Chapter Three
TALIK
TALIK SIDLED UP TODANTE, careful to keep his voice low enough that Anhur wouldn’t hear.
“You do not pay me enough for this.”He nodded in Khalida’s direction.He wasn’t even supposed to have been in Egypt for the Jimourt, the four-day-long festival held once every five hundred years in Egypt, until Kade, Dante’s head of security, had pulled some bullshit excuse about needing to remain in New York City.And suddenly he was on a private jet heading to Egypt, rushing toward a past he would rather forget.He was Dante’s chief operation officer, not in charge of Dante’s security.“Just a reminder—if I get stabbed, I am blaming you.”
Talik followed Dante through the entrance.In this part of the fortress, the three-story-high yellow sandstone walls were covered with lavish Atlantean inscriptions and colorful reliefs of kingly processions.A style far more suited to the halls of the temples of Karnak.As someone who disliked history, even he was impressed with the beauty surrounding them or would have been, if the air wasn’t tinged with the scent of decaying flesh that was growing stronger with each passing step.He glanced around; no one else seemed to be affected by the nauseating smell, it was just him.Peachy.
On the wall opposite him was a beautiful depiction of Atlantis.A lush green island surrounded by pristine ocean the same color as the cloudless sky.High above them, the sun shone through the intricate blue glass-stained windows and cast shadows on the floor, resembling waves.A homage to their original island home.Atlantis was a place he had zero interest in locating.He should be at home, in his penthouse overlooking the Atlantean quarter in Manhattan or driving his newest Maserati that should have been delivered two days earlier, not in Egypt in the middle of a desert.But here he was, trying to ignore the soft allure surrounding his old home and the memories that threatened to return to the surface.
It all came down to one thing.He shouldn’t have touched Khalida.He’d forgotten how much he loved the taste of her, had once lived to hear her whimper his name.
Somewhere in the last few centuries, he had turned into a masochist.The mark on his wrist continued to throb, as he strained to hear the soft footsteps of Khalida as she followed them.Outside, the dark-haired guard, one that Talik didn’t recognize, continued to stand watch.The soft swoosh of the door closing behind them sealed the room from the outside world.
He glanced down, but he knew exactly what he would see.The color of the consort mark was growing brighter until it flashed bright yellow, an almost replica of her eyes.As if on cue, Khalida’s gaze burned into his back, and if he closed his eyes, he could envision the predatory death glare she was giving him.And for a split second, the intensity of the stare blocked everyone out, and they were alone again.
Dante coughed and stared at him with a blank look before he nodded toward Anhur.Talik smirked as Anhur slowly walked to the other side of the room.The older Atlantean had always been cordial toward him, but even he had limits as to what he would offer Talik, and eye-fucking his daughter was probably up there.
“I think you have got me and Kade mixed up,” he pointed out, keeping his voice low enough so that only Dante would hear as he turned to him.Kade was as close to a brother as Talik had, but even he was wary of some of the Atlantean’s darker hunter tendencies.“Kade is fantastic at investigations and tracking down people or animals that don’t want to be found.Can also get rid of the occasional body without asking questions.I, on the other hand, much prefer the pampered lifestyle and attending the opera and galas.”
Anhur chuckled as Talik glanced up toward the figure.Anhur had better hearing than he had let on.He tucked that piece of information away.This close to the mural, he could reach out and touch the delicate brushstrokes.A beautiful larger-than-life depiction of a sinking island took up most of the wall.
Khalida was standing, almost entirely hidden by the shadows.Her silver-blonde hair glistened in the light like a halo.The strands were tightly woven into a thick braid that hung over her right shoulder down to her waist.Her hair was perfect and orderly, just how Khalida liked to keep her surroundings.
Talik walked beside Dante as they continued through the antechamber, Khalida trailing behind them.Despite the distance between them, he was more than aware of her every movement.They stopped in front of the mural.The crashing waves and the white foam tips looked like a photo rather than having been hand painted onto the wall more than two thousand years ago.In the background were the remnants of a temple, high on a hill, its gold columns pale specks against the darkly ominous crashing waves.It depicted the destruction of Atlantis, their original home.
In his periphery, Khalida walked up to the wall and tapped a small button Talik had somehow missed, too focused on the mural itself and Khalida.The small hiss, almost inaudible, was the only warning he received as the floor beneath them shook and began a slow descent into darkness.It was not creepy at all.
“We had this built during the eighteenth century,” Khalida said, answering the unasked question before she turned and gave Talik a pointed look, as if she was reading his mind.“Only a handful of Atlanteans are aware of its existence.”
It was both a warning and a threat—and there was no reason he should have been as turned on as he was.There was something unhinged about him.
Talik stood still, forcing all other treacherous thoughts from his mind as he focused on what was in front of them.And not on the statuesque Atlantean who looked like she wanted to stab him.He scrunched his nose.The smell had grown increasingly pungent.The other three Atlanteans barely looked bothered.Some special skill was bred into the aristocratic lineages and he had not inherited it.Another reason he had never actually belonged in their world.
In the distance, yellow crystals that beaded the wall flickered to life, instantly brightening the room in a domino effect.
“A bit more theatrical than I was expecting,” Dante broke the silence.
“Only the best for you, Dante,” Khalida shot back.“We wouldn’t want either of you to think less of us.”
Talik snorted as his eyes adjusted to the bright light, his gaze glued to Khalida’s shadow, grateful for once that his eyesight was barely better than a human.The chamber they were in was twice the size of the great hall above them, and somehow, the yellow crystals made the room appear as welcoming as a human hospital.The room was bare, with no decorations or windows.It was an impenetrable stronghold.Along the wall, small metal hooks lined the ground, large enough that rope could have been threaded through the openings.
Anhur turned to him and smiled, the corners of his mouth in a sardonic grin as if he was about to reveal a secret.“This part of the Arx was built to act as a barracks if war ever broke out.”
Older Atlantean politics was not his strong point, even after he had been given access to world-class tutors.“War against who?”
Anhur glanced at Dante.“Ask his mother.”
“It is complicated,” Dante answered.“But that isn’t why we are here.”
