Saved and SAINTified (39 page)

“I could feel her energy! That baby is clear across the world, and I could feel her
, taunting me. She cannot be born! Whatever children she bears will have the blood of the Gods in them. The last Princess of Life in my blood line was born 257 years ago. She was the only one on the entire planet at that time. There are no more, and for years I’ve tried in vain to create her,” Nizsm said angrily. “I worked hard to bring her forward. I’ve had several concubines from all over Africa, my wives, and even the occasional prostitute, in hopes that from one of them, the life would spring forward. It was promised to me, by my birthright!”

“It was never promised to you,
Nizsm,” the Oracle said quietly. “It’s never promised to anyone. She simply appears under the circumstances she sees fit. It is possible that…” The Oracle hesitated.

“That what? Speak!”

“That due to your karmic debt, it may have impeded the possibility of such a conception.”

Nizsm
squinted as if sun were blinding him. “I owe no karma, I
AM
karma. If Saint doesn’t follow my demands, I will destroy him from the inside out... ”

****

His steps were quick and confident, though a trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. Saint quickly wiped it away, looking to and fro in the airline terminal. It was a hot Egyptian night, and all he wanted to do was sleep during the long sixteen hour flight he was gearing up for.

I just need to get home...

He negotiated the crowd, pulling his luggage and carrying a small bag from a gift shop with trinkets for his boys, Queen, and a little something to read for himself. Finally, he got to his gate.

Cairo
to LAX.

As he neared it, he felt a presence around him. S
aint slowed his steps, concentrating as he looked from side to side.

Someone is around me
, in my personal space.

He swallowed. Perspiration built around his hairline as anticipation mounted.

Am I really going to have to hurt someone right now? He wants me to get home and change my mind ... Why? Who is it?

D
ark spirals of purple smoke escaped from between his slightly parted lips. Prepared for battle, he exhaled once again.

Someone is going to make me tear this whole fuckin’ airport up!

He swiftly turned around and stopped in his tracks. The small, elderly woman was wrapped head to toe in a black hijab. She looked up at Saint and smiled pleasantly, her light gray sunken eyes sparkling. Saint could hear her heart beating rapidly, as a mixture of trepidation, admiration and worship poured from her being toward him. He softened, realizing she wasn’t a threat.

“Do you know English?”

She nodded. “Yes, I speak it fluently, most of the time.” She extended her arms and lowered her head, bowing. Then she got on her knees, praising him. Shocked, Saint looked anxiously around the airport, then gently lifted her back to her feet by her arm.

“Please don’t do that. I’m no one to bow to. What can I help you with?” S
aint asked in Arabic, simply out of respect.

“My name is
—” She gripped his arm and looked deeply into his eyes.

“I know your name now
, Beset.”

“I was not supposed to look
at your eyes, but I wanted to behold your greatness. I offer my apologies.” She bowed her head again.

After checking the time,
Saint took her by the hand and walked over to the small café close to his departing gate. He pulled out a chair for her. “Please, sit,” he said, sitting across from her at the uneven white table.

“Beset, I’m going to speak to you now.” He looked her over before proceeding. “I’ve read your sincerity. You’re very open
. I can see everything. You are also a very wise woman and rather revered amongst your peers, though you live in fear. Am I correct?”

She nodded, her eyes immediately brimming with tears. “This is true, I’m afraid
every day. Nizsm has made our lives unbearable. We have nothing, and he has everything. There is nothing in my power I can do about it, but I finally know what my true purpose is. It is to look after your family. Your wife, she is pregnant with the Princess of Life and you—”

“How do you know that?” S
aint leaned in closer to her. “Are you a member of the family, Beset?”

“Most certainly not.” Beset looked around nervously. “I will be killed if they know I even spoke to you.”

“Who is
they
?”

“
Nizsm and his family. I am a healer, Dr. Aknaten.”

“Please call me S
aint.”

“Your wife is in grave danger. This is an evil that neither of you are accustomed to.
Nizsm is treacherous. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

S
aint nodded. “I agree that he will pursue me and my family if I do not comply with his request. The problem is, Beset, that I don’t understand how you believe you can help me. Time is ticking and I need you to tell me what you expect me to do. Outside of this hocus pocus bullshit, excuse my language, I have a
real
life that I enjoy. This shit is not what I signed up for.”

“You did
, eh,
sign up for it
,” Beset said in her thick accent, her twinkling eyes framed in crow’s feet. “When the Angel of Mercy and the Angel of Death came to you and touched and kissed you, you became an open vessel for them. You are highly favored,” she whispered. “The archangel Gabriel has taken a special interest in you, since your conception.”

S
aint stared at her in confusion.

“Flight A27 is now boarding all first class
,” blared over the speakers.

S
aint cleared his throat. “You’re Muslim, Beset. Why would you believe in archangels?”

Beset laughed lightly. “S
aint, archangels are universal. We just call them different things.” She paused briefly and placed her wrinkled hand on his wrist. “The dream you had last night, Saint, the one of you being violently ill, was no dream…”

S
aint’s heart skipped a beat. Saint’s dreams were always private unless he invited someone inside and the only person he ever shared his dreams with was Xenia.

S
aint stood abruptly and grabbed his bag. “So, you’re one of the psychic healers that my friend Lawrence told me about.  Are you an Oracle?”

“No.”

“So, you can read dreams and feelings. Interesting. Beset, I need to speak to you further. By the small bag in your hand, can I safely assume you are wishing to travel somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“And I take it that is with me?” He already knew. He knew when he’d laid eyes on her and she bowed at his feet, exactly what she wanted.

“Yes. I’ve already bought my ticket with all the money I ever had.” She held up the stub and smiled weakly. “I bought a passport a year ago
only for this purpose. I have dreamed of you almost every night, until the morning you arrived.” Now the tears flowed freely down her sallow face. “That is how I knew you were finally here. You are going to save us. You are going to save the Angel Children of Egypt.” Her voice quaked with emotion.

S
aint sighed and exhaled a breath. He took Beset by her age spot covered hand and escorted her to the first class line. After removing the ticket from her grasp, he spoke to the attendant.

“Excuse me, I’m in first class.
My name is Saint Aknaten. Are there any other first class seats still available?”

The woman quickly looked at the computerized seating chart map.

“Yes, Dr. Aknaten, there are two.”

“I need to sit with this woman standing next to me. Is there a way we can switch with someone who is sitting solo, so that we may sit together? It is a long flight back home, and she is elderly, and I want her to be comfortable. Please let me upgrade her seat immediately.”

Saint looked her up and down. “Beset, if I hadn’t agreed for you to come with me, what would you have done?”

She paused. “Stayed as close as I could to you
. I have to. It is not a choice any longer. ”

Seven
teen minutes later, Saint was sitting in first class by the window with Beset at his side.

****

Saint looked straight ahead at the back of the seat in front of him. He had a lot of explaining to do once he arrived back in L.A. and the conversation would be one of the oddest he’d ever had with his wife, in their entire marriage. Beset turned to Saint and looked at the necklace wrapped around his neck.

“Where did you get such a trinket?” she asked with a puzzled expression.

Saint looked down at his collar bone. “From a man that was like my father. It was a gift.”

“It’s beautiful
,” Beset said in an awed whisper. She leaned toward him to study it more closely.

“Thank you,” S
aint said as he got more comfortable in his seat, stretching out his long legs and closing his eyes.

Beset coughed. “You
are beautiful. I’m sorry for staring. I cannot believe I’m sitting next to you.”

S
aint opened his eyes and looked at Beset. He sat up straighter and waved at the attendant. The stewardess walked briskly toward him.

“Yes,
sir? We are scheduled for take-off in fifteen minutes.”

S
aint shook his head. “I’m not calling you over about the delay. I need to know if I can get a drink
right now
, this second?” Panic gripped him. He needed something strong to drink and fast.

This is going to be a long ass trip and I know
, whatever Beset is going to lay on me, I’m going to need something to cool me down before the fire even gets lit.

“Well,
sir, we will start serving soon, if you can just hold on for a few more moments.” The flight attendant smiled a little uncomfortably.

“No, you see, I think it’s best I get it
right now
. I really need to calm down, and I need it right this second.” Saint insisted, his stomach turning in knots. He bit his tongue, trying desperately to refrain from cursing. His anxiety mounted.

Give me something to fucking drink!

“Sir, I—”

Beset looked around in confusion. “
I cannot understand. What is going on?” she asked in Arabic to Saint.

S
aint looked at her and hesitated.

“Beset, I drink,” S
aint responded matter-of-factly in her language. “I’m sure you don’t approve but if I don’t get something, I’m going to go ape shit in here. My body is in knots, my head feels like it is about to explode and I’m exhausted, completely exhausted.”

Beset smiled
. “He drained you. His evil is exhausting for those of you not used to it. Saint, tell her to leave. I can help you. You don’t need a drink.”

S
aint looked back up uncertainly at the flight attendant. “I’ll wait but please remember me.” He pleaded to the flight attendant as he waved her away and flopped back down into his seat angrily.

“Now,” Beset said with a satisfied smile as she dug into her bag, “I want you to drink this.”

Saint scowled. “The last time I drank something I wasn’t supposed to, I was almost headed to divorce court.”

Beset laughed
. “No, this is different and if you wish to know, your old lover has never been quite the same.”

S
aint sat up again, befuddled and intrigued with Beset’s abilities. He’d left parts of his world open for her to see—to test her. He knew now that she was the real deal.

“
I need some clarification, Beset. I thought you were just psychic, not necessarily an Angel Child. Are you … are you like me?” he asked in Arabic, tilting his head slightly to the side. “You don’t smell like us, though.” Saint inhaled deeply, checking to make sure his assessment was correct.

“
You are right.” She patted his knee. “I do have a strong sixth sense though. My job right now is simply to heal with herbs and medicines and help protect. That is my only ability. I cannot read you, except for information directly pertaining to my purpose in your life...”

“But Payton
, my ex, has nothing to do with healing me or helping my daughter.”

“Yes
, she does. If she’d succeeded in splitting your marriage apart, the Princess of Life would not exist...”

A
brief pause as Saint took it all in.

“Now, drink it
.”

S
he handed the small bottle to Saint. It looked like a miniature unmarked water bottle.

“How did you get this past security?” he whispered in her ear.

“It’s like water,” she smiled slyly.

S
aint took the cap off and sniffed it. “It doesn’t have a smell. I know this is some sort of potion. What is it going to do to me, Beset? I don’t know you, yet, in my heart, I can feel that you’re supposed to come home with me. I’m still having a hard time fully trusting you, but you know so much about me. I feel so at ease ... damn it, I’m confused. I don’t like feeling this way.”