Touch of the Fire God [Scions of the Ankh 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

Rene mulled this in her mind. On some levels it made sense, yet there were many flaws in that logic. But how could she argue with a race that was so much more advanced than her own?

Hell, the people of Earth weren’t exactly swimming in common sense either; they were still letting some people starve to death while others gambled away tens of thousands of dollars.

“I understand. Just tell me, how do I claim this immortality so I can continue living my life?” Rene asked.

She felt comfortable enough and safe with him, and she took a step forward, wrapped her arms around his waist, put her head to his chest, and felt his thick braid. She smiled to herself when he wrapped his arms around her in return, his chin resting lightly on her head. Yes, she had to admit to herself, he made her feel safe. Protected.

“We have to kill you,” Ralabos finally answered.

The sound of distress distracted Thoth from kissing his beautiful wife. With a groan, he broke the kiss and reached out to Ralabos, immediately sensing that things were just going from bad to worse.

“I think we need to visit our old friend, Selkis,” he said reluctantly. “I think this situation calls for the voice of another woman.”

“Ah, has Ralabos told Selkis about the ceremony?” Hathor laughed as the sound of breaking glass echoed in her ears.

“I don’t believe he has been able to tell her everything. We will continue this later.” He leered at her before grabbing her hand and heading out of the door.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to simply will ourselves into the room?” Hathor asked, trying to keep up with Thoth’s long strides.

“And scatter her wits further, my love?” he mused as he slowed his pace a bit. “Right now the fewer displays of paranormal power the better.”

They entered the room to find Rene standing in a crouched position on the bed, brandishing a letter opener, which was pointed at Ralabos. The smell of perfume was heavy in the air, as a bottle of it had been used as a projectile.

Ralabos stood about five feet away from the bed, his hands raised to appear non-threatening. It wasn’t very effective because sheer terror was etched in Rene’s face.

“Are you in on this too?” She challenged Thoth and Hathor upon their entry. She pivoted slightly to encompass them as a group threat.

“In on what?” Thoth asked lightly, hoping to disarm her with a friendly voice.

“Don’t try that on me,” she snapped at Thoth. “You know damn well what I’m talking about. Every time I try to give you, you people, the benefit of the doubt, you make me regret it!”

“Granted, Rene, we haven’t gone about this in the best possible way, but you need to understand no one here is trying to harm you.” Thoth held up his hands to appease her.

“Then why did Ralabos say you had to kill me?” Rene challenged, her eyes darting to Ralabos as she mentioned his name. “Is that like a riddle thing, or does he mean it literally?”

“If you want to me to answer technically, then yes, he means you will have to die by the standards that are declared in your human medical books.”

The silence that followed was palpable. Rene, now bordering on sheer panic and utter fear, eyed every occupant in the room as a possible threat. She let the letter opener sway slowly, centering on each person, but never really ceasing to be in motion.

Ralabos could hear her heart pounding in her chest. His own felt like it would break as he watched her. He did not want to cause her so much fright. Every instinct he had wanted to protect her from the reality of what had to be done, and yet he knew this had to be done.

Seth was in a position of power that was not due him. It was his job to take away Seth’s power, to make it impossible for him—and others who subscribed to his beliefs—to hurt Rene again, even if that meant Rene didn’t want to stay with him after the soul rebirth.

“Why are you guys doing this?”

“We realize that you don’t understand everything,” Hathor replied. “Please, Rene, permit me to tell you the whole story. If it behooves, without the men present, we can talk. I promise I have no intentions of harming you. Have I ever harmed you since you have been in my home?” Hathor crooned, weaving the smallest spell into her words to disarm the woman. Hathor watched as her words visibly calmed the human.

Rene threw the letter opener on the floor with defeated abandonment. It wasn’t as if the letter opener was going to stop any of these creatures anyway. Hell, they could very well have some sort of heat-ray vision and melt it. Or even worse, fling it from her hands by sheer will alone.

They frightened her. All of them scared her, even Ralabos. Though truth be told, he did at the same time give her a measure of comfort she had not known from anyone. He was familiar to her. On some levels she had been intimate with him.

But right now that didn’t make a whole world of difference. He meant to kill her. She had misplaced her trust.

“You did not misplace your trust, zenj’a,” Ralabos inserted. “Please listen to Hathor. She will explain everything. I wish you no harm. That is the exact opposite of my intentions.” Ralabos let his voice wrap around Rene, hoping she would feel the sincerity of his words. She needed to be able to feel for him, trust him simply of her own will. He wanted it to come naturally from her.

“There. Right there, that mind thing, that’s disturbing. All of this is disturbing.” Rene sat on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. Ralabos watched as she folded herself into a childlike pose. Her head was on her knees. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her legs. It was a defensive pose.

“Let Hathor explain this, Ralabos. You and I have much to talk about.” Thoth urged Ralabos out of the door, and he gave his wife one last look of support before he quietly closed the door.

“Can I get you anything?” Hathor inquired softly, sitting a comfortable distance away on the bed.

Rene responded with a muffled no.

“All right then, I will start at the beginning, but you will have to act like a woman fully grown, Rene. I will not cater to childlike tantrums.” The smallest smile was in her voice.

Rene looked up, startled, until she saw the twinkle in Hathor’s eyes. Hathor half-smiled. It was the best that could be expected in the situation.

Rene shook her head. “No, I know the beginning. I even know how it ended. I just don’t understand why I have to die in order to live again. It makes no sense.” She shook her head in confusion, and her dark hair swayed softly, giving her an even more childlike, vulnerable persona.

“I see.” Hathor smiled softly. “Well here is the part you don’t know ...”

Hathor gently probed Rene’s mind, digging for the memory she knew was buried. Ah! There it was. The night Rene fell asleep reading the book. It had faded before Rene could recall its contents the following morning. It was but a blur in her mind. She needed Rene to remember now. She needed to be made to understand. Hathor called the vision forth and let it replay for Rene.

* * * *

Rene woke from the vision as if she had been sleepwalking. A heavy cloud surrounded her mood. Then again, she had just witnessed her own death. She had more than witnessed it. She had re-experienced it, and it wasn’t pretty.

To her surprise, she found her face streaked with tears. Not for herself. For Ralabos. She had felt his pain at losing her. She now remembered that she had seen these visions before. However, they had eluded her the next morning, only leaving her with the feeling that something great had been lost.

If the vision was anything to go by, she and Ralabos had shared a great love affair. For him it had never ended. For her, well, she admitted she cared deeply for him. His touch alone was an anomaly. She had never desired anyone before him, and her gut feeling was that she would never desire anyone other than him.

But did that mean she had to die to be with him? It seemed quite a price to pay. What if something went wrong?

“Yes, I agree it is quite a price to pay, Selkis, but you are not paying it to be with him, nor is he asking you to.”

“Isn’t that exactly what he is asking? Did he not say I had to die?”

“You misunderstand. Yes, you must die, but not for him. He has asked this of you for you.”

“I don’t follow.”

Hathor reached out and took her hand. “Even if you decide to do the conversion, he will not enslave you. He wants to do this so that you will have back the life that is the birthright of our kind.

“He does not want Seth to have the power to ever hurt you again. Not to mention if Seth fails, there are others who would see you dead out of spite. If you choose not to be with Ralabos, he will not force you.”

Rene considered this. “But isn’t that what he has waited for? He said he waited for me. For me. Do you think he will just let me walk away after waiting so very long?”

“Yes,” Hathor answered simply.

“Yes? Have you met the big, hulking guy who tries to order me around at every turn?”

“Yes, and I know once he knows you are safe, he would leave you be if that is what you truly desired. If you no longer loved him, he would ...” Hathor cut her words and rose from the bed. This was not the direction she wanted to take the conversation.

“He would what?” Rene probed, knowing Hathor was now keeping something from her.

“The point is, you must decide to do this for yourself. For your own safety.” Hathor absently began to clean up the mess from the perfume bottle, willing it away into the garbage receptacle in the room.

“Stop that!” Rene snapped, getting up from the bed and crossing over to where Hathor stood. She turned the woman to face her. “What would Ralabos do if I didn’t want him?”

Hathor sighed deeply, looking into Rene’s gaze before she answered. “The only reason Ralabos did not seek his own destruction when you died is because he looked forward to your return to him.”

“You mean I was his reason for living?” Rene asked incredulously.

“It is not so hard to believe if you remember the love between the two of you. It is as strong as the love I have for Thoth.”

“So you’re saying if I don’t want him–”

“He will seek his own destruction,” Hathor finished.

* * * *

“I hope Hathor makes her understand the gravity of the situation,” Ralabos growled.

“She will. She has convinced me to do things I know in my mind are ridiculous,” Thoth commented, pouring Ralabos and himself a glass of brandy.

“She does not trust me,” Ralabos lamented. “I thought eventually she would, but it does not look like this will ever be so.” Ralabos willed the glass out of Thoth’s hand and into his own. He drank deeply until the glass was empty.

“She has had to digest a lot in a short amount of time,” Thoth replied. “Her brain is mostly human and therefore can only handle so much at a given time. Actually, I think she is doing rather well. Certainly much better than I expected,” he added before duplicating Ralabos’ drinking habit and deciding that another round was in order.

Ralabos slammed his glass on a nearby table, the shards of glass scattering everywhere. “I will find Seth and destroy him this time. It sickened me not to kill him in that pub.”

Thoth lifted an eyebrow but said nothing. Ralabos then summoned all the pieces of glass, and when they were in one pile, he swirled them in the air until they reassembled. Then he blew gently, making the glass solid again. He handed it to Thoth who poured him another drink.

“You did right. The safety of Selki—uh, Rene comes first.” Thoth handed the freshly filled glass to Ralabos. “Have you thought about if Rene should decide ...” Jonathan stopped, trying to make sure he was putting the best phrasing forward. He needn’t have bothered.

“Decide not to go through with the conversion?”

“Yes, to be blunt.”

“I will force it upon her, and I expect full cooperation from you and Anubis.” Ralabos interjected steel into his words. There was no room for discussion.

“You know she will not look upon you favorably afterwards.”

“I will take that chance, Thoth. Her safety is all that matters.”

“Have you thought this through, my friend? What happens when you slay Seth and return Selkis to her former state against her will? What if she chooses not to resume her love with you?” Thoth insisted.

Ralabos took the empty glass and threw it with just enough force to send it crashing into the nearby wall; again it shattered into a million pieces. He turned to Thoth and said, “Then I will seek my end.”

Then he left the room, not bothering to reassemble the pieces again.

They both stopped mid-stride as they spotted each other down the long hallway. Each was wary of the other.

Rene, though fully understanding now, still harbored a small amount of distrust. Ralabos knew her state of mind and did not want to provoke her in any way.

Slowly, in almost perfect dancer’s sync, they approached each other until they were no more than two feet apart. Rene clasped her small hands in front of her, idling the twiddling of her thumbs. Ralabos stood with feet planted slightly apart, his hands a duplicate of Rene’s, though clasped at his back.