Soul Unbound (Key to the Cursed Book 3) (5 page)

Theris stared at the door Siya slammed in his face.
His goddess had withdrawn from him in the last few weeks. Now, she was keeping
secrets. He had known her too long not to pick up on the level of anxiety
through her usual unreadable disposition. Something or someone had spooked her.
A scout would not raise this level of alarm in his Commander.

Unsettled, he swung his gaze to the lower level of
the warehouse. He glared at the now sleeping younglings. Too gods damn many.
They were the local receptacle for bastard children. He had commanded the
fiercest of soldiers. Now he was relegated to nursemaid, babysitting hormone
laden younglings.

He stalked to the holding garage. The smell of hay
choked his senses. Apparently, he was a stable boy as well. He snagged a bale in
one hand and feed in the other. Another fucking mouth to feed. This mouth he
would delight in putting down—permanently. Ignoring the snorts and hoof
stomping, he walked up the length of the steel girders of the paddock.

He lifted the empty feed container out with a long
steel pole. Red eyes bore into him from the dark stable. Smoke curled out of
the edges of flaring nostrils.

“What are you looking at,” Theris hissed. He hated
the beast. The stallion slashed at the steel gate with its hooves. “The feeling’s
mutual.” He glared at the horse, being very mindful of his proximity. He had
been bitten more times than he would like. “Not getting through these,
asshole.”

The stallion charged and slammed its chest into
the barrier. The metal groaned under the stress. Theris jerked back. The horse
whinnied in satisfaction. Damn equine was almost sentient.

Flames shimmered along his fingertips. He would
like nothing more than to slit the horse’s throat and burn it to ash. Until
that time came, Theris thrust his fist between the gaps of metal and slammed
into the tender underside of the horse. An audible snap announced the crack of
several ribs. He shook his hand as his own bone buckled. Damn things were near
indestructible and healed incredibly fast. “Next time I will poison your
grain,” Theris snarled at the beast. The horse bucked its back hooves against
the gate and popped one of the latches.

“Damn it.” Theris lurched to slam the pin back
into the hinge before the horse got any more bright ideas.

“I will take care of it.” Siya strode through the
door and grabbed the feed bags. “Run some water, I will take these in.”

The horse whinnied and stomped on its front legs.
Siya opened the gate and closed it behind her. Sealed in with the steed, she
hung the hay and feed bag on the wall. “Water.” She gestured with her hand over
the top girder.

“It seems more agitated, today.” Theris looped the
hose through the slats and cranked the faucet’s handle. Her light green eyes
met his. He held her stare for a moment before looking away. “As do you.”

“We need to prepare to leave.”

Theris tilted his head. He had been asking to
leave for three months now. He had no love for this city. Siya had spent more
time on the streets and less time at the warehouse, leaving him stuck to watch
over their growing horde. Not to mention, he had not lain with her in over a
month. Anytime he touched her now she pulled away. He had worn her down over
the years until her own need consumed her, but she would never allow him to
mark her.

Heat flared along his skin. He had given
everything up in the hopes he would mate with her. If he could not be General,
then he would have her for his own. Nothing stood in his way of getting what he
wanted. With one exception, Siya’s weakness for unwanted trash.

He nodded. “We have two entering their cycle.
Their transition should occur within the next fourteen days. If we leave now,
we should be settled in the new location to handle their maturational changes.”

“Prepare to leave within the week. I have another
to retrieve off the streets.”

He stared across the steel bars, careful to hide
his annoyance. “Why wait? It should take you no more than a few hours to track
the youngling. We have fifty able hands to pack by tomorrow morning.”

“I need to check into Henry’s sighting. If it’s
hostile, I will terminate it. We cannot risk it following us.”

“That loon of a human told you he saw something?
What exactly—fairies, unicorns? How can you trust anything he says?”

“He has not been wrong, thus far.” She pushed the
hose back through after filling the trough.

“I prefer to trust your instincts over some
mentally-ill human.” Siya had an extrasensory gift for all things evil. It had
served them well over the years. He hated to admit it, but based on her recent
agitation, the human may not be far off the mark. “What are we dealing with
exactly?”

She met his gaze across the steel girder. “Henry
stated he saw the devil. Large like us. Black skin.”

“A siravant?” Memories of millenniums past
filtered into his mind. The second plague, if Siya’s theory was correct. Apep’s
minions. Recruiters for the dark master. “How could they gain access to this
world? That portal was sealed during the war.” To his surprise she broke eye
contact. She was hiding something. He had seen that look once before, which surfaced
another memory. One other possibility. One Siya needed to stay as far away from
as possible.

“I do not know, but I intend to find out,” she
said with her back turned.

“With two of us working, we can finish it off the
same night. No need to linger.” If he could find and destroy the warrior first,
Siya would never be the wiser.

“You will not be going, but remain here to protect
the base. When I return, we leave.”

* * *

Siya assessed Theris as he exited the door. It was
wrong of her to keep dragging him along this journey. She had tried to release
him from duty before, but he refused to leave. Honestly, she had few friends in
this world. All but him abandoned her after her exile. Out of guilt and her own
loneliness, she had given into his advances, thinking she could grow to love
him. No matter how she tried to convince herself, her heart remained cold and
empty.

She received a nudge from behind, interrupting her
self-recrimination. Execution greeted her with a warm muzzle when she turned.
“Hey, boy.” She rubbed her cheek against his black velvety nose. Bigger
problems loomed over her than her relationship with Theris. Since they had
discovered the reven’s nest, the prickling against her skin had yet to subside
and had worsened in Menthu’s presence.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” She met the horse’s
red eyes. He flicked his ears forward and jerked his head up. His answer came
out as a snort.

“You hate being trapped here.” She petted his
broad neck and long mane. The coat had thickened with the change of seasons,
dulling its ebony shine. She grabbed the brush and ran it down the stallion’s
back. “Ready to ride tonight? Stretch those legs of yours.”

After brushing, she pressed her ear to his massive
ribcage. She closed her eyes and listened to the steady breathing. The whoosh
of air and the rise and fall of the horse’s chest calmed her. Her father’s
visitation dredged up memories she would rather forget. She glanced out the
door to the room filled with adolescent males. Despite being surrounded by
others, her isolation weighed heavier on her soul.

Was her father right? Was she amassing her own
army? Was she doing this only because it was in her blood to conquer?

Menthu’s words made her second guess her
motivations. She had found the first youngling over a century ago when she
arrived to North America. Every location she found more discarded younglings,
especially in recent years. She hated to see them suffer on the streets
needlessly, unwanted and alone. Not unlike her.

She swore to herself she would make the most of
this prison sentence. So many years she had inflicted death on the battlefield,
exploited her darker side, taking the lives of their enemies for the good of
the Pantheon. Only after her exile did she explore the lighter side of her
soul.

The gifts of her mother had strength and value but
caused Siya significant stress. Her darker thoughts were more readily
available, well-conditioned and practiced pathways. It warred with the
positive, more spiritual side. The duplicity repelled the other, often ripping
her soul in two.

She squeezed her eyes shut and gripped her chest.
Could her mother have seen Menthu differently than everyone else? Fallen in
love with him? The Mother Goddess had always said love had no bounds. Siya had
very little faith in love. But, if Menthu and her mother were mates, then the Protector
gods had lied to her.

Anger spurred her resolve to find the truth. Her
questions
would
be answered.

She saddled Execution and tightened his girth strap.
Holding onto his reins she opened the paddock gate. “Let us visit an old
friend, shall we?”

Bomani groaned and jerked up from the floor.
Despite the chill of the night, his skin continued to burn on the inside. His
fit-filled sleep succeeded in draining more of his energy. He dug in his fingers
and scratched his scalp in a failed attempt to relieve the pain and haunting
visions.

His predecessor’s memories usually assisted Bomani
for tactical purposes. Now, they only reminded him of what he lost.

He would not allow himself to dwell on the male he
had been because that warrior would have surrendered to his father and faced
his punishment. Instead, he ran. He did not trust his instincts anymore.

How could he be so wrong about so many things? His
brother’s quest for honor. Kendra’s feelings towards Bakari and not him. The
last of which burned harder and deeper.

He forced himself to sit back down. This new
calling would bring him more disappointment. He wanted to stay hidden.
Traipsing around New York on Bast’s quest would end badly or worse, she would
demand her final payment. Something he did not want to experience.

Furious, he slammed his fist through the cinder
block, favoring physical pain over the emotional parasite burrowing through his
chest. He drew in his energy and rematerialized on the city streets, a block
from a food establishment. Intent on taking what he needed to feed his empty
stomach, he stalked towards a very unlucky street vendor.

The man’s eyes widened and he backed away from the
cart. Bomani ignored the cellphone the vendor pulled from his coat and snatched
the food off the top of the grill. A sideward glare and flash of fangs sent the
man running down the street. Without honor regulating his choices, things came
much easier.

No rules. No boundaries. No guilt.

The small staples did little to calm his hunger.
He glanced around at the few humans that scurried down the street, giving him a
wide berth. Their souls flickered brightly, beckoning him. He clenched his
fists. A fine tremor set to his bones. His soul craved the energy, like heroin
for the drug addicts he had seen on the streets. He snatched the arm of a human
straying too close. His entire body trembled with the desire to rip the living
energy from the human’s soul.

He shoved the man away. Despite his want of it,
his vow never to hurt humans burned hotter than his hunger.

A clap of thunder rippled across the blue-black
sky and drew his eyes upward. A bolt of energy shot up into the heavens.
Grateful for the distraction, he targeted the source in the distance and
dematerialized. He reappeared on the docks, not far from his accommodations.

The wooden planks rumbled beneath his feet,
kicking up the dirt and dancing it across its surface. A deep battle cry
pierced the night air. Bomani narrowed his gaze on an enormous dark shape in
the distance. The wood groaned and creaked as the massive beast and its cloaked
rider bore down on him. Bomani stared in disbelief as flashes of the horse and
its master sped beneath the street lamps.

A heavy broad sword clutched by the rider glowed a
bright white and created an eddy of waves that crashed into and over him. This
was not a dream. His memories manifested before his eyes.

The horse’s sinewy body came into focus while the
dark cape concealed the rider’s identity. Pounding waves of energy slammed into
Bomani’s chest and arced currents of electricity across his skin. He staggered
back as his answers rocketed towards him.

A flash of light ignited behind Bomani’s back,
yanking him off his feet towards the opening portal. The stallion leapt, slammed
into Bomani and threw him back through the gateway under the horse’s hooves.

He smashed into the hard sand and rolled, barely
missing being crushed by the thousand pound animal. The horse’s underbelly
flashed into view before a hoof cracked against Bomani’s head. Unable to right
himself, he stared at the hindquarters of the horse speeding down a beach.

Wiping the blood from his brow, he scanned the
surroundings. A large barren coastline stretched out before him. Black sand
welcomed the warm waves lapping the shoreline. Volcanic mountains stretched
heavenward. They had traveled to an intermediate realm. One he had not seen
before, yet it held some familiarity.

Bomani rose to his feet and stared down the beach.
His destiny resided at the end of the long trail of hoof prints.

A thousand pounds of power surged beneath Siya on
the moonlit beach. Execution galloped, his long legs kicking up sand and water
behind them. He had faltered exiting the portal, but regained his rhythm.
Exhilaration flowed through her and fed power into her steed. Bonded as one at
birth, the animal would serve only one master.

The impact of the heavy hooves resonated through
Siya’s bones. Loosening the reins, she felt Execution stretch forward. The
snorts of breath from the horse matched the cadence of his strides. Veering
into the water, the salty sea sprayed around them.

Close to their destination, she tugged the reins
and pushed him into the shoulder high surf to maneuver around the jagged rocks.
The warm water penetrated her boots and cargo pants. The stallion did not
hesitate, his feet sure. As she leaned forward, his powerful hind legs thrust his
chest out of the water to climb the sandbar.

Haru, one of the four Protector gods, had remained
impartial during her hearing. He did not defend her actions, but he did not
condemn her either. She surmised he had his own secrets that would be
unfavorable if revealed. Having not spoken in over five hundred years, she was
surprised he had answered her request to meet—the very reason her weapon was
not in its sheath, but tucked close to her thigh. Besides Theris, she trusted
no one.

A white flash of energy sizzled in the night air,
announcing Haru’s arrival. Execution reared up on his back legs and clawed the
air with his front hooves. His ears lay straight back over his mane. She patted
his neck. “Easy boy. We are here to see him, not kill him.”

The horse dropped back on all fours. Siya
dismounted, sure to keep ahold of the reins. Execution was not just a name. “Haru.”
She inclined her head, not willing to take her eyes off the god to perform the
customary bow.

“Siya.” He returned the gesture but eyed her
sword. “Is that necessary?”

“That depends. Are we alone?” She scanned their
surroundings.

“Do you think I would risk having the others know
I have been in contact with you?”

“I suppose not,” she said before stowing her sword
to her back. She pulled Execution over to a large tree and tied his reins to
the thick branch. Not that it would hold him, but the command she gave him
would. “Stay put.” She turned back to the Protector god and pulled back her
hood.

Haru inhaled sharply. “The years have softened my
memories. I forgot how much you look like your mother. Absolutely beautiful.”

“Do not bother to pacify my temper with flattery.
We both know you do not prefer me or my mother, but something of more
substance.”

“Perhaps, but that does not mean I do not
appreciate true beauty, no matter the gender.” He smiled. “Why have you
summoned me?”

“Bast lied to me. You all did. Why?” She paced the
patch of black sand, her anger threatening to erupt.

“Lie?”

She stopped and glared at him. “The circumstances
behind my mother and father.”

“We did not lie.” He crossed his well-muscled arms
over his robed chest with the air of indignation.

“Bullshit,” she spat and jabbed her finger at him.
“You lied to me. Damn it, you were her best friend. Are you going to stand
there and deny it?”

Haru winced. “Where is this coming from? I do not
see you for over five centuries, and you call to accuse me of lying? Putting us
at risk?”

“Correction—you!
You
at risk.” The
arrogance. She regretted stowing her sword.

“What has happened?” He stepped forward, his eyes
narrowed.

“What has happened?” Siya gasped. “It does not
matter or change the fact—you lied!”

“Menthu has been in contact with you.” His mouth
dropped open, and the color of his skin went from pale to white. “What did he
want?”

“What do you think he wanted?” she growled.

His eyes widened further. “You mustn’t.”

“Tell me why you lied.” She leveled her stare.
There were few males she had to look up to. Haru was not one of them.

He stepped back. “Listen, there are matters you
are not fully aware of. The Council decided—”

“Decided it was in my best interest to make me
believe I was a product of rape? That my mother could not stand to raise the
offspring of a monster? How and in what light does that sound right to you?”

“Your mother broke the law. She defied the council
and pursued her relationship with Menthu.”

“What law did she break, exactly?”

“Menthu is an abomination. He is tainted. Impure.”

“Impure, like me. Half Creation. Half Underworld.”

“You are very different. You were raised by us.”

She tipped her head back and laughed. “And yet, it
still does not erase what I am and always will be in the eyes of the
Creations.” A monster.

“You are not your father.”

“No?” The only difference between her and her
father was that her killings were sanctioned by law. Blood still ran red no
matter who wielded the sword.

“Menthu’s base nature is darkness. He has done
unforgiveable things,” Haru pleaded.

“Before or after you took my mother from him?
Gods, Haru. They were mated.” Absence did not make the heart grow fonder.
Bonded souls demanded to be together. If denied, depression and insanity
ensued.

“I know.” Haru frowned.

“Did they kill her?” Her voice cracked. Gods, if
it was true she would make them pay. Her father’s hatred resonated in her soul.
How easy it would be to become him.

“No, she was in so much pain. Suffering beyond
measure. She begged me,” he whispered.

“You helped her.” Siya jerked from his reach,
hating and loving him. Haru had worshiped her mother. According to the Mother
Goddess, he had never left her side and was there for Siya’s birth. Even after
her mother’s death, Haru had always been kind to Siya when others had little
tolerance for her childhood temper tantrums. Could she condemn him for his
actions? Actions she knew all too well herself.

Haru grabbed her hand and tightened it when she
tried to pull away. “She knew what would happen to Menthu in her absence. If
the separation was too much for her to bear, he had no chance. She loved him
and would do anything to be with him. She went to the one place she knew he
would end up.”

Siya’s heart ached for a tragedy that should have
never happened. Bitterness consumed her soul. “He will be there soon, but not
before taking the Creation Pantheon with him.” She snapped her hand back and
retracted out of his reach.

He pursued her. “You cannot let that happen.”

“Let that happen?” Siya chuckled darkly. “Why do I
care what happens to a Pantheon that has no tolerance for me? An impure bastard
child. You can all choke on your hypocrisy for all I care. You stood by idly as
the reven curse spread through the human realm. While Apep’s darkness filled the
void of your incompetence. Menthu is your problem. You—created him through your
lies and deceit. Made my mother suffer. Made
me
suffer.”

He ran his hand through his thick golden strands.
“I do not disagree with you, but they will not listen.”

“Grow a set of balls, Haru.”

“Not everyone has your strength. I have kept my
promise to your mother to keep you alive. I am the reason your stay of
execution has remained in place. Unlike you, I have something to lose if they
discover my secret.”

She already had lost everyone and everything that
mattered. The very reason she was exiled. Maybe Menthu was right, she was like
her mother. Doomed to make the same mistakes. “We all make sacrifices. Some of
us more than others.”

He dropped his arms at his sides. “The Creation
council has lost sight of our true course. The Mother Goddess needs gods who
know and appreciate what is at stake and are willing to fight to save humanity.
Mother has made arrangements to correct our course and to make things better
for gods like you and me.”

“Can she conjure miracles?” Siya quipped.

“Apparently so. Asar has wed her daughter.”

Siya laughed and shook her head. “You think me a
fool? The Mother Goddess has many children, but not of her own blood.”

“You must trust me on this. Three females of human
blood are being protected by the God of the Underworld himself. Two have
already transitioned to their demi-god forms.”

“Trust you?” She glared at him, stunned at such
bold-faced lies. Now he wanted her to believe the Mother Goddess broke the most
ancient of laws—siring demi-gods.

“They are the key to the cursed. The key to
destroying Apep.”

Siya raised her hands, silencing him. “Stop. I
will hear no more of this.” Even if they did exist, a demi-god had no chance
against Apep. Siya had been there at the final siege. Although victorious, she
had lost three quarters of the legions in the battle. “Humans have no place in
a war among gods.

“Fine. Do not believe me, but Mother will unite
the Pantheons. If she fails, we all die.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“The Creation Pantheon is not Apep’s only target.
No one is safe.” Haru stepped forward and grasped her shoulders. “You cannot
protect them. They will not be spared.”

Twice in twenty-four hours she had been told that
very same thing. She scratched the base of her neck. Her fingertips grazed the uneven
flesh. Maybe Menthu and Haru were right—she could not save them. She shrugged
out of his grasp, hating the uncertainty that came into her mind. Failure was
not an option. It never had been.

“I have watched you from a distance, caring for
the humans and saving those boys. Your mother would be proud of you.”

Siya looked away, not wanting Haru to see the
emotion playing tricks on her soul. “The younglings should not even be there.”

“Maybe this is part of Mother’s plan.”

“Pretty sucky plan.” Her mind strayed to Henry’s
sighting. She needed to find the youngling. The unrelenting compulsion
consolidated in her chest. Only when the youngling was safe would she be granted
relief from its burden.

“They are well cared for and have a great mentor,”
he said softly, his eyes bright with admiration.

“You have far too much faith in me.” A medal for
valor on the battlefield she would accept graciously. The misplaced sentiment
of her as a nurturing mother made her skin crawl.

“In times like these, faith is all we have,” he
said.

“Faith is for the weak and powerless,” she hissed
and turned her back to him. Her mother had more faith than most, and it did not
save her. With an abundance of power and strength, Siya had little use for
faith.

“Then we are all dead,” he concluded. The flash of
light and heat following his departure did little to warm her now chilled body.

She blew out a breath and stared out over the
endless black sea. “Why are you doing this to me?” Her question carried out
into the abyss. Siya’s loss over the centuries pained her greatly, yet she
lived on. Why could her mother not find the strength? If she had, Siya would
not be standing here alone, a mere dot in the vast universe.

The weight on her shoulders bore heavily upon her.
Had she come to her end, like her mother? The torture of waiting for that
fateful day of her execution hung like an oppressive black cloud on her soul.

She sighed, knowing full well until that moment
came she would carry on. In the meantime, she stripped off her clothes and
padded down to the water’s edge. The gentle waves kissed her feet. She dove
into the water, seeking to wash the burdens away. The warm fluid wrapped her in
an intimate embrace and cradled her in a weightless state.

A silent lover without prejudice or premeditation.

Only here did she find relief, suspended and closed off
from her life, her blood and her sins.