She risked a glance around the tree and called out to Christian. He must have heard the note of panic in her voice because he broke away from the other men and ran towards her. She expected him to leap in front of her protectively as he had done before. Instead, the moment he saw the man, he went down on one knee.
“Down,” he whispered. “Kneel down.”
A few days earlier, she’d have refused. She had thought nobody deserved such veneration. Strange how the threat of death altered one’s beliefs. She crouched slowly and put one knee to the dry dirt, keeping the man in view through her lashes.
“Is he on our side?” she asked under her breath.
“Sometimes.”
The man spoke again in a voice that resonated with the rise and fall of civilizations.
Christian answered before interpreting for her. “He wants to know why we’re fighting Anubis.”
“Who is he?”
“Runihura, the destroyer of gods.”
“Never heard of him.” But with a name like that, she thought she should have.
“Think of him as a powerful, immortal policeman.” Christian shuffled closer to her while the other Sons of Ra joined them on their knees. Tricia glanced around anxiously but there was no sign of Anubis.
She turned back to find Runihura’s fathomless dark gaze on her. A warm wind stirred her hair and the scent of the desert swirled around her. He beckoned to her. At Christian’s nod of encouragement, she rose cautiously and stepped forward. The aura of power surrounding the Egyptian prickled her skin.
“You are the source of this conflict,” he proclaimed in his epic voice.
Great! Someone had burned down her home and tried to incinerate her; a giant dog that shouldn’t even exist had attacked her and this misogynistic immortal wanted to blame her.
“It’s not my fault if I have a gene that makes Anubis want to kill me.”
Runihura flicked a hand at her in a gesture that clearly said women should be seen and not heard. “Who claims this woman?” he demanded.
Christian rose. Tricia’s gaze jumped to the Duke of Buckland, tension gripping her throat. His eyes flicked up to her but he didn’t rise as she’d expected, instead he remained on his knee, the only movement his shoulders rising and falling as he caught his breath. Had the duke relinquished his claim to her because he knew she loved Christian? Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she’d thought.
Her sigh of relief whispered over her lips a moment too soon. The golden-skinned Son of Ra with the red fire stepped up on her other side, his dark brown eyes glinting with golden flame. “I would have this woman for my family.”
Christian rounded on him. Suddenly the curved blade was back in his hand, spitting green sparks. “She belongs to me, Luca.”
He didn’t say, “I love her” or even “I need her”. This was all about staking his claim on something valuable. Feelings didn’t come into it. Certainly not her feelings.
“I don’t want to be claimed by any of you,” she snapped.
Runihura’s gaze drilled into her, dragging every scrap of her attention to him. Against her will, she took a stumbling step towards him, followed by another.
Her insides quivered as eddies of hot air raced around her. The sound of Christian’s shouts faded.
“Please. .” Don’t hurt me. Words circled in her head but her mouth wouldn’t obey.
A ball of pure white fire flared in Runihura’s cupped palm. She tried to raise her arm to protect her face, but her muscles didn’t respond. He lifted his hand and dropped the fiery sphere on to the top of her head. Her pulse raced as a shroud of glittering white sparks cascaded over her and penetrated her skin.
Her rush of panic faded as the fire whispered through her with a silky caress. She swayed and her breath hissed out on a little moan of pleasure. On the edge of perception, she heard Christian’s angry shout and a scuffle. She didn’t remember closing her eyes, but when she opened them, the Duke of Buckland and a golden-haired Son of Ra were holding Christian down on his knees as he scowled up at Runihura.
The immortal stared at her for a moment, flickers of white fire dancing across his golden skin. “You are protected,” he said. Then he stepped back and disappeared. No blast of cold or rips in the air, just there one moment, gone the next.
A string of French curses rent the air as the two men released Christian.
“I warned you that another would claim her,” the duke said.
“This is your fault,” Christian pointed at Luca, the man who’d challenged him for her. But if he wanted a fight, he was out of luck. Luca shrugged, then stepped back into the ether and disappeared.
The other Sons of Ra departed, including the duke, leaving her and Christian alone. The sudden silence and peace seemed unnatural after the terror and noise of battle.
Christian’s strange garb shimmered. She blinked and he was clothed in a pair of tan trousers and a blue shirt. He walked away from her and dropped down on the bench where she’d been waiting for him before Anubis attacked.
His gaze ran over her incredulously. “He renewed you so fast.” He snapped his fingers. “Twenty years gone in a second.”
“What?” Tricia touched her face. The skin felt smoother. The twinge in her knee had vanished. “My god, are you saying he’s knocked twenty years off me?”
“I would have done this for you, mon amour. If only you’d let me.”
Her pleasure at her newfound youthfulness faded at the look of desolation on his face. If she hadn’t rejected him last night, he’d have already claimed her. There would have been no need for Runihura to bathe her in his fire. Part of her regretted hurting Christian, but another part was relieved that she wasn’t his property. Twenty-two years ago, the blind devotion of teenaged love would have made her give up everything to be with him, but she’d have felt trapped in such a relationship.
“I still want to be with you, only now it’s my choice. Isn’t that better?”
“You don’t understand, Tricia. You belong to Runihura. I can never touch you again.”
“You don’t seriously believe he wants me?” She snorted at the idea. “He was simply protecting me so I didn’t cause him any more trouble.” And giving her the freedom to choose her own man. Maybe Runihura wasn’t such a misogynist after all.
She sat beside Christian on the bench and reached for his hand. He snatched his arm clear and jumped up. “Don’t! The pain is excruciating.”
The blood drained out of her head as understanding dawned. “It’ll hurt for us to touch?”
“Of course. Didn’t you listen to me?”
“No, you. .” Her words trailed away when she remembered what he’d told her the previous night. You’ll be marked as mine, untouchable by any others of my kind. She hadn’t understood he’d meant it literally.
“Have you ever tried to touch a woman claimed by another Son of Ra?”
His angry gaze snapped to her face. “That is forbidden.”
“Then how do you know it’s true?”
His breath rushed out in irritation. “Luca touched my countess when he tried to save her life. They both suffered for his noble act.”
His countess? “What happened to her?”
“She lost her head to Madame Guillotine.” Christian pivoted away from her and paced to the river. That must have been the woman he’d mentioned the previous night. Tricia pressed her temples, feeling rotten. Had Runihura bathed her in fire as punishment for defying their customs, knowing it would prevent her from touching Christian again? She hadn’t sensed anger in the Egyptian.
“Runihura isn’t a Son of Ra, is he?” she asked, thinking aloud.