by Jean Murray
Lilly could hear the concern in Kit’s voice. “I have no idea, but if she changes, they will kill her. Shit! Where the hell are they?”
The sound of footsteps running down the hall traveled down to where she lay in the basement. They came in full force. She shivered one last time before Asar disappeared.
Time flashed by in fragments. The fire consumed every last cell of her body, burning her alive. The medical team ran tests on her blood while in full protective gear seconds before the darkness took Lilly’s last visions of life.
CHAPTER nineteen
Lilly floated between a dream state and reality. If this was how revens transformed, no wonder they were mad. The whisper of a thousand voices rolled and crashed like waves in her head. There was only one voice she desperately wanted to hear. She longed for him.
At least he had his heart and could close the gate to the afterlife. There’d be no more revens—just those that already existed. She hoped it made a difference in Asar’s life, as well as her own. That’s if she made it out of whatever this affliction had befallen her. Maybe the goddess bound her with another curse? Didn’t she have enough of that in her life? No mother. No father. Correction, a reven for a father. A deadly asp wrapped in the vital organs of her body.
The heat of her body subsided but now she was freezing. So very cold. It emanated from the center of her chest. With a warm touch of a hand to her face, she found the strength to open her eyes. Kit sat in a chair next to her bed.
“Hey, welcome back to the living.” Kit fingered through Lilly’s damp hair on her forehead.
Lilly cleared her throat. “Am I still alive?”
“Don’t fret, sis. No reven blood is running in your veins.”
“What the hell is happening to me? I feel like someone turned me inside out.” Lilly tried to roll onto her side and failed miserably. Every cell in her body ached and her muscles refused to follow her commands.
“I was hoping you could tell me what is happening to you. Mother has no explanation for the changes.”
“Changes?”
Kit’s expression constricted. Lilly strained to look down at her body. Nothing seemed to be out of order. She turned back to her sister.
Kit rolled her eyes, and lifted up Lilly’s arm in front of her face. Down the length of her forearms hieroglyphics tattooed her skin, just like Asar’s. The most prominent— a lioness, asp and vulture. “What the hell?”
“Oh, that’s just the beginning.” Kit took out a blade and grabbed Lilly’s hand.
“Kit!” Lilly yelped when the blade cut into her flesh. Her skin sealed up immediately. The breath left her lungs. Finding the strength to move her arm, she fingered the cut but found her palm intact. Not even a scar remained.
Kit sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Your heart rate is less than forty beats a minute. You barely breathe. What else would you like to know?”
Lilly looked around her room. “How long since we left the goddess?”
“Twenty-four hours,” Kit said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “It may not seem like much, but a lot has happened, and not for the better.”
Lilly rubbed her aching head. “Kendra?”
“She’s fine, as far as I know. Or at least Mother says she’s okay.”
“What?” Her sister’s tone lacked optimism. “What the hell is happening?”
“The Carrigan sisters are on lock down. Mother is none too happy about our last mission. She thinks we’re consorting with the enemy, especially after your little conversion. Personally, I think she is afraid of us.”
“God, I’m sorry, Kit. This is my fault.” Lilly put her hand on her forehead. Her thoughts were scattered among the many voices ringing in her head. “What of Asar and Kamen?”
“Kamen brought Kendra and I immediately back to the museum. Maybe five minutes before Asar arrived with you. He left seconds before the medical team arrived. That’s the last we saw them. You were so hot, I thought for sure a reven or the goddess bit you, but I couldn’t find a mark— except one.” Kit tapped the knife against her other hand. Leaning forward, her sister rested the tip of the blade on the thin patient gown over Lilly’s heart. “Care to explain why you carry Asar’s mark?”
Lilly groaned. There was no way out of this one, so she might as well face the truth. “I made a deal with him. Your and Kendra’s safety in exchange for me.”
Kit snapped up to her feet and glowered down at her with intense blue eyes. “When the hell were you going to tell us?”
“Never, actually.”
“Never? Damn it, Lilly, stop trying to protect us, because when you do, it only means you lose somehow.” Kit kicked the chair out from behind her and started pacing. “So you are going to be his slave? Is that it? Great. Just great. You’re an idiot, sister. I’m sorry but you are.”
Lilly strained to turn on her side, this time she succeeded. “I will do anything to protect you two. You’re my responsibility.”
“Are you thinking straight? You sold your soul to the devil. Have you even for once thought how this would affect Kendra and me? To lose another person we love to this damn curse?”
“Asar will take good care of me. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better. I’m going to kill the bastard the next time I see him.”
Lilly shifted her weight to sit up. “The important thing is the gateway to the underworld will be closed. The goddess can’t create any more revens.”
“That is if, and I mean big if, your deity of a boyfriend actually follows through on his part of the bargain. Regardless, we have unleashed a hornet’s nest, and the queen killer bee is pissed. She’s going to rain hell down upon us. Where will your god be then? Where will you be? I know where Kendra and I will be. Alone!”
“Kit!” Lilly struggled to stand to stop her sister from leaving. The door slammed before she could even put a foot on the floor.
CHAPTER twenty
Asar sat at his desk in Aaru twirling the key in his hands. It had been over five years since he had it in his possession. It looked and felt no different and fit the lock perfectly. The gateway to the underworld was closed. No fireworks or light show demonstrated the significance of the act, instead a solitary click of the lock.
His son, the rightful owner of the key and lion and moon pectoral necklace, should have turned the key. Asar handed down the responsibility to guard the gates of the underworld to his son on the year of his maturation to a man. He blessed his son with the power to kill gods and wield the Mevt daggers. A monumental undertaking for a young god, his son shouldered the responsibility as primary sentry with stalwart dedication and skill.
He should have taken some solace. Thanks to Lilly and her sisters, he had the key and his heart. But things did not go as planned. The binding spell failed to subdue the goddess. He racked his brain trying to determine the error in their method. Only another powerful spell or god could undo the binding spell. And how the goddess rose from the dead in the first place was a mystery. True, the humans had exhumed the tomb, but it had taken a blood of a god to unleash her. Despite Inpu’s greatest efforts, they never found who aided her escape.
Asar rubbed his hand across his jaw. He had not yet wanted to admit to himself why he was less than celebratory. Lilly had fallen ill, and he had no idea why. He visited her room on several occasions, but it was difficult. With her under constant observation, he had been forced to hide in the deepest shadows of the room. He told himself everything would be okay, but it was a lie. Something was terribly wrong. Even if he could get close to her, the fever plaguing her body burned him even at a great distance.
With his elbows on the desk, he rested his head in his hands. His chest burned on the inside, causing a substantial amount of pain. “Lilly.”
Furrowing his brows, he remembered the emotion in her eyes before he left her in the museum. Laced behind the pain, her eyes were filled with love. He had not seen or felt the emotion in so long, b
ut she directed it at him. It filled the hole of his missing heart. He clamped down on the sensation before it consumed him completely. He was not ready for her to love him.
Part of him wanted to bathe in the emotion he saw in her eyes until he grew a new soul made from her pure energy. But, he would be irreversibly bound to her. She would hold power over his life source, something he vowed never to give up to another woman. He would be lying to himself if he did not think he already had given a part of himself to her, marking her in the deepest sense with his seed, an act strictly reserved for deities bound as mates.
The connection with Lilly coursed through his body and hers. He absorbed some of her life energy when they had made love. His cold body had warmed slightly, and his skin tone took on a lighter hue. It had been unintentional, or so he thought. She, a human, could not mark him the way he marked her.
He stared at the jar that contained his black heart. All the hatred he had for the goddess and her conspirators festered within the ceramic container. Well, almost all of it. He saved enough for the goddess herself. Not until his son was returned would he lay his vengeance to rest. He had thought if he retrieved his heart his emptiness would be filled, but apparently that was not the case. As he stared at the jar, he felt bitter and more hollow than ever.
Inpu entered the office in his ceremonial robe. “Are you just going to stare or actually absorb the damn thing? Nebt and I are ready when you are.” The priest sat in the seat across from him. “Why the long face? I thought this would finally make you tolerable to the rest of us.”
Asar slouched back and rubbed his chest. The thought of putting something Kepi touched back in his chest made his stomach churn. “My soul has been fouled by that odjit.”
Inpu sighed. “You cannot judge souls without it. The only other option is to grow a new soul, and I know just the girl who could do it for you.”
“Somehow, it does not seem right. Gods, I am an ass. I have abused my power to take what I wanted and that included Lilly. Now, she is sick, which I am sure is my fault.” He grasped his temple. Hell, how could she ever love him? He was repugnant through and through. He forced her into being his slave. The thought alone made his chest burn hotter.
“That may have been your intention in the beginning, but I saw how you look at her. You care for her. Maybe even love her, I suspect, considering the way you are wallowing here.”
Aggravated, Asar slammed his fist down on the desk. “That is impossible. I cannot even generate those feelings without a host.”
“So how do you explain your current state? You are love sick, my friend.”
Clasping his chest, Asar searched for any possible elucidation to explain the emotion he felt at this moment. Physical and emotional grief, a reaction garnered only by the emotion of love and the sense of losing something he cared for. Lilly generated an abundant source of energy and emotion—it is what drew him to her in the first place. Did he truly love her?
He knew taking her away from her family would destroy her. He could not live with himself. Much to his surprise, he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness and desire to be with her. His path was clear. He would absolve her debt to him.
“I need to go.” He stood to leave. “I will be back shortly. Please have Nebt prep for the ceremony.”
Inpu grabbed his arm. “I know what you are going to do, but do me one favor. Ask her what she wants before you decide for her. Godspeed, friend.”
Asar transported directly to Lilly’s room at the fortress only to find it empty. He laid his cold black hand on the bed, and felt the lingering warmth in the sheets. It was not long ago she had left this room. He picked up her pillow and inhaled her scent into his body.
The ache in his chest subsided briefly, but returned with a vengeance. He growled in pain and recited to himself he could let her go. His words brought no relief from the war waged within his entire being. Damn the goddess who had cursed him. If not for Kepi, he would have never met Lilly and would not be suffering right now. He shook his head. No, he would never regret meeting Lilly. The scent and taste of her would haunt him for an eternity.
He faded into the shadows as the door opened. Kit entered the room. She sagged into the chair next to him and put her arm across her eyes. She had been crying. He could taste the salt of her tears in the air. Kamen suddenly appeared beside him. Inpu obviously warned him that Asar headed into the snake den.
He stepped out of the shadows, close enough to make Kit shiver. Springing to her feet, she lunged for him. “Bastard, I’m going to cut your fucking heart out.” Kamen grabbed Kit around the waist to restrain her. “Let me go, asshole.” She struggled until she gasped for breath and Kamen’s arms blistered.
“I won’t let you take her,” Kit said behind a fresh veil of her tears.
“I am not taking her anywhere,” Asar said solemnly.
Her blue eyes froze on him. “But, I thought she had made a deal with you?”
“She did, but I’m here to break it,” he said quickly looking away, as the pain throbbed in his chest. “I need to speak with her.”
Kit’s expression shifted from relief to suspicion. “Why? Haven’t you done enough to her?” She pushed away from Kamen and stood in front of Asar. “For some ungodly reason, she cares for you, even now. You’ll break her heart. I can’t allow that.”
The ache in his chest was getting worse. “I need to remove my mark. Once that is done, she will be free. She will not see me again.”
Kit looked from Asar to Kamen. “Lilly is down with our father in the dungeon. Security is extremely tight down there. Now might not be the best time.”
Asar clutched his fist to his chest. “It will be now.”
Kit scowled. “Suit yourself.”
CHAPTER twenty-one
“Things are changing so fast. I’m changing.” Lilly sniffed and wiped the tears escaping her eyes. “I’m in over my head, Dad. I don’t know what to do.”
Her father’s eyes fixated on the glass where she was standing. His once gentle brown eyes burned red with hunger. Never exposed to the elements or other revens, her father’s body was well preserved from decay, unusually so. She assumed Mother had been feeding him. Despite being well nourished, his skin retained a sickly gray color with a spider web of veins visible beneath his skin. He’d become only a shell of the great man and father she once knew and loved. Still loved.
She fully expected him to charge. It wouldn’t be the first time. His head tilted slightly registering her voice. He approached slowly and deliberately, not normal reven behavior. Her father stopped at the glass and put his hands against it. The grayish skin smeared across making an eerie squeal.
Choking on her tears, she placed her hand on the glass to mirror his own. “I’m so sorry, Dad. The goddess. The revens. You told me not to touch the sarcophagus, but I didn’t listen. I didn’t believe you when you said it was cursed and now everyone is suffering. You. Kit and Kendra. Asar.”
She leaned her forehead on the glass of the observation window. Tears rained down her cheeks. “When he finds out I caused all this, he will never forgive me.”
Unexpectedly, her father howled and lurched at the window with his teeth drawn, dragging his lips and tongue across the glass where her face had been. A heinous snarl escaped his pale drawn mouth, ripping through the thick reinforced glass, as he lunged at her again and again.
Startled by the sudden change, Lilly slammed herself against the back wall. She turned to run, but an all too familiar dark shape and the ebb of cold air pulled her up short.
He drew back his mouth over what looked to be large fangs, letting out a wild hiss. The ripple of hatred and pain in Asar’s black eyes was unmistakable. She covered her mouth to suppress her scream.
“It was you!” Asar closed the distance in two large strides and grabbed her wrist. Twisting it painfully, he trained in on the distinct markings on her forearms. His eyes glowed red at the sight of them. “You purposefully deceived me.”
Her
heart lurched with fear. “No! Oh, god no! I didn’t know.” She cried out in agony. “I didn’t know. It was an accident. God, please. I would never hurt you.”
Asar wrapped his hand around her throat. “You already have. I should kill you for what you have done. Your father exhumed the goddess’ tomb. It was your blood that released Kepi from her prison.” His bellowing voice echoed in the small chamber.
Her worse nightmare came true. “Please forgive me. I didn’t know it would happen. My father took me with him on his excavation of the site. It was no different from the others. I cataloged all the artifacts, took measurements of the sarcophagus and its key—” Her words cut off as he tightened his grip on her throat.
Rage surged through the face of the man she loved. “How could I be so stupid? You have been working with the goddess this whole time. Manipulating me into trusting you, sharing myself with you, so that you could fully transition. You are no better than her.”
The accusation of his words ripped through her heart and deep into her soul. He hated her as much as he hated the goddess. “I would never do such a thing,” she yelled in a hysterical pitch through her compressed larynx. “I love you. I didn’t know. It was an accident. I was going to find a way to tell you.”
A pain like that of a sharp knife pierced through her heart. She cupped a hand over his mark to prevent him from taking it from her. “Please, don’t. I want to be with you. No, don’t take it away.”
Despite her pleas, she knew it was too late. The irreparable damage came complete with no chance of recovery. The man she loved despised her. He had no reason to keep her, even as his slave. If he had any level of empathy, he would kill her. She prayed he would suck every last morsel of life out of her, relieving her from the pain and guilt ravaging her soul.
With her soul completely stripped of his essence, he released her neck and wrist and gave her a hard shove to the floor. She sank to her knees and sobbed. A new level of agony boiled deep within her. He backed away without saying another word and vanished, sparing her miserable life.
