three times in her attempts to gain power—ran hot and deep.
She would come after them.
Soon.
Ganga ignored Sarita’s comment as though unconcerned about Helen’s potential threat. “I shall send you to Scotland to face him.” The goddess nodded at the sapphire-encrusted sword standing next to the oak bureau.
“Scotland?” Sarita asked as she walked over and picked up her weapon.
“Yes, my child. Marbas awaits. Be well.” The goddess snapped her fingers before Sarita could ask why in the hell Marbas could be found in Scotland.
Her goddess had given her this mission. Sarita would give Ganga no less than her best.
As she dressed, she called to her closest sister, Gina, telepathically, letting her know she had a job and that all would be well.
“You don’t want me to go too, Sarita?”
“No. Ganga said I should go alone.”
Gina sent waves of confidence Sarita’s way, and she added a wish that they see each other soon.
* * *
Marbas caused more trouble than she’d expected.
Normally, an Amazon would go in, get the job done by either killing the creature or using magicks to incapacitate him, and get right back out. Since Ganga hadn’t stated a preference, Sarita would go for the capture. No matter that she’d been an Amazon for a few years, the kill bothered her.
Still, this demon was a major pain in the ass.
Sarita ducked behind a boulder as Marbas belched another stream of fire at her. She imagined herself some warrior of old battling a dragon with nothing but a sword—although in this case the enemy was really a fire-breathing lion with a taste for children. She’d make sure his child-munching days were over.
A shame Helen wasn’t so easily subdued...
Once she found out which damned idiot had set Marbas loose, she’d give him a piece of her mind before she beat him senseless. The thought that the demon had something to do with Helen was quickly dismissed. She was busy running her cult. She wouldn’t stoop to something as petty as setting a demon loose to eat kids. This was just a routine demon hunt. Nothing more, nothing less.
When the stream of fire petered out, Sarita charged from behind the rock, sword ready.
Marbas inhaled sharply, obviously preparing to roast her.
She never gave him the chance thanks to a small puddle at the demon’s feet. As his mouth opened, a flick of her wrist expanded the water and sent it flying down his throat, drowning the flames. She ran her sword through his chest as he choked.
Not that a stab wound could kill him—not a demon of Marbas’s level. He wasn’t immortal, but he could only be destroyed by magicks wielded by an Ancient. She could only subdue him until some spell could be spun around him. As his body dropped to the dirt, she sheathed her bloody sword and jerked the lasso from her belt. She had the demon hogtied before he could rally.
Marbas growled at her.
She snorted a laugh, a habit she couldn’t seem to break despite her sisters’ teasing. “You lose. It’s demon jail for you.”
The dumbass might have gone undetected for quite a while, and he might have been true to his evil nature and gone for victims.
Although her nature was usually more reserved, Sarita found herself wanting to crow like a rooster over her success. This one felt damned good. She would please Ganga. She’d also please her sisters.
Perhaps she might stop feeling like the weakest of the four. Capturing Marbas with her Water powers took some of the sting away.
Her sisters didn’t look down on her. They’d never once told her she had the wimpiest powers. That was Sarita’s own baggage. While they’d grown in their powers, she’d been standing still, waiting for an evolution that might not happen. It just got old to feel like the others protected her and pushed her to the back of every fight because her powers weren’t as strong as theirs.
Her sisters had the really cool powers.
What could Sarita do? She could swim forever without taking a breath. She could freeze liquid with the touch of her finger. And as she did with Marbas, she could send water flying from one place to the next.
Whoopee shit.
How many demons needed a good drowning?
At least her powers had come in handy once. The last time they’d faced Helen, she’d tried to kill Gina and her husband, Zach. Sarita had been the one to end the crisis. Diverting water from a fountain, she’d encased Helen in a solid block of ice until they could all escape. Not a capture, but her powers had saved the day.
Sarita jumped over Marbas, grabbed his head from behind and wound the slack of the rope around his jaws to keep them shut. She could have been a cowboy who’d just won the calf-roping competition.
What she needed was a cocky reply—like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Instead, Sarita sighed and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. Being closest to Gina, Sarita could communicate some things simply by thought. But for Rebecca and Megan, she had to use her phone.
Punching the speed dial, she waited for Rebecca to answer. Since the Earth Amazon acted as Guardian to the other three, Sarita, Gina and Megan had to report back to her after any mission.
“Sarita! That was quick. Things went well?”
“All done. Marbas is tied up and ready for transport. Tell the warden he’s all hers.”
“Sure thing. I’ll call for Kampe to come and get him,” Rebecca’s voice buzzed in Sarita’s ear. “She can take him back to demon jail at Tartarus. I feel weird that I didn’t take care of him. He’s a lion not a walrus.”
“My goddess asked. I came.”
“Are you coming back to Avalon?”
“Not right away.” She needed some time alone. She rushed to add, “I’ve never been to Scotland before. I’m going to stay and explore for a bit.”