“But this is the blood from Apophis, my queen. You must use this.”
The demon queen did not seem to take the impudence well. Taking the glass, she smashed it against a wall. “This she-demon will bear my blood, not his.”
With terrifying speed, the woman’s body changed. Her hair slid back into her head and her skin turned grey and thin, so thin that Julia could see the skull underneath it. Black ears slanted backward, pulling the skin away from the mouth. Deep breaths whistled through sharp teeth and four deadly fangs.
With every fiber of her body, Julia strained to pull the chains from the altar. Her voice cracked as her high-pitched scream shifted into gurgling sobs. “NO! Get away from me.”
Red eyes glowed from deep sockets. The demon queen cackled with enthusiasm. “Yes, dear Julia. It’s time to join my demon army. But first your human body must die.”
The demon queen jerked Julia’s arm up and sank glistening upper fangs deep into her skin. She thought she would feel life draining from away from her. Instead, she felt a frigid acid seep into her. For the second time tonight, paralysis overtook her body, and yet her mind remained vividly aware of each moment.
Each agonizing moment brought more pain, as if each cell in her body dried up. One by one, she felt her organs shrivel. Muscles burned with a sharp feeling of decay. Her lungs tightened and breath would only come in short bursts.
Her body suddenly arched as muscles tightened and strained. Something moved inside her. Memories of sick teenage movies…of demon-spawned babies…burned in her mind. She shrieked her denial through another contraction.
The demon queen would not release Julia’s arm, continuing to inject the poison. Blood rushed past her ears in a torrent, and then slowed to a quiet thump. Then, all was quiet.
As exhaustion set in, she relaxed. She just wanted to sleep. Darkness closed in, and the last sound she heard was a child’s first cry.
*
Julia awoke to an annoying buzz. Her body felt heavier and a sense of great strength spread through every muscle. Pressure grew within her eyes, and as she blinked her vision narrowed and colored with a yellow tint.
Amazed, she sat up and smoothed her palms along her arms, feeling the dry, scaly texture. Seeing her hands, she marveled at the nails, now hardened and sharpened into black talons.
Pain ripped across the roof of her mouth, but the feeling didn’t scare her. She gagged as fangs popped from their sheaths for the first time, descending past her lower lip.
A large beast stood above her. Memory dawned. It was the demon queen, and she held a newborn baby girl. Wet and bloody, she yowled angrily.
“My, my, Julia. It looks like you had another child inside of you. A shame she came out second, for she will never get to grow up like the first one.” The demon queen placed the child on the altar and turned back to Julia. “Now that your human body is dead, your soul belongs to me.”
Tilting Julia’s face upward, the demon opened her mouth and inhaled. Julia’s mouth instinctively opened and air moved in a great whoosh from inside her chest.
Memories crowded across her mind like an old-fashioned filmstrip. Images of people shifted and blended before fading to gray. Her life was disappearing. It didn’t feel right. Where am I? Who am I?
A cloudy white orb rose up from her mouth and hovered halfway between her and the demon queen. A final image formed clearly in her mind of a wet, bloody infant. Who is she? Is she mine? …She needs me!
Just as the demon queen sucked the orb into her mouth with a smile laced with victory, Julia heard the cried of the child. She felt her body wriggling next to her leg. She was fighting to live. I want to live too.
CHAPTER NINE
Darius woke up slowly. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept so deeply. He actually felt refreshed, except for a heated vibration on his stomach. Looking down, he found a pair of big yellow eyes smugly staring back. “Good morning, Bessie.”
He rolled off the couch, forcing the cat to make a fussy retreat.
The aroma of fresh coffee filled the air. He would have to remember to thank Marcus for showing Shaila how to do that.
The kitchen was empty, but the pot was full. He filled a large mug near to the rim and decided to go black today. He found Shaila flipping through a book on Egyptian mummies, pausing at each photograph. She was back to her half-naked outfit again.
“Time to go.”
She followed him down to the garage, but he caught himself just before he hit the garage door button.
“Shaila, you might consider choosing another outfit. We can’t go out in public with you exposing yourself to the world.” He could feel his blood pulsing rapidly through his neck. He pulled on his shirt collar, hoping to loosen the feeling.
“You are embarrassed by me.”
“Hell, no!” He nearly choked out the answer.
She gave him a look that clearly said fuck you in any language, past or present. But she complied.
Damn, she looks good in leather. With her breasts covered with the halter, she wouldn’t get arrested for indecent exposure, although the cleavage showing was arresting enough. She had the longest legs he’d ever seen. The black leather pants slid on so perfectly they sculpted every muscle along her legs. Like a new accessory, the dagger nestled inside a leather sheath strapped to her thigh.
He strapped a helmet on her head none too gently. It shouldn’t matter to him how she dressed. She was a grown woman. But he felt responsible for her.
When she climbed on behind him and he felt her thighs hugging his hips, he knew it would be a long ride to Cohasset. He was counting on the cool October air to help him stay sane and focused.
*
Wind slashed across her skin, yet she enjoyed every moment of the sensations. Exhilarating. The subway had been smelly and crowded, but this machine was pure freedom. Bess had called it a motorcycle. Shaila had not felt such thrilling speed since riding the chariots on the plateau with her best friend.
A pang of sorrow stabbed at her heart. Nefertiti would have loved riding one of these machines. The human queen had been so daring and adventurous. A kindred spirit. A brilliant life cut too short. She had made a promise to Nefertiti to keep the babe safe. Shaila would die in honoring that vow…if it came to that.
However, this moment was for savoring life, not despairing death. She wrapped her arms around Darius’ waist, leaning with the curves in the manner he had instructed. The ride was more than exhilarating, it was very intimate. Her breasts warmed with the constant jostling against his back. Straddling a vibrating machine sent little sensations of heat from the spot between her legs.
By the time they reached their destination, Shaila was panting almost as much from lust as she was from the exhaustion of hanging on.
“Are you okay?” Darius caught her, as her wobbly legs would barely hold her up.
“Oh, goddess! That was exciting.”
Darius grinned at the childlike enthusiasm shining in her emerald eyes. For a moment, he felt a bit goofy, proud that he’d just impressed a girl. Maybe there was something to admire in her totally uninhibited spirit, so unlike his. He was the epitome of inhibited. He made no moves or decisions in life without total control.
Something about this woman pulled at a deep place in his soul. A place where a bullied boy resided. One who finally wanted to be free, live life, and let go.
He shook himself. No need to go there. Marcus was probably right. He did need a shrink.
“Where are we?”
“We’re at the home of Dr. Bakari Majeed, a very old friend of my grandfather’s. Papa Shadi talks about him quite a lot, but I’ve never met him. I try to avoid these kind of doomsayers. I’m sure he knows just as much on the topic of the ancient prophecy.”
They were escorted through a large home overlooking the ocean. Sunlight streamed in through huge, floor-to-ceiling walls of glass. It was bright and very contemporary. Not what Darius was expecting from his grandfather’s secret society buddy
.
Darius paused in front of a beautiful sword mounted above a fireplace. It was plain for an ancient weapon. Clean lines and polished steel. The hilt looked to be plated with gold and shaped into rounded but simple wings. The very tip held a rounded yellow jasper stone with brown swirls. If the hilt had been wrapped in leather strapping, he would have thought this was the same sword he’d seen at Lilith’s.
“Hello, Darius.” The man smiling warmly was surprisingly younger than expected. Much younger. Darius didn’t even try to hide the shock that must show on his face. With an impeccable suit, dark contemporary hair, and a well-trimmed goatee, the man looked more like a corporate executive than a renowned Egyptologist. “Do you like my sword? It was forged by some very gifted monks in a hidden temple in the Sinai Mountains.”
“Good morning, Dr. Majeed.” Darius shook his hand. “Yes, I do like it very much. It looks almost identical to another I’ve seen recently.”
“It’s one of a set. Seven of them, to be exact.” The man indicated the sofa with a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean. “Please, call me Bakari. How is your grandfather? I haven’t heard from him since last week. He was very excited about some pictures he was finally going to see of the statue.”
Darius appreciated Bakari’s polished manner, but he didn’t like how the man kept his eyes on Shaila. There was an odd calmness in his brown eyes that belied a very controlled demeanor as he walked slowly around Shaila.
Darius shifted, uncomfortable with how deeply the two looked at each other.
“Gods be praised. He found you!” Bakari dropped to the floor on both knees, bowing low before her.
“Please, stand up.”
“You are Shaila a’k’Hemet, Lady of Flame, daughter of Inanna a’k’Suen, Lady of Life.”
“Time has changed things.” Shaila gripped the man’s shoulders. “Please, stop.”
Bakari stood up and held out his hand. “I am Bakari Majeed. I was a priest in your mother’s temple in Deir el Bahri. And I have been waiting for this day for an enormously long time. How could I have forgotten those beautiful green eyes so like your mother’s?”
Darius cleared his throat. He couldn’t decide what was more uncomfortable: watching Bakari kneel in front of Shaila or hearing that he’s as old as she is.
“I’m sorry. I just kept feeling something from this woman that I hadn’t felt in a long time…”
Darius moved a few inches closer toward Shaila protectively.
“No, Darius. Not that kind of feeling,” he chuckled. “It’s a feeling we get in our minds that tells us one of our kind is near. It’s like a sixth sense.”
Bakari indicated for them to follow him to his private study. The room was two stories high with a balcony surrounding the second level. Two walls were covered from top to bottom with bookshelves holding hundreds of ancient tomes in various languages. The back wall was covered in floor-to-ceiling windows framed by heavy red drapes.
“We’re here for answers, Bakari.”
“I’m certain I will have some. Your grandfather may have left out many things because of your…” Bakari paused in a search though a very old mahogany desk when his eyes focused on the medallion hanging around Darius’ neck.
“You can say it. Because of my closed mind. Because I long ago stopped listening.”
“Where is your grandfather? Why is he not here with you and why are you wearing his medallion?”
“Fifty-six hours ago, Papa Shadi and I were attacked by Lilith’s demons. They took him. And they are holding him for ransom.”
Pain crossed Bakari’s features. He closed his eyes, and for a moment he just stood there as if in meditation. “Your grandfather kept pointing out the signs. I encouraged him, and did not think about the consequences. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” Darius noted Bakhari’s questioning glance toward Shaila. “I tried to sneak in and rescue Papa Shadi. I discovered her by accident. The medallion triggered her resurrection.”
“You mentioned a ransom.” Bakari leaned back heavily into a high-backed chair. “Considering the prophecy, I’m betting Lilith wants the amulet.”
“Jackpot.”
Bakari gave Shaila a stern look. “Has he been told why it is so important that the amulet be kept away from Lilith?”
“Yes, but will somebody please tell me why she wants it? And while you’re at it, tell me why my grandfather should be sacrificed in order to keep it from her.” A rage built within Darius so fast, he started to choke.
Leaning across the desk, Bakari placed a hand over Darius’ clenched fist. “There is much that you need to hear. Your grandfather has known the risks involved. You must listen.”
Darius felt a strange calm flowing into him from Bakari’s hand. Following the man’s lead, Darius lifted his gaze toward Shaila, ready to listen to information that had not been shared with him previously. Another friggin’ notch on the negative side of her unpredictability chart.
“I was entrusted by my mother to guard the amulet. It contains the astral spirit of the child spawned by Lilith and Apophis. Should Therion ever be reunited with this amulet, he will regain all of his dark Anunnaki powers. All of them.”
A myriad of emotions passed through him. Some, even he did not understand. Deceived was one he recognized instantly. She’d held this back from him, when she’d known he needed it to save his grandfather. She knows where it is.
“What power do you fear the most?”
“We fear his ability to release Apophis from his imprisonment. An evil triad, such as Lilith, Therion, and Apophis…” Shaila sounded breathless from the very thought of such a disaster. “It would mean the end for this planet, and all that is on it. If Apophis were to be freed, it would begin the Age of Awakening, when all of the dead are resurrected to annihilate the living, and when darkness would prevail over light. He will not leave this planet until every soul has been beaten down into submission.”
“Is that all?” He tried to sound sarcastic, but he couldn’t quite get there. As angry as he was, he knew his grandfather believed every word of the prophecy. He could easily see his grandfather doing everything he could to save the world.
Bakari returned to his search of his desk, pulling open drawers and rummaging through cubbyholes. Finally, he sighed with relief. “May I show you something?”
In his hand rested a small gold box with a simple painted cartouche of Sekhmet and another symbol that Darius was not familiar with.
“May I?” Darius accepted the box, cradling it in one hand. It was lighter than he would have guessed. The gold exterior made it look heavier.
“The symbol is referred to as the seven arrows of Sekhmet. But the real treasure is inside the box, of course.”
As he opened the box, Darius whistled appreciatively as he viewed the beautiful ring resting on coal black silk cloth. A red ruby nestled in the center of a round sun disk, with thin wings stretching out from either side to wrap around a king’s finger.
Shaila’s voice shook with sadness when she spoke. “It was the ring of the pharaoh Akhenaten. Queen Nefertiti wore it briefly after his death, when she assumed the throne. She wore it until the day she was murdered.” A single tear slid down her cheek before she could wipe it away. “The ring now belongs to the son of Nefertiti. He would be the rightful heir to the throne of Egypt.”
“If there was a throne.” He kept the sarcasm to a minimum. “That’s the child you seek, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Shaila rubbed her eyes, searching for the memories locked away in her mind for thousands of sun cycles. “It is time to find the child. Time to raise and train him as Shadiki foresaw.”
“Time?” Darius looked skeptical. “I think we’re out of time for that.”
She ignored his tone. “I need time as well to find others of my kind. We will need their strength. Barkari, who is left here?”
Bakari shook his head. “There are a few, but they are scattered across the world. They have made new lives for themse
lves.”
“What of Seth?” Shaila held her breath, knowing how important her uncle, the Lord of Command, would be to their success. As the true father of Nefertiti’s son, he would move the heavens and the earth to find his child.
“He has not been seen in many decades. Papa Shadi has a crazy notion that Seth’s been hibernating inside the Sphinx.” Bakari twirled his forefinger around his ear.
“Well, if this child is supposed to be a messiah to your own kind, wouldn’t they come running to help out?” Darius returned the ring to the box.
“Some might. I have slept through too many ages to know how the Anunnaki feel at this time. Most were not interested in the plight of the weaker species that shared this planet, and many used your kind as slaves and consorts.”
“What about you? How did you treat our kind?”
Dark shadows hid his eyes from her, but she sensed the accusation bubbling just under the surface. She had to bury a quick burst of her own ire that this man could think of her as abusive. “I have always believed that the humans deserved to exist without interference from us.”
“That’s easy for you to say now, when you’re weak and not in control anymore.” Darius moved into her personal space.
“Do you doubt my sincerity?” She refused to cower. Instead, she stood to her full height, putting her eyes just barely below his.
“No. I don’t doubt that you wish to help, but I do question your true beliefs.”
“Which ones, exactly?”
“The ones which say your kind are better than our kind. I have heard you several times refer to us as the weaker species. Tell me how you really feel, sweetheart.”
There was absolutely no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice. He was judging her again. When had she ever been so judged by a human? Never.
“I am sorry to have offended you, Darius, but if anyone has a right to be angry, I do. I cannot deny that in many respects I do view humans as being weaker than my kind, but not in the manner you are thinking. It is not an air of superiority.”
“Enlighten me.”
“That is exactly what I mean. I spent many sun cycles teaching human warriors and kings to reach their full power, to free themselves and nurture all that this good earth provides for you. Do you not understand? Our species are so similar. You have much of the same capacities to use your energies as we do. But time and again, you let the judgment of others interfere in your belief of the sacred skills we taught you.”
Immortal Dynasty Page 12
