Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles) (5 page)

“It doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going on,” I whispered.

“How do you know, Sarah?” Carlos said.

I looked at both of them then looked out the window when I told them, “Because it was about Aquila.”

Their silence forced me to return my gaze to them, “Something’s happened to him, hasn’t it?”

“Is that what you saw in your dream?” Matt said.

“No.  But he was calling to me.  He was asking me to help him.  Something was definitely wrong and he needed my help.  What’s happened to him, Matt
?
  You have to tell me.”

“I don’t know if something has happened to him, Sarah.  But there’s been a
Seraphim
hanging around the compound like he’s waiting for someone.”

“A
Seraphim
?
  It’s not Aquila?”

Matt looked away
while
Carlos shook his head, “No, hun, it’s not Aquila.”

“But, but, but, the only one of the species
left besides Aquila is, is, oh no,” I whispered as I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them.  I pressed my head to my knees.  The pain in my belly told me exactly who it was.  I felt their hands rubbing my back, caressing my hair, stroking my arms, but it didn’t matter.  Nothing was going to take this pain away, nothing.  “Why is he there?  Do you know?  Has he said anything?”

“No, hun.
  He won’t let anybody get close enough to
him.  They think he’s waiting for something, or someone,” Matt said.

I turned my head to look at him, “Me.  He’s waiting for me, isn’t he?”

Matt nodded, “I think he might
be,
hun.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, “I can’t do this.  I’m not strong enough.”

“You
’
r
e
kidding us, right?” Carlos said, “Jesus, Sarah, you are stronger than anyone either of us has ever met.”

“I’m not strong enough for this, guys.   How am I supposed to look into his eyes and talk to him?  His eyes, Scotty’s eyes, they’re the same.  It’ll be like talking to a ghost for me, my son’s ghost.”

(In my human life, my husband, Rob and my young son, Scotty, were killed in a car accident.  The
Seraphim
that I gave birth to had the same eyes that my
former
son had)

“Maybe he just wants to meet his mother, Sarah,” Carlos whispered.

I shook my head, “Can’t be.  They don’t have those kinds of emotions.  They’re more animal than human.”

“But maybe he’s not, Sarah.  Maybe you passed something more onto him,” Matt said.

“Don’t tell me that, Matt.  Please don’t tell me that,” I said then I winced when I felt the plane descend slightly.  We were preparing to land, which would put me just three hours from facing him.

Matt and Carlos looked at each other again.  I hadn’t spoken a word in the limo and we were over two and a half hours into the drive.  I just sat and stared out the window, with Matt next to me and Carlos across from me.  They were clearly worried but not sure what they should do.  Carlos popped into Matt’s head, ‘
Say something to her,’
he thought.

‘Me?  Why me?  You’ve always been able to connect with her better than me in that way.’

Suddenly I broke their concentration with each other.  “Ivan, can you please pull over for a second?”  The car had barely come to a stop before I jumped out the door, followed closely by Carlos and Matt.  The hot sun beat down on my back as I leaned over with my hands on my knees, gasping for air.  “Sarah?” Carlos whispered.

“He knows I’m coming.  I can feel him.  He’s tense,
nervous,
and curious
but he’s also scared about something.  Something’s happened.  That’s why he’s here.  Something’s happened and he’s looking for my help.”

“How do you,” Carlos began asking, but I interrupted him. 

“I don’t know,” I snapped, “How did I know without a doubt that Matt wasn’t going to harm me when I first saw him?  How did I know that Jonas had
good
in him?  I don’t know how I know these things, damn it.  I just do.” 

I felt bad for snapping at him, but I’d have to worry about apologizing later.  Right now all I could concentrate on was what was about to happen.  Right now all I could think about was meeting my son.  Or, rather, meeting the son that I gave birth to.  Since I was never a part of his life, I couldn’t really call him
my
son, could I? 
My heart screamed
at
me that I wasn’t ready for this but my brain brought logic to my panic: you’ll never truly be ready, Sarah, so just get your ass up and do it, it said to me.
I
stood up, turned around and looked at Matt and Carlos.  The concern on their faces was so heart-warming.  I smiled at them and
gave them each a quick kiss.  “I’m ready now.  Let’s go see what he needs.”  We climbed back into the car, with me in the middle, Matt and Carlos on either side of me, my hands clamped firmly in theirs.    Within a few minutes, we could see the wall of the fortress ahead.   “Do you know where he is, Sarah?”

I nodded, “He’s in the trees between the cave and the fortress.  He’s afraid of all the vampires.  I’m going to have to do this alone, guys.”

“Uh-uh, no way, Sarah,” Carlos mumbled.

“He’s only a child, Carlos.  He’s not going to harm me.  Please stop worrying.  I’ll be where you two can see me, but I have to go to him alone or he’ll run.  Please?”

“How fast do these things reach adulthood?” Matt said.

“It takes them about a year, I think.  He’s only about seven months old, so he’s about the equivalent of an eleven or twelve year old boy.” I said.

“A very strong, deadly, twelve year old boy.
  Don’t forget that, Sarah.” Carlos said.

“I know and I won’t.  I promise.”

We pulled into the courtyard a few minutes later and I
had to force myself to relax.  Every muscle in my body wanted me away from this place and it took every ounce of strength I had not to run.  Ivan brought the car to a stop and opened the rear door for us.  Before he climbed out Matt turned, looked at me and waited.  I squeezed my eyes shut and took a few deep breaths.  Finally I just mumbled, “Fuck it, Sarah.  You’re never going to be ready for this, so just go.”  I opened my eyes and nodded at him.  We all climbed out into the sunlight.  My eyes instantly moved left and found him in the trees.   He seemed surprised that I found him so quickly and I saw him tense up.  I smiled slightly.  The three of us walked toward the back corner
of the
yard
where the
waterfall
is (my favorite spot)
.   “You guys wait here on the bench please,” I said then I walked about ten feet away from them and looked up into the trees.  The child flew towards me, hovered then backed away into the trees again.  I stepped farther away from Matt and Carlos and watched as the child did the same thing as before.  “I think he’s afraid to come down here into the yard.  I’m going up on the roof.”

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and I
glanced quickly at Matt and Carlos, “Don’t move, please.  I’ll stay on the edge of the roof where you can see me, okay?”

They both nodded and sat back down, but I could see that they were both ready to pounce in the blink of an eye and it made me smile.  “My protectors,” I mumbled as I floated up toward the roof.  I sat on the edge with my feet dangling down and smiled at them.  I scanned the trees and had just started to worry that he had left when I heard the thud about twenty feet behind me.  I tensed but didn’t move.  We stayed that way for a few minutes.  Finally I said, “Can you understand me?  I won’t hurt you.”  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect for an answer.  Maybe Aquila had only taught him Latin
, which is what he spoke when I first met him, trying, successfully, to make me believe that he didn’t understand English – he learned what our plans were that way since we didn’t feel concerned about talking in front of him
. 

I was just losing hope of him speaking English
as well
when he whispered, “Of course you won’t.  I know that.”

“Then what are you afraid of?” I said.

“I am not afraid,” he said matter of
factly
as he slowly started walking towards me
.  “I just don’t trust you or the others.  Father told me how you captured him.”

I turned and looked him in the eye, “We have no intention of trying to capture you.  Please believe that.”

“Those are your mates?” he said as he nodded toward Matt and Carlos, seated on the bench below
,  watching
us.

“Correct.  They are.”

“And they are down there because you told them to stay there?”

I nodded, “Yes.”

“Father was right about them, they are weak because they listen with their hearts.  I may be young but I could snap your neck in an instant.  They should be closer to you in order to protect you.”

“But you aren’t here to harm me.  I told them to stay down there because I knew I wasn’t in any danger.”

I felt him watching me, studying me, as he thought about what I said.  “Father said he chose you for your intuition, compassion and strength.  I guess he
was right about the intuition.”

“Why don’t you tell me why you are
here.
  Did your father send you?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.
  He told me to find you if anything ever happened to him.  He said you would help me.”

“And something’s happened to Aquila?”

“He is missing.”

“You are certain of this?”

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“Eight days now.”

“And he’s never left for that long before?”

“No. 
Never for more than a day.
  And he’s been warning me.  He’s been telling me that if something were to happen to him that I should find you.  He was worried.  He knew something was going to happen.”

“Has he told you what he was worried about?  Do you have any idea what happened to him?”

“Not really.  But he has been telling me a lot about the history of my kind.  And about that Queen
lady
who created us.”

“You mean Sekhmet?”

“Yes.  That’s her.  That’s the one he was talking about.  He said you’d know.”

“Will you come inside and fill me and my friends in on what you know?”

He shook his head, “No.  Not tonight.  It’s late and I’m tired.  But you and your friends can come up to the cave tomorrow morning.  You know the cave up the mountain, yes?  I’ve smelled your scent in there.”

“Yes.  I know the one.  Would you like me to bring you something to drink when we come?”

“That would be nice.  Thank you.  I will see you tomorrow,” he said as he spread his wings. 

“Do you have a name that I can call you?” I said before he flew off.

“Yes.  I am called Jason,” he said then he flew off into the night leaving me with my heart in my throat.

“It can’t be,” I mumbled to no one.

“What can’t be, Sarah?” Carlos said as the two of them landed next to me on the roof.

“His name.
  He said his name is Jason,” I sobbed.

“Honey?
  What’s wrong with that?  What is it?”
Matt whispered.

I was still too shocked to break down completely.  I looked up at him, “Jason was Scotty’s middle name, Matt.  There‘s no way Aquila could have known that.  So how did he pick that name?  Why did he pick that name?  Why?   Why?”

They both wrapped their arms around me to try to comfort me.  But they knew it was only a gesture of compassion.  Nothing could comfort me right now.  Nothing but time could take away this pain.  And even time wasn’t helping.  It had been
a little over
ten years since Scotty had died and yet everything that triggered a reminder of him still made my heart feel like it was yesterday
,
s
till made it feel like a shattered shell of what it used to be. 

The three of us sat there for a while, watching the moon rise and the stars come out.  “
I g
uess this is his way of making sure that I never forget him.  God, he’d be almost seventeen now.   I would have loved to see what kind of teenager he would have been.”

“I’m sure he would have been amazing, just like his mom,” Carlos said.

I looked up the mountain toward the cave, “He must
be so frightened right now.  He’s just a child and he’s all alone up there.”

“Remember, Sarah.  He’s not human, he’s not vampire.  They don’t think like us.  They don’t feel like us.  I’m sure he’ll be fine until morning,” Matt said.

I patted his hand, “You’re probably right.  It’s just hard to not think like a mom.  Let’s go eat, I’m famished.  Ever since we hunted, I can’t seem to make my hunger go away.”