“Hurry,” she said. “I don’t like this area, either.”
Then you’re really not going to like what my demon just told me.
“Oh, God. What?”
We’ve just entered the Realm of Snakes, Amun said grimly.
Sweet heaven above. “Please tell me the Realm of Snakes refers to the sweet little garden variety, and that we’ll only encounter one or two of them.”
The Realm of Snakes refers to the sweet little garden variety, and we’ll only encounter one or two of them.
Though she knew he was lying, his dry baritone caused her lips to twitch and some of her fear to fade. “Good, that’s good. So what else did Secrets tell you?” Fingers crossed she didn’t have a panic attack after his next words.
That we shouldn’t look directly into their eyes because they can hypnotize us into believing we actually want them to bite us.
The fear returned full-force, but at least the dizziness now made sense. Hypnosis. Shit. Control was one of her most prized possessions. Too well did she know the horror of being without a choice. For days, weeks, whatever, she’d been Strider’s prisoner, allowed to do only what he wanted her to do. Before that, every time she’d died, losing pieces of her memories when she finally returned to life, she had known only consuming hate and a driving need to destroy. And long before that, she’d been a puppet of the evil one, then the Bad Man, then the Greeks who had enslaved her.
“I’m not sure I can do this,” she whispered.
Just pretend the snakes are demon-possessed warriors. I’m sure you’ll do fine.
Ouch. He’d struck more sharply than the snake. Tears momentarily burned her eyes, but she blinked them back. No weakness. Especially when she deserved such a stinging remark. Once, she might have even been proud to hear it. Once, but not today.
“And why don’t you pretend they’re innocent humans?” she said softly. He, too, deserved to be cut down, and she couldn’t let herself forget.
Another bout of silence thickened the air between them. Until he sighed and admitted, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry. Again.
The second apology, offered far more poignantly than the first, was so unexpected she was shocked—and softened. “I’m sorry, too. And I understand why you did,” she admitted. “I took something from you. Something you loved.”
Yes. And we took something from you?
“Yes.”
He waited for her to elaborate, but she never did. She’d already told him she wouldn’t discuss the past with him, and she’d meant it. There was nothing he could say to ease the hurt, and a million things he could say to increase it.
I won’t let anything happen to you while we’re here, Haidee. You have my word.
Again he shocked her. Silly thing was, she believed him, and not just because he needed her. He may not like her, but he’d taken responsibility for her welfare. No matter the circumstances, his responsibilities were clearly important to him.
Something else to like about him.
The deeper they walked, the more lush the vines became, until there was no gap between leaf and limb, tree and cave wall. There was only mile after mile of what seemed to be a tranquil forest.
How many snakes lurked nearby? Waiting? Hungry?
Oh, God. Bile, rising again…
Soon steam was wafting from the leafy greens, limiting their range of vision. She inhaled deeply, scented sulfur and something else, something sweet. The conflicting aromas left her gagging and swaying with another bout of dizziness. Was she being hypnotized again and just didn’t know it?
“Help,” she managed to whisper, hating that she was already losing control of herself. Her knees were knocking, about to give out. “Amun.”
In the next instant, he had turned, his arm winding around her waist and holding her up. What’s wrong?
Her lashes fluttered shut, suddenly too heavy for her to keep open. “Don’t know. Head…spinning…” He was so still against her, she couldn’t even feel his heartbeat or the rise and fall of his chest. Couldn’t feel his heat, that amazing heat.
There’s ambrosia in the air, a substance very harmful to humans, but you aren’t…
“Human. Yes. I am.”
I don’t understand. You died. Now you’re alive. You can’t be human.
The dizziness intensified, pulling her under a dark, dark wave. No matter how hard she fought, she couldn’t swim to the top. “Amun…”
Haidee. Listen to my voice. Stay with me.
“Can’t,” she wanted to tell him. No sound emerged.
If you pass out, I’ll strip you and touch you again. Do you hear me? I’ll view it as an invitation to take you.
Before she could tell him the invitation wouldn’t have an expiration date, that his “consequences” were not a threat but a delightful prospect, the darkness swallowed her completely.
DAMN THIS. Amun hefted Haidee over his shoulder, barely registering her slight weight. He did, however, register the fact that her breasts were smashed into his back. Because of her unusually cool body temperature, her nipples were already pebbled.
She’d been behind him for what seemed an eternity, touching him fleetingly yet awakening every nerve ending he possessed. Despite the danger, he’d almost stopped a dozen times, desperate to taste her again, to hear her moan his name. His, and no other.
When she’d confessed that she had only dated that bastard Micah because she’d mistaken him for Amun, she’d almost found herself pressed against the cave wall, her jeans and panties ripped away, his shaft pounding its way home. Control had been maintained through a wish and a prayer only.
Confounding baggage. How was he supposed to callously use her and work her from his system when she treated him with such…sweetness? When she responded to his barbs with hurt rather than venom?
Secrets still couldn’t read her mind, but the demon had begun to sense the absolute conviction in her every word. She believed everything she said. Of course, the demon also retreated every time Haidee touched him. The coolness that so delighted Amun terrified his companion. All of his companions. Since leaving the fortress, the other demons had yet to try to influence him in any way. Why?
Damn this, he thought again, striding forward. Didn’t matter why. He needed this woman.
A little dizzy himself, he shouldered his way through the foliage. He’d whisk Haidee to safety if it killed him. And it just might. If he was affected by the ambrosia in the air, how much damage would the substance do to her?
Through Maddox, Amun had learned that humans simply couldn’t tolerate ambrosia, a drug meant only for immortals. They were better off being injected with tainted heroin. Haidee hadn’t ingested the substance, had only breathed in the fumes, so Amun told himself she would be okay.
Was she human, though? She truly believed she was and could very well be, despite the fact that she’d risen from the dead. But surely she was more than she realized. That unnatural coolness, her mental connection to Amun, the way she corralled his demons, each bespoke something beyond mortality.
Still. To be safe, he wanted to get her out of this forest as quickly as possible. All he had to do was find the entrance to the next realm. Which, if he wasn’t mistaken, would be the Realm of Shadows. So far, all he could see were trees. Trees, trees, trees. They surrounded him so completely they were like a second layer of clothing.
Soon he was panting from exertion. His dizziness increased, and he tightened his hold on Haidee. They didn’t touch skin to skin, merely cloth to cloth. Perhaps if he slid his hands up the hem of her pants and gripped her thigh properly, her temperature would stave off the dizziness the same way it staved off the demons.