Immortal Dynasty (20 page)
Darius was quite certain who was impersonating Marc Antony. The golden-haired man wore a very authentic and complete uniform of the ancient general. Therion’s dark, domineering eyes scanned the crowd from behind his black mask.
Presiding over it all, Lilith sat on a gilded throne at the head of the room, raised on a tiled dais. She was absolutely resplendent in silks and gems. Her hair was pulled up in a Grecian style, golden tendrils pouring around her face and neck.
Darius felt a slight breathlessness. “She looks like the best Cleopatra I’ve ever seen.” He couldn’t stop looking at Lilith. He wondered again how he had managed to say no to that.
“She should know.” Shaila elbowed him in the ribs.
“Oww. Why should she know? Was she there?”
Shaila gave him a withering look. “She was Cleopatra…or so I was told.” She walked away in disgust.
“She was?” Darius questioned her retreating form as he followed her to the back of the dining room. “Wow. Now that’s a celebrity.” He barely avoided another rib poking. “That would explain the tribute to Marc Antony in her gallery, but I thought Cleopatra killed herself.”
“You have been misinformed.” She offered no explanation.
“I would like for you to fill me in on that story, but later. For now, let’s--” Darius was interrupted by a trumpet call, announcing dinner. “Well, let’s take our seats.”
* * *
“Therion, I feel the presence of another…” Lilith let her thoughts trail off as she searched the room. She wouldn’t be able to find the source of her discomfort by sight. This was an A-list crowd. Her wealthy clientele and business associates had plenty of money to spend on lavish costumes. Thus, the costumes in the room were visually authentic, down to the last beads, cuffs, and wrapped sandals. The themed masquerade had been a fabulous idea.
“Mother, you’ve known that some of your
family
is about.” Therion patted her hand sympathetically. “Have you forgotten?”
She withdrew her hand with a vicious glare. “I am not a doddering old woman. I have not forgotten.”
“Well, you are several thousand years old.”
She curled her lips into a snarl that threatened lethal consequences.
Chuckling, he leaned in and kissed her on the corner of her mouth. “And yet, you don’t look a day over twenty-nine.”
She softened her lips to smile with self-appreciation. She stood and graciously welcomed her guests to the party. She pointed out several of her favorite costumes and tactfully refrained from revealing their masked identities.
Gesturing to the runway, which pierced straight through the center of the dining room, Lilith announced the start of the fashion show. Again, the half-naked men entered the room to pour wine and serve the first course.
The centerpiece of her collection would be revealed during the dessert course, the climax of any good dinner. She couldn’t wait to see the effects of the designer fragrance she’d created. Her breath caught as a shiver of anticipation spread across her skin.
The meal was presented as authentic fare, albeit with a modern eye for detail and flavor. A band in the corner played modern new age music, highlighted with instrumental sounds from ancient times. With each course, the clothing of the runway models became skimpier and skimpier.
Just before the dessert was served, the finale of the new Troy Collection began. The models pranced down the runway in time to the sultry music. They wore matching coal-black Cleopatra wigs with gold beads. Instead of clothes, each model wore only wide gold ribbons wrapped around their bodies. Each one wrapped slightly different, depending upon which piece of jewelry they were displaying: rings, earrings, necklaces, anklets and various piercings. They were adorned with glorious jewels of all kinds…and in all places.
A few guests shifted in their seats, heated over the naughtiness of the display. The music changed slightly, but enough to alter the mood. The servers appeared with the desserts. Beautiful dark chocolate pyramids glittered with edible gold lace. Each tiny temple sat in a pool of raspberry coulee and a myriad of fresh berries. The top third of the pyramid was removed for each guest, revealing a small vial of perfume nestled on a cushion of sweet marzipan.
“My honored guests, you are the very first to sample our premier line of perfume. It is the nectar of the ancient gods and goddesses. A scent so pure and ethereal, it enhances each individual’s core scent. It is a perfume made for both women and men. We call it simply…
Ambrosia
. I hope you find it…arousing.”
Lilith seated herself back upon the throne, overlooking all of her guests like the Queen of the Nile, presiding over her minions. Seated on a slightly smaller throne to her left, Therion joined her visual search through the crowd.
Lilith’s suspicions grew as her eyes fell on an unknown profile. “Who’s that black-robed Caesar right there?”
“He’s our soon-to-be-mayor’s attorney.” Therion raised his glass in the man’s direction. “He’s here representing Steven McNair while the candidate splashes posters all over town for help in finding his missing daughter.”
Lilith sipped slowly from a golden goblet. “I can imagine.”
“Duty before family.”
She ignored her son’s callousness. “Should I be flattered that you think my party qualifies as a civic duty?” Scanning the room, she found herself admiring a very lithe pharaoh. She preened with a surge of desire. Instinct, and his energy trail, told her that the man behind the gold mask would be Darius Alexander. He was watching her just as intently. She raised her goblet in silent toast to him.
“Lord, mother!” He coughed into his fist. “Does everything in your life revolve around sex?”
“Don’t be a prude, son. There is nothing on this earth more sacred than sex.” She smiled sweetly at him, but behind her goblet the smile disappeared. Lilith Helene Troy knew all about sex. She’d been made for it. It had been her station in her miserable past life. “The blood of kings passes by birth. It is the woman’s line of succession that preserves the bloodline. Don’t ever forget that.”
“That’s an ancient concept. Those ways are over.” Therion grabbed a cognac from a passing tray and downed it one gulp. “It’s a whole new world.”
“Yes.” Her lips spread with a wide smile, and she looked proudly at her son. “Yes, it is. It’s
my
world now. It will be my bloodline that rules.”
Throughout the ancient world, she’d been subservient to the lords of her kind. She detested being so lowly. Among the humans, however, she was a goddess. A goddess on earth. Being Helen of Troy had been fun, but even then she became little more than a piece of property to the human men who ruled their people.
As Cleopatra, she’d found true happiness. Her people loved her and worshipped her. Men sought to please her. But humans fought constantly, and she’d found herself seeking the counsel of Julius Ceasar. By seducing him, she’d secured the safety of the Egyptian people, whose country was on the brink of being conquered by neighboring humans. She’d only cared because the conquering groups were filthy and passionless, lacking the pageantry and glory of the Egyptians.
She’d won peace, but again at the sacrifice of her body. Then, Marc Antony entered her world. Sweet goddess, but he’d been the perfect image of her dreams. For a human, his sexual appetites were divine. His sensitivity and skill had pushed her astral spirit to new heights.
Lilith could barely catch her breath as the image of her lover was so vivid in her mind. But they’d both been betrayed. Betrayed by her own kind. She seethed with ancient anger.
However, revenge was sweet. Her pulse calmed as she thought about the twist of destiny that had freed her from her eternal prison. When she found herself in this new time, she discovered that most of the Anunnaki had left. Those that remained were weak, leaderless, and scattered across the world. Once again, she’d found ways to be adored by millions of humans. Survival alone was a form of revenge, but she longed to avenge the murder of her most cherished lover.
* * *
Shaila watched the party guests give themselves a little touch of the exotic scent on their throats and wrists. They continued enjoying their desserts, many saluting Lilith who sat regally on her throne. A new round of wine appeared. A very sweet wine. The humans slowly came under the spell of the heady tonic that she realized must be in the perfume.
“Darius, we must get out of this room.” She saw that he was focused on Lilith. Too focused. “Now!”
“W-what?” He rubbed his neck. “Why?”
“So you do not come under the spell, too.” She resisted the urge to send a pulse of energy at Lilith to knock her off her throne. Shaila did not have enough strength to put a lot of power behind it, and Darius would be furious with her for risking her identity.
“The spell?” His voice dropped to a husky whisper.
“Precisely. It is in the perfume, and I suspect it may be coming through there, too.” Shaila pointed discreetly toward a couple of rectangular metal grates on the ceiling. A slight haze floated into the room between the bars.
“You know what’s in this stuff, don’t you?”
Shaila nodded. “I suspect that it is a highly concentrated form of
mannah
. Like the wafers Bakari gave me, but in a liquid form.”
“It’s good for your kind.”
“Yes, it is. But it could easily overpower a human.”
“Lilith’s drugging us?” The last word came out with a slight slur.
“More like she is testing it on you.” Shaila didn’t even try to hide her annoyance.
Darius kept rubbing his neck and fanning his face. The effects of the perfume would soon cloud his mind. She needed him to stay focused on finding the mummy and his grandfather.
“Come,” Shaila tugged at his arm. “Come, Darius. We must reach the balcony. Fresh air. Come.”
He complied sluggishly, nearly tripping over the leg of his chair. Fortunately, they had picked a table at the back of the room and the balconies were not far away.
She stole a glance at the golden queen on her throne. Lilith seemed to be watching them intently. Even from across the room, Shaila could sense the woman’s heated interest in Darius. Her energy radiated desire. As they neared the balcony, Shaila felt the crisp breeze blowing in through the opened doors.
She did not need the effects of a perfume to feel desire. The hand Darius held tingled, reminding her how much she wanted to touch the rest of this man. She remembered the way his skin felt against her own. She hesitated in the doorway, watching Darius take deep breaths of the fresh air.
If she did not start showing some sign of the perfume’s effect, Lilith would begin to suspect something. Shaila had to protect her identity. She had to mark her territory. Growling possessively, she swayed her body against Darius and crushed her lips against his.
The cool breeze had indeed begun to clear the strange haze from his mind, but Shaila’s quick kiss ignited him, launching his body into autopilot. He swung them both underneath a cascade of blood-red curtains, pressing her back against the wall. Hidden behind the thick dark material, Darius felt like he was inside his own private dream. As dreams went, this one tasted very real. It tasted like sweet wine.
Shaila.
The name echoed in his mind, and whispered from his lips. He felt her purring when he called her name. Capturing her mouth, his tongue explored and captured in a war he wanted to wage forever.
Until a thin gray man appeared beside them, clearing his throat to gain their attentions.
“Madame Troy insists that you join her in her private sitting room.”
Recognizing the demon doorman, Darius grabbed him by the throat and growled. “Go away before I cram your forked tongue down your slimy throat.”
Shaila redirected his face toward hers. “We must go,” she whispered in his ear. “You know that.”
He shook his head to clear the fuzziness away. In a gravely sarcastic voice, he agreed. “Let’s go pay homage to the Queen.”
The queen blew him a kiss from across the room as she stood. As they crossed the hall, the band struck up a new beat. The tune slowly dissolved the sexual mood in the room. Guests disengaged themselves from each other, smoothing their clothes and collecting their dignities. The dining hall buzzed with conversation once again, along with the sounds of silver and china tinkling.
Therion now stood alone before the crowd and announced the opening of the galleries to all of the guests, inviting them to browse the Troy Estate’s private collection of antiquities and to dance the night away. As he exited the dais, the band began playing more lively dancing music.
Shaila had slowed down during Marc Anthony’s speech. “Why is that voice so familiar to me?”
Darius leaned into her ear from behind. “Possibly because he is Lilith’s son. That’s Therion, the one you’ve been entrusted to keep the amulet away from.”
He felt a shudder pass through her body.
“Good evening.” Darius felt awkward standing in front of Lilith Troy wearing a pharaoh’s getup, while she was regally decked out as Cleopatra, a pharaoh’s queen. The irony was not lost on him, and it spawned a wicked headache. He pulled his mask off and briefly pressed the back of his hand to his forehead.
“Hello, Darius…and guest?” Lilith couldn’t have looked at Shaila with any more venom. She looked ready to unfurl her talons and sink them into her competition.
“Ms. Troy, I would like to introduce you to my date…um, Shelly.”
“Hello.” Lilith circled
Shelly
like a falcon circling its prey. “Why don’t you take off your wig and mask. Come, girl. Show us your pretty face. Let’s see the beauty of the one who’s managed to catch the attention of our elusive adventurer. Come, show us.”
He was certain she would rip the accessories from Shaila’s head if he didn’t intervene quickly. “Lilith, thank you for inviting me. Your parties are famous for their bling, but what exactly was going on in there?”
“Did you like my new fragrance?” Lilith licked her upper lip and looked at him coyly from under her lashes.
“Was it entertaining to you, using your guests as guinea pigs in your little mass orgy experiment?” He let his disgust show.