The Dark-Hunters (785 page)

Please, don’t kill me.
She wasn’t sure who that was directed at exactly. Seth or Carson.

But she couldn’t put the kids in harm’s way. “He’s a servant to Noir, and I freed him. When Noir finds out that he’s gone, he will come after him, no holds barred. It will get extremely bloody.”

“And you?”

“I was told that some of the Greek gods want me dead. It’s how Seth was injured. They were trying to find me. I don’t know why, though. I really don’t.”

Carson cursed, then turned to Margery. “Tell the others.”

Grabbing a towel to wipe the blood from her hands, she quickly left the room.

Lydia rubbed her head, which was starting to ache from all of this. “I didn’t mean to endanger you. Jaden said we’d be safe here … that you could help Seth.”

“It’s all right. We can cope as long as we’re forewarned. Just don’t let us get blindsided.” He returned to working on Seth. “Man, whoever did this to him certainly knew what they were doing.”

“How do you mean?”

“I mean he was interrogated by someone who knew exactly how to wring as much pain as possible out of him and not kill him. Poor bastard.”

“Will he be all right?”

“He’ll heal. I don’t know about the ‘all right’ part. That’s not my department. I can only fix bodies. Hearts and minds are another matter.”

Lydia turned to look at Seth’s bare face, which was still covered with bruises and cuts that marred his otherwise flawless handsomeness. She wanted to cry, but Solin had taught her to keep that inside.

When they know what makes you cry, they know what hurts you most. Don’t give your enemies that.

Closing her eyes, she reached out to talk to him and see what was happening.

But Solin didn’t answer. And that scared her even more than her current predicament. Here, in this realm, with her powers restored, he should be easy to contact. She’d never, ever had trouble finding him before.

He’d only be silent to her if he couldn’t answer because he was fighting.

Or he was dead.

She couldn’t even contemplate the latter. It would destroy her to lose him.

Suddenly, she felt another powerful presence coming into the room. Warm and at the same time freezing, it thickened the air on the other side of Seth’s bed.

Carson pulled back and grabbed a scalpel from his tray as if ready to battle who or whatever it was.

Lydia did the same, ’cause whatever it was, it would be fierce if it chose to fight them. And she had a sickening feeling that it was coming here for her.

But most of all it wanted Seth.

CHAPTER 15

A golden mist shimmered in the air like beams of sunlight first thing in the morning, then slowly turned into a beautiful, tiny woman. Her café au lait skin glowed and accentuated the greenness of her almond-shaped eyes. Her dark brown sisterlocks were pulled back from her face and held with a leopard-print scarf that matched her long skirt.

Lydia was stunned by the elegance of the woman who was so beautiful, it was hard to look at her.

Making a sound of total disgust, Carson relaxed and dropped the scalpel back onto the tray. “Menyara, you scared the shit out of us with that over-the-top entrance. What are you doing here?”

At first, she didn’t seem to hear him. She stared at Seth as if she were looking at the ghost of a loved one.

Taking her cue from Carson, Lydia stood down as well. Obviously Menyara was a known entity here.

When Menyara finally spoke, her voice was incredibly deep and powerful for her dainty size. “I felt the blood call of one I thought was long dead. I couldn’t believe he was here, in this realm, after so long.” She approached the bed almost reverently so that she could stare down at Seth and study his pale features. “But
he’s
not the one I feel.” She reached out and traced the line of his swallow tattoo. “Still … they are very similar and yet so different. I don’t understand how this is.”

Lydia started to speak, but Carson motioned her to silence. “She is Ma’at,” he whispered. “The Egyptian goddess of justice.”

Menyara turned Seth’s face toward her, then frowned as she smoothed down his left eyebrow. “Where did he come from?”

“He serves Noir,” Carson answered.

“Is he a demon, then?”

Lydia cleared her throat, testing to see if Carson would let her answer yet.

He nodded at her to continue.

“He’s not a demon. He’s an Egyptian demigod. Noir bought him when he was a boy, just coming into his powers, and enslaved him.”

Menyara winced as if the mere thought caused her pain. “His mother was human?”

“Yes.”

“His father?”

By the way she asked the question, Lydia could tell Menyara knew the answer, but wanted it confirmed before she spoke it out loud. It was almost as if she feared by saying it first, it would somehow make it true even if it wasn’t.

Lydia licked her lips before she answered. “Set.”

Menyara spoke rapidly under her breath in a language Lydia had never heard before. But it sounded like she was cursing someone. She hoped it was Set and not Seth.

After a few seconds of her anger, she calmed down, then closed her eyes and hovered her hand over Seth’s heart.

Seth’s eyes immediately flew open as he sucked his breath in sharply and arched his back. It was as if someone had a hook in his chest and was trying to lift him from the bed. He panted in pain as every muscle in his body tensed and bulged.

“Stop it!” Lydia snarled. “You’re hurting him.” She rushed for Menyara, but Carson caught her.

Still, Menyara chanted in that lyrical language, not caring how much agony she caused Seth.

He groaned and cursed as if he were being tortured all over again.

Shrieking at them, Lydia wanted to stop her, but Carson wouldn’t let her. “Damn you, let me go!” She tried using her powers on both of them, but somehow they deflected them, making her feel weaker than she ever had before.

How could she not be able to stop this? How could they hurt him more? Couldn’t the goddess see he’d been through enough already?

Suddenly, light streaked out of Seth’s wounds. One by one, they began knitting themselves closed. The bruises and cuts on his face and hands slowly faded.

Lydia froze as she watched it.

When the last one was healed, he fell back flat on the bed where he lay panting. At first, he stared up at the ceiling as if waiting to feel pain again. Then he turned his head toward her and she saw the relief that filled his beautiful blue eyes. Eyes that were no longer haunted by his battle with physical pain.

It was the first time she’d seen him without any injuries or marks. Only the tattoo showed on him now.

She smiled in amazement. While she’d known he was unbelievably handsome, she’d never quite imagined the exact beauty he would hold once he was whole.

Now …

He was stunning. His coloring so unusual and exotic. And those curls … They made him irresistible.

“You need a shave, hon,” she teased, walking over to him so that she could playfully scrape her fingers against the auburn whiskers that darkened his cheeks. Even they didn’t mar his looks. They only made him appear more rugged.

More masculine.

And if they were alone right now, she’d be nibbling her way down that angular jawline until she tongue-bathed him all over.

“What happened?” he asked in a low whisper as he reached up to finger his lips and eye that had been so damaged by Noir’s cruelty. “Why don’t I hurt anymore? Where did it all go?”

Those words brought home the fact that this was probably the only time since Noir had bought him that he hadn’t been in excruciating agony.

Lydia indicated Menyara with a tilt of her head. “She healed you.”

Frowning, he turned his head. The moment he focused on Menyara’s features, he curled his lips in disgust.

Whoa … that was
not
the reaction she’d expected. By the look on Menyara’s face, it was evident she was expecting something a little kinder too.

“What are
you
doing here?” he growled at her.

Menyara’s gaze turned dark with sadness. “Shh, child,” she said soothingly. “I won’t hurt you.”

His cold expression showed every bit of his denial. “Your presence here offends me.”

Menyara winced. She reached out to touch him, then stopped herself as if she feared how he might react to it. “What was done to you by your father was so wrong, and for that I apologize even though I know no amount of apology will ever take away the pain of what he did. I weep for that, too. But I am
not
my brother and I would
never
deny my kin.”

The pain and accusation in his eyes was tangible. “You didn’t come when I called for you and I screamed for all to have mercy on me until my throat bled.”

“I didn’t hear you, or I would have come.”

“I don’t believe you. You are a goddess. One of order and justice. When I called for you, your silence judged me unworthy, and you left me to suffer unspeakable horrors.”

Lydia wasn’t sure if she believed Ma’at either. But either way, it didn’t matter. No apology or anything else would ever be able to undo the hell they’d all damned him to.

Menyara swallowed as if she heard Lydia’s thoughts. “You look so much like my brother.” She held her hand out toward his face as if she imagined she was cupping his cheek. But she didn’t make contact with him. “It’s been so very long since I last saw his face. In spite of what you think, Set wasn’t always bad or evil and I did not judge you. While your father was born of darkness, he also fought against it every night by our father’s side, making sure that Ra would rise and drive the evil back for another day … Like you with Noir … You have the better part of his nature.”

“Don’t you dare defend him to me. Ever.”

Menyara nodded sadly, then looked at Lydia. “The two of you must go. It’s why I’ve healed him. Your enemies won’t let you rest. Not until Seth’s powers are fully regained.”

Lydia frowned. After what Menyara had just done for Seth … “Can’t you give them back?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not the one who has them. They have to leave Noir and return to Seth and there’s nothing any of us can do to rush that happening.” Taking a step closer to the bed, she reached out, this time 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 will sense it just as I did. I’ve healed your body, but—”

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

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

An instant later, a tall, 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 well. 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 will 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 pulled 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 will 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 fall. And unlike you, he’s familiar with this world. He’ll 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 woefully 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 all 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 all these centuries, he conjured his armor to cover him, then scooted off the bed. Thank the gods he finally had enough power to at least clothe himself.