Immortal Dynasty (24 page)

“Beware of the Death Beast!” His pipe shattered, and he gripped the medallion fiercely. He struggled to rise from the chair. “Keep the amulet safe.”

“How do I fight? I am weak. How do I reach my powers?”

The last of the walls tumbled away. Just as the inky shadows wrapped around him, Papa Shadi screamed in pain. One word echoed in the darkness.
Love.

What about love? Frustrated, her mind questioned why everything had to be mazes and riddles with a mage.

The darkness finally consumed her.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A half hour had passed while Shaila sought to help Papa Shadi, but to Darius it felt like an eternity. He crushed a circular path into the carpet around her meditative form. The only break he took was to briefly help Marcus on the computer. Marcus was absorbed with research on ancient cults, demons, and shadow walkers.

As Shaila’s body slumped over, Darius rushed to catch her. His heart pounded in his chest. He prayed she’d been able to find and talk with Papa Shadi. He was thankful to have his grandfather back, but he cursed the detour his life took only a few days ago.

“Shaila,” he whispered gently into her ear. “Come on, honey. Wake up.”

Her eyelids fluttered open, but she cringed at the bright fluorescent lights. He waited patiently for her eyes to adjust and her body to relax. His own body was strung as tight as a bowstring.

Finally, he could see a sparkle of recognition in those large emerald eyes. But something had changed. She seemed to draw away from him. A look of shame crossed her features. Why?

“Shaila, what’s wrong?”

“I…N-Nothing.” She avoided meeting his gaze.

“Shaila?”

“What?” Now she almost sounded irritated. “I feel a little fuzzy, that is all.”

“Why do you smell like apples?” He could tell that she was trying not to, but she smiled anyway. “Smoky apples. You did find Papa Shadi!”

Darius felt a small prick of jealousy that he couldn’t have been the one to go to his grandfather. Yet, he found himself smiling too. Memories flooded his mind of Papa Shadi hugging his shesha pipe and puffing out clouds of fragrant smoke. He drew Shaila into his arms and whispered his thanks into her dark hair.

“Yes. He seems in good spirits. I think he was enjoying the solitude.”

“Were you able…to speak with him?”

“Yes.” Shaila stood up and retreated to the outer room. She hesitated at the doorway, glancing back at his grandfather’s body. “Bakari was right. He really knows how to build a strong wall. He was sitting in a room very much like the one at your house. It must be a place that gives him comfort.” Sadness overcame her. “But I must have weakened his defenses, because the darkness surrounding the room eventually closed in on us.”

“So, did he help you figure out how to connect with your spirit, Shaila?”

“No, Marcus. I am afraid I am still left to figure that one out on my own. All he said was to be wary of the Death Beast, but I already know I must prevent Apophis from escaping.”

Darius wondered why she purposefully avoided eye contact with him. “Tell me what he said. What else did you learn?”

“I must get back to the house, Darius. I must look through his study once again. He said it was within reach.”

“Shaila, answer me, damn it. What else did Papa Shadi say?”

“Nothing.”

She was lying, damn her. His palm itched. He took a step in her direction, but she bolted for the stairs and disappeared through the grate. Darius looked at Bakari. “She’s lying to me, I know it. I feel it. Why does she refuse to trust me? I just don’t understand what makes her keep things from me.”

“Our Lady of Flame is entitled to keep her thoughts to herself. Maybe you should trust her?”

Asshole.
“Don’t patronize me, Bakari. I have trusted all of you at pretty much face value lately. I think it’s time
I’m
trusted around here too.”

“Then, go. Go after her. Make her understand that she can trust you. Even a goddess can feel vulnerable.” He motioned toward the stairs.

“How do I convince a goddess to trust me?”

“Tell her the truth.”

“And which truth is that?”

“The one that ends with…I love you.”

Darius was speechless. Was he in love with her? “Bakari, will you…”

“Of course, I will look after your grandfather here. I’ll call your cell if anything changes.”

“Thank you.”

“Marcus…”

“Go, man! Don’t let her walk the streets of Boston alone at night. I’ll hang out here and play around with ALICE. She’s been pretty good to me so far.”

Darius dashed up the stairs, through the crowded game room, and into the darkness. Cold air seeped into his body, but it wasn’t the air that made him shiver. A red moon hung low in the sky. It was the kind of night that felt heavy with evil malice and raised the hairs on the back of his neck. Tomorrow night was a full moon. A hunter’s moon.
All Hallows Eve.

* * *

It didn’t take long to catch up with Shaila. He found her in the alley four blocks away. Two demons in leather trench coats flanked her. He was really not in the mood for slimy fangs, green scales and bad breath.

“Well, you guys sure dress better than your buddies.” Already airborne by the time both demons swirled around in surprise, Darius kicked the neck of the first one, and followed his foot through into the ear of the other.

He wasted no time in waiting for answers. These demons recovered far too quickly. Shaila responded with her own attack. With only one to concentrate on, Darius focused on avoiding the fangs. “Grandma, what big teeth you have.”

“All the better to eat you with.” The demon leaped toward Darius and narrowly avoided another kick to the head.

Darius shifted his stance and started to reach for his throwing knives. He paused as an interesting new weapon came to mind. The moonlight revealed a rusted iron fence up ahead. He ran at the demon and used him like a springboard. Flipping over and landing on his feet next to the fence, he used his heel to knock a loose bar off.

With no time even to turn around, he flipped the rusty bar to his better hand and stabbed backwards. He could hear gurgling behind him. “I always hated Little Red Riding Hood, but I loved the ending where the woodsman chops the wolf’s head off.”

Swiveling around, he ran the demon backwards until the tip of the iron bar impaled it to the wall. He wouldn’t be going anywhere just yet. Darius took a moment to check in on his goddess-slash-warrior.

Shaila had picked away the other demon and slashed his throat with her dagger. The exposed artery gushed dark blood down its neck. He cackled, flicking his forked tongue at her.

“You can’t kill me, woman.” His voice turned raspy as air entered the wound. “I am already dead.”

Shaila smirked. “You only think you are dead. When I sever your head from your neck, you will be going to the Underworld for good this time.”

The demon started to cackle again but choked on blood. Shaila flashed a wicked feline smile. “Oh, I hope I do not get a scale caught between my teeth. I really hate it when that happens.”

Darius almost laughed as the demon’s eyes widened in surprise and fixated on her fangs.

“Did they forget to tell you that your prey was a goddess?”

He barely had time to shake his head before she attacked. She roared like a huntress thrilled by the smell of blood and fear. He ran, but she bounded after him until she caught him. Shaila sunk her fangs into his shoulder, and with her dagger she slashed at the muscles in his neck.

As his eyes bugged out, she ended his torture with a mighty kick sending his head tumbling along the gutter. Both the head and the body burst into a blue flame, and within seconds the demon vaporized.

Darius grinned. The sight of Shaila sauntering toward him like a predator frightened him, and yet it really turned him on. Those friggin’ long legs in skin-tight leather.

Shaila grasped her dagger by the tip and hurled it in his direction.

He froze as it whined past his ear. He heard a slight sigh and felt the heat of a flame on the back of his neck.

“Damn, I am really starting to like those bad-ass leather boots.” He winked at her.

Her fangs had retreated, but blood remained on her chin. Reaching for her face, he wiped the blood off with the pad of his thumb. Her breathing slowed, but then he heard a slight hitch in it.

“Hurry, Darius.” She slipped her dagger back into its sheath at her thigh. “We must go. now!”

* * *

Demons screeched in frustration on the other side of the front door. Darius’s lungs burned from the all-out sprint to get home. Shaila stood beside him, gulping in air and steadying herself with the banister.

“Deja vu.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s something we say when we feel like we’ve experienced something identical before.”

“Then, yes. I do believe we have experienced the deja vu.” Hissing and clawing continued on the other side of the door. “Do not worry, Darius. His spell will keep them out. In my time, Shadiki was the most powerful wizard among the humans.”

“I’m not worried about the spell. I’m worrying about Papa Shadi’s front door. He’s gonna be really torched about it.”

Some of the tension eased.

“I’ve never known my grandfather to be very wizard-like.”

“Shadiki has many talents. His spells were strong and his visions were uniquely prophetic, which made him a talented priest in my temple.”

“So, my grandfather was a priest in ancient Egypt?” Darius helped her to her feet. “That would have gone over great at career day.”

He ignored her look of confusion.

“You know, I think I have inherited some skills from Papa Shadi. I have always been able to see very clearly in darkness.”

Shaila looked away from him. “Not a usual human skill.”

“No, it’s not. There’s more too.” He grew frustrated at her refusal to look at him. “I can tell when someone is not being truthful. When they are lying.”

She did finally look at him. “Truly you can?”

He nodded. “My palm itches when someone is lying to me.”

“Is it itching now?”

“No, but it did back at my lab, when you said there was nothing more that my grandfather told you. You were lying then.”

Shaila made her way up the stairs. She paused halfway up. “I did lie to you. I am sorry, but I cannot explain it. I do not know how.”

He heard the water begin to spray in the shower.

Twenty minutes later, he realized the water was still running. That’s when it occurred to him.
She’s gonna run.

He dashed up the stairs and threw open the bathroom door. Steam curled out of the small room and into the hallway. A rumpled towel lay on the floor. He relaxed slightly, until he realized she wasn’t in any of the rooms on the top floor.

“Shaila!” Each room proved to be empty.

He finally found her in Papa Shadi’s study, weeping over a stack of dusty journals.

“I was going to leave because I cannot face you. But I could not. A warrior does not turn away from what must be done.”

“Is that why you’re crying?” He tried to wipe a tear away but she turned her head aside.

“No, I am crying because I cannot figure out what Shadiki said. The answer is here somewhere…within reach. But I cannot read this language.”

“It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.” He tried to soothe her. “We’ll find it together. Whatever it is.”

“Darius, I have to find my way back to my spirit. I have to. How can I defeat Lilith without it?”

She was so distraught, he wanted to smooth away her fears. His chest tightened painfully. “Shaila, it’ll work out. I believe that. I’m here. I know I’m only human, but I can protect you. I have to.”

Shaila’s heart swelled almost painfully, sending strange sensations throughout her body. Stroking his face, she pulled his head towards her and kissed his forehead. Pushing him back, she admired his features, so strong and commanding. He looked like the pharaoh he should have become. His features resembled his father, but his eyes were a nearly identical shade to Nefertiti’s. How could she have missed it all before?

“Darius, it is my job to protect you.”

“I don’t need protection.”

“Yes, you do.” She made sure he was looking into her eyes. “You are the deliverer, Darius.”

“What?” He pulled away from her. “That’s nonsense.”

“Is it? Is it really?” Fresh tears sprang to her eyes. “Is it any crazier than a human from Boston resurrecting an ancient goddess from a statue?”

She watched his eyes dart from side to side. Silently, she waited for him to gather the puzzle in his head and process all of what he had known and what he now knew.

“At the moment, everything seems crazy. Yet, nothing seems crazy. I--I am not sure what to think.” He picked up a picture of himself with Papa Shadi. They were standing next to the Sphinx in Egypt. “I’m not really his grandson. Am I?”

“Not by blood.” She leaned into him, whispering the answers to his past. “Many years ago, he went back to Egypt to find the tomb. He opened the sarcophagus and switched the infant mummy with the bones of a much newer infant. He brought that mummy home, here to Boston. He used his own wizard’s skill to resurrect you.”

Darius remained silent. His thoughts returned to the dream he’d had the other day, during Shaila’s meditation. In the dream he’d stood in a room with a woman who’d seemed vaguely familiar. She’d kissed him on the cheek, and then smiled like a mother proud of her son. Unconsciously, his hand lifted to the cheek she had touched.

“Darius, you are the only son born to Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt. She entrusted you to my care over three thousand sun cycles ago, so you could fulfill a destiny prophesied by my priest.” He watched fat tears slip down her cheeks. “Days after giving up her beloved son to me, Nefertiti was murdered. I should have been there to protect her. I had promised on my life to protect her. She was my best friend in the world, Darius, and I failed to protect her.”

Darius lurched towards Shaila, grabbing and shaking her. He didn’t know why. Blood rushed loudly through his head.

“Goddess, help me, but I love you. I have no right to, because I have failed in every way.” She flicked open the hilt of her dagger, exposing the small black diamond amulet which had rested inside of it for several millennia. “I never even trusted you enough to give this to you.”