Darius stood in the middle of an open mist-covered field on top of a mountain. He turned around, and everywhere he looked, the view was the same-acres of grass and an endless expanse of sky.
He was confused. Mere seconds ago he'd been in bed with Lexi. Then, suddenly, he was here-and he didn't even know where "here" was.
He started walking, picking a direction at random, but after taking several steps, he stopped because he realized that he hadn't really moved. Bending over, he plucked a few blades of grass and rubbed them between his fingers. Oddly enough, he felt only the friction of his fingers rubbing against each other. Intrigued, he lifted the crushed grass to his nose. There was no scent.
It was all an illusion. All of it.
He was in the dream dimension. There was magic at work here-incredibly strong magic if it was able to make him fall asleep in the middle of the best sex he'd had in seven hundred years. Someone was going to pay.
A prickling along his neck told him he was no longer alone, and he turned to see the figure of a man approaching.
"Whitley!" He hurried across the grassy field, grabbing the man's upper arms in warm greeting when he reached him. "What are you doing here?"
The priest smiled as he returned the half embrace. "It's good to see you, son. Your mother wasn't sure if we would be able to contact you."
Darius couldn't help wondering if this was another one of his mother's tricks to get him to come back. "What's the matter?" he asked warily.
"Your life is in danger."
"What?" At first, he thought Whitley was joking. After all, Darius was an Immortal. His life was never truly at risk. But Whitley didn't look like he was joking. "I don't understand."
Whitley's expression was grave as his gaze traveled over Darius's nude body. At the priest's questioning look, Darius shrugged. "Your timing wasn't the most opportune. I'm sure I'll have some explaining to do."
Whitley gave him a sympathetic look. "Probably more than you realize." He took a breath and explained. "When you broke the orb, your life essence naturally returned to you. However, it wasn't restored properly." His gaze shifted to the golden serpent over Darius's heart. 'As long as this tattoo remains intact, you are safe. However, the tattoo itself is vulnerable, and should something happen to it..." He paused as if he couldn't bring himself to finish. "Right now, you are as close to being mortal as you have ever been
Darius tried to absorb exactly what he was being told. "Are you telling me that this tattoo is my life essence? That if it's harmed, I could actually die?" He raised his head to look at Whitley and saw the concern in the other man's eyes.
"We don't know how vulnerable you are," Whitley went on. "There was no way of knowing." "Damn her," Darius muttered.
"Sekhmet never meant to hurt you-" Whitley began, but Darius held up his hand to cut him off.
"Don't. She never means to hurt the ones she loves-she just does. And you know exactly what I'm talking about."
Whitley's expression became guarded. "What do you mean?"
"You've lived with us my entire life. You know what she's like." Off in the distance, lightning flashed across the sky and it grew darker. "She wanted to protect me, so she stole my entire reason for existing. Now, because she wanted to keep me with her, she's placed my life-and that of everyone on Earth-in danger."
"Don't be that way," Whitley reprimanded. "She deeply regrets the danger she's placed you in."
Darius wasn't sure he believed that, but he knew it'd be wise not to argue. "Thank you for the warning," he said. "You can send me back now. I still need to find the demon responsible for all the problems on Earth." He purposely didn't tell Whitley about Tain, because he didn't want the information to get back to Ravenscroft where Tain's mother might hear about it. It would break her heart.
Whitley cleared his throat. "There's one more ... little problem."
Darius knew, before he even heard it, that he wasn't going to like whatever it was. Another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky as dark clouds drifted in, an eerie reflection of his mood. "Better tell me what it is."
"Your mother was concerned that you might fall victim to the temptations available on Earth specifically the temptations of the flesh, which she blames for your brothers not returning. She didn't want the same to happen to you, so she tried to cast a protective spell
on you."
"She what?"
Whitley had the decency to look embarrassed and dipped his head. "It was supposed to help you not be distracted by sex-except that you were being pulled to Earth when she cast the protection, and you know the spell is only as good as the portion you heard. From what she remembers, um, I think it might be best if you didn't have sex while you are there."
The warning bells went off in Darius's head as he thought back to the words he'd heard his mother
shouting:
In ... physical love ... find ... pleasure ... forget ...
A bolt of lightning cut across the sky again.
"She didn't want to keep you from having some fun," Whitley hurried on. "She just didn't want you to remember how much fun it was."
"Damn it, Whitley," Darius shouted. "Stop speaking in riddles."
Whitley sighed. "All right. Basically, it's this: If you engage in sex long enough to climax, you'll forgeteverything."
Darius clenched his fists together. At least now he knew how he'd lost his memory that first night, he thought. "Of all the things she's done to me.. ." He swore. "Why would I want to go home?"
"Don't say that," Whitley said quietly.
"Is that everything?" Darius fought to keep his temper.
Whitley nodded. "Yes-that's it."
"I need to go," Darius said, noticing that the sky had grown very dark now and the lightning was getting worse. "Is this Mother's temper we're experiencing?"
Whitley looked around, a worried expression on his face. "No, I don't think so."
"I was afraid of that." There was the possibility that a demon was nearby, possibly even inside the dream realm itself. If that was the case, it was best that he and the priest leave as quickly as possible. "Can you release us?"
Whitley nodded. "Be careful, son. And keep that tattoo safe. I don't want to lose you."
"I'll be careful," he promised, stepping forward to give the man a hug. "Tell Mother..." He hesitated. "Don't tell her anything. I'm not sure I can forgive her interference this time."
Whitley took a step back and in the blink of an eye, he was gone. So was the grass and dark sky. Darius found himself lying in Lexi's bed once more. When he looked around, she was nowhere in sight.
Then he heard the clinking of dishes coming from the kitchen and caught the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. He glanced at the window, wondering just how long the dream had lasted, and saw sunlight shining through.
Not good, he thought. He'd not only fallen asleep, but he'd slept through the night. Sitting up, he noticed that Lexi had at least covered him. He pushed the blanket aside, got out of bed and, finding his folded clothes sitting on the dresser, put them on.
Then he took a breath and braced for the confrontation sure to come.
Lexi stood at the counter, vigorously dicing an onion. Each downward stroke of the knife accompanied a
dark thought about the man sleeping in her bed. How dare he fall asleep right in the middle of sex? How tired would he have to be to do something like that? She didn't think anyone could be
that
tired. Had she bored him to a state of unconsciousness?
Yeah, she liked that explanation so much better. Not.
She put new effort into slicing the onion, trying to ignore the faint noise behind her indicating Darius was finally awake. She refused to turn around and acknowledge him. Frankly, she had no idea what to say. Even the scathing insults and put-downs she'd mentally rehearsed were forgotten.
"So I'm wondering," his voice floated to her in a very conversational tone, "just how mad are you?" She sensed him coming close and wasn't surprised when he appeared beside her. "I'm going to guess that you're pretty upset."
The last thing she wanted was for him to have any clue how upset she was. She didn't want him to think he had any control over her emotions. "I'm not mad," she said, surprised at how calm she sounded.
"Right. That's why you're destroying that defenseless vegetable."
She carefully set the knife aside and carried the plastic cutting sheet to the frying pan into which she scraped the onions. "I like it cut up small She set the cutting board back on the counter and picked up the green pepper. When she reached for the knife, though, Darius covered her hand with his.
When he didn't immediately say anything, she looked up at him.
"Despite how it looked, I didn't fall asleep on you."
He gave a half laugh. "Sleeping was the furthest thing from my mind, believe me."
"But you
did
fall asleep." She couldn't help sounding accusatory.
"Lexi. You're a smart woman-and a witch. You're familiar with spells and summonings."
"What are you saying?"
"It was lousy timing, to be sure, but I've come to expect that from my mother."
Lexi's eyes opened wide. "Sekhmet summoned you? To a dream world?" She considered the possibility and definitely liked it better than the alternative. "Why?"
He pulled the cutting board to him and, picking up the knife, began dicing the pepper. "It's a long story."
She gave him a look. "I have time
He shrugged. "Okay. Well, our parting wasn't under the best circumstances," he said. "You know that Tain, Adrian, Kalen and Hunter aren't my brothers in the sense of our sharing the same parentage, right? Our mothers are different, but they're all aspects of the Mother Goddess. The last time the Immortals were Called to Earth, my brothers never returned home. It broke their mothers' hearts, and
-
Sekhmet swore she would never let it happen to her. So one night while I was asleep, she stole my life essence from my body."
Lexi was shocked. "You're kidding."
He shook his head. "I wish."
"Did you ask for it back?"
He scowled at her. "Oh, gee, that never occurred to me." His voice held bitterness and sarcasm. "Of course I asked for it back."
"What did she say?"
"She refused, of course. And without my life essence, I was physically bound to Ravenscroft. I'd basically become her prisoner. Not that she treated me poorly," he quickly amended. "I could travel the Im
mortal realms, but I couldn't leavenot even when the Calling Spell summoned me."
That explained why he didn't show up the night of the ceremony, she thought. "I hate to state the obvious," she said. "But if you can't leave Ravenscroft" she flipped her hand, palm side up, gesturing at nothing in particular-"what are you doing here?"
"That's a longer story."
He explained how his life essence was now contained in the serpent tattoo on his chest. Lexi found herself watching the way his hands worked as he continued to chop peppers. She remembered the way he'd stroked her body last night and quickly cut off the memory.
"So Sekhmet summoned me to warn me there could be complications," he finished, his expression unreadable.
"Like?"
He heaved another sigh, and she was beginning to realize he did that before he delivered bad news. "Like, the tattoo is vulnerable to attack, which makes me vulnerable too."
"How vulnerable?" He didn't answer, so she reached out and grabbed his hand, stopping him from dicing the pepper. "Darius, that tattoo is over your heart. Exactly how vulnerable are you?"
He gave her a tender, indulgent smile. "You sound worried
She hated that he was right. "I
am
worried. If something happens to you, who's going to stop the demon and Tain?"
He set his knife down and gently took her by the arms, turning her until she had no choice but to look at him. He was standing too close, affecting her ability to
think. "Don't worry about them. I'll take care of it. Now, I've put off leaving for Seattle too long and I must go
She sighed, knowing he was right. "I'll make your reservation, and then we should call Adrian to let him know what's going on. I'm surprised he hasn't already called wondering what happened to you."
"Thank you for all your help," he told her.
She nodded, feeling self-conscious. She knew she should pull away from him, and yet she couldn't. He was studying her so closely, she felt herself drowning in his heated gaze. Then his mouth came down on hers.
Her lips parted on a surprised gasp and he took advantage of the small opening to slip his tongue inside. He tasted like danger and adventure rolled into one, and the intensity of his kiss robbed her both of breath and conscious thought.
Automatically she wrapped her arms around him, returning his kiss with the ferocity of the wolf inside her. She felt her passion rise, felt herself teetering on the edge of something more powerful. When he broke the kiss, Lexi was glad to see that 'he looked as shaken as she felt.