by Zoe Forward
“You weren’t paying on the car either? Is your sole purpose in life to fuck me over?” No wonder her credit card interest rates skyrocketed in the past week. And she’d thought it was because she’d almost maxed out one on travel expenses.
He shrugged. “Sorry.”
She massaged her temple against the burgeoning headache. She cared, but a far bigger problem waited in her office. “Fix the car thing. And could you, please, drop my cat at my place today?” She’d left Tasure with him before flying to Asheville out of desperation—not enough money for a sitting service, didn’t want to put him in a kennel, and all her neighbors flat out refused to deal with the cantankerous creature after previous experiences.
He frowned. “I sent you like three texts last week. Didn’t you get them? He had some sort of urinary blockage thing and the vet wanted a thousand bucks deposit to deal with it. Like I have that kind of money sitting around.”
Fear clenched her chest. Don’t let him be dead. “What did you do?”
“I had to relinquish him. The vet said he’d take care of him and find him a new home.”
“A new home?” She dully echoed. Her precious Tasure was with another person. When would she learn Troy was an irresponsible asshole? She fisted his shirt and pushed him with a strength that was amplified by the bochnori into the wall. “You gave my cat to someone else?”
Troy’s eyes went wide and he trembled, but he wasn’t staring at her. He stared over her shoulder. She pushed away from him and looked upwards at six and a half feet of pissed-off highly trained killer. She ground out, “I can handle this.”
“Is this the one you used to…that you were with?” Dakar said it softly. The man you allowed to touch you? His feral gaze narrowed as if calculating what specific way he could kill while inflicting the most pain possible.
Troy shook as if his body on some molecular level recognized the high-end predator sizing him up.
“You want an intro? Dakar, this is Troy. And, yes, Troy is my ex-boyfriend. Troy, this is Dakar.”
“Who is he? You hire a bodyguard?” Troy squeaked out.
“I found myself an authentic Egyptian magus. Now I just have to figure out how to turn him into a Ph.D. thesis.”
Dakar stepped around Shay, his broad body blocking her. She peeked around. He moved a serrated blade along Troy’s chin line. “I should kill you for hurting her.”
Troy’s entire body shook. Urine soaked the front of his pants.
Shay rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly. In ancient Egyptian she said, “As much as the thought of you carving him up into little pieces would make my year, you cannot kill him. This is against your code. Nothing you say could goad him into attacking you. I will not be responsible for some new gods crapfest because you lost it on my ex. He’s also the only person that knows who the hell has my cat. So, release him.”
“Your cat?” Dakar asked.
She switched to English. “Apparently he relinquished my cat to the vet when he got sick last week. And he neglected to pay some bills, which has sent my credit into the crapper. You probably have no idea what that means. The bottom line is you wouldn’t believe what his irresponsibility put me through.”
“I will make it right. But be assured ’tis over between you and him.”
“I never said it wasn’t. The asshole just keeps screwing me over like it’s his favorite pastime. And by the way, technically, you said it was over between us too.”
“I wished you to find a better life.” He stepped closer to her.
“A better life? I had to kiss that fish-faced psycho and risk my life in order to break the curse. Now that I think of it, you didn’t even have time for a thank-you. Instead, you were too busy inventing some self-righteous bullshit that made it okay for you to walk away.”
Troy skirted sideways along the wall, but before he could sprint Dakar’s blade pinned his shoulder to the wall.
Troy released a wail that would’ve made a dying pig proud. “I’m bleeding out.”
Dakar leaned close, spearing Troy with a deadly gaze. “Be quiet.” The or else didn’t need saying.
Shay said, “Suck it up, Troy. It’s a flesh wound.”
Dakar pointed a new knife at Troy.
She caught his hand, staying the blade that was on a trajectory for Troy’s throat. “He isn’t worth it.”
Dakar snarled at Troy, “She requests I spare your life. Should I?”
Troy whined, “Yes.”
“You will fix whatever mess you created. If you do not, or you do anything else to hurt her, I will return.” He added softly, “And I will carve you apart piece by piece. Doubt not that I will enjoy every moment.” Dakar yanked the blade out of the wall and Troy’s blood-soaked shoulder. The blades disappeared into his clothes within seconds.
“Where’s my cat?” Shay asked.
He rattled off the name of an emergency clinic near the big mall. “Now is a good time to run,” Shay suggested. As Troy cornered, she groaned. “He’ll probably phone the police and lodge a complaint against me that will cost me thousands in lawyer bills.”
“We will make you disappear. Or him.”
“I forgot that you guys like to suck your women into your world and make them vanish from their own.”
Dakar rubbed his forehead. “Do you wish to stay in your old life, shani?”
“Not really. I’ll miss my work. But where do we go from here? We’ve obviously still got some good chemistry, but…you left me. Why did you do that?”
“I was…wrong. I did not thank you for facing Djoser alone. And—”
“So showing up and screwing in my office makes it all right. That your way of saying thank you? It’s not a bad apology, but you could’ve just phoned.”
He cursed. “I did not intend to do that. It just—”
“Happened,” she finished with a nod. “It always just happens with us. The one thing we are good at is that. And we have always been bad at this.” She moved her hand back and forth between the two of them.
“I wanted you to have a chance at a life away from me and all of us. With no threat of another curse or getting killed.”
“Oh, Dakarai.” She chewed at her lower lip. His protective nature drove her nuts. At that moment when the curse forced her to strike the fatal blow, he would fight the curse-induced cloud of hate to forgive her and vow they would find a way to end the cycle. “How many times have you watched others spew off that kind of nonsense, and use that same lame excuse? You told me of many such instances. You would think we—no, you—would learn from others’ idiocy.”
He blew out a long breath. “It seemed like the right thing to do. I do not want to see you hurt because of me.”
She smiled, knowing how much he hated being wrong. “Where do we go from here?”
“Cy said it is not over.”
“What’s not over? Us or the curse?”
“The curse.” We will never be over.
His words echoed in her mind. Warmed her heart. I don’t know what we are anymore. “Without the curse…without its structure, I feel lost. We’ve never had normal. We’re not good at anything other than…that. Wait a minute, I was there and Djoser without a doubt rescinded it.”
“Khyan said so as well, but apparently Cy can detect that it is not over.”
“What more do we have to do?”
“Let us leave this place.” He glanced down the hallway and his muscles tensed.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Let us depart.”
As they exited the rear of the building, Dakar pulled her to a halt. He scanned.
A stray breeze carried a noise to her ears. A crunching sound. Was it a footstep grinding gravel into asphalt? It could’ve been nothing. She saw no one in the parking lot where a few POS college cars sat parked.
“You hear that?” she asked softly.
He cocked his head as if listening, probably using that seichim power that she barely understood. Softly he said, “They’re here.”
They as in Hashishins? Is Djoser here? she asked telepathically.
From out of nowhere, a blade hissed past her ear. Dakar spun her behind him. “They missed on purpose. Stay here. Don’t go back inside. They’re in there too…waiting for some reason.” They’re blocking us in. He backed her toward the ground level door they had just exited, blocking her with his body.
Dakar reached for the lighter in his pocket. Not there. Damn it. Must’ve fallen out in her office. He retrieved the blade and twirled the dagger, spying three Hashishins in the shadows. He moved like lightning. Being with Shaiani had charged his body. He never felt so alive, so in sync with the world around him as he did after being with her.
Dakar’s foot took a glancing step on the ground, barely seeming to touch as if propelled by a mysterious force. He saw the Hashishins turn, their movement glacier slow.
By the time they registered him, he was on them. And they were dead. Clean. Precise. And leaching their lifeblood onto the pavement.
A blade hit his back. It stung, but he’d heal. He whirled as he plucked the offending dagger out, locating its owner across the parking lot. They closed in on her. Damn it. This is distraction. They want her, of course.
He ran for her. And then everything slammed to a halt when a wave of energy blasted through his chest. It knocked him to his ass. He sat, gazing around for the source of that punch.
Djoser. The bastard was smiling. How had his power worked on him? A tickle of fear shot down his spine. The daemon was much more powerful than ever before, especially if he’d figured out how to make magik work on them. Get to her.
He pushed himself off the pavement and moved in front of her, blocked her. Hashishins flanked him. He did a peripheral scan, hoping Khyan had gotten his ass out of the airplane and followed him. Nothing. They were trapped. Move and they’d kidnap her. Stay and they’d slaughter him—exhaust him first and then group attack. And if Djoser attacked simultaneously…up shit creek.
The Hashishins attacked from both sides. He twirled, slashing the life from four at once. But it wasn’t enough. There was an army of the motherfuckers.
As if in slow motion, Shay skirted around and in front of him.
The fear in her gaze for the millisecond when her eyes met his froze his lungs. That’s when it happened.
Two blades punctured her chest. Djoser’s momentarily stunned expression morphed into glee. The son of a bitch had both good aim and strength.
Dakar screamed, doing a final fatal knife swipe on the four bastards attacking him from the sides. The rest mysteriously backed off. With a forward surge, he caught her as her knees folded.
He stared down into the beautiful face of his lover…his life. Her blood pumped around the blades. With every bit of the wrath and grief pounding through him, he pinned Djoser in a lethal stare.
Djoser smiled wide. He waved a good-bye and mouthed fuck you before he pivoted and left. His minions dissolved into the night. The asshole knew once she died he’d be out of this life within a few heartbeats. If the curse was over…that meant she was really dying this time. Somehow, deep in his soul he knew the curse had ended.
All the frustration clawing him inside and out roared from his mouth.
“Why?” Dakar gasped. He yanked the two blades from her chest. And listened to her wheezing breaths.
“Déjà vu, huh? Seems like I keep getting knifed.” She attempted a laugh, but coughed.
“Why would you?”
She cradled his cheek with her palm. “It’s my turn to go first. I can’t watch you die again. I just…can’t.” She closed her eyes. I will see you in the next lifetime. Maybe then we can end this curse. And focus on us instead of it.
He connected with her mind and sharply inhaled. He could handle a lot, but not her in pain. “We are not going to die this time.” There was a tremor in his voice. Fear. Firmly, he ordered, “Tell your bochnori to keep you in this life. It can help. I will get you to Kira.” His mind floundered to try the bonding spell he’d used on Julie, but he could barely focus beyond the panic spreading in his brain. Gods, he couldn’t handle watching her die.
Cy said from beside him, “She will be gone long before we make it to the airport.”
Dakar head swiveled, shocked. The teenager balanced on crutches beside Khyan.
Dakar growled, “You fuckers been hiding out in the bushes? Just watching?”
“The little midget put some sort of freeze spell on me. He wouldn’t let me help,” said Khyan. “I won’t forget this, Cy. If I lose them again when I know I could’ve prevented this and possibly killed that fucking daemon, I’ll kill you.”
Cy said, “Don’t expect Dr. Kira to show up. I’m pretty sure Ashor won’t let her leave his sight for a while. They’re back in New Orleans.”
“Why would you let this happen?” Dakar narrowed his gaze at Cy, furious at his apparent laissez-faire.
Cy addressed Shay. “You’re up, Shay. Only you can break this curse, and now is your chance. I think Djoser expects you to die, which is good. That is—”
Khyan fisted Cy’s shirtfront and pulled him close. “What the hell is good about that? Any of this?”
“Dying is what Djoser wants on some deep level. That means right now is their best bet to end this curse. Shay, did Dakar tell you my theory?”
“What theory?”
Cy pushed at Khyan’s grip. “Let. Go. You want me to help them or you willing to watch them die right now?”
Shay coughed.
“Let him go,” Dakar ordered.
Khyan released. “You better know what the hell you’re doing or—”
Cy rushed to say, “I know, I know. This backfires and you’ll kill me. Like I haven’t heard that before.” He rolled his eyes heavenward and then spoke to Shay. “I think Djoser said the words to release you from the curse, but didn’t mean them. Apep will only lift this curse when Djoser feels that his revenge has been doled out. Based on his little good-bye salute, we can only hope he thinks vengeance is complete. But even if Apep releases you both, Dakar complicated your curse by soul-locking him. That, unfortunately, I think has to be undone by a god.
“Now it is up to you, Shay. You must pray to a god…do a death prayer-wish, but pray wisely. You may remember some aspects of living in ancient times, but you were not particularly scholarly. In this life you’ve studied the gods extensively. I trust you to know what to do, to whom you should pray, to—”
“What am I supposed to do?” Shay sucked inward, struggling for air. Then she wheezed out, “Quit being cryptic. What are you talking about? I was barely able to find out about magi in my research.”
Frustration pounded in her brain. What would she ask of the gods? What did she want most? She wanted this curse to be over. For the pain to stop. And for both of them to finally die and be at peace, not get reincarn-ed to start this over again. That meant asking…she nodded at Cy.
She entreated Osiris in a silent prayer. Osiris, the benevolent, upon my dying breath I ask that you please allow both Dakar and myself to pass into your realm. She screwed her eyes closed and pleaded, Please. Let us be granted final peace and end this curse. If you refuse me entry because I have hurt him so many times, then please, take him.
A flash of eye-numbing light surrounded them.
“What did you do?” Dakar asked softly.
“I entreated a god.”
“Which one?” Khyan asked, his fear evident as he scanned the area.
“Osiris.”
“Oh, shit.” Khyan hit the ground, kneeling.
Cy executed an awkward kneel-sit. Both had gazes directed at the dirty asphalt. Dakar didn’t release her but bowed his head.
A tall humanoid being wearing a long white robe adorned with a gold wesekh around his neck slowly turned toward them. A blue and white pointy headdress that had to be half a foot high hid his hair. Gold eyes settled on her. “Your entry unto my land is denied. At this time.”
Shay wanted to let loose a loud why not!
but the rational part of her brain pointed out Osiris didn’t need to do a personal visit to say that. He could’ve just ignored her request. The god sent her a condescending grin. Oh my. He could probably read her thoughts.
Osiris’s voice was smooth and calming, but not reassuring. “You cannot enter until you have lived your purpose.”
Dakar’s head shot up.
Osiris spoke to him. “Until you have served this realm to your full capacity. You did not deserve penance in the Middle Realm, Dakarai. Ma’at was wrong to send you there. But did you not notice when in that land of forsaken souls that you alone of all the creatures relegated there could stand upon the road that leads to my kingdom? You could have traveled its path and knocked at my doors.”
“Would you have granted me entry?”
“We shall never know.” He waved a hand over Shay. All her pain disappeared.
She pulled up her shirt to discover the wounds were healed.
“Now go and prove to me why granting you both life was a wise judgment.” His interest turned. “Cyrus. You did well.”
“Thank you. I hoped she would call upon you…that you would answer.” He paused and added, “It has been a long time.”
A tragic sadness projected from the being. “I am sorry for the pain inflicted upon you in this life in your mortal form. So young. Too young for such…trial.”
Cy lunged forward and hugged him. The god enveloped him.
Shay stared, shocked. A side glance found both Dakar and Khyan could catch flies with the low level to which their jaws dropped. All head bowing was long forgotten.
Cy released and hopped away, catching himself on his crutches before he fell. He whispered, “Did you cause the train crash?”
“My anger may have gotten the better of me over your guardians. All that have hurt you will be punished.”
“All those other people on the train died because of me?”
“Each was granted entry unto my world and no longer suffers. Many will enter new lives soon. Except the two designated the responsibility of your care. They are in the Middle Realm and might be allowed into a higher level of purgatory in a few years.”
