The Blue Lotus

by Marisa Chenery

  "I think we should go, Tory, and let Nefertem and Kendra work this out by themselves."

  Tory was about to protest, but Scott turned her away from Nefertem. Before he led her out of the house, Scott paused to say one last thing to Nefertem. “Now that we have at least a little more to go on, I will dig up all I can on those supposed hidden chambers."

  Nefertem bowed his head in Scott's direction. “Thank you. The sooner you find out more, the sooner you can help me get to Egypt."

  "I will do that.” Having said all that he wanted to say, Scott steered the still fuming Tory from the house.

  * * * *

  Kendra had no idea where she was going. All that mattered was getting farther away from the house, and further away from Nefertem. His harsh words still echoed inside her head. They still cut her to the very bone.

  Driving down streets with no real destination in mind, she was surprised when she ended up back at the mall. Pulling into a parking space way at the back of the parking lot, Kendra shut the car off. Beginning to laugh and cry at the same time, Kendra thought about the irony of it all. She ended up at one of the very places that had been a turning point for her. A place where she had found out exactly what Nefertem truly was, where she had actually admitted to Mahes earlier that very same day, of her love for Nefertem. Leaning her forehead against the steering wheel, Kendra finally let her tears fall.

  The length of time that she sat there and cried her eyes out, Kendra couldn't guess. It could have been anywhere from a few minutes, to an hour that easily passed before her tears run dry. Sitting back so she sat up straight again, she reached for her purse and fished around inside it until she came up with an unused tissue. Using it, she roughly dried her eyes and blew her nose.

  Now that she had given into her tears, she was now done with them. It was the time for her to show Nefertem she was not going to let him hurt her like that so easily and get away with it.

  Starting the car motor running, Kendra pushed back the hurt she was feeling. Pulling out of the parking lot, she drove back home with a purpose. It didn't take very long for her to arrive at her house, since she was no longer driving around aimlessly.

  Slamming the front door behind her, Kendra went to look for Nefertem. She found only Mahes sitting in the living room. Nefertem was nowhere to be found. “Where is Nefertem?"

  Mahes, who had been busily flipping through all the stations on the television, jumped at the sound of Kendra's voice. “I did not hear you come in."

  "I can see that.” Kendra cocked her head in the direction of the television to back up her simple statement. “Where is he?"

  "Which ‘he’ are you referring to?"

  Kendra scowled at Mahes. “Are you deliberately being obtuse to piss me off even more?"

  Mahes smiled. “That is what I wanted to hear. Being angry is a good thing."

  "Do you ever stop testing people, Mahes?"

  "Sometimes, but I find it much too entertaining to stop all the time."

  Kendra shook her head in dismay. “To each his own I guess. Now where the hell is your brother?"

  "He went out to what you call your backyard."

  Leaving Mahes to continue with his channel surfing, Kendra headed for the dining room where the sliding glass doors opened up to the backyard. Pausing just long enough to see where exactly Nefertem was, she pulled open the glass slider.

  Her backyard could in no way be described as artistically landscaped to perfection. Gardening was not her forte. Even so that did not mean she totally neglected it either. She kept the grass neatly trimmed and managed to stay on top of the weeds in the one small patch of flowers she had planted. Roses, irises, and a few tulips were what she had decided would do the job of adding a dash of colour to the back. And that they needed very little care had been a bonus.

  Stepping through the door and out onto the back deck, Kendra crossed it in a few strides. Taking the two steps down to the lawn, she headed to the very back of the yard where a large maple tree grew. There Nefertem sat on the grass at the base of it. He had his face lifted up to the rays of sunlight that filtered through the tree's branches. His eyes were closed.

  Kendra let her eyes skim over his handsome face. Why couldn't he have been different? Why did she have to fall for men who ended up trampling all over her heart? She felt another fresh wave of tears rear up inside her. Ruthlessly, she pushed them away. Weakness was not what she needed right now. Recalling all of Nefertem's hateful words, Kendra felt her anger grow once more.

  "Wake up, Nefertem. You had your chance at taking pot shots at me, but no more."

  Nefertem cracked one eye open. “I only but spoke the truth."

  "So what we have shared together was a lie. When you told me you had never before felt like this with a woman, that was an act?"

  Closing his eye again, Nefertem turned his face back into the sunlight. “Of course. I learned that telling mortal women such tales opened their arms to me, along with other parts of themselves."

  Seeing red, Kendra did what would hurt Nefertem more than mere words ever could. It was something her brother had taught her to do when she had reached her teenage years. With one swift kick to a certain part of Nefertem's anatomy, she effectively unmanned him. Watching him writhing in pain on the grass, she had to admit it gave her a small measure of pleasure.

  "If that is truly how you feel, I can guarantee you will never be welcomed in my bed again. We are finished, you and I, from this moment on. Since it was I that started this whole mess, I will see it to the end. Contrary to what you want, I will be going to Egypt with you. Not you, nor anyone else for that matter, is going to stop me. And when this is over, you will never have to set eyes on me again."

  Turning her back on Nefertem, who was still curled up in a ball, she left him there in pain. Her days of caring for a man were over.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It was some minutes later before Nefertem could uncurl his body. This was one pain he would never have felt had he been in his immortal form. Being mortal had too many weak spots for his liking.

  Finally able to breath without panting in pain, he slowly sat up. Kendra had surprised him with that move. He had not expected her to react so violently. He had not known she knew how to fight so dirty either. He silently commended her for it. He deserved what she had done to him. It had been all a lie, and it turned out to be an all too effective lie at that. Already a part of him mourned the loss of Kendra.

  Gingerly moving to his feet, Nefertem went back inside the house. Much to his dismay Mahes stood waiting to confront him as he stepped through the glass door.

  "Not one word out of you, Mahes.” Meaning to walk past his brother, Nefertem found his path blocked by Mahes's outstretched arm.

  "Not this time, brother. What game are you playing at here?"

  "You of all people should know why I do this."

  "Yes I do, but I don't agree with it."

  "What else would you have me do? Spout words of undying love to Kendra then turn around and leave her? It is not as if I can return to her once I am back to my true self."

  Mahes could sympathize with Nefertem. Their mother had not only tied Nefertem to the pendant, but she had also made it so he could no longer go to the mortal world as an immortal. The only time he could walk amongst mortals was when he had been summoned.

  "I still think you have made a monumental mistake, Nefertem."

  "And I think not. Even if we do manage to stop mother, I still cannot keep Kendra as mine. I will still have to leave her behind."

  Mahes shook his head sadly. “All right, I will say no more, but you have managed to make the rest of our stay here a tad uncomfortable. Kendra was furious when she came back in from talking to you."

  "I bet she was.” The pain she had inflected upon him proved that.

  The sound of feet stamping around on the floor above them could suddenly be heard. Both Nefertem and Mahes looked up at the ceiling.

  "I would say Kendra's temper hasn
't cooled off one bit, Nefertem."

  "From the sound of it, you are right. I think I should at least see what she is doing up there."

  Leaving his brother who wore a bemused grin on his face, Nefertem went upstairs. He could still hear Kendra stamping about in her bedroom. He couldn't see what she was doing in there because the door to the room was shut tight. He wanted to go in and comfort her, tell her he was wrong and didn't mean what he had said, but doing that was out of the question. It was for her own good that he had done what he had done.

  Startled when the door suddenly opened, Nefertem jumped back. Kendra stood in the open doorway with her arms loaded with most of his belongings, things that had been stored in her room up until now.

  "Oh good, you came up here. You can now take these and save me from having to make two trips.” Unceremoniously, Kendra shoved what she held into Nefertem's arms.

  Turning back into the room, Kendra walked over to the bed and gathered up another pile of his things. Marching past him, she went to the spare bedroom and dumped what she carried on the bed. Nefertem quietly entered the room behind her.

  "Here is how things are going to work, Nefertem. You will now be bunking with Mahes for however long you are here. My bedroom is as of this minute, off limits. So get used to the idea of sleeping with your brother."

  Having accomplished what she had set out to do, Kendra walked out of the bedroom with her head held high. She didn't even spare Nefertem a backward glance on her way out.

  * * * *

  That night sleep did not come easily to Nefertem. It didn't feel right not having Kendra sleeping beside him. Mahes was a poor substitute by far. To reinforce the differences between the two, Mahes snored very loudly. Something his brother had been doing for most of the night. To get away from the noise Mahes was making, Nefertem rolled over onto his side to the very edge of the bed.

  This was worse than any punishment his mother could ever inflict upon him. The ironic thing about it all was that the punishment was one of his own devising. Closing his eyes, he tried to make sleep come and claim him for the hundredth time that night. Surprisingly, sleep did come.

  With sleep came a dream. This time he was not in his mother's lavishly decorated temple. In this dream, he found himself surrounded by a thick mist that obscured all that may have been near him. Complete silence reigned. Not liking where he had been taken, Nefertem prepared to meet whatever was to come. He knew it would not be pleasant for him.

  "You have a lot to answer for, Nefertem.” His mother's voice boomed all around him.

  "What do you want with me, mother?"

  "Do not speak to me in that manner. You know exactly why I have brought you here. By what right did you have to change Mahes into a mortal? He should not be with you."

  "Of course he shouldn't. I am to suffer this punishment alone."

  "As it has always been."

  "Well, Mahes came to pester me. Place the blame on him rather than me."

  "Are you trying to keep something from me, Nefertem? Is that why you kept Mahes with you? Did he find out something you do not want me to know about?"

  Nefertem ground his teeth. His mother was too close to the truth for his liking. “No, mother, I am not trying to hide anything from you. Mahes just picked a time to visit when I was not in a very forgiving mood."

  "So you decided to keep him with you. I would think you would have sent him away instead, if he was bothering you so."

  "You know I cannot do that in this form. I did what I could at the time."

  "I see."

  For a time his mother fell silent. He knew she wasn't finished with him yet. If she had been, he would have been released from this dream.

  "I can feel your pain, Nefertem. The pain you feel inside yourself.” His mother paused dramatically then said, “Ah, your pain is caused by a woman."

  Nefertem stiffened. “The pain is mine to feel."

  His mother laughed. “How self-sacrificing of you, but totally unnecessary. What kind of mother would I be if I did not take away your pain?"

  "I do not want you to do that.” Nefertem growled.

  "You are feeling too much lately, Nefertem. I like it not, but that can be fixed."

  Before Nefertem could respond, the dreamscape he was in began to slowly fade around him. The sound of his mother's laughter was the last thing he heard before he returned to himself. The last thought he had was that his mother had defeated him. When he came awake with the morn, whatever she had done to him would be revealed.

  * * * *

  Stretching, Kendra winced at the pain in her head. Lack of sleep always gave her a pounding headache. Her sleep during the night had been fitful at best. It was hard to sleep knowing Nefertem slept in the spare room just down the hall from hers. She missed not having him in her bed to snuggle up with. Each time she had reached out for him in her sleep, and found the place next to her empty, Kendra had awakened. Subconsciously, she couldn't let Nefertem go.

  Rolling over, Kendra squinted at her alarm clock. It was hours past the time she usually got up in the morning. She groaned to herself.

  Getting out of bed, Kendra took a quick shower hoping it would help clear her head. The hot steamy water relieved some of the pain in her head. As she dressed afterwards, she strained to hear if anyone else was moving around in the house. She couldn't detect any sounds coming from the other room.

  Gingerly opening her bedroom door, she poked her head out and looked up the hall. It was deserted. Opening the door wider, she stepped through it and made her way down the stairs.

  Completely bypassing the living room, she went straight to the kitchen. A couple cups of tea were in order to fix up what remained of her headache. Reaching the kitchen she found Mahes was already there, standing at the open fridge. He seemed to be looking for something.

  "Can I help you, Mahes?"

  Having had his head stuck deep inside the fridge, Mahes cracked the back of it when he jumped at the sound of Kendra's voice. The fridge door had blocked her entrance. Straightening up, Mahes rubbed the abused spot on his head. “Kendra, you shouldn't sneak up on a person like that."

  "I was hardly sneaking around.” Kendra laughed.

  "Fine, whatever you say. Since you are here, I'm starved. What is there to eat?"

  Kendra shook her head. “Typical male you are. Filling your stomach takes precedence over everything else."

  "Well, that isn't exactly the first thing I would have liked this morning, but I doubt you would be willing to satisfy that baser need for me."

  Kendra shook her head at Mahes again. “You really are incorrigible, you know."

  "Someone around here has to be."

  Pushing Mahes out of the way, Kendra reached into the fridge and pulled out eggs and a loaf of bread. “Since I won't do the one, I can at least do the other. I'll whip us up some breakfast."

  Moving aside so Kendra could get to cooking without his being in the way, Mahes went and sat at the kitchen table. From his vantage point, he could easily see the dark smudges beneath her eyes. Obviously, sleep had not come easily to Kendra either. He had not been totally oblivious to Nefertem's tossing and turning during the night either.

  "How are you doing, Kendra?"

  "Fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

  "Maybe because you had your heart trampled on by my idiot brother."

  Just about to crack an egg into the frying pan she had set on the stove top, Kendra froze at Mahes's remark. “What of it? I'll get over Nefertem just as I did my ex-fiancé."

  "Will you still help us?"

  "Of course. I hold myself responsible for starting this whole mess. I will do what I can to clean up after it."

  "I am glad you won't abandon us. There is much about this world of yours neither Nefertem nor I understand."

  "Speaking of your brother, where is Nefertem?"

  Mahes smiled at Kendra's back. She wasn't as over Nefertem as she wanted him to believe. “He is still sleeping. He didn't have a very peaceful rest la
st night. I decided to let him be and sleep longer."

  Kendra stilled once again. “And why would Nefertem have trouble sleeping? The man has a heart of solid ice."

  "Don't believe everything he said to you yesterday, Kendra."

  At Mahes's words, Kendra spun around and glared at him. “Stop it, Mahes. Stop trying to convince me Nefertem is a better man than what he is. Stop confusing me. You say one thing and Nefertem tells me another."

  Moving around the table, Mahes took Kendra by the shoulders and slouched down so he could look her squarely in the eyes. “That is not my intent at all. I know you care for Nefertem, deeply, just as he does you. What he said to you yesterday was not truly how he feels for you. He is trying to play the gallant. He figures if he gets you to hate him before he leaves, then your parting will not be so painful for you."

  "You don't know how much I wish what you said was the truth."

  "Believe it, Kendra."

  After saying those words to Kendra, Mahes looked over her head to find Nefertem standing at the entrance to the kitchen, silently watching them. He just stood there with no expression on his face. His eyes seemed harder, more feral, which had nothing to do with them being cat's eyes in the first place. Warning bells started going off in Mahes's head.

  "Well, hello, Nefertem. You are in time for some breakfast. Kendra has kindly agreed to make some for us."

  Spinning around, Kendra turned to look at Nefertem. Her heart started to beat faster at the sight of him, something it did every time she saw him. She found him as devastatingly good looking as she had when she had first clapped eyes on him. Wanting desperately to believe everything Mahes had told her, Kendra smiled tentatively at Nefertem. When all he did was stare back at her coldly, she let the smile fall from her lips.

  Walking farther into the room, Nefertem went over to the stove to see what was cooking. He sniffed at it and scowled.

  "I guess I can make do with this for now, but I expect better meals than what you have cooked."