Caress The Dark God [Scions of the Ankh 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (17 page)

“He is a man of honor, Tessa. You don’t give him his due. Give him a–”

“Chance?” Tessa barked. “Been there done that.”

Rene sighed. “All right, friend, you have your mind made up. I can only pray to Osiris that you see your way clear. Meanwhile, I shouldn’t have to tell you to stay safe. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Tessa looked at Rene and smiled. “I won’t. Dying once was more than enough for me. I just didn’t want him to go alone.” Tessa felt her voice break. She was an idiot, pining after a man who panted after other women. Even knowing that, she still wanted no harm to come to him. She still didn’t want him to be alone. Apparently she was still an idiot when it came to men.

“Let’s join the others,” Rene suggested.

As they made their way back to the meeting room, Anubis and Ma’at entered just a second behind them. Her once-perfect hair was now slightly mussed and her cheeks flushed. Anubis was giving her a peculiar smile and Tessa’s heart fell onto the floor. She looked away as tears stung her eyes. She felt a gentle push against her mind, but Tessa slammed down her barriers. It didn’t take long to learn to do that.

Anubis consulted the map once more and reached out a hand to her. Tessa stared at it, her mind in disarray, her feelings bottlenecked in her throat, threatening to erupt. Had he used this same hand to caress the golden flesh of Ma’at? A vision of them making love flashed in her mind and Tessa winced.

“Are you feeling well?” Anubis looked down at her and Tessa could hear the false concern in his voice.

“Fine,” She retorted.

How odd, Tessa thought to herself. She was going to face the man who murdered her, with the man who was strangling her heart.

Anubis looked at Tessa again before he reached for her. She hesitated and there was no mistaking the cold anger roiling around her. So she was jealous. Anubis could barely keep the smile from his face. “Is there something you would like to speak to me about?” He found it hard to keep the amusement from his tone. She looked at him with her exquisite brown eyes and cut them away just as quickly, letting out a sharp breath of air. “You must focus, Tessa. Right now we are both putting ourselves in a dangerous position. We have no room for error, it could cost us.” He could see the slight slump in Tessa’s shoulder as she took a deep breath.

“I don’t want to discuss it right now.” She indicated that she and Anubis were not alone.

“Ah. I see. Well, this conversation will be my first priority when we return.”

Tessa looked up at him, and he hoped she could see the sincerity of his words. Really, she had no reason to be jealous of Ma’at. She had been a friend and a bedmate, but she had never been his
mate
. She hadn’t meant anything close to what he felt for Tessa. Obviously Tessa felt something for him or she wouldn’t have insisted on including herself on such a dangerous endeavor. He clasped her hand tighter and took them to the place the locator had determined.

As soon as they arrived, there was an aura of malaise in the area. Anubis took the necklace out of his pocket. “Wear this.” Tessa gasped in surprised as he fastened it around her neck. “Don’t take it off,” he ordered. Tessa appeared slightly irritated, but it was tempered by the gift he’d just given her.

“I don’t know what to say,” she breathed, rolling the charm between her fingers; a golden feather.

“It was necessary,” Anubis answered as he looked around the area. When he glanced back at Tessa, the cold anger was back. He would never figure her out.

As he surveyed the place he realized that this would be the sort of spot the traveler would dwell in. It was heavy in vegetation, and the smell of fresh earth was strong. Long vines curled and choked other vegetation, declaring dominance. It wasn’t hard to notice that the insects were either gone or very still. Not one bird chirped in the immediate vicinity.

“Be careful,” he said, his voice low. “I can sense him, but it is faint. Our dark energy cloaks each other.” Tessa bobbed her head in acknowledgement as she looked around.

Anubis had every sense tuned in to his surroundings. He concentrated on the base essence of dark power, destruction. He felt the tiniest vibration of power other than his own and began to double-check the source to make sure it wasn’t feedback from him, or possibly even Tessa, since her conversion had tapped into his abilities. The vibrations became stronger and Anubis realized that the one they sought was getting closer. “Tessa, come.” He gestured for her to stand by his side. Another wave of irritation crossed her features, but she obeyed — this time.

She had barely reached his side before the ground at his feet suddenly spurted like a geyser. He put up a hasty shield so the dirt and debris wouldn’t come into contact with him and Tessa. As soon as the dirt settled, he looked upon the smirking hybrid. There was no mistaking the thrum of power that radiated from him. So much like his own. The long, thick braids had been pulled back, showing a disturbingly serpentine face. His eyes flashed from human to green diamonds in the span of a second. Anubis had seen arrogance such as this, on Apep. The Dark One had been justifiably arrogant. Anubis wondered if that was the case now.

“It seems we meet again. All of us.” The hybrid opened his arms as if in welcome as he looked at Tessa in surprise. “Well, you are resilient for a human.” He sniffed the air and his head cocked slowly to the side. “At least you were,” he amended.

“Who are you?” Anubis asked, trying to gain more time to ascertain the level of his opponent’s power.

“I am Teremun. Direct descendent of the one you have banished. But that will change.” His eyes flashed again.

“You will not succeed.”

“Ah. I know you, Dark One. Your power tastes a lot like that of my sire. Only he is much more powerful than you could ever hope to be.”

“We will see about that,” Tessa spat out. Anubis raised a hand, indicating her silence. The last thing he wanted was for her to become a focal point for the creature.

“Teremun, none of us have caused you harm.”

“Is that so? I remember being drained and—”

“You have been killing the humans. We are their protectors.”

“We? You mean the others like yourself. Like me.”

“We are not like you, Teremun. We protect the humans, you harm them.”

“They are insects. Yet they are useful, and tasty,” he added as his tongue darted out.

“It stops now, Teremun.”

As Anubis began to contemplate the best form of attack, the hybrid moved so quickly into the shadows of the trees and blended in with them that even his preternatural eyes had a hard time discerning him.

“Don’t. Move,” he warned Tessa. The creature moved again. It was hard to track him. Anubis had never seen anything move so fast. He was nothing but a blur, blending in and moving before Anubis could center on him. He’d had enough. Anubis flung his arms out and the huge trees immediately shed their leaves. Some began to bend, the very tops brushing the floor of the forest as he drained the life from the once flourishing vegetation. Sunshine flooded the area, making it hard to find a shadow anywhere. Teremun was now visible against the base of a very thick tree.

“Impressive,” he murmured before he phased out of view. “But not enough.” His voice surrounded them and Anubis began to shut out everything but his immediate surrounding trying to pinpoint him. Tessa gave a small cry as unseen hands flung her against a nearby tree. The thud from her body hitting the monstrous trunk echoed in his ears. She slid down the tree as blood trickled out of her mouth.

Anubis roared as large pellets of golf ball-sized ice rained down. He was careful not to hit Tessa as he concentrated on the essence of the dark power. He was rewarded when Teremun shimmered into view. He was on all fours, trying to shield his head from the onslaught. Anubis quickly phased to his side and stomped down on the small of his back, sending Teremun at least three feet into the dirt. He raised his foot to stomp again, only Teremun was no longer there. In the hybrid’s place was a large serpent and it began to twine its way around Anubis’s legs.

The snake began to squeeze and Anubis could feel the power of the beast as it began to test the durability of his bones. Anubis reached down with his hands flat against the coils and sent the cold chill of death into the creature. Gray spots began to dot the green snake and its hold began to loosen, but not before the head curled around. The eyes flashed human this time and it opened its gaping jaws. Anubis tried to phase out of its coils, but apparently that was one of Teremun’s powers, for he stayed put as the creature sank its teeth into his chest.

The pain traveled through his body, burning him, and for a moment he thought Teremun was pumping venom into him. But as Anubis grew weaker, he realized the creature was siphoning vast amounts of energy
out
of him. Whatever he did, he had to do it quickly. Anubis’s eyes darkened as he called upon the storms. Thunder rumbled in the background as the wind whipped into a frenzy. The creature was coiled more than halfway up his body, imprisoning him as it sucked energy from him. He ignored it, and instead called upon the destruction of lightning, hoping he had enough power to sustain it.

The first bolt hit the creature in its massive head. Instantly the incisors jerked out of his chest, ripping Anubis’s flesh. The wound was too deep to instantly heal, and his chest lay open, revealing the bone inside. Anubis ignored the pain; he had to subdue the creature.

He sent another bolt of lightning, singeing the creature so badly that it hissed at a deafening octave. The coils loosened as Anubis grew weaker. He had to contain the creature. He could not risk another traveler falling to this thing. He was dispensable, the others were not.

You are not.
Tessa’s voice echoed in head.
What can I do?
Her voice held a note of panic and Anubis allowed himself to be soothed for just a second by the sound of her voice.

Go home.

I will not leave you. I can’t.

Anubis began to bombard lightning down upon the creature until it freed him. He fell to the ground, his chest healing, but not nearly fast enough. He had lost too much energy. The snake slithered a few feet away and shifted into a komodo dragon, its dangerous saliva already oozing out the sides of its mouth. It began to head towards Tessa.
You can leave. The necklace around your neck gives you the power to do so.

Call the others, Anubis. Make them come and help you!

This is my responsibility, Tessa. I have to do my part.

Anubis shut down the pathway that linked their minds. He was in too much pain now. He didn’t need to transfer it to Tessa. With great difficulty Anubis stood, gathering as much energy as he could from the earth. He ran to the creature, grabbing it by the tail before it could bite Tessa. She was still slumped against the tree and Anubis feared that perhaps she had broken her back.

He slammed the creature from tree to tree by its tail. It kept trying to reach back and bite him, but Anubis moved too quickly. Blood began to pour from the myriad of deep gashes in its side. Anubis slammed the creature to the ground, purposely smashing Teremun’s head sharply against a small boulder that rose up from the ground.

He fell to his knees as he summoned forth a funnel. It started small in front of him and built in size. It traveled at a dizzying speed towards Teremun, who had shifted back to his human shape and already risen. It would seem every time the hybrid shifted, he regained his energy. Teremun thrust his arms forward, preventing the funnel from imprisoning him. Anubis realized Teremun was still too strong, for he had the added strength of Anubis’s power. Energy needed to be drained from Teremun to hold him once more.

With his chest bleeding, Anubis stood with great difficulty. Breathing was even more laborious. It was too hard
not
to kill the thing. He had never faced an opponent that he couldn’t kill outright, except Apep. That made it difficult to fight. With a growl, Anubis ignored his weakening body and the pain that traveled through it. He began to make his way towards Teremun, sending a second, then a third funnel towards him. Teremun now had a hand trying to stave off each funnel, but the third one was much more difficult to control. Anubis could see his odd eyes flicking wildly as the hybrid tried to keep it at bay.

Then something on the ground caught his eye. Tessa was crawling towards him. She crawled as if both her legs were broken.
No!
He shouted at her, but she continued. Teremun would drain her, and become even stronger. He tried to phase to her side, but midway between phasing his body collapsed. He fell just yards short of them. She reached out a hand and clasped it around Teremun’s ankle.
Tessa, go away!
he begged her. She closed her eyes, and Anubis could see her knuckles turn pale under the strain of grasping the hybrid’s ankle so tightly.
Please let go
. She ignored him and held on.

Anubis concentrated on the energy from the earth and ripped it away. He had never been so cruel to the life-giving planet, but right now it needed to be done. Energy entered his cells, somewhat invigorating him, but not nearly to his full capacity of strength. It would have to do. Again he stood, letting the funnels dissipate as it took too much energy to keep them harnessed. As soon as the funnels disappeared, Teremun sneered and kicked his leg free. Tessa’s fingers uncurled and she rolled away, landing on her back with her unblinking eyes to the sky. Anubis’s heart lurched at the sight of her lying there motionless. Raged filled him. He stomped over to Teremun, his tightly wound fist immediately cutting across Teremun’s jaw.