Claiming the Jackal (8 page)

He rocked her in his arms, whispering the words through the rawness of his throat, praying to Anubis and Isis for aid as his hope frayed. He willed his blood to merge with hers, his magic to join with hers, to fight with hers to defeat the curse that threatened her. He would fight for her even if she no longer could. He would fight for her or die trying.

Finally, finally, he felt the brush of her breath on his cheek as she whispered to him, “Blood to blood, soul to soul, heart to heart. I bond with thee, I stay with thee, in life and afterlife.”

A wrenching in his chest as power sparked in his blood. He felt the stinging might of Anubis’s presence, heard the sharp cry of Isis in her falcon form, his jackal rising to the surface. His blood surged with magic and might, racing through his veins and out to Rana. Hitting the barrier of the blood curse like crashing into a hedge of thorns.

He yelped as pain slammed into him and a red haze blinded him, but he didn’t let go. He wouldn’t let go.

Chapter Ten

Rana blinked as sunshine flowed across her face. Sunshine?

She sat up too quickly. She closed her eyes as her vision swam, but not before she realized the sunlight came from large windows covered with golden curtains.

Cautiously she opened her eyes again. She sat in a king-size bed covered in white Egyptian cotton sheets and a gold embroidered coverlet and matching pillows. Someone had put a pale blue nightgown on her.

Sweet Mother Isis, where was she?

Dead.

Images flitted through her mind. Amansuanan, cruelly beautiful. Demanding that Rana change sides, but she refused. Being hit with a powerful blow of dark magic, flaying her skin open. The world turning red, then black, then nothing.

She looked down at her bare arms. The welts were gone, as if they’d never been.

Was this the afterlife?

Throwing back the covers, she gained her feet, then crossed over to the sunlight-filled window. Peeking through the curtain, she could see a lushly landscaped yard. A few houses down she could see the roof of the community house in the jackal compound.

She leaned against the window frame, staring out at the community that had quickly become a home until she’d ruined her chances. “Mother Isis,” she prayed, “I don’t question your wisdom, but I can’t help wondering why you would gift me with such a wonderful afterlife. I didn’t save anyone. I didn’t stop Amansuanan. I died with Hector hating me.”

She clutched her hands to her chest. “Regret weighs heavy on my heart and surely that would be too much to balance Ma’at’s feather.”

She stopped, her heart wrenching painfully as she recalled the look of betrayal on Hector’s face when he realized her connection to Amansuanan, the source of all his rage and anguish. “Regret weighs heavy on my heart,” she whispered again. “I wanted to ease his pain, not add to it. Please help him find peace, your Daughter humbly begs you. Lighten his burden and ease his soul.”

“Rana.”

Stifling a gasp, she spun away from the window. Hector stood in the doorway, a tray laden with fruits, toast and coffee in his hands. “What are you doing up? You shouldn’t be out of bed yet!”

She backed away until she was stopped by a wall. “Hector?” She shook her head. “No. You can’t be real, this can’t be real.”

Now she knew she was dead. There was no way Hector would show her this level of concern now, no way he would bring her breakfast in bed. This was her dream, her fantasy, and now that she was dead and grieving, it was her nightmare.

“Mother Isis, have mercy on me,” she cried, covering her face with her hands. “I failed to stop Amansuanan and now I’m going to be taunted for all eternity with what I can’t have. I would rather face oblivion.”

A low pained sound reached her. It sounded like Hector, but he hadn’t look injured. She dropped her hands to find him placing the tray atop the chest of drawers. He turned to her, but she shrank back, more afraid now than she’d been facing her relatives.

“Rana.” He stopped spread his hands. “Rana, you’re safe. You’re not dead. This is my house. Your house, if you wish it to be.”

Confusion pushed fear and anguish away for a moment. Why hadn’t they let her die? Why go through the trouble of saving her life if they meant to get rid of her? There were worse punishments than death. She knew that from her time as a doctor in war-torn countries. Had they saved her so they could destroy her on their own terms?

“I—I don’t understand what’s happening.”

He took a careful step toward her. “You’re trembling,” he whispered. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

Oh, yes, there was.

“H-Hector.”

“Yes?”

“Did I— Facing off against Cassandra and Amansuanan...that really happened, didn’t it?”

“Yes.” A growl wrapped the word. “But Amansuanan escaped after...”

“After hitting me with a curse. A blood curse.”

Another growl, this time with a jerky nod as if he didn’t dare speak.

“I’m alive,” she whispered, wonder in her voice. “I should have died from that, but I’m here. Why am I still alive?”

“Your mother. She told me what needed to be done to save you, then sacrificed herself to give you enough strength to hold on a little longer.”

Fresh anguish stabbed her.
Mother.
Thank you for saving me.
May Anubis keep you safe on your journey.

“Wait.” She rubbed at her forehead. “Amansuanan used my True Name blended with blood magic to curse me. There’s no coming back from that.”

“There’s one thing. A blood bond stronger than the blood bond between relatives.” Something stark flowed over his features. “I had to save your life, Rana. I couldn’t let you die.”

“What did you do, Hector?” Panic flared as she felt—Mother Isis—she felt him inside her. “Blessed Anubis, what did you do?”

“I bonded us,” he answered, his expression flat. “The blood bond of mates, to counteract the blood bond of your mother and grandmother.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Oh, Hector. Why would you do such a thing?”

“So that you could live. So you could be free of Amansuanan’s grasp without having to die for it.” Pain tarnished the silver of his eyes before he turned away. “Hate me if you must, but at least you’re alive to do it.”

“I don’t hate you, Hector.” She shook her head, overwhelmed by the enormity of what he’d done for her. “But you shouldn’t have done this, shouldn’t have sacrificed yourself for this. Not a mate bond. Not for me.”

“You sacrificed yourself for my clan, willingly, even though you knew the cost. You did it anyway. You think I could do anything less? You think I could live knowing I didn’t do everything possible to make sure you lived?”

“But a blood bond means that we’re mates for life. Only death breaks that type of bond.”

He stared at her, his features calm. “I know.”

“You know,” she repeated, incredulous. “Why would you bind your soul with mine?”

“Because I couldn’t let you die!”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?’ she shot back. “To destroy Amansuanan down to her children’s children?”

He reeled backward. “Not you. Never you.”

“Yes, me.” She played a hand across her chest. “I’m her granddaughter no matter how I might wish that I wasn’t. How could you bind yourself to someone that you hate? Someone your clan hates?”

His head snapped around, silver-green eyes boring into hers. “Is that what you think?” he rasped out. “That I don’t love you?”

It was her turn to look away. “You’ve hated Daughters of Isis for thousands of years,” she managed to say. “You swore vengeance on Amansuanan down to her children’s children. How can I believe you could love one in just a few weeks, especially me?”

He snarled. “If I hated you, you would be dead right now. If I hated you, you wouldn’t be in my home, in my bed. I saw you get hit by Amansuanan’s curse. I saw you fall. In that moment nothing mattered but you. I held you in my arms as you were dying and all you cared about was making sure I forgave you.”

His jaw worked as he reined in his emotions. “You have the kind of courage I wish I had. The courage to do what’s right no matter who stands against you. The courage to help those who might reject you. Courage to open your arms and your heart even when you’re unsure of your welcome.”

His gaze burned into her. “So now, I’m going to be brave. I’m going to have courage, and confess that I failed you. My duty is to protect those under my care. I didn’t protect you, the one I should hold high above all others, the one who holds my heart.”

She brought her hands up to cover her mouth but she couldn’t hold back the gasp, couldn’t believe her ears as he continued. His voice, soft now, flowed over her like a caress. She didn’t think he’d ever speak to her like that again. “Since the day I met you, you have helped my clan. You have demonstrated your care and kindness repeatedly, and I was too blinded by my distrust and hatred to see it, even as I hungered for you. By your actions alone, I fell in love with you. I’m sorry more than I can say that it took you having to sacrifice yourself for me to recognize that you are more important to me than anything, anyone else. You are the light to my darkness, the balm to my hurts, the joy to my pain. You...ease me, just by being near. I feel you, I breathe you in, and everything bad and evil and angry just fades away. I want to give you laughter and pleasure and love because your happiness is the purest thing I’ve ever witnessed and I’m now addicted to it.”

Kneeling before her, he gripped her hands. “Say that you’ll give me a chance to earn your love. Tell me it’s not too late for me, for us. Whether it takes a hundred years or a thousand, I will earn a place in your heart again. I will court you properly, give you everything you could desire. Just say the word, and I’ll do it.” He bowed his head, waiting.

Slowly she pulled her hands free of his, then threaded her fingers in his hair. Reaching out, she cupped his cheek. A shudder passed through him as he pressed his cheek against her palm, then raised his gaze to hers. The rawness of his expression stole her breath. She gave him the only answer she could. “What I want is to claim my bond mate. To make love to my bond mate for the first time, body, heart and soul.”

For a moment he remained in shocked silence on the floor, staring up at her. Then he surged to his feet, wrapping his arms about her and catching her high against his chest. He buried his face in her hair and just breathed deep for several long moments, her name a whisper of wonder on his lips.

Then he kissed her, and sweet gods above and below, it was the most amazing kiss she’d ever experienced in her three hundred years. She opened her mouth to his and it was like taking breath for the first time. Every atom in her body came alive, reaching for him, wanting to merge with him.

“Too many clothes,” he whispered, and it was like their first time again. This time, though, the fevered rush of lust and need was tempered by a deeper, more fundamental knowledge of how close they had come to losing each other, how each had sacrificed for the other.

Quickly they shed their clothes, and he caught her up in his arms. Crossing to the bed, he laid her down among the pillows and the cotton sheets. Tenderness and care flowed in every touch, every caress, every breath as he worshipped his way down her body, mending the tears in her heart in the process. And when he finally slid into her core, the world righted itself.

He rolled them over until she rose above him. “Claim me, Rana,” he whispered, his voice thick and demanding. “Claim me as yours and yours alone.”

Tears stung her eyes as she sank down on him, joining them together. Flexing her hips, she rose and sank, again and again, needing the joining, needing the connection. It filled her body, heart and soul to overflowing. She opened herself fully to him, no doubts, no barriers. No hesitation as she claimed him.

“Hector. Helias, my love. Blood to blood, soul to soul, heart to heart. I bond with thee, I stay with thee, in life and afterlife.”

The smile he gave her was so pure, so sure, that she couldn’t stanch the tears that broke free, streaming down her cheeks. “Thank you, my beautiful one.” He pressed his thumb to her clit. “Now come for me.”

Two strokes more and she shattered, crying his name as her inner walls clenched him in a climactic rush. With her senses still in shreds, he turned them, positioning her on her hands and knees then gliding back inside her as her orgasm still shimmered through her.

His chest seared her back as he covered her. “From this moment on, never doubt my love for you,” he breathed into her ear as he rocked against her. “Never doubt that I am yours as you are mine. My woman, my mate, my love. My Liriana. Blood to blood, soul to soul, heart to heart. I bone with thee, I stay with thee, in life and afterlife.”

Magic exploded around them as he clamped his teeth to the side of her throat, claiming her as she’d claimed him. She cried out again, bucking wildly against him as he drove toward his own release. He slammed into her one final time, fingers digging into her hips as he straightened and roared her name. Witch and jackal magic met in a thunderous wave, fusing together, binding them together forever.

They collapsed side by side in the large bed, Hector tucking her close against him. She rested her head on his chest, her hand covering his pounding heart. Happiness like she’d never known spread through her. Only one thing worried her. “Will the clan accept our bond?”

“The clan knows what you’ve done for us, what you’ve been doing all along. Once I let you leave our bed, Markus and Tia will formally adopt you into the clan and bless our union. And even if they didn’t accept us, you’re mine. I almost lost you once. Nothing and no one will come between us again.”

She reveled in his ferocity, his determination to keep her. “I’m sure it will all be water under the bridge by this time next year anyway, when we present our firstborn to the clan.”

“Rana?” He looked down at her in hopeful expectation. “Truly?”

“Well, we have to work on it, once the herbal prophylactic leaves my system.” She reached up to cup his cheek, this man she loved with her whole soul. “I have a need, my husband. I hope you will provide.”

His grin warmed her heart. “Always, my wife. Always.”

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