No damage to the frame or knob. Could she have missed it? After last night, anything was possible.
She crept inside. Gutted of anything valuable, the spacious factory held nothing but a concrete floor and a discarded mattress in one corner. Squatters, though nothing else claimed inhabitants. She looked up through a hole in the ceiling to the second floor.
With her gun and flashlight leading the way, she walked deeper inside the factory and swept the area searching for the monster.
She was about to call herself stupid when she jerked to a halt.
That smell. All of her muscles trembled. Her breath fluttered, trapped in her lungs. Her stomach clenched in defense. Though she wanted to, Alexis didn’t gag or cover her mouth and nose. She fought the fear and inhaled, drawing within her the rank air and unlocking the forgotten memories of last night. The little details came rushing back, flooding her senses. She blocked them all but couldn’t dismiss the smell. The same odor clung to the beast that had charged through the house and flung her out of the way.
The hair on the back of her neck and beneath the soft fabric of her shirt rose. Her hand, steady a moment ago, trembled.
The beast was here. She had found it.
***
Fate had hung a dangerous predicament around Reign’s neck, bound to two women: one a needy, selfish goddess, the other…how to describe Alexis? Unlike Nephythys, she was tall for a woman. Pale, but with a smattering of dainty freckles on her face. Her lips were thin because she constantly grimaced. Relaxed, they distracted him with their pouty seduction. All of her distracted him.
Damnation. He came here to save Roman and with any luck, himself. He had to find a way to cut the tether binding him to Alexis and kill the beast as Nephythys demanded. The Egyptians and their petty games. A growl burned the back of his throat.
Alexis whipped around and pointed her weapon in his direction. Had he spoken aloud? Her coppery eyes skimmed over him. He hardened. All of him. Then she turned and continued her searching.
She should be resting, he thought, watching her circle the outside of the building, searching for an entry point. The entire night he’d spent by her side waiting for her to yield to those ordering her. Alexis ignored them and followed her own path. He admired her tenacity.
Alexis. Her name lay heavy on his tongue, wanting to be spoken.
Reign shoved the thought away. Roman needed him. As for the goddess, Roman would help him thwart her because he could not go back to Chemmis, a slave to her whims. He would not. Nothing and no one could make him choose that hell again.
He stopped. Alexis had vanished. Had he been lost in his thoughts that long? No. She couldn’t have gotten far. The tether wouldn’t allow it.
Reign rounded the nearest corner and spotted her. What was she doing now? She dragged a crate next to a large metal box and paused, studying the shattered window above. He had to stop her before she hurt herself. But stopping her meant revealing himself and he wasn’t ready. There were still too many unknowns in this new world. He needed more time.
Reign flashed to the nearest door. He could use his sword and carve an opening in the metal, but that would leave many unanswered questions. He could tap into the power the goddess gave him, but he wanted nothing from her he didn’t absolutely need. A quick glance confirmed Alexis still studied a way to climb the container. He grabbed the handle, turned hard and jerked. With a grinding snap, it swung open. He stepped inside the shadowy interior. A wave of energy halted him and kept him from advancing any further. He couldn’t pass through, but he glimpsed what the barrier protected.
He turned to slam the door closed, but she was already there. Face scrunched, she studied the opening. So unlike the women of his time, Alexis’s fearless nature intrigued him. Nothing swayed her determination. This would. The barrier would keep her from entering.
She peered inside the building and then passed through him and the barrier unrestricted. Warmth suffused him, starting in his heart, and spread to each nerve cell. She’d touched him more intimately than she’d touched anyone before.
Her soul brushed his, yet she calmly continued to navigate the intricate pathways and skirted the danger lying inches from her. She didn’t see the open pits lining the floor with the beasts nestled inside. He couldn’t understand her blindness. She paused and disgust washed over her features. In his invisible state, he could only imagine what she smelled. Weapon shaking in her hand, she swung around and stumbled over her own feet.
Heart hammering, he beat against the barrier. It didn’t budge. Next, he pushed. The threads of energy woven together into a pattern of weaves, gave a little but didn’t break. He pressed harder, leaning into it, only to be repelled eight feet away. Slammed to the ground, he groaned and climbed to his feet and rushed back.
Somehow, Alexis kept to the pathway. Too many times, she came close to disaster, flirting with the edge of the danger while searching each dark corner. Regardless of the consequences, he had to get in there. He charged at the weaving, only to be repelled with equal force.
He flashed back to the doorway, roaring in frustration.
Alexis spun and ran toward him. A chunk of plaster tripped her. She fell, right into the open pit and the beasts lying within.
Power rolled through him. Nephythys’s vis’Ra ripped his insides apart and leaped from his palms in crimson threads. He grabbed onto the barrier, fingers sinking deep. The weaves crackled, melting like heated wax.
He flashed across the room a fraction of a second too late. Alexis fell but no further than the floor. She twisted and landed on her side. Her weapon aimed at his heart. A different, multicolored weave of energy protected the pit.
“Don’t you move!” she shouted.
Damnation. He had forgotten to fade.
“Hands over your head.”
He did as instructed.
“Where’d you come from?” She eased to her feet.
“Nowhere you have ever heard of.” Her weapon never wavered. So small, yet she trusted it to protect her.
“Take one step forward.” She motioned with the gun and angled the light to bathe his face. “Oh fuck!” Alexis gasped, slack-jawed, eyes wide.
A lady in his time would never dare to think such a word and never allow it to pass her lips. Though he did like the way she bit her bottom lip right before the curse exploded. She stepped back, over the pit. He had to stop himself from reaching for her.
“You're not real,” she whispered and closed her eyes. “I’ve finally lost my mind.”
The plaintive notes in her voice touched his conscience. Wondering about your sanity was not unknown to him. The Vanquished were quite real, though they only interacted with him.
“Police! Come out with your hands up.”
Alexis turned toward the sound. He should disappear, fade by the time she turned back around, and shatter her already fragile state. No, he couldn’t do it, not to her. He strode to the door. She watched, weapon trained on him.
“I am real. You are not crazed.” He opened the door and stepped out.
Two officers in uniforms similar to those worn by the men who Alexis worked with, stood behind the open doors of a patrol car, their weapons aimed. He raised his hands as ordered. The Vanquished screamed inside his head and his palm itched, ready for his blade to appear.
“On the ground. On your belly,” one ordered.
Reign heard Alexis’s footsteps behind him. He fought the instinct to push her back into the building and attack the men. The Vanquished urged him on, goading him toward violence.
“NYPD,” she said, exiting the building. She cut a wide berth around him. He angled his head and watched her weapon still trained on the center of his chest. The badge dangling around her neck glinted in the headlights.
“Alexis? What are you doing here?” one of the men asked.
“Paul?” Her head jerked around and her mouth slipped open in surprise. “I-I’m checking out a lead in the case.”
“Without stopping b
y the station and letting our chief know you're here?” One of the officers approached. He studied the badge hanging around her neck. “We got no word you were in our jurisdiction.”
“Sorry about that.” She glanced at Reign and seemed unnerved to meet his gaze. “On the ground! Hands behind your back!” She yelled at him.
Reign stretched out on the pavement.
“Anyone else in there?” The officer approached the building cautiously.
Alexis shook her head, but the man went inside to secure the building anyway.
“What’s his story?” Paul secured Reign’s hands behind his back and patted his clothing, searching.
On the cold ground, staring at her shoes, Reign wondered what she would say.
“I found him inside, trespassing.”
“What case are you working?”
“One of the neighbors filed a report at our station. There was a possible connection to the Strangler case. I came to check it out, but didn’t find anything.”
Paul nodded and he seemed to study her with appreciation. “I didn’t know you were assigned to the case.”
Alexis shrugged. “It’s not something I open a conversation with.”
Hauled upright, Reign ignored the screaming tendons in his shoulders. Paul opened the backseat door. Together they tried shoving him inside. Reign didn’t budge, not until she looked at him once more.
“Get in the car or I’ll mace you,” Paul threatened.
Didn’t sound like something he would enjoy. Nonetheless, he waited. The other officer had returned from the building. Both men squared off around him, weapons aimed. Once, an army had tried to move him and failed—these men would fare no better.
Finally, she looked at him. A quick glimpse from her coppery eyes and he allowed himself to be squeezed into the backseat. He would humor them, for a while, before fading, or until the tether drew tight and yanked him back to her side.
“We’ll take this guy in and book him for you,” Paul said.
“And take the credit for the collar?” Her voice dripped acid. “Thanks. I’ll follow you.” She started for her car across the street.
“It’s just trespassing. What’s the big deal?” He blocked her way.
The man stood too near, with a familiarity that made Reign boil. Blood pounded in his ears, drowning out the rest of her words. He had felt rage before, but none like this. He ached to wrap his hands around the man’s throat and twist. He snapped the restraints, ready to materialize between them.
“You. Are. The big deal. Don’t help me, Paul. It makes me nervous.” She walked around him and jogged across the street.
Paul watched her.
Reign watched Paul.
***
Trailing behind the police car, Alexis couldn’t keep her gaze off the back of his head and broad shoulders. Every single thing about him embodied the fantasy lover she’d created, then forgotten and remembered again just days ago. She had dreamed of his naked body covering hers, wrapping her legs around him, and begging him to take her.
Somehow, he shifted his big body around and stared at her from the caged back seat, as if he knew where her thoughts strayed. A shiver raced down her spine. Heat pooled low in her groin and released in a whiplash of pleasure. She clenched the wheel with suddenly sweaty palms and tried to hold onto the tendril, all the while his gaze remained locked on hers. “Thank God,” she sighed when they pulled into the police station parking lot.
It seemed the entire police station had stopped to stare at the new arrival. She couldn’t fault the women for gawking or the men for unconsciously touching their weapons. Immense and overwhelming, he stood at least six foot eight with shoulders as wide as a linebacker with the pads. Black cotton stretched tight over massive shoulders and molded to perfect pecs and brick abs. Even stretched behind his back, his biceps bulged. When contracted, they’d probably peak like mini Mount Everest. His eyes, electric blue, peered through his shaggy midnight hair, watching her approach.
Palpable menace seeped from his pores, polluted the air, and set everyone’s nerves on edge. The man was a killer. He wouldn’t wax poetic like a comic book villain. No, he’d kill you and move on to the next combatant before your body hit the ground.
Her heart suddenly ached. The embodiment of the man she dreamed about most of her life now stood before her and he was probably a criminal. And for some weird reason, she cared. Her life had plopped into the crapper yet she cared about a criminal she had met fifteen minutes ago.
Then he pivoted that body so she got a full frontal and whipped his hair back with a snap of his neck. Alexis sucked in a sharp breath. That face. There was nothing pretty about him or even handsome. He demolished her senses like a freight train smashing into a two-seater. He was almost too much to look at, yet she couldn’t turn away. She didn’t dare.
Exhaling slowly, Alexis didn’t back down from his stare. His eyes seem to deepen into dark drowning pools when she approached. His hard, lean face softened and an increment of his fury abated, lessening the overall testosterone level in the room.
“No ID and he won’t tell us his name,” Paul’s partner told the desk sergeant.
Her prisoner’s—that’s how she thought of him—lips curled slightly in a mockery of a smile.
“Reign,” he said.
Oh, shit. She had to lean against a wall. His rough voice kicked off a pulse deep in her groin making her imagine something else rough and deep.
“Run his prints and take him to holding. I’m sure he’s in the system,” the sergeant said. He offered no resistance when they led him away.
Paul took her arm and pulled her off to the side. “I could cover for you.”
Alexis gave the hand on her arm a scathing glance and looked at Paul. He dropped his hand. “Why so helpful?” He leaned closer. His nearness made her skin crawl.
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Yeah.” Right. She nodded, not sure if he was trying to help her or himself. She tried not to follow Reign’s progress through the department. Once he was out of sight, her brain cleared. She glanced at Paul. He seemed earnest enough. Taking him up on his offer would lower the level of crap she was wading in. “All right, Paul. Thanks.”
A smile stretched across his face. “You seem pretty attached to the guy.” He squeezed her arm and leaned close to her ear. “Haven’t fallen for a criminal, have you?”
Alexis yanked her arm away. Damn, his words hit a little too close to home. She stepped outside the police station and tilted her face into the sun. A wave of exhaustion swamped her. She needed a shower and sleep ASAP.
Her thoughts strayed to Reign again, but she fought the urge and focused on getting home. Her shift started in a few hours and she had to see the damage to her grandmother’s house. She rolled down the windows and hoped fresh air would keep her awake.
When she parked in the driveway, she saw men on the porch with Mrs. Kelly. A panel truck from the local hardware store was parked in front the house. Her neighbor met Alexis before she exited her car.
“Where have you been?” She scolded. “You needed rest, not a joy ride.” She pulled Alexis down and examined her wound. “You're not bleeding. Are you in pain?”
“No, just tired.” More like dead on her feet. Alexis yawned. “You didn’t have to do this, Mrs. Kelly.”
She waved her hand, dismissing Alexis’s statement. “Did you get my message, dear?”
“No. Sorry.”
“Oh, well I called your father and told him what happened. I knew you wouldn’t be up to handling everything so he gave me permission to have the carpenters come out and get an estimate and fit a temporary door. I hope you don't mind.” She patted Alexis’s shoulder.
That had to be sympathy Alexis saw in Mrs. Kelly’s watery eyes and gentle smile. She didn’t mind her calling the carpenters. Her father, on the other hand, she wished the woman had left him out the loop. Damn.
Better to call him before he called her. She skirted passed the workers
and fished her phone from her pocket. Her cell rang before she dialed. “Lever.”
“It’s Paul. The guy we brought in escaped.”
CHAPTER FIVE
SET sank deep into the bowels of the Underworld where he was first formed. Where the first evil was committed so long ago that only he remembered. Once there, he wallowed in the corrupted essentia, drinking in its purity and forming a plan.
There were long forgotten parts of Duat only the oldest inhabitants remembered. Deep subterranean cells retaining Malum, old evil no longer permitted to walk the earth. Evil he caged as protector of the human race and as a pretense to gain Osiris’ council, would serve him again.
A ripple of delight swept along his changing form. So many layers with nooks and crannies, caves and wells, to cast friend, foe, and the discarded dregs off and forget they existed. Through many layers of sediment and rock, he passed, slowing as he approached each ward. Some created by him, others by Osiris. A few were a combination of the four council members: Nephythys, Osiris, Isis, and himself. He passed through the final ward and set foot on the ancient corridor. Created from the very first sands of Egypt, the inky glass pathway led to equally dark glass chambers housing the enemies of the Pantheon.
At the end of the pathway, Osiris’s crypt rested. Not like the crypts of the pharaohs, no furnishings, trinkets, bodies of slaves, or feasts were housed to take him to the afterlife. Encased in stone, frozen to his council seat, the god had chosen his fate and accepted his sentence. There he waited for the one person that could free him.
But never would.
His mind wandered to his son, Anubis. How could a joining between Nephythys and him produce a weak-willed, spineless being? She had birthed Horus, a true prince of the Pantheon, for her lover Osiris and let his wife, Isis, claim maternity. It was the only way SET would let the child live and mature into his godhood. And it was the only way Nephythys would agree to be his wife.
Everlasting (Descendants of Ra: Book 2) Page 4
