Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set (24 page)

“No,” he said. “
I
need to do this, Isis. I'm Ares's son.”

Isis closed her eyes. Daniel was a natural leader. Men
did
listen to him.

And he was half-god. Now he would have to play the part.

“I believe in you,” she said.

He smiled, dissolving all her remaining doubts. “Hugh,” he said, “stay back. We may need you to arrange a distraction if this doesn't work. Isis—”

“Do not even ask,” she said with a crooked smile.

He wanted to kiss her. Filthy and beaten as he was, he wanted to make love to her. But this was hardly the right time.

Moving cautiously from the abandoned building, Daniel and Isis crept toward the soldier Isis had questioned before. He had been joined by several others, who were deep in conversation. They looked with surprise at Daniel, but made no hostile move. To the contrary, their attitudes were respectful, and Daniel began to believe that their loyalty for Ares extended to him.

“You are safe,” one of them said. He looked Daniel over with a flash of anger. “Lord Ares feared for you. He has been trying to find you since rumor came to him that you had been captured. He gave orders that if you made contact with any of us, we should protect you.”

“I don't need protection,” Daniel said. “I need your cooperation.” He scanned the area and dropped into a crouch. “Why was Ares summoned by Anu?”

The young Freeblood's expression hinted at rebellion. “Something has changed.” He hesitated. “There is a new rumor that Anu intends to kill all the Opiri in Tanis.”

“That is impossible!” Isis said.

Daniel touched her, though it was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. “There's more to his plan than we knew,” he said. He addressed the four soldiers. “I need you to gather the others watching the human wards and bring them to me. We're going to Anu's court.”

The soldier's eyes lit with astonishment. “You want us to disobey orders?”

“Orders Ares was forced to give,” Daniel said. “If he's been compelled to slaughter a third of Tanis's population, I have to try to stop him.” He stared at each of the soldiers in turn. “You can come with me, or stay behind. The choice is up to you.”

Drawing apart, the soldiers consulted in hushed voices. Daniel didn't try to listen. He took stock of himself, of the wounds finally beginning to heal and the strength returning to his body. He looked at Isis, who gazed at him with such deep emotion that he was momentarily caught up in his feelings for her, feelings he could no more control than he could influence the movement of the tides or the turn of the seasons.

“You may die,” she said in a harsh whisper. “Daniel, think again.”

“Would you take the risk of seeing your own people murdered?”

“Would you make me pit your life against theirs?”

“
Your
life means Tanis's survival.” With all his courage, he took her hands in his. “Your dreams represent everything that was good in Tanis. If you come with me—”

“Again, Daniel?” She smiled tenderly. “The argument is already settled.”

“If I knew how to stop you—”

“You cannot.” She leaned into him, oblivious of the dirt and blood. “Daniel, I love you.”

CHAPTER 25

I
sis watched Daniel's face for his reaction, her heart leaping into her throat. She had known it for so long, but to say the words, to admit to what so few Opiri seemed capable of feeling...

Her heart seemed to stop when she saw the look in his eyes. There was a change in him she hadn't recognized until this moment. In spite of his boldness and courage, no matter how much he'd tried to hide it, the imprisonment and torture had had their effects. A gulf had opened up between them: a goddess on one side, a serf on the other.

And he was afraid to cross that gulf. Old wounds had been reopened. Her people had done this to him. He would overcome the pain and shame as he had before, but what would be the price of that recovery? Any hope of love between them?

“I should not have spoken,” she said, looking away. “I am sorry.”

Daniel reached out for her, stopped, then dropped his hand. “No, Isis,” he said. “Your feelings...mean a lot to me. I just don't know who I am anymore.”

“Then I will try to help you find what you have lost. We will face Anu together, whatever may come of it.”

Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but he closed it again when the soldiers returned. “We will obey you,” the spokesman said to Daniel. “We will gather all the soldiers we can.”

“Then scatter,” Daniel said, “and meet us at the base of the tower as quickly as you can get there.”

The soldiers dispersed, and Daniel, Isis and Hugh began to make their way back to the tunnels. It took them the better part of an hour to reach the tower. Daniel's face was a study in stubborn determination as he struggled to keep pace.

Hugh led them to another covered shaft that ended beneath the overhang of the ramp that led from the lower city to the elevated base of the tower. The sun had risen over the open part of the city, muffling Tanis with its brightness.

About two dozen of Ares's soldiers were waiting, hiding wherever they could find convenient shadows.

“We can't go in using the hidden passages we escaped by,” Daniel told them, his breath coming short. “This will be a frontal assault. Have your weapons ready, but don't use them unless I order it.” He turned to Hugh. “You've done enough. Get yourself to safety.”

Hugh nodded and vanished back down the shaft. The soldiers fell into ranks behind Isis and Daniel.

“We don't know what's going to happen,” Daniel said, holding Isis's gaze. “I only know that whatever we risk now, it's better than the alternative.”

She caught his face between her hands, very gently, and searched his eyes. “Remember what I told you, Daniel.”

“I will never forget it.”

Daniel looked away, and they entered the lobby with its three evenly spaced elevators. The area was still deserted, as if Anu could not imagine needing guards at the tower.

That, Isis thought, was not a good sign.

“Half of you come with us in the elevator,” Daniel told the soldiers. “The rest follow as soon as you can. If there are obstacles at the top, do whatever you have to do to take them out.”

Isis winced at his ruthlessness, but she knew mercy was a luxury now. She had chosen to follow Daniel, and she would not question his decisions.

They met no one until they entered the lobby outside Anu's suite. A dozen Opiri stood guard there, weapons raised as the elevator doors opened.

The ten soldiers who had squeezed into the elevator with Isis and Daniel rushed out, and Isis quickly stepped between them and Anu's guards.

“Stop!” she cried, raising her hands. “I command you to put your weapons down. We would not have your blood on our hands.”

Anu's guards faltered and lowered their weapons. Ares's soldiers quickly took advantage of their hesitation and moved in fast, slamming into their opponents and disarming them with little struggle.

“Is Anu inside?” Daniel asked one of the defeated Opiri.

“You,” the Opir said with belated recognition. “He will kill you.”

The second group of Ares's soldiers arrived, and Daniel ordered several of them to stand watch over the captives. “Shoot them if they move,” he said.

Isis joined him and the other soldiers as they burst into the dimly lit room, coming upon a tableau she had never expected to find. It took her a moment to realize what was wrong.

The dark-haired Opir who sat on the throne was not Anu. At first she didn't recognize him. The sharper features, the toothy smile, the bare chest and bullet-shaped crown. He had Anu's coloring, like most of the Nine. He was familiar, and yet...

“Hannibal,” Daniel said.

Isis followed his gaze from the heavily armed guards behind Hannibal to the new set of courtiers and the four members of the Nine who stood below him on the dais. Sprawled across the floor in a wide semicircle knelt at least a hundred humans, foreheads pressed to the floor. Men in the garments of ancient priests stood among them, chanting songs of praise.

And between them and the dais stood a lovely young dhampir woman with auburn hair and hazel eyes, her expression defiant and fearful, chained to the floor by a collar and manacles around her wrists.

Trinity
, Isis thought. She could guess the reason for the woman's fear. Ares faced Hannibal with clenched fists and the clear desire to tear the Opir's throat out.

“If you attempt to harm me in any way,” Hannibal was saying, “your mate will die.”

“Where is Anu?” Daniel demanded, striding up to the dais.

“Indisposed,” Hannibal said. “Welcome to my court, Daniel.”

“Who
are
you?”

Ares spun around, taking in Daniel's battered appearance with a single hard glance. Isis came to stand beside Daniel.

“He calls himself Ba'al,” Ares said. “Lord Ba'al, who once posed as Palemon's right hand in Erebus.”

“Posed, indeed,” the Opir now called Ba'al said with a slight inclination of his head. “It is simple enough to change the color of one's skin and hair by chemical means. And to change them back.”

“Ba'al,” Isis said. “God of Phoenicia.”
And as ancient
, she thought,
as any of them
. An Elder as powerful as Anu.

“It was his plan to conquer Erebus and rule as a tyrant,” Ares said. “I knew nothing of this when I defeated him and cast him out of the Citadel.”

Ba'al shot Ares a poisonous glare. “
You
are the defeated one now,” he said. He looked from Isis to Daniel and back again. “When I was exiled from Erebus, I searched for another Citadel to take as my own. It was remarkably easy to gain Anu's confidence. I manipulated him as he manipulated others, because he was not aware of my power. He did not know that I was also a god. And his superior.”

“You've killed him, haven't you?” Daniel asked, his head high.

“He learned of his mistake too late,” Ba'al said. “He did not expect that a mere Opir could destroy the mighty leader of the Nine.” He clucked his tongue. “Perhaps if he had cooperated, like my most loyal servants...” He waved his hand toward Ereshkigal, Hera, Hermes and Bes.

Bes
, Isis thought.
Not you.

And why had Hermes helped her find Daniel in his cell, if he had committed himself to this new and highly ambitious usurper? Had he felt a moment of regret?

“Where are Athena, Hephaestus and Ishtar?” she asked Ba'al.

“I will find them.”

“The way you found Isis when she disappeared for two weeks?” Daniel asked. “Or did you believe she was already dead?”

“I did not need to find her,” Ba'al said. “She has returned to me.” He flashed his teeth at Isis, showing off cuspids filed to even sharper points. “Anu knew you would be first to oppose his plans, Lady Isis, as he knew that you had the power to draw humans and Opiri to you. But he hesitated to take action against you. I was the one to convince him to give you the tainted blood.”

“You failed to kill her,” Daniel said through clenched teeth.

Ba'al narrowed his eyes. “And what of you, Daniel? Even in exile, I learned everything about the time after your escape from Erebus—how you became a leader of humans and even Opiri, a person of some distinction among your colonies.” He toyed with a golden bracelet on one arm. “I helped Anu to understand that you, mere human that you appeared to be, were dangerous even apart from your relationship with Isis.”

“Did
you
try to kill Daniel at the Games?” Isis asked, giving Ba'al a clear glimpse of her own white teeth.

“A warning,” Ba'al said. “One neither of you heeded.” He narrowed his eyes. “Did you think Anu would have shown you mercy?”

“Anu was returning Tanis to the old ways,” Daniel said. “But you want something else, don't you?”

“Anu thought like a human,” Ba'al said with obvious contempt. “He saw only small things. He imagined a city where his chosen servants and allies would regain their serfs and Households, and he would still hold a third of the humans for himself, to worship him as he so desired.”

“He wanted both,” Isis said. “Opiri to rule, and humans to conquer with his will.”

“Yes,” Ba'al said. “He created chaos in Tanis so that he would have the excuse to bring in his secret army to round up the humans and confine them until he could put his plan into effect.”

“But most Opiri in Tanis would have opposed him!” Isis said.

“Many, yes. But Anu had a plan to be rid of the rebellious ones once he had the humans in hand. A plan I have gladly taken up.”

“To kill the Opiri in the towers,” Daniel said.

“Except those who have sworn allegiance to me,” Ba'al said. “Those who have agreed to aid my army will help eradicate the rest.”

“He lies,” Ares said, addressing the courtiers. “He won't allow his supposed allies to keep Households. Like Anu, he intends to return to the ancient past and rule as a true god. But he'll permit only a handful of Opiri to survive, including these four—” he jerked his head toward the other members of the Nine “—as his acolytes.”

“He can't control two thousand humans,” Daniel said, “no matter how powerful he thinks he is.”

“I am
not
Anu,” Ba'al said. “His limitations are not mine. Before the coming of the upstarts like Yahweh, I controlled hundreds of thousands. I will again.”

“You forget that you're not really a god,” Daniel said. “You're still only an Elder Opir. You can't make the rain fall or the moon rise.”

Ba'al ignored him and turned to Ares. “You have your orders. Obey them, or I will make this female suffer.”

“No, Ares!” Trinity said.

Ares took a step toward the throne. Daniel caught his father's arm, while Ba'al grabbed Trinity's chain in his fist and yanked her toward him. Trinity's face went white.

“Will none of you oppose him?” Isis demanded of her former peers.

“They understand their own interests,” Ba'al said. “And so they will survive when you are dead.” He pulled Trinity very close and smiled at Ares. “I can destroy her in an instant. Your time has run out.”

Isis stepped forward. “Not if I challenge you for rule of Tanis.”

The priests' chanting stopped. The guards shifted their weapons. Someone gasped.

“You would fight me?” Ba'al said with open amusement. “Isis the gentle, the good, the loving mother?”

“No,” Daniel said, stepping between her and Ba'al. He turned his back on the god and faced her. “You can't,” he said softly. “I told you before, Isis. You were never meant to kill.”

“You would say or do anything to protect me.”

“Anything, Isis. For
you
.”

She stared at him, trying to make him feel what she felt: her love for him, her pride in his courage, her determination that he would not have suffered in vain. But her efforts were interrupted by the crack of a whip, and the curling tail of leather tore the remaining rags of Daniel's shirt from his back, laying bare old scars and newer wounds.

With a cry of unbridled anger, Isis leaped between him and Ba'al. The god smiled as he coiled the whip. Daniel caught Isis, blood running down his fingers, and put her behind him again. She felt him gathering his strength, his heart pumping, his breathing labored.

“You will not fight him, Lady Isis,” he said. “
I
will.”

Ba'al burst into laughter. “You—a serf, a piece of property?”

“You said I was dangerous,” Daniel said. “Are you afraid of me?”

Ba'al sprang to his feet, his expression twisted with contempt. “You would die in a heartbeat.”

“Then you have nothing to fear.”

In sudden rage, Ba'al cracked the whip at Daniel. Daniel caught the fall of the whip in his fist and dragged Ba'al halfway off the dais before the Elder stopped himself and pulled free.

“Kill him,” Ba'al instructed the guards.

Immediately Ba'al's Opir guards took aim. Isis cried out. Ares charged toward the dais and only stopped when the guards trained their rifles at Trinity's head.

“If you will not accept a challenge from a half-blood,” Daniel said, standing straight and unbowed, “you must accept one from another god.”

His face a mask of fury, Ba'al gave an ugly laugh. “Ares cannot touch me,” he sneered. “Guards—”

“You know what I am,” Daniel said. “Ares is my father.”

“I remember the great revelation in Erebus,” Ba'al said, “and the shame it brought down upon Ares's head.”

“Shame?” Ares asked. “You were as poor at observation then as you are now.” He smiled. “He is half-Opir, and he has the right to challenge you.”

Isis expected Ba'al to laugh again, to declare that a half-blood—son of a god or not—was no fit opponent...to remind them that no dhampir or Darketan had ever formally challenged a full Opir in living memory.