Immortal Dynasty (26 page)
“Damned timing. That’s probably Bakari.” He sat up and flipped open his cell phone. “Hey.”
During the call, Darius paced up and down the hallway. Within a few moments, he appeared in the doorway.
“Hey, Shaila, we need to get ready to….go. Oh. You’re already ready. Damn, I hate that you can do that.”
Shaila looked down at herself. She had flashed on the usual leather pants, boots, and halter. “Yes, I am ready to go.”
Darius licked his lips. “Those boots really are a huge turn on. Remind me that tonight I’d like to see you wear nothing
but
the boots.”
It was going to be a great day. She finally felt powerful again. Her skin tingled with renewed energies. She double-checked. Yes, her dagger was safely tucked into its sheath and strapped to her thigh. Soon, she would face Lilith, and destroy that witch’s plans.
Darius joined her downstairs. “We’re going to meet up with the guys at the lab. ALICE has found some interesting facts for us. Apparently, my computer is flourishing under Marcus’ charms. Okay, let’s go.”
Dashing out the door, Darius hesitated at the bottom of the stone steps thoughtfully. “Let’s go the long way by Beacon Street. That way we can bring fresh coffee and bagels for the guys.”
As they turned onto Beacon Street, they were swamped by a huge crowd of humans. They poured down the street in an angry wave, engulfing everything in their path. The swell of the crowd forced her in the opposite direction. She nearly tripped over one of the young people in front of her. The energy of the mob around her sizzled red with fear. They were carrying signs and shouting for more protection.
A tight sensation squeezed her senses and her mind flooded with memories of being trapped within the statue. She mentally shook off the images before they clouded her mind. The crowd continued sweeping her along its current path. When the rush finally slowed and started to spread out, she caught her breath in large gulps. Turning around, she found herself in a large space filled with green grass and tall trees. The buildings of the city towered beyond the treetops. Dozens of fat brown birds skittered across the ground cooing nervously.
But there was no Darius. She swirled around and around, searching the thinning crowd for him. She spotted a shaven head, but the bearer of it had a green beard. Definitely, not Darius. By now, she had turned around so many times, she had lost her bearings. Shaila had no idea of which way she had come.
Instinct drove her to keep moving along the path. She would find her way out of this place and back to Beacon Street. She paused next to a large object with small children crawling over and around it. She smiled at the small humans bundled up against the chilly morning.
Finally, she spotted a man with an official-looking coat. She tapped on his back. “Excuse me. Can you help me find my way back to-”
“My dearest little goddess. How good of you to show up…Shaila.” As he turned her way, her name spat from lips like snake venom.
Shaila turned to run away, but he caught her arm.
“Let me go, Therion. Or-”
“Or what? Look up in that tree.” He pointed to a limb half way up. A dark figure perched there. The demon did not scare her, but his location above a little red-headed child did. She understood the threat.
“Make him go away, and I will go with you.” But while she watched the demon fade into the shadows, she felt something cold wrap around her wrists. “What are you doing?”
Therion snapped golden cuffs onto her wrists. The searing pain she felt from them took her breath away. She gasped for air as she sagged to the ground.
“I am making sure that you cannot use your newly-engaged powers on me.” His evil black eyes flared angrily at her. “Yes. I know who and what you are. I also know what your powers can do for me.” He pulled her fully against him, breathing heavily into her ear. “I can offer you so much more than that pathetic thief, Darius.”
“But you are human too.”
“Not for long.” His mocking laughter echoed off the trees. “You are going to give me back my god powers, Shaila. There’s an easy way, and a hard way. I am so hoping you pick the
hard
way.”
She spit in his face, a useless gesture but the insult was acknowledged as he yanked her towards a big, black vehicle.
Looking through the back window, she finally saw Darius. He sprinted toward them, but then he suddenly dropped to his knees, his face buried in his hands.
I love you.
Shaila was certain Darius would find her. She prayed that they would all make it through this.
* * *
Darius finally found her, but it was too late. He was just in time to see Therion shove her angrily into a van. He swore every kind of vengeance possible on his rival.
His blood pumped violently through his body as his fury reached a level he’d never felt before. His skin prickled as if it were energized by a strong current of electricity. His jaw ached miserably, like he’d been punched a hundred times. Then, the pain turned sharp and zinged through his skull.
What the hell’s happening?
The pain dropped him to his knees and nearly blinded him. He rubbed his jaw, trying to ease the torment. Blood rushed loudly in his ears, drowning out the sounds of city traffic. Darius stumbled out of Boston Commons and headed as quickly as he could towards his lab.
Darius collapsed down the stairs as dozens of light orbs danced around in his vision. Marcus caught him before he crashed into the computer. Darius gulped for air through jaws that now felt on fire. He screamed in blind torment.
“What the hell, Dare?” Marcus let him go and backed away very quickly. “What are those?”
Bakari rushed in from the back room, his jaw dropping in shock. “Gods in Hell, Shadiki, you cagey old mage. How come you never told me?” He rushed to Darius and grasped him on the shoulders.
Warmth spread from Bakari’s touch, and finally Darius began to feel his body calm. His vision cleared, and the pain in his face ebbed to a dull ache. Bakari pulled out a linen handkerchief and dabbed away a trickle of blood on Darius’ chin.
“What the hell just happened to me?”
“Destiny.” Bakari chuckled like someone with an inside joke.
“What’s so funny?” Daruis looked at both of them, their faces a mixture of shock and awe. “Somebody tell me something or I’ll start slamming all of you.”
A familiar voice rang out clear and strong. “Don’t pay him any mind. He is just angry that he didn’t start believing me a long time ago.”
“Papa Shadi,” Darius whispered. He rushed over to hug his grandfather. “You…you look great.”
“Ach.” Papa Shadi waved it off. “I just needed some good sleep for a change.” He looked around the room. “Where is Shaila?”
Anger welled up anew in Darius, his skin taking on a slight glittery sheen. He looked at his own arms in confusion. “What is going on with me? You know what it is, don’t you?”
Papa Shadi pushed Darius backwards until he was sitting in a chair. “My boy, I have raised you all these years as my grandson. But my grandson, you are not.”
“I know that. Shaila told me that much last night. I am the son of Nefertiti.”
“Yes. Her only son, whom she gave birth to not long before she was murdered.”
Darius finally figured out what had been bothering him. Information he hadn’t been given yet. “Who’s my father?”
Marcus whistled. “So
you’re
the deliverer?”
Papa Shadi nodded.
A big smile spread across Bakari’s face, and he knelt down before Darius. “You are the prince of our people, Darius. You are the son of the Lord of Command.”
“Who the hell is that?”
“Seth.” Both Papa Shadi and Bakari answered emphatically, and with great pride.
Marcus looked confused. “I thought Seth was the God of Chaos.”
“Well, he is very dark and dangerous-looking, but he was not in the habit of fostering chaos,” Bakari answered. “Although the Egyptians did peg his personality pretty well. You have definitely inherited some of his…irritability.”
“And his cunning.” Papa Shadi added quickly.
“So is that why he stumbled in here with glowing skin and a set of mini fangs?” Marcus asked.
“What?” Darius felt his jaws, and looked for a place to catch his reflection.
“You are half-human because of Nefertiti, but you are also half Anunnaki because of Seth.” Papa Shadi looked square into Darius’ eyes. “I am sorry. I should have told you long before this who your real parents were. When I brought you home from Egypt, I did not know anything about how to take care of a child. My daughter fell in love with you. She had lost a child, and you filled that hole for a while until the drugs destroyed her. And when I took you in, you would not believe any of the ancient prophecies. You thought me to be a nutty old man, and I let you go on without the truth. I did not see this coming so quickly. I am sorry, Darius. Can you forgive this old man?”
“Answer me one question. Did Seth and Nefertiti…” He let the question hang unfinished.
“Yes. They loved each other very much. As much as you and Shaila love each other.”
Darius didn’t try to hide his surprise.
“For you to have received your astral spirit, Shaila must have received hers. That would only have happened if the two of you combined your energies.”
“Damn it, Dare. You mean I slaved over this computer all night, while you got lucky?” Marcus looked tweaked at first, but then he smirked. “I am wicked impressed.”
“Okay. I’m okay with this.” Darius massaged the back of his head and neck. “I’ve grown up my whole life thinking I was a normal human being. As normal as the next guy.”
“And it turns out you’re half alien.”
“Shut up, Marcus.” Darius sent a glare towards his best friend.
“You guys were right. He did inherit some very cranky genes.” Marcus swiveled to his attention back on ALICE. “I study dinosaurs for a living and my best buddy is an alien. They couldn’t write this stuff any better.”
“Yeah, just don’t piss me off or I might try out these new mini fangs on you.”
“They won’t stay mini for long, my boy. It just takes a while for them to break in the first time.”
“Great, at thirty-five years old I’m teething again.” Darius looked at Papa Shadi and Bakari. “Shaila and I got separated by a large crowd of protesters marching towards the Commons. I was angry for losing control of the situation and for losing Shaila. By the time I found her, Therion was shoving her into a big black van.”
“Is that when the fury overtook you?”
“Yes. A powerful surge of angry energy just ripped through me. My face felt like it was exploding. All I could think about was to get back here.” He hung his head over his knees, fighting off a new surge of energy just from thinking about Shaila being taken away from him.
“Don’t worry, Darius.” Bakari’s baritone voice held a purposefully soothing note. “We know where he’s taking her.”
“We have some time to make our plans.” Papa Shadi began pacing.
“How much time do we have?”
Papa Shadi looked around anxiously. “Where’s my pipe? I think better with my pipe.”
“Time, Papa, time?”
“We will need to be ready,” he said flatly, “when the red hunter’s moon rises.”
Shaila emerged from a dark, painful sleep. At first, she wondered if she was dreaming, or if everything before this moment had been a dream. She could almost think that she was back in ancient Egypt, waiting for her priest to preserve her in the statue.
She wrinkled her nose at the intense smell of the torches, which jutted from the walls like soldiers saluting. The limestone walls kept the room cool, and the only warmth came from the many torches. The paint in the hieroglyphs seemed darker than she remembered. She tried to sit up on the table, wondering where her priest had gone.
Pain seared her wrists and knifed through her body. The agony brought all of her memories to her in a rush. Her eyes darted frantically around the room, taking in all of the details she had missed a moment ago. The prophecy on the wall was much different. All of it honored the
Age of Awakening
in bloody detail.
The humorless laughter echoing across the bare floors was not her priest. Bracing against the pain, she twisted her shackled body around to see Therion sitting regally upon a black throne and grinning with a victorious smile. She bit her tongue to keep quiet as she watched him toy absently with her dagger in its sheath.
She tried to flash out of the room, but convulsed as the effort brought a renewed wave of piercing torture to every nerve in her body. A tear slid down her cheek as her pain and frustration grew. She felt Therion’s approach.
“Welcome to my temple, Shaila. We have some very important things to discuss.”
“Where is Lilith?” She gave him her best dismissive shrug. “I will only speak with her.”
She felt his fingertips trail across her legs and stomach, pausing just below her breasts.
“Do you realize how seductive leather can be?” His liquored breath felt hot along her cheek. She jerked her face away when he licked at the tears. “Mmm. Tasty. I wonder how you truly taste?” He grabbed her chin forcefully. “Don’t struggle so much, my dear. It only makes the pain worse, or so I’m told. I had to test the cuffs to be certain of their ability to incapacitate you.”
“On whom did you test them?” Shaila had visions of her sister broken down with fear and pain. Bessie had told her that she had been in and out of the Troy Estate many times undetected. Had her luck run out?
He rubbed her arm just above the cuff. “Nobody of consequence, as it turns out. A very disappointing experiment, except to learn the value of these little babies.” Instantly, Therion seemed to go from enjoying his little games to intense anger. “Where is the amulet, Shaila?” He roared into her face and slammed his palm into her ribs.
She gritted her teeth, preventing her fangs from descending. She held silent.
“Foolish woman.” His demeanor snapped back to the confident conqueror. “You have always known where it is. Now, stop your silence and tell me.”
She ignored him and looked around the room, taking note of any possible weapons or escape routes.