Warrior's Destiny

by Allie Burton

  “That’s cruel.” Sharp pain stabbed through my chest. Would I no longer be able to hold Tina and Doug? I was their substitute mother. My sadness dipped to a new low, clogging my chest and choking my heart. Fitch wasn’t the most affectionate man so I took care of that need for the little ones. Sounded like the Society wasn’t affectionate either. “Have you never been hugged before?”

  Xander shook his head in a slow back and forth motion. His eyes had widened into large pools of darkness.

  “Never?”

  He shook his head again.

  “I’d offer but…” Heat flamed my cheeks like the fire living under my skin and I glanced away. I couldn’t believe I’d even hinted at hugging.

  What would it feel like to be the first person to hug Xander? What would it be like to kiss him? I turned back and stared at his mouth. Full, manly-lips. Strong nose. Melt-me smile. Who would he choose for the honor of his first kiss? Certainly, not me. Not with my plain looks that I tried to play-up with make-up. Not with my boyish build. Not with my unnoticeable clothes. And especially not if I zapped him with one simple touch.

  I shouldn’t even be thinking about this. We needed to go our separate ways. I couldn’t touch anyone anyhow. At least not until I figured out this power stuff. Pulling back my shoulders, I straightened my spine.

  His eyes went larger and his body stiffened. “Do you hear that?”

  I shook my head. I wasn’t even sure I’d heard the voice in my mind.

  “Chanting. Egyptian chanting.”

  A sing-songy sound sighed through the trees.

  My throat went dry. “Is it the Society?”

  “I don’t know many other people who speak ancient Egyptian.” He stood and peered around, listening. His head angled over wide shoulders. The sheet he wore didn’t have sleeves and his muscles bulged on his forearms. He stood in a wide stance.

  I tilted my head and listened for the chanting. Had their singing called me? “What’re they doing?”

  If Tut wanted me to join this mad Society, why did I stop running? Why didn’t I rush headlong into the Society crowd?

  Why didn’t the voice-in-my-head-that-I’m-not-sure-I-heard answer any of my unspoken questions?

  Hello? Are you in there?

  Confusion swirled in my brain. My breath held in my chest. Every nerve stood at attention waiting for marching orders. I should run in the opposite direction. Get away from Xander and the Society. I stood and turned to run.

  My body wouldn’t move, wouldn’t turn away, wouldn’t take a single step in the opposite direction. Now, that I wanted to run, my body wouldn’t go. I stomped the dirt ground.

  Fine. I’ll stay.

  I inched closer, which I was allowed to do, and held onto a tree. Didn’t want my feet to make any sudden moves without my knowledge. Tut had control of my body, not my mind. Not my willpower. Or did he? I tried to stop the shiver sprinting up my spine.

  “I was supposed to meet with the Elders after receiving the soul for the anointing ceremony.” Xander took a few steps forward. “The Elders frequently met in Golden Gate Park. Maybe we were going to meet here to get my final instructions before assuming control.”

  He’d been brought up by the Society to host King Tut’s soul, yet they hadn’t trusted him with the details.

  “This Society is really secretive, isn’t it?” Sarcasm leaked out of my voice. He should’ve asked more questions.

  At least Fitch filled me in on the details of a job, most of the time. Sometimes the job was on a need-to-know basis. Like the theft of the amulet had been super secretive. I’d only known my role and how tight the timing had to be. Guess I blew that.

  Maybe Xander had never questioned the Society’s teachings. I rarely questioned Fitch. He was in charge and we did things how he wanted. Everyone ended up happier that way. Well, mostly anyhow.

  “Stay here.” Xander’s arrogant tone returned.

  He had no right to boss me around. Yes, he was familiar with the Society but I hosted a pharaoh. And, I still didn’t completely trust him.

  So, I didn’t listen. This time nothing propelled me forward but my own curiosity. This was me, my body, my life, we were talking about. Careful not to touch, I wiggled in next to him hiding behind a large rock.

  A group of six white-robed men stood in a circle around an illegal campfire. The flames shot up sending streaks of orange across their pale faces. Their eyes glowed with a strange light.

  I sucked in a breath, feeling like I’d entered a horror movie. This would be about the time an ax murderer would show up and chop everyone to pieces.

  “Oh Mighty Tut, please foretell the correct path,” the men ended the chant.

  A man whose robe was tied with a golden rope turned to Jeb, still wearing his suit. “You let her get away?”

  Jeb stepped forward and I shrank back, ducking even lower behind the rock. “She ran with the amulet. The transfer had already taken place. We couldn’t touch her.”

  “What about the boy?” The man with the gold rope’s harsh tone created goosebumps across my skin.

  Jeb shuffled his feet. “He’ll end up like the others.”

  Xander stiffened beside me. His face became a stone mask. He pursed his lips together as if fighting not to say anything.

  I respected his strength. If they’d been talking about me I would either barge into the conversation or run in the other direction. Well, if I could control my own body.

  “Did you see the transformation take place?” The man with the gold rope slapped his hand on Jeb’s shoulder.

  Was Jeb talking about my receiving Tut’s soul or something else entirely?

  Jeb’s face paled. “No, but it always happens to those who don’t receive the soul.”

  “Do you remember X?” the obviously-in-charge man’s voice boomed.

  “That situation was different.” Jeb’s voice held a pleading tone. “The chant wasn’t read that time.”

  “Tonight the chant was read and the soul received by another. What if Xander didn’t transform?”

  My gaze ran up and down the length of Xander. I thought I received the soul. Was something else supposed to happen to him?

  “Xander knows little.” Jeb angled his chin up. “We were careful not to tell him of all the powers, kept the most sacred ritual secret. He only knows of the desire to return the world to Tut’s beliefs.”

  “He knows enough to be trouble.”

  Another robed man stepped closer to Jeb. “What about the burnout?”

  A tremor ran from my toes to the tip of my scalp. I leaned slightly forward to hear better.

  Xander listened too. His gaze glued to the scene. His body perfectly still.

  “No.” Jeb tugged on his robes. “I told him the anointment ceremony would help him achieve full use of Tut’s powers and stop the burnout inside his body.”

  “But that’s not—”

  “Silence.” The man with the gold rope raised his hand. “What about the girl?”

  “She knows nothing.”

  I do now. My heart, which had calmed after my run, beat faster.

  “The powers will burnout faster without our oversight. We need to complete the process so we can proceed with our plans.” The man with the gold rope stilled. “The revered Society of Aten is now on a wild pheasant chase to find an unknown girl who has stolen our powers.”

  The tremors morphed to icy shivers climbing my body until I froze on the spot.

  “Gentlemen, we’ve unleashed an uncontrolled curse onto the world. We must find her before she corrupts the world with her power. And we must ask the Mighty Aten for forgiveness.” All the men bowed their heads.

  I did, too. Because I knew…I was the curse unleashed.

  Chapter Six

  Olivia

  My body burned with intense heat. My skin felt scorching to the touch. And here I’d thought for mere minutes I was special. Only to find out I was only special in a cursed way. I wanted the ground to reach up and swallow me
whole, to disappear, to die.

  No.

  Determination surged inside me like the will of a king. My lungs burned, blazing with air like a fire backdraft. I refused to give in to the Society or the curse. I had people depending on me. I couldn’t give up.

  “I didn’t know the power could burnout. That it was a curse.” Xander’s wide eyes showed his surprise. “We have to find out more.”

  I swallowed, trying to cool the heat inside. I’d never had a real ally before. Fitch didn’t count because he was more like a boss. Suspicion nibbled the delight like flames at the edge of a fire. Why did Xander want to help? There was always a cost.

  He continued his whispering, “Find out all that you can do.”

  Like wearing a hat on a good hair day, all my comfort smushed. Maybe his interest was in the power and how he could control it, control me. Either way, I was the one in the most danger, not Xander.

  The man with the golden rope announced in a loud voice, “We must find the girl.”

  Case in point.

  Another Society member said, “We must monitor any weather anomalies.”

  “What do they mean?” I whispered to Xander.

  “You have the powers of the sun.” He spoke in a way that made it clear he thought his words should tell me everything I needed to know.

  They didn’t. I knew very little about King Tut and his life. If I’d gone to school I might’ve studied the pharaoh. But I didn’t.

  The man with the golden rope raised his hands. “And get rid of Xander as evidence.”

  I stilled. The man’s words cut across my chest like he’d slayed me with a sword. If the Society believed he’d tell the cops of their evil scheme this situation was dangerous to Xander, too.

  He slumped away from the rock. His skin turned white under his natural olive tone. He bit down on his lower lip as if he was trying to stop himself from yelling out.

  Did they mean kill? The burning intensified, lighting up my throat and nostrils. If they wanted to kill Xander for not hosting Tut’s soul, what did they want to do to me? The person who’d stolen the soul.

  Unable to hold the intense burning inside any longer, I gasped. Red hot flames shot out of my mouth. My eyes grew so big I thought they’d explode. Fire scorched the rock in front of me.

  I. Breathed. Fire.

  Staggering back, I snapped my mouth shut and touched my lips. They didn’t feel hot or sore or crispy burnt. I swallowed. No taste of fire or ash in my mouth. My anger had come out in flames. A scream started deep in my belly, scratched up my chest and wallowed in my throat. I held the screech back, afraid another flame would burst forth.

  Xander fell on his butt. “What the—”

  The men turned toward us. “What was that? I saw a flash over there.”

  The man with the gold rope jerked his head. “Find the source.”

  “Run!” Xander yelled before scrambling to his feet and taking off.

  Still shocked by what I’d done, I hesitated.

  The robed men lunged at the bushes beside us. An arm reached in and pudgy fingers with hangnails came within inches of my face. I leaned back and then to the left, tumbling to the ground. My back scraped against a tree. The raw pain shot adrenaline through me. I jerked up, got to my feet, and ran.

  Not caring about making noise, I hauled butt trying to follow Xander’s path. I sprinted into the trees under my own power—not Tut’s. All the while, thoughts kept repeating in my head. I’d breathed fire. Flames had shot out of my mouth.

  Panting, I ran while trying to keep my mouth shut. I could light the forest on fire. Or burn myself.

  From. The. Inside.

  The Society members crashed through the trees behind me. “You go right! We’ll take the left!”

  I shot up the center.

  Xander wove around the trees in a serpent pattern. His strong legs carried him forward. His white sheet glowed in the dark like a friendly ghost. I tried to follow.

  Maybe I should take off in my own direction. In my black attire it would be easier to hide among the trees. Unless my mouth decided to flare up again. I slapped a hand over my lips.

  “I saw something over this way!” A white robe glinted off the moonlight.

  The unfriendly ghosts moved in that direction. Their heaving echoed my own sharp breaths, while their shouts told me their plans.

  Moving faster, I dashed to the right and then the left, trying to throw them off my path. A sharp pain pinched my side. I’d already sprinted across the park thanks to Tut.

  Don’t think about him. What if he decided to stop my feet and give me to those robed renegades?

  I sucked in air through my nose, running harder. It was difficult to run with my mouth closed but opening it and taking a deep breath could cause a flare up, signaling my location to my pursuers.

  A crash to my left alerted me to trouble. The Society surrounded me like cowboys herding cattle, trying to box me in.

  Jerking, I dove to the right and kept moving trying to keep my feet silent. I quieted my breath and hunched over to keep low to the ground. The sudden change of direction helped. I didn’t hear any stomping feet. Daring to open my mouth, I sucked in air. I stopped at the edge of a small clearing and bent at the waist trying to catch my breath while scanning the area.

  A skeletal gazebo stood out in the misty fog. The white wooden structure shimmered in front of a calm lake. Too calm. It contrasted with the turmoil inside me. I couldn’t see the Society, but they were out there. I couldn’t feel the fire, but it burned inside me. I couldn’t hear Tut, but I knew he was inside me, too.

  I detected slight movement by the gazebo. I froze and my heart ticked with the crickets. No noisy old men dressed in sheets. A solitary figure stood in the wet grass. Muscular calves leading to a trim waist and broad shoulders.

  Xander.

  His toga blended into the white structure, but I recognized him by his warrior posture.

  My muscles relaxed. He was okay and had waited for me. Not that him waiting mattered. It couldn’t matter. He couldn’t matter.

  Scurrying across the grass, I blocked the urge to run into his arms. I couldn’t touch him because of the curse, and I shouldn’t want to touch him either. I skidded to a stop in front of him and held in my automatic relieved smile. I didn’t want flames sneaking out of my open mouth.

  His lips turned up at the corners in a slow-motion, sexy smile. “Hey. You okay?”

  Warmth, not the fiery kind, settled in my stomach. “Yeah.”

  “What happened back there?” He stared with an odd quizzical look.

  “I breathed fire.” Like an ugly, old dragon.

  “I saw.” His awed-out voice spooked me.

  “You said Tut could handle the heat.” I wanted to yell, but I kept my mouth closed and mumbled, afraid fire might erupt.

  “Tut handled the power during his reign.” Xander’s snotty tone told me he thought I’d never be as good as the ancient pharaoh.

  Heat scorched my chest like I truly did have the sun inside me. Up until this point, I’d heard things in bits and like doing a puzzle I didn’t have all the pieces. “Tell me everything you know.”

  “It’s simple.” Xander slashed his hand at me. “You host Tut’s soul, but you’re not a pharaoh. I guess I was wrong about being able to handle the powers of the sun. The Society didn’t explain all the risks.”

  “No kidding.” I couldn’t believe all this good news. “Do you still believe hosting King Tut’s soul is worth it?”

  “To bring Tut’s beliefs back to the world? Yes.” A gleam showed in Xander’s eyes like a flame of fanaticism.

  “I refuse to be used by zealots.”

  “But—”

  Shouts came from the forest surrounding us. The Society had organized their search. No longer were they running haphazardly. Xander crouched down behind the gazebo.

  I did the same. “We need a plan to get away.” We couldn’t spend the night in the open. We had to get out of Golden Gate
Park. Then alone, I’d get on a bus, and back to Fitch.

  “Let’s backtrack around.” Xander’s voice sounded excited, like a kid playing capture the flag. A flicker of mischief showed in his eyes.

  “You want to go back?” My stomach dropped and hollowed like someone had scraped a metal ice cream scoop through its contents. I’d thought he’d waited to help me, not to turn me in. My muscles bunched, getting ready to take off on my own.

  “The Society will never think of it.” His voice rose, practically oozing with excitement.

  The idea had merit. Circle back around and out of their way. But could I trust Xander? When the evening began, he was the enemy. He’d tried to take my prize, kidnap my heist, and then stop me from leaving the museum. I wondered if this was part of a nefarious plot to control me and the power I possessed. “Why do you sound so excited?”

  “I’ve never been out on my own before. Doing my own thing.” He flashed another one of those electric smiles that sent a charge down my spine.

  Was he trying to charm me? To make me believe everything he said? I hardened my defenses, trying to see what really motivated him. He was sixteen and seemed so worldly, yet he’d never had an adventure.

  While I’d had way too many in my life.

  “A dangerous quest.” A quest I’d be willing to partner with him for a short amount of time. The amount of time it took to learn about the Society and these powers. The amount of time it would take to get home to Fitch. “So, we’ll work together?”

  “We both need to hide.”

  That’s right. The Society wanted to get rid of Xander. But I couldn’t take him at his word. He’d been part of this crazy Society for a long time. What if he was playing me? “Is that the only reason?”

  He yanked down his toga. “I know how the Society operates and you need to learn.”

  His thoughts ran along the same line as mine. I needed information and right now he was the only source. Still, the equation didn’t seem fair. “What do you get out of this partnership?”

  I hated the thought that I needed him. Needed anyone.