by Becca Van
Soul Sentinels 1: Set and Sab
The moment Zara Barry sees Setau Abasi and Sabu Azizi walk into the diner in Price, Utah she's intrigued.
Set and Sab had been working as slaves thousands of years ago for the greedy pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. That was until they stepped in to stop an elderly slave from being whipped to death right in front of their eyes.
The sun god, Ra stepped in when Set, Sab, and six other slaves tried to save the old man's life and rewarded them with immortality, almost superhuman powers, and the status of demi-gods. Their task is to protect humanity from the underworld's god and Ra's nemesis, Apep, from releasing his shadow demons on humans for eternity.
Set and Sab realize that Zara is their woman but aren't sure how to go about meeting her. However, fate steps in when Zara falls and hurts herself giving Set and Sab the opportunity for first contact with their mate. Convincing her that she is safe with them is another matter.
Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy, Ménage a Trois/Quatre
Length: 44,990 words
SOUL SENTINELS 1:
SET AND SAB
Becca Van
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
SOUL SENTINELS 1: SET AND SAB
Copyright © 2015 by Becca Van
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-973-5
First E-book Publication: December 2015
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2015 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
Just a quick note to tell you how I came about this series. I actually had a nightmare and dreamt that someone or something was tugging at my chest, trying to rip my soul out of my body. Needless to say it took me a long time to get back to sleep.
It's amazing what our brains can envisage even when we are asleep.
A couple of days later I remembered the dream and the premise for this series was born.
Also a big thanks to Pat for the hard work done in editing the story. I really appreciate your suggestions and help.
I would like to dedicate this book to all my loyal readers. If it wasn't for you all I wouldn't be where I am today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Wishing you all the best in the festive season. Stay safe and Happy New Year.
Love Becca. xxoo
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
About the Author
SOUL SENTINELS 1:
SET AND SAB
BECCA VAN
Copyright © 2015
Prologue
Setau tilted his head as he stood beneath the clear glass dome in the Temple of Ra. He basked in the warmth of the sun warming and caressing over his skin. The sun’s rays filled him with power and vitality, cleansing away the tiredness that seemed to plague his very soul of late.
He and the other sentinels had spent century upon century protecting the humans against the evil ones and although he loved doing the sun god’s bidding, he felt so alone. He loved the other sentinels as if they were of his own blood but he couldn’t help feeling that something was missing.
He’d watched human beings forge ahead from being little more than intelligent apes to what they were today and even though he sometimes resented those he and his comrades protected, he couldn’t help what he was feeling. Resentful over the fact that the ones they saved had the choice of finding love and creating a family. He and the other sentinels had spent millennia alone and he craved having a woman he could love, hold and cherish.
Set knew he should be content with his lot since no other species he knew of beside their enemy's leader was immortal, but he was restless and no matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to settle.
“What troubles you, my son?” Ra’s booming voice echoed through the temple, making him start. The sun god had only ever come to him and the others in their dreams or when they were grievously wounded, which thankfully so far hadn't necessitated in Ra coming to his or the others’ aid. He and the others had had wounds that had weakened them, but they'd circumvented that problem by taking blood from a human or two. They were always careful to not take too much and had the ability to wipe the experience from the human's mind.
“I…don’t know, my lord,” Setau answered, not really sure how to explain what he was feeling.
“Stand,” Ra ordered.
Set took a deep breath and rose to his feet. When he opened his eyes he was stunned to see the sun god standing before him. He quickly lowered his head in deference to his deity, hoping he had not blundered by looking at the god.
“
You have all served me well and for such a long time. I am very proud to call you my sentinels.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“It is I who should be thanking you all. If not for you and your men, the demonic would have obliterated the humans centuries past.”
Set didn’t know what to say to that, so he remained quiet. Ra was right, though. If it hadn’t been for him and the others the demons would have killed off all of mankind long ago. They were an evil race that survived by ripping souls from bodies and feeding off their essence. The demonic were only able to solidify from shadow form after consuming human spirits but he and his comrades had put a stop to that. In fact, for the last thirty years the demonic had been quiet but Set had a feeling that the peace wouldn’t last.
“You shall all be rewarded for your loyalty and diligence in keeping the humans safe.” Ra’s booming voice pulled him from his thoughts and back to the present.
“My lord?”
Ra moved close to Set and although he was tempted to see his deity face to face, it just wasn’t done. To see the sun god in a dream wasn’t the same as being in his actual presence. And that was something that puzzled him, too. Other than the one and only time Ra had chosen him and the other sentinels, he had never met him or the other immortals face to face.
“Look at me, Setau Abasi,” Ra ordered.
Set obeyed the command, and his gaze met the sun god’s pure golden eyes.
“The time of peace is over. Apep is gathering his shadow followers and from what I have gathered there are many. The humans are once more in danger.”
“We will seek them out, my lord.”
Ra placed his hand on Set’s shoulder. Power and peace surged through his body but that wasn’t all. He felt a tingling heat on his left pectoral and although he was tempted to look away from his deity, he refrained. When he felt the same tingling at his left shoulder blade he wanted to ask what was happening, but he waited patiently, knowing his god would explain things in his own good time. To question a divinity wouldn’t be conducive to good health. Ra was known infamously for his temper and the last thing Set wanted to do was invoke the god’s rage.
“I know you will. Come back to my temple tomorrow at high noon but bring the other sentinels with you.”
“Your will, will be done, my lord.” Set bowed his head as Ra removed his hand from his shoulder and backed away. He knew the moment Ra was gone. The power and peace which had been coursing through his veins waned. The restlessness and loneliness returned. It didn’t seem to matter that he had the companionship of seven other sentinels, nor that they were as close, if not closer, than brothers of blood. He’d been plagued with restiveness for the last three decades and no matter what he did, the feeling just grew stronger. Ra had said that the peace was over. Maybe a good fight would help take the edginess away.
If Apep was up to his old tricks then he and the others were going to be busy. Apep was a snake god, and had and did use the souls of evil beings to do his bidding. If Apep had been amassing more malevolent spirits over the last thirty years, Set knew that they were going to be busy each and every night hunting those demonic shadows down and trying to keep the humans safe.
Set drew in a deep breath and lifted his face to the sun once more. He and his comrades would need to get as much rest as they could before the fighting began. Their nights were going to be endless, but that’s what Ra had recruited them for.
He glanced down at his chest, his breath hitching in his throat when he saw the mark of Ra on his left pectoral muscle. The eye of Ra was only ever given to those the god honored. He was amazed that his deity would do such after millennia but who was he to question him. The mark looked like it had been tattooed into his skin and yet other than a slight warmth he’d felt no pain. Ra must have made sure of that. Although after all the centuries of battling the demonic, Set and the others were used to pain.
Set walked toward the large kitchen but paused outside the door to the small suite he shared with Sabu. After seeing Ra’s mark on his chest he remembered a tingling feeling on his back, too, and was curious. It wouldn’t matter if he delayed relaying Ra’s words to the other sentinels for a few moments. He pushed open the door and stalked toward the en-suite bathroom off his bedroom and turned his back toward the mirror. He gasped when he saw the outline of a falcon on his left shoulder blade. It wasn’t overly big but it wasn’t small either. The outline was black but the feathers were brown and the detail was amazing, but what caught his eye were the falcon’s eyes. They were the same golden color as Ra’s astonishing orbs. Set had no idea what the marks signified other than to show that he was one of Ra’s sentinels. He would have to remember to ask his god tomorrow and whether the other sentinels would also receive the marks, but for now he needed to inform the others of the coming war.
He just hoped that this war with the demonic didn’t last for hundreds of years like the previous one had. Set was getting tired of fighting all the time. He wished the peace had lasted longer and although he’d been bored, he’d liked not having to fight. That didn’t mean he and the others didn’t continue to train, because they did each and every day. Honing their skills with the blessed blades Ra had bestowed upon them was a necessity when they had been appointed as Soul Sentinels to the humans. It was their job to make sure the humans didn’t have their spirits ripped from their bodies by the demonic shadows and would continue to be so as long as humans were alive. Since the human population had exploded into the billions, he didn’t see their job coming to an end anytime soon.
Chapter One
Zara bolted upright, covered in sweat and feeling so scared her heart felt like it was about to pound right out through her chest. Night after night she’d had weird nightmares. No matter what she did before bed to tire herself out, nothing stopped the nightmare from coming. First she’d tried running on the treadmill until she was ready to drop and then she’d lifted weights. Even drinking wine hadn’t been enough to send her into oblivion so she could sleep through the night.
She had no idea what the dreams meant or why they plagued her but she was fed up. Fed up with the arrogant prick she worked for, fed up with being alone, and fed up from the broken sleep.
She’d been working for Jim Connell for the last five years and she’d had to convince herself nearly every day that the money was worth the grief, but she wasn’t so sure of that anymore. It was getting harder and harder to hold her tongue and not give her boss the tongue lashing he so richly deserved. Jim should have been born in the eighteenth or nineteenth century when women were nothing better than chattel.
Resigned to the fact she wasn’t about to get any more sleep, she tossed the covers aside and headed for the kitchen. After getting a glass of water and sitting on a stool at the counter, she tried to figure out why she was having such weird dreams.
The nightmare was the same each and every night and although it didn’t last more than a few seconds, she always woke up terrified, with her heart racing and her body covered in sweat. Zara had no idea what it meant and wished she could find out, if the dream did in fact mean something.
She would be deeply asleep only to surface to feel as if someone or something was trying to rip her soul out of her body. She always woke before whoever or whatever succeeded, thank goodness, and although the tugging was painful but not to the point of agony, it was also a scary feeling.
Zara rolled the cool glass of water over her forehead and sighed. She dreaded going to sleep each night and when she did manage to drift off, she awoke after only a few hours of shut-eye. She was weary to the bone and didn’t know how much longer she could go on like this, but nothing she did alleviated her hope of remaining in a deep dreamless sleep. Maybe working for her asshole of a boss and the stress she dealt with each day while dealing with him was manifesting into that horrible dream. And if that was the case then she needed to leave. As that thought crossed her mind, the confidence in her decision grew and she knew it was the right choice to make. Tomorrow fi
rst thing she was going to hand in her resignation notice. She had a little bit of money put aside and she could last a couple of weeks on that while she searched for another job.
Decision made, Zara drained the water from her glass and headed back to bed, hoping to get a couple more hours of sleep in before her alarm went off.
* * * *
Zara gritted her teeth when Jim demanded the insurance file on a client. She wasn’t pissed about doing something for him. It was his tone that got her dander up. Her boss was an out and out asshole. When she handed him the file he requested he didn’t even say thank you. She hurried back to her desk and quickly typed her resignation, read it over and took a deep breath before hitting the send button.
She was just pondering how long he would take before he acknowledged her email but it wasn’t as long as she expected. He must have seen the subject heading when the email hit his in box.
“Zara, get your ass in here. Now!” Jim bellowed.
She drew in another deep breath and released it before rising from her chair. Feeling a little more fortified, she pushed her shoulders back and kept her head high as she entered his office.
“What the fuck, Zara? You can’t do this. I took you on straight out of college and this is how you repay me! You ungrateful little bitch.” Jim’s face was red and the veins in his neck and forehead stood out from beneath his skin. He looked like he was ready to explode and she knew that nothing she said would get through to him and she wasn’t up to dealing with his shit. She was tired and had a headache the size of Mt. Vesuvius. She didn’t have the energy to deal with him so she decided it would be prudent to leave right now.
