Pure Surrender Read online

  Chapter Eight

  Aella moved closer to the weapons table and snatched her favorite blades, her twin chakrams. She gestured with a nod of her head to the table toward him, wanting him to select his own weapon.

  There was a moment of indecision when he was obviously debating whether or not to engage her further. It was then that she grinned cheekily at him and blew him a kiss.

  Come on, gorgeous, she silently said to him with her eyes, have some more fun with me. You know you want to.

  The smallest of smiles tilted his generous lips, and a twinkle of mischief lit up his eyes.

  Yes! He was game.

  He chose a simple wooden staff from the table and faced her again.

  Even though it appeared that she had the advantage with her deadly circular blades, she knew that he could easily maim and kill with that benign looking stick.

  She rolled her shoulders to brace herself. This was going to hurt, she knew. He was going to land some blows. That smile of his was trouble. He was about to teach her a lesson for challenging and teasing him.

  She couldn’t wait!

  Sure enough, after several minutes of blitz attacks and defenses on both sides, Aella was sore and aching everywhere.

  She hadn’t gotten a single slice in; he’d deflected all of her moves. And he had indeed landed several blows on her person—across the shoulders, back of her knees, her arms, and even the top of her head. Though, on that count, he obviously conserved his strength, because a blow to the head like that could easily kill a person.

  Finally, he executed a maneuver that tricked her into coming too close, letting her cut his staff in half. But just when she felt a glimmer of triumph, he used the two shorter staffs to flick the chakrams from her hands, swept her feet out from under her, and crouched over her on the ground with the sharp end of his stick, made by the earlier slice of her blades, pointed at her jugular.

  His dark brown eyes, almost black with adrenaline, stared into her own violet ones.

  Game over. I win. His gaze said.

  She gave him a nod, accepting defeat, and smiled wide with happiness.

  This was the best night she’d had in a very long time. Perhaps the best night of her life!

  He stared down at her for long moments, searching.

  She wondered what he was searching for. She hoped it was something she could offer him.

  She wanted him so, so badly.

  At last, he broke their gaze, letting out a quiet breath and turning away.

  Aella took her chance.

  She leaned up and grabbed his face with both hands, bringing their mouths together in a hard, fervent collision.

  Not her best seductive moment; they’d likely have swollen, bruised lips in the morning. But she had to get his attention. She wanted desperately to know what he tasted like.

  For a moment, he was stunned, shock immobilizing his body and steeling his arms as he blindly threw his hands out to brace his upper body from crashing down onto her.

  She certainly wouldn’t have minded. She wanted to feel his weight. She knew without a doubt that it would be glorious.

  She used that moment of surprise to soften her mouth against his, and boldly swept her tongue across his closed lips.

  He shuddered over her, the muscles of his arms quivering as he held himself above her.

  She arched her body up against his, pushing her breasts against his chest, and dangled her full weight on the hold she had around his shoulders and neck so that he had to use both hands to brace himself, leaving her free to do as she pleased.

  She knew this wasn’t going to last. She knew already that he wasn’t the type of man to take a woman he didn’t know to bed after one (martial) encounter, so she made the most of his attention now. She didn’t care that they were in the middle of a market square and that dozens of people were watching them.

  If this was the last time she ever saw him, she wanted him to remember her.

  Because she would never forget him as long as she lived.

  She teased his still closed lips with plump, voluptuous kisses, begging, pleading, beseeching him to please let her in. She thrust one hand into the hair on the back of his head, tugging hard on the silky tail.

  He gasped at the sudden pain and pressure.

  Come now, surely women in his world pulled that pony tail every chance they got. It was made for it! Aella thought.

  She used his distraction to sweep her tongue between his parted lips, and they both moaned at the delicious, erotic sensation as their tongues rubbed against each other.

  Wet, tender, hot.

  Mercy! But he tasted so good. She’d never tasted anything better, and she knew she never would.

  She teased his mouth and his tongue and lured him into her mouth too, all the while rubbing every part of her against every part of him that she could reach.

  Hell, she wouldn’t mind if they fucked right here in the open. Onlookers and all. Nothing else existed but the connection of their bodies and his mouth on hers.

  But a taste of heaven was just a taste, she knew. And she’d already stolen more than her fair share.

  He finally levered away from her and broke the seal of their lips.

  Neither of them heard the roars of approval, whistles, claps and cheers from the bystanders. They only focused on each other.

  As he pulled her to her feet and looked into her eyes, she knew that this was goodbye. He’d won their combat, and he was choosing to go home alone. Not that he’d explicitly agreed to the terms of the competition in the first place, since she’d all but forced him into it, after he’d chivalrously saved her life.

  “Tell me your name,” she said, and hoped that he understood her.

  “Your name,” she repeated, gesturing to his chest, then pointed to herself.

  “My name is Aella. It means Whirlwind.” She twirled her finger in tight spirals and whistled like the wind.

  He silently held her gaze for a while, as if debating within himself.

  Finally, he said, in a voice smooth and low, “Zhao Yun.”

  “Yun?” she echoed, remembering that the Han said their family name first followed by their given name.

  He gave a brief nod.

  And then, he turned and walked away without a backward glance. She never even got to ask him what his name meant.

  But she would never forget it.

  She would never forget him.

  *** *** *** ***

  Sophia quietly observed Ere as he played tic-tac-toe with Benji in the bench seats across the aisle from her on the train from Cairo to Sais, the modern city that was built over the ancient Egyptian capital of Zau.

  Where one of Sophia’s previous incarnations died.

  In reality, the train wasn’t a direct connection to Sais. When they got off at the terminal, they would have to hitch a bus or rent a jeep, then get back on horses to make the rest of the trek to their destination. Sais was not a popular tourist destination, except for archaeologists. There weren’t a lot of modern amenities nearby.

  Gabriel and Inanna were planning their route and transportation in the booth behind Sophia, discussing what provisions they needed, the fastest and safest way to get around. Thus far, perhaps due to her protectors’ careful orchestration, their travels had been smooth and danger-free.

  But Sophia was starting to feel uneasy.

  There was a tingling in the back of her neck, like the warning bells of her sixth sense ringing.

  She shook her head mentally and focused back on Ere and Benji.

  The young professor exhibited endless patience with the precocious, energetic Benjamin, Sophia’s favorite little person in the world. Tristan and Ayelet’s daughter, Isolde, was adorable, and Sophia liked children in general, but Benji held a special place in her heart.

  She knew she’d done the right thing by inviting her ex-teaching assistant to come along on their journey, despite her advisors’ counsel. Not only had he helped them numerous times to gain access to no
n-public information, relics and dig sites, he was quickly becoming Benji’s favorite “big person,” after Inanna and Gabriel, of course.

  Sophia herself didn’t really count. She was just plain-old “big sister Sophie.”

  She’d been keeping a close eye on Ere ever since their strange encounter in the hotel suite back in Cairo. She hadn’t said anything to Inanna or Gabriel, not wanting to alarm them.

  There was a part of Sophia that sensed a brokenness within Ere, and she wanted to fix it.

  She wanted to fix him.

  She had the unreasonable feeling that she might be the only person who could.

  When he’d come back into the bedroom after his own shower, he seemed entirely himself again, as if nothing had happened. Sophia had tried to engage him in conversation to talk about it, but he claimed that he was exhausted and went straight to sleep.

  The next day, he was his usual good-humored flirtatious self. And in the days since, he’d seemed better. No more pallor and sweat dotting his brow. Whatever sickness or bug he’d caught, he seemed completely over it.

  He also spent a lot more time with Benji, whether by design or by accident, Sophia couldn’t tell. In any case, the boy’s sunny nature seemed to heal all of the professor’s ailments.

  As if making her point, Benji suddenly burst into laughter, the happiest, sweetest sound Sophia had ever heard.

  Other passengers on the train, including Benji’s parents, turned to look at him helplessly, like sunflowers craning to soak up more sun. They all had smiles on their faces when they turned away again, happier than they were a moment before.

  Benji had that effect on people everywhere he went.

  Sophia wondered if it was a Gift. But then she thought that it was simply Benji.

  Ere smiled as Benji’s guffaws quieted to chuckles. He said something to the boy and made him erupt into a new round of giggles until he was holding his sides, shaking with mirth.

  “What are you two talking about, thick as thieves?” Sophia asked, unable to help her own smile spreading her lips wide.

  “Mummies!” Benji shouted.

  Alas, it was one of his three volumes. Currently tuned to “loudest.”

  “How gruesome,” Sophia said with a feigned shudder. “Did Ere explain the embalming process to you?” That’s what she would have done to hold the boy’s attention for a good half hour.

  Benji nodded fervently.

  “Did you know they stick a hot rod up your nose, swish it around and pull your brains out through your nostrils? Isn’t that soooo cool?”

  “The coolest,” Sophia agreed solemnly.

  “And sometimes, as punishment, if you committed a major crime, they’d mummify you alive! And let you get eaten by beetles or scorpions or snakes or rats!”

  “Don’t forget the flies,” Ere added calmly, “that method takes the longest for the victim to die. The longest recorded was seventeen days, after the man was filled with maggots and worms.”

  “You see, Sophie! You see! Ere knows the coolest stuff!” Benji chortled excitedly.

  “I don’t recall you mentioning that in my Ancient Egyptian Civ class, Ere,” Sophia pointed out.

  “I only let very special people in on the best secrets,” he said with a wink and a smile.

  “And, and, did you know, Sophie, how all the Egyptian gods and goddesses were born?” Benji shouted eagerly.

  “Benjamin Larkin,” Inanna interjected. “Volume.”

  “Yes, mother,” he answered dutifully in his loud whisper.

  Sophia bit the inside of her cheek to prevent her grin and asked straight-faced, “How were they born, Benji?”

  “I don’t think we need to share that in mixed company, Benjamin,” Ere inserted gravely.

  “What’s mixed company? Why not?”

  “Mixed company is where there are both men and women present,” the professor explained patiently. “We should not speak of private parts with the opposite sex.”

  “You talk funny,” Benji said for the umpteenth time, each time more delighted than the last, as if Ere was the most interesting anomaly he’d ever encountered.

  “Benji...” Gabriel began in a chiding voice.

  “I know, I know, it’s not nice to say people talk or look funny. But I don’t mean it in a bad way, dad. Don’t intentions count?”

  Gabriel merely shook his head and sighed. He obviously knew better than to get into a debate about etiquette and language with his son. Benji had an argument for everything, especially “social” rules.

  And it was true. No one ever took offense at anything the boy said, because it was clear to all that he always had good intentions. There was a purity and innocence about him that disarmed the crabbiest of people.

  He was wholly joy and goodness.

  Benji turned back to Sophia and loud-whispered, “I guess I can’t tell you about Osiris’ penis, Sophie, cuz you’re a girl.”

  The boy’s parents groaned as Sophia and Ere exchanged a wry smile over Benji’s head.

  “I am so disappointed, Benji,” Sophia deadpanned and tried to look forlorn.

  “I can’t tell you about how the goddess Isis cop-cop—what was that word again, Ere?”

  “Copulate,” the professor said, then reminded him sternly, “which is a word you should not say in mixed company.”

  “Right, copulate,” Benji repeated, ignoring the reminder. “I’m not supposed to tell you that Isis copulated with a deceased Osiris whose body was put back together after being chopped into forty-two pieces!”

  “And this is where his penis is involved, I suppose?” Sophia encouraged wickedly.

  The boys’ parents groaned again, but they were roundly ignored.

  “His dead penis, Sophie!” Benji crowed, then rolled his eyes skyward in consideration.

  “I wonder how she got baby Horus from that dead penis. I read online that penises have to be hard to—”

  “Benjamin Larkin D’Angelo!” Inanna exclaimed, “Have you been reading things you’re forbidden to read again?”

  She turned to her Mate and glared. “I thought you put some controls on his iPad.”

  Gabriel shrugged sheepishly. “He reads everything on Wikipedia. I think he has the entire thing memorized by now. It’s purely educational.”

  Benji nodded fervently, “We’re going to learn all about sex and procreation in school soon anyway, mom, I’m just staying ahead of the curve.”

  “Soon, as in years from now,” Inanna put in, but trailed off when she realized she was arguing a losing battle.

  Benji had already turned his attention back to Sophia.

  “So how would Isis have gotten Osiris’ pe—”

  “I’m sure she did it very, very carefully,” Sophia cut in before Benji could draw out the word “penis” again with his typical relish.

  “Will we get to visit the temple of Neith while in Sais, Sophie?” Benji asked excitedly. “That’s where Osiris’ penis-less body is buried. Under the temple.”

  Ere cleared his throat. “His…ah…member is intact, Benjamin. It was only later writings of Plutarch and the Greeks that told a different story. And what I shared with you is merely myth.”

  “But didn’t you say that all myths have a grain of truth? Sometimes several grains? That gods and goddesses, monsters and angels are real?”

  “What is real is what you choose to believe, Benjamin,” Ere said instead. “What do you believe?”

  The boy bounced on his train bench with such fervor his golden curls bounced haphazardly about his head.

  “I believe in everything! I know it’s all real! Mom and Dad are vampires, Sophie is an angel!”

  Sophia, Inanna and Gabriel shared a worried look at that pronouncement, but Ere’s expression was indulgent, not consternated, as he listened to the boy.

  “What about me, Benjamin?” he asked with a teasing smile. “What am I?”

  For once, the boy stopped smiling, settling still on his bench, a serious, saddened look on his
face.

  “You’re an angel too, Ere. But you’ve fallen from the sky and lost your way.”

  Sophia and Ere both sucked in a breath at Benji’s words.

  What did he see? Sophia wondered. Could he somehow sense Ere’s soul just as she could?

  She knew that Benji had some sort of Gift, all kidding aside. The boy could always see the truth in any matter. He’d been able to see that one of Ishtar’s forms was a snow leopard. He’d also seen the real Ishtar in her “Mama Bear” elderly woman guise. Benji had told both Sophia and Tal about it.

  Suddenly, the boy grinned wide, shining his light so brightly upon them that Ere and Sophia could only bask in it.

  “You’ll find your way, angel,” the boy said confidently and patted Ere on the shoulder.

  “Now tell me about the oldest mummy alive! I mean, dead… I mean…”

  Benji’s eyes rounded at a marvelous thought, “Can mummies come back to life like they do in the movies?”

  And so, the conversation moved to safer territories as Ere engaged Benji in a new discussion.

  Sophia continued to study them, thoughtful and subdued.

  Why did Benji see a fallen angel when he looked at Ere?

  *** *** *** ***

  It was almost nighttime when Cloud’s group finally arrived at the Parau Cavern, where the northern path on the scroll map ended.

  They took a narrow, winding trail around the south side of the mountain, on which no tourists wandered, because there were no rails that protected travelers from the jagged ravines just off the edge. Though it was a short cut, Cloud set a moderate pace, riding single file along the path, he with Eveline on Bai Long in the lead, Aella on the mare following behind.

  When they came to a small opening in the side of the mountain, just large enough to allow one person to squeeze through at a time, Cloud secured some modest necessities onto his back, and Aella did the same. They would release the horses to travel back down the mountain, and the three of them would trek through the cavern on foot.

  “Take care of yourself and the little filly, big guy,” Aella murmured to Bai Long, holding his muzzle close to her face, affectionately stroking his cheek.