47. Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter 47
“W hat have you done?”
Rieka looked at her uncle Lucien. What had she done?
Golden blond hair, the same color as the desert, fell to his shoulders. He would have looked washed out if it wasn’t for his light brown skin. It was almost the same shade as Lilian’s. Dressed entirely in black, he blended into the darkness as if he was made from the shadows surrounding them. His smile stretched across his face; his breathtaking beauty unable to hide the coldness emanating from him. There was no mistaking the lack of empathy within him. It was what she imagined a psychopath would be like.
“I am waiting.” There was an edge of boredom to the tone.
“What are you?” Rieka countered.
“It is a little late to be asking that. I would have thought it would be obvious.” Lucien bowed. “We inherited the Anki life span, thanks to the O’hurani.”
Rieka had never seen anyone sarcastically bow before, but she was pretty sure she had just witnessed Lucien complete one.
“You are eleven thousand years old,” Rieka slowly repeated. Some part of her had refused to think about the logistics of the statement. No one lived that long, not even Atlanteans.
“Where is your mother?”
Rieka swallowed. She had hoped that there was a long line of descendants between her and Vandana—but no. “She died.”
“Are you sure?” Lucien raised a perfect blond eyebrow. “It’s hard to kill an immortal. Part of the whole being immortal deal.” Lucien paused. “Until we die.”
Rieka’s eyes widened before she shook her head. Lucien made no sense. Lilian’s body had never been recovered from the crash site. Rieka may have been her second choice, but she knew her mom wouldn’t have left her. “What do you want?”
He laughed. The sound was too human and rehearsed, as if he had watched it somewhere and wanted to try it out. “The same thing Lilian did. But perhaps not for the same reason,” Lucien answered as he took a step closer. “The tomb.”
“Can the O’hurani be killed?” Rieka asked.
“You look like your mother,” Lucien said, changing the subject. “Except you have Vandana’s eyes. Do you still have Lilian’s journal? She went nowhere without that infernal thing.” No hint of affection in his tone. He said the words as if he and Lilian had barely been acquaintances, let alone twins.
Rieka shifted onto the balls of her feet.
Lucien absently glanced at Rieka. “Of course, you do. The Houses would kill to understand the secrets she kept. Or to have access to the throne. Remember that when you cross paths with them.” He chuckled as if he had told himself a joke but forgot to say it out loud. “The last time I saw you, you were barely old enough to converse. Do you remember me?”
A memory of a large, overcrowded bazaar popped into her mind. Somewhere in in the old city of Damascus. No older than four, she remembered being distracted by a small toy when he had appeared. “Yes,” Rieka bit out. “She told me to stay away from you.”
“And here we are. Fate is a cruel mistress.” The tone was self-deprecating. The smirk on his face revealed white teeth and sharper than normal canines. “Your mother did you a general disservice keeping your heritage away from you.”
“And what makes you say that?”
The chuckled vibrated through her, sending a chill through her body. She never wanted to hear it again.
“Because you would have stayed away from Egypt. It is the one place where he can sense you.” Lucien stared at her, his gaze unwavering. He blinked and looked around as if it was the first time he was really seeing her. A slow smile spread across his face. It didn’t reach his eyes. The ice blue remained glacial.
Rieka squared her shoulders at the hint of an accusation. The one thing she had promised Lilian, and now look at her.
Idiot.
“Lilian did inform you. You just decided not to listen,” Lucien said. “I do enjoy a bit of chaos.” There was no mistaking the edge of amusement in his voice now. He moved away from Rieka, merging back into the shadows. “What else did she tell you?”
“To not trust you.”
“Semantics. I am the only one who can tell you what you really are. She thought she could protect you by keeping it a secret.”
“And why would she need to do that?”
“Because you are far more like Vandana and the Anki than Lilian was. I do wonder how human you truly are,” Lucien said. “You can sense it. The warm embrace of the power of a god. Being here has awakened you to what you really are. What you can do.” Lucien moved away from her. “The Anki know you are alive.”
Rieka blinked slowly. She didn’t quite understand where Lucien was going with this. What could she do? Heightened senses were not something special to the Atlanteans—it was part of their genetic code. Lucien had his own agenda and one that she wanted nothing to do with.
“Do you know what the bracelet is?”
“The perfect accessory.”
“Sarcasm does not suit you, little one.”
Rieka refused to move. “How did you find me?”
“You.” He nodded to the bracelet. “The bracelet links you to her memories. To the Anki and the O’hurani. Can you hear them? They can hear you.”
Their voices were continuing to grow until it was all-consuming, but that was not the worst of it. She could feel their hunger, their drive, and the eternal ambition to remake the world in their image. It was becoming harder to distinguish their desires and needs from her own. Their thirst for power was addictive. It would be so easy to lose herself within it.
“Think of it as a hive mind. The Anki are all connected. All their emotions and thoughts—the O’hurani can harness them. It made him untouchable.” Lucien glided toward her, his movements silent and graceful. The walk of a predator playing with his prey. He was surrounded by an invisible current of power; subtle ripples vibrated through the air. It reminded her of Dante—but with Dante, the thought he would use it against her had never crossed her mind. The fool she was.
The bracelet began to pulse erratically, sending small jolts of electrical currents through her, stronger than before. Lucien watched her silently. Rieka was beginning to have serious doubts about her chance of survival. First Idris and now Lucien.
“The O’hurani gave it to Vandana so they could be inexorably linked for all of eternity. Her mind and body forever his—to control and shape as he chose.”
It sounded worse than death.
“Why do you want to find the tomb?”
“The chance for a son to say farewell to his late mother.”
Rieka snorted. Tiny pale green lights flickered in her periphery. Was there something else in the room with them?
Lucien moved like lightning. He gripped her chin, forcing her to look at him. His pale blue eyes swirled unnaturally, his irises turning like twisters, until there was no white left. His fingers dug into her flesh.
Rieka couldn’t move; the pain kept her focused, but everything around her was darkening. Rieka swallowed, the lump in her throat making it hard to breathe. Lucien was doing something to her. She was trapped within her body.
“If you give me what I want, it will stop,” Lucien whispered, his mouth next to her cheek.
She wasn’t sure if he said those words aloud or if they were whispered in her mind. It was as if someone was twisting her apart, piece by piece. Pain exploded everywhere as she felt liquid streak down her face. “What?”
“The O’hurani.”
The grip on her chin released. Whatever hold Lucian had on her disappeared. The voices unexpectedly stilled in her mind. All that was left was an empty silence and a loneliness she couldn’t chase away. The quietness lasted a second before her mind splintered. She should have known it wouldn’t last…Lucien wasn’t on her side. Seconds seemed to last hours as she lost control of herself. Memories were grabbed, twisted, and discarded. She didn’t know what belonged to her or to Vandana. A bystander, watching all her precious memories being stripped apart at the mercy of the monster in front of her. And that was what Lucien was: a monster just like Idris.
The outside world ceased to exist, and she was transported somewhere else. Somewhere separate from her body. Black liquid engulfed Rieka in an icy embrace.
She blinked, her eyes unfocused as she tried to work out where she was. The darkness seemed unending. She couldn’t decide what was up or down as she frantically turned, her limbs twisting of their own accord. Breathing was near impossible. She covered her ears, trying to stop the ringing as her entire body thrummed with excruciating pain. Each agonizing pulse brought her closer to the darkness.
“Only one of Vandana’s bloodline can wear the bracelet.” Ancient, the voice vibrated through her, silencing the others. “Firstborn—mine.”
It didn’t belong to Lucien or anyone she knew.
Kicking, she tried to surge upward.
It’s my mind.
Hands grabbed at her, touching every part of her, their talons digging into her flesh.
She opened her mouth to scream; liquid rushed in, the taste metallic and salty. Choking, she twisted and turned, trying to stop the hands, but every movement was getting more exaggerated and slower.
Images bombarded her, thousands of flashes, all merging into one.
Past. Future. Present.
Blood. Bodies strewn against a city backdrop. The sky was aglow with oranges and pinks in an apocalyptic sunset. Her mind threatened to shatter under the onslaught. Everything was unnaturally distorted and elongated. It was a waking nightmare. The voices were growing louder and louder until all she wanted was the silence to return and for the pain to stop.
Swim. Upward.
Bony ivory fingers grabbed her calf; the touch sent a chill through her. She kicked and tried to use the momentum to surge upward. She trembled as she dislodged the appendage, and she watched in muted silence as the hand dissolved into thousands of small spiders. They crawled all over her, their tiny little legs sticking into her like pinpricks as they danced along her skin. She tried to shut her mouth and cover her nose, but it was too late. They invaded her, penetrating every part of her as she shook in agony. The spiders were in her mouth, on her tongue, in her ears, clawing at her eyes, down her throat. They scratched and burrowed into her just like the bracelet. Rieka tried to dislodge them, her skin burning as blood dripped from her nails.
It seemed like an eternity, but as quickly as they’d appeared, the spiders disappeared. Leaving her in blessed silence.
Above her, just out of her reach, there was light beneath the surface—two or three more kicks, and she would break through and take her first real breath of air. Hope swelled within her.
They dragged Rieka down into the abyss.
No. No. No.
The surface was getting further away.
The hands were stronger this time, as they tried to claw their way onto her body, pulling her down with them. The voices continued to rise to an uneven crescendo, a cacophony of noises that further disoriented her.
The fire in her lungs was all-encompassing as she struggled against the weight of the liquid and the hands. But it was getting so much harder.
Then it was gone.
Rieka shuddered, bending over as she took in a deep breath. She was on solid ground. Her clothes and hair were saturated, and she was covered in bloody gouges. In the background, the sound of a blade scraping against the stone echoed loudly. The air smelled like smoke and ash.
She doubled over, burning from the inside out. The pain she had experienced before was nothing, but a speck compared to how it raged through her now.
“Can you feel it? Your Atlantean brought the pendant with him.” Lucien knelt next to her. He reached out and patted Rieka on the head. A poor attempt to placate her.
The blood of queens and monsters ran through her veins.
It was Lilian’s voice, and it was growing stronger each time she heard it.
“You have accomplished what no other Atlantean could.” A haughty smile spread across Lucien’s face; his eyes appeared maniacal in the dim light. “You have awoken the O’hurani and set into motion the events Vandana tried to stop. You are useful.”
She lay on the cool ground, trying to make sense of what was happening as another part of her slowly fractured into smaller pieces. Rieka wiped the tears and looked around, but Lucien was gone.
The O’hurani was awake because of her. She didn’t want to believe it, but lying to herself would not change the fact. Her quest to understand her mother may have just damned them all.
It took her a moment to register that the hum running through her wasn’t the bracelet. It was the pendant calling for her. Like a beacon.