Kira shrugged. “That’s between the two of you. My concern is, who gave you that necklace?”
Shay fingered the pendant. “Why are you so obsessed with this thing?”
“Let’s just say it’s important right now.”
“My mother gave it to me when she was ill. She died of pancreatic cancer unexpectedly about six years ago. She wore the necklace as long as I can remember.”
“Well, that’s a relief of sorts. And who gave it to her?”
“I’m not really sure. What she told me didn’t make much sense. She said I would eventually meet him and that
he was Christian
. That’s all.”
“Christian? You’re absolutely sure about that?” Kira’s face reflected shock.
Shay nodded.
“Well, that’s…Frankly, I can’t really describe my surprise. Want to meet him?”
“I guess. Is he a Christian?”
“That’s his name. I’m pretty sure he isn’t devoutly religious.”
“Is he one of the…one of
them
?”
Kira nodded. “I’ll be just a minute.” She stuck her head out the door. “Khyan, get Christian. Dakar, stay out of this…Yeah, Christian.”
Shay heard some mumbling, and then Kira said loudly, “I don’t give a shit if he’s filming a personal porn video. Just get him in here. Now.” There was some further murmuring before Kira ordered, “Dakar, I’m not intimidated. You’ve got no proof you have any right to be in here. Threaten me and I’ll get Ashor…aw, shit. Too late now. He’s on his way up here. He’s going to think I can’t handle anything on my own.”
Minutes later Dakar and another equally tall inked bad boy hauled a gorgeous, half-naked guy spewing a string of foul curses into the room. Their victim’s short, blond hair jutted in messy spikes. His only clothing was a pair of designer jeans, obviously pulled on in a hurry since the top button was undone. The jeans rode low enough to leave little doubt he was commando beneath. Scars and blue tattoos littered his chest.
Her gaze drifted to Dakar. He’d abandoned his job as a restrainer, and now stood with arms tight across his chest. A tic worked double time in his cheek as if counting down to a homicidal explosion against the blond. She squinted at the neckline of Dakar’s black T-shirt. Something moved. The image of a cat-like creature peeked over the shirt’s collar to stare at her.
He had a living tattoo too? No wonder he knew what it was. Did all these guys have one?
“Get off me,” Christian spat as he threw the other guy away, who landed against the wall. She cringed at the deep dent and webbing of cracks now in the plaster.
Christian’s head whipped around to shoot a furious glare at the guy he threw off. “What’s your problem, Khyan?”
Khyan had regained his balance, ready. He held up his hands and backed off. “We’ve been buds for decades. I’m not here to fight. Doc wanted you down here pronto ’cause we got a weird one to sort through.” He pointed at the bed.
Christian focused on Shay. “Why is she here?”
“I healed her at Dakar’s request. Now Shay needs to speak with you,” Kira said. “It’s important.”
Dakar unleashed. He pinned Christian against the wall. “Who is she to you?”
“She’s none of your business, if she’s here to see me.” Christian pushed Dakar off. “Get out.”
“I’m not leaving you in here with her.”
“Look, if she prefers me over you, then she’s got good taste. Khyan, get your brother out of my face before I hurt him.”
“I’d like to see you try.” Khyan broke into a wide smile. “Come on, Dak. This is fucked up, but we must respect his right to her, I suppose. For the time being, anyway.”
Dakar said low to Christian, “Put one finger on her…” His dark gaze jumped to her.
The intensity of his stare ensnared her like a deer viewing fast-approaching headlights. Breathing became an unwanted distraction, and was suspended. The room narrowed as if only the two of them existed, staring at each other from too far away. A powerful connection linked her to this relative stranger. Somehow, she understood he was furious and…territorial? That last part she sensed deep in her soul on an intuitive level that made no sense. Maybe he felt he owed her since she helped him with the daemon in Colombia? She wished she could tell him he had nothing to worry about regarding Christian. As smoking hot as Christian and Khyan may be, only Dakar had her body’s attention.
She fought back a shiver as his eyes raked her upper body. The perusal took no more than a few seconds, but her body went on instant simmer, ready for him, beating lust through her bloodstream.
Dakar scowled a warning at Christian and then back to her. Yet he held himself in check as if requesting her permission to annihilate Christian. He’d probably be delighted if she gave him the go-ahead. Then, as if a switch turned it off, Dakar’s face changed into stoic stone. Without a word he left, as did everyone but Christian.
She stared at the door where Dakar exited. Instinct pushed her to chase after him and fix his misconception.
Christian self-consciously buttoned his jeans. He wiped away remnant lipstick from his left nipple. “That was interesting. I’m pretty sure if I made a pass at you, Dakar would bust through that door and pulverize me into mincemeat. I must admit I don’t really know the guy since he just appeared to us a few days ago from the long lost past, but he seems to be a bit off his rocker where you’re concerned. Sort of like you’re his
senariai.
Have we met before?”
“No.”
“Then why put me in the line of fire with him?”
“I’m Caitlin’s daughter.”
“I’ve met a few Caitlins over the years. You’ll have to do better than that.”
Shay held up the pendant.
Christian froze. He stared at her for a few long moments, his lower jaw slowly moving back and forth. Quietly, he replied, “You look a lot like her. She had that same dark red hair.” He sighed and said softly, “I heard she passed.”
“Yes.”
“Why are you here?”
“I’m not chasing you down, if that’s what you’re concerned about. I just sort of ended up here. Mom said to give this to you when we crossed paths. She predicted it would happen at some point.” Shay handed him the pendant. “Her instructions were to tell you it never belonged to her.”
He took the necklace, looked at it for no more than a second and shoved it into a pocket. “Why’d she think we’d cross paths?”
“She was so deterministic about things and said we were a part of each other’s lives. I’m your daughter. She told me I’d recognize you not only by your triangle chest tattoo, which is the same as on the pendant, but also that you had a red dragon tat over your left ribcage. We also have the same birthmark.” Shay rotated her right forearm to show the brown triangular super freckle.
Christian paled and stumbled backwards into a chair against the wall. He ran his hand along the red dragon tattoo self-consciously. “She must’ve lied to you. I mean, Caitlin and I were together, but you can’t be my daughter. I can’t have children. At least not with anyone that’s not my
senariai
.”
Not exactly the response she’d imagined. His rejection cut deeply. “She said you wouldn’t believe it. But she’d never been with a man before you.”
An appalled look crossed his face. “How is it possible? I’ve got that mark on my arm like yours, but…Damn, the gods are a wily bunch.”
In a small voice she forced out, “Don’t worry. I don’t expect anything from you.” His rebuff stung. She just wished for one man in her life that wouldn’t reject or hurt her.
Dakar didn’t reject you…not yet
, her brain reminded her
.
His face softened. “It’s not you, sweetheart. I’m sure you’re a great girl that would make any father proud. If Caitlin said you’re mine, I’ll believe her. The problem is me. I’m not father material.” He shifted and crossed his arms, as if suddenly uncomfortable being shirtless.
Shay forced a shrug. “What’s a
senariai
? Everyone keeps throwing this word around like it’s sacred or something.”
“It is sacred. Each of us has one woman to whom we’ve been matched by the gods for all time. Caitlin wasn’t mine.” He looked sad for a brief second before he ran a hand through his hair. The move was completely ineffective at soothing the errant spikes. “Do you even know what I am? What any of us are?”
“I know that I am entirely recovered after being stabbed.” Shay lifted her hand subconsciously to the left side of her face. “Too bad the doctor couldn’t fix my face.”
“Kira must’ve fixed it. There’s nothing other than a blue tattoo near your ear, which indicates she fixed something in the vicinity.”
Shay held her hand up to block her right eye. “Oh my God. I can see out of my left eye. I was blind after that daemon whacked me. Retinal damage that the docs couldn’t fix. What’d she do to me?”
Christian put his hand over his face. “Please tell me you weren’t that pitiful woman in the hospital in Cartagena.”
“You were there? I thought I saw Dakar when I woke up at one point. Did you have your healer woman do something to me then too?”
“Dakar forced Kira to help you. She only agreed to fix enough to wake you up.”
“Then you left me?”
“You were being evac-ed via helicopter to the States minutes after we found you. It would’ve been obvious some sort of non-Western medicine happened, if you suddenly jumped up from a coma completely healed. Our goal is to stay under the radar, undetected. Can you imagine what would happen if a magical healer is revealed to the world?”
“You’re really a magus, aren’t you?” She shook her head, smiling. Her father was a magus. Wow. Talk about Super Dads.
Christian flashed a wide white smile. “Yep.”
“I’m doing my Ph.D. on you guys. Small world, huh? After Mom spouted that stuff about you, I needed to prove you were real. I didn’t really believe in it. But guess I do now.”
“So, what’s up with you and Dakar?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You and he having any sort of mental connection?” He touched his forehead.
“No.”
“Interesting. He’s a little bit insane where you’re concerned...acts like you could be his
senariai.
I’ve heard when we meet her we have this instant on-going mental dialogue.”
“Definitely no communicating going on in my brain with him.”
****
Dakar watched Kira pull her vibrating cell phone from her scrubs’ shirt pocket while maintaining her sentry post at the door to the bedroom. She shot Dakar a warning evil eye as she answered. “Hi, Markus.” Pause. “You didn’t! I told you to stay away from Asheville…Markus? Markus!”
Kira’s face blanched. Her gaze bounced between Dakar and Khyan. She yelled into the phone, “If you so much as pluck out one hair on his head, I swear I will curse you with the most foul pestilence that ever existed for the rest of your days and anytime you return to the Human Realm.”
Ashor appeared as if out of thin air and yanked the phone from her palm. “We already had this conversation. Shits like you do not get the privilege of speaking with her. Ever.”
Dakar said, “It’s him, isn’t it? Djoser?”
Kira nodded.
Dakar demanded, “Let me speak with him.”
Ashor placed the phone in his palms and whispered, “Zip it. That means keep your mouth closed. For once, we might have an advantage. Obviously, he knows nothing of you being here. So don’t utter a single word. I’ll put it on speakerphone, so we can all hear.” He put a finger to his lips and hit the speakerphone. “What do you want?”
Djoser’s raspy voice echoed in the silent hallway from the phone. “How about the amulet in exchange for Markus. And I’ll even throw in his friend, Stephen Levin.”
“No.”
Djoser laughed. “Had to try. You never know how much the cousin of your healer is worth. How about the amulet in exchange for a not yet indoctrinated magus? A young one.”
“How would you know if you had one of us at that age?”
“The prophecy has been fulfilled. I have finally found him. Your spell keeper.”
“You’re referring to a prophecy foretold thousands of years ago. I think you’re full of desperate shit. I can’t guarantee I’ll ever get back to you on this one.”
“You are not even curious to know how I have ascertained he is the right one?”
“You’ve got one second of my time.”
“He recognized Shaiani.”
“Who?” Ashor asked.
“You guys really are brought back with no memory. I had not believed it. I thought the gods were narrow-minded, but this is priceless.” He laughed and low gritty sound. “Is Khyan there? Put him on. I guarantee he knows what I’m talking about. His
bochnori
wouldn’t dare let him forget her.”
Khyan said, “Yeah, I’m here. Where’d you find her? You sure you found the right girl or you just have a hard-on for any redhead?”
“Oh, I have my ways. She is quite…intriguing in her amnesiac state. The poor thing will have to suffer this life without having the pleasure of murdering that cretin brother of yours.” Djoser snickered. “Maybe this lifetime is my turn with her.”
Dakar roared and grabbed for the phone.
Khyan put him in a chokehold and threw him to the ground. He whispered, “Ashor is right. Get a grip. You’re the one advantage we’ve got.”
Ashor protected the phone from the chaos. When he removed his hands from the device, there was laughter and then nothing. Ashor announced, “He hung up.”
****
“Thank you, Mr. Langford. That should do it.” Terek announced as he rested Markus’s cell phone on his desk. He waved at the
Fedavis
standing in the doorway. “Kumar, take Mr. Langford back to holding. Tell Rishi he may proceed with Markus.”
“They won’t come,” Markus yelled as he was forced from the room. “They’re not that stupid.”
“They will come. And we will be ready when they do.” He hadn’t been this excited in years. To have finally found the reincarnation of the treacherous, unfaithful bitch that had led to his human demise and be simultaneously so close to acquiring the amulet…this was as close to divine as he could imagine. Now, he just had to find Shaiani again. His men had chased her, a few had died oddly with burns, and then her trail went cold. The burns reminded him of the fire magus. Anxiety gripped his mind.
Not possible
, he told himself. Dakarai was stuck in hell. If not, that magus would have been released long ago when he’d first been summoned back into the Human Realm. And guaranteed hunting him down would’ve topped Dakarai’s to-do list when he returned.