Unchained (Men in Chains Book 3) (34 page)

After a few minutes, she regained her composure. She apologized to the men, shoving her hair away from her face with her free hand.

Marius rose to his feet and started to pace. She knew that his level of anxiety had grown. He paused at one point and told her about the new uniforms on Daniel’s security detail with the hawk emblem. “Rumy said that there were strange markings above the silver hawk’s head.”

Shayna stared at him. “A hawk? Didn’t you once tell me that besides courage, in your world it’s also a symbol of domination?”

He nodded.

Shayna took out her phone and crossed to Rumy. “Did they look like this?”

He angled his head a couple different ways to get the best view of the photos. “I think so, something like that.”

She looked up at him, then at Marius. “Do you think Rumy could share that with me the way I share images with you—telepathically, I mean?”

Marius got a funny look on his face, something she couldn’t at first define, until his emotions hit her like a hurricane-force wind. He clearly didn’t want her communicating so intimately with Rumy, or any other man.

The way his possessiveness made her feel in that moment weakened her knees. She knew it was a vampire thing, but it was also very male and sudden images flew through her mind of making love with Marius just a couple of hours ago and of Marius lying on top of her, his front to her back, and still connected.

He sniffed the air and suddenly she was in his arms. He held her tight and rubbed his hand up and down her back, something he often did.
You smell wonderful.

And the way you think about me, Marius, this possessive thing took me right back to bed. The suddenness of the memories has my head reeling. And Rumy’s grinning like an idiot.

Marius released his tight hold on her but didn’t completely let go. He glanced at Rumy. “Sorry, just having a moment.”

“Yeah. I can see that. But you’re still not into her, right?”

Marius glared at him, then said, “Can’t let you share with Shayna.”

Rumy’s grin broadened. “Didn’t think you could. Besides, I’m sure Shayna really didn’t understand what she was asking.”

“I’m getting the picture now. It’s a vampire thing having to do with the blood-chains.”

“Exactly,” both men said at once.

Shayna addressed Rumy. “Well, can you put the images into Marius’s head? Then he can share them with me.”

For a moment, Rumy looked dumbstruck. “Are you saying this is normal stuff between the pair of you, this kind of sharing?”

Marius responded succinctly. “Shayna gets visions.”

“I know that, but then she can put them inside your head?”

Marius nodded.

“You know that’s fucking Ancestral power, right? I mean, the average vampire can’t do that, but an Ancestral can. Marius, have you taken the leap?”

“Not that I know of.”

Rumy wagged a finger between them. “But you don’t have the proximity issue, either.”

Shayna shook her head. “And flight’s a piece of cake now as well.”

“Huh.” Rumy frowned heavily, then added with a clap of his hands, “Well, okay. Marius, let me give it a shot.”

Shayna watched him close his eyes. A few seconds later Marius said, “Got it.”

Turning toward her, Marius smiled. “The image is really clear. Ready?”

“Sure.” And there it was, a picture, clearer than a photo, of Daniel in Rumy’s office, the room that was now destroyed, and smiling in that horrible way of his. He wore a snug shirt with the silver hawk emblem and above it the symbols, six altogether with the first symbol repeated two times.

She blinked and stared at Marius. “I’ll bet the first word is the ancient version of either ‘the’ or ‘one,’ and I’m feeling a need to get back to the Pharaoh system. I have some studying to do. But my guess is that Daniel has a plan and that he’s been working on it a long time. And if he’s made use of your ancient language, then my guess is that I’ll be able to find an English translation somewhere, if I keep hunting through your Internet. And Marius, I’m going with my gut here, but I think he’s been building something big and that despite our destruction of the extinction weapon, he won’t be needing a weapon to bring his ambitions to life.”

“Fuck.” Marius drew close. “Then we’d better get you back to Egypt.”

*   *   *

While Shayna dove back into her work, Marius paced the adjacent library. With each pass, he caught sight of her. She was on the computer, one that had access to his world’s private Internet. She tapped away, her shoulders tense as she worked, her mind completely focused.

The tablets that she’d been examining were arrayed in precise order on the table at a right angle to her computer, but her own papers and notes lay scattered in front of her. He got her: She needed some chaos so that her mind could remain fluid.

Unfortunately, the more he walked, the more distressed he became. The revelations from the refugee camp had set his mind down a new path, and Shayna had posed the right question: What if Daniel was up to something that didn’t involve either his sex-slavery operation or the extinction weapon?

“Marius, come here.”

The tension in Shayna’s voice put him in motion and he joined her at her work desk.

She glanced up at him. “I found this obscure site after going through about three hundred search pages. One of your French scholars has translated some of the ancient language and I was right about the first word. According to his partial working dictionary and subsequent English translation, the repeated word stands for ‘one’ as in ‘only’ or ‘exclusively.’ Maybe Daniel knew this or has had his own people on the translation himself, but his choices can’t be either accidental or decorative.” She put her finger on the screen. “This is what I have.”

As Marius read Shayna’s translation, his heart thudded in his chest. “‘One Earth, One Race, One Ruler.’” He felt as though every concern he’d ever had about his world coalesced in this moment. “You’re sure? You’re absolutely sure?”

She nodded, a deep frown between her brows. “He’s talking about both our civilizations, isn’t he? The human race and your world.”

“Yes.”

“Marius, there’s something else. There was more than one symbol for ‘ruler.’ This one, the one that Rumy saw on Daniel’s uniform, means ‘one who has conquered’ as opposed to an inherited position and I sincerely doubt there was anything like ‘casting votes’ back in the day. And the use of new uniforms with an emblem and a stated purpose emblazoned on the fabric indicates a high level of organization. But can Daniel really hope to achieve total domination without the extinction weapon? I thought once we’d destroyed it, he’d lost his opportunity.”

Marius settled his palms on the soft leather surface. The trouble was, he knew she was right. One hundred percent. His father had never lacked for ambition. “It appears that Daniel thinks he can.”

“What are we going to do?”

He glanced at her, surprised by her use of “we.” He searched her eyes, aware just how much he appreciated her presence in his world, her willingness to help, to spend hours as she had just now searching for answers.

She’d helped him get the extinction weapon and now she’d interpreted the meaning of the symbols on Daniel’s shirt that had translated into a serious warning about his current plans.

“Thank you,” he said.

She glanced at the monitor. “For this? You’re welcome, I guess. I mean, this really was my pleasure.”

“I know.”

And just like that, he knew it was time for her to go home, to go back to Seattle. She didn’t need to be part of what would be happening next in his world. And she definitely deserved better than being caught in a war that had nothing to do with her. She’d called it right early on: The problems in his world belonged to the vampire civilization, no one else.

She rose to her feet almost at the same time. “Marius, no, I don’t want to go.”

He almost laughed. “Did you just read my mind?”

She smiled but looked so sad at the same time that his heart felt crushed. “No, of course not. I felt what you’re feeling and it came as a profound sense of finality. But I don’t feel ready to leave.” Her gaze flitted around. She blinked several times, and he watched tears fill her eyes.

“It’s time.”

She met his gaze once more and took several deep breaths. He felt her pulling inward and he didn’t like the sensation because she was gathering her emotions and shutting them down. “I’ve been here long enough, interfering in a way I never would have in a culture I’d come to study. Of course it’s time for me to go. I can see that. I know you’re right.”

She drew another deep breath, then suddenly a wave of grief hit Marius, emanating first from Shayna, then swelling within him at almost the exact same moment. “Oh, God, Shayna.” He opened his arms and she fell against his chest.

His throat tightened all over again as though he had a noose around it. Tears burned his eyes. His shirt grew damp and the soft sobs that came out of her tore at his heart, making him wish so many things at once, but mostly that she would stay with him forever.

He held her for a long time, rubbing his hand up and down her back until the worst was over and even his own sadness had dimmed. Emotions always felt eternal, but they weren’t, and this would pass like everything else. The only constant in his life was the sudden guilt that surged within him yet again as he remembered the sins of his past, the real reason he’d always be alone.

I wish I understood your suffering.
Her voice was the softest murmur through his mind.

He’d miss this as well, the intimate sharing of telepathy, something he’d been able to do with her from the beginning, as easy as shifting into altered flight, like feeling feathers through his mind.

And I wish I could explain it.

I hope one day you’ll be free of this, because it’s like a living thing inside you.

She’d said it exactly right. A python inhabited his soul, tightening at times until he could hardly breathe.

But he’d done the unforgivable and the only thing he could ever hope was that if he continued waging war against his father, maybe then his continual sacrifice could make up for his betrayal of his brothers.

She drew back and he stared down into reddened eyes and cheeks, but she looked as beautiful as ever. “You think that what you’ve done crossed a line that can never be taken back.”

“You don’t know who I really am.”

She shook her head. “You’re wrong. I know exactly who you are. You’re one of the kindest, best men I’ve ever known.” She put her hand on his face and reached up to kiss him.

He drank the kiss in, knowing it might be their last.
Thank you for everything, Shayna.

After a moment, she pulled away from him. He saw that her eyes had filled with tears once more, but it couldn’t be helped. She turned back to her worktable and began gathering up her notes.

He was a little surprised that she didn’t make more of a push to stay. “You’re okay with this, then?”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Of course. I never really belonged here. I’m an intruder and I should leave.”

“You’re not an intruder. How can you say that?”

“Maybe I used the wrong word, but I’m human and this is your world. I’m trained by profession to be very respectful of the customs of other cultures. In some ways, my involvement here has gone against my training, but that doesn’t matter now.”

At that, he chuckled. “You weren’t invited here as an anthropologist, Shayna. I abducted you.”

“You sort of abducted me. Mostly, you saved my life.” She glanced around. “This was amazing, though, a gift I’ll always treasure for so many reasons.”

He glanced into the adjoining room, at the tall stacks of tablets, waiting to be studied and translated. “I can see how you’ll miss this.”

“Oh, Marius, you’re such an idiot.” And before he understood, she’d thrown herself against him once more and slid her arms around his back, holding him tight.

He was an idiot and the thought came to him that he’d never have to watch her leave his world if he just stood here for the next hundred years holding her in his arms.

*   *   *

Shayna leaned her head on Marius’s shoulder and sighed heavily. His hand moved up and down her back, soothing her as he’d done many times before. She didn’t want to leave, even though she knew it was the right thing to do. In the two days they’d been together, she’d grown attached to him.

Maybe the bond of the blood-chains had forced them to grow close, but in this case proximity had bred a very deep affection. If she didn’t know better, she’d actually say she was in love with him.

Love.

Oh, God.

She was.

She hugged him harder still.

Love was what she felt right now. She would define it as nothing less.

She loved Marius and probably always would.

What she couldn’t know was whether or not what she felt, if given the chance, could stand the test of time. Did she love him enough to leave Seattle, to set aside the life she’d planned for herself, the one that seemed as far away from her as the moon right now?

Part of her wanted the chance to discover if this could be something more than just a sense of kinship as a result of having shared hardships with him.

Always analyzing, that was her. Even now, she couldn’t just let Marius go, she had to extrapolate and wonder, asking herself a dozen what-if questions.

She released another sigh and forced her brain to shut down. Instead, she just savored the feel of his muscular body, the one that had held her, loved her, caressed her, and given her unimaginable pleasure

She would definitely miss the sex. All future relationships would pale in comparison.

I loved having sex with you.

He nuzzled her neck.
Same here.

Drawing back, he leaned close and kissed her forehead. “I’d offer to do it again, but I don’t think that would be wise.”

“No, it wouldn’t.” She had to leave.

Finally, she pulled away from him and continued gathering up her papers. “I suppose you should take me home pretty soon. Now that we’ve made the decision, I don’t think I want to hang around, although I do have a concern. Is there a chance Daniel will come after me, in Seattle, I mean?”