Soul Awakened (31 page)

Bakari leaned forward and put his head in his hands. “I messed up, Sin.”

“Yes, you did. So get your sorry ass out of the chair and go get her.”

“It is not that simple.” Bakari started to unlace his wrist guard. Sin slapped a heavy hand across the leather. “We all carry the misdeeds of our ancestors. Are you the same god who was kidnapped so many years ago?”

Stunned, Bakari sat back. They knew who and what he was. He looked into Sin’s eyes trying to detect some measure of disgust or hatred. He found none. In fact, all the fledglings standing before him showed a level of acceptance that Bakari never thought possible. A sense of brotherhood and fidelity. Something he had never had before, ever, in his life. They accepted him as a fellow warrior. Forgiven for his misdeeds. Bakari shook his head.  

Sin tightened his grip. “The god whose sins you carry is dead. You are a warrior now.”

 “I wish that were truly the case.”

“Well, you better put the god in the grave because I hear he was a real asshole.” Sin smiled.

“I can confirm that assessment,” Bakari replied. The other warriors raised their goblets and exchanged various remarks.

Sin rose from his seat and eyed one of the female maidens. The other warriors filed out of the room. On his way out of the door his second in charge looked over his shoulder. “Wear the wrist guards or not. It does not matter to us. But, understand one thing, the hieroglyphics do not make the god, a warrior defines himself by his honor.”

“Yeah, so I have heard.”

Bakari stared out at the warriors sharing drinks and laughing. Heaviness formed in his chest. He had never been this close with a group of men before. The camaraderie and teamwork. They would die for him if asked. What surprised him the most, he would not hesitate to do the same for them.

His brothers.

Kendra trudged silently to the palace with her precious bundle wrapped in her robe. Luckily, she ran into Sin, who graciously escorted her to her bodyguard. She never met a warrior so chatty. He seemed particularly interested in her sister, Lilly.

The guardian held the door open to her room. She walked to the bed and laid out all the ostraca she had taken from the temple. She didn’t consider it stealing considering they were offered up to her statue. Heck, Bakari had lost claim to them when he ditched her in the temple.
Big jerk
.

Was she ever going to learn her lesson and stay away from him? She tried to ignore the warmth between her legs— a reminder of the incredible pleasure he gave her. She looked at her gown. Dimly lit in the warrior village she didn’t see it at first. A hint of red against the pristine white of her robe caught her attention.

She walked to the bathroom and ran cold water, praying the stain would come out. The beautiful silk couldn’t take a lot of scrubbing.

Unsuccessful, she dropped it onto the counter and turned toward the mirror. She examined her neck. A small amount of blood and bruising surrounded two small puncture marks. She had a hickey. The shirt she had worn under her robe didn’t cover the area. How many warriors saw it? Sin had to have seen it.

How the heck was she going to cover this up?  Not that she could hide it from Kit. Kit had this innate ability to sense when someone had sex. Not that she had sex, but it was the closest she ever came to the act. She pulled over a tumble of hair, but it didn’t quite cover it. She decided to put on her sweat shirt.

She pulled open her drawer and threw clothes over her shoulder. When she came up empty she started digging through the stack of clothes in the bureau. Nothing. Grumbling, she stuck her head into her linen basket.

The ache in her chest dissipated, replaced by that now familiar tingle of warmth. She froze. Bakari was here.

With words at the ready she whipped around to confront him. Next to her bed he brushed his fingers against the prayer rolls and then neatly stacked them. His reverence halted the words in her mouth. His face held an anguish, she could only begin to understand. Time stood still when she was around him. Why did he affect her so? Was it simply the blood-bond?

When his silver eyes locked on her, she could barely breathe. Her heart thundered against the last remaining bars she had built to protect herself. She stepped back, as he rounded the bed. She pressed her back against the wall. A lick of fear tingled her spine. The power that consumed her in the temple pulsated again with each step he took closer.

The scorpion hieroglyphics stood out against his olive skin. The mark on her chest tingled from the surface all the way to her soul. “What do you want?”

Bakari stopped a few feet away. “I should have never left you alone.” He glanced away briefly and then knelt before her. Eyes level with her own, he held out his hand and turned his palm over.

Kendra narrowed her eyes. In his palm was a beat up flashlight. Her flashlight. The metal had patches of green and silver. She stepped forward and touched it with her palm. The flashes of its history assaulted her mind with one pervasive memory repeating over and over—the flashlight clutched in Bakari’s hand and pressed to his chest while kneeling before her statue. Her throat tightened and tears burned her eyes.

“When did you find this?” she whispered. She had given up looking for it long ago. Lost on that fateful night she woke him.

“In the dungeon.”

Confused, she looked up into his eyes. He had said such mean and hateful things to her. He almost took his life and hers with him. Why would he ever want it?

“To remind me what there was to live for,” he answered, as if reading her mind.

Kendra stifled a sob. “But, I thought…” Unable to finish, she covered her mouth with her hand.

“I was so afraid I would hurt you and my fear was right.” He traced his fingertips over the puncture marks on her neck. “I am not worthy of what you offered me then nor now in the temple.” He cleared his throat and looked her in the eyes. “I ask for your forgiveness.”

“Bakari, it was my choice to give. I could have said no, but I didn’t.” 

“No less, I do not deserve it. Just as I do not deserve this blood-bond between us. It is too beautiful and pure for someone like me.”

Kendra pushed his hand away and stepped forward. His face creased with remorse. She couldn’t dissolve his pain of the past, but she could forgive him. Heck, she probably forgave him the moment it occurred. He was right about one thing. The bond between them was indescribable. She felt stronger and more focused when he was near. And although scary, the pulsing energy in her chest matched the rhythm of their bodies. Unifying them as one. It terrified her that the same union could end her life.

 She looked at the ostraca on the bed. In the temple she read several of the scrolls. He confessed his sins. Sins, she couldn’t even comprehend, but it was a time gone by. A past she was never part of. She wondered if that mattered. Could you condemn a man for life even with repentance? She lifted her hand and traced the silver white scars on his chest. Wounds inflicted at the hand of Kepi. Had he already paid for his sins?

He grasped her hand and turned it over. With his thumb he rubbed the scar on her palm. “I owe you so much.”

She slipped her hand out of his grasp and touched his face. He covered her hand with his own and pressed his cheek into her palm. A small shudder resonated through his body. Her heart hammered in her chest and the waves of energy pulsed stronger. “You don’t want this bond?”

His eyes shimmered. “Only for the fact that I gave you no choice.”

She swallowed against the tightness in her throat and a few tears spilled down the sides of her cheek. “I don’t regret it, so there’s nothing to forgive. I ask one thing.”

He looked her in the eyes. “My soul is yours.”

“You need to end this thing with Kepi. Not only for you, but for all of us or this,” she touched her scorpion mark, “will be all for nothing.”

Fear flickered in his eyes, but he nodded. She hugged him. He hesitated, but then wrapped his strong arms around her and buried his face into her hair.

“Thank you, Parvana.” He fisted her shirt in his hands and pulled her tighter to his chest. He whispered in his ancient tongue.

Gods bless thy name and soul of your child for he has found love eternal.
 

The words translated with ease. Kendra’s heart skipped a beat, not sure if she was ready for that level of devotion. And what of Bomani? What about him? She looked toward the door, but didn’t break Bakari’s intimate and desperate embrace. On an elemental level, she needed it as much as he did.

Her life depended on it.

Bomani materialized outside of Kendra’s room. He had been gone too long. Left to her own devices, Kendra was a magnet for trouble and based on the guard refusing to make eye contact confirmed his worst fear. His brother’s power emanated from the other side of the door.

  Bomani growled and shoved the door open. He scanned the room and locked on his brother and Kendra, who were standing next to her white board. They both whipped around at the sound of the door slamming against the wall.

“What in duat are
you
doing here?” Bomani stocked forward, pointing his finger at his brother. Kendra’s eyes widened and she grabbed Bakari’s hand. The gesture stayed his brother’s counter advance. Too bad. Bomani would not mind a fist to face confrontation. He glared at their joined hands. Kendra released her grip and stepped forward.

“I was explaining what happened while he was asleep.”

Bomani did not even look at her, but glared at his brother with barely suppressed fury. “You do not belong here. Get your ass back to the village.”

His brother’s cool gaze met his. The silver seemed brighter, his power stronger. The leather wrist guards on Bakari’s arms were absent, his markings in full view and darkened. Bomani bared his teeth and hissed. He glared at Kendra. A red mark against her usually perfect skin drew his attention. She pulled her hair over to hide the bite mark. 

“You let him do this to you?”

Kendra stepped back and bumped into Bakari. His brother placed his hands on her shoulders. “Yes,” she said meekly.

Bakari dropped his hands, but did not back off. The once hard glare turned soft when Bakari looked at her. “Kendra, I think it is best if I leave.”

“Best? You
will
leave, fledgling,” Bomani spat.

“Yes, Commander.” Despite the submissive bow, Bakari glared at Bomani with the amount of defiance and determination, he had not seen since before his brother’s kidnapping.

Bakari had grown stronger and more powerful, possibly greater than before. When his brother turned to walk to the door, his raised tattoos on his back came into view. His brother had gained rank among the warriors under Bomani’s nose. How did he miss Bakari’s ascension among the fledglings? And his brother had the audacity to expose his hieroglyphics. Fine. Wait until the warriors got a load of his glyphs, their misplaced loyalty would be revealed.

Bomani waited for the door to close. It gave him a minute to cool his anger. When he refocused on Kendra, she had busied herself with the board.

“Are you okay?” He asked through gritted teeth.

“I’m fine. And don’t bother, I’m not going to talk about it.”

He walked up and forced her to turn. “We need to talk about this. Why is it you continue to do what I ask you not to do? I asked you to stay away from him. Don’t you understand how dangerous he is?”

She recoiled. “I’m not a child. You don’t have to speak to me that way. Bakari isn’t a threat to me. You’re the only one who thinks so.”

Running a hand over his scalp, he cursed. “Isis, Kendra. You do not know him the way I do. You heard from his own mouth what he is capable of.”