Sekhmet's Curse (Pearl Vampire Chronicles) (13 page)

Jason yawned, stretched and blinked his eyes a few times.  Suddenly, he realized that we were no longer alone and it scared him a bit.  He shot upright and scooted a few feet away from us.  We stared at him for a few seconds until he gave us a sheepish smile. 
“Sorry. 
Didn’t realize we had company
,
”  he
said, then a huge yawn escaped him again. 

I chuckled, “
It’s
okay. They scare me sometimes when I wake up too. 
Are y
ou hungry?”

He nodded and we all clamored to our feet.  As we headed to the kitchen, Carlos leaned down and whispered in my ear, “How’s you
r
hunger, Sarah?  Are the cravings going away or getting any better?”

I thought for a second, “Yes and no.  They’re definitely still there, but, with Jason here, I have more distractions to keep my mind off of them.  And that makes them easier to deal with.”

“Okay.  But you let me know when you need to hunt again.  I’ll take you to a place that you’d swear was hell on earth.  Full of the cruelest, nastiest, humans on the face of the planet,” he said then he grinned and pulled his arm tighter around me when he felt the shiver that rocked my body.  “What time does the car leave for the airport?” I said.

“Noon,” Matt said

“Okay.  That gives me time to go talk to Bahiti a little more.”

“Us.
  It gives us a little more time to talk to Bahiti. 
There has to be a way to get you out of being locked in that damn tomb with Sekhmet.  There just has to,” Carlos mumbled.

Matt’s cell phone rang on his hip.  He pulled it out, gave me a quick worried look after he checked the caller id, then he stepped out into the hall to answer it.  Carlos and Jason were talking over by the microwave as their breakfast warmed up, so I took the opportunity to listen to Matt’s half of the conversation.  “Yes, Alan. 
Uh huh.
  What?  You found her?
No! 
Absolutely not.
  You will not hurt her in any way.  Do I make myself clear?  Good.
Bring her to one of the holding cells and make her comfortable.
No, don’t worry about the reporter right now.  We’ll deal with her later.  Yes.  Okay.”  I heard his cell fold close.  He stepped back into the kitchen as he was tucking it back into its holster.  “Where was she?” I whispered, but I saw Carlos’ eyes flicker to me.  He was listening now too.  “A small hotel in
Lima
  It’ll
be several hours before they make it here.  It probably won’t be until after we leave.  Do you want to delay our trip or have
me
stay behind?”

I shook my head, “No.  It’s critical that we find Aquila soon, Matt.  And you know those waters better than I do, I need you there.  Just keep her comfortable while she’s locked up, okay?  We’ll deal with her when we get back.”

He nodded, “I’ll eat in a bit.  I need to go brief Derek.  I’ll see you in a bit, sweetie,
okay
?”

I
nodded and gave him a quick kiss.  I
turned
and
joined
Carlos and Jason at the table.  Carlos had already heated several pints for me.  I sat next to him and he quickly wrapped his arm tightly around me and kissed my temple, but I
instantly
noticed that he was shaking.  I patted his leg and looked at him, “It’ll be okay, honey.  I promis
e.”  He watched me for a second.
F
inally he couldn’t hold back anymore, “I wish I could have your optimism, Sarah.  But it’s so hard.  Right now, my ex-girlfriend is on her way here, in chains, because she talked to a reporter about you, us and vampires in general.    Something she did because you and I didn’t have the guts to get together years ago. If we had, she never would have gotten hurt.  Because you and I fought this thing between us for so long, she paid the price. 
And, if that weren’t enough, there’s a very good chance that I’m going to lose you forever in less than
two months
.  Do you know what that’s doing to me?  Do you realize that it’s eating me up inside?  That it’s slowly killing me? 
I spent most of my life thinking that the only person that I needed was me.  The moment that I met you my whole world turned upside down in a good way. Without realizing it, you showed me how amazing, how beautiful, how fulfilling it is to need
somebody
else.  Now there’s a very real chance that I’m going to lose all of that.  
How
, with all of this going on, how in the fuck am I supposed to believe that everything’s going to be okay? 
Hmmmm?
 
How?”

I stared at the panic in his eyes. 
At the pure terror.
  He was right.  I knew that.  But I had to convince him that I really believed.  I had to.  It was the only way he’d survive this.  “Jason?  Carlos and I will be back in a few minutes.  Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Sure, Sarah.
  I’ll be fine.  I’ll just wait here.”

“Thanks, Jason,
”  I
said as I stood up.  I took Carlos’ hand in mine and led him down the hall to our
room.  As I led him to his bedroom door, he said, “Sex isn’t going to convince me, Sarah.  Not this time.”

I sat him on the end of the bed and stared into his eyes, “Please.  Give me a little more credit than that, Carlos.  I didn’t bring you here for sex.  I brought you here for privacy.  I want you to answer something for me.  It’s hard for me to say it, because, well, it’s kind of hard for me to believe it myself, but here goes:  What have I been wrong about?  Since the day that Matt walked into my life on that pier, what have I been wrong about?  Go on, tell me.  What?”

I could tell that he was thinking very hard.  It was exactly what I wanted him to do.  “Was I wrong when I told Matt that we’d be successful in figuring out how to change me?  Was I wrong about the Elders?  Was I wrong when you went missing?  Was I able to figure out where you were?  Was I wrong about Jonas?  Was I wrong about what the priest was doing?  Was I
?
”

He interrupted me, “Matt.  You were wrong when you thought Matt was dead.”
I shook my head,
“Caused by emotional trauma
from that fake tape that Malina made
. 
That d
oesn’t really count.”
“
Us.
  You were wrong when you said it wasn’t you that I wanted.”

I shook my head, “I wasn’t wrong, I was lying.  And I was in deep denial.  So, in life and death situations, have I ever been wrong?”

I smiled as I saw him fight the head shake that finally forced its way out, “No.” he whispered.

“Okay.  So listen to me now, Carlos.  Maria’s going to be fine.  She’s going to feel awful for what’s she’s done.  She’s going to fix it.  And then she’s going to get on with her life, and she’ll be happy.  And I’m going to figure out whatever test that Sekhmet gives to me.  I am.  I know that without a shadow of doubt.  I will make it out of there, Carlos.  I will make it back to you and Matt.”

He stared for a moment then anguish filled his face.  He wrapped me tightly in his arms, “Oh God, Sarah.   What am I going to do without you when you’re gone?  How am I going to
survive.
”

I lifted his face in my hands and looked into his eyes,
“You’ll survive because I need you to survive.
I need you there for me when I come out. 
Do it for me.  Please?”

He finally nodded, “I love you so much, Sarah.”

“I love you too, Carlos. 
You’re strong Carlos, much stronger than you give yourself credit for.  You can do this
,” I said as I held him tight.

We stayed that way for as long as we could, until I knew that we had to get back, “Are you okay for now?”

He nodded, “For now, yes.  But don’t ask me in
a few
months.”  He smiled but I could see the sadness behind it.  “Okay, I won’t.”  I pulled him to his feet and he gripped my hand tight as we made our way back to the kitchen.  Jason was talking to Tanya,
our
receptionist from the clinic. 
“Oh, hi Sarah.
Jason here gave me quite a shock when I walked in.  I came very close to pulling the alarm.  But he very calmly explained who he was and why he was here. 
For someone so imposing, he exudes calm, doesn’t he?

I smiled at Jason, “
Calm
?  I hadn’t really put my finger on it yet.  But, yeah, I guess that fits.  It fits very well.  Jason?  I have to go talk to Bahiti for a
bit.  Did you want to come with me or are you going to wait here?”

He looked from Tanya to me, and back again.  I tried to hide my smile as I realized that he had his first crush.  “Well,
ummmm
, I guess I should go with you.  It was very nice meeting you, Tanya.  I hope I see you again.”  His voice cracked with the last sentence. 
Seraphim’s grow so fast, not even a year and h
is body had
already
reached puberty
.

We made our way down the hall to Bahiti’s office.  Her head was buried in the mountain of books and papers on her desk.  She looked up as we walked in, “Hello, Sarah.  Please, all of
you,
come in.”

“So, tell me more about what happened to those who were summoned before
,
”
  I
said
as I sat down
.

“The
first, that we know of
,
was Hapshet in 1345 A.D.”

“What do you know about him?”

“He was old, over a thousand years old.  He was strong, he was smart, he was wise, and he was my mentor after I was changed.”

“Was his body ever found after you were able to open the tomb again?”

She shook her head, “None of the bodies are ever found. 
Nothing.
  No clothing, no bones, no clue at all that they were ever there.  They just vanish.”
She said.

“And how long does the door stay sealed?”

“It varies. 
Usually several months.
  But I’m guessing it depends on how long it takes for the vampire inside to die.  When the door opens it either means that they’ve passed the test, which no one has since Sekhmet in 925 B.C., or they’ve died.”

“And nobody’s ever been able to link with a vampire inside to find out what the test is?”

Again, she shook her head, “No.  The door seals and you’re cut off from the outside world completely. 
Mentally, physically, everything.”

“And how many after Hapshet?”

“Ummm, f
our that we know of
,
o
ne every one
several
hundred year
s or so, until 1702, then nothing, until now.”

I looked at my watch,
“Okay. 
Unfortunately, t
hat’s
all we have time for
now.  We have to go catch a plane.  Thank you, Bahiti.”

She nodded, “No problem.  We will begin your
hieroglyphics training when you return, Sarah?”

“Absolutely.
 
For both of us.”
I said as I placed my hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“And you’ll keep searching for a way to get Sarah and Jason out of this, right?” Carlos squeaked out.  Bahiti looked over at me with questioning eyes.  I smiled and she understood.  She and I both knew that there wasn’t a way out, but we had to keep Carlos’ hopes alive, “Of course I will, Carlos.  I will devote all of my time to it while you are gone.”

He let out a huge sigh
as he ran his fingers through his hair
, “Okay.  Thanks B.”

We left her office and headed back to our rooms.  “Carlos?  Do you have some pants that Jason can borrow?”

“What?  Oh, sure.  Since he’s not used to wearing clothing, sweatpants will probably be best.  They’re not as tight as jeans.  I have tons.  He can have as many as he needs.”

I loaned him a duffle bag, found a cape to hide his wings then packed my own things.  We were in the car on the way to the airport thirty minutes later.

Chapter Five

“Four days!!!!  It’s going to be another four days before we can even look for him?” Jason cried.  We were
currently
in the air, on Stefan’s plane.

“Jason.  Please try to calm down.  Your father will be fine.  But the boat is in
Corpus Christi
and we need it on the island to look for your father.  Otherwise we’d fly to the island.”

“Actually, it’ll be three days, Sarah.  We’re going to Miami, not
Corpus Christi
.  And I rented a bigger boat that will get us out there faster and be able to search longer,” Matt said. 

I smiled at him, “Thank you,
sweetheart
.  See Jason?  It’ll only be three days.  Let’s take a look at the map and see if we can plot a search pattern.”  I pulled out the map and spread it
out
on the table in front of me.  I found our island, got my bearings, then closed my eyes and tried to picture the flight that Jonas had taken me on
when he had kidnapped me
.