by Jean Murray
“Siya?”
She laid her head on his chest and sobbed.
He lay down on the soft covers and pulled her into his chest. “Did I hurt you?” he asked, his voice filled with concern. “Do you need to talk about what happened at the bunker?”
“No,” she whimpered and clasped her chest. His mark had darkened to a deep black. Darker than even before the spell Nebt had cast. The cold chill had been driven away by their lovemaking. So, what in duat was wrong with her?
“Ka’ti, look at me.”
Bomani’s gentle prodding forced her to meet his gaze. A smile curled up one side of his mouth. “I love you.”
“I know.” She could not find the voice to speak the words for how she was feeling.
Scared. Overwhelmed. Unfit.
She grabbed his hand and slid it down just below her navel. Inside life had begun. Lilly had confirmed it, despite Siya’s adamant disbelief. A miniscule flicker of light. The beginning of a soul.
He palmed her flat belly. His smile grew into a ridiculous grin. “It is true. Our baby.”
The amount of satisfaction in his voice surprised her. Did he want a child who would share her demon blood? “I will not know what to do. I was not made to raise a child, Bomani.”
“I and about fifty younglings would beg to differ. We will figure it out together.”
“War is no place for raising a child.” What could Mother be thinking? With her own parent’s history, Siya was the last female in the Pantheon who should be pregnant. She could think of three other available females who would be better at mothering than her.
“Maybe it is exactly what this war needs,” Bomani said and rested back on his elbow. He rubbed her belly in a circle. The sensation was oddly soothing.
“A baby?” She shook her head.
“Faith. Hope. Love.” He shrugged.
“Perhaps,” she said and covered his hand with hers. She could not feel what Lilly saw within her body. She sensed her own liable emotions. At least her crying fit was abated for the moment. Gods, she was not ready for this. “Do not leave me,” she said again, gripping his thick arm.
He traced the black glyph on her chest. “You are stuck with me now.”
“Bomani.” She gasped and pointed to his legion crest on the left side of his chest. Inside the brand was the glyph of a lion. Her mark.
“I guess it is official.” Bomani barked a laugh.
“Are you sure you want this? Want me?” Siya blurted out, unable to filter her thoughts. In her right mind, she would never ask such a thing. Gods, what had that spell done to her?
His fingers circled her belly button and then traveled up her breastbone. Heat bloomed in the wake of his touch. “When the warehouse collapsed, I thought death had found me. There was one name I called out.” He nuzzled her neck and kissed just behind her ear. “Make no mistake, I am exactly where I want to be.”
She opened her neck to him. His teeth nipped her bounding pulse. “Yes,” she groaned. He shifted over her and slipped between her legs. The tip of his cock teased her with the precision grind of his hips.
He kissed the column of her neck, the tips of his fangs grazing her skin. A small prick, enough to draw blood. Although it could be no more than a drop, his mouth danced across her skin. The demon inside her woke from its stasis. Her gums burned and her mouth filled with long incisors.
He dipped his head down to her breast and enveloped her nipple. The seductive swirl of his tongue and nip of his teeth had her arching up off the bed again. She slipped her fingers through his hair and gripped him tight. He sucked harder, sending volts of pleasure to her core.
She hissed through her clamped teeth. Her thirst that had been silent roared to life. He taunted her darker side, no doubt to prove his point. She dug her fingers into the flesh of his back.
“Exactly where I want to be,” he groaned and thrust his full shaft deep inside her.
Her channel clenched him in rhythmic waves. She gasped and tightened her legs around his waist. Fast and deep, he drove into her. Her entire body quaked with desire. She pulled him down and found the curve of his neck. The temptation to taste him was too much to bear.
His pace quickened and his entire body contracted beneath her fingertips. He pulled her tighter against his throat. “Take from me while I come inside you,” he groaned. Her core began to burn as some of his seed spilled into her.
She traced her tongue just between the scarification tattoos on his neck. He cursed and gritted his teeth. His entire body shook, his control about to unravel. She clamped her mouth around his neck and thrust her hips upward. Blood rushed into her mouth and her insides burst in an explosion of pleasure.
He roared, following her into the abyss of ecstasy. His pleasure reverberated through his blood. He tasted so rich against her tongue. She drew on him one last time before releasing him.
He rolled and collapsed onto his back, pulling her with him so she lay across this chest. “Do not doubt me,” he said, cupping her face in his large hands.
“Never again.” She kissed him. His blood mingled with her own, sending a surge of energy through her body.
Faint whispers echoed in her head, so quiet she thought she imagined them. “Do you hear that?” Siya asked, lifting her head and scanning the room. Bomani sat up with her in his lap.
“What am I listening for?”
The whispers came again, along with a stirring in her belly. She looked down and covered the location with her palm.
Life quaked deep within her.
“Is everything okay?” Bomani asked, alarm elevating his voice.
Registering the change in her body, she blinked. Had Bomani’s blood or the bonding released it somehow?
“Siya?”
“Everything is okay.” She hugged Bomani, uncertain of the truth. They were safe for the moment, but they had yet to face Asar and the Creation Pantheon.
Judgment would be made.
She prayed the ancient prophecy of a child born of both worlds was enough to save them.
Chapter Forty-Six
Bomani tracked Siya as she prowled from one end of the room to the other. Her agitation had grown over the past hour. Confined to the room, all they could do was sit and wait for Asar to return from the Creation Council.
Bakari had been kind enough to send food, including extra portions. Siya conceded to eating a few bites of roast and potatoes. Stressed by the dark spell and worse, Siya’s torture, the baby would need nourishment beyond Bomani’s blood she had consumed during their lovemaking.
He was relieved to see the small aura growing around her abdomen. His reaction to the news startled him on several levels. Now that it was certain, the anticipation and worry was killing him.
“What is taking so long?” Siya growled.
Bomani rose from the couch and blocked her path. “My father will not give us up without a fight.” Or at least he hoped.
“Is he willing to go to war over us? Even he will not risk that, not now.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Can he remove my mark?”
Bomani shrugged. “Only my father has the power to absolve the exiler’s mark. The question is, will he?”
She leaned her head against his chest.
He pulled her tight and ran his hand down her back. “I do not like this waiting any more than you.”
“Are the younglings okay?”
“They are playing soccer with the warriors,” Bomani said with a chuckle. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. “You did the right thing by sending them here.” Siya’s decision had been the kick in the ass he needed to face his problems. Not that he had much choice in the matter wearing five thousand pounds of concrete.
“I wish to thank your brother. He had no obligation to me.”
Bomani nodded his agreement. Bakari had no obligation to him either, especially after what had transpired between them. Bomani never had relied on his brother more than he had these nights. “Bakari and I have never had common ground.�
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“And Kendra?”
He stared down at their now joined hands. “Another convenient excuse to hate him.”
“I do not blame you for falling for her. She is beautiful and kind. Powerful too, for such a small female,” Siya confessed.
He searched Siya’s eyes for any jealousy but found only sincere appreciation. “Kendra is special. They all are.”
“The black-headed female has not transitioned, has she?”
Bomani pulled Siya over to the chaise to sit down. “Kit has never embraced who she is to become. I’m not sure she ever will. Kamen has his hands full.”
“Kamen?” Her spine stiffened. “He is here?”
“Yes.” Bomani narrowed his eyes, uncertain why he sensed increased tension at the mention of his uncle.
A loud knock sounded at the door. Bomani jerked to his feet and moved between Siya and the door, his posturing motivated by pure instinctual drive.
“I am pregnant, not broken. Although that is probably the sweetest thing anyone has done.” She kissed his cheek and pushed past him.
The knock sounded again and then the door swung open. Kamen’s enormous frame filled the doorway. A low rumble sounded in Siya’s chest.
Kamen’s expression was nothing but stoic, as usual. “Time to go.”
“Where?” Bomani grabbed Siya’s arm, uncomfortable with the way she was glaring at Kamen.
“The Chamber Room.” Kamen’s eyes shifted to Siya. “Sekhmet.”
“Kamen. Surprised to see you, here.”
Bomani jerked his head from Siya to Kamen. “You two know each other?”
“Let us go,” Kamen barked and turned out into the hall.
“Siya?”
Her green eyes met his. “Remember what I told you about Set killing Asar. He did not do it alone. Last time I saw Kamen was during the war when I accepted his surrender and put him in shackles.” Siya walked forward, not waiting for Bomani to catch up.
“What?”
“What is he doing here?” Siya asked, her eyes never leaving Kamen’s back.
“Kamen is the Devourer.”
Despite the guardian escorts pushing them from behind, Siya jerked to a stop. “Soul-eater? Is that your father’s idea of penance?” Her face paled.
Bomani stared at his uncle. He never knew the history behind Kamen’s position. He had been the Devourer as long as Bomani could remember.
“We are so screwed.” She grabbed his hand and continued with the procession. Bakari waited for them at the grand staircase to the Chamber. Two sets of shackles dangled from his hands.
“Sorry, we need to follow protocol on this one,” Bakari said with a frown. He opened the first set of cuffs. The barbs had been shaved down to blunt ends. “Siya.”
Siya lay her wrists in the metal links.
Bomani was grateful Bakari had not dipped Siya’s cuffs in venom. He found his dipped but again lacking the biting barbs.
“Just do not get me in trouble.” Bakari winked.
“Thank you.” Bomani nodded his appreciation. “I hope father was not too harsh on you for helping me.”
“He has not spoken to me. I have been summoned, just as you and Siya have,” Bakari said, eyeing Kamen. “Kendra and her sisters are already in the chamber.”
“Before the divine judges?” Bomani inhaled sharply.
“This is a private trial,” Kamen said and pointed up the steps.
“What does that mean?” Siya asked, her eyes wide.
“We will find out soon enough.” Bakari walked up the steps.
Bomani followed and wondered if his father had heard his prayers for forgiveness. The gold doors swung open to a room he had been in several thousand times before. It seemed larger and more foreboding than he remembered. Then again, during that time he was not the one handcuffed and on trial.
Large sandstone columns ran down both sides, supporting an enormous arched dome with gold leaf paintings of their ancestors. From the upper balconies white marble seats lined either side of the great hall. Thrones for the forty-two divine judges. All empty, thankfully, but it did not loosen the knot in Bomani’s gut.
Asar waited at the front of the chamber, seated in an enormous gold chair. He wore his long black robe with gold embroidery down the edges. The only things missing were the gold crown and the Lord’s signature crook and flail.
Siya’s wide eyes met his.
“It will be okay,” Bomani said, trying to reassure her, but felt his confidence falter. With bound wrists he reached out to grasp her hands but was blocked by the guardian.
“Keep moving.”
Bomani along with Siya were directed to a circle engraved in the floor at the foot of Asar. Lilly, Kit and Kendra sat in chairs just to the right, but no less in the spotlight. The women fidgeted in their seats.
“Kneel,” Asar barked.
Bomani dropped to his knees under the weight of his father’s scorn. A heavy chain bolted to the floor was raised and secured to the hinge of his cuffs. Siya knelt and stared at the floor, her fear clearly etched on her face.
“Bakari, to your knees.”
Bakari dropped next to Bomani. His brother gave him a sideward glance before staring forward.
The full weight of his father’s power bore down on Bomani. Coldness crept across the floor until it wrapped around him. His father’s fury matched no other. Bomani’s sins were one thing, but the others only wanted to help.
Siya’s trembling fingers snaked through his, only worsening his sense of dread. An echo of the pain of her exiler mark flared through the bond with each step Asar took towards them.
“I knew this day would come. Prepared for it. Wanted it to be over.” Siya turned to meet Bomani’s gaze. “Gods, I do not want it to end.”
Bomani tightened his grip on her hand and then released it. He would not let his father take her from him. Damn the consequences, Bomani reared up to block his father only to get yanked back down by the chains. The metal groaned as he thrust his arms up.
Bakari grabbed Bomani’s shoulder. “Stop, he will not hurt her.”
“He cannot have her.” Bomani thrashed against his bonds. The shackles tore into his wrists. Blood dripped onto the sandstone and the scent of venom filled the air.
Siya grabbed his hands. “Bomani, settle. Please, you are hurting yourself.”
“I will not live without you.” Bomani gasped, his chest burning with fire.
“Son,” Asar said and grasped Bomani’s shoulder.
“If she goes, I offer my soul too.” Bomani shuddered under his father’s heavy hand. Never once had Asar ever called him, son. The stakes must be dire.
“Do not mistake, I am furious with you. Your choices, as of late, have been abysmal, resulting in dire consequences that,” Asar paused and looked at Kendra’s scar, “have irreparably wounded this family. Worse, the enemy now has the means to break the barriers between the realms.”
Asar shoved Bomani back down to his knees, his fury gaining momentum. “What am I supposed to do with that? You have placed me in a position where I have no choice but to punish you. There are laws, some we do not agree with but none the less must abide by. As for your mate…” Asar released Bomani and shifted to stand in front of Siya.
“Bast states you were responsible for Khalfani’s demise. Is this true?”
“I am.” Her voice was surprisingly strong, despite the tremor resonating through the bond.
“You had a relationship with my Commander during the war.”
“Yes.”
“Did anyone else know?”
“I do not know. Perhaps. Khalfani was not supposed to be there. I had released the legion and was returning to the base camp. The flames billowed above the tree line. I did not think anything of it as the fires were set prior to our departure to burn the bodies. When I crested the ridge, I could hear him screaming.” Siya bowed her head. “I did not know it was Khalfani until I extinguished the flames.”
“It was Theris you saw i
n Khalfani’s memories?” Asar turned to Bomani.
Bomani nodded, sensing Siya’s pain. “My memories of his are fragmented, but Khalfani feared for Siya’s life. Theris was waiting for him.”
“The god you engaged at the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“He has the gift of fire and you did not suspect him, Sekhmet?”
Siya raised her eyes and met Asar’s scrutinizing stare. “Theris left with me after the fires were set. We had said our goodbyes at the bridge to the Creation realm. He defended me at the hearing, left his life with the Creations to be my Second.”
“Theris was there,” Bomani said and squeezed Siya’s hand.
“I did not know.”
“He may have had help.” Asar paced the path of stone.
“Menthu,” Bomani replied. “Theris confessed before the building collapsed that Menthu put him up to it. Menthu wanted to test his daughter. Isolate her from the Creations.”
Asar ran his hand through his hair and cursed under his breath. “Gods, I never thought it would come to this.” He turned to Siya. “Your mark was placed outside the walls of this chamber and will not be recognized.”
Tears formed in Siya’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“Do not thank me, yet. Your freedom will be restricted to the palace, and you will be under the protection of my guardians. I will not risk the life of my grandchild, not when the scales have been tipped in the favor of the enemy. After the child’s birth, you will be indentured to me until which time I release you. Is that understood, Sekhmet?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“As for the rest of you, you disobeyed my orders and took extraordinary risks. It happened to work out in our favor, this time. Do not ever do that again without consulting me. I am solely responsible for this realm and the lives it protects. Losing any of you is not an option.”
“What about the Creation Council?” Bakari asked.
“The Council is devastated from the loss of Haru and Meti. I have simply delayed their request.” Asar’s hardened gaze narrowed in on Bomani. “Laws have been broken and will need to be answered.”
Bomani nodded, knowing he would pay any price to save the Underworld from disgrace, especially after all he had done to add to the problem. “What if I said, Haru and Meti are not lost?” Bomani met his father’s stare.
