Vampire Sheikh (19 page)

There was a stirring in the crowd. Joss wondered what the secret could be. The last one he'd revealed—the ancient dream spell discovered in his library—had been huge.

“Many centuries ago,” he said, “I uncovered a papyrus in the archive taken from the defeated
per netjer
of Sekhmet.”

A chill went down Joss's spine. The very temple where she and her sisters had been working when all this had started! She couldn't help but wonder if the powerful goddess had a hand in the events of the past month…

“In the writings,” Ray went on, “I discovered one of great import, containing a secret hidden long ago by the first immortal high priestess of that temple.” Everyone held their breath. “In it was revealed the way to reverse the spell that turns human to
shabti.
”

Joss jumped to her feet, clapping her hands to her mouth in shock. Was it true?

In the audience, she heard Gemma gasp. Gillian, too, cried out with a joyous sound, then burst into tears as Joss turned to seek their gazes in disbelief. Shahin stood frozen, utterly stunned, staring at Haru-Re. Joss knew from Gemma that his own mother had been serving Haru-Re as a
shabti
for over three hundred years.

As one, they all turned to Nephtys for confirmation. She nodded, her eyes filling with tears when she saw how moved they all were by the news. Could it really be so?

“How?” Joss managed to tear her focus back to Haru-Re and ask. “How is it done?”

“It's almost too easy,” Ray said. “The
shabti
must only be removed from the
per netjer.
That's all. Just like the spell that preserves our immortality, without the monthly rituals of renewal, the
shabti
spell simply unravels and dissolves, restoring the person to their former self, their
consciousness and their will. Afterward, they can pick up their life as though the interruption never took place. Other than the time displacement, of course.”

Nephtys expression turned to one of comprehension. “So
that's
why you were always so bent on retrieving
shabtis
who escaped the palace,” she murmured.

Haru-Re nodded gravely. “At first it was because I didn't want to lose their services. But after a while, I realized how terrible it would be to awaken from what you think is an afternoon nap, only to find yourself living in another century, or even a different millennium. I wished to spare them that horror, at least.”

Joss thought about that. It was true, she supposed. Romantic time-travel novels aside, it would be pretty awful to wake up a hundred, or a thousand, years in the future. But still…

Thank God in heaven the victims would all be freed now.

Including her own mother.

She gazed at Haru-Re with new respect. This truly showed how much he had changed. Or perhaps, Nephtys had been right all along, and he just needed encouragement to allow the natural goodness within him to emerge. She'd like to think so.

Happiness glowed from deep within her as she exchanged joyful looks with Gillian and Gemma and a still-stunned Shahin.

Joss hadn't seen her parents yet, but now…oh, now she had such wonderful news to share with her father! Isobelle Haliday was alive and would once again be the vibrant, loving, beautiful woman Joss remembered from her childhood!

There was no better gift in the world.

Seth's arm slipped around her shoulders in a warm embrace. She looked up and he tenderly kissed her brow.

“I believe your work here is done, my love.” He tipped up her chin with a knuckle and smiled. “And now perhaps you'd fancy a visit to Petru with your sisters? This time under more pleasant circumstances, I would hope.”

If the man hadn't already captured her heart completely, this loving, considerate invitation would have done it for sure.

Josslyn's heart was gone. Utterly and absolutely lost to this amazing man. And there was nothing she could do about it.

Or wanted to.

She rose up on her toes, kissed his lips and whispered, “Seth-Aziz, you are truly the most wonderful man in the world.”

W
hen it came right down to it, Seth had no idea how to deal with his love for Josslyn.

He'd been a demigod for five millennia, a high priest for longer than that, all the while a respected leader of his tight-knit underground community, steering the destinies of the immortals with power and authority through good times and bad, through thick and thin.

He'd never been at a total loss before.

Never in such a quandary as to his
own
destiny.

Not until he'd met the stubborn, wise, unpredictable, loyal, mouthy and inordinately tempting Josslyn Haliday.

He wanted her. He wanted her in the worst way. He wanted her in the best way.

He wanted her in
all
ways.

She seemed to want him. Physically, at least. She seemed to like him. A lot. She smiled when she saw
him, her face lighting up with pleasure. She melted into him when he held her close. She came to him eagerly when he beckoned. Came for him with abandon when he touched her. Hadn't she just said, not three hours ago, that he was the most wonderful man in the world?

He was terrified of making a mistake. He was so bad at this! All he wanted was a clue. But when he tried to probe her feelings, through their blood connection, no matter how delicately and subtly he searched for some indication of how she really felt about him, she'd managed to keep her emotions so carefully guarded, so tightly shut away, that he'd been unable to decipher them.

Even as they'd shared his bed for a few hours last night, as she'd given him her body so completely, her heart had been impossible to weigh.

Was it because he'd acted like such a bastard before, blaming her for things she'd had no part in, sending her away when she'd offered herself to him so selflessly and without guile? Telling her that love had nothing to do with his wanting her as his consort. What a thoughtless, cruel thing to say to a woman!

He had to tread delicately now. He didn't want to scare her off by coming on too strong again. He'd nearly succeeded last time in a bad way. What a fool he'd been! By the feather of Thoth, he regretted his unthinking actions! His closed mind. His lack of feeling.

He wanted to beg her forgiveness. Desperately. To show her he'd finally come to his senses. But he could think of no gift worthy of her to made amends. Even Haru-Re had given her something far more precious than anything Seth could summon up to present her.

He glanced over at the woman who occupied his every waking thought, to where she and her sisters were speaking animatedly with their father. Josslyn was dressed in a loose-flowing silken gown that glided sensually over her body while emphasizing her lovely curves. The dress was robin's-egg blue, an uncommon shade for a Khepesh woman, who tended to wear darker, jewel-like colors, but it looked beautiful with her luxuriant blond hair and pale skin, so he didn't begrudge her the slip into the tones of Petru. She was gorgeous today, and glowing from the reunion with her parents.

They were all sitting on the grass in the garden behind the temple of Re-Horakhti at Petru, he and Rhys off to one side by the sacred, fragrant lily-filled pool, Shahin sitting quietly with his silent mother, lost in thought.

Josslyn was holding her own mother's hand, a shadow of sadness tracing over her pretty features whenever she looked at her.

It couldn't be easy for any of them to see the woman who'd birthed and raised them languish in such a hollow state. But at least it would be over soon. Trevor Haliday was already speculating on how and when he could carry his wife away from Petru, so the wicked spell would fade away and his beloved wife could emerge from the empty shell she'd been living in for the past twenty years.

“You can take her to my home in North Carolina,” Gemma was saying to her father. “Live in my apartment until she's better. Then come back to us here, where we can all be together.” Gemma reached out to take Shahin's hand between her palms and kissed it. He
smiled at her, but his eyes were seeing something far away, in the distant past.

“I should come with you,” Josslyn said to her father, jolting Seth to attention. “I can—”

Seth shook his head and interrupted firmly, “No. We talked about this, Josslyn. You can't leave Khepesh.”

“But you said I could!” she countered.

“After you've joined the
shemsu,
” he returned.

“Then let me do it right away. I'll—”

“
And
after a good number of years have passed,” he cut in. “There are many things to learn about your new powers before you can go out into the world again.”

“Then I won't join at all. It won't be a factor.”

Just
once
he wished she would simply accept his commands without arguing! Gillian and Gemma were the same way, according to Rhys and Shahin's complaints. It must be some kind of blasted family curse.

“Not possible,” he stated categorically. “You
will
join.”

And why was she so transparently anxious to leave Khepesh…to leave
him?
How could she not see that she belonged here? That she belonged to him?

Didn't she understand that he would never, could never, let her go? Not in a million years, and even that would be too soon? Not after she'd shared his bed and listened to his dreams of a peaceful, prosperous future, filled with happiness. Didn't
she
know she was the main reason for that happiness?

“You can't possibly think I'd betray the
per netjer?
” she persisted. “I think I've proven my loyalty!”

He jetted out a breath of irritation. He had no intention
of discussing this in front of the others. “You'll stay here because I wish it,” he told her, possibly a bit more sharply than intended.

Still.
He
was the high priest here. The reigning demigod. She was a mere initiate, not even of the
shemsu
yet—even if Nephtys had big plans to teach her the ways of the temple and make her a priestess like herself, trained to hold and preserve the secret of immortality.
That
was far in the future.

For now she must obey him!

Josslyn scowled fiercely, but to his annoyance, the others were trying hard to hide impertinent smiles. Rhys was actually grinning, the scorpion. Even Shahin was shaking his head at him, a sardonic slant to his mouth.

“What?” Seth demanded of them all.

Trevor Haliday's brows flicked as he looked from one daughter to the next, ending with his oldest. He drilled a look at Seth while saying to her, “Sweetie, we can talk more about this tomorrow. I think Seth-Aziz has something he wants to discuss with you now. Isn't that right, my lord?”

“Yes. I do,” Seth said, rising from the grass with as much dignity and authority as he could muster. He held out his hand to her. It was time he showed her the way of things.

“Come with me,
heret-ibi.
Please,” he added when her scowl deepened.

Her mouth thinned, but she took his offered hand and let him help her up. Who said there were no more miracles?

He crooked his arm and calmly waited until she reluctantly took it.

Small favors.

“Seth, I—”

“Shush,” he admonished. “You'll have your chance to say anything you wish when we get where we're going.”

“And where is that?” she asked.

“You'll see.”

He could almost hear her debate with herself over whether or not to object. To forestall further argument, at the edge of the garden he shifted to Mihos Rukem. He knew she loved his favorite Set-animal, and if anything could make her forget her displeasure with him, it was the Black Lion of Egypt.

He nudged her with his muzzle, urging her to lift the hem of her gown and climb onto his back.

“It'll be ruined!” she said.

Like he cared. He could conjure her a thousand dresses in the blink of an eye. He let out a few clicks of a growl and pushed his nose under the hem, raising it several inches up her legs.

A tactical error.

His sensitive nose could smell the scent of their earlier lovemaking on her, despite the shower they'd shared after awakening this morning. He breathed in deeply and felt his balls grow hard and heavy. His growl deepened as he traced a lingering path up her calf with his nose, and higher still, pulling a gasp of scandal from her when his intent became clear.

She swatted at him. “Stop!” she hissed in embarrassment. “My father is watching!”

With an inward chuckle, he nudged her again, and this time she quickly clambered onto his back.

She rode him like a queen, head high, holding fistfuls of his black mane to keep her balance, the gown fluttering about her bare legs and feet as he trotted toward the front gate of Petru. The pathway parted before them like the Red Sea, as the
shemsu
of Re-Horakhti backed away to look on in admiration.

The Golden Portal yawned open, and he leapt forward, once again running with the desert wind. He felt Josslyn relax against his neck, the muscles of her body melding with his in the loping run, as they did when they were making love.

He felt completely, blissfully free and wild. And he loved having her with him.

He wanted her here forever.

His huge paws ate up the miles between Petru and Khepesh, bringing them quickly to his destination….

His own tomb.

J
osslyn recognized the place at once.

It was definitely the same place she'd seen Rhys carry off her sister Gillian last month. And also where she'd later met Nephtys on that fateful afternoon.

God, had it only been four days ago?

Joss clung to the fur of the huge black-and-tan lion that was Seth, as he trotted up the steep incline of the
gebel,
heading toward the familiar narrow eye in the rock. Behind it lay the tomb, with its square, plain-hewn antechamber…and the mysterious secret door that Nephtys had insisted Joss not unlock. Instead, the priestess had spirited her away to the tunnel entrance that had led her deep underground, to the Great Western Gate of Khepesh.

And to a fate she never could have imagined.

Mihos Rukem slipped through the keyhole opening in the
gebel
and came to a halt. She slid off his back.
Had he brought her here to show her the secret of the mysterious Ptolemaic door? Or perhaps another unexpected change of fate awaited her….

She shivered, a spill of foreboding cascading down her spine.

“What are we doing here?” she asked nervously.

Not that a lion could answer.

“Josslyn,” Seth's deep voice said from behind her.

She spun. The sunlight barely penetrated the tomb's antechamber, and her eyes hadn't yet gotten used to the dimness. Dressed in his Bedouin robes, Seth's tall, impressive form was a solid black silhouette backlit by radiating beams of silver light. A wave of power rolled over her, the last of the energy from his shift. The man truly was magnificent. She sucked in a breath, unable to resist his regal appeal.

“I have something to show you,” he said, his voice low and smooth.

Those six words never failed to send shivers of desire coursing through her, for they always came just before he stripped her naked and led her into some amazing new erotic experience that left her breathless and wanting more.
Much
more.

“Okay,” she whispered.

He tipped his head and a corner of his lip curved up. “Always so willing.”

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked, suddenly unsure if he thought she was—

“No, it's a very good thing.”

She swallowed.
Thank God.

Already her body was heating, moistening, preparing itself for him.

He made no move to touch her, though. Didn't strip away her clothes with a quick flick of his hand. Didn't look at her with that hungry, drowning look he gave her when he was thinking of something very, very wicked.

“So…” she said, even more uncertain. “What did you want to show me?”

He took a step toward her, but his gaze went over her shoulder. “My tomb,” he said.

A trill of energy brushed over her, feeling like the silken swipe of a cat's tail. Goose bumps blossomed on her skin.

She faltered and glanced around at the bare stone walls, carved in a simple faux block pattern. “Yours?” Then it hit her. “Oh, Seth. You died?”

He inclined his head. “My death was a required part of the ritual that made me vampire. I could not become a demigod without going through it.”

A soft sound of horror slipped from her throat. “My God.”

“Goddess, actually. Sekhmet, the bitch. She would take her pound of male flesh, one way or another.” His shadowed smile held no humor.

“How…?” she asked, a horrified kind of curiosity getting the better of her. She was, after all, a scientist at heart. She'd heard rumors of Sekhmet's association with blood and vampires, but had never heard definitive proof before now.

“I was bled to death.”

Jesus. “Good Lord. Was it awful?” she asked.

“As I recall, it was…unpleasant.”

She regarded him for a moment and tried to imagine
what it must have been like for him. Trading his life for untold power and immortality—but at such a price. “Was it worth it?”

The humorless smile reappeared. “Ask me again tomorrow.”

She wasn't sure what that meant. But before she could pursue it, he slipped past her and moved his hand over the two stone blocks that marked the edges of the secret door, using his energy to trip the metal lever cleverly hidden in the seam between them.

At once, a low rumble started, deep in the bowels of the tomb. Inch by slow inch, a square section of rock started to slide backward. When it stopped, there was an opening large enough for a person to crawl through.

Oh. My. God.

“Frightened?” he asked.

“You're kidding, right?”

In the darkness, he tunneled the fingers of one hand gently through her hair. “Josslyn,” he murmured, his voice silken, “you will never have anything to fear. Come what may, I will always protect you.”

She swallowed. That sounded almost like…

No, she must be imagining the unspoken vow in his words, of a future together.

He pulled her mouth to his and kissed her. As though sealing his promise.

“Seth—” she murmured. She needed to know.

But he laid his thumb over her lips. “Go through the door, into the tomb, Josslyn.”

Her pulse jumped and her hands started to tremble.

Something was going on. Something she didn't understand. “You're scaring me.”

“No need,” he said. “Remember, I'm here to protect you. Besides, it's not dangerous.”

“Then why all the mystery?”

“What happened to my intrepid archaeologist? Now go.”

She nibbled on her lip. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She'd been in hundreds of tombs before. Hell, she'd napped in them. With mummies as roommates. But she felt something, a kind of tingling on the nape of her neck. He seemed a little too…anxious. Or something.

“Tell me what's inside first.”

“By the
gods
you are exasperating! Inscriptions. Nothing more. Now get in there before I put you over my knee and—”

“Okay! I'm going.”

She took a deep breath, dropped to her hands and knees and crawled through the opening. Seth followed close behind her. When they rose, he made an arc with his hand and several torches sprang to life, filling the chamber with light.

She gasped in amazement.

He hadn't lied. The four stone walls were filled floor to ceiling with precisely chiseled, gorgeously painted Old Kingdom scenes and inscriptions.

“Oh, Seth!” she breathed, spinning around to look at it all. “They're exquisite!”

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the main funerary scene on the focal wall opposite the entry door. It showed the tall, nearly life-sized, distinctive figure of Khepesh's half-man half-mythical jackal-like patron god, Set-Sutekh, accepting gifts and adulation from the
slightly smaller figure of his high priest. There was a name inscribed next to him, but Joss would have known that handsome, aristocratic profile anywhere.

“That's you!” she said.

He nodded. “A rather good likeness, I thought.”

She stared at the portrait, and a strange, creepy feeling of wonder shivered through her at the thought that he had been frozen in that pose paying homage to his god for five-thousand years—yet she was standing here now, right next to the man himself.

“Wow,” she whispered.

She stepped back to take in the whole elaborate scene. Fanning off to either side of Seth and flowing around all four walls of the antechamber were scores of smaller figures, men and women, some standing, some kneeling respectfully on their heels, some dancing or playing instruments. There were birds and flowers and a multitude of animals. All doing honor to Seth-Aziz and bringing offerings to the god.

“It's magical,” she said, completely enchanted. “They seem almost…alive. Like every one of them could step right off the wall and come to life.”

All at once she noticed two figures near the end of the line of supplicants, a man and a woman. The man sported a very un-Egyptian mustache, and the woman was blond.

Joss gasped in recognition. “That's Gillian and Rhys!”

Seth smiled and pointed to another couple, farther up within the revelers. “Yes. And here's Shahin and Gemma.”

“Oh!” She shot him a look, then turned back to the
painting. And suddenly she understood. “These people on the walls, they're the
shemsu
of Khepesh, aren't they? You've put them all here, so their names will be kept alive forever, never to be forgotten.”

Again he nodded, this time somewhat wistfully. “I come out here sometimes, to look at their faces. To remember the friends we've lost over the years and wonder who might be the next to go. Ponder who will take their places. If anyone will…”

And she was sure he took every passing personally to heart. She could see it in his face, the loneliness of loss and the burden of responsibility.

“Surely, now that there's peace with Petru, things will be better.”

“I pray you are right.”

He was such a compassionate leader; such a good person.

She couldn't help falling in love with him a little bit more.

She laid her head against his shoulder, and he put his arm around her. For several long minutes they looked at the many faces in the painting. “It's amazing how the artist could fit everyone in. How many
shemsu
are there altogether?”

“I'm not sure. I suppose I should count them one day. Three or four hundred, I should think.”

“Wow.”

“There's someone missing, though,” he said. “Here.” He gestured to a slim, empty spot just to the side of his own figure.

“Really? Who?”

“You.”

She whipped her head around to look at him, hope blossoming in her heart. “Me?”

He smiled down at her. “That blank space is meant for my true wife and consort. Honestly, I've despaired of ever filling it.”

She blinked. “Oh?”

“But I was thinking I'd like to put your image there, if you'll let me.”

Her lips parted, her heart racing. “Truly?” she whispered.

“Truly,” he assured her. “I love you, Josslyn.”

Her soul took flight and sang with joy. Finally! “Oh, Seth, I love you, too. With all my heart.”

He kissed her then, long and deep, and his magical energy wrapped her in an enveloping spill of sizzling warmth and shivering power. She knew she would always be safe and protected while she was in his arms. And always, always loved.

“Will you let your name be carved next to mine, and always be my beloved wife and honored consort, to be by my side through all eternity?”

“Yes, oh, yes,” she whispered, and held him close, her heart overflowing with happiness. And she knew for certain that an eternity would not be nearly long enough to show the world how much she loved this amazing man.