Evermore (Descendants of Ra: Book 3)

by Tmonique Stephens

  “I left the Order around the time you two found each other, and heard about the wedding through the grapevine.” Emeline turned to Alexis. “When did you and Reign get married?”

  “Ah hem.” Alexis cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “He hasn’t asked me.” She gave Reign a pointed stare.

  Reign gave her his full attention, brow furrowed in confusion. “Woman, if you want to marry, why did you not say so?”

  Alexis’s icy glare froze the entire room. The jeweled snake on her finger hissed in Reign’s direction, then slithered up her hand and beneath her sleeve.

  Stella quickly rose from her seat and stepped in front of Alexis. “Dear, I need some help with…um…Christmas decorations.” She led Alexis out of the room, chatting all the while about the coming holidays.

  Roman tsked and gave a dry chuckle over Reign’s befuddlement. “Damn, after two thousand years, you still haven’t learned a thing about women.”

  Avery took Emeline’s hand and in unison, they rose. “We need to get going. We’ll be spending the night at the Order to watch over everyone.”

  And work on deciphering his tattoos and harnessing his new power. Emeline hoped that was obvious to everyone. “Thank you for letting me stay here. Everyone’s been so nice.” Emeline smiled.

  Concern etched Roman’s face, but he kept his mouth shut as he rose to his feet. “You are always welcome here, Miss Gamble,” Roman said.

  “Emeline, please call me Emeline.”

  A smile tweaked his lips. “Welcome to the family, Emeline.” Roman hugged her. “Take care of Avery. Try not to let him worry. We will get EJ back.” He didn’t try to whisper.

  Emeline nodded and took Roman’s words to heart. “I know. EJ is out there. But he’s not alone. Ridley is with him.” Her skin flushed with anger. “Whatever happens, whatever her name is, we will find her. She can’t hide forever. And when she crawls out of her hole, I will kill Ridley Cross.”

  ~~~~~~

  Ready for the next installment in the Descendants of Ra series? Check out Encore!

  Ridley Cross will stop at nothing to break her family curse—including enslaving an innocent an. He doesn’t deserve it, but regardless of the consequences, she’ll use him as a means to an end. However, the more time she spends with EJ, the line between survival and passion blurs. Can she trust the man she has shamelessly used?

  Trapped in a prison of his own flesh and bones, EJ Nicolis will kill the one who placed him there. No matter how much he hungers for her, he will resist her amethyst eyes, her pouty lips, and fiery soul when he wraps his hands around her slender, graceful neck and...

  With evil at every turn, the Descendants of Ra are out to rescue their brother EJ—and make her pay—Ridley can’t afford to fall in love. The stakes are higher than her desires.

  Greater than her needs.

  More important than his life.

  Or hers.

  Chapter One

  Day One.

  EJ Nicolis sat petrified in a ratty tan Barcalounger. The planned destruction and death of one person gave him focus and kept him sane. It didn’t matter how fine her ass was in the red tartan mini. Or how her thighs peeked all milk creamy between the slats of the skirt. Or how freaking sexy her candy apple red, patent leather, knee-high Doc Marten’s gleamed in competition with pouty red lips and her amethyst eyes. As soon as he freed himself from his forced servitude—Ridley Cross was a dead woman.

  Day Five.

  Fury pulsed with every heartbeat coupled with certain madness. The kitchen faucet dripped with the regularity of a metronome. A toilet in a neighboring apartment flushed. A door slammed with determined regularity. The crying of a baby drowned out the sound of a game show on TV from an apartment upstairs. From every direction, the sounds of life surrounded him, highlighting his isolation. He was virtually a zombie without the undead, cannibalistic tendencies.

  A well-nourished cockroach marched with military precision up his leg, over his abs and chest to crawl inside the collar of his sweater. He felt it moving along his skin, crawling between the sparse hairs scattered over his pecs. Silent screams reverberated in his skull as he sat helpless against an inch-long insect. This was his new definition of hell.

  If that wasn’t bad enough, always the scent of someone’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner teased him at regular intervals. No food or water since his body had been hijacked, yet he wasn’t dying from hunger or thirst, and didn’t need to take a piss. Combined, all of the unknown tested his sanity. And he was beginning to fail.

  Spending one hundred and twenty hours in the tenement hadn’t been his choice. Nothing had been his choice since meeting Ridley Cross. Her name rang in his head, a curse waiting to be spat once he regained the use of his jaw, tongue, and the other seven hundred muscles and two hundred and six bones in his damn body.

  Five days had passed since he’d seen her last. Was Ridley dead? Please, God. No. That privilege belonged to him. But if she was…where did that leave him?

  Doing an impersonation of Ol’ Abe at the Lincoln Monument, that’s where. Chilled to the marrow of his bones, the thought looped in his brain along with who would be the lucky bastard to find his desiccated body? And how long would it take?

  She did this to him—placed his body in some type of suspended animation. Maybe I won’t shrivel into a slab of jerky right away. He would’ve smiled at his own humor if his muscles weren’t frozen.

  If he had powers like Roman, Reign, and now Avery, he wouldn’t be in this fucking situation. Spilled milk and useless what ifs were for girls. He didn’t need fancy powers to get out of this stew. He’d find a way. Always did. Always would.

  Move. Just a tiny bit. Just a hair…please. Arm, hand, fingers, now he concentrated on his pinky and begged it to raise, curl, twitch, anything to prove he wouldn’t remain this way forever.

  He tried to move an inch, a millimeter even. No go. Ridley told him to stay here, and like a good piece of shit, this is where he landed. So, this is where he remained. A goddamned, blasted statue. Thank God, he wasn’t outside. All he needed was a bird to take a dump on him. Oh no, he’d forgotten he was the POS, and birds didn’t shit on shit.

  Khuket, the Goddess of Chaos, had rearranged his nervous system and stolen his free will with Ridley’s help. Panic rose like a flash flood and threatened to swallow him. For the tenth, or maybe the one-hundredth, he battled the sickening effects. As a mercenary, panic was the one emotion you never allowed a foothold.

  Prey panicked.

  Predators planned and took advantage of opportunities. It was the first lesson Avery taught him.

  The last time EJ saw his brother, Avery was on the roof of the Order. He was caught between Khuket and two glowing obelisks. All three drained the life out of him, and while EJ watched in silent fury.

  Let my brother be alive. If not...

  Contemplating Avery’s death left a canyon sized hole in his chest. If not…I will avenge him.

  Boundless energy thrummed through his tense muscles. Ready. Waiting. For the first opportunity to strike. He would ask only one question before that eventual end…How? The why didn’t matter. How and the consequences of Ridley’s actions were the only items on his agenda.

  EJ had never killed a woman. He’d come close in Afghanistan. Avery had taken the shot that ended the suicide bomber before she completed her mission. That was their last assignment together. Now...

  The front door opened and frigid air washed over him. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see who entered, but he knew the signature of the staccato footsteps.

  She stepped into his line of sight.

  Built for speed, she was svelte with long sleek legs and sweetly flared hips, dressed in the tartan mini-skirt. Her breasts stretched a red cropped sweater. They were small, no more than a handful. Well…he had big hands. She captured his attention in the same knee-high, candy apple red Docs and creamy thighs.

  Candy Cane.

  At first glimpse, he’d
wanted to unwrap her and lick from the top of her boots to her cupid’s bow lips. That’s what his first thought when he saw her at the home of the Order days ago.

  Now, he wanted his hands around her slim neck.

  Five days ago, her white pixie hair had been matted with blood, her face swollen from a cut cheek and a bruised lip from the tumble they’d taken through the vortex that dumped them on the other side of town. All of her damage had healed before his startled eyes.

  Was she immortal? A god like Khuket? A demi-god like Roman and his twin Reign? Strange shit had climbed out of the woodwork since last summer.

  EJ backtracked the months until he settled on one defining event. The day, Roman, the leader of their family, found his soulmate, Stella Walker. After two thousand years, he had found the only woman he could love. Then, everything went to hell. So much for that love conquers all bullshit.

  EJ strained to rise and confront the woman who marched into the dingy one bedroom apartment located somewhere in upper Manhattan. His frozen muscles clamped down hard on his bones, causing an unbearable ache in every cell.

  Dirt streaked the curve of her cheek and dulled her vibrant platinum hair. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Ridley said without meeting his eyes. Her gaze centered somewhere over his head as her left foot tapped nervously. She ran a hand through her hair, disturbing the spiky ends. “I just needed the entire Book of Eidos translated. Khuket was supposed to do that. Her agenda and my agenda didn’t sync.”

  She rambled, but he understood enough. The plan she’d initiated imploded from her lack of planning, and then exploded. The results: her ass kicking and his zombification. She walked around him, her boots stomping in a determined rhythm. He tried to follow, but his situation hadn’t changed. Human statue.

  “I can’t free you, don’t know how. I think only Khuket can, and I don’t know if she’s alive,” she said from somewhere behind him. “I figure she survived since you’re still under the influence. And if she’s not, the answer to free you—and save me—may be in the book left at the Order. Luckily, I made copies. Though only a few pages.”

  Ridley dropped to her haunches in front of him. She’d never been this close. Her amethyst eyes—violet flecked with silver—so brilliant in her pale face, met his.

  “I don’t know why I bother talking to you.” She traced a finger down his cheek. Her lips curled into a frown. She sighed and tapped his temple. “There’s nothing in there. You’re an empty shell.” Her gaze moved lower to his chest. Lower to his abs. Lower…

  Her hand dipped into the pocket of her red leather coat and retrieved a photo. EJ couldn’t see the image so he studied the solemn expression on Ridley’s face, happy that something had caused her pain. A choppy sigh eased from her and unshed tears shimmered in her eyes. Her forehead dropped to his knee and her shoulder trembled.

  Concern was the last thing he expected to feel, but it was there. This wasn’t the woman who’d left him to rot. That woman wouldn’t have tears to shed.

  Her chin rose, and she scooted between his knees. “I’m sorry, s-sorry for all of this,” she stuttered, her breath hitching between each word. “Sorry you got caught in the crossfire, but you’re here now, and I need you—your help, your muscle.”

  What would bring her this low to seek an enemy for help? And could he use it to his advantage?

  She stood, popped her hands on her hips, and widened her stance. “You will help me.” Gone was the contrite person who had just apologized. “Okay, let’s make this official. Look at me,” she demanded.

  The order bulldozed his will. His chin tilted and his gaze traveled up her body, past her exposed belly button, the cropped sweater molding to the swell of her breasts. His gaze continued the journey, pausing at the deep hue of her full lips.

  “I said look at me.” Impatience stamped her voice. And a bit of fear.

  Good. She should be afraid. Very. Because he was going to kill her. Slowly and with great joy.

  He looked past her nose, flaring with each agitated inhale to finally meet her gaze. Brows lowered over her eyes, she expected his complete obedience. And he was powerless to refuse.

  “Elroy Jasper, you are my bodyguard.”

  He cringed at the sound of his full name and swore additional vengeance.

  “You will do what I say, when I say. Protecting me from any injury, any enemy is your primary goal. If you understand, nod.”

  He understood plenty. He was now her brick wall, her armor, her bulletproof vest. Up and down, his head moved. Now I’m a damn bobblehead! A string of curses ricocheted inside his head though none left his lips.

  “Rise.”

  He unfurled from the chair. Seated for so long, his muscles screamed in relief. His joints snapped, crackled, and popped.

  Her lovely face glowed with amusement. “You sound like an old man.”

  That’s because you made me sit for five fucking days! Rage. Four letters meshed together to denote an emotion. That’s what he should feel. The only thing that made sense. Instead, curiosity had him studying her. What did she need with him? Something illegal?

  “Sorry for leaving you here for so long. I move faster without you.”

  He’d seen how she moved. There one moment, gone the next. Once he was free, he’d find a way to immobilize her and get some payback.

  Where are we going? The words stayed in his head because she hadn’t given him permission to speak.

  “Put on your coat and follow me.”

  She opened the door, and like an obedient slave, he fell in line behind her, powerless to disobey.

  For now.

  ENCORE DESCENDANTS OF RA BOOK 4

  ON SALE NOW

  Glossary

  Anubis- Egyptian God of the Underworld. Son of SET and Nephythys

  Anu’Ra- Sacred relics of power.

  Avery Nicolis- Adopted member of the Nicolis family. Older brother of EJ Nicolis.

  Brayden Nicolis- Adopted member of the Nicolis family. Best friend to Tyrone Gregory.

  Cartouche- Frame containing a name.

  Crystal Staff– The Anu’Ra of Ra. Has part of his godhood and power inside.

  Duat- The Underworld.

  Eidos- Race of Elementals conquered by the Egyptian.

  EJ Nicolis- Adopted member of the Nicolis family. Younger brother of Avery Nicolis

  Ember Walker- Human host of the Goddess Nu and Roman’s Nicolis’s sister-in-law.

  Flail and Crook- Egyptian royal symbols of power.

  Harvested- The making of Quimaera with the Sacred Dagger.

  Hathor- Goddess of Love. Mother of Tyrone (Tau) Gregory.

  Hathoria Gregory- Human host of the Goddess Hathor and human mother to Tyrone Gregory.

  Khuket- Eidos Goddess of Chaos.

  Malum– Old evil no longer permitted to walk the earth.

  Nephythys- Goddess of the Dead. She sits in judgment of dead souls. One of the five original Gods created Nu and Ra.

  Nu- Goddess of Heaven and Sky. Matriarch of the Pantheon. Mother of Roman and Reign Nicolis. Connected to Ember.

  Nulls- Descendants of the Eidos and slaves of the Egyptian gods. To touch them is to own them.

  Osiris- God of the Underworld. Former lover of Nephythys. Husband of Isis. Imprisoned in the bowels of Duat.

  Quin (Joaquin) Nicolis- Adopted member of the Nicolis Family. Tech Guru

  Quimaera- Hybrid beasts transformed from humans. Part man, crocodile, and cobra.

  Rais- Ra’s representative.

  Roman Nicolis- Twin to Reign. Egyptian Demi-God. Holder of the sword of Osiris. Owner of Nicolis Security INT. Leader of the Nicolis family.

  Reign Nicolis- Twin to Roman. Egyptian Demi-God. The Vanquished haunt his soul. Holder of the sword, The Bringer.

  Sentinels- Keepers of the Well of Souls.

  Serpent Bracelet Tirrika- Personal Anu’Ra of Nu. Currently, in the possession of Alexis Walker.

  SET- Egyptian God of all Evil. Son of Nu. Husband of Nephythys. F
ather of Anubis.

  Sifting- the power to read a person’s mind.

  Soul Catchers (Sijnruhs)- Sacred orbs that can drain and hold the souls of the gods.

  Summoning- Calling a human to the Egyptian Realm.

  Thane Nicolis- adopted member of the Nicolis family.

  The Rising- When all the souls of the dead rise.

  The Sacred Dagger- The Anu’Ra used to create quimaera.

  Tyrone (Tau) Gregory- Egyptian God Son of Hathor (Hathoria Gregory)

  vis’Ra- power, energy. Your personal essence.

  Links

  Enjoyed Evermore? It would be great if you could

  leave a review. Your help in spreading the

  word about the Descendants of Ra

  is greatly appreciated.

  Want to keep up with the latest Descendants of Ra news,

  giveaways, and sneak peeks of the next book?

  Check out my website and sign up for my newsletter http://tmoniquestephens.wordpress.com/

  You can also find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorTmoniqueStephens

  About the Author

  Tmonique Stephens wrote her first novel about a reporter and a hockey player after the U.S. hockey team won gold in the 1980 Olympics. Her Descendants of Ra series takes place in her home town, New York City. She loves writing flawed characters who reflect the emotional baggage we all carry.

  Currently, she is working on her new UnHallowed series. She loves anything paranormal, but also enjoys Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Preston and Child.

  Born in St. Thomas USVI, Tmonique Stephens grew up in The Bronx, New York one mile from Yankee Stadium. She’s addicted to The Walking Dead, Vikings, The Strain, Game of Thrones, Sleepy Hollow, and also Asian cuisine. But her heart and stomach longs for anything from the Caribbean.