by Kim Faulks
She was suddenly grabbed from behind and lifted backwards. The hands that pulled at her were hard and strong, too strong for her to beat in hand-to-hand combat. She kicked backwards as hard as she could, hearing the grunt of pain. Whoever it was let her go, and she dropped to the ground, sliding the knife from her boot.
She turned and faced two Arab men who circled her. Their predatory gaze was focused on her as they moved slowly until they flanked her on either side. She didn’t have much left in her, so if they were going to rush her, then she had to make it hard and fast. She licked her lips and tasted blood.
The one behind her leapt forward, but he gave away his intention before he lurched towards her, spinning as he moved forward, she was able to push him off her shoulder into the other. A scream drifted towards her, carried by sand and the wind. Her heart beat furiously and although before she was tired and scared before, now she was just angry.
The other Arab jumped forward, grabbing for her arm and she grabbed his instead and pulled him forward, driving the knife into the soft flesh of his stomach. Before, Afghanistan seemed like such a long time ago, but at this very moment she was transported back there, back to the hell of that dingy house again.
The man looked up at her with all the shock that he could muster in that moment, then slowly fell to the ground. She let him drop and stepped back, gaining ground between her and the last man, giving her the valuable seconds she needed. Natalie could no longer hear the screams that the wind had carried before and she knew that either way Malik was okay, he was after all immortal. But she wasn’t and she turned just in time for the last man to rush her. He caught her off-guard, her thoughts pre-occupied, just like her heart with the Djinn and Natalie was tackled to the ground.
She wouldn’t win this one, she had nothing left; she knew this as she struggled with her attacker. Sand kicked high into the air, landing in her face. The cold steel of a blade slid against her and she froze. This is it, I hope my next life will be better, she thought, knowing it would be her last thought. She closed her eyes and steadied herself for the pain that would come.
She waited for what felt like forever and realized that her attacker had moved off her body and she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was a half-naked man. He was easily the biggest man she had ever seen. He looked down at her along the curved edge of the sword that he held at her attacker.
“I thought you could do with a hand, although by the looks of him I needn’t have bothered,” he said, indicating the body of the first man. She followed his gaze, looking at the body of her first attacker. His blood soaked into the sand, staining it a deep red. She didn’t want to feel the pangs of guilt that she had about taking his life. She was sure she wouldn’t be more than a passing thought to him, if the roles were reversed. But she knew if he died he would line up with the others to haunt her for the rest of her life.
It seemed as though her life would be spared, for the moment at least. She moved carefully, keeping her eyes on both her attacker and her savior and stood. He wasn’t as big as she thought when she was able to meet him eye-to-eye, but he easily dwarfed her and her attacker.
He looked like he knew his way around the gym, but considering they were in the middle of nowhere she was amazed by the sheer size of his muscles. He wore the traditional head gear, although in black. The material swept along his upper arms that were bare and as her eyes trailed their way lower, so was most of him. She was unaware that he watched her, but the glint pleasure in his eyes told her she had been looking at him for some time.
“Thank you,” she said, her voice barely making it from her mouth.
He threw her a container and she could have cried with relief with the sound of the water sloshing inside. He bowed his head towards her, his sword never wavering.
Natalie was intrigued by this stranger and she had to fight a sudden urge to go to him. It shocked her, this wasn’t her. He motioned her attacker forward and grabbed a rope from the horse that waited behind him. Her attacker looked at her, his expression was one of fear and hopelessness. She looked away, she refused to have this on her mind. Whatever happened next it wouldn’t be because of her. She had spilt too much blood on this day already.
She heard her name and turned to see Malik run through the sand towards her. “Are you okay?” he said slowing when he came towards her.
“Yeah, he saved my life,” Natalie said, nodding towards the man who was tying the hands of the attacker and securing him to the saddle on his horse.
“Abbas,” said Malik and nodded in a greeting to the warrior.
“Malik. She has been expecting you.”
Malik stared at the stranger and she could see his face tense, then he looked at her and nodded back towards the stranger. Natalie knew that there was something between Malik and Makkah and by the look between the two men it didn’t seem to be friendly. She stood watching the conversation between the two men, until the moment passed and they moved away without another glance at each other. The warrior grabbed another bottle from his horse and threw it towards her. She grabbed it quickly and although she tried as hard as she could she swallowed as fast as her mouth was filled with the sweet taste of water.
“Hey, you better…” said a voice, as her world greyed and slipped from her mind and she knew no more.
Chapter 8
The ground bobbed up and down with the thud of footsteps when she woke and it took Natalie a second or two to realize that she was being carried. She moved, not wanting to scare the person whose shoulders she lay across.
“You awake?” said the deep voice underneath her. She could feel the reverberation of his voice through his body.
“Yeah,” she answered, although her voice was nothing more than a croak.
“Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?”
“I’ll walk,” she said, forcing her voice to be a little louder, to sound a little more determined, although it was far from what she felt at that moment.
She felt massive hands wind their way around her hips and gently slid her body along the length of his. It was almost impossible to miss the bulge at the front of his pants as it slipped between the groove of hers and she looked up into the smiling eyes of the stranger with the sword. “Thank you,” she said, in her attempt at being polite to the man that had just carried her for what looked like miles.
“Thank you,” he said smiling, his tone husky.
She looked towards Malik, as he moved up behind them. His face was void of any expression, cold and hard. He may have been able to fool others, but she could tell he wasn’t happy and she couldn’t help but feel the responsibility of his suffering.
The stranger moved off, walking with long strides across the sand and she took this opportunity to move beside Malik and reached out to touch his hand. He looked at her and shook his head as he pulled his hand out of reach. What the hell was going on? She focused on lengthening her stride to match the two men who seemed to glide across the fragile terrain, while her steps seemed to sink into the sand. She let the stranger move ahead of her slowly and hoped that Malik would get the hint. He did and within seconds she was sure the stranger was far enough so the wind would carry their words away from his ears.
“What is going on, Malik?”
“It would be better if we were seen to be only friends. Makkah doesn’t like competition.”
“Competition. You mean as lovers?” her voice cracked mid-sentence so that all that was heard was a hoarse whisper. But she didn’t need Malik to answer. She could see it in the coldness he was showing her.
“Makkah is like me, we have never had a chance to be human, and so human desires and affections are of no consequence to her. She will twist and turn you until you have forgotten everything about your life.
“Why?”
“It’s what she does. She is a puppeteer who takes great delight in making others dance for her own pleasure and she has waited centuries to have you back, Natalie. You must promise me tha
t you will go along with whatever she wants Natalie. You won’t like it, hell you’ll hate it, but if there ever was a chance for you to get the memory of what that vampire did to you and get him out of your life once and for all, this is it.”
“What have I dragged you into?”
“You haven’t dragged me into anything. I want to be here with you. As hard it will be to believe, it’s not me she ultimately wants. It is you.”
He pulled away from her then, matching strides with the warrior he called Abbas, until they bordered the outskirts of the camp.
Chapter 9
The camp, if you could call it that, was more like a miniature canvas city. It lay nestled between two massive dunes, littering the green and black canvas tops with the yellow grit that the wind carried. The sound of metal on metal captured her attention and she made her way towards the sound.
Two warriors moved in a deadly dance of metal on metal. The swordplay was like nothing Natalie had ever seen before, it seemed as though she had stepped back into the dark ages, a world that seemed different, but just as deadly as the one in which she lived.
But it wasn’t the sprawling city or the clash of swords that caused her to stumble forward, oblivious to what and who surrounded her as she stepped quickly, her legs automatically moving into a run. It was sparkling blue lake that lay in the middle, a hidden oasis that held her attention and she couldn’t help but groan at the glistening sight.
The lagoon was massive, sparkling blue against the overwhelming yellow of the sand. Natalie licked her lips and whispered a silent prayer that that it wasn’t salt water that rippled in the desert wind as she surged forward.
Most of the tents lined the green shores and it wasn’t until Natalie walked closer to the waters edge that she could see it wasn’t grass that lined the edge of the water but masses of wild reeds that sprouted out of the water.
She stepped into the sweet relief, not bothering to undress or even remove her boots as she skimmed her hand along the surface and trickled the wetness into her mouth. She let out a loud moan and sank to her knees in the sweet fresh water. She had come close to dying in the never ending desolate terrain and it was all she could do to stop herself from crying with relief.
She lowered her body under the surface, lifting her head back as she broke through and met the dispassionate stare of the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen.
Gold covered her body from the satin bodice that barely covered her breasts to the flowing pants that sat low against her hips. “Well, looks like we’ll need to boil the water for a while, won’t we?”
The question was more of a reprimand. Natalie had endured enough of those in her lifetime to grow a thick skin, but she knew when she needed to tread lightly and with this woman, this creature that she could only assume by the inhuman air that surrounded her that this was Makkah.
Natalie stood, her soaking shirt plastered to the swell of her breasts. She watched the woman's gaze as it slowly trailed over her body, stopping on the curve of her breast as her chest heaved, sucking the air into her lungs. She was used to being seen as an object with men, something unattainable or downright scary, but to watch this woman stare at her as though she was nothing more than a shell that existed for her pleasure filled Natalie with anger.
She opened her mouth to speak, to growl an insult, as her anger overrode her common sense, but her words caught in her throat and Maliks’ warning flooded back to haunt her. Makkah will manipulate you, she will twist you and turn you until you don't know yourself anymore. Well, she had plenty of others try and she had seen hell for herself. Fuck, with the life she had, hell was a vacation.
"Come," said Makkah as she turned on her heel, moving quickly from the bank.
Natalie followed, with her boots squelching and the water running in rivulets along her stomach. She caught up with her, watching the glimmer of gold disappear inside the massive black tent as the canvas door fell shut behind her and with that the brightness. Natalie followed, moving inside and stopped unable to move any further inside until her sight grew accustomed to the dim.
Soft music filled her ears as her other senses overcame her lack of sight and she reached out her hand to feel her way through and touched hard rippled muscles. She blinked, pulling back her hand instantly as the muscles of his body took shape. She couldn't help but move her eyes over him as he stood next to the doorway.
His gaze moved to her eyes, the recognition was hard to miss as his own widened in response, then quickly turned towards the ground, the hint of a smile lifting the corners of his mouth. It was as he bowed his head she noticed the massive sword strapped across his shoulders, the worn leather handle standing out to the side and after witnessing the sword play earlier she knew he would be both quick and deadly in his attack. But he seemed to welcome her presence and now that her vision had adjusted to the darkness she could see there stood another sentry on the other side of the massive tent. He stood firm at his post, his chest and stomach rigid and heavily muscled. She couldn’t help but notice the scars that marred his chest. Long and deep they cut white lines against chocolate colored skin and for a moment her mind drifted back to Grayson.
As she thought of home she instantly thought of him, Alexander. But even though she waited for him to pounce and flood her mind with his love, his desire for her. But she felt nothing. No, come back to me Natalie, please don’t do this, please...there was only silence, and it worried her.
She tore her mind away from him. Her own thoughts could be a traitor to her own desires at times and Malik had warned her to be careful, more than once where Alexander was concerned. The rich colors of the rug captured her gaze and the mass of pillows lay on the floor next to a table laden with fruits and nuts. Grapes and a type of melon she had never seen lay piled on the tray, bordered with dates and nuts. Hunger had left her a long time ago and her body had given up its demands to be fed as it concentrated on just surviving until she made it to water.
She could feel her muscles contracting inside as her body as she turned from the food, there was something else that stole her attention. She felt as though her life depended on it. The soft drapes that divided them were transparent. Makkah waited for her, watching from the biggest bed she had ever seen.
She lay amongst others who were in the midst of having sex while she lounged around them, trailing her hand along the swell of a male’s buttock as she watched Natalie.
“Don’t be afraid Natalie, you will soon learn that there are only two things do in the desert: eat and fuck and I am rarely hungry these days,” she said, her voice taking on a growl of hunger and Natalie’s skin crawled in defense.
“Closer,” whispered Makkah, beckoning her further inside. Come in, Come in, said the spider to the fly and Natalie felt the icy finger of danger grip plunge into her stomach.
She moved cautiously inside, as Makkah turned to encourage the others around her. She touched, dripping her hands in between them while she watched Natalie. It was something that Natalie not prepared for and she felt a pang of sorrow for her people who had no other choice but to kiss and touch her as though their life depended on it, which it probably did.
“Closer,” demanded Makkah, in a voice that few would deny.
She forced herself not to sound weak and afraid, as those icy fingers dug deep inside of her, “Thank you, but I’m close enough.”
“Really?” she said, moving in a breath and just as quiet, until she stood in front of Natalie. “Do you think you can walk back into my camp, drink my water and refuse my demands, Kasia?”
She didn’t know what to say, how to speak to this woman, this creature and remain alive, just being here felt surreal to Natalie, like a movie picture played in her head. She didn’t want to correct her and a fleeting feeling as though a battle had just begun washed over her, she had drawn her own line.
But the feelings that washed over her were anything but a movie, they felt as real as her own. In the movie that played in her head Makkah was angry. She was f
urious with her, and Natalie knew who she was, she was Kaisa and Makkah screamed inside her mind to ‘get out’.
Natalie watched as echoes of her former life revived themselves inside her memory only to wash away her own, and it wasn’t her that spoke although she knew her lips moved and it was her voice reached out inside the tent. “Don’t forget it was you that drove me away Makkah, not the other way around. You with your acid tongue and ultimatums, I never wanted to be without you and I want you to know I went to my death knowing that you had forsaken me.”
Makkah stepped back, hissing at Natalie, turning into the creature Natalie knew she was, someone driven by their own wants and desires. At that moment she knew that Makkah was as far from human as he had ever seen. Her anger grew and somewhere in the camp she could hear screaming as her world greyed and she collapsed.
“Natalie,” said a voice, the urgency was unmistakable. But the words were too dull for her to understand, as though they spoke underwater. She could feel someone beneath her, their body cradled her as she lay in an alley, the smell of dirt and blood overwhelmed her and she opened her mouth to speak. But all that came out was a gurgle, the sound sickening. She lifted her hand and touched her neck and her fingers slipped in further than they should ever go, and came away bloody. She looked at her own fingers, slick with her own blood.
“Help me,” she said looking up into his eyes. The color of them still caused her heart to pound heavily inside her chest, piercing blue eyes and silver blonde hair that she knew so well.
Kasia, he said. I’ve been waiting for you.
Chapter 10
She rolled over, feeling the solid body of Malik who lay next to her and opened her eyes, chasing the remnants of a dream away. The dream was important for some reason, but as the fog inside her mind lifted she couldn’t work out for the life of her why?
