by Lisa Kessler
Muriah shimmied in the bed, trying to prop herself up to a sitting position. She rubbed her temple, wishing she could dampen the bells ringing in her head. The hair on her arms rose and she noticed the air around the jaguar wavered. In a smooth movement, the jaguar morphed into a tall sculpted man.
Issa came to her bedside. “Muriah. You are back.”
She nodded, frowning as she took in all the damage around her. “What did I miss? It looks like a tornado blew through here.”
Issa cast a dismissive glance over his shoulder. “You were unconscious. I feared you slipped into a coma.”
“So you redecorated?”
“I was disappointed to see you took such a risk while I slept.”
She ran her tongue across her dry lips. “This looks a lot closer to rage than disappointment.” She met his dark eyes. “I’ve been using my power my whole life. I don’t need to be babysat while I touch something.”
“You also told me we were partners in this, and yet you put yourself in danger, knowing I was helpless to come to your aid.” His jaw clenched, cutting off anything else he might say.
“I didn’t promise to use my power while you were with me. That’s not how I work.”
Issa walked over to his clothes, his deep voice soft, almost an afterthought. “I thought I’d lost you.”
This was the point in a relationship when she ran. Usually, it was mutual. Whatever this was between them, it wasn’t going to last. They saw there was no real future. Didn’t they?
She watched him from the bed as he pulled a shirt over his chiseled, tanned body. Her skin warmed. “I did it for you.”
The words surprised her. They slipped out before she could think them over. Issa straightened, his heated gaze meeting hers. Muriah swallowed an unexpected ball of emotion. “Apep wants to punish you by forcing you to hurt me. That was his threat on my voicemail.”
“I would die before I hurt you. He could not force me.”
“But if something happened to you, all the Night Walkers would die, right? That’s why Gretchen is carrying the Night…child?” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “The visions are getting stronger. I didn’t plan on holding the tablet so long.” All true. She only left out the part about the excruciating pain. “I needed to see one last face.” She took his hand. “We’re close to stopping him.”
Issa came back to her, sitting on the edge of the mauled bed. His dark fingers laced with hers. “You cannot push yourself like that again.” He squeezed her hand. “Please, Muriah.”
He said please. Never in a million years did she imagine the word please would warm her heart. “We need to get back to the Khan el-Khalili. I have another contact there, and he had the second tablet. We need it.”
“Had?”
Muriah nodded, rubbing her forehead. Her head still throbbed. “That was what I pushed for. That man who came to The Dimension’s Den when we were leaving. I thought he was a detective, but he actually works for the government.”
Issa frowned. “You saw him in your vision?”
“Yes. While I held the tablet, I saw where it’s been. My other contact gave a tablet to Agent Bale. I couldn’t tell from the vision if the relic the agent had was the one we have now or the missing tablet we need. Either way, this is the best lead we have.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
People bustled through the Khan el-Khalili marketplace, flooding Issa’s heightened senses with the aroma of incense, food, and blood. He walked beside Muriah, wishing he’d fed before walking into this den of humanity. His fangs lengthened inside his mouth.
Hoping to distract himself from the thirst, he opened his mind to the mortals around him, focusing randomly on different voices until he noticed one repeating legal codes rapidly. Issa froze and reached for Muriah’s elbow.
“Wait.”
She stopped. “What is it?”
Issa turned his head slowly. He’d heard this mental shield before. Then it clicked. “The agent who came into your shop as we were leaving San Diego…”
“Agent Bale.” She scanned the masses. “He’s here someplace?”
“Yes.”
Issa took her hand, gratified to feel her fingers twine with his. Waking to find she’d used her power alone while he slept left him feeling off-balance. Last night she’d given herself to him, and tonight, she’d retreated.
Only the sunrise had kept him from admitting his feelings for her, his love. But her actions made it plain that she still didn’t trust him. He was far too old for these emotional games.
Shoving the unwelcome emotions aside, he focused on locating the agent. Muriah kept up with him and muttered softly, “He might have the other tablet we need.”
“Or he might be here to stop us, by taking it.”
“Shit.”
He glanced down at her and kept moving. “Exactly.”
Through the catacombs of carts and merchants, he finally noticed a man in a suit, hustling down a narrow alleyway. “There.”
He dropped Muriah’s hand and used his preternatural speed to capture his prey before he escaped the marketplace. Issa slammed the man against the wall by his throat and stared into his eyes. Agent Bale closed them immediately. “I’m here to help you.”
“If that were true, you would have approached us.” He tightened his grip, his voice dropping to a low snarl. “Open your eyes.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then you leave me no choice but to kill you.”
“You won’t get the information you need if I’m dead.”
Issa shook his head. “I will discover all your secrets when I drink you dry.” He leaned closer, enjoying the flash of fear on the man’s features. “I have not yet fed. It will not take much to encourage me to steal the information directly from your veins.”
He caught Muriah’s scent before he noticed her jog around the corner. “Wait. Issa, we might need him.”
The agent turned toward the sound of her voice and opened his eyes. “Miss La Deaux. You’re the reason I’m here. I’ve got to talk to you.”
Muriah came to Issa’s side. “You can let him go.”
“I do not believe it would be wise.”
Her hand ran slowly up his back, soothing the jaguar within. “He’d never be able to outrun you.”
“True.” Issa released him, taking a small measure of satisfaction when he coughed and rubbed his throat. Agent Bale reached inside his jacket and withdrew a cell phone. “This is for you. You should throw out your old phone.”
Muriah took the phone and examined it. “Why should I trust you?”
“Because I can help.” He glanced at Issa and back to her. “We need to talk.”
“Then talk.”
“Alone.”
Issa bristled, but before he could speak, Muriah’s hand slipped inside his. “No way. Issa stays.”
Agent Bale clenched his jaw. “I’m not authorized to discuss this in front of him.”
“Authorized?” Muriah shook her head. “Issa has saved my life more than once. I don’t even know who you work for, so excuse me for my lack of trust, but if you can’t discuss this in front of Issa, then I guess we’re not going to be talking after all.” She handed him the phone. “I won’t be needing this, either.”
“Enough.” Agent Bale checked for anyone else in the alley before focusing on Muriah again. He was obviously aware of Issa’s power and avoided all eye contact. The legal statutes still repeated through his mind. “I work for the American government. We’re a top secret division who monitor otherworldly threats.”
“Like Night Walkers?”
“And the ancient Egyptian God of Chaos.”
Issa frowned, taking a step closer to him. “How do you know of Apep?”
“We watch and record. We only get involved when Americans come under threat.”
Muriah brought a hand to her hip. “You didn’t answer the question.”
Agent Bale tugged at his tie. “I was called in by the FBI after
they examined the body of your…customer. The bizarre circumstances of his death, combined with your business card in his wallet encouraged me to do some more digging.”
“You found my sources here in Cairo.”
“I’m aware of many of your contacts around the world. When I stopped by your store and discovered you were leaving town, the FBI had no trouble finding your name on the FAA passenger list for a flight to Cairo. You had to stay in during the day.” His gaze cut to Issa. “I didn’t.”
Issa stepped forward, enjoying the way the agent flinched. “Surely, in your research, you also discovered that Apep is a danger to your Americans, have you not?”
He broke eye contact, focusing on Muriah, his mental chant still shielding his thoughts. “That’s why I’m involved. I have a clean cell phone for you, and a tablet containing part of a ritual.” He hesitated, glancing down the alleyway. “I can also get you a vessel to contain him.”
Issa crossed his arms, his muscles taut, ready to take action. “If you already have all of these things, then why not handle this yourself?”
Agent Bale still resisted meeting his eyes. “Because by having you at her side, Muriah stands a better chance at stopping him than I do.”
Muriah stepped closer to Issa, the heat of her skin tempting him. “And what’s the catch? If I accept the phone, and you get me the vessel, what do you expect in return?”
“We want the vessel back when the ritual is complete.”
Issa frowned. “You want Apep.”
“We have a secure facility.” Agent Bale readjusted his tie and offered the phone to Muriah again. “It’s the only way to be certain he’s never freed.”
Issa scoffed. “You want to study him to determine a way to use his power as a weapon.”
“Not at all.” He shook his head, but Issa didn’t see conviction in his eyes.
“It is impossible to control chaos.”
“We simply want to store the container safely so it’s never opened.”
Muriah took the phone with a raised brow. “And we’re just supposed to trust you?”
“Yes.” He sighed. “Our agency takes paranormal threats very seriously. If you actually complete the ritual and succeed in trapping him, where else would you put him afterward? Bury it in the sand and wait for some future archeologist to discover it and break the seal?” He paused and took in a slow breath before finally turning to meet Issa’s gaze. “I know who you are. You’ve saved the mortal world more than once. Let me help you save it again.”
Issa stared into the man’s eyes. Agent Bale understood that by making eye contact, Issa could mesmerize him, get past his mental shield, and into his head. This was a gesture of trust on his part. If he were lying or hiding, he wouldn’t have risked eye contact.
Turning to Muriah, Issa released the agent from his powerful gaze. “He has given us no reason to doubt him. Yet. We do not even know if our efforts will be successful.”
“So you’re saying we have nothing to lose.”
Issa shrugged one shoulder. “Not at this point.”
“Okay.” Muriah pocketed the cell phone. “Where do we get the tablet and the vessel?”
Agent Bale pulled out a business card and jotted an address on the back. “Meet me in an hour.”
A blast erupted to the west of them. The sound deafened Issa’s senses for a moment as he stepped in front of Muriah to protect her. “He is here.”
Agent Bale nodded. “One hour. Don’t let his serpents follow you.”
The American ran out into the masses, fleeing the marketplace. Panicked thoughts of terrorism assaulted Issa from all directions.
But this wasn’t a terrorist. This was Apep, the Egyptian God of Chaos.
And he was pissed.
Apep scanned the bloodied faces of the frightened citizens as they pushed and shoved past him. If the La Deaux woman had contacts in Cairo to sell or store a certain Mayan codex, this is where they would hide, nestled in a back alley, hidden in plain sight. They had to be here.
His rage flared, his gaze focused on a stall full of novelty pyramid and sphinx key chains. The agitated molecules heated, smoldering until a corner of the shop burst into flame. Apep smirked at the damage, grateful to have released a fraction of the anger brewing in his gut. He continued deeper into the labyrinth of the marketplace. Most of the humans had already scrambled out like a stampede of sheep.
He rolled his head, snapping the tension in his neck as his serpents awakened, moving languidly down his arms until they slithered into the shadows.
“Find them. Go.”
He rotated his shoulders back and continued his path of destruction. A muffled cry stopped him in his tracks. Apep turned into a spice shop. The mixed scents almost covered the stench that only children gave off. Almost.
“You can’t stay here. There is a fire.” He knelt down and held out his hand. “Let me help you get to safety.”
The little boy didn’t move. Apep called the storm of chaos to his eyes. The boy stared and finally stood and took a step forward.
Muriah rounded the corner and there he was. The man with the living tattoos. Apep.
And he was luring a child to him. She stopped. Part of her understood she should keep going. They couldn’t beat Apep if they faced him now, but he’d kill the boy just because he could. He’d get a rush off of his fear.
Issa nudged her forward, but she held her ground and pointed. “We can’t leave that boy with him.”
Issa grunted something in Mayan and met her eyes. “This is a trap. He will torture us until he has the codex.”
“Unless we get away.”
“Getting away would be my preference, but it will not be easy.” His attention was on the boy moving closer to Apep. “You stay here.”
Before she could remind him about how they were supposed to be a team, Issa was gone. He reappeared at the boy’s side and yanked him into his arms, breaking Apep’s eye contact as well as his spell over the child. Issa turned to speed away, but Apep caught the boy’s ankle. “Go ahead and run. He’ll still have one foot left.”
The boy squealed and kicked, but Apep’s grip remained unbreakable. The Egyptian god sneered. “Oh, please. Since when did the mighty God of the West start caring about the life of a small mortal boy?” He looked over his shoulder, meeting Muriah’s eyes. “I see.” He glared at Issa again. “You want to impress the woman. Be a hero.”
Apep tightened his grip on the boy until he cried out in pain, and smoke started rising from Issa’s shirt.
“Oh shit.” Muriah ran toward them without a clue about how to help. The instinct to fight and do something drove her forward. She plowed her shoulder into Apep’s back, knocking him off-balance. He released the boy just long enough for Issa to rush him away as if they’d never been there.
Apep righted himself, turning toward her. “Miss La Deaux. You have something I need, and I’m going to enjoy torturing you to get it.”
“You powers don’t work on me, Apep.”
He flinched like he’d been stung. “So now you know my name.”
“There’s power in it.” Muriah kept moving to the right, hoping he’d keep circling with her until Issa returned. “Your true name can hurt you.”
“You speak nonsense.” But the flash in his eyes told her different. “How about if you don’t speak at all?”
The base of her neck throbbed, heating until her eyes watered, and she struggled to breathe.
“Only your mind is safe from me, Miss La Deaux. I could still cook you from the inside out if I wish.”
Her legs crumpled under her, hungry for oxygen. She writhed on the ground, unsure if she wanted to live or die. The scorching heat burned her, although the flames were only in Apep’s mind. And suddenly, it stopped.
Coughing and gasping for breath, she sat up as a black jaguar pinned Apep to the ground, mauling his shoulder. She glanced around, but there was no sign of the boy. She got to her feet, and the jaguar stumbled back, his fur singed.
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“We need to get out of here.” She shouted.
The jungle cat swung his powerful head in her direction. In one leap, he was at her side. She wrapped her arms around his thick neck and the world blurred. When he stopped, they were deep in the heart of Cairo, far from the marketplace.
And still in one piece.
Muriah coughed, struggling to pull air into her lungs. “I have to admit, even though I hate the super-fast Night Walker thing, it does come in handy sometimes.”
The jaguar’s rough tongue licked her hand and he stepped back. The energy rose in the air around her, tingling against her skin. The hair on her arms stood up as Issa’s form shifted into a man. She stumbled into his embrace before she could stop herself.
He held her close, kissing her hair. His deep voice murmured against her ear. “Are you hurt?”
“My throat…burns.” She pulled back, wincing at the sight of the red, angry welts and blisters along his shoulders. “That was the second time I’ve seen him almost set you on fire. You’d have a tough time healing from a pile of ashes.”
“Fire is problematic, but…” He stopped, glancing up at the shadows above them. “We should move to a more well-lit area.”
He took her hand, and she marveled at the comfort his simple touch offered. If only there was a way to stop thinking about the moment he would be gone. He wasn’t going anywhere. He’d told her so last night after they made love.
Insecurity gnawed at her, reminding her that pillow talk meant nothing.
She glanced over at Issa. The god of sacrifice didn’t seem like a pillow talk kind of guy. This was the same man who settled in and watched The Wizard of Oz with her. He’d given her no reason to doubt him.
But the last man she trusted, her own father, deserted her. How could this end any differently?
They walked hand-in-hand, and finally, she recognized the area. They were going to meet up with Agent Bale. “Before we see Agent Bale, I need to tell you something.”
Issa kept walking. “What is it?”
“Thank you for saving that boy tonight. I know it was risky, and it didn’t help the greater good, but I just…” She cleared her aching throat. “I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t seen him there.”
