Sphinx Transformed (The Sphinx Warriors Series Book 3)

by Christine Murphy

  He would touch the statue and look up at the ceiling above the stairs where an image of their ancient planet, Athenia, was depicted. Her eyes hurt too much from the bright colors to look up at it but she knew the planet was arranged in a huge inset of stained glass with a background universe and starlight sparkling here and there around it. Large planets of multiple hues of gold, silver, and purple colors played among the stars with golden rays branching out from their edges. Lighter golden shooting stars with trailing tails finished the image as they played around the beautiful light blue world of Athenia. The planet had been extraordinary until it was destroyed so long ago by the Wraith.

  Alexandria removed her hands from the Sphinx. There was no comfort there for her now. Her inner Sphinx was gone, destroyed, and all she had left now was a cold presence waiting to destroy the ones she loved. Cursing under her breath, she turned to the left from the stairs and could see enough now to storm down the hallway until she reached the next to last door. She didn’t even bother to see if Warren followed or not. Pausing with her hand on the knob, she looked at the last door. Joshua’s room. Even in his protector mode, he had situated himself right next to her. The Warrior who had only been on the other side of her room wall and she still couldn’t jump him all these years.

  She shook her head at the thought. Yes, she had wanted him forever, but nothing had come of it. Because he only wanted to protect her. Jerking open the door, she shoved her way into her room and slammed the door behind her. The overhead lights snapped on upon her entry and immediately her vision began to blur again. The colors which surrounded her felt like they were digging into her eyes.

  Her Sphinx self had loved the silks and satins in purples, pinks, turquoises, gold, silvers, and so many other colors which overwhelmed her darker self now. Pillows of the glowing colors were scattered on the canopied four-poster bed made of gold filigree. Even the chairs and dressers were made of the shiny gold and covered with more satins and silks, more eye burning colors. She rubbed at her eyes. “No wonder Joshua hated coming in this room.”

  Commanding the lights to dim to almost nothing, she dragged her tired body over to the bed and collapsed on it. Alexandria lay on her back in the middle of the bed and threw an arm over her eyes. They still burned and every muscle twitched in her body from the dark sticky energy which flowed over everything from the Dimensional Gates activity. Focusing on evening her breathing, she tried to slip into the oblivion of sleep.

  The closest she could come was just skating the boundary between wakefulness and dreams. Dreams which turned to nightmares. Alexandria would never have thought she could see through Joshua’s eyes because she had never Joined with him, but somehow in the semi-conscious state the battle in the staging cavern played out in her mind.

  The swirling blood red and silver Gate spun dizzyingly in the center of the Cavern with black-eyed Wraith escaping in never-ending numbers. The long snouted jaws of the creatures with razor sharp teeth snapped at their competition while they drooled in anticipation of the first contact with someone so they could suck the Life Power out of them. Their clawed hands and the occasional weapons they carried slashed at Power Sword wielding Warriors.

  Among them was her Joshua, brandishing his incredible silver Sword with its intricate silver scrolling on the Sword blade and the crystalline inner section glowing in the dim light. His overhead swings and thrusts were breathtaking as his sleek muscles flexed under his tan skin. The fury against his enemy showed in every slice and kill he could inflict on the Wraith. And when the numbers seemed to be overwhelming, a dangerous death look entered his expression. Anyone with any sense would have run the other direction, but Wraith had no sense.

  Alexandria could see him stand his ground, his legs braced and his Sword thrust out in front of him. A wicked smile curved his lips promising retribution and then the Life Power within him began to glow blue. A blue she instantly recognized as the dionic form of his Life Power which would ultimately kill him.

  She struggled to emerge from her dreamlike state but Joshua mesmerized her and she just couldn’t surface back to her physical body. The energy within him flowed out from his Life Force and out through his arms. His hands began to glow and the Wolf Tracks on his Sword fired up with blue light. The glowing blue spread down the pommel, grip, and guard of the hilt he gripped so tightly and then quickly through the blade to the very tip. A true weapon of destruction.

  Right before Joshua let loose with his Power, Alexandria heard the command from the evil Wraith leader Turin echo in her brain. Alexandria destroy the Warriors and come back to us. You know where the weak link is. Joshua’s Power exploded from his Power Sword and she heard his grunt of pain.

  “No!” she screamed, shooting up and out of the bed. No sooner had she gained her balance then the door to her room slammed inward.

  “What the fuck? Alexandria! Lights on, damn it.” Warren’s half angry, half panicked voice shouted into the room. Instantly the blinding lights snapped on and Alexandria had to shade her eyes with her hand from being blinded again.

  She knew she had to be a sight trying to catch her balance, shading her eyes, and she assumed with hysteria written all over her face. Her hair was loose and in disarray around her making her look like a crazed witch she was sure. Warren didn’t look much better in his aggressive stance trying to scan the entire room at once. He leaned in the doorframe and appeared to have been caught snoozing since he looked a bit confused. In his good hand, he held the remote aiming it randomly around the room until he focused in on her and then aimed the controller directly at her.

  Alexandria held her breath not moving an inch. One touch of the button and she would be on the floor in agony. She didn’t think she could take the abuse right now. A strange hissing shriek escaped her as the Wraith in her surfaced way too efficiently sensing it was in danger of being zapped. “Warren, what time is it?” She croaked after cutting off the Wraith sound with effort, her throat dry.

  Warren cleared his throat and lowered the remote. “It’s almost midnight. I’m sorry, you screamed, and I didn’t know what to think since it’s about time for your injection. We may not be able to wait for Joshua to come give it to you.”

  Rubbing at her forehead, Alexandria tried to push the Wraith back down, but the creature kept screaming for Life Power and screaming for freedom. The creature’s opportunity to escape was almost gone.

  “The Gate is destabilizing and will be closing soon, but no, Joshua won’t get here in time. I wish I could go to him, I thought I saw him in trouble…I think. I don’t know. Everything’s so screwed up in my head.” She shivered and felt the pressure in her head increase from the pressing Wraith working its way back. “You’ve got to go ahead and give it to me now. But not in here. I can’t take these colors anymore.”

  “Where? Back in medical?” Warren stepped back when she neared the open door.

  Stepping out in the hall, she took a deep breath, the pressure easing a little now that she was away from all the colors.

  “No. In Joshua’s room.”

  “O…kay.” Warren commented with raised eyebrows, but she didn’t wait for any permissions or give any explanations. She simply walked to the door, entered the room, and went over to the bed.

  The chaotic screeching of the Wraith eased up a bit as the masculine scent of Joshua surrounded her. She inhaled deeply and let his lingering energy within the room wash over her. Just the little bit of him brought her a whisper of peace. Even her eyes stopped watering with the absence of the bright colors. Joshua’s rich earth toned browns in varying shades of light shale to dark chocolate was soothing.

  Sitting on the bed, she clasped her hands in her lap.

  “One dose isn’t enough, Warren. You’re going to have to give me a dose and a half.”

  “Alexandria, that’s too much. We would need to monitor you. As it was, you were deathly ill on the first suppression.”

  “There’s no choice, Warren! Do it now!” She snarled at him with no w
arning. Feeling the dark Wraith creep further forward into her mind, she curled her hands into her shirt. “We don’t have time…trust me as your doc, damn it!”

  Warren paused for only a split second, but Alexandria figured he must have trusted her enough on her medical judgment, because he pulled out an ampoule and two syringes. He went to the nearest oak dresser and spread out what he needed including alcohol swabs and gauze. Alexandria would have helped him since he just had the one good hand but she didn’t trust herself not to end up grabbing him.

  He appeared to be efficient anyway managing with both his good hand and a bit with his damaged hand. Popping the cap off the glass ampoule, he cleaned the top with the alcohol swab and quickly filled two syringes with the suppressant. Once he was done, he grabbed the syringes, another alcohol swab, and gauze.

  Coming over and sitting next to her, he said, “Are you sure about this much?”

  Such a brave man. He had no idea how dangerous she was or perhaps he did and just didn’t care sitting so close to her.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” She gritted out. “If you don’t get on with it, you’re going to become my Wraith’s midnight snack.”

  Alexandria had been serious, but Warren just laughed darkly. Yes, the man had a death wish. She rolled her eyes at him and then flinched when he swiped her neck with the cold alcohol swab.

  “I would give you the injections somewhere less painful, but the suppressant needs to get in your system swiftly. Sorry about this, Alexandria.”

  The sting of the first injection made her eyes water but even more so amped up the Wraith and set her into panic mode. So many painful injections from Turin made her skittish to the point of attacking someone even without the Wraith side encouraging her. She gripped the edge of the bed and concentrated on breathing in and out. The second injection was given quickly on the heels of the first so she didn’t get a chance to get too wound up.

  “You better lie down. The suppressant will be hitting right about…” Alexandria gasped almost falling off the bed, but Warren grabbed her by the shoulder pushing her back on the bed, “now. I guess the additional has a little more kick to it.”

  “No kidding. Damn it.” She squeezed her eyes shut and felt the tears stream down her cheeks. The suppressant felt like fire in her veins for a moment and then concentrated in her spine. Shooting up through her nervous system, the suppressant centered at the base of her brain. Her brain cells lit up like fireworks and the inner Wraith inside of her fought against the suppression with poisoned claws. The agony was too much and a scream was ripped from her while she thrashed on the bed. In the corner of her mind, she felt for Warren who tried to hold her down with his one good arm.

  ****

  Joshua stood at the base of the stairs leaning against the end of one of the polished mahogany rails. He glanced up the staircase which looked miles away, at least to him. The battle really hadn’t been that long, but maybe the Wraith had known the Gate wasn’t going to stay open very long, because they had fought tooth and nail tonight. Of course, he had lost it again and used his Power Burst to fry their asses. The Burst was definitely effective, but had kicked his ass and significantly diminished what little energy had remained in his system. Now he didn’t even know if he was going to make it to his room.

  Michael grabbed him by the shoulder. “Joshua, are you going to be okay? You pushed it more than you should have. We could have fought them off just fine. Maybe you should go to medical.”

  “Yeah, you big pussy. Jenny can fix your big girl panties for you.” Joshua just glared at Raven for his smart ass comment. He didn’t have the strength to kick his ass even though he really wanted to.

  “I wouldn’t talk. You look like the Wraith got the best of you and fucked you up the…”

  “Enough! Save it for another night.” Michael bellowed. Joshua saw him look up the stairs with a worried expression. He hoped Stormy was okay. She hadn’t been able to Transfer Power to them in a few days now and hadn’t even been seen outside of her room lately. “All of you get your food, drink, or whatever you need and get your asses to bed.”

  For someone as exhausted as the rest of them, Michael bounded up the stairs two at a time and was out of sight before anyone could respond. A deep sigh had Joshua looking back at Raven. He was almost as shitty looking as he felt. Raven looked like he was going to say something, but in the end flipped him off and went in to the entertainment room. It figured he would go for the alcohol first.

  No matter how close he felt to passing out, Joshua was desperate to get upstairs and check on Alexandria. The time was well past midnight and she should have had the next round of injection. He had wanted to be the one to give the suppressant to her but hopefully Warren went ahead and did it without much incident, otherwise the inner Wraith would have overcome the treatment and surfaced.

  Using the railing, Joshua dragged himself up the stairs until he reached the top. He paused by the gold Sphinx and touched the statue on the top of the head, and then he continued down the hall to Alexandria and his room. Seeing Warren sitting in a chair outside his quarters brought him up short. Panic caused his heart rate to pick up and he had to lean against the wall when a cold sweat broke out on his skin. “Alexandria, how is she?” He nearly barked, but quieted his voice at the last second not wanting to disturb her or anyone else.

  “She’s okay, now.” Warren stood up and held up his hands when Joshua growled. “The suppression was not like the first, but it was uncomfortable because I had to give her a syringe and a half. The one wasn’t enough to last the full twenty four, but the extra seemed to have worked. She was the one who knew the additional would help and was willing to undergo the increased amount.”

  Nodding, Joshua backed off. “Got it. Sorry.” He scrubbed at his face feeling like shit and tired of always being on edge and treating others like shit. All he wanted right now was to be with Alexandria and hold her. He had always wanted the closeness and to be with her, but so many things kept him away other than as protector. He had begun to hate the role he had built to use as an excuse to be near her, but it had been the only way since his duty as Warrior and his Khenti being her brother would have kept them apart anyway.

  “No problem. By the way, she’s in your room. She said the colors in hers were hurting her eyes and giving her fits. I didn’t ask and figured you wouldn’t care.”

  The image of Alexandria sprawled out in his bed with all that luxurious black hair spread around her took his breath away and made the blood rush to his cock. Care if she was in his bed? Hell, he had fantasized about it, but never revealed his thoughts to anyone. He cleared his throat regrouping his tired sex starved brain before trying to talk, “Get some rest, Warren. I’ll keep an eye on her.”

  Standing, Warren gripped his shoulder. “You too, Warrior. You look like you could use it. Buzz me on the intercom system if Alexandria needs anything. Or you for that matter.”

  Joshua didn’t wait to see Warren off, but quietly entered his room. In the dimmed lighting, he made his way over to the side of the bed to check on Alexandria. He sighed in relief when he saw she was resting easy and not thrashing in discomfort. Just as he imaged, her thick locks were spread around her, yet at the moment, instead of a temptress, she looked like the young girl he remembered. Innocent and precious in his eyes.

  He started to reach out to touch the soft appearing strands laying so close to his fingertips. At the last minute, he pulled back from the temptation. He couldn’t touch her like this, all covered in Wraith blood and gore. Backing away, he silently crept across the room and into the bathroom.

  Turning on the water, he peeled off the black t-shirt and kicked off his boots. While he waited for the water to heat up, he examined himself in the mirror. Yeah, he looked like shit. Not only was he pale, he was almost grey like the walking dead. Even the wounds he sustained while fighting the Wraith should have been healed completely, but some of the slices were still pink and tender to the touch. “What the hell?” he whispered t
o his stark reflection in the mirror. He knew without a doubt there was something seriously wrong with him. When Alexandria was more stable, he would have to go to medical and see Jenny.

  Removing his fatigues, he stepped into the steaming shower letting the hard jets of hot water massage away the aches and pains. Leaning back to get his hair wet, he thought Alexandria wouldn’t be happy about someone else taking care of his medical needs. That was one rule she had reinforced with him and would throw a fit if she thought he had gone to someone else after a battle. To her, it was her responsibility to care for him.

  The thought brought a smile to his lips. He was the protector, but she was the mother hen circling around him trying to keep him in line. Grabbing his body gel, he upended a good amount into his hand and made short work of lathering up. When he started to get light-headed again, he picked up the pace rinsing off in record time.

  Grabbing one of his tan towels, he dried off and then finger combed his hair. Glancing in the mirror, he thought he looked a little better but knew he needed a hell of a lot of rest to get back his strength. He was almost done getting ready for bed when he thought he heard something out in the bedroom. He paused listening closely but didn’t hear anything more. Finishing up, he brushed his teeth, got a drink, and then pulled on a pair of sweat pants he kept in a small armoire near the sink.

  Yawning, he trudged over to the doorway of the bathroom and stopped for a moment staring across the room to where Alexandria was sleeping. He was unsure of sharing the bed with her, but he was going to pass out on his feet and she was out for the count anyway. Having her back and holding her in the cell the other night had been pleasurable accept for the fact she had been so ill. Since then, he had wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms again. He had missed her warmth and presence the whole time they were separated during tonight’s battle. In the end, he already knew what he had decided to do. He was going to lie with her and hold her. His body was already warming up at the thought.