Soul Reborn (Key to the Cursed Book 1) (21 page)

“Home.” Lilly
thought she would never have something to call home, but here it was, wrapped
around her body in the form of a male who needed her as much as she needed him.

Home.

Asar held her so
tightly, she thought he would crush her. He pulled her wet face into his hands
and kissed her desperately. With the draw of dark energy across her skin, the
weight of her pain began to subside. He absorbed her despair as if it was his
own. She couldn’t have loved him more than in that moment. “I am sorry about
Mother,” he said.

Lilly drew warmth
from his embrace, seeking to dull the ache settling into her chest. “Thank
you.” Despite how demanding Mother had been over the years, she had always been
there for Lilly and her sisters, and didn’t deserve to die the way she had.

“I love you,” she
whispered against his lips.

“My sweet Lilly,” he
said, as he pulled back to look at her face. “May the gods have mercy on me.”

She took a deep
breath and wiped her face dry. “Thank you for checking on me. I wouldn’t have
had the courage to finish it if you hadn’t arrived.”

“You have plenty of
courage without me. Bomani stated he barely lifted a finger to help.”

Lilly couldn’t help
but smile. “Did he tell you about the goddess?”

“Yes.” One of his
black brows arched. “I think my dark side may be rubbing off on you. Utilizing
the revens for interrogation, pure genius.”

She reached out and
twisted his tunic ties around her finger, and bit her lower lip. “I kind of
like the idea of you rubbing on me.”

His eyes blackened
and his body flushed with the heat he absorbed from her body. He leaned down
and nipped her shoulder. “Don’t tempt me.”

“God, what you do
to me.”

Asar pulled her in
tighter to his chest, and pressed his arousal against her. She knew it took all
his restraint not to take her right there. He brushed his lips along the side
of her neck and growled. “If I do not let go of you now, gods help us.”

She took several
heavy breaths as he backed away from her. Lilly put her hand over her racing
heart and closed her eyes.

He turned away and
adjusted himself into a more discreet position. Finally, he cleared his throat.
“Shall we go see your sisters?”

Kendra’s laughter
carried all the way down the corridor. Lilly held Asar’s hand as they rounded
the corner. Her petite sister bounced away from Kit and hugged her.

“Lil, you realize
where we are?” She let go of Lilly and ran to the balcony that looked down upon
the river. “Dad would have loved to see this.”

Lilly stepped away
from Asar and placed her arm around her younger sister’s shoulder. “Yes, he
would love this.”

“Kit told me Mother
is dead.”

Lilly caught the
tears in her eyes. “Yes. Are you okay?”

“I knew you would
come for me.”

“We Carrigan
sisters have to stick together.”

Inpu, Nebt and
Kamen joined the reunion, but kept their distance.

Lilly faced the
gods. “Who’s Bakari?”

Asar took her hand.
Sorrow distorted his expression. “He is my son.”

Lilly swallowed. He
had never mentioned a son. Hiding her uneasiness, she squeezed his hand. “The
goddess is headed to Egypt to get him. Rebecca said she was to meet Kepi at
Thebes.” She looked at Asar and then Kendra. “Why there?”

“It is the location
of the temples of Luxor and Karnak,” her sister answered.

“You are correct,
but more specifically the Precincts of Amun and Mut.” Asar's eyes darted to
Inpu and Nebt.

Lilly picked up on
the exchange. “What are you not telling us?”

Asar rubbed his
temple. “There is something larger brewing here than just the goddess and the
revens. It will be hard to understand without explaining a few things.” He
paused briefly to make eye contact with all three women. “You three are descendants
of the Goddess Mut.
Direct
descendants.”

Kendra gasped and
turned white. “Oh, my god.” She leaned on the closest stone pillar. “Dad’s
journal.”

Kit scowled, and
put her hands on her hips. “Okay, can someone explain exactly why this is
significant? I don’t have a doctorate in Egyptian studies.”

“Yes, since my
sister is frozen in a state of disbelief, could you explain this?” Lilly asked.

Nebt grabbed
Kendra’s elbow. “Let us sit down. I am afraid Kendra might faint and hit her
head.” The Underworld goddess slowly guided Kendra to the closest pillow and
laid a hand on her forehead.

Asar pulled Lilly
over to the large lounge and sat down next to her. “The goddess Mut is one of
the primordial gods, specifically leader of the Creation Pantheon. Mother of
the Gods.
Your
mother.”

“She is one of the
strongest gods, next to Asar,” Nebt said proudly. “She and my cousin create a balance
between life and death.”

“You kind of left
that out.”

He smiled in return
and brushed his thumb over her lips.

“Well, it explains
a lot, earthquakes and all,” Kit muttered.

Kendra perked up.
“Earthquakes?”

Lilly growled at
Kit, and shook her head. “Never mind, Kendra.

“Dad had pages and
pages of his journal dedicated to Mut," Kendra said. "Unfortunately,
Rebecca took his journal, and I can only surmise she gave it to Kepi.”

With her fingertip,
Lilly traced the black hieroglyphics burned on her forearm. “Your ex must know.
But what's the connection between us and your son? It’s obvious Kepi wants to
use me, but for what?”

Asar stroked
Lilly’s back. “She wants to combine your powers with Bakari’s. If that happens,
there will be no stopping her. She will be stronger than me. I guess you could
see it as Armageddon. I think she wants to overthrow the Mother Goddess,
disrupt the balance of power.”

Lilly clutched her
head in her hands. It wasn’t as simple as curing an infestation of revens—it
was a bloody war. The Snake god’s words echoed in her head.
There are no
coincidences.
Nehebkau Mother? Mother Goddess? The references for Mut in
her father’s journal? She reached into her pocket and pulled out the pendant
the Nehebkau Mother had given her with her last dying breaths. “Mother told me
before she died that me, Kit, and Kendra were the key. I was the cure. She gave
me this.”

Asar backed away
suddenly and prostrated himself in front of her, followed by Nebt, Inpu and
even Kamen. "Ah, guys?"

Kendra peered at
the pendant. “May I see it?”

Her little sister held
her hand out cautiously and Lilly obliged.

“Mother of the
Gods,” she gasped, turning the necklace in her hand. “This is Mut’s pectoral
necklace. I’ve retrieved all the artifacts Mother had in her possession, and
this is the first time I’ve seen this. She gave this to you?”

“She said it
belonged to me.”

Lilly held her
breath. There were too many connections to be rationalized as mere
coincidences. It seemed like some well-orchestrated scheme. The Mother Goddess
chose their father, an Egyptian archeologist, to sire her offspring, who would
one day release a goddess who would dispel a curse upon the world. These same
children would fall under the care of Nehebkau Mother, and hunt for an artifact
that would lead them right into the hands of the God of the Underworld, who
would help battle the goddess and save the world. The ramifications made her
head spin.

“If the Mother
Goddess gave this to you, then you must wear it,” Asar said. He took the
necklace from Kendra. He recited a prayer, which the rest joined in. He slipped
the necklace down over her head and laid the pendent on her chest.

She looked from one
Underworld god to the next, searching for answers. Instead Asar grasped her two
hands and kiss them. Nebt, Inpu and Kamen followed suit.

“Ah…what are you doing?”

Asar smiled.
“Paying our respects to you. You now represent the Mother Goddess and her
Pantheon.”

With the sound of
her heart pounding in her ears, Lilly gasped to catch her breath. Her vision
narrowed and darkness enveloped her.

“Uh, oh. We're going
to lose her," Kit said. "C'mon, Lil. Breathe.”

Lilly blinked her
eyes to clear her blurred vision. Closing them again, she took slow deep
breaths. Her head throbbed. Kit and Kendra spoke quietly in the background.

“Is she going to be
okay?” Kendra asked.

Kit chuckled.
“She'll be fine. Hearing she’s the goddess of gods I think was too much for the
old girl.”

“I probably would
have done the same thing. Heck, I still can’t believe we're descendants of Mut.
That just blows me away. I wonder how long dad knew her. Did she love him?”

Kit snorted. “What
makes you think love was involved? She probably just needed a sperm donor to
fulfill her plan. How fucked up is this?”

“You should be
honored, Kit, that Mother created you, regardless of what her plans are,"
Asar said. "Life is a very precious thing.”

* * *

Lilly finally
opened her hazy eyes to see Kit looming over her. She lay in Asar’s bed. “Ah,
sleeping beauty is awake. Welcome back to the land of the living, or as luck
would have it, the land of the dead.”

“Shut up, Kit.”
Lilly sat up and put her head in her hands.

Her sister sat down
next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “It looks good on you.”

“Why me? I’m
nothing. She could have picked a full blooded god. Why would she bother with a
half-breed human? This makes no sense.” Her voice cracked.

“Do you have any
booze in this place?” Kit asked looking around.

A servant scampered
into the room, carrying glasses of wine.

Lilly pushed it
away. “We don’t have time for that.” She stood and straightened her leather
top. She wasn’t going to let her feeling of being overwhelmed delay getting
back Asar’s son. “We need to move to intercept the goddess. She expects Rebecca
to deliver me within twenty-four hours.”

Asar entered their
bedroom. “Kit and Kendra, I would like to speak with your sister alone.” Her
sisters immediately left without questioning him.

“What’s wrong?”

His eyes were hard
when he looked at her. “You and your sisters are to stay here.”

She went to argue,
and realized he was already dressed to leave. His usual garb of black linen was
replaced by hard leather armor. Her gaze came to rest on his hardened face. All
his emotion was gone. She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat.

“Asar?” He stood
across the room unmoving. She shook her head, the heat of anger rushing her
face. “No! You cannot leave me here to do nothing. I need to be out there.”

“You
will
stay here with your sisters," he said in a voice so harsh and unkind,
Lilly's body shivered. "That is final.”

“Why are you being
like this?”

He turned his back on
her, and walked to the door.

“Don’t you dare
walk away from me!” Dark energy rolled off him in crushing waves, making her
stagger back under its influence. He stopped just in front of the door. “We
need each other,” she yelled, incensed he would dismiss her. Again, after everything
they had been through.

“No, we do not.”
Asar pushed through the doors and slammed them behind him.

A dull ache filled
her chest, an echo of the time he ripped his essence from her soul. She had to
look down to ensure his mark was still there. Laying her hand over his black
mark, she charged through the doors only to witness his form evaporate in front
of her.

“Bastard, you get
back here!” Lilly screamed at the top of her lungs and looked at the ceiling.
“You need me.” She turned in circles not certain what to do. Tears coursed down
her face. “You need me,” she whispered between her sobs.

Her sisters came
running around the corner. Kit had a pained look on her face. “I’m sorry. He
made me promise not to tell you.”

“It’s not right. It
doesn’t feel right. I need to be with him.” Lilly pounded her fist over her
heart. “I feel it. It’s not right.” Putting her hands to her face, she slid
down the wall. “What if something happens to him? He needs someone to watch his
back.”

“He took the entire
legion of dark warriors. I heard Inpu talking about it. Even the Protector gods
and Nehebkau are bringing their Pantheon armies. Asar will be well protected.”
Kit put her hand on Lilly’s head. “He is stronger than any other god. If anyone
is safe, it’s him.”

“You don’t
understand. Kepi has the Mevt dagger. It will kill any god. If the bitch gets a
chance, she will use it against him. She already tried to kill him once.”

“The Mevt daggers
actually exist?” Kendra gasped.

“Asar said there
was something bigger at play here, but he never went any further than that. And,
the way Nehebkau reacted when he heard Kepi wanted your body…” Kit added.

Lilly’s anger
flared. Asar had withheld a key piece of information. She was more than capable
of handling Kepi, so the threat had to be much bigger than the goddess for him
to leave her here. Is that why he was so cruel? What could he possibly gain by
not telling her? Did he not trust her? They were supposed to be mates.