by Zoe Forward
“Stay! I order you, Shaiani,” Djoser thundered. He uttered a spell and cast it at her.
She cringed, wondering what it was supposed to do to her, but felt nothing. She shrugged.
Khyan chuckled, “It’s a bitch to make god-vows. Your magik will never work on her now.”
Djoser grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving the raised dais. Within seconds, he released. “Damned bochnori!”
“She comes with me. Someday my brother will be back. Then we can resolve the question of who owns her heart.”
“You plan to keep her imprisoned until that time?” Djoser asked.
“If need be.”
“Tell him your preference, Shaiani.”
Without looking to Djoser, she intoned in a monotone while moving toward Khyan, “I must go.”
“Then I will kill you both.” Parts of Djoser’s human body morphed into daemon form as he ran for Khyan. He swiped at Khyan’s head, clearly intent on decapitation.
Khyan ducked and twirled. His curved black blade severed two of Djoser’s fingers. He laughed. “You know, I expected such a juvie move from your brother. Does that ugly human body slow you down?” Khyan pushed Shay toward the exit.
“She’s mine.” Djoser thrust out one of his monster-sized fists.
Khyan caught the arm, turned, and twisted it in a move that looked straight out of a martial arts movie. Djoser flipped onto his back. Khyan released and jumped upwards, landing with both feet solidly onto Djoser’s human rib cage, which cracked. He swiped his blade across the daemon’s blacked-over eyes, blinding him.
Djoser wheezed but jumped up and blindly swung his fists in a circle.
Khyan head-locked him. “I should kill you right now for all the twisted shit you tortured my brother with. But it isn’t my destiny.” He released and ducked the flailing fists.
“Run,” he ordered Shay as they both jogged for the front door.
“You okay?” Khyan asked as they ran from the building.
“That suffocation spell he cast still hurts a bit.” She massaged her throat. “Why didn’t you do it? Why not kill him?”
“Ma’at told us the one that can wield the Sword of Neith is the one to do it.”
“Who would that be?”
“A magus not yet back in this realm.”
She stopped and put her hands on her knees. “Sorry,” she muttered, “light-headed.”
“We don’t have time for this.” He swung her up over his shoulder and ran at top speed. When they hit the wooded area, he put her down.
Dakar straightened his imposing form from a kneel, eyes wide. “Shaiani,” he whispered, his voice rough with emotion.
“It’s over.” She waited for his reply, getting nothing but a dark look with brows drawn low.
Khyan said, “It was a bloody miracle. She even got him to swear to never curse you guys again. Well, her, anyway. And he believes she’s still got it for him despite the fact we left his ass hanging.”
“It is really over?” Dakar asked.
“Yes.”
He took a deep breath and regarded her silently.
She smiled up at him. “So, does this mean I get to meet your goddess and do that whole senariai ceremony thing?”
He stepped away and worked his jaw for a few seconds. His face went dark, a state she equated with bad news. “No.” We are finally free of each other. We are…done. Go. Live your life. Be away from me. Without another word, he pivoted and walked toward the road, where the vehicles waited to take them away.
“What?” she asked. What the hell are you talking about?
He hesitated for a second, and then continued onward, finality in his wake.
She watched his wide back retreating from her. Misery smothered her. This was the exact sensation she equated with his death in the past, when she had to watch his life vacate his body. Each footstep took him farther from her, only this time his blood wasn’t leaching from the fatal wound she’d inflicted. This time he’d made the killing stroke.
Little by little, yard by yard, that which tied her to the world departed. With each step, her chance at a new life, a new destiny, vanished. She comprehended the finality of his words. His mind was closed to her, his decision made. Unlike any time in the past, even when the curse turned love to hate, he had closed her out.
The curse had tied them together. Forced them to remain connected. Reality settled with a bitter aftertaste. Perhaps they were not destined to be together. Maybe he really didn’t feel it. She still felt it—the undeniable soul-searing pull toward him. The need to be close to him. To love him.
Now she was alone. Totally solo in this world. Why should she be surprised? With a deep sigh, she pushed the all too familiar shattered heart into a dark corner to make friends with every single relationship failure in this lifetime. She should write a book entitled How to fall for a really hot, yet totally wrong guy, and get dumped without trying.
But this time the hurt was a thousand times worse. Maybe it was the eons of past-life memory. She inhaled deeply, hoping to find the strength to get over it like she’d had to get over other relationship disasters in this lifetime. But somehow she doubted she’d ever recover.
“What was that?” Khyan asked.
“We are not meant to be together. Good chemistry, but it’s not real.” She started walking toward the road.
“Bullcrap.” He caught her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“Apparently, it was a big mistake from the beginning. That has now been fixed with the curse no longer in effect.” She pasted on a false smile, one she knew from his pursed lips that he didn’t buy. “Would you be so kind as to help me figure out how to get home? I think I can get a ride with Stephen, if he’s still alive.” She walked fast to stay ahead of Khyan.
He easily strode beside her. “Did Djoser pull a fast one and do a reversal curse on you?”
“No. He really did vow to never curse me again. Dakar released me. Apparently, he doesn’t feel it now that our curse is gone. And I think we are…” She shrugged. “Over.”
“But he talked to you in your head, did he not?”
She smiled sadly. “This is your best-case scenario. I expected you to do a happy jig that he dumped me. Your brother is free. You get rid of the bitch that has tortured him forever.”
He yanked her arm to pull her to a stop. “Do you feel your connection to him or not? Do you want to live your life without him? To find another man to be with?”
She swatted at an errant tear. “Would you kill me if I asked you to? You wanted to on at least three occasions in the past. But now, would you? I think it would be only humane.”
Khyan’s face ghosted. He whooshed out, “Never. You are my blood brother’s other half.”
“He disagrees. Please let me go.” She yanked her arm out of his grasp and continued walking. Alone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Shay peeked her head into the SUV that she’d found about a quarter mile up the highway from the Sanctum entrance.
“We’re losing Astrid,” Javen announced as he tried to bandage the multitude of holes in Astrid while he knelt the back of the SUV. He put his hand against her neck and shook his head. “Pulse is weak. She’s going in and out of consciousness.”
Kane moaned and grabbed his side where a Hashishin had gouged him from chest to hip. Ashor cut away Kane’s shirt with his knife.
Kane asked, “You think the knives were poisoned?”
Ashor sucked air through his teeth. “Yeah. Your skin is turning black just like Astrid’s.”
Kane rolled his eyes toward the roof of the car. “Anyone know how far away Kira is?”
“Not too far,” Kira replied as she climbed into the SUV.
“What the hell?” Ashor glared furiously at Christian who leaned in to see the action. “This is exactly the unpredictable bullshit that killed our last three akhrians.”
Christian shrugged. “She said it was a recruitment trip. And wouldn’t take no for an answer.�
�
“Thank the gods. Kane will be a good addition,” Javen commented.
Kira smiled mysteriously and moved to Astrid. She clasped her hand. “Hi. I’m Kira. How’d you like to become a supernatural warrior for the gods?”
There was a round of whats.
Javen laughed.
Christian uttered, “Hot damn.”
“No. Let me die.” Astrid tried unsuccessfully to pull away from Kira.
Kira frowned, her gazed darted to Ashor.
“Sweetheart, if the gods are telling you she’s our newest recruit, then she has no choice. I can’t say any of us joined willingly.”
Kira sighed. “I’m sorry, Astrid, but you’ve been chosen. I’m going to heal your injuries.” A few minutes later Kira took out forceps and plucked all the bullets she had drawn to the surface of Astrid’s skin. She smiled after another few minutes of healing. “You’re going to be fine, Astrid. This is Ashor. He’s in charge. And on our way to the plane he’s going to give you a few of the ground rules for this little club.”
“Fuck you. Fuck all of you.” Astrid scowled and curled into a fetal position.
Kira shrugged and turned to Kane. “Let me take care of that for you, okay?”
Kane nodded.
Shay cleared her throat and asked, “Okay if I ride in here?”
Ashor replied, “Dakar is in the other car with Markus and Stephen.”
“Great, I’ll ride in here.” Everyone looked at her quizzically.
Ashor asked Javen, “Everyone accounted for?”
“Khyan with you, Shay?” Javen asked.
She looked around. “He must’ve gone to the other car.”
“Then let’s leave. I’ll drive the other one,” Javen said vacating for the other SUV.
“What about the kid, Cy?” asked Nate.
“I already stopped by and did what I can for now,” Kira replied.
“Kid’s gonna need counseling or something,” Nate declared.
“Probably. But if he’s anything like any of you, then I’ll have to handcuff him to a chair to do it.”
As Ashor skidded the SUV off the shoulder and onto the road, Christian asked, “How’d it go, Shay?”
“Good. Got the curse rescinded. Khyan put Djoser in his place and almost killed him. And Dakar and I broke up. Turns out we’re not meant to be. Talk about screwed up past lives.”
“What? You no longer doing the mental chitchat? You no longer into each other?” Christian asked.
“All done.”
“I don’t buy it,” Kira announced. She glared at Christian and Nate who stared at her from where they were sardined into the second seat, each all too accepting of Shay’s explanation. Ashor did a brow raise in her direction from the rearview.
Kira rolled her eyes. “Look, good chemistry is one thing. But none of you guys is that insane about a woman just because he wants to get laid. You know what, Shay, if he’s being a dense asshole, then leave him. Make him crawl back begging. I guarantee he will.” Kira’s gaze connected with Ashor’s as if they were having some sort of mental debate.
“Shit,” Ashor grumbled and focused on driving.
Kira continued, “So, you go do what you need to do, Shay. Dakar most likely has some skew-brained idea making him do this. I wager he’ll be on his knees begging for you back inside of a week.”
“Thanks. But I’m going home.”
“Aren’t you worried about Djoser catching up to you?” Christian asked.
“Not really. He can come looking. But I’m not scared of him. He vowed never to use his magik against me.”
Ashor asked, “Could you kill him? We seem to be having a little trouble with that.”
Shay shook her head. “It’s not my job.”
****
Dakar gazed into the dark night. The white lines of the road mesmerized him, distracting his brain into a void. What had he done? This was the kind of idiocy he watched every other magus pull with his senariai, even Khyan, before caving to fate. Yet he needed to let her go. Let her live away from the dangers of his life. He had nothing but eons of daemon slaying to look forward to. Nothing but continuous battles, watching friends die, and ultimately dying himself. Finally dying for real…on the job.
But, oh Gods, he might die from simply being separated from her. He could barely breathe through the claustrophobic loneliness closing in around him. And the despair. You survived it before. Suck it up.
Khyan broke the silence from the back seat by asking in ancient Egyptian, obviously to avoid the others listening in, “So, what’s up with that bullshit about Shay not being your senariai?”
“What?” Cy chimed in.
“Shit, I forgot you speak this too,” Khyan said with an eye roll.
Cy caught Dakar’s gaze in the side view mirror and smiled. “She broke the curse, didn’t she?”
Dakar glanced away, remaining mute.
“Yep,” replied Khyan, “and now Dakar’s decided she’s not the one for him. So, Dak, you pretty cool with her finding a new man? Having his child? Sucking him off for several decades?”
Dakar came around the seat, fisted Khyan’s throat, and squeezed.
Khyan punched Dakar’s chin hard enough to knock him away from his throat. He smirked. “Yeah, I thought you wouldn’t like that. I sure as hell wouldn’t be cool with my girl anywhere near another man’s dick.”
“I think they’re actually speaking ancient Egyptian,” Stephen announced. “This is simply amazing. Can you guys read hieroglyphics too?”
With an annoyed glare, Khyan pointed at Stephen and asked Cy, “Who is he?”
Cy replied in Egyptian, “Shay’s school advisor. Apparently, he and Markus, who is Kane’s brother, came down here to try to rescue her. Did you know Shay was doing her research on us?”
“Really? That’s hilarious.” Khyan laughed.
“The intriguing part is that she was searching for a ring in South America when she bumped into Dakar.”
“When did you learn this?”
“Stephen is a bit of a blabbermouth once you get him started. We were waiting for a long while in the car.”
“A ring, huh? As in your ring?” Khyan grinned.
Cy smiled. “Destiny has a funny way of forcing you in the direction that has been preordained.” Cautiously he asked, “You just walked away from her, Dakar? After six thousand years, it’s over?”
Dakar scowled.
“You sure that was a smart thing to do?” Cy taunted.
“We were never meant to be,” Dakar announced, breaking his silence.
“You’re one hundred percent sure about that?” Cy asked.
Dakar didn’t answer. He was about a hundred percent certain he’d been wrong.
An hour later, Dakar watched from the SUV as Stephen and Shay hopped into a rental car that would take them to eastern North Carolina. Instinct demanded he put himself in front of that car and physically block her from leaving. He ground his molars while watching Christian speak to her before crushing her in a hug.
This had to be a new all-time low for him. He recognized his idiocy. The problem was his pride mixed with some sort of bizarre altruistic need for her to have a normal life away from him.
She’d called him many colorful names in his mind before they arrived at the rental car facility. Some were actually rather humorous. He wasn’t even sure if she knew she was transmitting to him.
Khyan remained silent in the seat behind him, throwing condescending smirks any time he looked his way.
Dakar accepted the emotion burning him inside and out. He didn’t have a chance in hell of changing their destiny. He would go steadily insane without her, not only from wanting her, but also from the inevitable Turn. Due to curse-lifting abracadabra, Turning had now become a serious threat. If he were exposed to the evil of too many daemons over the next few years without having Shaiani to help dissipate the evil, he’d Turn into a rabid maniac that would need to be executed by a fellow magus.
&nbs
p; As the rental car rolled out of sight, he felt a small hand encircle his forearm. Cy chanted the words of a spell. His bochnori informed him it was a benign reveal spell.
Seconds later, Cy released and leaned into the seat behind him.
Khyan asked, “What was that about?”
Dakar craned his neck to peer at the kid.
Cy’s crystal blues popped open and trapped Dakar’s gaze. “It’s not over yet, Dakar.”
“What’s not over?”
“You, she, Djoser, the curse…all of it.”
“I watched him undo the curse,” Khyan said. “He gashed his wrist and asked Apep to rescind it.”
The fifteen-year-old crossed his arms and sighed. “You know, Khyan, I’ve been at this a long time—”
“It’s damned disturbing to see you use that tone on me when you haven’t even hit puberty,” Khyan interrupted.
Cy raised his eyebrows, rendering all around him mute. “The residue of dark magik still clouds you, Dakar. Uttering a few words and flicking a little blood doesn’t mean shit. This thing is ended only when Apep deems it so. Djoser might not have been as sincere in his rescission as is necessary to break a curse that has lasted this long. And you did soul-bind him. Maybe a god truly does have to break this particular curse…now.”
“He sounded pretty damn sincere after she—” Khyan darted a furtive glance to Dakar. “After she kissed him.”
“The curse is making Djoser suffer this time, and he’s angry at her for that. So, even if he got a boner, his anger takes precedence in Apep’s eyes.”
Dakar asked, “In what way could he be suffering?”
“She made him feel in contrast to when a daemon usually possesses a body, apparently it has no feeling, no sensations. When he crossed paths with her a few days ago and touched her, something happened. She activated his senses or something. Can you imagine how important that makes her to him?”
Dakar stared at his skeptically. “And you know this how?”
“Fucker monologued on me during his last torture session. Before he…” Cy waved at his leg.
“What exactly do you think he feels?”
“Lust. Sensation. Orgasm.”
Dakar’s blood boiled when the kem-seki surged.