Visions of Fire and Ice (The Petiri) (27 page)

She laughed softly. “True. But you didn’t answer the question.”

He rolled over to his back, dragging her with him. “Years ago, you came to me in a vision. And, in it, I thought you were saying goodbye to me. When that happened, I stopped dreaming of you. And, when I did, I couldn’t see your face anymore. It was like…” He frowned, but stared only at the ceiling. “It was like I was blocking your image, in a way, to protect myself from my disappointment. All my life, I had waited for you, and, at that moment, I thought I’d lost you. It was a lot to take.” He tightened his arms about her waist as she lay against his chest. “But the instant I saw you with that dance costume in your hand, I knew it was you.”

“Uhm, Ramose,” she began, fighting to hide a smile, “I bought that for my sister. Are you sure—”

His fingers tangled in her hair and drew her face down to his. “I’m sure it’s you.” His lips met hers, and she swallowed the chuckle rising in her throat.

* * * *

Tamara lay in Ramose’s arms, sensing his every breath. His every movement. He held her tightly, as though worried for her. As though he could sense her thoughts. She didn’t know how long they’d lain on the floor before he’d carried her to his bed and crawled in to wrap his body about hers.

Tears stung the corner of her eyes. He’d revealed all of his secrets, and yet she’d revealed none of hers. Not that she had more than one, but that one had built a wall between them. A wall that had erected itself at that last instant, before the oncoming orgasm dwindled to nothing.

“I’m here for you,
Kha-Ib
.”

His whispered words were nearly her undoing. But how could she tell him what happened when she’d never even faced it herself? If she’d never… She couldn’t go down that road.

“Soon, Tamara. Soon you will crave my touch as much as I crave yours.”

She rolled over to look into those glorious, green eyes. And, while he looked sated, he also looked uncomfortable. As though she’d managed to hurt his feelings and he was trying to hide it.

“What makes you think I don’t crave your touch now?”

He tightened his arms, giving her a quick squeeze. “A man can tell.”

She frowned and traced her fingers over his face. “Then you tell wrong. I crave you with every breath. It’s why I danced for you.”

“And you did so beautifully.” His lips curved into the most sensual smile she’d ever seen, and it took all she had not to kiss him before he finished talking. “But you hold back.”

“You said the
Mer-Ib
was two souls merging. How could that happen if I held back?” She’d hoped he wouldn’t realize how she’d held back at that pivotal instant. She hadn’t been holding herself back from him.

“And it did, but you did hold back.” But this time he gave her a half smile, and his fingers slid across her belly. “But I am a patient man.”

Tamara sighed, and rolled away from him. “It’s not you.”

“Ah, I have heard of this ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ phrase.”

Tamara almost laughed at his amused tone, but forced herself to focus on the real problem, and sobered. Now or never. It was only fair. But she didn’t have to look at him. She could have this conversation staring at the wall.

A hand slid over hear back, easing the tensing muscles. “I am here, but you do not have to tell me what is bothering you if you do not wish.”

She didn’t wish, though he said that as if he already knew. Had he had a dream about it? By his gods, she hoped not. It was bad enough remembering it herself.

“Remember when I said I was attacked in an alley?”

“Yes,” he whispered, as though afraid she’d stop if he said much. Smart man.

“Well, it wasn’t just a mugging or anything.”

His hand stilled on her back for a split second, before continuing to rub the tight muscles. He held his tongue. Yep, he was a lot smarter than she gave him credit.

The fire in her body burned, building to match her tense muscles. “I was raped.” There, it was out. Baldly. Bluntly. Completely.

“I had guessed.” He pulled her tight, spooning against her. “You would not be so upset over a kiss unless it had been no more than a mugging. And you still suffer. We will one day find this man. I will make him pay for hurting you.”

“It was a long time ago, Ramose. We’d never find him.”

“Don’t be so sure. I have my own methods.” He tugged her hair until she looked over her shoulder at him. It was then she saw the fury in his eyes, his jaw clenched. “You will never suffer like that again. I will see to it.”

His anger caught her off guard. He held her so gently, offering her comfort, even while he must have been plotting the demise of her attacker.

“Don’t worry, Ramose.” She lifted her chin. “If anyone makes him pay, it will be me. If there’s one thing this mess with Amunkha has taught me, it’s that I have to stand up for myself.”

“We will make him pay together,” he growled.

“Agreed.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The car pulled into the circular drive of Selket’s home. “I don’t need a babysitter, Ramose. If you insist on going somewhere without me, take Jakkar with you.” Tamara opened the car door and slid out. Despite her reservations, she’d allowed Ramose to talk her into staying with Selket while he went in search of his brother. She still wasn’t quite sure why he needed to do this right this instant, but, according to Ramose, Amunkha had paid him a visit while she’d slept after the attack. He’d waited to tell her because he hadn’t wanted to frighten her. Well, shit. Did he really think if he waited she wouldn’t be afraid for him?

“I want him with you,” growled Ramose as he joined her on the stairs. “I don’t want you alone. What if I can’t find Amunkha and he comes after you?”

“And what if you find him and can’t stop him? Ramose, it took both of us last time.”

“I was unprepared.” His voice was as hard as the granite in the pyramids.

“Fine,” she grumbled, “but I’m not taking him into the bathroom with me.”

The front door opened, and Selket motioned them inside.

“Tamara, I’m so glad you’re safe. When I heard—”

“I’m fine. Just fine. And you know what?” She stormed toward Julie’s room, turning when she reached the door to glare once again at Ramose. “I bet you don’t even know where to find him.”

Ramose looked at Jakkar, who was walking in the door. The two shrugged. “And you do?”

“Yeah, I do. And, if you’d thought to ask me, I could tell you. He’s in Zoan.”

Ramose stiffened beside her. “Zoan doesn’t exist. It’s been gone for thousands of years.”

Tamara shrugged. Now he was telling her she was wrong? “Then you better find it. It’s there, somewhere, and that’s where you will find Amunkha and his cronies.”

“How do you know? Did he tell you?” Ramose demanded.

Shrugging her shoulders, she met his eyes. “I don’t know. All I know is the name popped into my head when you said you were going after him.”

“But Zoan is a dead city. Djanet was built over it. Hell, it’s on its third name. It’s now called Tanis. Zoan has been gone since before we arrived on this planet.”

“Yet you seem to know all about it, don’t you.” Ramose sighed and closed his eyes.
Patience
, she could almost hear him murmur in his mind.

Anger rumbled inside her, but she swallowed it. Now wasn’t the time to push. She’d seen his look of worry when he’d awakened her. He had tried to call one of his friends, and the man seemed to be missing. She didn’t know much about Darius, but, apparently, he didn’t go off to places without letting people know. Ramose was more than worried.

And the instant he’d mentioned Darius’s name, the name Zoan had appeared in her head. Somehow, she knew it was imperative Ramose go to Zoan. Something about Darius niggled at the back of her mind. A premonition?

“Let’s say you’re right, and he’s at Tanis. There’s nothing there but a necropolis and ruins of temples from the time long after Zoan. Zoan itself no longer exists. There’s nothing more than rubble and a few empty graves.”

“But I’m right.” It didn’t matter what they said, the name echoed in her mind like someone had screamed it from the highest of the pyramids. She shook her head, her arms folded. “All I can tell you is you need to go to Zoan.”

The two men eyed one another, and then Jakkar nodded, leaving the two of them alone.

“Don’t leave me here,” Tamara said. She couldn’t believe she was doing this, begging to have him take her with him. “I can help.” If Amunkha was really there, she didn’t want him to meet him alone. What if Ramose had to kill him? It would destroy him, and she couldn’t let that happen. She had a brother, and she’d always fought with him, but to kill him, that was something altogether different. Even if Trey had turned evil, as Amunkha had, she could never kill him. Never. The idea drew a shudder from her spine.

“Not a chance,” he growled, shaking his head. “I want you safe, here, taking care of your cousin.”

“But—”

“No, Tamara. I don’t want you near him. Amunkha isn’t the man I once knew. Something’s happened to him, and he’s evil. I won’t have you anywhere around him. Together, Mereruka and I can take him. If he’s truly at Zoan, all we have to do is find him.” When she moved to argue, he stopped her, his hands cupping her face. “Trust me, Tamara. I can’t do this if I’m worried about you.”

Tamara sensed the worry in him, in the tenseness of his fingers as he gently held her cheeks. His eyes glittered with… Pain? “What happened, Ramose? Why are you so worried all of a sudden?”

His lids fluttered half closed then opened again. “I can’t let him near you, Tamara. I can’t let you experience fear the way you did yesterday ever again. But that’s what Amunkha would want to do to you. Use you to get what he wants.”

“And what does he want?”

“I don’t know,” he growled. “All I know is you are his target.”

She shook her head. “No, Ramose. You’re wrong. I’m his tool. You are his target.”

* * * *

Ramose jumped into the car, slammed it into gear, and was off. While Tamara had slept, he’d thought of Amunkha’s unexpected visit. If he could do that, slip into Ramose’s apartment unheeded, he could get to Tamara any time he wanted, and that couldn’t happen.

Amunkha had grown too powerful, too dangerous for them to take on one at a time, and he was going to need help. Mereruka was going to meet him at the safe house, but, so far, he’d been unable to find Darius to ask for his assistance, and that was more than worrisome. He’d called four times as they’d driven to Selket’s, and each time he’d connected only to Darius’s voice mail. That was unlike him.

His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. The ruins of Tanis sat north of Cairo, close to the Mediterranean, its banks filled with lush, green vegetation. But the ruins sat upon reddened sand, similar, yet so different, than the site at Giza. In Giza, the power and memories of a great city held the world enthralled.

In direct contrast, Tanis still had yet to be thoroughly researched by humans. When they did, would they find Zoan? The city fell long before the Petiri arrived, though a temple built to honor Set was rumored to have once reigned supreme alongside the Pharaoh Apepis.

While Amunkha had once used the name Set, he wasn’t really the god in question, so there was nothing in this place for him. Why would he choose ruins for his home?

Ramose spun the wheel, turning the car into the driveway of the Petiri safe house and his main home. The house sat north of Cairo, hidden from tourists in the desert sands. The Petiri had built it to blend in with the background, to look like the home of a sheikh, yet house any Petiri who may be in need of assistance. They rotated who managed the home, and this decade it belonged to him. For three more years, he’d be responsible for seeing to its maintenance, using whatever rooms he had a need for.

He turned his thoughts back to his brother. It didn’t matter why Amunkha would visit the ruins. Not in the long run. Brother or not, Amunkha would have to die. Now. Before he hurt Tamara. The man was more powerful than any Petiri of his age. If they didn’t stop him now, he’d become impossible to defeat.

A dark Mercedes perched at the top of the drive, the cockpit empty. Ramose slammed on the breaks, his BMW bouncing as the wheels came to a stop. The sand settled as he charged up the steps into the main hallway.

“Mereruka,” he bellowed.

“Here,” his friend said from inside the living room.

Ramose joined him, ready for this to end. “Anything from Darius?”

The warrior medic shook his head, his hands resting on his hips, his stance wide. The man was an enigma, but if ever there was a power to be had at your side during battle, it was Mereruka. A descendant of a warrior clan, he’d learned as a child his
Kha-Ib
would be a healer. Knowing she would have difficulty with a warrior for a mate, he’d squelched his own natural skills and trained himself as a healer. But when they’d found themselves stranded, he’d become dual certified, utilizing his natural skills as a protector and his learned skills as a healer.

“Not yet. I’m worried. It’s unlike him to not answer his cell phone.”

“Unless he’s with a woman,” said Ramose. He loved his friend, but the man had a weakness, and one that would kill him, if he weren’t careful.

Mereruka shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. For the last few hundred years, he’s changed.”

“Right,” said Ramose, disbelieving. Darius had mentioned a time or two his intention to change, but Ramose had noticed no difference. There was always a woman hanging on his friend’s arm, and, thousands of years ago, he’d announced his intention to forget about his
Kha-Ib
.

Moving toward the maps, Mereruka had strewn across the coffee table. “You got a plan already?”

The larger man grabbed the armless dining room chair he’d drug into the room and flipped it around, sitting on it backwards.

“I got to thinking after you called.” He motioned at the map of the archeological site. “If Tamara is right, and he’s heading to Zoan, it’s going to be difficult to find. Are you sure she said Zoan, not Tanis?”

Ramose dropped to a chair in front of the table and peered at the map. “She said Zoan. I told her the city was long gone, but she was adamant. I remember Ramesses II was born there and tended to visit quite often even after he moved his seat of power. From what I remember, Ramesses II didn’t like Set and, instead, built his own temples to Osiris and Horus on the site which once housed Set’s temple.”