by Jean Murray
She straightened her spine before she spoke. “My doctorate focused on ancient Egyptian burial rituals and curses. I debunked some of the more prevalent theories and pissed off several highly regarded scholars, I might add.”
He smiled. She was exactly what they needed for their mission. He stepped forward only to be blocked by his beautiful huntress. Her scent and heat hit him unexpectedly.
“Don’t even think about it, Asar.” Lilly pushed Kendra further back into the office. The black-haired female moved in to reinforce their protection.
The sound of his name slipping past her silken lips stopped him cold. His eyes were fixated on her mouth that was slightly open. Damn if he did not want to kiss her right there. Obviously, this was not the time or the place to be having those thoughts. He had not even opened the connection between them, and yet somehow he tasted the sweetness on his tongue. She shifted uncomfortably under the length of his stare. He shifted his gaze up to her troubled, but fierce green eyes. She would not give up the little human without a fight, of that he was certain. Only a familial bond could garner this type of response.
“I think we need to talk.” Lilly tilted her head toward the hallway. “Privately.”
Asar regarded her a moment before walking out the long corridor with his blonde maiden in tow. He turned and stood silently with his eyes closed as she approached. The sensation of her heat was addictive, and to be alone at her request was something he could not pass up. Only when she stood directly in front of him did he open his eyes. She scanned his body and her gaze finally came to rest on his lips. He detected a small flush of heat in her face before she turned away.
“I know what you’re thinking, so don’t even try to deny it.”
“Your sister will be valuable to my search. She will be coming with us,” Asar said flatly.
With a flash of speed, she grabbed him by his tunic. “Over my dead body.”
Amused that she dared to challenge him, he smirked. “You will not be able to stop me, Lilly.”
She leaned in closer to his face, staring directly into his eyes. “Watch me.”
As she pulled down tighter on his shirt, her forearms pressed into his chest. He tightened his chest muscles to brace against the pain of her heat seeping through his shirt. The temperature of her body forced color changes in his skin, and it was not pleasant. Playtime was over.
Asar seized her waist with his large hands and slammed her back against the wall. She gasped as he pressed his cold body forcefully against hers. Her once clasped hands now spread out over his chest, contracting his muscles through the thin linen material.
“Do not test me, woman,” Asar growled. The burning grew the longer he was in contact with her, but he wanted to show he was in charge, despite whatever pain she might cause him.
“Kit and I go anywhere our sister goes. It’s a package deal,” Lilly said breathlessly. “We both want the same thing. You want your key, and I want to stop the spread of revens.”
Asar grimaced, but not because of the pain. She was so damn desirable. Worse, she seemed to be just as affected by their closeness. Her skin flushed. His cock tightened against her hips, a reaction he could not contain or hide. Her breath hitched as he grew in size against her.
Yes, they did want the same thing on some level, although he could not care less what happen after he retrieved his key. The humans had brought the curse upon themselves. It was their burden to resolve. He just wanted what was stolen from him and to have the satisfaction of killing the goddess and those responsible for releasing her.
The fair female made a tempting offer, though. He pulled away and dropped her to the floor. “There will be a price.”
She smoothed down her small leather top and stood straighter to meet his eyes. “Fine, but you must promise no harm will come to my sisters.”
He nodded. That would be easy enough. He needed the youngest sister alive, anyway. Curious that she did not include herself in that statement.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “What do you want?”
He looked at her intently. “You.”
“Me? What do you want with me? Certainly, there’s something else.”
“You will return with me once the key is recovered. Your sisters will remain here. I will only guarantee their security up until the moment the key is in my possession, after that, my hands are washed of them.”
He waited for her refusal. Certainly a woman of her character would not sacrifice her freedom.
She glanced down the hallway to the room where her sisters were. “You will close the gate?”
“Yes.”
The frown deepened on her face. Lilly took several steps down the hallway with her back turned to him. With a pained glance over her shoulder, she spoke in a strained voice, “They’re all I have.”
“A fair price for what you get in return.”
Anger lit her eyes. “Fair? This is far from fair.”
He shrugged. “None the less, it is the price.”
The heat flushed off her skin with an intensity matching the fury he saw in her face. “Go fuck yourself.” Her fists clenched, as she stalked toward him.
Asar stood stunned, as she readied herself to hit him. There were only a hand full of gods brazen enough to try, but here was a human—a female no less—challenging him. He would have laughed in amusement if not for the stirring in his groin. His desire for her increased exponentially. Her left fist lead followed by her right. With her attack fueled not by logic but desperation, he easily caught both wrists in his crushing grasp. Tethered to him, she yanked to free her hands and then slammed her palms into his chest. “Bastard.”
“I will take that as a no.” He pushed her to the side and strode toward the office, leaving the huntress behind.
“Stop.”
Never one to take commands, he kept walking.
“Stop!” The crescendo pitch of her voice made him halt and look over his shoulder. He should feel guilty for her tortured features, but he did not. It was a means to an end. Everything he wanted and needed. Lilly and her sister. He took several strides back to her location.
“Do you agree to the terms?”
Despite the defiance he saw in her eyes, she nodded.
“I need to hear you say it,” he demanded.
Her reply came by forced breath and hate-filled eyes. “Yes. I will return with you.”
Asar sneered triumphantly. She sold her body and soul to him, the God of the Underworld.
CHAPTER eight
“This sucks! We have been out on patrol for three nights and haven’t seen one reven. What are the odds of that?” Kit ranted, kicking over a newspaper stand.
Lilly continued to walk down the empty street. “The odds are very low. It’s more likely we are off limits now that we have this little alliance formed.”
“I can’t believe you agreed to help them.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice. They were going to take Kendra with or without us. We’re just lucky they’re allowing us to tag along,” Lilly said, looking into a store’s barred windows. God, she missed window shopping and buying new clothes. All her outfits were made of tight leather, the standard uniform for members of the Nehebkau. Protectors of humans. Exterminators of revens. Mother recruited both her and Kit shortly after her father fell ill, but with Asar’s “help,” she hardly felt necessary.
“Well, let’s see how long Captain Underworld sticks to his side of the deal before he asks for something.”
Lilly squeezed her sword’s grip. He already had. What burned her gut the most? She lusted for the asshole. “Yeah, we’ll see.” She just hoped her bargain would pay off in the end. It had to or all was lost.
“I hate when things are held over our heads. We’ll never be able to get out from under Mother or these stupid gods.”
Lilly sighed. “Once again, no alternative.”
“There’s always an alternative. Our problem is we just aren’t willing to give up.”
Lil
ly shook her head. The street was barren. “This is ridiculous. Let’s go to the museum and help Kendra. We’re doing no good out here.”
After a short ride, the sisters stood in front of the museum. Kit typed in the pass code while Lilly stood guard. She entered the building walking backward, never taking her eyes off the street. Not until the door locks engaged did she turn and lower her weapon. Despite this, Lilly remained on alert. Once her sanctuary, the museum was now just as dangerous as the streets. He watched from some dark corner. She had no idea how they came or went, but it never tripped the alarm system, even when the motion sensors were active.
Lilly walked slowly across the great expanse of the front entrance to the stairs. The smallest sound of her metal weapons hitting the curve of her hips resonated in the large room like the distant sound of wind chimes. Her eyes locked immediately on the dark shape as he watched her ascend the steps to the Egyptian exhibit where Kendra conducted her work. He never moved, even as she lost sight of him around the corner. Only then did she turn and join her sisters.
With books strewn everywhere, Lilly had to step carefully to avoid tripping or falling. Kendra, lying on her stomach in the middle floor, looked like she was reading a book at the beach. Lilly shook her head at the complete vulnerability of her sister’s position. Kendra couldn’t defend herself from that pose.
Another chill rippled down her back. The other hulking deity stood like a statue in one of the darker corners of the exhibit. Larger than Asar, the god had thick black hair that fell past his shoulders and a perpetual five o’clock shadow. Asar addressed him as Kamen. With his arms clasped in front of his chest, he looked as if he belonged here among all the antiquities. His stoicism did not match the wildness in his eyes. His stare would wilt even the strongest resolve.
“Where do you need us, Kendra?” Lilly asked, looking around.
Kendra bounced up to hand Kit a book and brought her notes over to Lilly. “I need you to go into the archive and find a picture of the goddess marked with these symbols. I think I know who our key thief is and where she might be heading to next, but I need a picture to see the writings inscribed on her sarcophagus.”
Lilly headed down to the basement.
When she pulled out a drawer of the cataloging system, a plume of dust exploded into the air. Apparently, the drawers hadn’t been opened in a very long time. She waved her hand in front of her face, but it didn’t stop her from sneezing. Memories of climbing through old dig sites with her father surfaced in her mind, followed by another series of sneezes.
“God, I hate this stuff,” she mumbled to herself, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand. She shivered and immediately looked to her left.
“Your sister seems to enjoy it.”
“Well, it’s her thing.”
Asar stepped closer. “What is your thing, Lilly?”
His question actually made her laugh. “My thing? Yeah, well. I guess that would be killing revens.” She scratched the back of her neck, where it burned just under the skin. “Seems I’ve run into a cold spell.”
“I cannot very well let you die. And you made me vow to keep your sisters from harm. Letting you fight revens would seem a contradiction to our agreement.”
With her choice of expletives threatening to break free, she bit and held her tongue tightly. How was she going to explain this to Mother? All of a sudden her best hunters had no kills. She rubbed her neck again and twisted her head a few times to stretch the muscles. Finally, she turned back to what she had been doing and tried to ignore the fact a deity loomed over her shoulder. Not to mention her neck hurt like hell where the snake’s fangs leaked venom into her muscles.
An occupational hazard for the Nehebkau.
Lilly leafed through the parchments carefully laid on top of one another. She finally found the one she was looking for and carefully pulled it out of the stack. Rolling it up, she turned to leave, but his black body blocked her egress.
“Excuse me.” She didn’t bother hiding the annoyance in her voice.
He turned to the side. She tried to pass without touching him. She needed to stay focused on the task and not his body, but he didn’t budge an inch to accommodate her. The burning in her neck only added to her acrid mood. Finally, she pushed past, but not before her breasts brushed against his cold broad chest. Her nipples instantly tightened into small peaks underneath her vest. Of all things she didn’t want to happen. Why the hell did he have to be so cold?
Over the table, she spread the parchment containing sketches of the hieroglyphics matching Kendra’s picture. Her stalker stood in the corner watching her. His ass could stay there for all she cared. She leaned over the small table and rested on her elbows, which brought her sleek blonde hair forward over her shoulders to block her view of him.
“When was your conversion?”
She stiffened as the serpent shifted under her skin. He moved just behind her, never making a sound. She glanced over her shoulder. He was nearly five feet away, yet her skin rose up in goose bumps. She rubbed the big knot of muscle running from her neck to her shoulder. “Five years ago.”
He stepped closer. “It is a very painful transformation, relative to the species of snake.”
She caught his gratuitous glance down her back to her ass. No doubt a hint of her pink lace panties peeked out from beneath the waist band.
As if she didn’t already know it was painful. She lived through the damn thing. Her current level of discomfort was a constant reminder of that moment. If she had known how agonizing it would be in the beginning, she’d have never agreed to it. Straightening up off the table, she refocused her attention back to the parchment.
“Hold still.”
Every muscle in her body tightened to fight when his ice cold fingers pressed against the base of her neck across the snake’s head. She didn’t like having her back turned to a potential enemy. Well, not so much an enemy, as an unwanted business partner.
A partner with hands of magic.
“An Egyptian asp is a very deadly snake. Used for the execution of criminals, it signifies the power over life and death.”
Her shoulders melted as the pain dissolved under his touch. The cold chill against her skin ceased when he pulled his hand away. She turned around to face him. With her arms crossed over her chest, she leaned her bottom against the table.
“Appropriate, seeing as I kill revens for a living, and we just added a convicted goddess to the list.”
“Fate, perhaps.” Asar touched his pectoral necklaces hidden under his tunic.
Lilly followed the motion to his chest. “May I see them?” she asked. Surprise fluctuated in his eyes, but then he untied the tunic in the front and pulled back the edges. Honed out of well chiseled muscle his chest spanned above a six pack abdomen. His dark skin entirely smooth and devoid of hair held tautly against the bulk of muscle. The locations she had come in contact were lighter in color. His linen pants hung dangerously low against his hips, just above his pubic bone. Lilly glanced away when heat flushed her face. It took all her strength to refocus on the necklaces.
The three gold ropes lay at the broadest part of his chest. She recognized the lion and the moon pendent. The second, a ram’s head. The third, a crown with a crook and flail. With her lower lip pulled between her teeth she slowly extended her fingertips to touch the three medallions.
She searched his expression for any displeasure, but it remained placid. He at least wasn’t offended by her curiosity and touch. She withdrew her hand, and saw a cast of disappointment in his eyes despite his emotionless face.
“You left it there for me to find,” she said, astounded. “Did you know it would bring you here?”
“Your youngest sister has not been initiated into the Nehebkau. Why?”
His blatant disregard of her question, only confirmed her suspicions. Damn if she didn’t walk right into his plans. “I wouldn’t let her. It’s much too dangerous.”
“But you let your other sister.”
“Do you know what they say about Nehebkau?” Asar asked, as he walked around the table.
“He was the God of Protection,” Lilly said, tracking him with her eyes. He circled her like a predator testing his prey.
“He is the God of Protection, both in life and in the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians depicted him in the form of a snake with a human body. He joins the Ka, the soul, to the body.”
“Well, then Mother picked the right god to represent us. I just hope the revens we kill eventually find peace.”
Asar narrowed his eyes on her. “Mother? Your mother?”
“No. It’s a term we, Nehebkau, use for our leader. She believed in the curse, and used Nehebkau’s spell to create hunters to combat the revens. Mother believes we can find a talisman to cure those afflicted.” Lilly looked directly at the pectoral necklace, the very one she placed around his neck.
“What of your natural mother?”
Lilly glanced away and shrugged. “It’s always been our father and us. She left when we were very young.”
Despite her efforts, she couldn’t keep the pain out of her voice, which made her feel even more vulnerable— a sensation that never sat well with her. Her pain turned to bitterness. “I don’t see the relevance to this discussion. Does it really matter what kind of snake I have implanted in my body? It gives me the strength to protect what I love. Why are you even interested in my family?”
He moved closer, and placed his hands on the table on either side of her hips. With no means of escape, she leaned back, but he closed the space.
“Your reasons for joining the Nehebkau reveal the character of your soul. It is no coincidence the asp was chosen for you. It was chosen for you by the gods. As you said, we want the same thing. To protect what we love. The gods have decided to cross our paths, our fates. It is important we succeed. You are not the only one that has family at stake.”
She straightened closing the distance between them as far as she dared without touching him. “Yes, this is personal for me. The curse destroyed my family’s life. I’ll do everything in my power to stop it. And, if you are asking whether I’d betray your trust? No. No, I wouldn’t.”