Chapter 34 #2
I grimace. A week or so ago, she might’ve had me pegged.
Not that I’d ever join the God Men, or any other organization aligned with the Third Reich, no matter what they promised me.
But I did desecrate an ancient temple to steal an amulet I expected monetary recompense for.
This would’ve been followed by a quick trip back home where I likely would’ve never thought about it again.
I’m not that woman anymore. It’s not the order’s doing; though I’ll never admit it to them, Bes and Cec have helped me become a better person.
Despite all the other expeditions I’ve been on, they’re the ones who have shown me that there’s more to this world than my own little corner of it, and I want to save it. I need to save it.
“At least I try to atone for my sins,” I say finally.
Ingrid sneers, seeing there’s nothing she can say to appeal to me. “You’ll never be able to make up for all the blood you and your family have spilled.”
My family. She must know of their involvement in the order.
Before I can consider this further, she whips her arm forward and I catch the glint of the gun in her hand—
I pull the trigger.
Surprise flits across her face a split second before her head snaps back. Her legs give out beneath her and she collapses to the ground, a bullet lodged deep into the center of her skull.
I fall back too, the last remnants of adrenaline leaving with that bullet. I can’t even expend effort to celebrate her demise as blood continues to leak out of me, unchecked.
There’s no pain anymore. Instead, a deep numbness envelops me, and I know I’m dying.
I struggle to keep my eyes open, but it’s proving to be impossible.
As much as I fight to stay awake, a part of me wants to give in.
I don’t want to die, yet it would be easier than this.
Than everything I’m about to face if I survive.
A voice calls my name, a hand cradles the back of my head.
I think it’s Bes holding me, but I can’t be sure. I open my eyes—I didn’t realize I closed them—and everything blurs.
Desperation breaks his voice. “Miss Hawkins, please. Please.”
In the distance, Cec calls Mara’s name, but no one else makes a sound—Bes and Cec must’ve dealt with the last Liechtenstein Nazi. At least they’ll be safe.
My sight clears for a moment, and I meet Bes’s gaze. His brown eyes are warm, and full of pain and deep concern. If I’m being honest with myself, I’m not deserving of his attention. Or of him.
Tears pool in my eyes and spill over.
Fear widens his eyes. “Cec! We need you.”
A moment later, Cec kneels at my other side.
“You’re the better healer between us.”
Without argument, Cec places his palms over the bullet wound—I cry out, scrambling for Bes’s hand. He takes it, gripping it tight in his. More tears chart a path from the corner of my eyes and down my temples.
His other hand brushes through my hair. “I’m here, I’m with you. It’s going to be alright.”
A moment later, a painful spark ignites from my wound, spreading to the rest of my body like wildfire.
I writhe on the gravel and gasp for air, a scream building in my throat as the Amulet of Amun burns against my chest. Cec’s magic that I can no longer deny exists flays me alive, burning me from the inside out.
I clench Bes’s hand like it’s the only thing keeping me on this earth, my other hand clenched into a fist so tight I know my nails have pierced through the skin.
For a moment, I regret not getting the leaf tattoo at the order; it can’t be worse than the pain I’m enduring now. And it could heal me, like it has with Bes. I’d do anything—anything—to end this pain.
The longer the agony persists, however, the harder it becomes to think.
I feel myself losing consciousness, and I wonder if something’s gone wrong.
“Miss Hawkins?” Bes murmurs.
I try to squeeze his hand to let him know I’m still here, but I’m not sure I’ve actually applied any pressure.
“Bes, what’s going on?” Cec. He sounds worried. “You have to tell me what’s going on. Did it work?”
“The bleeding has stopped, but we’re losing her.”
A pause. Then, “Something’s not right.”
“What is it?”
Suddenly, violently, the pain recedes. My eyes fling open again.
Bes sucks in a breath, hand tightening around mind.
“What is it? What’s happened?”
“I believe she’s out of the worst of it. Are you feeling alright?” Bes asks instead.
“A bit drained, but not abnormally so. Why?”
Bes is quiet for a moment. “It’s nothing. She’s beginning to heal now.”
I look for him, but I still can’t quite see.
“You have to go after her,” Cec tells Bes through his teeth. “Mara must be held accountable for what she’s done. Kali too.”
“We have neither the time nor the manpower to do so. If there are no more God Men, we might make it out of this yet; if not, then there could still be some fighting left.”
Cec sighs. “We should head back down to the church, then.”
Strong hands start to lift me—
“Let me do it,” Cec says. “You’ll need both hands if we run into trouble, and I can simply follow the sound of your footsteps.”
Bes doesn’t argue; he hands me over to Cec, who carries me with ease as we start down the main path.
“Stay with me, Hawkins,” Cec whispers. My head lolls to the side in his direction. I think I see him smile, though the sky seems to have darkened, casting his face in soft shadows. “This is not the end for you, you hear me? It is not your fate to die this day.”
I attempt to agree with him, but my mouth won’t obey.
Instead, my eyes fall shut and I let the darkness take me.