The Blue Lotus

by Marisa Chenery

  "You can't get off the plane Nefertem, until we have landed."

  "Is this your idea of torturing me?” There was a slight growling undertone to his words.

  Kendra stiffened. Had Nefertem's control finally run out? Reaching for her purse, she put it on her lap. The package of sleeping pills was in it still. “No, I did not do this to torture you, Nefertem. This is the fastest way to get to Egypt."

  "There was no other mode of transportation?"

  "Yes, but it would take weeks to reach Egypt that way. We would have had to take a cruise ship, and even then, there would be one airplane flight to get to the ship."

  To Kendra's relief, her explanation seemed to set Nefertem somewhat at ease. She watched as he slowly let himself relax. She in turn relaxed her grip on her purse.

  "Try not to let it bother you, Nefertem. This leg of the journey will be over soon."

  He only grunted in response. Kendra had the distinct feeling he didn't believe her last statement. Settling back into her seat, she hoped he would keep the good behaviour he was now acting with.

  The rest of the journey was sheer torture for them all. Kendra just thanked the stars above that Tory and Scott were traveling with them. She was never one to handle lack of sleep very well, and having to deal with the time differences on top of it all was making it that much harder on her. If she had been alone she would have been in tears more than once.

  The only plus side of it all was Nefertem's behaviour. Not once did his control slip, which in itself was a bit worrisome for her. Where had this newfound control come from and when would it disappear? Because she would bet all the money she had in the bank that disappear it would. The big question was when.

  Deciding she didn't want to be left in the dark as to when Nefertem would slip up, Kendra managed to pull Mahes aside from the others during the layover in London. Taking him a short distance away from the others, she confronted him. “All right, Mahes, spill it."

  "Spill what?"

  "About Nefertem. When do we get the very nasty surprise?"

  "I do not know what you mean.” Mahes said with all innocence. Too innocently, Kendra thought to herself.

  "You know perfectly well what I mean. No games now. When is Nefertem going to stop playing nice?"

  Mahes wished he could spare Kendra this; he could see the lines of strain on her face. There also were dark smudges beneath her eyes giving them a bruised look, but it was inevitable. She had to be told what would happen.

  "No more games. You are right. Nefertem's time is running short."

  "When?” Kendra felt her stomach drop now that Mahes had confirmed her fears.

  "When we reach Egypt. When he steps onto the land of our birth, the change will become complete."

  Kendra swallowed loudly. “You mean the urge to maim, kill, and basically do major damage to anyone mortal?"

  "Something like that."

  "I can't allow him to do that. You said the pendant prevents Nefertem from harming me, does it also give me some power over him as well then?"

  Mahes shook his head in denial. “No. My mother will have full control over him. Kendra, he will be more cat than man."

  Kendra closed her eyes for a brief moment as she felt her heart break. So she would lose Nefertem, not when this was all over, but much sooner. The man would be lost to the cat inside.

  "I still cannot allow him to hurt anyone, Mahes. I guess I will have to use what I brought from home. A safety net, so to speak."

  "It will have to be a pretty strong net if you are to use it to restrain Nefertem."

  Kendra shook her head. “It is not a net of that sort.” Taking a quick look behind her to make sure Nefertem had not come to see where they had gone to, Kendra opened her purse and pulled out a small box. “This is our safety net. These are sleeping pills. If I can slip Nefertem a dose of these before we land in Egypt it should knock him out for a few hours at least."

  Mahes smiled at Kendra. “You thought of everything didn't you? Smart and beautiful. I can see why Nefertem fell in love with you."

  With more force than was necessary, Kendra shoved the pills back into her purse. “Don't, Mahes. This is eating me up inside as it is. I don't need you reminding me of what I am about to lose."

  "That was not my intent. I apologize."

  "Whatever. Let's get back to the others before Nefertem comes to find us. I'm not sure Tory was happy with us leaving her and Scott alone with him."

  Mahes watched Kendra head back to the others. She was a strong woman. He only hoped she was strong enough to face what was to come.

  * * * *

  The flight from London's Heathrow airport, luckily for them, was not delayed. Extremely jet lagged, one and all, this last stretch of their travels was the light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

  Once more, just as they had for the first flight from Memphis, Kendra was seated between Mahes and Nefertem. By design, she maneuvered Nefertem into the window seat. If things ended up turning nasty, she wanted him in a position where he could do the least damage to those around them.

  The four-hour flight seemed to be passing much too quickly. At least it was for Kendra. As each minute ticked by she felt herself becoming wound as tight as a spinning top. She kept looking for signs that Nefertem was starting to change.

  About thirty minutes before they were due to land at the Cairo airport, Nefertem began to display the signs Kendra had wished would not come. He no longer sat quietly in his seat, but started shifting around, looking at the other passengers on the plane with them. She could tell from the wicked looking smile upon his lips that it was not avid curiosity that was making him stare so. Deciding now was the time, Kendra elbowed Mahes and discreetly cocked her head in Nefertem's direction. He peered over the top of her head so he could look at his brother. He then turned back to Kendra and gave a curt nod of his head.

  Having prepared for this moment before boarding the plane in London, Kendra ever so calmly reached for her purse. Knowing there would be no chance of getting Nefertem to swallow a pill without telling him what it was for, she had managed to get the needed dose ground to a powder. A quick trip to the bathroom had kept her actions a secret from Nefertem.

  Mahes handed her the small bottle of soda he had kept from his meal. Getting up, so she stood on her feet, she made her way to the airplane's bathroom. Once safely inside, with the door shut tightly behind her, Kendra pulled out the tissue in which she had wrapped the ground sleeping pills. Opening the soda, she dumped in the powder and gave it a gentle shake to dissolve it. Replacing the lid, she then went back to her seat.

  Taking a deep fortifying breath, Kendra turned to Nefertem. “I think you should drink this, Nefertem.” She held out the bottle of soda to him.

  Nefertem looked down at the bottle in her hand. “Why should I take that?"

  "Because you haven't had anything to drink for awhile and we will be landing soon. It could be some time before you can get another."

  "I soon will not need to worry about trivial things such as that."

  Kendra tried to keep the anxiety growing inside her from her voice as she spoke again. “Please just drink it.” This time she removed the lid before she offered it to him once again.

  He hesitated for a brief moment before he took the bottle from her. “I will do as you wish this time. Only because I must prepare for what is to come. I have no wish to have you bothering me in this way."

  Placing the rim of the bottle to his lips, he proceeded to down the entire contents in two large gulps. He handed the now empty bottle back to Kendra.

  "I have done as you have asked, now speak to me no more, mortal."

  Kendra cringed at the overbearing manner Nefertem had used to speak to her. She could only hope the ground up sleeping pills would not take too long to take effect.

  In the end, the wait turned out not to be very long. It only took a few minutes before Nefertem's head began to nod in sleepiness. After another ten minutes, he was out cold. When he star
ted to slump off to the side, Kendra grabbed him and positioned Nefertem so his head rested on her shoulder.

  "I see your safety net worked perfectly.” Mahes said quietly.

  "It may have worked all too well. How are we going to get him off the plane in this condition? It will be questioned as to why we are dragging him out of here."

  "Not to worry. Nefertem isn't the only one who can get others to see what he wishes them to. I too have the same ability. To all who see us they will think he is awake and alert. Only to us will he be as he truly is."

  Sure enough, when the flight attendant came to make sure they had their seat belts fastened in preparation for the landing, she didn't seem to notice that Nefertem still slept on Kendra's shoulder. After landing, Mahes dragged Nefertem to his feet, and putting his brother's arm around his shoulder, he began to make his way to the airplane's exit.

  Kendra, Tory, and Scott followed Mahes out. They went through customs smoothly, with the still sleeping Nefertem held upright by Mahes. Collecting their luggage, they made their way into the terminal. Kendra began to scan the crowd as she stepped through the gate doors, looking for the familiar face of her brother.

  Being slightly over six foot tall, Markus was easy to pick out of the mass of people milling about. Letting her companions follow behind, Kendra rushed over to her brother and threw her arms around him. She needed him more now than she had needed him for many years. She savagely pushed back the tears that threatened to come to the surface.

  "What is this? My little sister missed me that much?"

  Kendra pulled back and gave Markus a weak smile. “Of course I missed you."

  Markus looked passed Kendra. “I see you brought your friends as planned. A couple of new faces as well."

  "I will tell you the whole story, Markus, once we get settled into the hotel."

  Looking down at his sister, Markus gave a curt nod of his head. “I won't push you now. I imagine all of you must be exhausted. I see the jet lag has hit one of you the hardest."

  Turning her head to look behind her, Kendra saw Mahes give her a wink of his eye. “That can be explained as well."

  "You had better, Kendra.” Picking up the suitcase she had placed at their feet, Markus led the new arrivals out of the airport and into the city of Cairo.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The hotel where Markus was staying, and where he had managed to book extra rooms for them all, turned out to be very comfortable. It was by no means a four star hotel, but it was nice enough. The biggest asset was its being located in close proximity to the Great Pyramids at Giza, and in turn close to the Sphinx.

  Once Tory and Scott were ensconced in their room, Markus brought them to the room Mahes and Nefertem would be sharing. Kendra had thought she would stay with them, but her brother had another opinion about that.

  After firmly shutting the door behind Mahes after he had walked through it dragging Nefertem with him, Markus took Kendra by the arm and pulled her into the room right next to theirs. He placed her suitcase on the bed next to the one he had claimed as his own.

  "You can sleep here with me."

  "I would prefer to share Mahes and Nefertem's room. I do not think it is wise to leave them on their own in a hotel room."

  Sitting himself down in one of the two chairs in the room, Markus crossed his arms across his chest and gave Kendra a hard stare. “Why should I allow you to stay with them?"

  Kendra started equally hard back at her brother. “This is not your decision to make, Markus."

  "What the hell is going on, Kendra.” He asked softly.

  Sighing deeply, Kendra searched Markus's face. She knew the look he wore. He would not relent until she gave him a very good reason to do so. She loved him dearly, but in situations such as this, he could be a tad overprotective. “Let's get this over with before something unpleasant happens in the room next to us."

  After taking a deep breath, Kendra launched into the unbelievable story that had become her life. She only left out the part of how close her relationship with Nefertem had been, but Markus was too astute not to pick up on the truth.

  "So when did you sleep with this ancient Egyptian god?"

  Kendra rolled her eyes at her brother. “After what I have told you, about what is going to happen, all you can think to ask is when I slept with Nefertem?"

  "Yes, it is. I will get to the rest of it after you answer my question."

  Kendra seldom got angry with her brother, but today was an exception. Feeling her temper flare to life, she stalked over to the chair where he sat and glared down at him. “That is none of your business, Markus. I will not be interrogated by you about my sex life."

  Markus shook his head. “You just answered my question in a way. You definitely slept with him or you would not be so indignant about my asking. You really do know how to pick them, Kendra."

  "Shut up, Markus.” That only caused her brother to laugh; making the ire she was feeling toward him increase. Markus saw the flash of anger in her eyes and wisely stopped laughing.

  "Okay, I will let it go for now. I must say I never expected this turn of events to come about by my simply sending you that pendant. It really was not in the best of condition when I bought it."

  Now that Markus had given up on his line of questioning, Kendra let her anger die away. “Well it did and the pendant's real worth was hidden beneath the grime of centuries."

  Pulling the pendant out from the inside of her shirt, Kendra left it to hang from her neck on the outside. Doing what Nefertem had told her to do, she had not removed it.

  Markus sucked in his breath as he caught sight of the pendant dangling from Kendra's neck. It looked nothing like the one he had mailed to her.

  Getting up from the chair, he reached out and lifted the pendant from where it rested on Kendra's chest. “This is worth a fortune. I could sell this and we could be set for a very long time."

  Kendra slapped Markus's hand away. “Like hell you will. The pendant is mine. You can't take back the gift you sent me, and as long as Nefertem and Mahes are here it cannot leave my neck."

  "Why?"

  "With it around my neck Nefertem won't harm me. He made me promise not to take it off before the change took him over."

  Markus sighed with regret. “Fine, keep it. I wouldn't dream of taking it from you.” He watched when Kendra wrapped a hand around the pendant. He didn't really know all that she had been through but he would try to understand. “Okay, take me to them. I want to meet these ‘gods'."

  Giving Markus a quick kiss on the check, Kendra smiled at him. “Thanks for at least trying to understand. It is what I need from you now. Your understanding."

  * * * *

  After Kendra's brother had left with her in tow, Mahes had settled Nefertem on one of the beds. He then prowled around the hotel room all the while keeping a sharp eye on Nefertem. There was no telling when he would awake and with Kendra still in possession of the sleeping pills, there was no way he could get Nefertem to take more if he did wake up before she returned. He hoped Kendra did come back to the room. Mahes had seen the look on her brother's face as he had shown them to their room. The man was not at all pleased with this whole situation.

  Coming to stand before the only window in the room, Mahes looked out at the city he once knew so well. It was now almost unrecognizable to him. He had not expected it to have changed so much. A knock on the door pulled his gaze from the view outside the window. “Come in."

  Behind the door Kendra's voice sounded muffled as she said, “You have to open the door, Mahes. It locks automatically once the door shuts. We don't have a key for it."

  Crossing the room, Mahes pulled the door open. He smiled at Kendra and gave a nod of his head in her brother's direction. “Come in, please.” Stepping aside, he made room for them to come through the door.

  Turning back to the room, Mahes found Kendra standing over Nefertem while her brother hovered closely behind her, ready to pull her away if Nefertem made a move,
or so it seemed to Mahes. He joined them.

  "You told Markus everything.” Mahes did not say it as a question but as a statement of fact.

  Taking her eyes from Nefertem's sleeping form she turned her attention to Mahes. “Yes, but Markus being Markus has to see things for himself."

  "Nothing like talking as if I am not in the room."

  Kendra rolled her eyes. “Let me make the formal introductions then. Mahes, this is my brother Markus. Markus you already know who these two are. Is that good enough for you?"

  Markus decided to ignore Kendra's sarcastic question. Instead he focused his full attention on the man standing in front of him. He was everything you would expect a god to be. Tall, good looking, along with a well-muscled body. Basically perfect looking. He usually didn't take to men who looked like that, but Mahes was different. There was character and trustworthiness behind those eyes that stared back at him unflinchingly.

  "Kendra feels she needs to stay here with you and your brother instead of staying in my room. After the story she told me, I want to hear from you that she will be okay."

  "Of course she will be safe. Kendra possesses the pendant; no harm will come to her."

  "All right, I can accept that. What about Nefertem? You can't keep him doped up on sleeping pills twenty-four/seven."

  Mahes looked over at Kendra. “Do you have those sleeping pills with you now?” At her nod, he answered Markus. “For the time being it is for the best if we keep him in this state. I need to get to what is left of my father's temple and see what else can be done to keep Nefertem under control."

  "Fine, I will take you there in the morning. It is too late to go today."

  A low growl coming from the direction of the bed instantly drew the attention of the three other people in the room. Nefertem, now fully awake when just a second before he had been in a deep sleep, was now sitting up on the bed eyeing them intently.

  Usually not one to be easily frightened by anything, Markus felt an unfamiliar chill run up his spine. It wasn't just the golden cat eyes that glared at them, but the aura that emanated off the man. It was like looking at a caged wild animal that was unpredictable, not knowing when it would strike out at you. How Kendra could have fallen for a man such as this was beyond his reasoning.