Gene of Isis (46 page)

‘Me too.’

I returned inside to find my husband had already stripped naked and was submerged in the large bath with a cigar in hand.

‘You look very content, in
my
bath.’ I had to chuckle at his speed.

‘There’s plenty of room,’ he grinned.

I decided to indulge his invitation, as I was just as eager to remove my immensely constricting and inappropriate attire. ‘We have to buy some local
clothes for the journey,’ I said, tossing aside the green velvet items. Naked below the torso, I walked into the tub toward Devere and then turned and knelt down beside him so he could undo my corset.

‘It doesn’t get any better than this,’ he commented, admiring my behind as I stood to cast off my last item of clothing.

‘Now we don’t want to destroy our host’s lovely home.’ I sank into water all the way over my head, to surface a very invigorated woman. ‘Praise my foremothers, that feels fabulous!’

Devere ran his hand down my wet, oil-scented skin. ‘If we just take it real slow, maybe the damage can be controlled?’

‘Wouldn’t that mean we’d have to divide our attention between the world outside us,’ I slid my way on top of him, ‘and the world inside?’ I lowered myself to sit upon his already eager member.

‘Not at all,’ he grinned confidently. ‘I guarantee my want of you will overcome any obstacle.’ His kiss encouraged me to forget about the consequences and seize the moment.

In fact, we seized the whole afternoon, and evening found us still lounging on the bed, our bedcovers wound around us.

‘Our host must think us awfully rude,’ I raised myself to dress, as I was feeling rather famished, ‘and this is certainly not getting us any closer to the Sinai.’

‘Are you aware that you have a tiny chakra system growing inside your own?’ Devere placed his hand over my lower stomach. ‘Right about here.’

My heart skipped a beat and jumped into my throat—I must have appeared so guilty.

‘When were you planning on telling me?’ he
queried calmly, but with a tinge of accusation and hurt.

‘I wanted to be sure.’ My defence was transparent.

‘You expect me to believe you didn’t know?’ Devere saw through me. ‘And you’re a far better psychic than I am.’

‘It is what your brotherhood wanted from this union.’ I decided to be frank. ‘And the truth is, I was doubtful that you would risk your prime goal to allow me to complete my quest.’

‘The ambitions of my order are not the reason I would see you return to England.’ Devere was angered by my assumptions, as deep down I knew he would be. ‘Have you no regard for the life of our child that you would risk its future?’

All I divined from my husband’s words was that he wished me to return home. ‘You are so predictable!’ I hurried dressing. ‘Is it any wonder I don’t confide in you?’

‘You are not running away from
this
argument.’ Devere began dressing himself, just in case he needed to pursue me.

‘And you are
not
taking me back to England!’ I secured the stone’s bracelet around my wrist, grabbed my weapons belt and coat, and made for the door.

‘Please, Ashlee, be reasonable.’ Devere grabbed my arm to delay me.

I glared at him a moment and then stated resolutely, ‘In the name of the goddess, I repel you!’

‘No, Ash,’ Devere appealed as he was drawn to the bed and compelled to lie down. ‘Please don’t forsake me again. Don’t forsake our ch—’

‘I blind you to my being.’ I spoke up before I could be touched by his appeal. Devere’s eyes closed
despite his struggle and he immediately fell into a deep sleep. ‘And I banish you from my thoughts and heart until my quest is done,’ I concluded solemnly. ‘May the goddess keep you safe until then…may she keep us all safe.’ I stroked my flat belly, yet to show any trace of my condition, and then opened the door.

‘My dear lady.’

I gasped when I found Cingar standing at my door, dressed in a light Arab cloak with a hood.

‘I have arranged passage on a merchant boat to Cairo, but unfortunately it leaves tonight,’ he informed me.

‘That suits me fine.’ I stepped into the hall to join Cingar and closed the door behind me.

‘Are you not going to wake Devere?’ The gypsy was puzzled by my actions.

‘My husband is not coming with us,’ I announced coldly, making my way downstairs before I had to contend with an argument.

‘Oh, not again!’ the gypsy whined in my husband’s defence. ‘Abandoning your spouse at every given opportunity is no way to run a successful marriage,’ he scolded.

‘Hah, look who’s talking!’ I responded lightly, but the gypsy did not look amused. ‘Are you coming with me, or staying with Mr Devere?’

He gave me a hurt look, surprised I had asked. ‘You know I am always at your service.’

‘Then come aid me to buy an Arab cloak from Mr Maximoff, so that we may be on our way to Cairo.’

Cingar drew a deep, uneasy breath. ‘As you wish, my lady.’ He reluctantly left the door to my room and followed me downstairs.

We had been anchored three days in the harbour of Alexandria before we witnessed the arrival of our kin. Lord Devere had yet to disclose the name of his brother’s vessel to our captor, so it took Malory a bit longer to become aware that Ashlee and Mr Devere were now in the city.

Coming on to evening, my lord and I were loaded into a boat and rowed to shore—after admiring the ancient city from the ship for many days, I was rather curious to take a closer look.

‘The Deveres are at the home of Mr Frinkulo Maximoff for the night,’ Malory’s spy informed him. ‘He’s a gypsy trader on the far side of Little Europe.’

We had already established that Lord Devere and myself were being taken along on the ambush as leverage, and I had a strong suspicion that our kidnapping was about to turn ugly.

The streets of the city were still a hive of activity; the smells of spicy food and the sound of fevered music, played on exotic instruments, had me quite enchanted. I had a burning desire to get amongst the
crowd and enjoy the carnival atmosphere, but had little chance of fulfilling my desire, surrounded by Malory’s knights as we were.

I could see why they called the Frankish end of town Little Europe. It was far more developed, staid and civilised.

Our party did not go unnoticed as we passed up the main thoroughfare. An English gentleman crossed the road from a salon to introduce himself to our party as Mr Banks, the English consul in Alexandria. Malory was inwardly annoyed when Mr Banks invited us to sign the consular book.

‘Unfortunately, we have a previous engagement.’ Malory attempted to decline.

‘Come, come, Lord Malory.’ Lord Devere decided to complicate the issue. ‘It won’t take long, and Mr Banks is sure to have vital information regarding our stay in Alexandria.’

‘That I do.’ The gentleman seemed most eager to be our host.

‘Tomorrow morning, perhaps,’ Malory adamantly insisted.

‘I tell you what.’ Lord Devere was not about to pass up the opportunity to give Malory the slip. ‘You go on and Lady Devere and I shall catch you up.’ My husband grinned as he took my arm and guided me out from amid Malory’s men.

‘Splendid.’ Mr Banks motioned us toward his premises just across the road.

Angry at having to split his force, Malory motioned a couple of his men to follow us and had the remaining four knights accompany him on his mission.

We had no sooner entered the consulate than my husband was asking after their bathroom facilities.
When one of Malory’s guards tried to accompany him, Lord Devere put him off. ‘I feel sure I am safe in the consulate and do not require your assistance.’

Mr Banks suppressed a smile at the comment.

‘Bodyguards,’ commented my husband to his host. ‘They are a little overzealous at times. Stay,’ my lord had the cheek to order the knight once more. ‘I shan’t be long.’ As I was still under their watchful eye, the guard was embarrassed and remained in the lounge.

Mr Banks had gone to arrange things, and took a little longer than expected to return to the sitting room. When he did, he offered drinks all round and gave no hint that anything was amiss.

Only later did I learn that my husband had explained the situation to our host, and had then slipped out of the house. Mr Banks had provided directions to the back entrance of Mr Maximoff’s home, and also sent one of his house servants to fetch the local authorities.

Once five minutes had elapsed, I was beginning to wonder after my husband’s whereabouts myself, and although I tried to keep my guards distracted with lively conversation, one of them was clearly growing concerned.

‘The spicy food here is certainly a shock to the system,’ he commented to Mr Banks. ‘If you would kindly excuse me.’

Mr Banks was nowhere near as eager to offer up directions this time. ‘I’m afraid we’ve only one bathroom here. Once Lord Devere returns—’

The knight, frustrated, drew his sword, which made Mr Banks, and me, gasp in shock. ‘Go and find Lord Devere,’ he instructed his accomplice, pointing the tip of his sword in our direction.
The consul then reached inside his jacket to produce two pistols, aiming one at each of Malory’s knights. ‘How about we await the Lord Devere’s return?’ he said, encouraging the men to relinquish their weapons. I collected them for safekeeping.

In the meantime, Lord Devere had raced to his brother’s rescue and arrived at the back entrance to Maximoff’s house, just as Malory and his men were approaching the front door.

After managing to scale the back wall in darkness, James nearly bowled over a couple of Arabs as he sped up a pathway in the courtyard. He entered the kitchen appealing desperately for information from the house staff. ‘Devere? Devere?’

At first the women shook their heads, alarmed by the intrusion, until James managed to piece together enough Italian to explain that he was here to warn his brother of danger.

The eldest woman looked James over and, able to see the family resemblance and that this man was clearly an English gentleman, she relented. ‘Come, I’ll show you.’

The servant woman knocked a few times on the guest’s door and then opened it when there was no response. She smothered a scream. A dark man leant over the sleeping Devere, and when he looked up his eyes glowed red and yellow like a demon’s.

‘Get your hands off my brother,’ James warned, his fear for his brother’s welfare giving him the courage to run at the beast, who had his palms clutched around Earnest’s temples. As James came near, the creature growled and shattered into a white mist, which wafted quickly out through the balcony doors.

‘Sweet mother of mercy,’ the old woman uttered, and crossed herself. James ran and shook his brother.

‘Earnest! Wake up!’ Slapping around the face didn’t elicit any response, so James threw a glass of water over his brother and Earnest came to with a start. ‘Are you all right?’

‘James? What are you doing here?’ Earnest looked around the room. ‘Where is my wife?’ As soon as he posed the question, Earnest remembered her departure. ‘Oh, no, we have to go!’ He clambered off the bed.

‘You have no idea.’ James aided his brother to throw his belongings into a bag, but as Earnest made toward the door James pulled him back. ‘Not that way.’

The sound of several men ascending the stairs in haste caused the brothers to back up toward the balcony.

Malory and his knights entered to find an old woman making the bed. ‘Where are Mr and Mrs Devere?’

The housemaid continued with her chore unfazed, as men flooded the room to search it. ‘They left some time ago.’

Malory noticed the closed balcony doors and immediately moved to check beyond them. He spied two figures scaling the back wall of the courtyard. ‘Out here.’ He directed his men over the balcony in pursuit.

‘Why are you not back in France?’ Earnest demanded some answers from his brother. ‘And who are we running from?’

‘An old friend of yours is responsible on both counts.’ James led his brother down the back streets
toward the rear of the English consulate. ‘Does the name Lord Malory ring any bells?’

‘Lord Malory is here!’ Earnest was shocked to a standstill. James ran back and grabbed his brother’s arm to drag him back to a sprint. ‘But I don’t understand…does he wish me harm?’ Had the Grand Master got wind of the fact that Mrs Devere had fled her marriage?

‘All I know is that he kidnapped Lady Devere and myself in order to get to you.’ James ducked into a courtyard and pulling Earnest inside, he closed the gate. ‘Lord Malory seems to think that your wife’s destiny is to destroy some creature that originated in the Sinai.’

‘Molier.’ Devere named the said creature under his breath.

‘I thought Lord Malory was completely insane and I would still…’ James said, wishing it was so, ‘had I not seen that demon leaning over you at Maximoff’s.’

‘You saw him!’ Earnest was horrified, and yet excited as his brother nodded gravely. ‘But how did Molier find me when my wife has repelled him?’

I
blind you to
my
being.
He recalled Ashlee’s exact words.

Now that she was no longer in his company, Molier couldn’t find Mrs Devere but he could now find her husband. Or the creature could pursue Lady Devere, or anyone that Mrs Devere knew, who might lead the way to her.

‘This is very bad,’ Earnest realised.

The sound of several pistols being cocked made it painfully clear that the situation had just got worse. But it was not Lord Malory’s men, or Molier’s, that
held them at gunpoint this time. It was the local law enforcement. The Devere brothers were seized and escorted into the consulate.

‘Excellent,’ James uttered to his brother with a satisfied grin.

Earnest, who was in a hurry to catch his wife, did not agree. ‘How do you figure that?’

When my husband and his brother entered the consulate lounge, I ran to embrace my Lord Devere. His captors released him, his identity confirmed by my reaction.

‘Praise god you’re safe.’ I looked from my husband to my brother-in-law, perplexed. ‘But where is Ashlee?’

‘A good question.’ My husband was equally eager to know.

‘Halfway to Cairo in all probability,’ Mr Devere was most annoyed to concede. ‘We had a little disagreement,’ he added in further explanation.

‘Not another one,’ James complained, fed up. ‘Haven’t you two got the faintest idea of what a marriage commitment actually is?’

With a pat on the arm I urged my husband to settle down. I took Mr Devere aside, whilst James moved to congratulate Mr Banks on apprehending two of the kidnappers. He also wished to clarify any questions the officers of the Pasha might have about Lord Malory and his men.

‘What did you argue about?’ I sat down with Mr Devere in a quiet corner.

‘My wife is pregnant,’ he announced solemnly.

‘Oh, my god!’ My heart nearly stopped with all the joy that flooded it. ‘Congratulations!’ I made my brother-in-law smile briefly.

‘Thank you.’ He conceded that it was grand news. ‘I thought that it would be wiser to return home to England, rather than risk a mishap in the desert.’ He justified his side of the argument.

‘Oh dear,’ I said, knowing how Ashlee would have taken to the suggestion.

‘I know,’ he scolded himself, feeling that he should have known better. ‘Now she is tackling the quest alone. Well, not alone,’ he corrected himself, rather bitterly. ‘She has Cingar and Albray to aid her.’

‘Albray?’ I frowned.

Devere was wearied by the very mention of the name. ‘You were right in saying that my wife had not taken a lover, that it was more likely to be a male spirit advising her. Mrs Devere trusts him so implicitly that he may as well be her lover.’

‘I doubt very much that a ghost would be able to match your relationship with your wife.’ I suppressed a grin at my boldness in saying so, but at least the comment did manage to raise my brother-in-law’s spirits. ‘We should resume our pursuit of our sister without delay.’ I made to move, when Mr Devere grabbed my arm.

‘We have another problem…’

I sat back down to learn what it was.

‘I believe that Molier can track us to my wife.’

This adventure just got more and more complex. ‘So by trying to assist Ashlee, we might only be placing her in more danger?’

Mr Devere nodded. ‘I need to speak with an authority on spiritual shielding before we pursue her.’

‘Do you know of such an authority here in Alexandria?’ I implored him, just as concerned about Ashlee’s welfare.

‘I need to speak with Lord Malory,’ he replied, as someone knocked on the door of the house.

‘That will be Lord Malory now,’ I informed him cheerily. ‘Come to collect Lord Devere and myself.’

Once Malory and the other men in his company had joined the growing crowd in the English consul’s lounge, Mr Devere, Lord Malory and I joined forces to do a lot of fast talking. We managed to convince the Pasha’s officials that there had been a giant misunderstanding.

My husband looked on in disbelief as Mr Devere insisted he knew about Lord Malory’s visit, and I stated that my husband and I had come in pursuit of our relatives of our own free will.

‘We did?’ My husband cocked an eye in question, wondering what the hell I was up to now.

‘It is our sister-in-law who has been kidnapped,’ I said, to the shock of everyone present. ‘We believe she has been taken to Cairo and so require a speedy passage there.’

‘I can arrange that,’ Lord Malory said, eager to deal himself into my favour and grateful that I was not exposing him for the kidnapper he was.

‘I felt sure of it.’ I accepted the deal.

‘Is there anything I can do?’ Mr Banks offered.

‘You could bid us leave with the greatest haste,’ I suggested.

The Pasha’s official obviously had better things to do than to stand around listening to a bunch of English people talking gibberish. As we all seemed to be getting along, he gave up on even trying to follow our discourse. ‘Be gone from my city before daybreak,’ he told all the tourists present.

‘I shall see to it personally.’ A confused Mr Banks gave his assurance as he showed the officials to the door.

‘Can someone please explain what just happened?’ Lord Devere appealed to his brother and me.

‘Mrs Devere has been kidnapped, you say,’ Lord Malory cut in. ‘Is it true, Earnest?’

‘I need to know how I can shield myself from Molier’s eyes.’ Mr Devere had his own question.

‘Has he got her?’ Malory had to know first.

‘No.’ Mr Devere would admit that much. ‘Is there a way I can keep Molier at a distance?’

As Lord Malory nodded and began to explain, Lord Devere was compelled to cut in. ‘Can we go now?’

‘We cannot leave now!’ I was surprised that James would leave his brother in Lord Malory’s hands and sail off back to England, especially now that our sister’s safety was again in doubt.

‘I was referring to Cairo.’ My husband corrected my misunderstanding. ‘They can talk about their demon banishing spells on the way.’

My jaw dropped open. I could hardly believe that my husband: A) was prepared to go to Cairo, and, B) could speak of anything occult in a casual, accepting manner. ‘Is this Lord Devere before me, or some impostor?’