by Jean Murray
“And now that same bond exists between Kendra and Bakari?”
“Yes. It is irreversible. Kendra bound his soul to hers. It is probably the only fact that kept her alive in that cell,” Inpu said.
Lilly pressed her palm to her forehead. “Kendra can’t be told this. Not now, she is not ready after all that has happened. Jesus.”
Asar pressed two fingers against the throb in his temple. He had not told her the rest, not that the news could get any worse. Well, yes it could.
Her knowing stare made his heart lurch a few extra beats. “That’s not all, is it?”
“Lilly, I need your cooperation in this. I know what you are going to say, but we feel it is in the best interest of both Kendra and Bakari.”
She took several steps away from the gods. “Absolutely, not. She is not going to the dungeon again. Are you crazy? Did you see what that last encounter did to her, and I’m not talking the minor scrapes and lacerations.”
Asar intercepted her mid-stride. “Kendra’s fate was determined the day she was born, just as yours was for me. Her health and welfare is tied to Bakari’s. If he is to survive, he needs her. She needs him.”
“Does Bakari know this?”
Asar pulled her into his chest to hide his anguish. His son knew alright and had made that abundantly clear. Kendra was his and no one else’s. “Yes, he knows.”
She leaned her forehead against his chest and bunched his tunic in her clenched hands. “I wanted her to have a choice. She deserves as much.”
He pulled her chin up to look her in the eyes. “The choice is still hers.”
That is if anyone was brave enough to go up against the God of Death. Unlikely. Very unlikely.
Chapter Thirteen
Did they think she was stupid?
Kendra knew the minute Lilly stepped outside there was news they didn’t want her to hear. It hadn’t been the first time. Her father had been dead for several days before they told her, and then another week until she found out he succumbed to the curse. Did they think she was that fragile?
Apparently.
She sighed. Maybe she was. Her track record of accidents was stacked up against her. Despite it all, she had found the courage to sooth Bakari, when everyone else was afraid to approach him. Her courage held out for the most part until she freaked out.
When Bakari grabbed her wrists, the panic hit her. Looking back his grasp was firm but gentle. He had let her go, when he could have easily restrained her. Despite his menacing presence, Kendra didn’t believe Bakari would hurt her, not on purpose. How she knew, she didn’t know. She just knew it in her heart.
Bomani’s intense stare drew her attention. He leaned up against the wall. His attempt to look casual failed miserably. The muscles in his neck and jaw bulged under the stress of his clenched teeth. He probably wouldn’t have reacted as strongly, if she had held herself together, but he arrived during the middle of her hysterics.
She shifted her legs over the bed. He moved to her side. “I can handle myself,” she bit out sharply. Her harshness surprised him and he stepped back. She closed her eyes. “Sorry.”
Kneeling, his soft golden eyes came level to her. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
His sympathy only made her feel worse. She traced the healed silver scar on her palm.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“About what?” She asked numbly.
His large callused hand came to rest on hers. When she looked up, he had one eyebrow raised. “Anything and everything.”
“I’m fine.” She dropped her eyes to where their hands were joined.
“You are a terrible liar.”
She hated being scrutinized, when all she wanted to do was hide. Jerking her head back, she glowered at him. “I said I was fine.”
“Really? What is the word your sister, Kit, says all the time?” He raised both thick brows waiting for her to reply. “Bullshit.”
Her anger spiked at his audacity to contradict her. She pulled her hands out from beneath his and stood up. Even kneeling, he was at eye level with her, which pissed her off even more. “I don’t need your help or anyone else. I’m sick and tired of people coddling me. I don’t need to talk about any of this. What do you want me to say? I was scared? Weak? Unable to defend myself? I hate getting looked upon like some little child that needs protection? I am twenty-two years old. I understand a lot more than people think. Give me a little credit that I know what I’m doing.”
Stepping forward with her finger pointed, she gritted her teeth. “And you. You didn’t listen to me. I told you not to enter the cell, but you did, and look what happened. Bakari felt threatened and confused. Instead of backing off, like I told you, you came in wielding a cattle prod. Thank you for making his first recollections of freedom so memorable.” The pent up anger surged through her body, and she slapped his face.
She gasped. Never in her entire life had she hit someone. Although Bomani didn’t flinch, a welt the size of her handprint rose on his ebony skin. Kendra covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, my God.”
Much to her shock, Bomani smiled. “It is not good to hold things in, trust me on that.”
Touching her fingertips to his swollen cheek, she frowned. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop myself. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I know you were trying to protect me.”
“I will not let anyone hurt you. I do not care who they are.”
Taking a deep breath, Kendra felt the weight lift off her body. Her headache lessened slightly. “It’s not nice to bait me.”
He tried to suppress his smile by looking to the ground. “Yeah, well. It is good to let things out once in a while.” His face took on a very serious expression. “If you need anything or want to talk, I will be there for you.”
Kendra leaned forward and kissed the cheek she assaulted. “I will. Thank you.”
Bomani’s jaw twitched and his brows furrowed slightly. Clearing his throat, he rose up to his full height. “Anytime.” He returned to his position along the wall.
She looked at her nightgown, which looked like the latest victim of a slasher movie. Blood and black dirt were smeared from shoulder to hem.
She slipped off the bed and headed toward the bathroom. Twenty-four hours seemed like days. She stripped off her cotton gown and dropped it to the floor.
The image staring back at her from the gold mirror didn’t look like her at all. She stepped closer until she was mere inches from the reflective surface. She understood why her sister looked so alarmed. The dark circles under her eyes stood out against her unnaturally pale skin. Amongst the large curls that framed her face, white locks of hair intertwined with auburn. “Holy cow.”
Something definitely happened in that cell when she blacked out. It went beyond him absorbing energy to feed his soul. Her fingertips trembled, as she brushed over the hieroglyphic embedded into her skin above her heart.
The mark of a scorpion. His mark.
Chapter Fourteen
His captors left Bakari to stew behind hell’s bars. He paced the length of the black stone. Kendra waited for him to rescue her. Yes, rescue her. They had taken her against her will. She cried out to him. Didn’t she? He clasped his temple in a failed attempt to control the torrid flood of thoughts and memories.
Who was he kidding? He saw the fear in her eyes and heard the panic in her voice. He was the monster. But, why would she touch him if he was so hideous? Gods, he wanted to feel her caress again. So soft and soothing.
No. Pain.
He leaned against the wall and slid into a crouch in the dark corner again. He cared not that the stone cut lacerations into his back. Fisting his hair by the roots, he rocked. The anguish too much to bear, he moaned. Kendra was his only respite. He had to find her. After five years of torture, he was willing to do anything to get to her.
Mastering the ability to induce a trance to escape his misery, he slipped into the darkness of his mind. The ability to walk in the dreamscape was a
genetic gift from his mother. A mother who was simply a surrogate and vessel for Asar’s offspring. He never minded not knowing her. His father had more than made up for it. In return Bakari betrayed him in the most despicable way.
His guilt manifested into a potent malicious energy that struck him in the chest. The crippling pain ripped through his body. He made no attempt to stop it. Punishment for deeds he could never forgive himself. He shrieked and crumpled in the darkness.
He lay trembling and unable to recover. His chest ached with a vengeance. In his delirium, he had to remind himself why he was here. His salvation called him to be found.
Confused and disoriented, he forced himself to stand. He stumbled aimlessly. His inability to concentrate only festered his growing frustration. He tipped his head back and bellowed. He needed to focus to make this work. Willing his feet to remain still, he closed his eyes and searched for the sweet nectar scent of her living energy. Her blood was unique, bathed by a pure rich soul. The bringer of life.
The irresistible fragrance carried across the planes of dreamscape. Subtle and light, it told him she was in the first phase of slumber. In a few minutes she would be in REM sleep and he could reach out to her. He must be patient, but his hunger was intolerant of anything except his immediate need. Too soon and he would taint her dream with blackness.
Standing at the threshold between their minds, Bakari searched the psychotic sea spread before him. He could go no further without her invitation. He paced the edge like a caged predator. He could feel the tingle of neuro-electrical conduction along the boundary line. Hers, a pure current, soft and gentle like her hands. Sweet as her blood. It only fueled his obsessive wanting.
He could not wait any longer. Bakari thrust his palms forward and hit the invisible barrier with force. A rippling wave coursed outward like a rock hitting calm water. The dreamscape opened at its center, pulling the black curtains that kept her hidden from him. The murkiness receded to reveal the object of his desire.
Bakari stepped back, surprised to find her standing naked in front of a large gold mirror. Her hair fell in long curls over her pale skin to her hips. The dreamscape’s striking detail shocked him. Usually, dreams were surrounded by a white halo. The unconscious mind painting reality in fluffy white clouds. Kendra’s vision was in crisp detail, down to the small birthmark on her hip. Could it be that she was not dreaming, but he was seeing her in a wakeful state? It could have been the bond she created between them that allowed him to connect with her mind.
All that separated them was the boundary between reality and dreamscape. So close, he could almost reach out and touch her. Gods, did he want to touch her. His hunger gnawed at his gut. She turned and brushed the edge of the fissure. The sweet nectar fragrance hit him hard. The scent washed over his bare skin and into his chest. He sighed, wanting so much more of it.
Kendra inhaled a sharp breath and stopped inches from the portal. Her hands immediately covered her round breasts that peeked through her curtain of soft hair. Her wary eyes peered over her shoulder, but failed to fixate on his location. She may have heard him but couldn’t conceive who or what made the sound. He was all but invisible. Desperate, he pressed his body against the barrier between them. “Come to me,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened confirming that she heard his request. She turned slowly in a circle, glancing to the right and left. “Is someone there?” she asked quietly.
His pain excruciating, he leaned his head against the barrier. “Come to me, Parvana.” His butterfly.
Kendra took several steps forward and hovered inches from him but it might as well be several billion. Her breath flitted across his skin. He fell to his knees, every cell of his body aching for her pain relieving touch and her energy to feed his starved and decimated soul.
She lifted her trembling hand off her breast and slid her other arm across to maintain her modesty. She brushed her fingertips against the plane where his cheek rested. A fine electrical current penetrated his skin for the briefest moment.
She gasped, no doubt feeling the electrostatic charge. “Oh my.” Kendra glanced over her shoulder to the thin curtain that separated the bathroom and the bedroom. “Bakari?” she asked in the softest whisper.
Her voice brought him out of his stupor. The changes in her features became apparent. Changes he induced in his cell when he took her to the edge of death and back. The life energy flitted through his body repairing the damage, but it wasn’t enough, he needed more. A lot more.
He would have taken it, but she had cleverly bound herself to him. He could no more kill her than kill himself. His own self-preservation saved her life. Another torturous ploy by Kepi to keep him controlled. A part of him was thankful for it, as he had no means of self-control. The last thing he wanted to do is destroy his savior. She had literally raised him from the dead. Could you truly raise something that was dead for all intents and purposes? He was an Underworld god after all. No breath, no pulse, and no heat signature. Yes, he had a living soul and powers, but they were the representation of death, good and evil.
He breathed in deep to draw her scent into his body. The sweet taste of nectar filled his senses, but without her physical presence he could not draw energy off her soul. He needed life force to quell the pain knotting his gut and chest. His hunger, all consuming. He rationalized to himself once he was sated, he would be able to formulate an escape plan.
His mind was a jumbled mess, only focused on obtaining his basic needs—food in the form of living energy, safety, and what every male god obsessed about, sex. The last of which he had no interest, despite his five years of captivity. The evidence of apathy hung limp between his legs. He had the most beautiful creature standing before him naked, and not even a twinge of desire sparked his loins. That part of him was dead, the goddess ensured as much. Regardless, he was not worthy enough to touch such a pure woman.
This human female had a more delectable purpose. The blood in her veins was the second strongest energy, next to draining her soul. So pure it was almost toxic. He promised himself in his anorexic delirium he would be able to stop. Yes, a small taste would help. His mouth watered for the taste of her blood. His Parvana would give him the strength to escape from his hell. “Kendra, come to me.”
“No, step back slowly.” A male voice projected from the far room. The large guard pulled the dividing curtain, but did not enter. The male’s angry but weary black eyes bore straight into Bakari. The woman might not be able to see him, but this demon could. “Trust me. Do not cross the threshold.”
Kendra’s gaze darted over her shoulder. She immediately withdrew her hand and covered her body. Astonished brown eyes returned to face Bakari, but she didn’t move. Bakari felt some measure of triumph and curled his lips over his teeth. He growled, not liking one bit that his Parvana was anywhere near the guard in her disrobed state. Bakari hissed through the barrier, “Stay away from her, heathen. It is her choice to make.”
The guard’s eyes snapped to look at her. “Kendra, look at me. I know what you are feeling, the draw to go through, but you must not breach it.”
“What will it do?” she asked.
“He will pull you into his realm, or worse come into ours. He is not ready.”
Bakari’s bond with her was not strong enough to force her. He had not even considered the possibility that he could escape by this means, as it had never happened before without being in a dream state. He would be able to feed and escape, taking his Parvana with him. All the more imperative to convince her to make the connection.
Bakari softened the cutting edge of his voice, but the words came out forced. “He is lying. I would never harm you. Trust me.” The lies slid free of his tongue like butter. He may not harm her, but he would tear the flesh from the guard’s bones and anyone else standing in his way.
He would like nothing more than to remove the male’s soul from his heart. End his life with a mere thought. It was his craft. His power to destroy gods.
“Kendr
a!” Bakari barked so loud she jumped. “Come to me. I am the only one who can protect you. You belong to me.” The anger and frustration in his voice sent waves rippling out the portal. Bakari knew the minute those last words slipped from his mouth, he had lost her.
She tightened her arms across her chest. Keeping her eyes downcast, she took a step back and then another.
“No!” Bakari clawed at the barrier. His last hope slipped away with the distance she put between them. His own impatience to blame. “No!” His rage wavered to shades of his desperation. The pain doubled him over. “Help me, please.”
His pleas were left unanswered. The portal empty. His beautiful Parvana left him to suffer alone. Nothing had changed. He may be out of his sarcophagus but he was still isolated, paying for sins he had no hope of redeeming.
Chapter Fifteen
Kendra’s ears burned with the echoes of Bakari’s agonizing pleas. Her fear mixed with various levels of compassion and guilt. Tears slipped freely over her cheeks. She heard the faint muffed sobs through the strange rippling pool. She forced her muscles to deny the impulse to comply with his commands. Bakari spoke the truth. Her soul was his whether she liked it or not, and it scared the hell out of her.
She knew this journey to find the cure for the curse wouldn’t be easy. She had lost her father to it. He was the first to fall ill when the goddess awoke. She remembered the sickly grey color to his skin a few days before he passed. Red petechia dotted the whites of his eyes. Kepi’s curse on mankind reanimated the souls of the dead, creating flesh eating zombies. Their bites were infectious and spread the curse to other humans instantaneously. Kepi had enslave the human race and created an army to use at her disposal.
She couldn’t save her father. He lay in the crypt below the palace. So many lives lost. She looked again at the rippling pool. Bakari’s pleas had fallen silent. Dread pooled in her heart. She couldn’t stand by and watch another soul fall to the curse.
