by Jean Murray
“Despite what you might think, you would never hurt me.” She gently touched his face . “You need to believe that.”
The cloud of rage lifted the longer she was in proximity to him. For the first time in his long life, he felt unified with the beast. Two foes, now at peace.
He remembered the words of the Nehebkau Mother. Not only was she the key to his heart and soul, but the cure for his curse. Lilly’s essence overrode his system. He had prayed so long to be relieved of his curse, and the Mother Goddess had answered him. The beast would always be there, yes. He would not be the same man without it. He was the beast and the beast was him. Opening his mouth to say as much, Lilly placed her finger over his lips.
“Hold that thought. We have company.” She placed the Mevt dagger in his palm. He tightened his hand around the hilt. As he turned to confront their enemies, his dark energy surged with renewed power.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
“Look out!” Asar’s warning came too late. He pushed Lilly out of the way and slammed into Menthu head-on. Hand to hand here on out, he let his swords fall to the ground. He wanted nothing between him and his fists connecting with War god. He would pay for hurting Lilly.
“You will not win,” he hissed, slamming Menthu onto the ground.
Mottled pale and black hands clawed to gain leverage. “You think this ends with me or Kepi? You are sorely mistaken.” Menthu shifted his weight and pulled Asar to the ground. “Who does it end with, Menthu? Whose odjit are you?” Asar growled. He threw the large god into the stone wall.
The War god rolled back to his feet. “I am no one’s odjit,” he spat. “It is quite ironic, actually. The traitors could be right under your nose and you would be too stupid to notice.”
“Who is it, Menthu? What rotten bastards are you conspiring with? It is obvious they are just using you and your hatred. How does it feel to be their lackey?”
Menthu laughed deeply. “Oh, you will find out soon enough Death god. Enjoy Aaru while you still can because you will be looking from the other side of those gates you hold so dear.”
Asar didn’t like the sound of that one bit. Not only was the Mother Goddess the target, but he was as well. In the last five years, he and the world had witnessed what could happen if he could not judge souls—literally, hell on earth in the form of undead human revens. Curses, death, and destruction.
He knew not to take Menthu’s threat lightly. There were plenty of gods that would like to see him dead, truly dead. He had infinite power to take life, similar to how the Mother Goddess could give it. Only those who led dishonorable lives had something to fear. His mind tumbled with possibilities.
“Your plan failed, Menthu. I have the key, and the gates are closed. I have my soul and will soon have my son. If you surrender now, I might show you some mercy in your judgment.”
“You cannot kill me.”
“Oh, I can and I will.”
CHAPTER forty-four
Lilly decapitated three revens with a single swipe of her blade. Behind her, the clash of the gods shook the ground and the stone structures around them. She stepped away from a falling weathered statue and placed herself between her mate and the oncoming attack of undead. Revens or falling debris, she would not leave Asar vulnerable.
Kepi waited in the background with hate filled eyes. Lilly bared her fangs at the goddess and sliced through several more revens. “Afraid to get your hands dirty? It’s down to just you and me, you know.”
The Kepi’s mouth drew into a tight line. She glanced toward the War god, no doubt judging her odds. Lilly wouldn’t put it past the goddess to pack up and run to save her own ass. She needed to not let that happen.
“What are you waiting for? Come and get me.” Lilly swiped her blade and caught the decapitated head by the filthy hair and hurled it at the goddess. The lifeless rotting face hit Kepi in the chest. The goddess screeched and kicked the head back at her. Lilly ducked the incoming folly and chuckled. “You missed. Again.”
Kepi pulled the second Mevt dagger from her waist and parted the revens standing between them.
Lilly hissed. The blade still painted with Asar’s blood. “You’re going to pay for what you have done.”
The goddess sneered and stretched her arms out. “I’ve heard that before, but look at me now. No one can beat me.”
“Well, then. Let me be the first.” Lilly thrust her long blade forward. She pivoted to duck Kepi’s swipe, and struck again like a snake. Her short blade lanced through Kepi’s leg. Not letting the goddess recover, she struck her deep in the chest, abdomen, and arm.
Kepi stumbled back, but lunged again undeterred by her attack, despite the crimson blood stain on her clothing.
Pain seared through her thigh, penetrated by the Mevt dagger. The laceration did not respond to her healing powers. Dread washed over her. More than a few injuries and she would be at a significant disadvantage.
“Your human body has its limits, unlike mine.”
Lilly tried to hide her limp. She pulled more weapons from her belt. She sent venom dipped throwing stars flying through the air. The silver metal flashed in the moonlight, hitting their mark—Kepi’s chest and neck—with the utmost accuracy. “A little taste of your own medicine.”
The goddess let out a scream, scratching desperately at the metal. Kepi growled and lunged for Lilly. The clang of steel against the dagger sounded in the small temple grounds.
Lilly dodged the deadly wake of the dagger, barely avoiding permanent injury. With hard front kick she knocked Kepi to the ground. The goddess rolled onto her hands and knees, slowly pulling herself up.
The pain in her leg fatigued Lilly rapidly. No longer able to hide the limp, she placed some distance between herself and the goddess. Her fingers played along the edge of her belt, looking for the right weapon to inflict the greatest harm. When she found the wooden handle of the hatchet, she slid her hand down the grip.
Kepi charged before Lilly had a good hold. The weapon slipped from her fingertips and dropped into the sand. Countering quickly, she grabbed the goddess’ wrists and held off the attack with her bare hands. The goddess exhaled a fowl breath in Lilly’s face. Sickened by the stench of death, Lilly drove her knee hard into Kepi’s abdomen.
The blow knocked the dagger from Kepi's hand, but took them both down to the desert floor. Lilly hit the ground hard. The air whooshed from her lungs and left her momentarily defenseless. The dagger skipped across the hard, compressed earth.
Kepi lunged for Lilly’s throat and dug her sharp nails into her neck. Lilly’s airway and major vessels to her brain collapsed. She gasped for breath with less than a couple minutes before the lack of oxygen would render her unconscious. Tucking her chin to her chest released some of the pressure on her airway. The fresh air burned her lungs. Lilly thrust her hips up and flipped the goddess over her head.
Lilly rolled, grabbed the hatchet, and slammed the honed edge down into the goddess chest. The crack of ribs and tissue resonated through the metal head. The move cost her. Hot, searing pain ricocheted through Lilly’s thigh muscle and femur. She swallowed her cry and stumbled, trying to stand up before the goddess.
Despite the kill shot, Kepi rose with the hatchet protruding from her chest. The goddess hissed. She grasped the handle, yanked the metal ax free and discarding it to the ground.
For the first time Lilly’s confidence waivered. Despite the mortal wound, the goddess wouldn’t submit. Conversely, her human body was failing in the most critical moment.
Tightening her grip on her katana, Lilly forced her pain and fear aside. She closed her eyes and summoned all the strength and energy that flowed through her cells, beckoning it to the surface. Asar needed her to win. No option to lose.
Lilly breathed deeply several times before opening her eyes to face what was no doubt the final round. She just hoped she could hold out long enough.
Kepi squared off her shoulders and sneered. “I think it is time for a little family reunion.”
Menthu stumbled back, broken and bruised. Asar pulled the Mevt dagger from his sheath and circled the god. “This is your last chance, Menthu. Time for repentance.” Despite having lost the upper hand in the fight, Menthu let out a malicious chuckle. “What are you going to do, Death god? Finish me off or go save your precious human?”
Asar’s heart stilled, dread washing over him. Kepi stood with the dagger pressed against a reven’s chest. The horror on Lilly’s face spoke volumes on the depth of her pain. “Gods, no.”
“Quite a dilemma, is it not?” The War god laughed again.
Asar growled. Menthu’s healing power diminished with each punishing blow he inflicted. A few more strategic hits and the War god would be on his knees, but that time could cost him something he was not willing to lose— Lilly. He knew firsthand there was no limit to Kepi’s cruelty. Although he had confidence Lilly could defeat the goddess, it was the emotional battle Asar feared most. Her guilt was her greatest weakness.
He forcibly shut down the draw of her energy into his soul. The warmth in his system bled away without her life force flowing beneath the surface of his skin. She would need every last drop of energy for herself. He did not want Menthu to escape—judgment had to be made against the Mother Goddess’ conspirators—but that paled in comparison to his need to protect the woman he loved.
May the Mother of the Gods forgive him.
Asar threw the dagger with all his strength, hitting Menthu in the heart. Asar drew in his dark energy to dematerialize. The surprise on the War god’s face faded into a mist of darkness. He could not wait to see if the dagger did its work. Only after he saved Lilly would he be able to confirm Menthu’s demise.
CHAPTER forty-six
Lilly stared into the lifeless face of her father. His eyes bled red with hunger, a shell of the man who had loved her and her sisters so dearly. Pressed to his grey mottled skin, the tip of the dagger dug in ever so slightly. A choked sob escaped Lilly throat.
“I thought this might get your attention.” Kepi stroked her father’s thick brown hair. “What a handsome man! Shame to waste him like this. He has been a very obedient and satisfying companion.”
Lilly swallowed the vomit crawling up the back of her throat. She lowered her weapons in defeat. Kepi would not hesitate to kill her father or, worse, have her kill him. Memories of him flashed through her mind. The smell of his cologne when he hugged her tight. The gentle hands that would pick her up and encourage her to try again. His kind words that had always soothed her pain.
No words came from his lips now, and his hands now only held down his next victim. His cologne had been replaced by the smell of death. The reality of it all slammed into her soul. “What do you want?”
Kepi’s sinister smile grew. “Surrender to me, and I will release him.”
She sighed. With her demi-god powers, she could see the life force of any organism. Her father’s soul laid within a motionless heart filled with blackness and hateful things, his humanity cursed by the goddess standing before her. There was no glimmer of life, not even a dim glow.
He was dead, but the fact didn’t extinguish the love for her father. He sacrificed his life for her, her sisters, and the love of the Mother Goddess. She vowed to him on his death bed to find a cure. Her Nehebkau mother said she was the cure, but how was that possible? She glanced over her shoulder and searched for Asar who she loved so dearly, but the battlefield lay quiet and empty in the distance. In that moment, she felt small and alone.
She laid her weapons on the hard earth. For the last time, she picked up a small amount of sand. Sand stained red from the blood of battle. Rubbing it between her hands, she faced Kepi
The goddess pushed forward, closing the distance between them, using her father as a shield. Even if Lilly tried, she couldn’t get to the goddess without going through her dad. She blew out a breath resigned to the fact she was out of options. When she inhaled, a cool black mist entered her lungs. Tingling warmth spread through her chest out into her fingertips. The dark energy wrapped her in a blanketed embrace from the inside out. With each loving breath her sense of defeat retreated. She was not alone.
“I love you,” Lilly whispered into the surrounding mist. The center of her chest seemed to vibrate with the buildup of power. With each inhaled breath, it coalesced and intensified into an organized mass of energy.
Kepi stopped abruptly. “What did you say?”
Lilly leveled her eyes on her father. She repeated herself but directed it at the man who raised her. “I love you.” The invisible but palpable energy poured out of her and sent a prickling heat across her skin, like a fine current of electricity. She was practically glowing from the amount energy that coursed through her cells.
The goddess’ pushed the knife a little deeper into her father’s chest. “Kneel.”
Lilly lowered to her knees. With Asar’s essence swirling through her consciousness, the answer became clear. The cure to the curse wasn’t raising the damned from the dead, but releasing their souls to the afterlife. Together, Asar and Lilly were the perfect instrument of death and life.
The goddess pushed her father forward so that he stood just inches from Lilly. “Just as I thought. Humans are so easy to manipulate,” she scoffed. “Humanity is weak and will be this world’s downfall. We will destroy the Mother Goddess and you are going to help me.”
Lilly stared into the goddess’ red eyes. “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” In one swift motion, she grabbed her katana out of the sand and thrust it straight through her father’s chest and into the goddess. All the dark and light energy surged from her chest in a brilliant flash of explosive fire that brightened the night sky. The heavens shook and the earth heaved and cracked in large fissures.
She screamed, but it paled in comparison to the deafening roar of the blast. All she could do was hold onto her sword and let energy release from her body. The smell of burning flesh and sulfur filled the air around her. When the dust settled, she found Asar at her side with his hand wrapped around the blade of her katana.
“Easy now.” If it wasn’t for his grip, the blade would be dancing with the tremors racking her body. Her father slumped against the hilt of the sword, his eyes closed. She released the handle and collapsed on her back. Lying in the dirt, she stared at Kepi’s body smoldering several feet away.
Asar carefully pulled the blade out of her father’s chest, so as to not further damage the heart. With the utmost respect and care, he lowered the body to the ground. Lilly pushed herself up and knelt beside her father. She gently touched the cut in his chest.
Asar placed his cold, black hand on top of hers. “N-ka-n-imAh.”
Hearing the all too familiar prayer, Lilly turned to Asar. “May your soul find paradise in your rebirth.”
The goddess lay paralyzed and burning from the inside out. Asar moved over Kepi’s body and grabbed her by the hair. “This is your last chance. Who is behind this? If it is not you or Menthu, who is it?”
“Fuck you!”
“Your time will come. I promise you will meet your end.” Asar signaled to Bomani. The dark warriors appeared with two sarcophagi. Lilly followed Asar. He personally laid her father into the first container and sealed the tomb with prayer. Several of the dark warriors placed their hands on the lid and repeated the prayer.
Conversely, Bomani dragged Kepi by her feet and threw her into the carved wooden box. Lilly felt no remorse, even as the lid silenced the goddess’ cries for mercy. There she would stay until Bakari’s awakening and judgment.
Lilly kissed the lid to her father’s tomb. Finally, his soul was free.
CHAPTER forty-seven
Lilly sat on a nearby stone with her hands in her lap. Asar knelt in front of her, and placed his fingertips under her chin. “Are you okay?”
She laughed despite the presence of tears in her eyes. “Yes, just a little shook up.” Who was she kidding? She was completely overwhelmed by the night’s events.
The emotions in her head bounced back and forth like a ping pong match.
He rubbed her arms, but it only made her shiver. He pulled his hands away and rubbed his legs.
Her gaze drifted up to Bomani who was standing over Asar’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you,” her voice filled with regret.
Small white burns marred the commander’s chest and arms. Bomani knelt in front of her. “I am fine, Madame.” He handed Asar the second Mevt dagger that had impaled Menthu’s chest.
Asar frowned. “Any sign of him?”
Bomani shook his head.
“Damn it.”
Lilly realized she never told Asar about finding his son. She grabbed him by the arms and pulled him up. “Menthu may have escaped, but we found Bakari’s sarcophagus.”
As they made their way to the Precinct of Mut, she gave him a sideways glance, trying to gauge his level of emotion. His face was unreadable. It reminded her of when he was soulless. Only when she laced her warm fingers with his cold ones did his flat affect break. He looked down at her with the most troubled black eyes. She read his fear for only a second before he masked it.
It had been over five years since he had seen his son. She wasn’t certain how a god would take being entombed for that period of time, but she could surmise the solitude was the worst torture one could endure. No relief, only darkness. She finally broke their silence. “Will he be okay?”
His grip on her hand tightened, as if even the mention of an alternate outcome caused him pain. “It is uncertain. I do not know what Kepi may have done to him while he was entombed.”
He moved through the same decaying stones she had previously traversed to confront Kepi. She could see Kendra, Kit, Kamen, and large horde of warriors surrounding the sarcophagus.
“Whatever happens, I want your sisters a safe distance away in case there are any spells or traps laid upon the container.”