Crucible of Fate (20 page)

I felt a little faint but I figured I just needed some water.

“Stop, you’re fussing.”

He walked me under an awning, and even the slight change in temperature was welcome.

“Thank you.”

“Water,” he barked at some of the servants, who rushed over.

“I probably need to eat something before I see Hakkan Tarek.”

He didn’t answer, and I waited.

“I didn’t think it would be you,” Kabore said suddenly.

“What are you talking about?” I grumbled.

“It’s remarkable, really.”

“What’s that?”

“You interfere all the time.”

He’d lost me. “I’m sorry?”

“For a man who says that he believes in fate, you don’t allow it to play itself out very often.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The Shu.”

“Do you know what you’re talking about?” I squinted. “Maybe
you
need some water.”

“Even before the Shu became yours, my semel, they were still yours to command. The Shu were the first line of defense of the priest, but they are also the most deadly assassins in the werepanther world, and at the discretion of the semel-aten, they are dispatched.”

“Water for my steward,” I called out.

He snorted out a laugh. “You have only been in power for six months, my semel, and you have dispatched the Shu four times. Did you know that?”

I shrugged. “People needed help with their semels. I should have dispatched the Shu here, but because of Yuri, I had to come.”

“But first you sent your mate.”

“I allowed him to come,” I insisted.

Kabore shook his head. “The truth of the matter, Domin Thorne, is that today you blew into this city like the Day of Judgment, and you saved Ipis from a madman.”

“I wish I had known earlier.”

“You’re not worried about the decisions you made here today. You know what is right and you were not afraid to make them.”

“What decisions?” I said irritably. “I simply carried out the law.”

“And how many semels before you have done that?”

“I know Ammon didn’t.” I winced as the scar on my belly and chest throbbed with pressure. “But surely his father.”

He shook his head as he tugged gently on my bicep, urging me over to a table. “Sit down on the bench.”

I dropped down onto it faster than I would have liked, not steady at all. “How would you know?”

“I’m sorry?”

“How would you know if Ammon’s father had or had not carried out the law here?”

“I lived through his time as semel-aten.”

I studied Kabore. “How old are you?”

“Sixty-five.”

I was stunned. “Are you kidding?”

His eyes glowed warmly. “How old did you think I was, my lord?”

“Maybe forty.”

“That is very flattering.” He seemed pleased as I dropped my head down onto my crossed arms. “You appear to be flushed. Do you feel all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“May I touch you?”

I was going to give him a sarcastic remark, but instead I just said okay. His hand was freezing, and I complained when he touched his palm to my forehead.

“You’re burning up.”

My eyes fluttered shut. “Just let me rest a minute.”

“No, I will not come this close and—” His hands were on my back, and they were all that was keeping me vertical. “I will not lose you, my semel.”

I felt my body getting heavy.

“Go fetch me the sekhem!” Kabore barked at someone.

And that was the last I heard before I fell to the ground.

“M
Y
LORD
.”

“I’m fine,” I assured my doctor, because I knew her voice and she was turning into such a— Wait.

I popped my eyes open and saw five people in white coats shuttling around me before I found the face I knew, the one the nagging voice belonged to. I was confused. “Dr. Pakhom.”

“What did I say?” Her tone was razor sharp.

“Not to exert myself,” I parroted, what she had said the day before. “What are you doing here?”

“I was flown here to take care of you, my semel,” she said simply.

“Flown here?” I snapped. “By who?”

“I don’t know. I was informed that I was needed and I was put onto a helicopter, and here I am.”

“Are you insane?” I berated her. “You could have been killed! What if someone was trying to kidnap you or—”

“I was escorted to the flight by Jamal, spoke to Taj by radio for the entirety of the journey, and was met by him and Rahim the moment we landed. So, no, my lord, I didn’t feel as though I was in danger even for a moment.”

“But—”

“And I was needed. I am your physician. I came immediately when I was called and would do so again.”

I shook my head. “Don’t ever just—”

“I will come whenever I am needed, wherever,” she professed before chuckling, her eyes softening and the laugh lines around them deepening. “I find you very charming, did you know that, my semel?”

Everyone had lost their mind.

“Where’s Yuri?”

“Here, my lord.”

When she stepped sideways, I saw my mate. He was stretched out on the bed beside me, with IV tubes in both arms and one of those heart monitors attached to his middle finger.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“His body is fighting an infection,” she let me know. “He was not allowed to shift after his fights, and the wound on his arm was hot to the touch. When I removed the bandage, I found it oozing puss and inflamed.”

“I didn’t even bother to—”

“No.” She shook her head. “You’re not a doctor, and I’m sure he was so happy to see you that his endorphins disrupted the pain.”

“Is he”—he appeared very pale, more so than usual—“going to be okay?”

“Yes. I have fluids going into him, and an antibiotic, and I’ve cleaned and dressed all the other wounds I could find.”

“All the others?”

“His body is covered in scrapes and bruises and gouges. When he’s stronger, I’ll have him shift and most of it will be gone after the first time. You know our ancestors were a very smart lot. They knew that fighting in the pit should only be done in panther form, otherwise we could lose a lot of perfectly good men, like the Romans lost gladiators. Blood sport is just that. The pit was supposed to be used to settle disputes, not for pleasure.”

I rolled sideways and reached out to put my hand on his left cheek. “He’s cold.”

“That’s good, because he was burning with fever a few hours ago. He’ll regulate his own body temperature shortly.”

“But he’ll be fine?”

“Yes,” she cooed.

Why did she sound like that? When I checked, her face was all blotchy. “What?”

“He had the same concerned questions about you,” she said, making a noise like I was adorable.

“Stop that,” I commanded to no avail.

“He was so worried.”

“Whatever for?”

“Apparently you fainted, and when he saw Kabore carrying you… he came a little undone.”

“I just needed some water.”

“No,” she scoffed. “You needed
a lot
of fluids. None of you realize that you’re in a bloody desert. The only smart one I’ve seen is that reah out there.”

“He’s drinking a lot of water, is he?”

“Gallons, yes. He’s also standing in the shade.”

I grunted. “That’s because Jin’s perfect.”

She laughed. “Well, along with needing hydration, your blood sugar was upset as well, so I gave you some glucose. You should feel better soon, but you’ll need to eat, all right?”

“Yes.”

“Again, that knife wound would have killed a normal cat. Only because you’re a semel, only because he stabbed in and up and not down did he miss your heart. You need to heal. You need to lie in bed and not move.”

I pointed at Yuri. “If I lay still, can he—” I coughed. “—you know.”

She shook her head. “Gay or straight, it really is the only thing you think about, isn’t it?”

I scowled. “Do you know how long we’ve been separated?”

“Yes, you can go to bed with him as long as there is no pressure on your abdomen. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah, all right,” I muttered, finally surveying the room. “Where the hell am I?”

“It’s a field hospital.”

“There’s only two beds in here.”

“Okay, it’s a mini field hospital.” She laughed lightly.

“When did I miss that you were such a smartass?”

She beamed. “You allow so much freedom in our presence that all of us are ourselves, my lord. It’s a rare gift.”

I grunted. “I should quit being like that.”

“No,” she crooned. “Never.”

“I’m not a nice man,” I said flatly.

“Of course, my lord.”

My focus moved away from her again, mapping the entire area. It looked like a hospital out of every war movie I had ever seen. The difference was that it was sealed in plastic and cool air was being pumped in from two enormous generators I could see in the corner of the room. There were five people there, counting the doctor, and I saw one of the men walk over to Yuri and give him a shot.

“What was that?”

“Tetanus,” Dr. Pakhom disclosed. “I’m not taking any chances.”

“How long was I out?”

Her brow furrowed. “For six hours, my lord. You gave me quite a scare.”

“And you said Jin is outside and he’s safe?”

“With Taj and Rahim, nine members of the Shu, and fifty or more of your khatyu milling around,” she teased me. “I suspect so, my semel.”

“Where’s Kabore?”

“Here, my lord,” he said from close beside my bed.

“Tell me where Hakkan Tarek is.”

“When Dr. Pakhom and her team were delivered, an eight by eight by eight steel cage was delivered as well, from Jamal. We placed it outside under a tarp, and he has shifted to his panther form and is in it.”

“He’s like a zoo animal.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“How was a cage delivered plus five people?”

“Eleven, my lord,” he corrected me. “Jamal sent six more of the Shu.”

“How?”

“By carrier helicopter, my lord.”

“We don’t have a carrier—”

“There are others that do, my lord.”

“I want answers now,” I said, starting to sit up.

“No, no,” Kabore ordered, placing a hand gently on my collarbone and then pressing me down into the bed. “You must be careful with yourself. We need you.”

“What the hell is going on?”

“What’s going on is that we have been waiting for a semel to trust for a hundred years, and it turns out to be you, Domin Thorne.”

“Who’s we?”

“If you clear the tent, I can tell you.”

“I don’t understand.”

He just waited on me.

“Clear the tent, then.”

He faced the others. “Would you excuse us a moment, Doctor?”

“Of course,” she said and herded her team out through the plastic flaps to another zippered door before we were alone.

I could see them outside, but between the hum of the generators and the distance, no one could overhear us.

“Now,” Kabore said, turning back to me. “Ask me anything.”

“Who is ‘we’? Who has a carrier chopper to lend me?”

“The Iusaaset, my lord.”

“What is the Iusaaset? Aset is throne, but what’s the rest?”

“Throne of all, of the atum, of your ancestors, those who protect you,” Kabore revealed. “We are the ones who police the world, Domin Thorne.”

The words hung in the air between us a moment before I slowly sat up. He let me, even though he seemed worried and moved one hand close in case he had to steady me.

“I knew it.” I swallowed hard. “It’s not the job of one man.”

“No, it’s not.”

“So you, what, are all over the world in every city, every—God, just everywhere?”

“Yes,” he affirmed. “Werepanthers would never remain hidden from the world if there was no greater organization at work. And while most semels govern their tribes well, and most fall into line and follow tribal law, there is still a criminal element as well as those who would expose us and make people aware of our existence.”

“I remember once when I was young going to a magic show off the strip in Vegas, and there was this guy, and his assistant changed magically into a panther. I mean, I knew they were both panthers, and I thought, that’s fantastic, I never even thought to do that, but then when I talked Logan into going with me the next night, they were gone.”

“Yes, I’m sure that was the Iusaaset.”

“Did they kill them?”

“No, that is still for their semel to decide. They would have been sent back to their tribes and disciplined there. And sometimes, depending on the crime, death is an option. But you know as well as I do, imprisoning panthers leads quickly to madness, and they can never go to human jails because of the shift. So that’s where the Iusaaset comes in.”

It was hard to wrap my brain around. “And who commands the Iusaaset?”

“Omar Turog, a strong military man, a great sheseru, if you will, and his partner Hsin Suen, more a sylvan, if you think of it like that. The Iusaaset is always led by two, one that commands the military component and one the civilian side. There are also the seven laws, as they are called, or simply the seven, who advise them. Now, both Omar and Hsin will report to you as well as their teams.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s too big a responsibility for one man. It—”

“As I said, just like here, you have a sheseru and a sylvan who will offer you counsel, as well as the seven. You may also bring one man to be your private counsel.”

“You lied to me.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t come with Ebere.”

“No.”

“You’ve been in the villa since the time of Ammon’s father, waiting to see when a semel that deserved to be recognized by the Iusaaset would come.”

He nodded. “Omar Turog has been waiting for my report on you.”

 “And I passed?”

“Yes, my lord. Before we left Sobek, I left word that you were to be trusted and invited them to come. I sent word through Rahim, who has a completely different contact than me, that they needed to come now and make contact with you. They are on their way.”

“Who, this Omar or Hsin?”

“Oh no, my lord, their agents will come in their stead. If the top ones show up, then that will be Dov Yadin and Wickham Morris. I see them most, as they are both field operatives. Dov was with Israeli intelligence, and Wickham MI5 before they were both recruited to work for Iusaaset. As they are both werepanthers, they could not turn down the offer. So you know, all members of the Iusaaset are made members of the tribe of Rahotep, and so you are their semel.”