Til Darkness Falls, page 35
“Angela! My partner. The woman who let you into her home. The woman you stole from her husband and her children.” Brian bared his teeth in a grim parody of a smile. “She liked you. She thought you were a good guy, even after I told her who you really were. And you shot her through the head like she was a goddamn dog!”
“Angela?” Alrick’s blood ran cold. He didn’t know what had shocked him the most, the fact that Angela was dead or Brian’s other revelation. “You know about me? How?”
“Your tattoo.” Brian’s laugh was utterly devoid of humor. “Boy, I’ll bet you made your unit proud when you got that deadeye medal. Did they talk you into inking it on your shoulder, or did you just want to have permanent bragging rights?”
Idiot. Alrick exhaled sharply, cursing himself. He’d never imagined that his tattoo would give him away. Perversely, he felt something akin to pride at Brian’s cleverness. “Brian—”
“Even then I didn’t want to believe it. I convinced myself that I was mistaken, that you couldn’t possibly be the sniper. I was so desperate to be proven wrong, I even called your sister.”
“Rosamond?”
“Did you two set the whole thing up? I mean, her story was perfect. Her husband was even in on it. You all played me for a real idiot, didn’t you?” The muscle in Brian’s jaw bunched as he clenched his teeth. “And I fell for every fucking word,” he spat.
Alrick could see the woman out of the corner of his eye. She was still standing near the edge of the roof, well away from their confrontation, as though she was content to merely watch the show. Nothing about this added up. If what she’d told him about Brian was true, then why did he seem so genuinely distraught? And who had killed Angela? It must have been done in such a way as to make Brian suspect him. His head hurt as he tried to make sense of it.
“Brian, I don’t understand what all is going on here, but please listen to me.”
“No. No more. I don’t want to hear any more of your lies.” Brian’s hand began to tremble slightly as he raised his gun toward Alrick’s head. “Screw taking you in. I should just kill you right here.”
“Mery.”
The word fell from Alrick’s tongue as though someone else was speaking through him. Though the sound was utterly foreign, somehow he instantly knew the meaning of the ancient endearment. Suddenly his body felt different, his bones seeming to shrink, his frame becoming smaller and lighter. He knew that he wasn’t actually changing, but the illusion was as real as anything he’d ever experienced. Brian froze, staring at him. But it wasn’t confusion reflecting from his startled green-hazel eyes. It was recognition.
“What’s happening?”
Brian’s uncertain whisper tore at Alrick’s heart, but he had no answer. He held out his hand, reaching for the other man as the building seemed to shift beneath their feet. Suddenly, everything around them disappeared, leaving only the two of them behind to behold the unraveling of an inconceivable truth.
Untold scores of years flashed through their minds as buried memories were unlocked. Time that should have been lost to them was at long last revealed. They staggered beneath the full weight of their lives, beneath thousands of moments of laughter and sadness, beneath the days of love and the nights of blistering passion. But darkening it all was the inescapable remembrance of heart-crushing betrayal.
TIYE sped toward the pharaoh’s audience chamber, his lungs aching with effort as he followed the shouts of soldiers rushing to their liege’s aid. He prayed he would be in time to make his brother see reason and to stay the prince’s hand. But when he burst into the hall, the only thing Tiye could see was his brother’s body as it slid from Rahotep’s sword and fell bonelessly to the ground. Nakhti’s knife, covered with the blood of his wrath, clattered loudly against the stone floor as it landed beside him.
Time seemed to slow, turning Nakhti’s fall into a macabre dance. Tiye could not scream, for all breath had abandoned him. He raised his bewildered stare toward Rahotep, needing to see the denial in his lover’s eyes. But it was not his “mery” who stood over his brother so fiercely, his hand clutched around the instrument of Nakhti’s death. In the prince, he saw only a stranger. Rahotep looked down with disgust and pity at the wretch who had dared raise his hand against the pharaoh. Somewhere deep inside, Tiye understood that his lover could not have known the identity of the man he had just killed. He and Nakhti were nearly ten years apart and, as they had been fathered by different men, did not much resemble each other. How could Rahotep have known that he had just destroyed the only family Tiye had left?
Yet logic proved futile in the face of his grief. Memories of his life before coming into the prince’s service assailed him. Years of want and fear, of violence and rape by some of the very soldiers who stood protectively near the pharaoh. An uncontrollable rage coursed through him, and the bitterness of injustice lay sourly on his tongue.
“Nakhti,” he murmured, drawing Rahotep’s surprised gaze. He walked slowly to his brother’s body, stopping only when prince grabbed his arm with his free hand.
“Tiye! Why are you here? I told you to wait for me in my room.” Rahotep shivered as the young slave looked at him with empty, soulless eyes. The pharaoh, who had been hiding behind his capable son, favored Tiye with a glare.
“Who is this boy? Why is he walking about freely when he should be in chains like the rest of this ungrateful filth?!”
“Quiet, father!” Rahotep snarled.
The pharaoh stared at his son in shock, but his courage failed him in the face of the prince’s black glare.
Rahotep’s gaze latched onto his lover’s face, disquieted at Tiye’s eerie calm. “What is it, pa’sheri?” He glanced down at the dead slave at his feet. “Did you know this man?”
Tiye remained indifferent to the endearment. His gaze fell again to his brother, whose handsome features were twisted with his final moments of pain. He could not look at the prince. He could not accept that the man he loved had just killed the last of his kin. Pulling free from Rahotep’s grasp, he bent down and retrieved Nakhti’s stained blade.
“Guards!”
The soldiers moved to stop the boy at the pharaoh’s shout of alarm but were stalled by a sharp gesture from the prince. Ignoring his distressed parent, Rahotep help up a pleading hand to the silent youth who walked slowly toward him.
“Tiye, give me the dagger.” He flinched as those vacant eyes looked past him and gazed fixedly at his father. “Tiye, please—”
“He was my only brother.” The boy’s voice was eerily hollow. “He was no traitor.”
Rahotep’s face drained of all color. “Your brother? By the gods.” He stared at Tiye, his heart stopping at the revelation of the crime he had just committed. He felt chilled, his very blood turning to ice in his veins. He wanted to take the younger boy into his arms and tell him that they would both soon wake from this nightmare, but then the rest of Tiye’s words pierced through the shroud of disbelief that had dulled his senses.
“Traitor?” Rahotep echoed, confused by Tiye’s words. “What do you mean?” he asked, but Tiye spoke only to the pharaoh.
“He was loyal to you, though you treated us like garbage. Even when your soldiers raped both me and my mother when I was but a child, we did not try to run away. We stayed because that was our duty. My mother and brother never harmed anyone in their entire lives, and now they are dead.” Tiye’s voice rose louder and louder until the accusations flew from his lips. “Because of you, my family is dead!”
“Tiye,” Rahotep whispered. He gazed helplessly at Tiye, mortified at what he had just learned of his lover’s past. Hatred warped the boy’s soft voice, and Rahotep felt Tiye’s torment in his very being. But beneath the prince’s agony was an undeniable hurt. Was not he a part of Tiye’s family? Had not they named each other as such in their hearts? Every word the younger boy spoke felt as though Nakhti’s knife had found its mark.
“You have taken everything from me,” Tiye whispered, gaze cold as he stared at the pharaoh. His body coiled with tension like an asp before it struck. “All that you have done, I visit upon you, and you will know my suffering.”
The oath was made, and mercy held no sway. Shock at the vicious promise made Rahotep slow to react when Tiye suddenly rushed past him with a snarl twisting his full lips, his brother’s dagger raised to strike at the pharaoh’s heart. The boy was unbelievably quick, and his swiftness caught the soldiers likewise unprepared. The pharaoh shouted in alarm as Tiye reached him. He caught the boy’s arm just before the boy’s blade found its target.
“Tiye!”
Rahotep cried his lover’s name as several of the soldiers rushed to their king’s aid with drawn swords. His heart was tight with pain that his gentle pa’sheri had been driven to such violent desperation. He grabbed at Tiye, fearing that the boy would be skewered on the soldier’s weapons, but the pharaoh was strong in his fear and pushed the young slave away with a mighty shove just as his son reached them. Tiye spun from him, propelled by the force of the old man’s panic.
Time itself lengthened and stretched as Rahotep watched his lover fall towards him, Nakhti’s dagger clutched tightly in his small hand. Their gazes met and Rahotep’s heart wept, seeing no end to the demented hatred that blazed in Tiye’s beautiful eyes. In that instant, the boy’s thoughts became clear. He would avenge his family by taking the life of their killer’s son, and not even memories of their love could overcome his need for revenge.
Rahotep raised no hand in his own defense. If his sweet pa’sheri wished to kill him, then he had no further desire to live. Death would be a welcome escape from the bludgeon of Tiye’s anguished fury. Rahotep gazed kindly at his lover as he patiently awaited his end.
“Sire!” The guard standing nearest the prince shouted out a warning and rushed to protect him. The man jostled his arm so that the sword still clutched in his hand lifted, its point aimed straight at Tiye. Rahotep tried to turn it away, desperate to avoid the cruel onslaught of destiny that rushed forward to crush them. But in the end, he was just a man, powerless against the whims of the gods.
We are of one body and share one soul.
His own words, spoken to Tiye in the darkness of a passion-filled night, haunted him as the sharp blade of his sword buried itself deeply within his lover’s belly. Rahotep felt the deep bite of unbearable pain as he ran the boy through, the sound of his father’s shout distant and faint against the roar from his soul. Tiye collapsed against him, blood covering their white garments in a vivid, ghastly red stain. It was a long moment before the prince realized that the pain spreading through him was not merely grief.
Rahotep looked into his lover’s eyes and saw only sorrow and devastating regret.
Forgive me.
His heart heard the words Tiye could not speak. The slave had kept his vow, destroying his enemy even as he destroyed himself. But in Tiye’s triumph, they were both defeated. Rahotep glanced down, but only the dagger’s hilt could be seen. The length of it was buried deep in his chest. Blood spread beneath their feet as the failing beats of their hearts added to the steaming pool.
The prince gazed toward his lover one last time, his strength failing he graced the boy with a gentle smile.
“Mery,” Tiye gasped, his final breath cooling the blood that bubbled from his lips.
Prince and slave fell to the ground as the pharaoh cried out in horror, their lives sacrificed to tragedy. Yet even as they died, their bodies remained entwined, the prince holding his lover tightly to his ruined heart as they embarked on their next journey….
“Pa’sheri?”
Brian gasped as though awaking from a dream, only this one had been undeniably real. Blinking in shock at the word that had come unbidden to his lips, he stared at Alrick, seeing the tall blond imposed over a slighter, darker figure.
“Mery, I have found you again.” Alrick’s voice was suddenly light with the tones of youth and a lilt that held no traces of his Germanic roots. His posture was one of uncertain eagerness and unbearable longing, and his entire body inclined toward the other man.
“Pa’sheri, is it really you?”
The question, spoken in a low, commanding tone, was pregnant with cautious hope. Brian anxiously awaited the answer as he felt his body assume an athletic grace he’d never before experienced.
For the first time in untold ages, they saw each other, man and boy, soldier and priest, and countless other visages that they had borne over the vast expanse of time. Their reunion was as glorious as it was unexpected, for floating above all their other perplexed emotions, they felt the endless stirrings of a love so intense that the gods bowed before it.
“Is this real?” His voice abruptly reverting to normal, Brian’s tone was shaky with the fear that the answer would be no.
“I don’t know.” Alrick’s Teutonic accent was thick as the situation overwhelmed him. “I think so.” He took an unconscious step toward Brian, drawn to the other man like a moth to fire. Suddenly, all of his inexplicable lack of caution where Brian had been concerned made complete sense. Everything about their relationship—from their meeting to how quickly they had fallen in love—had all been fated from the moment of their births.
Alrick stared at Brian, seeing the beautiful, princely figure he had once been. “I hope so,” he breathed.
Brian gazed at Alrick longingly, his expression shifting between confusion and hope. Then, all of a sudden, he shook his head, closing his eyes as though trying to clear his vision. He backed away as he opened them again and glared at Alrick, his gun lifting back toward its target.
“No. If this is real, then was everything we felt for each other just a lie? Some false memory?”
“Felt?” Alrick shouted. “I’m still feeling it! Brian, pa’sheri, this is us. These memories are ours, they belong to our souls. Can’t you feel it?” Alrick walked toward the other man until the tip of the wavering barrel dug into his chest. “I should have told you who I was as soon as I found out you were a policeman, but I was a coward.” He looked steadily into Brian’s uncertain gaze. “But do not doubt that I love you. If you believe nothing else, believe that.”
“Back away,” Brian whispered, trying not to listen even as he hated himself for wanting to do as the blond asked.
“This last job Rivella gave me, I wasn’t going to do it. He ordered me to kill a child, but I refused. I no longer wish to be a monster,” Alrick growled. “Since meeting you, all I’ve wanted is to be the man you fell in love with. I was on my way to find you, to leave my fate up to you, because I understand now. I am nothing without you.” He took hold of the gun barrel, sliding it across his chest until it was pointed at his heart. “And I want nothing but you.”
A tear slid slowly down Brian’s cheek, his eyes filled with the desperate need to believe what he was hearing. Alrick was standing right in front of him, but it wasn’t only the blond German that he saw. A myriad of other faces flitted across Alrick’s features, each more precious than the last and each looking back at him with the same expression of love that colored the brilliant blue gaze he’d come to adore. A shudder of surrender rippled through him. The gun fell from his hand, landing on the rooftop with a clatter.
“God help me, I love you so much.” Brian slumped forward, acceptance leeching the strength from his legs. Ready arms caught him securely, pulling him forward into a powerful embrace. The force that drew them together was far stronger than any nature could wield. It was the strength of destiny, and they had no desire to fight it.
“No!”
The wretched scream rang in their ears, breaking them apart almost before they had the chance to connect. The two men spun toward the source of the terrible shriek, their bodies tensing as they finally recognized the face of their enemy.
“Hebeny.” Brian stared at her in disbelief. “Why are you here? How is this possible?”
Hayley’s features were twisted into a deranged snarl, hatred stealing any beauty from her face. “Because you were supposed to be mine, Rahotep, before this disease-ridden little slut stole you from me!” She wrenched her gun around to point accusingly at Alrick.
“Hebeny, stop.” Instinctively, Brian stepped protectively in front of his lover, his hands held up placatingly. “I can’t believe that you’re still holding a grudge after so long. I would have married you, but what happened the night we died was beyond my control.”
“You lying bastard!” she screamed, the gun never wavering even as she lost control. “We might have wed, but would you really have let him go?” A bark of laughter spilled from her lips when Brian flinched. “You never could lie worth a damn, Macon. You would have married me and humiliated me every damn night by sleeping with him.” Her eyes were wild, her hair flying as she jerked her head violently. “I was the daughter of a king! I refused to accept such an insult.”
Brian’s chest squeezed, leaving him short of breath as he began to understand. “Hebeny, what did you do?”
She threw back her head and laughed, but the sound was tinged with madness. “What else could I do? I called down the god Set to enact my vengeance! I was his high priestess, and he dared not refuse me.”
Blinding rage swept through him as he realized that everything that had happened to them was due to nothing more than her petty jealousy. His jaw clenched so tightly he feared his teeth would shatter. “You’re insane,” he growled.
Hayley glared over at the blond man who was staring at her in abject disgust. “You were the only one of us who was supposed to die that night. I engineered that slave revolt and turned them loose on the Pharaoh to be slaughtered by his guards. And I am the one who implicated your mother and brother in the scheme, so that you would have no choice but to avenge them. I knew you would go after his father, and I knew Rahotep would protect him. My prince should have killed you that night, and once you were dead, the prince would be mine to torture as I pleased.
