To Woo A Warrior (Southern Sanctuary) (22 page)

“So you like to run?”  It was
more a statement of fact, what with all those lean muscles on display and just
how did the guy get his six-pack to glisten like that?  It was like the
dim kitchen light hit Declan and strengthened, showcasing him, weird.

Declan shrugged.  “Not really
but a surprisingly number of … people enjoy chasing me.”

Vaughn sensed that instead of saying
people the man really wanted to say women, in fact he seemed kind of
embarrassed by the fact so that won him some points. 

“So you and Hadleigh…
” 
Declan paused for a moment, noting the golden
giant’s eyes narrowing.  “Are friends?”

“We work together.”  Vaughn’s
eyes alighted on a bowl of fruit, snagging an apple he bit into it.  He’d
worked up an appetite.

Declan stared at him for a moment,
those dark violet eyes assessing once more.  Again he grinned. 
“Right, work colleagues.  Is Hadleigh around?”

“She had to head back early, working
on a case.”  Vaughn tossed the apple core in the trash and this time chose
a banana.  “When Hadleigh mentioned she had an apprentice for some reason
I assumed you’d be ... younger.”

Declan laughed, a husky attractive
sound.  “I think you were going to say a girl but no, just me. 
Fighting isn’t really my strong suit but in order to past the enforcer test you
have to be well-rounded so Hadleigh has been doing her best over the years to
get me weapon ready.”

“You’re better at the
magics
I presume. I was there when your spell on Hadleigh’s
bra was triggered.”

Declan laughed.  “Did you get a
shock?”

“Shock?  The poor bastard went
air borne, you’re lucky he wasn’t hurt worse.”

Declan froze and for the first time
looked serious.  “Wait, what?  Someone besides you triggered the
spell and got thrown across the room?”

“Yeah a civilian I work with. What?”

“Who is he?”  Declan was on his
feet.  “Where’s this guy?”

“What’s wrong?”  Vaughn’s whole
body tensed.

“The spell I put on Hadleigh’s
underwear it had a double edge, if you meant Hadleigh no harm you’d get a mild
electrical zap, if you meant...”

“Her harm you’d get
whammied
!  Maat I have to go.”  Vaughn slammed
down his empty coffee cup almost shattering it, leaving the kitchen at a
run. 

Maat he should have seen it all
along. 
Xander wasn’t the victim in all of this
,
he was the bad guy
!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Pushing from her knees, not her
back, Hadleigh managed to get both herself and a
groggy
leaden Xander into an upright position.  All the while she was on high
alert, looking for any potential threat.  Just why would who ever
kidnapped Xander go to the trouble of hauling him out to a warehouse near the
airport, only to leave him unguarded?  None of this was making any
sense.  At least Xander appeared capable of holding his own weight now,
with one hand free she called up a dagger.  Catching Xander’s grin in the
corner of her eye, she mentally rolled her eyes.  Whatever they’d given
the man had made him loopy he was smiling like a loon.

“I’ve been waiting for you
Hadleigh.”

“Well now I’m here, let’s get you
somewhere safe.” 

She grabbed him under one elbow and
then turned, searching the exit path for any hindrance.  Okay this might
just work if Xander could watch their backs.  She’d better check his
pupils, make sure he was lucid enough to be useful.  Under her grip Xander
tensed, he’d sensed a threat, no scratch that, as Xander pulled out a small
blade lightning fast from his pants pocket, the amber handle glinting dully in
the dim light.  Acting on instinct Hadleigh moved to block him, her hand
gripping his wrist tightly.

“Xander what in the…
” 
She never got to finish as Xander flicked the knife
in a
downwards
motion, nicking the skin on the back of
her hand, two drops of blood welling forth.  It was enough to activate the
spell.  Inky blackness swirled around them, picking them up and taking
them Goddess knows where. 

The landing wasn’t pretty, well not
for Hadleigh, she was sent sprawling to the ground whilst Xander, obviously an
experienced traveller by such means managed to keep his feet.  It was kind
of galling. 

Well she’d fix him.  Rolling as
she’d been taught since she’d commenced her warrior training at aged three she
was on her feet in a split second.  Facing Xander, arm extended, in her
hand a wicked sharp rapier that she intended to use to widen the good
professor’s gloating smile.  What in the name of the Goddess did he have
to gloat about?  Big deal, he’d managed to trap and transport her to some
dank dark … pyramid, lit by flickering torches, the only furniture in the room
a sarcophagus, sitting on a raised platform directly behind a still grinning
Xander. 

That smile was really starting to
get on her nerves.  She’d show him what it meant to be trapped alone in a
burial chamber with a pissed off warrior.  Bracing her feet on the
shifting sand she tensed.  Time to teach Botox boy a lesson. She was
mid-leap when the net fell from the shadowy ceiling.  Dropping her to the
sand like a stone, magic gone,
the
black net sucking
her dry in an instant.  The rapier she’d called no longer in her
hand.  Futilely she tried to call another weapon, nothing.  Desperate,
she tried to get a grip on the net to throw it off but it clung to her like a
sticky spider web biting into her skin making her feel trapped and weak. She
couldn’t even climb to her feet.   Xander, damn his very soul laughed
at her predicament.  Her wish to damage him escalated into a
red hot
fury that demanded his death.

Don’t just lie here
she berated herself
,
do something,
anything
.  Okay so picking up a handful of sand, throwing it into
Xander’s big fat laughing face didn’t achieve much in the way of getting her
free.  But it did cause Xander to stop laughing, cursing now as he rubbed
his gritty eyes and swore at her whilst trying to brush out the sand now
weighing down his dark locks. 

A sour expression on his face Xander
took his time making sure he located every grain of sand marring his dark
trousers and shirt before striding up the steps to take a seat on the
sarcophagus lid.

“I suppose this is where you bore me
to tears with your grand plan to wake the Mummy and take over the world.” 
Hadleigh panted from the effort it had taken out of her just to sit up.

Xander was smiling again. 
“Well if you’ve heard it before.”  He patted the stone coffin under him
absently.

“Seriously?”

“Well not just any Mummy, we’re
talking my great-great-great - throw in a couple more - Granddaddy.”

“And decrepit plus Granddaddy is
going to help you take over the world?”

“Nah, he’ll do the taking.  I’m
just asking for a little gift of appreciation … I was thinking Hawaii.”

“You know a Mummy only has magical
powers in the movies right?  In the real world they’re just dried out
husks?”

“That’s where you are wrong. 
Meet Apep, the God of Chaos and Darkness.”  Xander caressed the stone
lovingly. 

“Okay I knew you had tickets on
yourself Xander but now you’re trying to tell me you have a god in your family
tree?” 

Okay so she had a god or two in her
own family tree but no one in her family harboured any desire to rule the
world, or even a small part of it.  Well maybe Darcy, but she’d grown out
of that by the time she hit puberty.

“Trust me I have it on very good
authority that Apep and I are related.”

“Not feeling any trust right now …
unsurprisingly.  So tell me who’s feeding you all this baloney?”

“Why they are.”  Xander held out
his arms, the torches all flared for a moment, sending flames high to lap at
the dark ceiling. 

On either side of the sarcophagus
now stood two middle aged men, the same height as Xander, ruddy with dark skin
and large frames, their eyes a matching chaotic black swirling promise of
terror and evil.  They would have perhaps been even more imposing if they
hadn’t been wearing jeans and flannel shirts. 

“Most men work with girls in
sequined leotards, kudos to you Xander for being so enlightened.”

The two men were staring hard at
Hadleigh,
so similar in appearance they had to be
twins. 

“This is the other witch?”

“She’s a
big’un
.” 

Huh, was that a Texan drawl?

“Meet Hadleigh, our witch du
jour.”  Xander swept his hand out, presenting her as if he really was a
magician in a cheap magic show.

Wait, they thought she was a
witch?  Well hard as it was to believe things were actually going to get
more interesting.

“The other witch…”

“Is secure.”

Again they spoke almost as
one. 

Xander rubbed a fading bruise on his
cheek.  “You’re sure?  You know how god damn tricky she can be. 
She’s made it back to Atlanta twice now, there’s no guaranteeing we’ll find her
a third time.”

 “Do not worry…” 

“There will be no escape for her
now.”

 “I’m assuming the other witch
you’re referring to is Serena?”  Hadleigh looked around.  “Is she
okay?  Why kidnap her if she’s not going be present for what I’m assuming
is going to be your grand finale here and now?”

Xander sighed, checking his
watch.  “Okay we have some time, let me give you the cliff notes. 
Meet
Sek
and Mot, sons of Apep.  They and their
brother
Bal
found me fifteen years ago, told me about
my lineage and made me a proposition.  Find them a witch and help them bring
their father back to this realm and I would have my greatest wish granted.”

Hadleigh frowned staring at Texan
tweedledum
and
tweedledee
. 
“They couldn’t find their own witch and bring Daddy back to life?”

“Obviously not.”  Xander waved
off her query.

“And you think they can be trusted
to uphold their end of the bargain once Daddy’s up and running the show?”

“You will...”

“Shut your mouth.” 

They hitched their jeans up in
unison
as they spoke, yeah not creepy at all those two.

“I’m just saying, you raise the God
of Chaos and he’s going to
bring ….
well
chaos.  I doubt those pristine Hawaiian beaches will stay that way for
long.”

Xander smiled, revealing all those
gorgeous
white capped
teeth.  “Don’t let my good
looks fool you.   I studied up on how to ensure I have an airtight
agreement.  I was the one who found the ritual and I’m the one supplying
the vital ingredient…” 

“A witch.”  Hadleigh finished
for him, putting all the dots together.  “I’m assuming we’re waiting on
sundown and then you’re going to what, bleed me?  Feed me to the
Mummy?  Funny I’m starting to see why Serena had a few problems with your
little plan.  What, she didn’t take kindly to being kidnapped, transported
to Egypt and force fed to the God of Darkness?”

Xander rubbed absently at his
shoulder, as if to relieve pain from an old injury.  “I’d been looking for
a witch from the moment I commenced my studies in the paranormal, trying to
verify their credentials was tiresome and frustrating.  Do you know how
many covens I checked out full of earth mother loving dippy hippy chicks
who
just like to run around naked under a full moon? 
Hundreds.  Real witches with real power, they don’t join covens or
advertise on Craig’s list.  You can’t imagine my shock and surprise when
one fell right into my lap.  I wasn’t sure at first so I set up a few
little tests for Serena and what do you know she passed them with flying
colours.  A witch named Serena, kind of clichéd huh?”

“So you were the one behind the
Drexel hounds and the
paralyxis
spiders?”

“With a little help from my uncles,
I had to be sure you were a witch like Serena.  Anyway long story short we
captured Serena, but a trickier witch never existed.  Every time we opened
a transport portal she gave us trouble, she’s like some sort of magic escape
artist.  Her first attempt at trying to escape resulted in
Bal’s
death.  In retribution the brothers demanded she
suffer for all eternity and refused…” He scowled at
Sek
and then Mot.  “Refused to consider her a candidate to bring back their
father.”

“Her death would…”

“Be too swift.” 
Sek
finished his brother’s sentence yet again. 

“Okay, I can see why you moved your
attention to me.”  Hadleigh shifted position on the sand, loathing the
deadening feeling the net had on her magic as she sought to get
comfortable.  “What about Vaughn and the team?”

“What about them?”

Okay she had to tread carefully
here.   Did Xander or the chaos second in commands understand they
were agents of Maat?  “They’re looking for Serena.  They’ll
eventually connect her disappearance to you and then seven very large, very
angry men will kick your butt.”

Xander shrugged.  “
Sek
and Mot will deal with those dumb lugs if they
interfere.”

Hadleigh eyed the two half
godlings
, was one of them actually chewing tobacco?  Perhaps
Xander shouldn’t put quite so much credence in demi gods who appeared to have
gone native.  Not to be too critical but Mot looked like he was getting
the beginnings of a beer gut.

“Let me guess, you two need to raise
Daddy because your powers have all but dried up?”

All three scowled at her, Xander
because he didn’t like what she was inferring and Mot and
Sek
because perhaps she was hitting too close to the truth. 

“How did you lot hook up?”  She
enquired.

“Well that was rather serendipitous;
the forces of the universe at work so to speak. I was on a road trip after
completing school, speeding through a little no account town in the desert when
who should pull me over to write me a ticket but one of my great - times too
many to care or count - uncles.  We recognised one another
immediately.  Who would have thought a god’s blood runs through my veins?”

Hadleigh pushed aside her concern
that somewhere there was a town being policed by agents of chaos and focused on
the important part of Xander’s story.  She couldn’t help the laughter that
bubbled out of her, it filled the numb chasm where her magic usually dwelt
making her for a split second feel less empty.

“You find something funny?” 
Xander looked more curious than worried.

Hadleigh awkwardly wiped away the
tears of laughter leaking from her eyes.  “There are just two tiny
problems with your plan to become the next king of Hawaii Xander.  First
off, I’m not a witch.”

Xander laughed shaking his
head.  “Well … you would say that, given the current circumstances.”

Hadleigh shrugged and gave a smile
of her own.  “But that’s not your biggest problem. I’m guessing somewhere
in this little ritual of yours the blood of Apep is required to complete the
awakening?  And the brothers grim here probably assured you that only a
drop or two of your blood would be required … well brace yourself buddy, hard
as it is to believe your chaos demi god uncles lied to you.  Come sunset
my guess is you’ll be joining me on that slab.”