by Nina Bruhns
The old man halted and turned.
She smiled again. “But I am sure that won’t be a problem. The main thing tonight is that you all agree that the hostilities must end.”
“Why?” the old man demanded, reminding her a little too much of herself. Always asking why. Never just accepting what was right in front of her face.
“There is good reason for our strife,” he said hotly. “The followers of the sun will never bow down to the darkness! It is unnatural!”
Not that she thought you should just meekly accept anything handed to you. But sometimes, when appropriate, you had to take some things on faith…or go crazy.
This whole bizarre world was a case in point.
An unruly discussion erupted among the councils and the audience about what it would mean to them personally, and about the nature of light and dark, and about whether one’s preference denoted good or evil in the world, and if it said something about one’s inner soul to choose to serve the shadow world versus the supposed state of enlightenment.
Not that the leader of Petru seemed terribly enlightened to her. The supposed “Guardians of Darkness” seemed far more tolerant and open-minded.
But she let them all talk. She trusted they’d come to the same conclusion she had: If they continued on their present path, they were surely all doomed to perish in the struggle, because neither would give in.
She glanced over at Seth, who occupied the larger of two ornate silver thrones placed on the western side of the grand audience chamber where the meeting was being held. She sat in the smaller one. It felt a bit weird, a bit frightening, to find herself in such an exalted position, but Nephtys had insisted. Nephtys herself sat on one of two golden thrones on the eastern side of the room, next to Haru-Re.
Seth was watching Joss in return, pride beaming from his eyes. His intense regard made her squirm a little. Seeing it, he offered her his hand. She gratefully took it, needing the reassurance of his touch.
She loved the strength she felt in his long fingers, in the thick brush of power that purled over her skin from his fingertips. She also loved his square-jawed face and aristocratic nose, his flashing black eyes and his imposing body. He wasn’t picture-perfect handsome, but God, was he ever sexy. Her insides did summersaults and her toes curled just looking at him.
Let alone the shivers he gave her as they lay together in the intimacy of his bed.
Memories flooded through her of the few times they’d spent in each other’s arms. Lord, how she loved being with him!
He’d taken her again last night.
After the harrowing experience on the walls of Petru, he hadn’t let her out of his sight. His personal guard had come to collect them, and to her relief, Seth had swung her up behind him on his huge black stallion for the ride back to Khepesh. She’d clung to his waist, comforted by his familiar masculine scent, absorbing his calm strength through their physical contact and the emotions of his steady compassion through the blood magic they shared.
He’d fed her. He’d bathed her. And then he’d taken her to his bed and made love to her.
She’d loved every minute she’d spent with him. Holding him. Feeling him. Taking him deep within her body.
How had this drowning emotion happened to her so quickly? So completely?
Was she bespelled? Were her profound feelings for Seth the result of the magic of his vampire bite, as he’d said?
She didn’t think so. Nephtys had told her how it felt to have the blood addiction. The hot cravings. The aching, sizzling, agonizing need that coursed through a woman’s blood at the very thought of the vampire’s sharp fangs.
But that’s not what Josslyn felt. The stinging kiss of the vampire was not what she craved when she thought of Seth-Aziz. No, her cravings were of a much more personal nature. The cravings of a woman for a man, and all he offered for her intimate delight and enjoyment. Cravings every mortal woman had for the man she loved.
His bare chest. His sculpted lips. His long, thick cock.
Fangs were just icing on the cake.
As if reading her mind—and perhaps he was—Seth gave her a slow, lazy smile, crinkling the corners of his eyes and sending heat quivering through her body.
His lips quirked slightly and his brow rose a mere fraction of a millimeter. In invitation?
She felt her cheeks grow warm. And certain other parts of her body, as well. She sent him an answering smile, just as subtle. Just as telling. Just as much an invitation.
She shouldn’t. She knew he didn’t really want her. After his daring defense of her on the ramparts of Petru, she’d expected some kind of acknowledgment of their relationship. At least a simple statement of his feelings for her. Not necessarily a declaration of love—though that would certainly have been welcome. Just…something. Something verbal, rather than the physical intimacy he’d showered her with since that harrowing episode.
Admittedly, they hadn’t been alone together for more than a few hours since then. He’d been caught up in a whirlwind of activity and meetings with the other leaders of Khepesh, always in a crowd. But he’d insisted she accompany him wherever they went, keeping her close by his side.
Still, he hadn’t brought up the future. Nor had the Great Council, despite his previous warnings of their plans for her. Apparently they’d changed their minds about her.
Unfortunately, Seth hadn’t. He obviously felt protective, and enjoyed making love with her. But she knew he would break her heart into a million pieces when the day came and he finally let her go.
Right now she didn’t care. She was basking in the wellspring of his attentions, and she would not give up that feeling for anything.
No, not even to protect her fragile heart.
But it hurt, that he didn’t want her for more than this. It hurt like crazy.
With a deep breath, she turned back to the arguing councils, keeping his hand in hers, loathe to let him go.
From across the room Nephtys caught her eye and sent her a beaming smile and a wink. Damn, she really wished she would stop doing that! Joss was sure her cheeks were as crimson as the embroidered sash Seth wore over his black robes.
Nephtys couldn’t be more wrong about their relationship!
As they’d all walked into the audience hall earlier, the priestess had suddenly halted and scanned the room—the furnishings, the thrones, the councils and onlookers as they sat cross-legged on the floor on the thick Persian carpets. She’d broken out in a huge grin and spun to Joss and Seth and exclaimed, “This is it! My vision! It’s come true!” And then she’d hugged them both, along with a puzzled Haru-Re for good measure. She’d been sending Joss meaningful smiles ever since.
Yeah. The whole vision thing made Josslyn acutely uncomfortable.
Seth had not commented one way or another. Not surprising. He still hadn’t brought up the future, hadn’t as much as uttered the word consort or even lover since dismissing her so coolly two days ago.
Obviously his feelings had thawed. Or rather, heated. Considerably. Physically. But that didn’t mean he wanted to make their arrangement permanent. As in eternity permanent.
Hell, okay, Joss didn’t know if she wanted it permanent, either. She’d known Seth-Aziz, for what, three days? Four?
Regardless of her current feelings for him, because they could change—just look at the 180 Nephtys had done with Ray!—would it not be totally nuts, not to mention scary as hell, to commit to an eternity with a man after so short a time? Eternity was a long, long time.
But it was clear from Nephtys’s face that the priestess expected her to do just that.
To be perfectly honest, Joss’s own reckless heart wanted to jump over that cliff without looking down. But her mind? Much more cautious. Her mind remembered the view from the top of Petru’s wall….
And yet, despite the way he’d avoided any mention of the future, every time she looked at Seth she felt… God, she felt more cherished, more secure, more alive with wonderful possibilities than she’
d ever felt before in her life. She wanted to dive into his meltingly dark eyes and lose herself in them forever and ever.
Irrational, terrifying, but there you go. Josslyn Haliday was stone cold in love with the man.
And how scary was that?
The noise level pulled her attention back to the audience chamber with a jolt. The shouting had increased as the debate heated.
They were going round and round. It seemed like most of the leaders of both camps agreed with her obvious solution to the political dilemma and wanted to avoid total annihilation for one of the palaces, and possibly for all the shemsu. But some of the most vocal debaters were still not convinced their side shouldn’t claim a total victory, and damn the consequences.
Desperately needing an outlet for her pent-up feelings of frustration over Seth, she felt herself grow impatient. Did they not see how this would benefit everyone concerned?
Wanting it just to be over, when there was a pause in the argument Josslyn pulled her hand from Seth’s and stood.
“You’re all speaking of politics and war,” she said over the din, “of territories lost and gained, of hoarded assets, of filching followers, of secret rituals and stolen magic, of the problems of sovereignty and identity. But there’s one thing you haven’t talked about,” she said to the debaters. “The most important thing of all.”
A hush fell over the room in waves, and all eyes turned to her.
“Tell us, Lady Josslyn. What could be left?”
She blinked at the use of the title she’d never get used to and cleared her throat. “The point you’re missing is, the world needs both of you. The dark and the light. What would we mortals do without the cool darkness of night or the dark shadows hidden deep in our psyches? And how could anyone live without the blessings and the fruit of the sun or the enlightenment of knowledge gained? We might prefer one way of living over the other, but we could never exist without both in all our lives.”
Slowly, murmurs of assent could be heard.
“I don’t pretend to know anything about your world, really,” she continued. “But I do know mine has lost so much experience and wisdom that can never be regained, because we mortals so often choose to destroy what we don’t understand. Don’t make the same mistake. The powers of the universe have designed this planet with the contrasts of day and night, darkness and light, order and chaos. Who are we, whether mortal or immortal, to tell the universe it’s wrong?”
There was a moment of silence as her words were digested.
Amidst an undulating sea of nods, a vote was called for, and at long last the momentous decision came to be made to merge the forces of light and darkness into one powerful union that would rule the earth together.
The last two to voice their votes were Seth-Aziz and Haru-Re.
When his turn came, Seth rose regally to his feet and said, “Lady Josslyn has spoken wisely. I, for one, agree with her and am honored to throw in my lot with those who have chosen peace between our peoples.” He lifted his gaze across the chamber. “Furthermore, to prove my seriousness and pledge my sincerity to the cause, I hereby give my official blessing to the marriage of my sister, the Priestess Nephtys, to Haru-Re, High Priest of Petru.”
A few gasps mingled with cheers of approval.
At this, Haru-Re also rose, to a shower of felicitations. “I, too, vote for peace, not war.” He smiled at Nephtys and beckoned her to rise with him. “As does my future consort, Nephtys, my truest love. With our coming union, we hope to forge a true and lasting friendship between the palaces of Petru and Khepesh, and in so doing keep alive the rituals for both our gods, indeed all the ancient lore, for many millennia to come.”
He sought out Joss with his gaze. “And to prove my sincerity, I hereby bequeath a secret which because of my selfishness I have held closely guarded.” He glanced at Nephtys. “I now wish to share it and put to right some of the mistakes I’ve made in the past.” His bride-to-be nodded and smiled.
There was a stirring in the crowd. Joss wondered what the secret could be. The last one he’d revealed—the ancient dream spell discovered in his library—had been huge.
“Many centuries ago,” he said, “I uncovered a papyrus in the archive taken from the defeated per netjer of Sekhmet.”
A chill went down Joss’s spine. The very temple where she and her sisters had been working when all this had started! She couldn’t help but wonder if the powerful goddess had a hand in the events of the past month…
“In the writings,” Ray went on, “I discovered one of great import, containing a secret hidden long ago by the first immortal high priestess of that temple.” Everyone held their breath. “In it was revealed the way to reverse the spell that turns human to shabti.”
Joss jumped to her feet, clapping her hands to her mouth in shock. Was it true?
In the audience, she heard Gemma gasp. Gillian, too, cried out with a joyous sound, then burst into tears as Joss turned to seek their gazes in disbelief. Shahin stood frozen, utterly stunned, staring at Haru-Re. Joss knew from Gemma that his own mother had been serving Haru-Re as a shabti for over three hundred years.
As one, they all turned to Nephtys for confirmation. She nodded, her eyes filling with tears when she saw how moved they all were by the news. Could it really be so?
“How?” Joss managed to tear her focus back to Haru-Re and ask. “How is it done?”
“It’s almost too easy,” Ray said. “The shabti must only be removed from the per netjer. That’s all. Just like the spell that preserves our immortality, without the monthly rituals of renewal, the shabti spell simply unravels and dissolves, restoring the person to their former self, their consciousness and their will. Afterward, they can pick up their life as though the interruption never took place. Other than the time displacement, of course.”
Nephtys expression turned to one of comprehension. “So that’s why you were always so bent on retrieving shabtis who escaped the palace,” she murmured.
Haru-Re nodded gravely. “At first it was because I didn’t want to lose their services. But after a while, I realized how terrible it would be to awaken from what you think is an afternoon nap, only to find yourself living in another century, or even a different millennium. I wished to spare them that horror, at least.”
Joss thought about that. It was true, she supposed. Romantic time-travel novels aside, it would be pretty awful to wake up a hundred, or a thousand, years in the future. But still…
Thank God in heaven the victims would all be freed now.
Including her own mother.
She gazed at Haru-Re with new respect. This truly showed how much he had changed. Or perhaps, Nephtys had been right all along, and he just needed encouragement to allow the natural goodness within him to emerge. She’d like to think so.
Happiness glowed from deep within her as she exchanged joyful looks with Gillian and Gemma and a still-stunned Shahin.
Joss hadn’t seen her parents yet, but now…oh, now she had such wonderful news to share with her father! Isobelle Haliday was alive and would once again be the vibrant, loving, beautiful woman Joss remembered from her childhood!
There was no better gift in the world.
Seth’s arm slipped around her shoulders in a warm embrace. She looked up and he tenderly kissed her brow.
“I believe your work here is done, my love.” He tipped up her chin with a knuckle and smiled. “And now perhaps you’d fancy a visit to Petru with your sisters? This time under more pleasant circumstances, I would hope.”
If the man hadn’t already captured her heart completely, this loving, considerate invitation would have done it for sure.
Josslyn’s heart was gone. Utterly and absolutely lost to this amazing man. And there was nothing she could do about it.
Or wanted to.
She rose up on her toes, kissed his lips and whispered, “Seth-Aziz, you are truly the most wonderful man in the world.”
Chapter 24
When it came right down t
o it, Seth had no idea how to deal with his love for Josslyn.
He’d been a demigod for five millennia, a high priest for longer than that, all the while a respected leader of his tight-knit underground community, steering the destinies of the immortals with power and authority through good times and bad, through thick and thin.
He’d never been at a total loss before.
Never in such a quandary as to his own destiny.
Not until he’d met the stubborn, wise, unpredictable, loyal, mouthy and inordinately tempting Josslyn Haliday.
He wanted her. He wanted her in the worst way. He wanted her in the best way.
He wanted her in all ways.
She seemed to want him. Physically, at least. She seemed to like him. A lot. She smiled when she saw him, her face lighting up with pleasure. She melted into him when he held her close. She came to him eagerly when he beckoned. Came for him with abandon when he touched her. Hadn’t she just said, not three hours ago, that he was the most wonderful man in the world?
He was terrified of making a mistake. He was so bad at this! All he wanted was a clue. But when he tried to probe her feelings, through their blood connection, no matter how delicately and subtly he searched for some indication of how she really felt about him, she’d managed to keep her emotions so carefully guarded, so tightly shut away, that he’d been unable to decipher them.
Even as they’d shared his bed for a few hours last night, as she’d given him her body so completely, her heart had been impossible to weigh.
Was it because he’d acted like such a bastard before, blaming her for things she’d had no part in, sending her away when she’d offered herself to him so selflessly and without guile? Telling her that love had nothing to do with his wanting her as his consort. What a thoughtless, cruel thing to say to a woman!
He had to tread delicately now. He didn’t want to scare her off by coming on too strong again. He’d nearly succeeded last time in a bad way. What a fool he’d been! By the feather of Thoth, he regretted his unthinking actions! His closed mind. His lack of feeling.
