by Jackie Ivie
CHAPTER NINE
Sokar’s reaction to her request was immediate and it just kept growing. His growl sent vibrations throughout the room that knocked over several small statues and ruffled the fabric walls. It was déjà vu, as if they’d been transported back to the boardroom where they’d met, minus all the carnage. It was rather disconcerting. Geena decided to ignore that emotion, along with the niggling itch of guilt.
The room they stood in was cavernous. The ceiling looked incredibly high, maybe forty feet if she had to guess. Light came from somewhere up there, but it wasn’t bright. It was candlelight dim at floor level. Which was odd. He should have some lamps. She knew he had power. The suite she’d awakened in, and spent some time exploring, had been amazing. Beautifully designed. With all kinds of modern conveniences. In the desert somewhere. Underground. Completely hidden.
Unbelievable.
This room however, was beyond that. The multi-hued décor bore various shades of blue and gold. Draped panels sparkling with gold decorated the walls. The floors were covered with thick, overlapping rugs. The furnishings were low to the floor, consisting of backless couches, foot-high tables, and a lot of ornate pillows. Everything contained splashes of gold. Probably real gold. She’d wondered about that when she’d seen the threadwork in her caftan. She’d since disregarded the observation. What did it matter if he had real gold all over his compound? She had bigger worries. With incense stands scattered through the room, the room resembled a decadent movie set. For a despotic king and an entourage of women. It looked – and felt – like the perfect setting for an orgy.
At least, it had until now.
“You vixen!” he announced.
Geena’s brows rose. “You’re name-calling now? Nice.”
“You used my desire against me!”
“Oh, don’t be so surprised. You made it easy.”
He pitched his head back and yelled. Loudly. Geena watched smoke from the incense burners waver throughout the room as throbs from his voice reached them. She climbed onto a table to reach his level. Wobbled for a moment until the table stabilized, and then she faced him. He was breathing really hard. She matched it. He was flushing, too. She watched a dark tone move through his chest. Shoulders. Neck. It reached his jaw. He had that clenched. Sharp-looking spikes were clearly evident along his lower lip.
Her heart missed a beat. He pulled his head back as if he knew it.
Oh! This was bad. The man already sent her pulse into overdrive, her hormones into frenzy, and her body temperature to fire-starting level. Anger seemed to take those afflictions to a higher pitch and hold them there. She was close to lunging for him and finding out about the orgy thing. She had to start speaking. And fast.
“Look. Sokar. Don’t you think your reaction is a little excessive? I mean you’ve been using some kind of hypnosis on me. I think that makes us even, don’t you?”
His breathing slowed slightly. He was still massive. Muscled. Masculine. And not wearing much. She had to force her gaze to ignore his waist area, where a six-pack-plus of abs gained definition with the force of each inhalation.
“That was not hypnosis. It was a thrall.”
“A thrall?”
“Vampires have many powers.”
“That is a violation of—”
“To the realm of Set with your rules! I am a vampire! I have enthralling powers. I have been doing my best not to use them on you!”
“You are a male chauvinist who is used to getting his way. And I, for one, am finally calling you on it.”
He crossed his arms and glared at her. That put a lot of emphasis on his pecs, shoulders, and biceps. The light was making a shadow play across his skin whenever he flexed. It was difficult to stay focused.
“You just deceived me.”
“So?”
Geena crossed her arms and displayed a nonchalance she was far from feeling. His upper lip lifted. She got a clear view of his fangs. Damn it! Her legs got hit with a cold wash of weakness. She swayed. The stupid table made it impossible to hide the reaction. She had to look away until she regained her balance. She didn’t dare look back at him. He was really scary.
And amazingly sexy.
How was that even possible?
He was regarding her with an unreadable expression when she looked back at him. His eyes were slits, but he’d covered over his fangs. She decided to match his expression. She even stuck her tongue in front of her upper teeth to make her lip swell out to equal his. It was a small gesture, but it helped.
“You really try my patience, woman,” he finally told her.
“All right. Sokar. Senusret. Ahmose. Whoever. Listen up. You don’t know me. But I’m going to give you a little insight. I don’t care about your temper. I don’t care if you call yourself a vampire. I don’t even care if you really are one. Got it?”
There was a long silence after her tirade. But at least, he’d pulled out of his threatening pose. His expression was still unreadable.
“What do you care about?” he finally asked.
That was underhanded. Nobody got to ask her personal questions. Not about her past. Or anything else. Geena’s mouth opened. Shut. “I think we’re finished here.”
“With what?”
“Our argument.”
“I do not argue.”
“No kidding. You just issue decrees and expect they’ll be followed. Instantly. And without question. Well, I think it’s time you moved into the twenty-first century with the rest of the world. And I’m talking A.D. here. Not B.C.E.”
He grunted. It sounded suspiciously like amusement. Geena looked him over for long moments. He wasn’t meeting her eyes. He was focused on something over her head.
“Are you laughing at me?”
He dropped his gaze back to hers, but his lips twitched suspiciously. “Oh. Never.”
“Good. Just keep it that way. So. What do you say? Want to call a truce? Start the tour?”
“If that is your wish.”
“Wasn’t it next on the agenda?”
He shrugged.
“First the tour and then you’re going to keep to your promise. Yes?”
“I will allow you to return when this is over. You have my word.”
“Allow? We never said allow in there. What is it with you and that word, anyway?”
“It annoys you?”
“It’s an ownership word. I am an adult, Sokar. Nobody owns me. Take my gender out of the equation, and what would you have?”
“A very pretty boy.”
Geena couldn’t help it. She chuckled. He didn’t join her. He frowned.
“I will avoid using the word ‘allow’ in the future. Is that what you wish to hear?”
“I don’t know what I want, okay? You appeared out of nowhere. You tried to kill me, and when that didn’t work, you decided to...what? Make passionate wild love with me so I would...what? Come with you to the desert and...what now? Excavate? I can’t figure this out. I don’t know why I’m here. I’m still reeling from the how we got here. And don’t answer that, okay?”
“It is time I showed you.”
“But I have your promise. Right?”
“I am a man of honor. Nothing we say...alters that.”
His voice broke midway. There was a distinct tremor throughout the words, too. She told herself she didn’t care about that, either.
CHAPTER TEN
They walked down a hundred steps of hallway before turning into another hall that looked just as lengthy. He held her hand the entire time. The touch sent vibrations she studiously ignored. This was her fault. They could traverse halls in an eye-blink if she allowed it. Geena had asked him to walk. With only a slight hesitation, he’d agreed. He didn’t ask. She didn’t explain. She needed to walk. She was searching for reality. Normality. Something that would put everything on an ordinary, common, boring basis. And then she needed to stick her feet firmly to it.
All, while studiously ignoring how her chest hurt.
&nb
sp; Geena had never considered a love interest in her life. She’d worked hard to be unlovable. Unapproachable. Cold. She couldn’t afford to feel anything for a man. And with Sokar? Why...he shouldn’t even be an option. He was a psychopath. A demonic killer with amazing reflexes, unbelievable speed, impressive mental acuity, jaw-dropping abilities as an illusionist...
Geena stopped adding to the mental list. There was too much to consider, even before the vampirism and immortality stuff. What had he claimed? He was three thousand, eight hundred years old?
Oh. Give me a break.
No way. The man was mid-twenties. Barely. Extremely fit. Nicely put together. Sinfully handsome. She couldn’t seem to forget how amazingly skilled he was in the sex department, either. A thread of heat slid through her and pooled in her lower belly.
Wrong.
This was so wrong.
Despite how it felt just to be near him, Sokar was firmly in the ‘DO NOT TOUCH’ arena. It didn’t matter how amazing making love with him had been. Nor how much fun it was to argue with him. His nearness made her thighs turn to mush, her innards quiver, and her breath catch. The touch of his hand to hers right now warmed the area around her heart so severely, it swelled. Her chest grew even more painfully tight...
Ah! She had to cease this. It wasn’t helping. She was not willing to fall in love with Sokar.
Period.
They arrived finally at an impressively ornate metal door with a combination locking mechanism at the center. Geena watched silently while he spun the dial. Turned down the lever. Pulled it open. She jerked backward as a huge Egyptian statue loomed out of the blackness. Life-size and set atop a pedestal, it would have been the crown jewel of acquisitions for any number of museums. The figure presented in a walking position, barefoot, holding a spear. The skin was glossy black enamel. The kilt and headdress were painted white. Everything else was gold; the spear tip, breastplate, arm bands, belt. And its eyes were inset with light greenish-yellow stones.
Sokar caught her backward stumble easily. He waited until she regained her footing before releasing her. He was probably laughing but it didn’t sound in his voice.
“This is one of my ka statues. It is meant as a replacement during reincarnation. In the event the body has been destroyed.”
“I didn’t major in it, but I got a liberal amount of Egyptology in my education. I’ve seen ka statues. I have never seen one in this condition.”
“There will also be ba statues. They have a human head and the body of a bird. They represent the soul and its ability to move.”
“You have those, too?”
“Yes.”
“Well. It doesn’t look much like you, but I think they did a great job on the big, bad, and scary part.”
She smiled. He grunted and looked away.
He led the way around the statue and into what looked like miles of tunnel. Dimly lit. She couldn’t see an end. It was also instantly hotter. Dry. The air conditioning must not extend this far. Geena’s shoulders dropped. Why was everything against her?
“Sokar?”
“Yes?”
She tipped her head up to his. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “How far is it?”
“That depends on our destination. Which tomb do you wish to see first? Mine? Or my father’s?”
“You realize that asking that question makes you sound crazy. Answering it is going to make me sound just as insane.”
He sighed loudly.
“Yours,” Geena inserted before he’d finished.
“About six kilometers.”
“That far?”
“Yes.”
“That will take some time.”
“We have time.”
“Well. It’s going to get hot and sweaty if we walk, isn’t it?”
“Sweaty?”
“You don’t sweat, either?”
“I...might.”
“Might?”
“I am uncertain. I feel the heat. That means I will probably sweat.”
“You are really cute. And really stubborn.”
“How so?”
“You truly believe seeing ancient artifacts will change things? Make me believe in vampires? And that you are one? And you keep saying you have time on your side. I beg to differ here. I don’t think you have enough of it.”
“I actually have something better.”
“Really? What?”
“The truth.”
He looked down at her and stopped the world with the look in his eyes. They looked much more golden than before. Molten. Hot. Geena had to look away. Quickly. Or be sucked into heaven again.
“I’ll tell you what. Maybe I could be a good sport and let you fly us there?”
“You understand I can only do that because I am a vampire.”
“Oh, I don’t know. You could be an illusionist. I’ve seen tricks. Big ones. Cable specials. There are magicians who can make anyone think and see anything. Like this tunnel. It may not be as long as it looks.”
“In that event, perhaps we should walk it.”
“That will take some time. Six kilometers did you say?”
“Time is on my side, Geena. Remember?”
“Well, I’m not dressed for a hike. I’m wearing crappy little sandals.” She lifted her skirt to show him one.
“I will carry you.”
Oh. Heavens. That sounded like complete and total—
She put a hand up to stop the thought. “Wait. I give. If I admit that flying could be an indication that you are a vampire, will that suffice?”
He snatched her to him and moved. Rocks walls blurred. The row of lights hanging from the ceiling went to one long line. And then he stopped. Just like before. Without any sensation of braking. He settled her on her feet, opened his arms, and released her to face another door almost exactly like the first. Geena sucked in her lower lip and turned toward him. She regarded the top of his six-pack at her approximate eye level. Her voice shook.
“You could be truly frightening, Sokar. I hope you know that.”
“I will fetch the torch.”
“Torch? Won’t the smoke damage things?”
He grinned. Reached into a niche and pulled out a bundle. Started unwinding it. All kinds of muscle in his arms and chest flexed. Geena moved her glance to anything else. His chin looked safe.
“I mean a flashlight. I keep forgetting. Along with borders and countries, the world changes words and meanings, as well.”
“You don’t have power? Wait. You have to. The lights are still on out here.”
“My Isis name is Amun-Kamose. I was named for the god of hiddenness.”
“Isis name?”
“Before becoming pharaoh, I had two names. Every Egyptian does, even the lowest born. One name is known to all. The other name is one only his mother and Isis knows.”
“Oh, yeah. The curse thing.”
“Exactly. If any man places a curse on another man, it will fail because they did not use the real – or Isis –name.”
“Got it. But I’m a little at sea over the electricity thing and what that has to do with being named after Amun.”
“Being able to generate power is a new invention. I waited until I could access it without leaving any traces.”
“Only you would call electricity a new invention, Sokar. But, please. Go on.”
“I am grateful to have had such foresight. I have just seen how easy it is to view the earth from an internet link. I installed solar panels. They are hidden throughout the desert. The wires stretch for miles underground.”
“Smart. Very smart.”
“Well, I did have years to figure things out.”
“And now, you’ll link this somehow to the need for a flashlight in your tomb?”
He straightened. Inhaled deeply. Puffed out his chest. And spoke like he was a Shakespearean actor orating at a theater. It wasn’t necessary with his voice.
“I am the eldest son of Pharaoh Amenemhet the Fourth. I failed him as heir. My brother murd
ered me. I did not fail him in the afterlife. I moved the tomb after robbers destroyed his pyramid at Dashur. I have guarded it ever since.”
Wow. Her spine tingled.
“Um.” Geena cleared her throat. Her voice sounded small after that performance. She actually felt like clapping. “Sokar?”
“Yes?”
“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t wire your tomb. Or, I’m pretty obtuse tonight.”
“My father’s tomb is deep in the cliffs. It is behind my tomb. If the worst happens and thieves find mine – which recently happened – they should assume it a small tomb of a lesser, previously unknown pharaoh. They will take what belongings I claimed in life and leave. My father will be safe. However, if I had electricity in my tomb—”
“Ah. They wouldn’t stop. Not if they saw wires. They’d do all kinds of excavating. Bring in ground penetrating radar. They’d find your father. And your compound. I get it. Wow. Very clever. I am really impressed.”
“As I already made mention, I have had a lot of years to learn, habibi.”
My love. She really should stop him from calling her that. She couldn’t possibly be his love. But, oh! Right now, it sent a thrill of pleasure through her entire body. It even tingled the soles of her feet strapped into flimsy sandals with little leather straps.
“There is another ka statue behind this door,” he informed her.
“Got it. Prepared.”
She saluted him. He frowned and turned back to work the lock. The guy couldn’t take a joke. Or, he didn’t recognize one. Because he is an ancient Egyptian who doesn’t go into the modern world very often.
No, Geena. Just no.
She studied how his back moved as he spun the lock. How the muscles rippled with restrained power. Wow! She had an innocent look on her face before he finished and turned around. He clicked on his flashlight.
“You ready?”
“Yep.”
He pulled the door open. Shone the light on another huge statue. The back of the door looked like a solid chunk of rock wall. It had to weigh tons. Geena pushed on it as she passed. She’d been right. It was an immovable chunk of rock that matched the interior walls. And Sokar had pulled it open as if it weighed nothing.
