Soul Reborn (Key to the Cursed Book 1) (12 page)

Lilly floated
between a dream state and reality. If this was how revens transformed, no
wonder they were mad. The whisper of a thousand voices rolled and crashed like
waves in her head. There was only one voice she desperately wanted to hear. She
longed for him.

At least he had his
heart and could close the gate to the afterlife. There’d be no more revens—just
those that already existed. She hoped it made a difference in Asar’s life, as
well as her own. That’s if she made it out of whatever this affliction had
befallen her. Maybe the goddess bound her with another curse? Didn’t she have
enough of that in her life? No mother. No father. Correction, a reven for a
father. A deadly asp wrapped in the vital organs of her body.

The heat of her
body subsided but now she was freezing. So very cold. It emanated from the
center of her chest. With a warm touch of a hand to her face, she found the
strength to open her eyes. Kit sat in a chair next to her bed.

“Hey, welcome back
to the living.” Kit fingered through Lilly’s damp hair on her forehead.

Lilly cleared her
throat. “Am I still alive?”

“Don’t fret, sis. No
reven blood is running in your veins.”

“What the hell is
happening to me? I feel like someone turned me inside out.” Lilly tried to roll
onto her side and failed miserably. Every cell in her body ached and her
muscles refused to follow her commands.

“I was hoping you
could tell me what is happening to you. Mother has no explanation for the
changes.”

“Changes?”

Kit’s expression constricted.
Lilly strained to look down at her body. Nothing seemed to be out of order. She
turned back to her sister.

Kit rolled her
eyes, and lifted up Lilly’s arm in front of her face. Down the length of her
forearms hieroglyphics tattooed her skin, just like Asar’s. The most prominent—
a lioness, asp and vulture. “What the hell?”

“Oh, that’s just
the beginning.” Kit took out a blade and grabbed Lilly’s hand.

“Kit!” Lilly yelped
when the blade cut into her flesh. Her skin sealed up immediately. The breath left
her lungs. Finding the strength to move her arm, she fingered the cut but found
her palm intact. Not even a scar remained.

Kit sat back and
crossed her arms over her chest. “Your heart rate is less than forty beats a
minute. You barely breathe. What else would you like to know?”

Lilly looked around
her room. “How long since we left the goddess?”

“Twenty-four
hours,” Kit said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “It may not seem like
much, but a lot has happened, and not for the better.”

Lilly rubbed her
aching head. “Kendra?”

“She’s fine, as far
as I know. Or at least Mother says she’s okay.”

“What?” Her
sister’s tone lacked optimism. “What the hell is happening?”

“The Carrigan
sisters are on lock down. Mother is none too happy about our last mission. She
thinks we’re consorting with the enemy, especially after your little conversion.
Personally, I think she is afraid of us.”

 “God, I’m sorry,
Kit. This is my fault.” Lilly put her hand on her forehead. Her thoughts were scattered
among the many voices ringing in her head. “What of Asar and Kamen?”

“Kamen brought
Kendra and I immediately back to the museum. Maybe five minutes before Asar
arrived with you. He left seconds before the medical team arrived. That’s the
last we saw them. You were so hot, I thought for sure a reven or the goddess
bit you, but I couldn’t find a mark— except one.” Kit tapped the knife against
her other hand. Leaning forward, her sister rested the tip of the blade on the
thin patient gown over Lilly’s heart. “Care to explain why you carry Asar’s mark?”

Lilly groaned. There
was no way out of this one, so she might as well face the truth. “I made a deal
with him. Your and Kendra’s safety in exchange for me.”

Kit snapped up to
her feet and glowered down at her with intense blue eyes. “When the hell were
you going to tell us?”

“Never, actually.”

“Never? Damn it,
Lilly, stop trying to protect us, because when you do, it only means you lose
somehow.” Kit kicked the chair out from behind her and started pacing. “So you
are going to be his slave? Is that it? Great. Just great. You’re an idiot,
sister. I’m sorry but you are.”

Lilly strained to
turn on her side, this time she succeeded. “I will do anything to protect you
two. You’re my responsibility.”

“Are you thinking
straight? You sold your soul to the devil. Have you even for once thought how
this would affect Kendra and me? To lose another person we love to this damn
curse?”

“Asar will take
good care of me. There is nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, that makes me
feel so much better. I’m going to kill the bastard the next time I see him.”

Lilly shifted her
weight to sit up. “The important thing is the gateway to the underworld will be
closed. The goddess can’t create any more revens.”

“That is if, and I
mean
big
if, your deity of a boyfriend actually follows through on his
part of the bargain. Regardless, we have unleashed a hornet’s nest, and the
queen killer bee is pissed. She’s going to rain hell down upon us. Where will
your god be then? Where will you be? I know where Kendra and I will be. Alone!”

“Kit!” Lilly
struggled to stand to stop her sister from leaving. The door slammed before she
could even put a foot on the floor.

Asar sat at his desk
in Aaru twirling the key in his hands. It had been over five years since he had
it in his possession. It looked and felt no different and fit the lock
perfectly. The gateway to the underworld was closed. No fireworks or light show
demonstrated the significance of the act, instead a solitary click of the lock.

His son, the
rightful owner of the key and lion and moon pectoral necklace, should have
turned the key. Asar handed down the responsibility to guard the gates of the underworld
to his son on the year of his maturation to a man. He blessed his son with the
power to kill gods and wield the Mevt daggers. A monumental undertaking for a
young god, his son shouldered the responsibility as primary sentry with stalwart
dedication and skill.

He should have
taken some solace. Thanks to Lilly and her sisters, he had the key and his
heart. But things did not go as planned. The binding spell failed to subdue the
goddess. He racked his brain trying to determine the error in their method. Only
another powerful spell or god could undo the binding spell. And how the goddess
rose from the dead in the first place was a mystery. True, the humans had
exhumed the tomb, but it had taken a blood of a god to unleash her. Despite
Inpu’s greatest efforts, they never found who aided her escape.

Asar rubbed his
hand across his jaw. He had not yet wanted to admit to himself why he was less
than celebratory. Lilly had fallen ill, and he had no idea why. He visited her
room on several occasions, but it was difficult. With her under constant
observation, he had been forced to hide in the deepest shadows of the room. He
told himself everything would be okay, but it was a lie. Something was terribly
wrong. Even if he could get close to her, the fever plaguing her body burned
him even at a great distance.

With his elbows on the
desk, he rested his head in his hands. His chest burned on the inside, causing
a substantial amount of pain. “Lilly.”

Furrowing his brows,
he remembered the emotion in her eyes before he left her in the museum. Laced
behind the pain, her eyes were filled with love. He had not seen or felt the emotion
in so long, but she directed it at him. It filled the hole of his missing heart.
He clamped down on the sensation before it consumed him completely. He was not
ready for her to love him.

Part of him wanted
to bathe in the emotion he saw in her eyes until he grew a new soul made from her
pure energy. But, he would be irreversibly bound to her. She would hold power
over his life source, something he vowed never to give up to another woman. He
would be lying to himself if he did not think he already had given a part of
himself to her, marking her in the deepest sense with his seed, an act strictly
reserved for deities bound as mates.

The connection with
Lilly coursed through his body and hers. He absorbed some of her life energy
when they had made love. His cold body had warmed slightly, and his skin tone
took on a lighter hue. It had been unintentional, or so he thought. She, a
human, could not mark him the way he marked her.

He stared at the
jar that contained his black heart. All the hatred he had for the goddess and
her conspirators festered within the ceramic container. Well, almost all of it.
He saved enough for the goddess herself. Not until his son was returned would
he lay his vengeance to rest. He had thought if he retrieved his heart his
emptiness would be filled, but apparently that was not the case. As he stared
at the jar, he felt bitter and more hollow than ever.

Inpu entered the
office in his ceremonial robe. “Are you just going to stare or actually absorb
the damn thing? Nebt and I are ready when you are.” The priest sat in the seat
across from him. “Why the long face? I thought this would finally make you
tolerable to the rest of us.”

Asar slouched back
and rubbed his chest. The thought of putting something Kepi touched back in his
chest made his stomach churn. “My soul has been fouled by that
odjit
.”

Inpu sighed. “You
cannot judge souls without it. The only other option is to grow a new soul, and
I know just the girl who could do it for you.”

“Somehow, it does
not seem right. Gods, I am an ass. I have abused my power to take what I wanted
and that included Lilly. Now, she is sick, which I am sure is my fault.” He grasped
his temple. Hell, how could she ever love him? He was repugnant through and
through. He forced her into being his slave. The thought alone made his chest
burn hotter.

“That may have been
your intention in the beginning, but I saw how you look at her. You care for
her. Maybe even love her, I suspect, considering the way you are wallowing
here.”

Aggravated, Asar slammed
his fist down on the desk. “That is impossible. I cannot even generate those
feelings without a host.”

“So how do you
explain your current state? You are love sick, my friend.”

Clasping his chest,
Asar searched for any possible elucidation to explain the emotion he felt at
this moment. Physical and emotional grief, a reaction garnered only by the
emotion of love and the sense of losing something he cared for. Lilly generated
an abundant source of energy and emotion—it is what drew him to her in the
first place. Did he truly love her?

He knew taking her away
from her family would destroy her. He could not live with himself. Much to his
surprise, he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness and desire to be with
her. His path was clear. He would absolve her debt to him.

“I need to go.” He stood
to leave. “I will be back shortly. Please have Nebt prep for the ceremony.”

Inpu grabbed his arm.
“I know what you are going to do, but do me one favor. Ask her what she wants
before you decide for her. Godspeed, friend.”

Asar transported
directly to Lilly’s room at the fortress only to find it empty. He laid his
cold black hand on the bed, and felt the lingering warmth in the sheets. It was
not long ago she had left this room. He picked up her pillow and inhaled her
scent into his body.

The ache in his
chest subsided briefly, but returned with a vengeance. He growled in pain and
recited to himself he could let her go. His words brought no relief from the
war waged within his entire being.
Damn the goddess who had cursed him.
If
not for Kepi, he would have never met Lilly and would not be suffering right
now. He shook his head. No, he would never regret meeting Lilly. The scent and
taste of her would haunt him for an eternity.

He faded into the
shadows as the door opened. Kit entered the room. She sagged into the chair
next to him and put her arm across her eyes. She had been crying. He could
taste the salt of her tears in the air. Kamen suddenly appeared beside him. Inpu
obviously warned him that Asar headed into the snake den.

He stepped out of
the shadows, close enough to make Kit shiver. Springing to her feet, she lunged
for him. “Bastard, I’m going to cut your fucking heart out.” Kamen grabbed Kit
around the waist to restrain her. “Let me go, asshole.” She struggled until she
gasped for breath and Kamen’s arms blistered.

“I won’t let you
take her,” Kit said behind a fresh veil of her tears.

“I am not taking
her anywhere,” Asar said solemnly.

Her blue eyes froze
on him. “But, I thought she had made a deal with you?”

“She did, but I’m
here to break it,” he said quickly looking away, as the pain throbbed in his
chest. “I need to speak with her.”

Kit’s expression shifted
from relief to suspicion. “Why? Haven’t you done enough to her?” She pushed
away from Kamen and stood in front of Asar. “For some ungodly reason, she cares
for you, even now. You’ll break her heart. I can’t allow that.”

The ache in his
chest was getting worse. “I need to remove my mark. Once that is done, she will
be free. She will not see me again.”

Kit looked from
Asar to Kamen. “Lilly is down with our father in the dungeon. Security is
extremely tight down there. Now might not be the best time.”

Asar clutched his fist
to his chest. “It will be now.”

Kit scowled. “Suit
yourself.”