Surrender (THE DRAGONFLY CHRONICLES) (25 page)

Jackson’s arm pulled her against his solid form. He anchored her in the darkness, the weight of the mountain on top of them. His powerful stance gave her strength. She breathed, utterly amazed at how calm she was.

A rope dropped through the hole to the floor along with a torch as lightning split the sky open. A man dropped down the rope. At least he looked like a man, although Kailin had absolutely no idea what a demon looked like. Didn’t they have wings and horns like the devil? Another followed the first.

“Moghadam!” Jackson growled. He stepped forward but the lightning reflected off metal in the zealot’s hands, a gun, Jackson’s gun. Jackson shoved Kailin behind him. “Bloody hell. Come to finish the job?”

A third man dropped down the rope. “We’re the only ones left,” Moghadam yelled over the raging storm outside. “The sand and twisting sky has taken the rest.”

“The demons,” Drakkina said and Moghadam flashed the gun in her direction.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

Drakkina’s image grew in the small space, her ethereal body charged with magical wind as her dragonflies zipped around. Good God, was her magic calling the demons too?

“I, little man, am more powerful than your puny weapon. Put it away.”

The men behind Moghadam jumped back along the far wall, their clumsy retreat smashing a few more of the ceramic cats. “What are you?” Moghadam demanded

“The only thing standing between you and those demons out there.”

“
Ghul!”
one of the men behind him yelled and glanced wide-eyed toward the gap in the limestone slab marking the only entrance and exit.

“That’s right,” Drakkina hissed. “Demons, here to take your precious orb.”

“It is not theirs to take,” Moghadam said, eyeing the hole illuminated against the bright discharges of lightning. “It belongs to the prince who lies here.”

“Not anymore,” Jackson challenged. Moghadam brought the point of Jackson’s gun around to face him. “Your prince gifted it away.”

“To whom?”

“‘I, Amunherkhepeshef, gift the orb to the bearer of its mark,’” Jackson quoted. “You must know the inscription, Moghadam, if you belong to some old brotherhood to protect the orb.”

Moghadam stared him down. “I see no mark on you.”

“Not me,” Jackson said. Jackson nodded to Kailin. With Jackson’s arm still around her, Kailin shoved her sleeve up to reveal her birthmark.

In a stride that made Jackson stiffen against her, Moghadam leaned over Kailin’s arm, his thumb brushing her skin. Kailin fought the ridiculous urge to pull back. Certainly there were worse things to fear than a mere man, no matter how imposing he might be. Those nightmares thundered outside.

“Hide!” Drakkina yelled. “Before they funnel down here and find you holding the blasted orb!”

“She bears the mark,” Moghadam said and the two behind him dropped to their knees. He looked into her eyes. “My queen.” Moghadam bowed his head and stepped back. Wind circled through the tomb from the holes, whistling and rushing, as if it sought them. The pungent smell of rancid death permeated from the surface.

“Your queen you almost killed,” Jackson retorted and tugged Kailin with him through to the other chamber. The orb still lay dormant, tucked under his arm. As long as he held onto Kailin, her magic didn’t resonate with it and call the demons to her.

“The
ghul
, they come for her?” Moghadam asked as he raced after them. Drakkina hovered nearby and Tuto swooped after them. Dust floated down from the intricate mosaics lining the ceiling. Would the demons collapse the tomb, burying them here? Kailin’s heart leapt, beating in time with a torrential surge of panic.

“Yes,” Drakkina hissed and shot into the last open room with the three sarcophagi. Kailin and Jackson jumped over the fallen blocks of carved granite, following her.

“Where are we going?” Kailin asked. “It’s a dead end.”

Jackson froze, his eyes scanning the interior. Moghadam yelled Arabic toward his two men at the entrance of the last room and they began tugging boulders into place in an attempt to seal the room. Kailin watched in horror as they moved a thick slab of stone across the doorway.

Jackson turned her to him. “You are going to have to trust me.”

“Trust you?” she asked numbly. He nodded, the longish ends of his hair hitting across his forehead and cheek. “Trust you,” she repeated. He gave one more brief nod, his lips tight, and turned with her hugged against his chest.

He set the orb down against his leg and with one arm, tugged the pharaoh from his coffin. “Hide your prince,” Jackson yelled to Moghadam who took the mummy with a little more reverence.

Jackson turned to Kailin. She stared into his gray eyes, darkened by the shadows and torchlight. His eyebrows rose slightly as he spoke and nodded at the same time, as if he were convincing a child or perhaps a lunatic. “We are going to hide inside.”

“Inside? Inside what?” Her voice pinched high.

Jackson bent to stare directly in her eyes. Kailin couldn’t even blink. She held her breath, knowing what he would say, what he was thinking, yet shoving the notion away because it was so horrific it would surely give her a brain attack and kill her on the spot.

“I’ll keep you safe, Kailin, but we have to get in. It’s full of magic, has hidden the orb for thousands of years. They won’t sense you or it once inside.”

“In it,” she repeated around shallow breaths. Her head started to hurt. Here came the brain attack.

“Close your eyes. Hold onto me.”

“Close my eyes.” Kailin’s eyes flickered shut and open as Jackson grabbed her to him.

“Moghadam, close the sarcophagus once we’re inside,” Jackson called. “When they’re gone, let your queen out. Understand?”

“Aiwa!
Aiwa!”

“Aiwa?”
Kailin repeated. “That means yes, right?” she asked. She squeaked as Jackson lifted her. Without disconnecting, he settled her in the largest sarcophagus. Kailin’s stomach rolled and her lungs couldn’t pull in air. Her head pounded. She was going to pass out or throw up or both. “Jackson!” she screamed.

“Shhh!” Drakkina hissed as she hovered. “They are coming down. I can smell them.”

“You can smell?” Kailin asked incredulously as Jackson’s knee came down between her legs. The other leg followed as he climbed on top of her. His large body filled the space above Kailin as he descended, blocking out the torchlight and the mosaics pebbling the vaulted ceiling.

Moghadam leaned over, his wide eyes shifting to the doorway into the other room. “We will protect you, my queen, you and the Orb of Life.” Commitment and duty etched his hawk-like features. Kailin felt Moghadam nestle the rock down near her feet. Jackson slid to her side so that she didn’t feel his weight as he pressed over her.

“Just stay alive, Moghadam,” Jackson ordered. He looked to Kailin. “Close your eyes,
Astilva
.”

Her eyes stung. She forced her lids to lower and rise and then to finally shut. She gritted her teeth together at the sound of the stone slab sliding along the edge of the coffin. Moghadam’s men grunted as they threw their weight into shoving the lid, balancing it along the open top until…

The lid slid into place, locking out the wail and wind, locking out the stench of death blowing into the room, locking out their air.

“Out,” she whispered. Nothing happened. Jackson’s body laid snuggly against her. Kailin was completely and terrifyingly trapped.

They lay in silence, only their breath could be heard over the blood rushing through Kailin’s ears. Her heart pounded to the point of pain against her ribs. Her tongue stuck to the parched roof of her mouth. Silent tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes to wet the hair at her temples. Jackson’s breath was long, slow as if he recovered thoughtfully from a long run. Hers was shallow, frantic like the flutter of wings on a small bird dancing away from a snake. Her fingers sunk into his arms but he didn’t flinch.

“They can’t sense you in here. Drakkina will draw them away.”

“Moghadam?”

“Will do whatever it takes to protect you now that he knows you are the orb’s rightful owner. His whole life revolves around that mission.”

Kailin wiggled her foot and felt the hard orb knock against her ankle bone. “Jackson, I…I can’t get us out of here with you touching me.”

“That’s a good thing right now,” he chuckled softly. His breath touched her cheek. “Because you’d have us flying out of here right now if you could. And I think the demons would notice the hill being blown apart.”

Kailin didn’t respond. Her breath rasped through her constricted throat, past her lips. She felt Jackson shift slightly but he couldn’t seem to move his hands. His nose nuzzled against her temple. He must feel the wetness there.

“You are safe here, Kailin. We’re together and we’re safe.”

As if to mock his comforting words, the ground shook beneath them. Would the sarcophagus fall off its pedestal? Would the lid fly open, exposing them?

“Slow breaths, Kailin,” he whispered in her ear and inhaled against her skin. “Lord, you smell like flowers.” He ran his nose along her cheek until she felt him near her mouth.

Jackson’s body draped along hers. The smell of leather, pine, and man surrounded her, blocking out the memory of the smell of death and decay out in the tomb. Kailin’s blood pumped and her energy soared. But there was nowhere to go, nowhere to funnel the excess.

“You are safe, Kailin,” he whispered, his lips brushing past hers as he spoke. “You are outside, on the prairie. Tall grasses sway against your legs; the sweet dancing winds pull at your hair. The blue sky is so large that you can lose yourself in it as you lay back staring. White clouds race past in all sorts of shapes. There is nothing but wide open air and fresh life all around you.”

Jackson’s lips brushed against her mouth as if he spoke the calming words into her. Kailin tilted her head slightly to follow them, center them on her own. She moved her lips over his, waiting, her trapped energy begging for release.

Jackson’s mouth pressed gingerly against her own. Kailin moaned softly and parted her lips.

The dam broke. He covered her mouth, slanting along her shape, tasting her. Without sight, her other senses took over, savoring his smell and taste, relishing the rock hard feel of his body wrapped around her. She felt like she was melting into him, merging, protected instead of trapped. His fingers found her hand and intertwined with her fingers in the tight space next to their bodies. Bone and flesh against limestone. Kailin shoved the thought away and threw herself back into the kiss.

Their lips moved together. Their noses slid against each other as they slanted, giving and gaining better access. Her fingers tightened around his hand, rubbing along his fingers, another outlet for the growing sensation flooding through her. Sparked by the panic, Kailin’s body burned. He grew against her leg and knew that if they were back in her room at the hotel, buttons would be flying. As it was, the confining space added to the frantic fuel scorching her.

Kailin breathed against his mouth. She couldn’t think, couldn’t concentrate on anything other than Jackson and the passion she was free to unleash. His heat and power wrapped totally around her, capturing her mind and body so that there was no room for panic. Terror was pushed out, obliterated by raw sensation. Never before had she relinquished control.

Low thumps, deep vibrations, and high-pitched shrieking whispered through the sarcophagus walls. Kailin turned, listening. Her lips rested against the side of Jackson’s cheek. She breathed. His thumb stroked her palm and she kept her eyes clamped shut.

“You are
mine
,” he whispered against her. “Bloody hell,” he cursed low and caught her lips once again in a crushing force, half passion, half uncontrollable lust.

She returned the kiss with as much as he gave, even more. No holding back. Her entire life was about holding back, but not now, not with him. She could release everything she felt against him and he would take it all. Wanted it all.

****

Drakkina forced her form to the ancient stone floor and changed the particles creating her body.

The tall, dark Egyptian called Moghadam turned to her and gasped. “My queen! You must hide in the sarcophagus!” His wide eyes fell on the replicated sphere in her hands. “You must hide the orb.”

Excellent, she looked like Kailin.

“I do not hide, but will lead my hunters away. You must guard this room and bring the man out as soon as the demons are gone,” she said in an imitation of Kailin’s voice. It wasn’t perfect but the man was too hyped up on warrior adrenaline to notice. He and his two followers couldn’t know that Kailin still lay in the tomb. Otherwise, if the demons took them, they would give her location away. Hopefully they wouldn’t care enough about her mate to want to waste time killing him.

In the outer room, objects shattered against rock, small explosions of fury and force, as the demons barged through together. No doubt they would destroy everything in their path. If only Semiazaz could control them long enough for her to lead them away once again.

A gust of rancid wind whistled through the cracks around the slab the men had placed over the doorway. It smelled of retching and old flesh. Dust and pebbles flew with the force. Moghadam’s men placed themselves between Drakkina and the doorway in a ridiculous attempt to protect her.

“Hide,” she demanded. “If you die, there will be no one to protect my king.”

Moghadam rattled off a command and the three of them fell back behind the three sarcophagi. She needed them alive to rescue Kailin and her mate as soon as possible. How much air would they have in that coffin? Humans—so damnably fragile!

The slab heaved inward, not by wind but by muscle. Drakkina stood firm as it fell, splintering into pieces on the floor. She expected Semiazaz, his white hair and black eyes that haunted her infrequent dreams. Instead two stone warriors stood peering in. Their blank, angry faces chipped by centuries and their sudden recruitment into this battle. The warriors pushed against the large slab the men had leaned into the hole and the entire blockade gave way. Straight legs rammed through the remaining stone and the boulders burst like smashed grapes, the dust reaching Drakkina in a cloud.