The Wicked Read online

CHAPTER ONE

 

  CHAPTER ONE

  La Paz. Mexico

  Total contentment wafted through Carlos as he sat on a kitchen stool in their honeymoon villa, watching Damali bop around the kitchen. He leaned on his elbows on the wide butcher-block island and smiled. She looked so thoroughly happy and so in her element, buzzing around trying to fix their last private supper, he could only shake his head.

  The last of the sun was bringing gold and rose-orange light in with the beach breeze from the decks and open windows, dappling the white rooms and Damali's beautiful brown skin. This was sanctuary; the Light had provided a few hallowed days of drama cease-fire and obligation so he could enjoy his new wife. It was a time that he thought would only happen when Hell froze over. Jesus.

  He silently wondered what their life together would be like with children. After the way they'd been at it for four glorious days and nights, the result was imminent. He smiled and briefly closed his eyes just thinking about it.

  Oh, yeah, this was a very personal gift from On High. He'd be rev�erent forever. The way Damali flitted from the counter to the refrig�erator to the stove almost choked him up-the sight of it filled him up so. One day her belly would be heavy and loaded with a life they'd created. One day there would be a tiny little face with big brown eyes watching them tease each other and laugh. . . He just wondered if what they'd make would have fangs or wings or both. He didn't care, as long as he'd made it with her. God apparently did answer prayers.

  Pineapple and papaya that he was supposed to be peeling sat wait�ing for him, but try as he might, he couldn't focus on the fruit while he gazed at her. He was just glad that they were on the same wave�length about not wanting to go out for this last honeymoon meal to�gether. Going back to their waiting Guardian team that was family had definitely lost its appeal, too. Although kidnapping her or stop�ping time to keep life at bay wasn't an option, there was something so private and so profoundly peaceful about this time that he'd tuck it away to savor it beyond the grave. He loved her. Period. End of story.

  "You don't have to do this, you know," he finally said in a pleasant, mellow tone, just loving the way her white tank top fit her and the way her sheer white sarong hung low on her hips. He watched her unfettered breasts bounce as she moved. He wondered if she had on underwear. There was no visible line of a barrier, and the mystery of it all added to the excitement of watching her work. Did life get any better than this?

  "I know," she said in a cheerful voice, seeming oblivious to his thoughts; then she stopped to kiss the bridge of his nose across the counter dividing them and went back to her disorganized puttering.

  "But you're a vegetarian-you don't even eat steak. " He laughed and poured them both another glass of merlot as a diversion, to give his hands something to do, rather than grabbing her.

  "So? I know how to cook one, though. "

  Carlos raised an eyebrow. "Uh. . . you don't really have to cook it all that much for me. . . just a flash on both sides, and-"

  "Yeah, yeah, I know. . . leave it running blood. " Damali sucked her teeth. "I still don't see how you can go there with beef, but I'm not gonna start. "

  They both laughed.

  "What can I say?" Carlos ran his tongue over the slight hint of fangs that had begun to crest just from the sound of her voice. "Baby, I don't want anything green on my plate, and you don't have to put a bunch of mushrooms and onions and stuff on the steak," he added in protest when she began making him a side salad. "You do the tabouli and hummus, and pita, and rice and beans and all that. . . just-"

  "Carlos," she fussed. "You're still mostly human and need to eat a balanced meal. Vegetables are good for you. "

  He sighed. "Then go light on the garlic, okay?" His smile widened when she waved her hand at him. "I know all the blood-cleansing properties and what the health food digests say, but truth be told, it still gives me wicked heartburn," he said, laughing hard as she frowned. "Not everything came out of the sunlight straight, and if you smother that steak with that marinade you're concocting, you might as well drag me back to the family house on a livery tonight. " He arched an eyebrow again and gave her a sly smile as he began peeling the fruit she'd shoved toward him. "I had other plans. . . but, uh, whatever you fix, I'll eat. "

  She set the small bowl of marinade down hard and chuckled. "Flash it, two seconds on each side-no salt, no pepper, no nothing?"

  "Au naturel works best for me. . . you know that. " He glimpsed her from the corner of his eye, and was rewarded by her brilliant smile.

  "Fine. " She moved to the counter and sipped her wine, keeping the butcher block between them, and then turned back to the stove.

  As she moved about, all he could envision was the way her white wings would slowly unfold from her shoulders at the height of mak�ing love. Her satiny smooth legs peeked out from the sarong each time she pivoted to get something out of the cabinets or the fridge, and her bare feet sounded like a soft sigh. Thank you, God. . . She washis wife. He could get used to the institution, for sure.

  He burst out laughing as she pulled the steak out of the broiler, lifted it with a fork and a droll expression, then eased it onto a plate- her eyes saying yuck.

  "Now do I act like that when I hand you a piece of fruit?" he asked, cutting off a juicy hunk of pineapple and feeding it to her over the counter.

  "Fruit doesn't run blood, Carlos. "

  "Oh, no? Then what's this?" he said, leaning in toward her and kissing the juice off her chin, totally ignoring the steak between them. "The fruit is bleeding. . . just 'cause it's sweet and almost clear doesn't mean it's not-"

  "Oh, man! You are ruining pineapple for me forever!" she squealed, wiping her chin with the back of her hand.

  "Then come over here and sit down and let me make it up to you. Gimme that terrible image. . . and let me work with it," he said, his laughter becoming a low rumble in his chest. "Sun's going down, too. . . sheeit. I'll make pineapple your passion again before the night's over. "

  "Eat your dinner," she argued, playfully escaping his grasp but coming to sit beside him on a blond oak stool. "I went to all this trouble, the least you could do is taste it. "

  "All right, all right," he said resignedly, pulling her into his lap. He kissed her slowly and then looked at her. "I do appreciate everything you've done for me, baby. " Closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead against hers. "Bless this food and the one who prepared it. Thank you, God. "

  They sat that way for a moment, her fingers stroking his hair, bare legs and bare feet touching, arms about each other in a loose embrace.

  "I still can't believe we're married," she whispered as her mouth swept his temple. "You're my husband. "

  "Say it again," he murmured against her ear with his eyes still closed. "I love to hear you say that. "

  "You're my husband," she whispered and nipped his ear. "You're my sexy. . . wonderful, forever husband," she said against his throat, making his embrace tighter as she dotted each word with a kiss. "My. . . husband," she said over his lips, and then pulled back. "So eat. "

  He smiled and opened his eyes, then took her mouth hard.

  "The steak!" she squealed, laughing as he stood up, toppled the stool, and started walking away from the kitchen with her in his arms.

  "Oh. . . the steak?" he said, teasing her. "Oh, yes, the bloody steak. " He looked at her, making her shake her head and laugh harder. "Decisions, decisions. My wife, or the steak-the steak, or my wife? Her now and microwaved beef later, or the steak now and her re�heated later? I don't know, D. . . what should I do?"

  "In four days and nights, you've practically starved me," she groaned, still giggling. "Just let me get a little bite of something," she said, laughing harder as he tilted his head to offer her his throat. "I mean something that I candigest, Carlos. Remember food? I'mhun�gry. "

  "Ah. . . the lady says she needs human nourishment for stamina.
Okay. " He paced back to the kitchen, plopped her down on the counter, and stood in front of their plates, one hand on her thigh.

  She swallowed a smile, the possessive move to keep her where he'd set her down not lost on her at all. With a mischievous grin, he began feeding her sections of pita dipped in hummus and seemed to revel in the way she slowly cut his steak and offered him a bite of it on his fork. This was heaven. Sheloved when he got that devastated expres�sion in his eyes. But he shook his head.

  "Why not?" She pouted, disappointed that he wouldn't try the steak, and she looked at him hard then at the cut meat, wondering what was wrong with it.

  He smiled wider. "Take it off the silver and feed it to me au na-turel. . . use your fingers. "

  "Oh," she said with a grin.

  "Nowthat's good," he said in a sensual rumble, pulling the juicy meat from her fingers and sucking her index finger and thumb. "Way better. I think I'm developing an allergy to silver. "

  "Stop lying, man," she said, cutting him another hunk of steak. "Your eyes are glowing silver. "

  He knew they had to be; his tattoos were burning up.

  "Do tell? I wonder why. " He took another bite of steak from her graceful fingers and chewed it slowly as he brought her plate over to feed her more of her vegetarian selections. But he almost dropped the plate as she captured his thumb and drew it into her mouth in a puls�ing suckle.

  "You're starting to sweat silver, too," she said with an impish grin. "Might go solid gold on you tonight if you keep that up," he said as he kissed between her breasts. "So you better bust a good grub now, 'cause there's no telling how long I'ma keep you hostage in the other room. "

  "Is that a threat, Mr. Rivera? 'Cause you know I brought my blade. "

  "It's a promise, Mrs. Rivera," he murmured against her warm shoulder. "Keep messing with me, hear. "

  "Well since you're talking possible all-out war. . . " she murmured, giving him another piece of steak and allowing a bit of the juice to drip on her thigh.

  He looked at the red splatter on her leg, bent slowly to lick it while still looking up at her. "All-out battle-hard down, no negotiating. . . taking no prisoners tonight. "

  "Do tell?" she said, chuckling low and sensually as he came up to claim her mouth, cresting a hint of fang. "But I have to eat my salad first. " She glimpsed him with a teasing smile, grabbed her salad bowl, and ate very slowly, munching the greens casually. "You're not aller�gic to balsamic vinaigrette dressing, are you?"

  "Right about through here, you could take a bath in it, and it wouldn't bother me none. " He winked at her as she ate a little faster.

  "What just got into you?" she said, smiling through bites. "Like, a minute ago, you were all cool, and then all of a sudden-dang. "

  "I was watching you from behind," he sheepishly admitted, "and then. . . hey, spontaneous combustion. What can I say?"

  She shook her head and kissed him quickly, getting salad dressing on his mouth. "There, at least I feel better knowing you got close to a salad. What am I gonna do with you?"

  He pulled back a bit and sipped his wine, smiling, but no longer even interested in the steak. "I have several suggestions about what you can do with me, but the real question is, how are we gonna do this in the family house?" he asked with a smirk, then took another generous sip of wine.

  "Very, very quiedy. . . sneaky. . . vamp stealth. "

  He laughed and gave her a sip of wine from his glass. But it was the strangest thing. . . the later it got and the more he stared at her, the more the sudden testosterone rush slammed him. Yes he loved her, always wanted her, but damn, he was feeling something way past desire. And whatever was suddenly blasting through his system had an after-kick to it that was no joke. While Damali hummed and made a funny face at him, he could feel something summoning pure molten silver to his surface, and at the same time, his old days on a throne were calling out his libido at knock-his-head-back levels. Maybe she'd spiked his steak with some Queen's Council aphro�disiac, because he hadn't felt like this since she'd ripened the first time while he was all vamp.

  "Don't ignore me by eating steak. You know I'm telling the truth, and we can't be going back to the house hooting and hollering, Carlos-so stop looking at me like that. And it's gonna be tight while we move the team around from place to place, so you'd better get all that out of your systemtonight," she said, laughing at his slight scowl.

  "Quiet. "

  "Yep, quiet," she said, briefly pressing her fingers to her lips and giggling. "Silent scream. "

  "Silent scream?"

  "You wouldn't. "

  "Hmmm. . . " For a moment he just stared at her, wondering if he could take her to the point where a climax hit her so hard and fast that no sound would exit her throat. Maybe he'd been going about this all wrong, dragging it out? Carlos tilted his head and pressed one finger to his lips, studying her windpipe, then shook it off, making her laugh harder.

  Yeah, it was their last honeymoon night and all, but he had to chill. This didn't make no kinda sense and was quickly about to border on insane, if he tried what was currently running through his head. Mid-flight she'd freak, and wherethe hell did that come from anyway? No. He took a deep breath, willed his hands not to tremble or quick-snatch her, and forced a smile. Shit.

  Carlos kept his expression neutral and his tone light, but he was two seconds from battle bulking on Damali and wasn't even sure if he could pleasure-infuse the bite, he needed her so badly. If he made love to her in this condition, he knew he might actually hurt her, all fun and games aside. No.

  "Vamp stealth only, then, huh? Girl, you know I can roll up on you like pure mist," he said, playing off his discomfort, "but uh, I don't think after I materialize, you're gonna be quiet, regardless. "

  He'd made her giggle so hard she set down her salad, losing inter�est in it. "You talk so much trash, Carlos Rivera. "

  "Husband, Carlos Rivera," he said, correcting her with a brief kiss. "And you love it, 'cause you know I can back it up. "

  "That ain't no lie," she said, her smile fading as her gaze went down his body with her hands. His skin was starting to swirl with en�ergy colors beneath the coppery, golden tan the sun had kissed on it. She allowed her fingertips to trace down his stone-cut chest over his permanent brand of her fist clutching an Isis blade, and then slowly down his torso, almost willing his nylon black-and-white Oakland Raiders basketball shorts to disappear. When he obliged the thought and dropped his shorts away in one lithe move, she laughed and shook her head. "You need to stop. "

  "I'm supposed to give my wife what she wants, right?" he said, laughing in pain as he took her mouth.

  She came out of the kiss serious and breathless. "You've always given me what I wanted, Carlos-you. " Her arms wrapped around his neck as her legs wrapped around his waist. Whatever had set him off like this turned her on to no end. "That's all I ever wanted from you. . . was you. "

  This time there was no playfulness in her tone, or his kiss. As he stalked through the villa with her in his arms, she could feel his body changing and bulking to near battle proportions. The transformation was slightly unnerving, but she rationalized the fleeting nervousness away as a last-night-alone-throw-down-jones. However, the way he dropped her in the center of the bed and looked down at her like she was dinner, fangs fully crested, she briefly hesitated. Even his tattoo was different. It had gone silver, then gold, and was now white-hot, light, and smoking. She wouldn't even look down at the other one. Did she say silent scream? Probably.

  He didn't need to tell her; it was brace herself now or never. Shame on her if she wasn't ready. Seeing that message blazing in his eyes oddly got her there in a heartbeat, though. For the first time since they'd been together, it was obvious that he was in no frame of mind to take his time with slow torture. Her man had immediate plunder in his sights and had started breathing hard without her touching him. Devastating.

  "Baby,
you all right?" she asked quietly, staring up at solid silver in his eyes that had began to turn gold at the edges of his irises.

  He shook his head and then immediately blanketed her, not even waiting for her to pull off her clothes.

  The full Neteru Council of Queens stood as Eve burst into Aset's violet-glowing meeting chambers in full Egyptian battle armor. Tears streamed down Eve's ashen cheeks, her once dewy, exquisite com�plexion in a ruin. With a stern look, Aset bade the other queens not to move or intervene as Eve rushed toward Aset and grasped her by the upper arms.

  "You must grant me the ability to retrieve the Isis blade and the Caduceus!" Eve shouted, her hysteria increasing with every word. "Why have you blocked my ability to summon the blade of justice? I demand that you immediately release it to me and allow me to leave the Neteru Council realms! You cannot leave me unarmed or make me a prisoner at a time like this! Release me. "

  "I cannot, dear queen sister, and we both know why," Aset said in calm, loving tone. Pain rose from Aset's burnished skin in heat waves as she stared at Eve with unshed tears.

  "He's my son!" Eve shrieked, pushing away from Aset and going into a battle stance. "Have you no mercy in your heart, and you call yourself my sister?"

  Aset waved her throne lions and the other queens back. "I know he's your son, and it breaks my heart. We are all shattered by Cain's choice. No matter what you think of me in this dark hour, you will always be my sister and a queen to me. "

  Eve stood still for a moment, her eyes shimmering so much pain even Nzinga looked away. "Aset, he is my son. . . If this were Heru. . . "

  "My soul would die a thousand deaths, and I would need my queen sisters to hold me away from myself. " Aset went toward Eve, but Eve slowly dropped to the floor within Aset's embrace, clutching her gown at her legs.

  "My son," Eve sobbed into the gold woven silk. "He went tohis father's throne after all these years. My queen sister, a Neteru, sent him there! Oh Heavens above, hear my lament!"

  "They have heard you and the angels weep with us. " Aset went to her knees and grabbed Eve to her breasts hard. "Our young Neteru sister did not send him to Hell. Lilith did that. She is the deceiver. She made human men open a new veil between worlds through their twisted science in ignorance. She was the one who originally brought Damali's voice to Cain on the channel of winds and vibrations. Do not blame Damali for that; we cannot have dissension among our queens. Lilith lured him to this fate with the assistance of her husband-but, yet, and still, the decision was Cain's. " Aset began to rock Eve as her sobs escalated to inconsolable wails.

  "My son, oh, Aset. . . he is still my boy," Eve cried, her face pressed against her queen sister's shoulder as she clung to the ruling matriarch. "I shall die and wither away from this. He bedded that shrew, Lilith. . . is in apex and could be attempting to sire in the unholy realms. . . My grandchildren will be from the spawn of whatever is down there! Aset, hear me. . . the silver of my line is going to corruption. Adam is dress�ing for war to behead my son as we speak! I cannot let him do that- please just let me reason with my boy before Adam goes to war. . . I know Dananu," Eve said, her voice dropping to a piteous whisper and growing more desperate as Aset held her tighter. "Dante taught me; I can go to Cain and convince him! He would not deny his own mother's counsel or plea. "

  Nefertiti rounded the table, tears streaming down her flawless cheeks, weeping as she joined the huddle. "Heal her, Aset. Bring the Caduceus before Eve's spirit withers and dies and the light of femi�nine energy on the planet suffocates from the loss. All conception will stop; all gentleness of spirit and nurturing will be replaced with hatred and vile rage. . . war, anarchy, no respect for nature; Eve is the foun�dation!" She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a sob. "No mother should know this pain-take it from Eve, I beg you. "

  Aset nodded, and Nzinga instantly produced the staff. "Please, dear sister Eve. Let me touch your heart and spirit. Let me draw this poi�sonous heartbreak from your soul so that you may rest peacefully to accept what must be. "

  "No!" Eve shrieked, trying to stand. "I will not forsake my son under any conditions! Give me the rod of Imhotep thatI might healhim. I am of no consequence; it is my son who needs this now. For him I would give my lifeand my light. "

  "Don't say that," Aset whispered, aghast. "Never your light, Queen. . . not even for a wayward child. This is his path that he must walk; your prayers are his only salv-"

  "You ask too much of me-to ask the first mother of all that is hu�man not to be mother to her firstborn, not be humane to him, not be his light?" Eve whispered in a dangerously quiet voice as she pushed herself to her knees and opened her arms. "Are you mad, Aset?" Eve waved her arms and closed her eyes as more tears fell. Her next words came out in a thunderous shout. "Are youderanged? Has this Council of Neteru Queens gone insane in my presence?"

  Gale-force winds blew the chamber doors open as hail and rain pelted around the council, inches from each queen in a serious threat.

  "I will turn away from you and smite you if you do this to me, Aset," Eve screamed, making the floor rumble as the earthquake be�gan building pressure under them. "That ismy child, he is my heart chakra, every element within that makes me whole. Sister, hear me!"

  The other queens rounded the alabaster seeing table, wiping their cheeks against tears that would not stop streaming.

  "Form the pyramid of green light around her," Aset whispered while on her knees, outstretching her hands toward Eve. "My prayers are that it is swift. That the two mortal Neterus who are united in the Light make Cain's beheading a quick-"

  "No!" Eve screamed again, scrambling to her feet. "Heal him, Aset. Let me go to my son and let me touch his heart as his mother. Just that is all that I ask, all that I beg of this council. After all these years you owe me that one final request!"

  Eve's panic-laden gaze tore around the group of agonized queens for support and came away lacking. "I ask for the Isis blade only, that I may battle my way to his throne room, not harm Damali," Eve said as she knelt before Aset again quickly and grabbed her hands. She closed her eyes, silver tears spilling in unstoppable rivulets, her words becoming thick. "I will grovel at your feet, Aset. Great Queen, have mercy in your heart. "

  "It is because of the unlimited mercy in my heart for you that I cannot abide your request. Just hear me out. " Aset gathered Eve into a firm embrace as she spoke with halting words punctuated by repressed sobs. "Eve, my most revered. . . the entire pit would descend upon you-"

  "I don't care," Eve whispered, pulling away so that her silver gaze could lock with Aset's. "I care not for my own survival. It is my son's that is paramount. My child's. "

  "And messenger demons would rip you into shreds on the way down," Aset said, undaunted as she pressed on, gathering Eve to her once more. "Succubae and incubi would adhere to your spirit like dark lesions so that you could not even communicate with any Light being. "

  Aset's voice began to rise, escalating as she tried to get her queen sister to understand the wrenching decision. "Light of Motherhood, the Amanthras would ensnare you and violate all that is clean within your wondrous heart. They would rape away the concept of all that is maternal in their mating ball swarms to devour it and regurgitate it as twisted energy. Mothers would be no more. Then, Level Seven would spew up the essence of Dante's father, who always held a grudge against you for never ceding to his son after the Garden. What would they do to Adam's mind, what serpent-inspired visions would they torture him with, my sister?" Aset urgently whispered into Eve's ear as Eve began to sob even harder.

  "Adam, your husband, would lose his light, too. . . and Lilith would stand watch and screech with cruel laughter as this atrocity oc�curred. The One Who Remains Nameless could make you, the holder of world female fertility, the ultimate vessel for the Antichrist! Eve, you know that I speak the truth. This quest to stop the Unholy is the destiny of the paired, living Neterus-not yours. As much as my heart
has been torn asunder, I cannot allow you to do this to yourself, nor could I bear witness as your shrieks for mercy went unaided. How could you ask me to watch you blotted from all existence?"

  "Without my son in the Light,"Eve said, her gaze unblinking as she leaned back from the embrace and stared at Aset, "I am already lost to existence. In Nod, he had a fighting chance. Hope has eclipsed in my heart if you will not allow me to try to retrieve him. I am, therefore, losing faith in my sisterhood. . . queens with sons who will not hear my pain. . . and with that, my love of you all is now in ques�tion. "

  Nzinga quickly went down on her knees beside Eve as Aset almost broke down into sobs.

  "Dear, dear Eve. . . were we within our right to change the Mas�ter Plan, I would valiantly go to Hell to fight by your side. Youknow that! Any battle, any day, my sister of my heart, but do not lose faith, or love for us. " Nzinga touched then cradled Eve's face. "Please," she whispered. "For the love of the Light, hope can always be restored. . . but faith and love are the cornerstones, the verybase of the pyramid, hope its trinity apex. Do not lose the foundation in our midst. I will stand watch day and night without rest to be your energy beacon, my queen. You were the first female of our kind. If you are lost in spirit, we all die. "

  The Aztec queen, Chalchihuitlcue, who had previously hung back, moved closer to touch Eve's hair, her voice a gentle, harmonic mur�mur. "Work with us to send our youngest queen sister, Damali, every advantage of our collective skills in battle that she may do what must be done. "

  "I will give her my medicines of the world to heal her armies," the Asian queen, Lady Fu Hao, said, coming to Eve's side. "Our Damali did not cruelly lure your son to his demise; she was the one who sent him back and sealed him away with purpose for his own good. Give her reign over the elements of nature that she may use them wisely and with swift and sudden force as only pure elemental nature can render. "

  "I will give her the shaman earth harmonies I own and the fauna of North America," the fern-bearing, Native American queen, Est-santlehi, whispered. "We must work as one. "

  "I cannot commit to giving her my elements to behead my son. . . Do not ask this of me right now. "

  Holding Eve away from her with a firm grip, Aset allowed her tears to wash her face. "Eve, how could you ask me to leave you to that fate in Hell you've requested? I would rather face your wrath of me for a thousand millennia than to watch you destroy yourself. I love you and could not bear it, nor could any queen sister who is witness to your suffering. "

  Eve shook her head slowly. "My son would not allow it. He would let me come to him to discuss it, to reason with him, once he saw how his decision has torn my heart out. I would go to him not as a huntress but as his mother. "

  Nefertiti dropped to her knees beside Eve and her voice became a pained murmur. "Your son is no longer your son. He would be faced with a choice. Either to go with a spirit queen that he has not seen in eons, his mother-one from the Light, who in his mind abandoned him-and again be cloistered in Nod without an empire or sensation. After tasting the forbidden fruit of excess, he'd side with the ultimate dark power conferred to him by his father's line. And with that side he'd have a chance to sire to start an empire through the living Neteru queen, Damali. "

  Nefertiti closed her eyes as Eve's body slumped. "He has just seen Damali, who is a much more recent image in his mind, and he will go after her, a female in season rather than you, dearest above all queen sisters. It is the nature of that line, and we all know this. Even if your hope is damaged, heed Nzinga and keep your faith in us, as well as your love for us. We say these things to you out of love and compas�sion, not cruelty. I also have children and know the terror of a mother's heart. . . never to want to face such a decision. " Nefertiti kissed Eve's cheeks. "Give us each a little of your pain that we may all bear this burden with you. Allow Aset to heal you as much as she can, dear, dear sister of Light. I beg you that. Your son is gone. Do not look upon what he has become or you will go blind from the horror of it. "

  "I will keep constant prayer vigil," Joan said quietly. "I was never blessed with children before my demise, but I know that the Most High lost a beloved son and wept until the angels could weep no more. The Light will not abandon you. Do not leave us, or we shall never be the same without you. "

  "I will stand by Damali as an Amazon warrior who knows battle and loss of this kind, and I will guide her blade to be swift," the newest of the spirit queens, Penthesileia, said. "As your sister, this is my solemn promise. Your son will not suffer. "

  "He has family on both sides, and perhaps. . . his grandfather's people will show mercy, if his soul is not remanded into the Light?" Aset said with her eyes closed.

  "Or maybe he will remember to die with a prayer in his heart," Joan murmured. "Carlos did. . . he listened to the living queen Neteru and was spared. I will start petitions immediately. Do not lose hope, even though corporeally, they may take his body below. "

  Bitter sobs consumed Eve as the other queens gathered nearer, each going to her knees to surround Eve with comforting arms.

  "They cannot be allowed to desecrate my son's body or his spirit. We can take an army," Eve said, sputtering her futile complaint as she wept. "Both councils, every Guardian on the planet, to free my son!"

  "If we do so-we-not Heaven, will begin the Armageddon. . . and the moment any of us saw Cain, we would do mortal combat," Aset murmured, petting Eve's hair. "And how many worthy warriors would we lose down in the bowels of Hell, thus making our side vul�nerable to a war that will rage on for years?" Aset paused, allowing the reality to permeate Eve's mind. "Carlos and Damali must do this, as you are not capable because of your love, and we are bound to follow orders from On High. "

  Eve leaned her forehead against Aset's shoulder. "Then why didn't the warrior angels stop him? Why didn't they keep my Cain beyond the reach of Hell? Why didn't they intervene and abduct him the mo�ment he left Nod?" Her voice was hoarse and weary as her arms slid around Aset's body in defeat. "Please, before you attempt to heal my wounds that will last forever. . . Great Queen Sister, tell me, before I lose my mind. "

  Aset motioned for the golden healing staff as Eve's frantic eyes sought hers. Aset touched Eve's face with trembling fingers and pushed her disheveled Kemetian braids away from her cheek. "Be�cause," Aset murmured, swallowing another sob, "as much as it pains me to say this from one mother to another-it was simplyhis choice. "

  "War is the only way! Give me the blade!" Adam growled, squaring off with Ausar. "Together we ride or die, side by side as a matter of honor, or you stand down and allow me to pass through to the Gray Zone alone!"

  Ausar shook his head and kept his tone even and firm. "I will not grant you access to the Gray Zone, nor will I give you my blade. It has been conferred to Carlos Rivera this millennium, and Cain, as well you know, has been your Achilles' heel since the beginning. I will not see you sully your soul over this. "

  "Then we ride with Rivera now! How many battalions will stand with me?"

  Two old warriors glared at each other, deadlocked at the Archon's Table, their towering six-foot-seven heights and sinewy girth evenly matched. Adam's long, silvery locks crackled with blue-static charge as his dark, Ethiopian face remained stone rigid. Ausar lifted his chin, sending a spill of jet-hued Kemetian braids over his shoulders. Hanni�bal slowly rose with Akhenaton, both kings prepared to separate po�tential immortal combatants.

  "I, who will would ride with you, my brother," Hannibal said, his eyes shimmering pure silver in his near onyx face. Perpetual light in the realm of Neteru kings gleamed off his bald head as his aura grad�ually began to flicker with battle-prep silver. "But have you thought of the consequences to your wife's spirit should her husband slay her son?"

  "That he is your stepson," Akhenaton said evenly, his tall, lean car�riage slowly walking toward Adam, "will only make matters worse. " He made a tent before his full mouth as he approached his
outraged king brother calmly, his golden robes billowing behind him with un�spent energy. "Before the other kings enter this chamber, my sugges�tion is that you think of what you are prepared to lose. Eve will never forgive you-and if you weigh what is in your heart upon the scales of Ma'at, you will find that murdering Cain has been there since Abel was slain. True?"

  Akhenaton did not wait for Adam's response as he stroked his goatee. Solid silver glittered in his eyes, and his toffee-hued complex�ion held a tinge of angry crimson that made his cheeks become more ruddy as he spoke. "Ask Solomon to judge this before we mount up. If our wise counselor deems it so, then I will ride at your side with a winged steed of pure Light and place demon heads on pikes. We are always ready to go with you, this you know. "

  "This you know," Ausar said, repeating Akhenaton's words in a low rumble. "That you have doubted my brotherhood for you carves at my soul, Adam. You and I have ruled this council since the begin�ning. . . Our wives are one. Blood sisters, beyond spirit. We are also brothers joined at the heart. Eve is thus and will always be my sister. My wife grieves at the sorrow of her closest queen sister. You and I, as men,brothers in spirit, have kept each other's deepest regrets at our core. Your loss is mine, Adam; your rage is my very own. I, more than you know, want Cain's head on a silver platter for doing this to Eve. "

  Ausar drew a steadying breath and walked away. "This turn of events tears at the fabric of the realms of Light Councils. However, I also want my brother whole-you. And if you are the one who assas�sinates Eve's now evil son, you will experience true eternity incarcer�ated in regret. I owe you more. . . enough to temporarily abide your fury. So what shall I do? My hands are tied by wisdom. The blade stays with Rivera. "

  "Then guide him!" Adam bellowed, snatching off his golden hel�met and casting it to the white marble floor. "Teach him! Give him Hannibal's best strategies-a man brazen enough to take a thousand elephants over the Alps to crush Sicily, with the strength of a thousand kings-to make my queen's suffering end swiftly! He must be cut off from her energy and must stop dredging her heart! Even then her healing will take years!"

  "Done," Hannibal said, going to Adam and clutching his forearm in a warrior's handshake. "Everything from every king of Light on this council I will collect and send to Rivera-my word as my bond, brother. From Nubia to Timbuktu, from Kemet to Songhai, from Athens to Persia, from Rome to the edges of Asia and beyond, the young king will be empowered and schooled by our old empires! It is done, tonight. " Hannibal pointed toward the archon's table with his free hand, sending an arc of searing white light toward it. "He will feel the surge of power like he has never known. Here, weare our brother's keepers. Never doubt that alliance. " Hannibal spat pure sil�ver on the floor. "Cain be damned! I call a remote war advisory council, Ausar. "

  Adam let go of Hannibal's crushing hold, seeming somewhat molli�fied as he paced between Hannibal's hulking seven-foot frame and the massive, solid gold archon Roundtable that absorbed the silver blast and swallowed it into every Adinkra symbol and hieroglyph that sur�rounded it.

  "I want that bastard Cain exterminated," Adam said through his teeth. "He has ripped out Eve's heart from its tissue anchors in her chest!"

  Adam's voice hitched and broke as he paced away from the table again, giving the few assembled inner circle kings his back. "I don't want the other archons to see me this way when our war council con�venes," he said, dropping his voice as the truth spilled from his lips. "Imhotep's Caduceus could not fully heal her. Eve is tied to Cain's energy by the eternal umbilical cord that binds mother to child forever-which has now become a black noose around her spirit. This is why I must have not only his head, but his heart gored before it is too late! The new Neterus must know how to sever all ties so that Eve can eventually recover. This goes beyond business as usual or the normal reach of Heaven; it ispersonal. Eve was never to be destroyed at the onset of the Armageddon. . . or during it. My wife has paid her dues. "

  "We will not fail your quest-it is ours as well," Akhenaton said in a low rumble, throttling his rage at the indignity Adam faced. "We understand. "

  "Do you?" Adam asked with hot tears in his eyes as he spun to face his brethren. "Mywife lies prone on her chamber bed staring at noth�ing, murmuring prayers, her gorgeous light diminishing daily. . . How many years did it take her to come back after Abel's murder? I wanted to slay that bastard, Cain, the moment he reached manhood, but did not follow my first mind as I watched him manipulate his mother in ways that still slaughter me with outrage. Only the birth of Seth brought her around, and his conception is still a mystery to me because my wife was so aggrieved at Abel's death and Cain's subse�quent banishment that. . . "

  Adam's voice trailed off in a thick swallow as he walked away from the other kings and stood facing the towering white marble pillars that opened out to the perpetually lush Valley of the Kings. He stared at the monolith that bore the effigy of all the great leaders of old and willed strength. "Now, this heartbreak she must suffer as well?" Adam said as though talking to himself. He closed his eyes. "My ex-wife did this to her and used Eve's greatest blind spot, Cain, to drive a stake into my incomparable wife's heart. I will not allow it!"

  "Nor will I," Ausar said in an authoritative tone, the fury-laden rumble coming from way down deep in his core. "Oh, my dear brother from the dawn of days. . . rest assured, nor will I. This is war. "