The Cursed Read online

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

  The Honeymoon Is Over

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Trying to take everyone to the beach didn't make sense, but that was just what looked like would happen. She needed to get Carlos alone for a generals' powwow, and she could tell by the way he bristled that he was uncomfortable with the team's swift-moving tidal wave of emotion. They both turned and looked at each other at the same time.

  "Hold it!" they said in unison, making the group go still. Carlos crossed the room and folded his arms over his chest, blocking the hotel suite's exit. Damali came to stand beside him. He gave her the nod, silently yielding the floor.

  "Look, the first Armageddon seal has been opened, and all of our nerves are raw. So, before we do anything that could put anybody on this team at risk, we need intelligence. "

  "D's right. If the dark covens opened up like Marj got from a spirit dream warning, then before any of the group touches some polluted stones, picks up an attachment, or anything whack that could go down, me and Damali need to find out just what's up. "

  Shabazz glanced at Marlene, who nodded. "No argument. "

  "Good," Carlos said, his line of vision going around the room. "Then I suggest, since there's a funky vibe out there, me and Damali go check it out while you all keep moving forward on handling our team business.

  "Dan, on getting us a base camp - stat, and Marlene on getting the Covenant over here . . . seems like we're gonna need backup. "

  "Roger that," Dan said. "I'm on it. " "Cool," Carlos muttered. "Then, we're out. "

  * * *

  Damali clutched her silver necklace, looking at the seven stones set within it that hadn't been active since Cain's demise. The oracle pearl that contained the she-dragon -

  Zehiradangra's pure spirit essence - almost seemed to have died.

  "Maybe I should try to rouse her," Damali said as they neared the pounding Pacific surf.

  "Hold up, baby," he said, grabbing her arm before her Tims touched the water's edge. "I cannot put my finger on what has me so jumpy. " Carlos scanned the waves, watching families and surfers along the coast. "Find a tidal pool; don't put her in the direct waves. " Damali stared at him. "Why not?"

  "All that surfer dude energy out there, families . . . ships, yachts. If Zehiradangra is grieving so hard and has gone so far within her own spirit that she won't come out and speak, you put her in a highly charged environment like that," he said, motioning with a wave of his arm, "and you could shock her system. "

  "Damn, I never thought about that," Damali said, and backed up, cradling her necklace in both palms. She looked down sadly. "The last thing I'd ever want to do is hurt her. " Carlos slung an arm over Damali's shoulder. "Yeah, I know. She was good people. "

  "Wanna try to see if both of us calling her might coax her out?" Damali looked up at him.

  "I know she really liked you. "

  "You ain't mad, that, uh, we used to be friends?"

  Damali allowed a half-smile to slip out. "Nan. . . I married you, so hey. " He swallowed a smile. "Let's go find some water. "

  * * *

  They walked half a mile down the beach until they found a small jetty of low rocks. Within the dips and crags there were plenty of small pools where tiny crabs and snails tried to ward off predator seabirds. Squatting down, they both cupped their hands under Damali's necklace and low ered it into the water. The shriek that came from the pearl made them drop the jewelry, stand quickly, and jump back.

  Gulls went airborne as the pearl released a bloodcurdling scream. Bewildered, Damali and Carlos simply watched in dismay as the pearl became gray and cloudy, then went black.

  "Help, help, oooohhhhh! He's killing me!" the pearl shrieked. Curious glances by passersby, who hesitated for a mo ment to be sure there wasn't a woman being molested, forced Carlos to seal the distressed pearl in a small, translucent black-box to hold back the sound.

  "Oh, my God, get her out of the water," Damali said, now grabbing on to Carlos's arm. He quickly complied without touching it, bringing the pearl to the sand using an energy drag.

  "Okay, now I know we need to go see Aset and Ausar," Carlos said, still staring at the pearl in her necklace. It had begun to smoke under the California sun's brilliant rays. Damali nodded, gaping at her pearl. "Ya think?"

  * * *

  It was supposed to be a solo visit by each of them, just like always. Carlos had called down the golden obelisk to transport him to the Neteru King's Council, just as Damali had called the violet pyramid door to her Queens. But the moment both Light passageways opened, they merged, and suddenly Damali and Carlos were walking down a long white marble corridor side by side. The vaulted ceiling was shaped like a pyramid, and had glowing, silver hieroglyphic symbols etched in the marble. A strange violet fog gave the hallway a dreamlike quality that made it hard to tell if they were moving or standing still.

  "This is too freaky," she whispered.

  "I know," he whispered. "You ever been down this way before?"

  "No. You?"

  He glanced at her and shook his head. She peered at the black-box on the golden floor, drawing his attention. The pearl was now spinning wildly inside the box, which emitted yellowish, sickly smoke.

  "What are we gonna do with that?"

  Carlos shrugged. "I don't know - but I know one thing, you ain't putting it on your neck anytime soon. "

  "You got that right. " Mesmerized, she couldn't stop looking at it for a few seconds, and then she looked at him. "What if I'd dipped that in the water while the team was there and whatever's making it sick got out?"

  "I know, baby," he said quietly. "It's bad enough me and you touched it holding hands, so

  . . . "

  "Yeah, I know. We could be carriers of something really foul to the whole group. " A roar coming down the hall made Carlos instantly bulk, drop fang, and throw out a shield in front of him and Damali as the blade of Ausar came into his hand.

  "No, no, no!" Damali warned. "It's Aset's guard lions. Stand down, or they'll attack to the death from the perceived threat. "

  It took him a second to heed Damali's warning as two huge white lionesses that stood four feet at the shoulders, with saber-tooth incisors bounded down the hall, muscular wings helping them gain momentum as their silver claws raked the golden floor. He stood at the ready to shield himself and Damali again, should it be too late and the creatures already have been confused. But the lionesses stopped ten feet in front of them, looked down at the black-box containing the pearl, and snarled at it.

  Hesitant, one of the lionesses batted the offending item away with a hard swat. When the sound of Zehiradangra's screams began to leak out, the other lioness snapped the box into her powerful jaws, pivoted off a wall, and took flight, headed back in the direction they'd come from. The remaining lioness issued a warning growl toward Carlos, then glanced over her shoulder and went airborne to follow the lioness that had retreated first.

  "Aw, man," Damali whispered, practically singing the statement. "They really did not like that. "

  "No doubt," Carlos said, rubbing tension out of the back of his neck. "Plus, you get a

  whiff of that stink that came out of the box?"

  Damali made a face. "Yeah. But now what? I've never called a council hearing and been -

  "

  Dense violet and gold-hued fog instantly filled the chamber, surrounding the sickly yellow vapor that had escaped, and cutting off Damali's words. She and Carlos watched in awe as the chamber fog retracted into a lance and speared the center of the yellow mist, eerily causing it to scream. Then just as suddenly the multi-hued fog formed a tight pyramid around it, and began to shrink as though compacting trash until it disappeared.

  "Now that was deep," Carlos said in a quiet, reverent voice once the pyramid was gone. Damali never got a chance to respond before twelve heavily armed male and female warriors in glowing white-gold Kemetian armor strode down the hall t
oward them. At the lead was an unusually tall man and a woman. They looked like siblings. Both owned the same shaped faces, opaque eyes, gleaming ebony skin, and taut athletic build. The only difference was the male was slightly taller and thicker than the female, but then-tight dreadlocks were of the same length, and wrapped in silver bands, like their arms. The entire retinue carried shields, broad swords, quivers on their backs filled with an arsenal of silver arrows, and daggers stashed in the calf-straps of their golden sandals.

  "The joint session of Neteru Councils has commenced," the warrior pair said in unison.

  "Guardian spirits at the wall! Hank troops!"

  In crisp military precision, the squad behind the lead pair took a step back to open the line, male warriors with their backs against the marble wall to the right, female warriors to the left, lining the corridor. The warriors that had led the retinue then spun on their heels and began walking down the row without another word.

  Damali and Carlos looked at each other and then walked forward, not quite sure if they were supposed to. But from all indicators - since they hadn't been attacked and the warriors on the wall were sealing the space behind them - they could only assume that they were doing the right thing.

  Guardian spirits? Damali mentally whispered to Carlos after they'd been walking awhile. She studied the strong, sinewy backs of every hue that walked before them. Yeah. . . these must have been some of the baaadest mugs on the planet to be guarding Neteru Council, D.

  They both shared a glance as they walked.

  You think we'd get to keep our Guardian family intact when we cross over, because we're Neterus?

  Carlos glimpsed her again, but didn't break stride. Ya know, D, I was just thinking the same thing.

  * * *

  they came to an abrupt halt in front of a massive set of al abaster doors. Down the centers of each thirty-foot, one-ton door embellished with gold hinges, were moving, silvery hi

  eroglyphics that seemed to tell a story that went back to the beginning of time. A war horn sounded and the doors then opened by themselves, but only after glowing in a flurried pattern and stopping like a whirling combination-lock on Damali's and Carlos's Aramaic names.

  "Whoa," Damali said under her breath as the lead warriors bowed and then stood aside

  for her and Carlos.

  Carlos couldn't even speak for a moment. His entire Neteru King Council was in session, each King seated on a high pedestal, white marble throne next to his throne-seated Queen, and holding her hand. At their wrists, a long golden sash of Kinte and mud-cloth joined each couple. In the center of the semicircle of thrones were Ausar and Aset and Adam and Eve. Those single Kings and Queens formed a U shape of support behind them, going back row after row, up like in a huge coliseum without steps, floors, or anything one could see with the naked eye holding up each row.

  Damali felt her jaw go slack, just standing in front of such awesome power. The electric charge rippled across the floor and over their skins, making a tingly sensation of weightlessness enter every pore. She and Carlos simply gawked as the more aggressive of Aset's lionesses brought forward the offending black-box, roared, and dropped it at her feet.

  Ausar looked at Carlos, then over to Damali, and finally at his Queen, before staring down at the box. "Council is called to order. Ashe. "

  Carlos and Damali looked at each other, their expressions plainly asking each other, Now what!

  "We had to contain the warlock pollutant," Aset said as she stared at the box. "Our apologies for the decontamination chamber entrance. It is unbefitting of Neteru royalty, but we had no choice. "

  "We will have to thoroughly purge the dragon pearl oracle before we can return it to you," Ausar said, his voice sad. "We may even have to exterminate it. . . the creature's spirit is suffering so badly. "

  "What happened to it?" Damali asked, suddenly jolted into finding her voice.

  "Yeah," Carlos said, as Damali's hand slipped into his. "Z was cool until. . . "

  "Yes, I know," Eve said calmly. "Until I beheaded my son, Cain. It's all right, Carlos. I had to do it and I can talk about it in a more detached frame of mind now . . . I have to. "

  "We don't want to bring you pain, dear Queen Eve," Damali said, genuflecting, which made Carlos follow suit. "But there's so much going on right now, and we need a way to do a clean divination. "

  "One of our seers got a visit from her dead sister in the spirit realms of Light, saying something about dark covens rising," Carlos said, his gaze respectfully going between Ausar, Adam, and their wives. "Here's my concern. We just hit Lilith's joint hard, as Adam knows. But then I later found out that the only reason we got in as far and as deep as we did was because her husband was installing her on the Vam pire Council's throne as the new Chairwoman - "

  "I knew it!" Eve shouted, standing. Adam gripped her hand tighter to keep from breaking their bond. "When I took my sisters Nzinga and Penthesileia to her topside essence in the Black Forest, she was just finishing a dark ritual. I had no idea it was her coronation! I would have driven the Isis into her heart and right into the black throne that she sat on, im paling her wretched heart. "

  Carlos and Damali shared a glance.

  Eve took a war party of Neterus to battle Lilith? Whoa. . . Damali mentally sent to Carlos, unable to contain herself.

  Carlos's eyes just widened slightly, and he squeezed her hand tighter.

  "My wife and her warrior sisters almost had her, but the kill was interrupted by the Unnamed One," Adam said, coaxing his wife to sit again. This time Carlos and Damali looked at each other straight on.

  "They sent legions of scythe-bearers over the cavern, but we incinerated them like the vermin they are," Nzinga said with pride, reaching over to clasp Penthesileia's hand.

  "Yes," the Amazon Neteru Queen said proudly. "And we drove back her witches and warlocks that stood guard as witnesses. Only two escaped. " Carlos waited a beat before he spoke, gathering his words with care. "First of all, that's a bold and awesome hit on our side, but the coronation took place underground, Level Six in Dante and Cain's old throne. That's how it's always done for a Chair installation, and what had me buggin' so hard was, the installer was none other than Lucifer himself. " The great hall went silent for a moment.

  "It's true," Damali said, holding Carlos's hand tighter. "My husband still gets residual imaging from that throne . . . from, uh, his old life - which we can use to our advantage and probably why it even happened," she added quickly, defending him as she pressed on.

  "And what he sensed almost fried his nervous system. I think that could be what's wrong with my pearl, too, because she was linked to Cain, and at his demise, grieved so hard that maybe she tried to follow anywhere his essence had been. "

  "If girlfriend went there," Carlos said, "as a being of Light, with no dark proclivities whatsoever, she's definitely going blind by now. "

  "The Caduceus may be the only way," Aset said quietly, as she glanced at Damali, then Ausar.

  "Bigger issue is this, though," Damali said. "If you didn't interrupt Lilith's coronation -

  which you didn't, and there was a stand of warlocks and witches, topside, around a Vampire Council Chairwoman, then the combo of vampires and witches seems awfully suspicious. "

  "Like a foul spell going down, now that the first seal got broken," Carlos said, glancing at Damali, both of them nodding. "Plus, we kicked their. . . tails," he said, monitoring his language before the royal assembly. "The question is, who was at the hocus-pocus fest?

  Maybe if we know the players, we can decipher what kind of thing they're gonna use to come at us. "

  "Truthfully," Nzinga said, "we were slaughtering them so quickly that who they might have been, dims in my mind's eye. My focus was their incineration. "

  "Focus," Eve commanded gently, turning so she could see Nzinga, whose gaze went to Penthesileia.

  "I recognized Genghis," the Amazon said after a mo
ment.

  "Genghis, as in Genghis Khan?" Carlos rubbed his neck with his free hand. "Okay, we know they were making a war spell for sure, now. "

  'Truth," Hannibal said from his high post. "But I have something for Genghis - something his spirit shall cringe to witness!"

  He stood quickly and put his fingers in his mouth, using his hand to create a loud whistle. Hoof-clatter filled the great hall within seconds, and a huge, prancing, ruby-hued stallion with massive wings entered, pawing at the marble floor, snort ing fire. Its eyes gleamed like large translucent jewels, and its coat and mane shone as though made of the cut stones, the light shimmering in its crystalline facets.

  "Behold, the stallion of power," Hannibal said. "If their armies of Darkness arise, I am authorized to break the sec ond seal to take peace from the earth that they in the Dark Realms shall turn on and kill each other. " He opened his arms. "The Neteru Council of Kings has already awarded you the great sword - it is your choice to call this steed to your service to escalate the combat. We are with you, my brother!"

  "And if it becomes bleak for our side," Eve said in a tense murmur, "I have the right to call to Damali's hand the black mare, thus opening the third seal. " She stared at Damali without blinking. "Take your time to call her, for a balance of weights and measures comes with her. She will raze their food, making the staff of life scarce, hurting not the oil and the wine. "

  "Why would I ever want to do that?" Damali said, dropping Carlos's hand and covering her mouth.

  "To starve out their armies!" Nzinga shouted. "Then Ausar can release the pale horse of hunger and death upon their weakened demon legions, death by starvation - then opening the fifth seal to raise armies of the fallen, those who were slain for the word of the Almighty, those martyrs murdered by evil. They will rise again, after a season, but the sixth seal must then be fulfilled. "

  "Yes!" Joan shouted. "Every army and every soldier in the fight of a just cause, and every person burned at the stake in their vicious inquisitions of injustice - the enslaved, the tortured, shall rise in victory!"

  "The moon will go crimson, winds shall lash the land to sweep the vile assets of Hell from the planet. . . earthquakes shall move mountains and islands out of their lodging to shake them from every hiding place beneath the ground; the sun will go black to entice them out to fight against a battle they shall never win," Adam said, breathing hard with battle lust and leaning forward. 'The battle is on!"

  "After that, the twelve scattered tribes shall gather, a hundred and forty-four thousand Guardians in all, to be redeemed and - "

  "Wait!" Damali and Carlos shouted in unison, holding up their hands. They both began pacing, panic sweat making their clothes stick to their bodies.

  "That's too much responsibility," Damali said, her voice shrill.

  "Man, put that red monster back in its stable, brother - I ain't calling that shit to earth. We got people down there, families, and babies, and . . . aw, man, this is over the top. " Carlos raked his dampening hair.

  "Right," Damali said, almost hollering. "If the food gets scarce for demons, that's biblical plagues . . . a quarter of Africa has already been decimated, we've got bird flu in Asia and Europe reaching pandemic proportions, and old, already conquered diseases making virulent comebacks - we can't bring that on people!"

  She spun and looked at Carlos.

  "Naw, like, we just came up here for a simple divination, since the first seal was open and a funky spell was gonna go down. We ain't come up here for all of this, yo!" Ausar and Aset sat back in their thrones garnering calm as the great hall quieted. Two Guardians led the snorting steed away, and Hannibal sighed.

  "Our apologies," Ausar said evenly. "We have been waiting for this for a long time, and perhaps we got ahead of our selves. "

  "Please don't break another seal," Damali said, her voice a dry rasp.

  "For real," Carlos said, still too hyped to stop pacing. "Adam, man, I didn't even want the first one broken, if I knew it was gonna be all of that. "

  "Well this is why we've given you access to the Covenant!" Adam shouted, losing patience. "They are your earthly guides!"

  "True," Eve said with a half-smile. "But Carlos did not directly ask you to break that first seal. You tapped into his energy and felt him headed toward Lilith's lair - and if you are honest with yourself, you - "

  "Jumped the gun!" Carlos yelled. "I didn't ask for no seal breaks - just some assistance. Uh-uh, you ain't laying that at my feet in the end of days, brother - we cool and all, but uh-uh. "

  Adam stood, indignant, looking around at his fellow Kings. "All right! I admit it! My breakage was premature - but given the stress Eve and I have endured - "

  "No one is blaming you, man," Solomon said in a conciliatory tone. "Sit. We are all here for the same purpose. "

  Begrudgingly Adam sat.

  "I feel where you're at," Carlos said, drawing Damali under his arm. "But if we can contain the madness . . . I mean, we'll scrap to the bone, will battle whatever comes our way, but our main goal is to keep down the number of human civilian casualties. "

  "We would have said the same thing, during our incarnation," Aset said in a soothing voice, staring at Ausar.

  "You would have, but I would not - I would have taken a hundred thousand men into battle and razed anything of the enemy in our wake. "

  "You see how these large, epic, Old World battles went down," Carlos murmured to Damali, "and why I don't come up here off the chain?"

  "I know," Damali said, letting out her breath hard. She looked at Aset. "We can't roll like that and sleep at night. New plan. "

  "We can try to decipher the origin of the toxin that affected the pearl," Lady Fu Hao said quietly, smoothing back her long, black hair that was wound up in an elaborate bun. She spoke in a calm tone that was almost hypnotic. "Once we understand what they were trying to accomplish, we can advise you on evasive moves and battle patterns to keep you one step ahead of their plans, and this will minimize casualties. "

  "Cool. Now that's a plan I can live with," Carlos said, glimpsing Damali from the corner of his eye. "And just for the record, the Covenant hasn't been available to us for a while because of the ongoing human debate over Cain and what that means. " Adam held up a hand as though to say, Peace, drop it. Carlos nodded. The Native American Queen leaned forward, her attention split between the Amazon and Lady Fu Hao.

  "They have one of my lands on their team now, Tara, who might be able to help break the spell code - she has shaman in her, like the guardian Jose . . . and both had the capacity at one point to bear fangs. " Estsantlehi sat back. "We will work with a blend of energies and see what we can determine. "

  The Aztec Queen stood and began to walk back and forth in front of her throne, her green jeweled robe glittering. "Could they not call their fellow Guardians, one hundred and forty-four thousand strong to them, making them know who they are?" Chalchihuitlcue waited, her large, luminous eyes seeming to absorb the thoughts of the

  group before she spoke again. "This would allow worldwide, scattered teams that have been under siege - too much to be able to seek their own kind - to sense each other's energy tracers . . . Guardian signatures worldwide, for the first time could mesh. This would also be only the second time a Neteru team would make itself known to non-Neteru Guardians as a beacon, so that only those with the eyes of Light could find shelter amongst their own kind. They must gather unto each other for safety and to fight a collective battle, if their goal to minimize casualties during the end of days is to be achieved. "

  "She's talking about a worldwide energy grid, a larger one than we did in Morales, this time," Carlos murmured in reverence. "That's genius. " Damali nodded and bowed toward the Aztec Queen. "Before, we had to find regional Guardian teams through calls to the Covenant, or sometimes we'd get lucky and our joint Neteru call to arms could connect us. But in a firefight. . . "

  "It would be nice to fold in some air support," Ca
rlos said, pounding Damali's fist. He glanced at Adam. "That way no more seals need to get accidentally broken. " Adam looked away.

  "How would they call that many humans together, without causing suspicion, or even risking an entire Guardian planetary force in a wipeout?" Aset sat back in her throne. "Too risky. "

  "We can hit every zone, twelve in all, with a World Peace concert," Damali said with a smile. She looked at Carlos.

  "Oh, snap - Jose was talking about that and I thought the brother was losing it. "

  "Right," Damali said. "If we go to twelve locations worldwide, then twelve thousand of our Guardian brothers and sisters in that area can come, mixed with civilians, and we don't risk a whole Guardian population wipeout, while also spreading some peace, hope, love, joy . . . people gotta have something to hold on to in order to keep the faith. "

  "Then, it is settled," Aset said, gaining a nod from Ausar. "We will support this endeavor, as well as respect your re quest for our warriors to stand down - except in extreme cases. But we will do all that is within our power to provide an extra layer of protection to your team, given that Lilith has been installed by her husband. . . who shall remain nameless -

  while we also endeavor to ascertain the specifics of this putrid spell the dark covens have cast. "

  "We will get back to you with an answer," Ausar said, his voice seeming a bit pleased around the edges. "The base camp that you are presently pursuing will be readied to your specifications in short order. You must have a stable place to lodge, a palace. This living like nomads is unbefitting your station. "

  "But know that, if you are directly attacked by Lucifer, we will bring out the red steed," Adam said, still bristled.

  Eve nodded. "We will never allow a Neteru team to be cast against that level of unfair disadvantage. " She leaned forward, becoming more impassioned as she spoke. "If it is Lilith, as much as I want her head on a pike, I will heed your request to fall back . . . but do call me, Damali; just say my name, and I'll be at your flank with a battle-ax raised - know that, sister. "

  "But in the interim," Nefertiti said, causing the others to stare at her and Akhenaton - both of whom had been silent observers during the previous, heated exchange. She waited a

  beat, her beautiful Kemetian gaze stunning the group to calm, as her melodic voice dipped to a harmonious murmur. "Rest, replenish your weary spirits, and live in the present - it is a gift. Take respite when their armies cease fire, rest when they rest, that you may live to fight another day . . . and do not for get each other in your quests. You must claim peace as much as you must claim victory in battle, or it will escape you. "

  "Your living quarters have been barriered to evil; Adam and Ausar have pledged our support in battle as well as se curing your lodging. For now Eve and her Queen sisters have decimated the darkside's coven forces, injuring Lilith and killing four of six witches and warlocks that had been secretly gathered in the glen. " Akhenaton glanced at his fellow archons. "Whatever poison they'd sent is contained within the pearl. Nefertiti brings you wisdom not to forsake joy altogether, as this keeps hope alive. Otherwise, you and your team will go mad. "

  "I say we call in Merlin on this," a Guardian shouted out from the ranks on the floor that rimmed the hall.

  "I agree," Arthur said, weighing in his opinion from his throne, leaning forward. "Merlin is renowned for his authen ticity and spell expertise. "

  "Arthur's right. Merlin could be summoned. They have druid capacity on the Neteru team," another Guardian's voice rang out, quickly creating murmurs that echoed through the great hall.

  "Protocols of this session will be observed!" Ausar said, quelling the sidebar commentary from any Guardians on the floor. A large Egyptian hooked staff materialized in his fist and he pounded it on the marble base of his throne, sending a loud banging shock wave across the hall as his intense, un blinking gaze scanned the gallery of Kings and Queens. "King's Council, speak. "

  'The Merlin question," Akhenaton said with a sigh of frustration, "is advice that we will take under advisement. But we want to be sure, first, that the pollutant is contained at the highest bands of energy. To release it to loyal spirits without knowing the nature of its potential would possibly injure one so good as Merlin. Whatever they sent to attack the Neteru household went to the spirit holding the most pain and grief at the moment, which would have been the or acle. Their team had begun to heal their individual losses . . . and their wise mother-seer had recently applied a spirit balm to everyone, before this spell was unleashed. "

  Nefertiti nodded. "Yes, my husband is correct. Their team was glowing pure silver aura and white-hot joy when this insidious spell was released. " Carlos gave Damali a quizzical look, and her eyes replied, Later.

  "You know, however. . . " Solomon said, looking at David. "We need to check the due dates in the Akashic records of when the Antichrist is expected, now that the first seal has been broken. This could change the entire plan. . . if that's what Lilith was conjuring in the woods. "

  "Solomon and David are wise! Maybe until they know," Noah shouted out from the Guardian ranks on the floor, obviously unable to contain himself, "the new male Neteru should hold himself away from his wife - as we were advised to do on the Ark. This would cease all potential conceptions while that which is unclean is being swept away. "

  "I shall not call for order in this hall again!" Ausar shouted, standing. Damali blanched. Carlos took up her hand.

  "Y'all be sure to let us know, though, if we need to do something like that - or you find something crazy in the rec ords. " Carlos glanced at Damali again. " 'Cause, like, we've been down that road a few, feel me? Ain't trying to go there again. "

  "We'd all feel that presence, if Satan's spawn were on the earth plane," Adam grumbled.

  "As a counselor and judge, you are worried about a level of detail that does not currently exist. " He looked at Carlos. "True, she has the re cessive Powers angel gene, but after the battle against Cain and his hybrids in Central Mexico, Rivera's spirit and loyal ties are no longer in question On High. There is no more talk of possible annulment of the union, so I see no reason to take such drastic measures to have a man hold himself away from his wife - if anything, Solomon, this could cause discord. "

  Ausar leaned around his throne and spoke in a low private tone to Solomon. "This brother doesn't have three-hundred-plus wives, understand? Do not stress our young brother dur

  ing the Armageddon like this. " He smiled and shook his head, chuckling. "The way I know Rivera, he might immedi ately call for the sixth seal to be broken, if you do. "

  "Yeah, man," Hannibal muttered, leaning in to privately speak to Solomon. "Rivera already helped bring that stolen seal back to us before he was even a Neteru, too . . . so now you're listening to Noah? He was an old man when he got on the boat. You need to ask his sons - "

  " - I'm conservative," Solomon said with a skeptical but conceding nod. "However, I'd still like to have a sacred rec ords review. "

  "In the meanwhile," Aset said, openly trying to stem what appeared to be the beginning of a long session debate. "Let us not filibuster over this hypothetical threat. Due diligence and research is warranted, and thus, what we shall employ. But our young Neterus have a wonderful plan to bring the world teams into contact with each other in preparation for any humanitarian threat that could be levied from the darkside - and we have controls swiftly being put in place to aid those efforts. "

  "Go in peace," Ausar grumbled. "Session adjourned. "

  "Can you say world tour, baby?" Carlos chuckled as a twelve-warrior escort team fell into formation before them. "I think you needed that anyway. " She smiled. "Yeah, I did. "

  * * *

  "man, d," carlos said, swinging her around and laughing as they came out of an invisible fold on the beach. "I have never been so glad to get out of somewhere, girl!" She threw her head back and laughed, holding his shoul ders as he began running with her hiked up by her waist. "T
hat was craaazy! Like visiting the principal's office in school!"

  "Naw, that was like going to court, yo! Start the what? Call a red who? Oh, shit!" He made them fall in the sand with a thud, still laughing.

  "Kinda puts it into perspective, doesn't it?"

  Carlos just looked at her. "Girl. . . I ain't guilt-trippin' no more, not after that I'll take Dan to see his peeps, we'll work on the concert logistics, get the Covenant over here, set up base camp here in La Jolla, sheeeit. I ain't breakin' no seals, though. " He put his hands on top of his head for a moment.

  She kissed him. "Good. 'Cause if you break a seal, I'd have to kill ya. " He laughed and kissed her back harder. "As long as you kill me like this. "

  She smiled and sidled up closer. "That could be arranged. " The smile left his face and he looked at his hands for a moment, tilted his head, and slowly closed his eyes.

  "I can never figure out how you always do that to me," he murmured and then opened his eyes.

  "Do what?" she asked with a waning half-smile, tracing his brows with the pad of her thumb, suddenly wanting to kiss his thick, black lashes.

  It was hard to think as she looked at him now. Her fingers ached to skim the waves of his dark hair. She always loved what the sun did to his warm, golden brown skin. . . and he looked so damned sexy as he slid down onto his side, and propped up on one elbow. . . every muscle in his shoulders and arms and chest and stone-cut torso beneath his tight, army green T-shirt and black jeans had moved when he'd moved.

  "You make my hands feel like they're on fire to touch you," he said after a moment, his voice becoming gravelly as he stared up at her. "I felt it the minute we walked back into the earth plane. I had to pick you up, touch you. "

  "I know," she said, her voice a husky murmur as she leaned down and her hands cradled his face. She didn't care if people walked by smiling at them, he was in serious peril of getting jumped right where he lay. "The second we came out of the fold, it spread out through my palms and ran up my arms. " She swallowed hard. "Then it started coating my insides. "

  He leaned up and kissed her hard, his tongue straining against hers. "Maybe it's 'cause of what they said I might have to do - and got a reprieve. That crazy shit Noah was talking about," Carlos said, his words smothered by his own breath. He pulled her chin into his mouth as though devour ing her, then sought just her bottom lip.

  "Okay, we've gotta get a room. "

  "Ya think?" he said, breathing hard, no longer even able to laugh.

  "Yeah, 'cause the whole team - "

  Her back hit the inside of a hotel door.

  "Send Mar a message - stat," Carlos said between deep breaths, tugging at her yellow tank top to get it up and out of her jeans. "Tell her we need a private debrief after being in council, so your husband doesn't lose his mind, but so she doesn't wig and mount a search party looking for two MIAs. "

  "Okay, okay," Damali said, almost sliding down the door as his hands finally connected with her bare torso. The sensation made her arch like she'd been electrocuted and forced a deep moan from her gut. She held his wrists as they swept up to capture her breast.

  'Touch me there, and I won't be able to home in on squat. The message will go to the lobby or some danged where. "

  "Then tell her later. " He found the sweet spot on her throat and suckled it 'til her knees gave out.

  "Whose room are we in?" She couldn't breathe, couldn't see, couldn't think, just needed to touch him, and her hands were everywhere.

  "I don't know," he groaned, opening her jeans as she worked open his belt. "Por Dios, your skin is muy caliente . . . like hot caramel melting all over my hands. "

  "Can you at least block it out of the reservation system so nobody walks in here?" she gasped, arching as his fingers slid into her panties.

  "I can't concentrate enough right now," he admitted, ag gressively nuzzling her hair and shuddering as her hands pulled hard to free his T-shirt. "Best I got is a black-box - and I definitely ain't got a prayer seal in me right now. "

  The moment her hands slid up his spine, she knew it was all over. He dropped his head back, let out a yell like she'd scalded him, and every pulse point he owned lit up. Nearly delirious and unable to speak, she helped him fight with his clothes as he struggled with hers, half-falling, needing to unlace Timberlands, forgetting the order of what made sense. His hands on her skin, anywhere they touched, made her feel like her bones were melting. It was as though he'd dunked her into a cauldron of white-hot, liquid pleasure. She was drowning in his scent, the feel of his skin, his voice making her gulp air, as her body contracted for him in pain.

  Her essence literally ran down her leg as he rubbed himself between her thighs. Her voice hitched, faltered, ran the keyboard as he bent to suck her distended nipples. Then he stood up quickly, looking tortured, caught a fistful of her locks, and suddenly swept one of her legs up into the crook of his elbow.

  She flat-hand slapped his shoulder; she didn't have to tell him what to do. He entered her hard on a wailing groan, making her see stars. Silver sweat slicked his body, and she hadn't even been able to get her legs to carry her the few steps across the room so they could fall into bed. His mouth was devouring her whole, every kiss that landed making her cry out until his attention became laser-focused, and he moved.

  There was no way in the world she could meet his demanding tempo, composed solely of whole note, hard thrusts delivered on the downbeat. Her body bucked and thrashed wildly out of synch, out of time, in such urgent heat that she gave it up and gave it back a quarter note at a time. . . then half notes, eighth notes, whole notes, rests . . . sharps, flats, chords, her nails keeping time on his shoulders, her head and back colliding, creating a symphony with the door.

  Her windpipe was scorched by the time his fist tightened in her hair and she felt him grappling with the door molding, trying to pull himself into her deeper and faster, needing to anchor himself to her any way that he could. Then his rhythm frayed, snapped, and broke down to match her syncopated madness.

  Frenzy entered his lungs, she felt it the moment it entered hers. It was something insane and spectacular, pleasure dominoes crashing one into the other. . . something so powerful it forced him to use her name like punctuation in his lyrics. Damali was a rapid-fired noun at the end of each mental sentence, more like a gasp ; Oh, God - Damali, oh, shit -

  Damali, aw, damn - Damali, por favor - Damali, then he stuttered twice, losing her name between thrusts, and came hard, yelling, "Oh, baby," out loud. If he pulled out now, they'd never speak again. Her hands raced over his body frantically seeking anchor, finding his hips, then settling on the tight, high, gorgeous swell of his ass - she was home! She pushed herself against him so hard that she'd moved them both back two inches from the door. But he knew her body like he knew his own, and God bless him, he dropped her hair, quickly wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her in hard twice 'til she was cuming in jags.

  They fell against the door with a thud. He dropped her leg from the crook of his elbow and she almost slid to the floor.

  "Damn . . . " she whispered, out of breath.

  He just nodded, gulping air, sweat running.

  "Your tattoo didn't even light," she murmured, kissing his neck. Then she traced it with her finger and watched in awe as it disappeared under his skin like it was hiding from her.

  "I've never seen it do that before. "

  When she glanced up, he was biting his lip, silver tears wetting his lashes.

  "Baby?"

  He shook his head with his eyes closed and then pressed both hands flat against the door on either side of her head with his fingers splayed. "Not yet. Don't touch it. I can't take it. " Her hands caressed his back and instead of bringing him down like the after-lovemaking caress should have, it made him pant.

  "Put your hands on the door," he ordered through his teeth. "Ground the charge, D. " Confused but more than willing to play, she complie
d.

  "Happy now?"

  Relief made every muscle in his face relax, and he groaned as it then slid down his neck to his shoulders and his back, until his knees slightly buckled as the tension left his thighs.

  "Whew, woman, I swear one of these days you're gonna be the death of me just like this," he murmured against her ear. "Your wings didn't even open and your tattoo never lit, and you still had me slobbering on myself. "

  She took his mouth but kept her hands on the door. When he pulled back she smiled.

  "You didn't even drop fang, brother, and look at how you have me - up in some room I don't know where, buck naked. Does that make sense?"

  "You better call Mar, now, while you can," he warned, nipping her neck, but keeping his hands on the door.

  "You better make up some yang on that computer, and book the room to us, or black it out of their system. . . while you can," she said, slowly bringing her hands off the wall and wiggling her fingers at him until he laughed.

  "do you see this?" Lilith screeched to Sebastian, holding his crystal ball out from her body with one talon above the crest of the pentagram-shaped table in Vampire Council chambers. "Do you!"

  Fallon Nuit remained cautious and sat back in his throne forming a tent before his mouth with his fingers.

  "They held hands when they touched a tidal pool to enliven her oracle! They're married, one flesh - so when I told you to make a spell that would only affect Damali Richards, did you not account for the one-flesh rule?"

  "Your Majesty," Sebastian murmured, going to one knee, "I. . . "

  "Kiss your ass good-bye, mon ami," Fallon remarked dryly.

  "It has been so long since we've worked with married enemies that - "

  "Silence!" Lilith shrieked, her robes billowing with smoke. "My wings were charred and shall never return because I risked my very existence being ambushed by Neteru Queens coming to the clearing - and this is what you give me?" She hurled the crystal ball to the floor and let out a scream that made Sebastian and Fallon cover their ears. The bats above stopped their whirling cloud and took cover. She snapped her arm away from her body in a hard point, forcing the fanged crest in the center of the table to open. "Look at it and weep, Sebastian!"

  Lilith swept away from the table and grabbed Sebastian by his cape to physically drag him

  nearer. "I do not have the power to see into a consecrated union, but look at them on the beach - do they seem unhappy? Does he seem disinterested in her!" Lilith began shaking Sebastian like a rag doll.

  "But this spell allows us to find the Neterus, now," Sebastian said, sounding frantic. "This was a side benefit no one could have predicted. "

  "Yes, we tracked them to this room just by following the tracer from your spell that got on their hands," Lilith spat. "But in a day even that will vanish and be useless. They only got a small bit from a tidal pool, not a fucking tidal wave like they were supposed to! Or from her being poisoned by the pearl that absorbed it into her own necklace - damn you, Sebastian. Look at the other side of that hotel door. It does not take a dark arts elemental genius to understand that there is nothing wrong with that man's libido! The hinges are about to come off the door if the wood doesn't give way, first!" She flung Sebastian aside and looked at Fallon. "Should I cut off his dick for this atrocity, Fallon? What say you? I'm too overwrought to decide. "

  Nuit held both hands up before his chest. "After being in your husband's chambers, I must defer to your wisdom, dear Lilith. "

  Sebastian swallowed hard and began walking backward.

  "I lost Jezebel, and dear sweet Medusa out there for a po tion that backfired! Genghis and Machiavelli. . . oh!"

  Fallon stood and materialized a black blade in his grip. "Machiavelli was lost to this incompetence?"

  "Yes," Lilith screeched, walking in an agonized circle. "The resources we expended on this mission . . . and to have Rivera banging the hinges off a hotel room door is too much for even me to bear. I could go up there right now and - "

  "Lose your head to both of them," Fallon said, stepping away from his throne. 'Two rutting Neterus? Be serious, Lilith - and be advised. " Nuit neared Sebastian with a deadly smile and slowly drew the black blade down his chest and over his stomach to come to a stop at his groin. He watched the smoldering trail the blade left. "Let us not be hasty, Lilith. Sebastian is a good resource, still. " Then he leaned and sniffed, causing Sebastian to close his eyes. "Treason!"

  Lilith tilted her head and came near Sebastian, both vam pires dangerously circling the warlock. "You have every warlock and witch's power essence threading in your blood," she whispered.

  "You even slit Jezebel's throat," Nuit murmured, lifting a thick strand of Sebastian's hair away from his neck and pressing the blade harder against his groin. Both vampires' gazes locked as Sebastian squeezed his eyes tighter and made fists with his hands.

  "Forgive me," Sebastian whispered. "I can still make good on my spell. "

  "Thissss . . . " Nuit whispered with a hiss, licking Sebas tian's jugular, "is the most coldblooded coup I've seen in quite a while. Shall we meet in the middle of his throat, Lilith?" Lilith poised her fangs on the other side of Sebastian's neck. 'To the victor go the spoils," she murmured. "Wel come to council. "