by Lani Aames
Lia stood, her heart pounding in her chest, her breath harsh and fast. Had she done this? If so, all she had to do was pluck the gun from Mahkul's hand. The effort to step forward was almost too great. She wasn't in slow motion, but her legs felt as if dead weights had been tied to them.
She pushed on, her heart beating faster, her breath turning ragged. She had almost reached Mahkul when they were all in sync again and time moved naturally. Mahkul gasped but reacted more quickly than she could. He reached for her.
With a sudden burst of energy and knowledge, she dodged him easily. In a rapid double strike, she knocked the gun from his hand and backhanded a blow across his arrogant sneer.
Mahkul barely flinched. He grabbed her by the hair, fingers digging into the base of her ponytail, and slung her to her knees. Another quick movement and the gun was back in his hand, the barrel jammed into the side of her neck.
It had all happened so quickly and smoothly that Zamar could only take a couple of steps toward them.
"I'll kill her," Mahkul threatened, the words stopping Zamar as effectively as a blow. "She's served her purpose by bringing you back. I thought it would be amusing, the three of us together again, but I don't really need her."
"If you kill her, you will have to kill me," Zamar said.
"Maybe," Mahkul conceded. "Believe me, I would regret it. I only waited this long in the hopes Aeliha would return. But I won't have to kill you, Zamar. A well-placed bullet will take you down without killing you."
Zamar's fists clenched at his side. "What do you want?" he ground out.
"What I've always wanted. Your power."
Zamar shook his head. "If there was a way, I would have gladly given it to you when we were children. You were jealous of it then, the talent Aeliha and I had. There is no way to transfer the power we are born with and you know this."
Mahkul chuckled. "That's the incantation I found. A few special words and the death of a woman. And, naturally, it results in the death of the one with the power. My talent has always been in spell work, remember? I could always manifest the most complicated and intricate of incantations."
Zamar said nothing, but he'd brought his clenched fist up in front of him.
"We're wasting time. Pick up the cuffs, slowly, and give them to Aeliha."
No! The word exploded in Lia's mind. She had to do something to stop him. They were going to die anyway. If she could incapacitate Mahkul somehow, it would give Zamar time to escape. He might not get far before dawn and again turned to stone, but it would complicate matters for Mahkul. He would have to wait until the next generation and find another virgin sacrifice. By then, she could be reborn again, an adult, and find a way to stop him.
Determined to save Zamar, energy welled within her again. She focused and concentrated. She leapt straight up, throwing Mahkul off-balance, and caught his wrists. The ease and agility of her movements surprised her. She had the grace of a cat.
"Go, Zamar!" she shouted as she struggled to keep Mahkul's arms in the air and the gun's aim away from Zamar. She was losing her focus, but Zamar had to leave now. "Go while you can. We'll be together again, I promise!"
"No, it ends here. Move away, Aeliha."
The surge of strength was waning. Oh, why couldn't she hold onto the energy within her? "Zamar, please go. I-I can't hold him much longer."
As the last of her strength slipped away, Mahkul overcame her. He tossed her high into the air, toward the nearest wall. She knew she was going to crash, breaking every bone in her body, but she couldn't—
She jerked to a halt as if a wire attached to her waist had been snapped short. She floated in mid-air unsteadily, but she didn't drop like a stone. With only a little effort she pivoted, slowly uprighting herself, and looked at the two men who stood a few yards from one another. Just as Mahkul swung the gun around, Zamar's arm jetted forward, a streak of intense blue lightning leaving his fingertips. The air crackled with the energy and when the bolt touched Mahkul, he became immobile, a web of bright blue currents playing all over his body.
Lia started to take a step, but remembered she was in mid-air, only to look down and find she had already landed lightly on her feet. She ran to Zamar.
Now, Zamar's hands were several inches apart. Red and orange flames coalesced into a sphere, the size of a golf ball, between his palms.
"Mahkul bound my powers before casting me in stone, but over the undisturbed centuries I have been able to increase the strength of my sorcery," he explained quickly. Sweat beaded on his brow with the effort. "Help me, Aeliha."
"What do I do?" Lia cried out helplessly. Having the memories of Aeliha come at random then leave her completely was frustrating.
"Concentrate, Aeliha," Zamar said softly, patiently. The sphere was almost the size of a tennis ball now. "Remember when we were children, we did this often. We would conjure a fireball, no larger than the tip of a thumb. When we threw it, the blast would bring the palace guards running. We would be sitting, playing in the dirt, and pretend we didn't hear a thing."
Lia smiled and nodded. How many times had her father lectured them against teasing the guards? Too many and they never listened. She glanced at Mahkul. The blue current had lessened.
"Hurry, Aeliha, or the conjure on Mahkul will wear off before we can finish."
Lia stepped in front of Zamar and placed her hands over and under the small sphere, palms inward. She focused her energy on the flickering flames, concentrating on making it bigger, brighter, stronger. The sphere grew rapidly and when it was the size of a basketball, Zamar nodded. Lia carefully removed her hands and backed away. Zamar launched the sphere.
The fireball hit just as the blue charge went out and Mahkul regained mobility. His scream rent the air, his body writhing in the flames until his flesh melted away and he was nothing more than blackened bones. The flames flickered out, leaving a gray skeleton. All was still for a moment, then the skeletal frame collapsed into a heap of ash around the melted lump of the revolver.
Lia turned her back on what was left of Mahkul, tears filling her eyes with grief and sorrow. Zamar gathered her into his arms.
"I remember everything now," she sniffled against his broad chest. "At first, I thought Aeliha was using me to reach you, but now that I remember everything, I know I am Aeliha."
"Then you remember—"
"About Mahkul? Yes, he was my brother." She looked up into Zamar's jewel-green eyes, but saw no triumph, only grief and a sorrow to match her own. "When we were children, you and Mahkul were the best of friends. He wasn't always like this, was he?"
Zamar shook his head. "No, not always. But as we grew older, he could not understand why the son of the king had lesser powers than the son of a scribe."
"It's why my father fostered you, to train you as a warrior. He recognized your potential, and he spoke of it often. Maybe too often," she added, thinking of Mahkul's jealousy. "He was furious when you chose the priesthood."
"I went through the ceremony in secret. Not even the king could rescind it once I was sworn in as a novice. Mahkul made the arrangements. Not out of friendship, but as a way to defy his father."
His large hands framed her face. "Warriors were required to marry, but priests were not. Powerful warriors were expected to breed powerful sons for a future army. I could never love another as I loved you. You could not bear my sons and so I did not want sons. It is why I chose the priesthood."
"I remember why! I couldn't stay away from you. I would use my ability to levitate to evade the guards." Lia pressed closer to him, savoring the feel of him in her arms once again. "I remember how I loved you and I still love you with all my heart. I refused to be reborn until I was strong enough to fight Mahkul, too. My bond with Mahkul stayed with me all this time, and I was aware when he found the incantation to steal your power. I knew when he started losing patience and it was time to return. I didn't think my memories would be so deeply repressed in this incarnation. Mahkul recognized me, though. By bringing me here, he f
orced me to remember. He wanted me to know who I had been and who he was and what he'd done to us."
Zamar lowered his head and kissed her. "Your physical body is different, but you are my Aeliha, my One."
"Forever," she said, but a question had risen to the surface of her consciousness. "Even if we find a way to get out of here, will you still turn into a statue?"
"I believe now that Mahkul is dead, the curse is broken. We will find out at dawn."
Lia glanced at her watch. "We only have a few hours left. What if—"
Zamar laid his finger across her lips. "Shhh, my One. What will be, will be. If I turn to stone, I trust you will find a way to remove the curse."
"If you turn to stone, I'll die!" Lia cried out, tears streaming from her eyes. "I've waited too long. We have waited too long to be together."
Zamar gently wiped the wet trails from her cheeks. "What is another generation when we have waited many hundreds of generations?"
"We shouldn't have to wait," Lia whispered hoarsely.
"No, we should not," he agreed solemnly. "But we will if we must. Now, we have to find how Mahkul entered this chamber so that you will be able to leave if I do turn to stone."
Lia shook her head, but she knew he was right. Only if she was able to leave would she be able to find out how to break the curse and save Zamar. If what Zamar believed was true, it didn't matter. But if the curse wasn't broken with Mahkul's death, then they had to be prepared.
Zamar took her hand to walk with her around the pool, when she stumbled over Mahkul's backpack. She knelt and rummaged through it. He had kept an extra set of clothes, khaki shirt and shorts, and she handed them to Zamar.
Lia glanced up at him. "As much as I love you just the way you are, you might want to put these on. If the curse is broken, you'll need them anyway. They should fit."
They did. Nicely, Lia thought. Mahkul wasn't quite as large as Zamar and they were snug. He couldn't button the shirt over his broad chest, so he tucked the ends in the waistband of his shorts. He slung the backpack over his shoulders after watching the way she put on hers.
They backtracked around the pool, going in the direction from which Mahkul had come. His footprints seemed to emerge from the wall where no opening was in evidence. Lia examined the stone wall closely and found the hairline crack outlining the doorway. She pointed it out to Zamar.
"There must be a way to open it from here," he said.
They pressed the wall near the crack and a small stone, its outline all but invisible, moved beneath Zamar's touch. The large section of stone swung back with barely a whisper.
Lia turned on her flashlight. The passageway was small and cramped, sand and gravel littering the floor. It turned to the right. She hesitated. What if Mahkul had set traps?
"We have no choice, Aeliha," Zamar murmured as if he could read her mind. Hadn't it always been so? He knew what she felt almost before she began feeling it.
She nodded and stepped inside, Zamar close behind, his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. They had only gone a few paces when the doorway slid shut behind them, leaving them in total darkness except for the beam from her flashlight.
"I never knew about this passageway," Zamar said softly as they followed its curve to the right. If Lia's calculations were correct, this passageway was circling around the large chamber.
They stepped over stones and sank in deep drifts of sand until at last the flashlight illuminated a stone wall in front of them. It took less than a minute to find the small stone in the wall that triggered the opening.
The door of stone swung open and they stepped into a medium sized chamber, covered in a layer of sand…and footprints! Lia flashed the light around. There was an archway to the left, but the walls, directly across from them and to the right were solid. Yet footprints led to both walls.
"I recognize this room," Lia said. "To the right is where the crevice opened."
"This is the antechamber, yes," Zamar commented. "The villagers entered through the arch. It leads back to where they entered the caves from the other side."
"I entered from there," Lia said and flashed her light at the wall directly across from them. "It leads up to a small room with an altar."
"Mahkul's chamber," Zamar said.
Once again, they easily found the stone to press to open the doorway. They ascended the long flight of steps and emerged behind the altar. They didn't linger, but left the room and followed the passageways until they reached the main one, pale moonlight showing them the exit to outside. Lia reached it first and turned to watch Zamar step into the fresh air for the first time in millennia.
He stood, bathed in moonlight, his face turned to the starry sky. He wore an incredible smile.
Lia didn't want to, but she checked her watch. Just over an hour until dawn. Although the night had been long and tiring, she was overcome with how quickly they were running out of time. If Mahkul's death didn't break the curse, then how was she to go on? She was as much Aeliha now as Lia. She loved Zamar. How could she bear to let him go?
"The stars are not as bright," Zamar said.
"Air pollution," Lia explained. "We've managed to mess up the planet quite a bit since your time."
He nodded and looked at her.
"This is it," Lia whispered. "In about an hour, we'll know whether you turn to stone or not."
"If I do—"
"If you do, then I have to find a way to bring you back permanently. It could take many lifetimes, but I'll do it!" she swore, tears filling her eyes. She took a step toward him, but he swept forward and enclosed her in his arms.
Zamar kissed her tears away. "I pray to Seniha that with Mahkul's death the curse is broken. With many conjures it is so."
Lia nodded. "I pray you're right. We've waited so long, I don't know how I'll go on."
"I'll wait for you," he said with a smile.
"You'll have no choice!" Lia laughed, but it was a nervous, giddy sound.
"Come," he said, taking her hand. "We'll watch the sun rise together."
She let him lead her to the flat rock where millennia ago she had waited to enter the caverns to be with Zamar for what turned out to be their last time together, and only hours ago she had stood watching the desert devour the sun. She had been two different people who were now blended into one—one who loved Zamar.
"I don't want to let you go, Beloved," she whispered and slipped into his embrace. He held her protectively and she looped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She could feel the quick beating of his heart in his chest and his warm breath near her ear.
"I will not be far, my One," he promised softly. "Only a heartbeat away whenever you think of me. I will be thinking of you as well."
Zamar's head bent and his mouth closed over hers. His lips were so familiar to her now, as was his touch. His hands slid down the small of her back and into the waistband of her shorts. Raw need pulsed through her, throbbing in her breasts and clit. Trembling, she loosened her arms from around his neck and trailed her fingers over his smooth chest. She knew his body, every ridge and contour, and traced them with her fingertips. His nipples were hard points, and her lips surrounded one as she tugged the ends of his shirt free.
"Make love to me, Zamar," she murmured against his skin. "It might be our last chance."
"I do not think it will be our last chance, my One," he said. His hands moved to the front of her shorts and fumbled with the button. "But I have hungered for you for far too long to deny either of us."
Lia helped him with the unfastening of their clothing. When they'd undressed, they used the clothes and backpacks together for a makeshift pallet on the flat surface of the rock.
"Do you remember," Lia began as she lay back and Zamar molded his body to hers, "our last time together and you told me about a place across the ocean where my father would never find us?"
"Yes." Zamar's warm breath fanned across her skin. He held one of her breasts and raked his tongue over the peak.
"You were right. I live there now. How did you know?"
He kissed her nipple tenderly. "I had seen it in my dreams. I prayed to Seniha to show me a safe place for us. The goddess took me across the vast ocean, to a new land. She promised we would live there in peace together."
Hope sprang alive within Lia.
"When Mahkul discovered us, executed you, and cursed me, I thought Seniha had forsaken us. I now realize she did not say when we would be there, only that we would. I beg her forgiveness for doubting her."
A shadow crossed over Lia's hope and she frowned. "Then it might not happen right now."
"No. But it will happen." Zamar's strong hands roamed her body, creating a warmth that staved off the chill of the night air. "Seniha's promise tells us you will be successful even if we find Mahkul's curse is not lifted when the day dawns. Have faith, my One."
Lia wanted to scream and cry and beat her fists against the rock, but she knew it wouldn't help. Instead, she slipped her hands between them and found his cock, as stone hard as when she'd first touched him as a statue, but much hotter and more pliable. She moved her hands up and down.
"I'll try, Beloved," she whispered, accepting his kiss.
Zamar pushed open her legs and moved between them. He lifted her thigh, settling into place, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. She released his cock and it sank into her wetness where she wanted it to go. She sighed into his ear as he gathered her into his arms.
"I told you then that you are my world," he breathed while he slowly thrust into her. "You are my past and my present and now my future. You are everything and all things to me and always will be. Forever, my One."
"Forever, Beloved," she cried out, back arching, as she burst into a million fragments, her fingers digging into the muscles of his arms. When her shattered self had rejoined, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He strained into her and she squeezed around him. He came, a look of pleasure and pain on his handsome face, then he tossed back his head and groaned with his release.
He held her for a while, until they noticed the lightening of the sky to the east. Only then did he withdraw from her and help her to her feet. She shouldn't be locked in his embrace if he was still cursed and did turn into a statue. Lia shook, from exhaustion, satiation, and fear. She glanced at Zamar.
