The Guardian (22 page)

intending to touch Seth, but he grabbed her wrist before she could make contact.

“Don’t touch me.”

Menyara’s eyes misted as she dropped her hand. “Noir has already sent out his hounds to find you. It

won’t take them long to catch your scent here. They wil sense it just as I did. I’ve healed your body, but—”

“You’l forgive me if I don’t thank you.”

“I wil indeed.” She stepped back and whispered under her breath.

An instant later, a tal , extremely muscular man appeared by her side. His short hair was dark brown with

blond highlights, and there was something about it that reminded Lydia of a lion’s mane. His green eyes

were a perfect match to Menyara’s, making her wonder if they weren’t related as wel . His skin tone was

much closer in color to Seth’s.

Dressed in a pair of jeans and a dark blue T-shirt, he stood as if ready to tear someone’s, anyone’s, head

off.

“Maahes,” Menyara said sweetly, in a tone that made his name sound like Me-uhs, “this is my nephew,

Seth. I want you to watch over him until his powers return.”

Maahes brought his right hand up to his left shoulder and bowed his head reverently to her. “I wil guard

him with my life, my lady.”

Seth sneered at them. “I am the High Guardian of Azmodea. The last thing I need is someone watching

over
me
. Trust me, I know how to fight.”

Menyara sighed. “That is the same arrogance that cost your father his life.”

“I’m
not
my father.”

“No, you’re not. But you are my family, even if you deny it. And now that I’ve found you, I have no intention

of seeing you hurt if I can help it.” She pul ed the necklace from around her neck and kissed it. She held her

hand out toward Seth. The necklace vanished from her fingertips, only to reappear around his neck.

He scowled at it before he tried to snatch it off. The chain wouldn’t break.

“The kiss of Ra cannot be removed by violence. Only by love. It wil protect whoever wears it from any

physical harm.”

Seth ground his teeth at her words, hating her for them. It was too little, much too late. His aunt Ma’at was

one of many gods he despised. “Where was your kindness when I needed it?”

She glanced away, but he didn’t miss the guilt in her eyes. She knew he was right. “Sadly it wasn’t there

for you. And for that I am very sorry. But things change. People change. There aren’t many of us left

anymore. And I’m tired of losing the people I love. Of burying my family.”

Ma’at looked at the god of war who stood next to her … another relative Seth had no use for and no

desire to be near. “Travel with Maahes. If not for your safety, then for Lydia’s. He can protect her should, Ra

forbid, you fal . And unlike you, he’s familiar with this world. He’l know best where and how to hide her from

harm.”

Seth started to argue, but she was right. He knew exactly what Noir would do to Lydia if he caught up to

them. And he was woeful y ignorant of the human realm. Everything had changed so much since the last

time he’d walked it as a boy. There was absolutely nothing in this room that was familiar. Not even the

peculiar bed he lay on.

Reluctantly, he nodded.

His aunt smiled in satisfaction. “May Ra be between you and harm in al the empty places where you must

walk.” And with that, she vanished and left them.

Seth looked down at his undamaged body, amazed by it. Nothing, absolutely nothing hurt. Nothing

throbbed. Nothing pinched. It was incredible. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen it this

way. The last time he’d felt no physical pain whatsoever.

So used to pain as a constant companion, he kept waiting for it to kick in.

But it didn’t.

Unable to comprehend why Ma’at would be kind to him now, after al these centuries, he conjured his

armor to cover him, then scooted off the bed. Thank the gods he final y had enough power to at least clothe

himself.

Lydia stopped him as he started for the door. She pressed her lips together into an adorable smile that

did make one part of him hot and aching again. She swept his body with a bemused gaze, but he’d much

rather have her sweep it with another part of her body. “Sweetie … honey … sugar-pie, you can’t walk

around like that. There’s not a Ren Faire in town. And people wil notice.”

There she went with her foreign terms again. “A what?”

“Exactly.” She put her hands on his chest and his armor turned into a strange short-sleeved black shirt

and a pair of very uncomfortable blue pants like Maahes wore.

Holding his arms out, he looked down at it in disgust. “What is this?”

“T-shirt and jeans. It’s what modern man wears.”

“But I feel naked in it.”

“You’l get used to it.”

He wasn’t sure he wanted to. It offered no protection whatsoever. “Where do I put a sword?”

“You don’t,” she said with a hint of laughter in her voice. “
That
wil get you arrested.”

He was completely perplexed by her words. “People have no weaponry here? How do they protect

themselves from roaming animals and barbarians?”

“We do have weapons, we just don’t carry them out into public, and while some of my past dates would

lead anyone to believe barbarians are stil alive and wel , and thriving, the real thing is something of the far

distant past.”

Maahes laughed at them. “Good gods, boy, how long has it been since you were in the human realm?”

Seth had to think about it for a minute. “When Neferkare was pharaoh.”

Maahes arched a brow. “Which Neferkare?”

“There was more than one?”

Maahes snorted, then laughed. “Damn … you’re old. Not compared to me, but … you are definitely long in

the tooth, and setting you loose in the current world after al this time should be entertaining as hel .” He

laughed until he coughed.

When he realized no one else was amused, he sobered.

Sort of.

Lydia gave Maahes a chiding glare. “How long ago was that?”

Carson answered, “Second Dynasty.”

And that meant absolutely nothing to her.

When she deepened her scowl, Maahes clarified the description, “Around 2686 BC.”

She gaped at Seth, unable to comprehend how long Noir had kept him. How long he’d been tortured.

That was over forty-five
hundred
years. Forty. Five. Hundred. Years. She could barely get her mind

wrapped around it. And she’d stupidly thought herself to be old. She was an infant in comparison. Good

thing she’d never thrown that in his face.

“Dang, you’re old.” She’d been right. Seth did predate Rome.

By a lot.

“How long?” Seth asked.

Suddenly she felt bad for being even the least bit amused. “You real y don’t know?”

“You’ve been to Azmodea. You know it’s always hard to tel the days apart, and then during my

confinement … I honestly have no idea.”

Even Maahes sobered as he realized the horror of Seth’s existence. “It’s been over forty-five hundred

years since Neferkare was pharaoh.”

Seth couldn’t breathe as that sank in. No wonder it’d seemed like an eternity.

It had been.

And he wasn’t sure how to deal to with the knowledge. He was strangely numb. It wasn’t like he’d

expected to come out of Azmodea ever again, but …

Lydia leaned into him. “It’s okay, Seth.”

Was it? He real y wasn’t sure about that. It was a good thing he’d agreed to having Maahes with them.

He’d be al but worthless here.

Lydia exchanged a concerned glance with Maahes. “He’s going to seriously wig when he sees what’s out

there.”

“Wig?” Seth asked.

“Lose your mind. Wave it bye-bye.”

He frowned. “I stil don’t understand most of what you say.”

“And now I truly understand why. C’mon, Grandpa, we need to get going.”

They started for the door.

“Wait.”

Lydia paused to look back at Carson who was putting together a quick bag for them. One that held

bandages, medicine, his wal et, and a cel phone that he’d kept in a drawer. He handed it to her.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“In case you need it. Make sure you don’t use your own credit cards or accounts. You don’t want to create

a trail for anyone to fol ow. There’s enough cash in there for you, and feel free to use my cards.” He picked

the cel phone up. “This is a burn phone with my number already programmed into it. If you need a cavalry for

anything, cal me. I can get to you in a blink and I wil bring as many soldiers as I can, and our army is by no

means smal .”

His offer touched her. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. I can’t stand to see anyone hunted. Good luck to you guys.”

She inclined her head to him. “Thank you, Carson.”

“Walk in peace,” he said, stepping back.

Lydia took Seth by the arm and teleported him to the al ey behind the house they’d been in. She and

Maahes started for the street, until she realized that Seth wasn’t moving.

Arching her brow at Maahes, she turned back to find Seth staring up at the sky with the most incredulous

expression she’d ever seen on anyone’s face. His features were fil ed with boyish wonderment and awe.

And it reminded her of his staring at the sun on the computer in his room.

He turned around in a slow circle while he tried to take everything in. The trees, the sky, the buildings, and

what to him had to be al the alien sounds of faint jazz and zydeco, cars, and people talking and laughing as

they went by on the other side of the brick wal .

Her heart breaking, she walked over to him.

“It’s so beautiful,” he breathed reverently. “And warm.”

“New Orleans usual y is.”

“New Orleans?”

“That’s the name of this city.”

“Oh.” He final y looked down at her, and she realized he was squinting to the point she was amazed he

could see anything at al .

No wonder. He’d lived in darkness for so long, his eyes weren’t used to light anymore.

She conjured a pair of sunglasses for him, then put them in his hand.

He scowled at them. “What are these?”

Oh yeah. He wouldn’t have a clue.

Maahes folded his arms over his chest. “In your day, Egyptians used kohl to protect their eyes from the

harsh sun rays. Today, we use these … they’re cal ed sunglasses.”

Lydia took them from him and put them on his face.
Boy, did I choose well
. He looked great in them. She

glanced back at Maahes. “Is that real y why Egyptians did that?”

“It is indeed.”

“Wow, and I just thought they did it for fashion.”

Maahes didn’t comment on that. “We need to get going. I have no idea where I’m taking you, but it doesn’t

seem wise to stand out here in the open when we have preternatural trackers trying to find us.”

He made a real y good point. “Where are going?” she asked.

Seth shrugged. “As long as it’s not Azmodea, I don’t care.”

In that moment, she felt completely lost. She real y had no place to go. Home was out of the question.

Solin was MIA.

Al she had were the two men with her.

“Hey now,” Maahes said. “Don’t be making that face. Okay? You start crying, I start crying, and I look like

a total freak when I cry. Nothing worse than a big-ass man blubbering like a baby. Total y kil s my chances

with the women. You know?”

“I wasn’t going to cry. But it was sweet of you to be concerned.”

“No problem.”

Seth scowled at the easy way they conversed with each other. Especial y since they’d only just met.

Worse was the jealousy inside him that wanted to punch Maahes straight in his arrogant jaw.

“Wel ,” Maahes said final y. “I guess the best place would be mine. It’s isolated and should be safe should

something scary go down.”

Lydia couldn’t think of anything better. “It sounds perfect.”

As they started to leave, she realized Seth had wandered off again.

This time, he was at the wal , looking at the parked cars lined along the curb. Smiling, she went to wrangle

him.

As soon as she reached him, a car went flying by. Eyes wide, Seth jumped about ten feet.

She put her arm out to settle him. “It’s okay, Seth.”

“What was that thing?”

She answered him with a question of her own. “Didn’t you see a car online?”

“No.”

Maahes made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat. “This is going to get annoying fast if he freaks

every time he sees something he’s not used to.”

Curling his lip, Seth started to attack. But Maahes caught him with what appeared to be a Vulcan death

grip and pul ed him into his arms.

Seth froze instantly.

After a few seconds, Maahes released him.

Staggering a bit, Seth pressed his hand to his forehead as if he was dizzy. He curled his lip at Maahes.

“What did you do to me?”

“Brought you up to date. I don’t want you pissing in a sink or doing anything else to draw attention to us.

We need to blend in and not look like refugees from a badly written time travel movie.”

Seth stil felt sick to his stomach, but he now had a whole new vocabulary and an understanding about the

world he was in. For that, he could almost thank the bastard.

Almost. He stil real y wanted to slug Maahes, though.

Lydia reached up and laid her hand on his cheek. The moment she did, he completely forgot about his

need to put his foot in an uncomfortable place on Maahes’s body. “Hey.”