Crescent Moon (22 page)

Flames billowed from between them, Selk’s
clothing catching fire, his face blistering in an instant.

The glow was so bright, Juste lifted a hand to
shield his eyes. “No, no, no!”

He blinked. And in the second he opened his eyes again, the spatter of
blood was gone. But so were the two struggling figures. He bounded forward,
searching the cave with a quick glance, but both Dr. Felton and Khepri were
gone.

The ground beneath his feet rumbled. Sand sifted from the ceiling.

Mikey gripped his shoulder. “We have to get out of here.”

Juste shook his head, his feet planted.

“The cave’s comin’ down around us.”

Juste gazed at him, his shoulders slumped. What was the point? “Then go.”

“I’m not leavin’ without you.” Mikey’s face pulled into a scowl, and he
raised a fist, slamming it against Juste’s jaw.

Juste saw stars for just a moment, and then darkness enfolded him.

The flames stung her skin and sucked away her breath. But still, Khepri
held the writhing body in her arms. If she had to hold him for an eternity like
this, cleaving like a river leech to his skin, she would. The moment she’d
faced his innocuous figure, bent over his notebook, a memory had triggered as
she’d smelled the noxious fumes of the Fire Lake, knowing he’d somehow crawled
from his cruel fate, forever tainted. Once singed by those fires, his soul was
no longer his to keep, no longer human or simply his, because many souls of the
wretched had joined his, all bent on wreaking revenge,
lending Selk their combined strength.

Juste had said he was only a man, but he was more than that. More than
just the man who’d murdered in his greed for power. Once again, he’d bartered
his way out of fate. Who knew what allies he had? She couldn’t allow him to
return to the living world, not to a prison cell that would never hold him. Her
task, her quest, had always been to bring him back.

She’d known that in a flash of insight when she’d faced him. Amun had
known that too. It was why he’d left, so that she wouldn’t plead with him to
intervene. So that she’d remain strong, following the path she’d always been
destined to follow.

Straight into the arms of death.

Her breath gone, her lungs squeezed of every last breath, she sobbed. The
fire flickered out. Her strength seeped away. The body in her arms fell to the
ground, Dr. Felton’s form unrecognizable beneath the blistered skin, but still
alive. The shallow breaths that raised his rib cage were painful to watch.

She glanced away, not surprised to find herself inside the torchlit Hall
of Two Truths, at the bottom of the steps leading up to the dais. She was nude,
but a glance at her belly, hands, and legs told her she was unharmed by the blasts
from Selk’s weapon or the intense fire she’d controlled.

The hall was filled to capacity. All the curious gods and their minions had
assembled to watch the final act. Anubis, his jackal’s ears pricked and erect,
stood beside the tall, gold set of scales.

Shuddering, she swept her gaze along the row of gods seated in their gilt
and jewel-encrusted thrones, landing on Amun, whose expression was set and
unreadable.

The door to the side swept open and Ammit, in her animal form, lumbered
in. Her head lowered toward the ground and she opened her jaws, hissing loudly.
As she neared, Khepri noted the lanced eye, still split in the center. She was
half-blind and in pain.

Khepri glanced at Amun, not voicing her question over Ammit’s condition,
because she was afraid to ask the second question: Was she here to devour two
hearts or one?

His expression unyielding, Amun steepled his fingers,
touching his beard. “Her wounds will not be healed until she is
repentant. She broke with our rules. She interfered. But she must feed.”

Khepri noted he answered only the first question. Her heart began to thud
dully in her chest.

Anubis knelt beside Selk’s still body and plunged his hand into his
chest, withdrawing it to hold a blackened heart, which he carried to the
scales. The gold plate dropped, shifting the feather on the other side. It
wafted upward, but then landed on the plate. The scale didn’t dip.

“Again, you have been judged,” Anubis said, aiming a glare at Ammit,
whose wide, leonine shoulders fell.

His tone, his glare, said that she had been judged as well.

When Anubis tossed the heart at her as though she were a dog playing
catch, Ammit didn’t quibble; she opened her mouth and swallowed it whole. Then
she gave a hiss and turned her good eye on Khepri.

Khepri lifted her chin as she stared down the beast whose upper torso
tensed beneath golden fur.

But Ammit didn’t leap toward Khepri. Instead, she lowered her head,
opened her mouth, and clamped down on Selk’s shoulders, ignoring his feeble
whimpers and turning to carry him away.

“He will never rise again,” Amun said. “You did well, wife.”

Khepri shook her head, stubborn pride lifting her chin. “Do not call me
that. You released me. You cannot take me back.”

The corners of his mouth curved. “I would not place you at my feet, but
would make room for you beside me, little warrior. You have earned your place
among us.”

Tears pricked her eyes. “I no longer aspire to be your wife. Or to rule
over any inch of the
Duat
.”

“What is it you want?”

Tears seeped from her eyes. “You know what I want. You can still read my
heart.”

His eyes studied her for a moment, and then he cast his gaze down the
long row of chairs. One by one, the gods seated on the dais nodded. When he
turned back to her, he wore a faint, sad smile. “One last
gift will I bequeath you, dearest.”

Her breath caught, hope flaring to lift her
chest. Her gaze locked with his, one last time.

Remember me, little warrior.

Always, my
husband.
My
friend.

Before her next breath, the light dimmed—and suddenly she was in water
and drowning. Too tired to swim. Was this a
punishment? What of the gift he’d promised? She sank…down…down. Darkness all around her. Despair freezing
her mind. Once more, she was robbed of breath. Of
life.
What have I done to deserve
this? Have I not fulfilled my destiny?

At the moment she surrendered, arms wrapped around her. Strong, muscled arms, pulling her upward. The moment they
broke the surface, she gasped. Above her, a golden moon shone.

She blinked, clearing her vision, and coughed, choking on water, but
Justin surged upward, holding her in his arms as he strode out of the water and
laid her gently on the soft, grassy bank, where he proceeded to sweep her belly
with his hands, then turned her to the side to do the same to her back.

Reaching up, she touched his face. “I am healed, Justin.”

Justin’s chest shuddered up and down, but he nodded, his throat working
around a hard swallow. He leaned away, stripping off his white shirt, and
quickly tugged it over her head to cover her nude body. And then he lay beside her, gasping for breath, his fingers entangling
with hers. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Never,” she whispered, turning her head to meet his fierce gaze.

“I believe now.”

She smiled. “That we are meant to be?”

“That there’s justice in this world. And predestiny.
I’ll never question it again.”

Khepri swallowed hard. “I love you.”

His eyes squeezed shut, and when they opened, there were tears mingling
with the water glistening on his cheeks. “I love you too.”

Smiling at each other, they ignored the sounds of the men moving around
them, gathering gear, of the sirens growing ever nearer. Forrester’s voice
shouted above the din, but she didn’t care enough to wonder what he said. It
didn’t matter. He didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that she was here, where
she belonged, basking in the moonlight with the man her husband had chosen for
her.

Thank you,
husband.

You are very welcome, my dear.

Many hours later, Juste carried Khepri through his apartment door. She’d
been exhausted by their ordeal and then by the endless rounds of questioning
they’d endured. Forrester had been livid, thinking they’d let a killer slip
through their fingers because no bodies had been retrieved. The sheik had
arrived at Maines’s office, sweeping aside Forrester’s and the lieutenant’s
protests when he’d declared his team was leaving, without being interrogated,
and that justice had been served. His steady glare told both men that no
further details would be shared. “You will have no more trouble from the
professor or those he convinced to help him in his quest to kill my niece.”

“We don’t do things that way,” Forester had muttered.

“You may search and search, but you will never find your answers. Not in
your lifetime.” The sheik had smiled, and then stood in front of Khepri long enough
to convey the silent message that she should accompany them, and then they were
off.

Mikey and Juste had been left with explanations that began and ended
with, “Haddara’s team had everything wrapped up by the time we got there.”

“How come everyone wound up in the water?” Maines had asked, a vein
popping on his forehead.

“Felton tossed Khepri in the water,” Juste said, keeping his expression
neutral.

“You didn’t see where they took him?”

“Nah. They were gone by the time I’d fished her
out.” He’d held Maines’s stare a long moment before the other man blinked.

“I want both your reports before you leave.”

As Mikey and Juste left his office to find desks, Juste shot Mikey a
look. “Thanks, buddy.”

“For what?”

“For having my back.”

A long while later, he’d arrived at the sheik’s suite
to find Khepri fully clothed and nearly passing out from fatigue.

“I shall miss my friend, Haddara,” the sheik said, escorting them both to
the door.

Juste arched an eyebrow. “You do know who he was, right?”

The sheik touched the side of his nose and winked. “The man never aged.
What do you think, detective?” He turned to Khepri and
bowed. “To have seen the things you’ve seen…” He sighed.

“I will tell you all about it, or at least what I remember. We are the
ones who must write the stories, remember their names…”

The sheik’s smile had been boyish, delighted. “I will be in touch.”

Juste shouldered open the bathroom door and bent to set Khepri on the
closed toilet seat. “Hang tough for a second,
cher
. I’m runnin’ you a bath.”

She blinked sleepy eyes at him. “Only if you’re in
there with me.”

Gritting his teeth, Juste smiled, knowing she was too tired to follow the
direction of his thoughts. He’d give her a bath, let her get some rest, but
soon, very soon, he’d have what he needed most from her—sweet, sweet release
from the fear and worry he’d harbored all damn night. Yeah, Khepri owed him big-time.

In the early morning hours, Juste came awake. A hand was slithering over
his lower belly, heading straight into dangerous territory. He slid a hand
beneath the sheets and captured a wrist, and then quickly rolled, trapping
Khepri’s warm, naked body beneath his. He snagged the other wrist and moved
them to rest beside her head.

“So you are awake as well?” she said, her voice deliciously husky.

Juste grunted, centered a knee between her legs, and widened the space
with not-so-gentle nudges. “Not the time for talkin’.”

Laughter trilled. A carefree sound he’d never heard from her. Juste
stared down at her, realizing this was real. That Khepri was here. Alive, beneath him. And he was never going to let her go. “It’s not polite to laugh at a man intent on havin’ sex.”

“Having sex.” Her dark brows rose. “I like that
phrase. It’s coarse, but accurate. I suppose it saves words.”

“I could use fewer words and still get the message across. Might make you
blush though.”

“I would like to learn them, but another time. Please?”

“Since you asked so nicely…” Juste bent his head and kissed her, taking
her mouth in a ravenous kiss. Bathing her while she’d rested quietly against
his chest had nearly killed him. He’d gone to sleep with a hard-on. And he’d
awoken in the same state.

He nudged her with his sex; she opened to him, her thighs spreading and
lifting to grip his hips. He plunged inside, sweeping his tongue into her mouth
at the same time. Taking her, claiming her in the only way he knew how.

Their bodies slid together, entering that timeless rhythm, soothing and exciting
each other, until the moment neither could catch a breath and pleasure erupted.

Juste nuzzled the corner of her shoulder. “I promised myself I’d take it
slow this time, kiss every inch of you, show you how much—”

“You love me?” Khepri nudged his face up with her fingertips and then
cupped either side of his face. “I know. I feel the same way about you. Amun
gave me my greatest wish. To return here.”

Juste kissed her mouth, a quick peck, and then settled on his elbows
above her. “I know you have a lot to learn. That you’re still…new
to this world. Maybe you’ll need some space, some time to sort it all
out, but I’m here for you.”

A frown dug a line between her brows. “Do you want this…space?”

“Hell no, but I don’t want you to think that just because I helped you,
that you owe me anything.”

The frown eased, and she glanced up at him, a hint of shyness in her
gleaming eyes. “I do not need space, Justin Henry Boucher. You, not this place
and time, were my greatest wish.”

His chest expanded, happiness filling him. “I know you’ve just shed one
husband, but would you consider takin’ another?”

Her smile began slowly, but quickly stretched across her face. “I was not
given a choice the first time. But since you ask—I would be honored to be your
wife.”

Juste gave a whoop and rolled to his back, taking a laughing Khepri with
him. She settled, her knees at either side of his
hips. “I want to marry right away. Don’t wanna waste another minute of our
lives.”

“Tomorrow?”

He chuckled. “Maybe this weekend. I’ll want
Denise and Mikey there. And I’ll have to take you shoppin’ for a new dress.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Shopping can be dangerous.”

“If I’d wanted safe, I never would have snuck you out of that warehouse.”

Her smile eased. “Thank you for saving me.”

Juste shook his head. “
Cher
, I
was a lonely man before I met you. Nearly broken with grief.
I blamed myself and the world for losin’ my friend. Thought I didn’t deserve to
ever know happiness or be loved. You saved me.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she settled, cuddling against his chest, their
heartbeats blending, strengthening. “We saved each other. For I was lonely, but
never knew its true depth until I met you.”