AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What have you got?” Zayn asked, sitting next to me.
West looked at me. “The guys at the bar seem to be completely random men just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’ve run background checks on all of them, and they have no links to anything that we’ve ever connected with the threats. Added to that, the drug you were given was not GHB, and I’m now certain it was not given to you by those guys at the bar.”
“Why not? They were fairly interested in me,” I replied, trying not to think of groping hands and the blood that had followed.
“The drug was, in fact, a poison.” He held up his hand as I immediately opened my mouth. “Before you start, let me finish. It was a poison, but it would not have been fatal to you. It was a concoction of various ingredients that created a substance to remove inhibitions and clear thoughts. You were struggling to think clearly, struggling to make decisions or to understand what exactly was going on around you.”
I nodded. “That sounds about right.”
“That sounds right and a hell of a lot likekhemish,” Zayn cut in.
West looked over at him and nodded. “As far as I can tell from the traces in my blood, it waskhemish.”
“What’skhemish?” I asked, looking between them.
“Pretty much what West described,” Zayn answered. “The issue is, the only people who knew how to make it died out about two thousand years ago.”
“It was a potion created by the priests of Apophis. They found it helped their followers ‘relax’ and accept many of the barbaric practices they liked to indulge in, but the cult of Apophis died out a few thousand years ago, and so did the priests. The only person I know in this time that could make that potion from scratch is—”
“Sadiq,” Zayn interrupted, his eyes wide. “You don’t think he’s turned, do you?”
“Sadiq? The magic guy?” I asked. “Wasn’t he one of my priests?”
“Yes,” West said, rubbing his hand over his face. “He was well practiced in various forms of ancient magic, one of which was potions—both healing and poisonous. It’s possible he could be behind the attack.”
“Wow...”
“I don’t believe it,” Zayn muttered.
“I don’t want to believe it either, but it would make sense.”
West seemed genuinely upset at the idea. I reached out and laid my hand on his leg. “You okay?”
He looked up and nodded. “It could be someone else, but Sadiq was always one of the first priests that awakened. He was devoted to you entirely, and he was always there from the beginning, close by. We were like brothers, and Zayn...” He looked over at Zayn who’d gone quiet.
I looked at the dark man sitting next to me, staring through the window at the trees outside. “You were close too?” I inquired.
He nodded, his eyes drifting over to West. “Not like brothers.” He stood up. “I’m sorry, West, I need some time...”
West nodded. “Of course. I can go into more detail tonight. Go.”
Zayn nodded stiffly then bent to take my hand and kiss it. “I’m sorry, my queen. I’ll be back, I promise.”
I watched him leave then turned back to West. “Where’s he going?”
“Probably for a run,” West replied. “It’s quite a blow. Zayn and Sadiq, they were...”
“Close, you said.”
West gave me a sad smile. “They were lovers.”
I gaped at him, my mouth falling open. “Lovers? Zayn? And Sadiq? I didn’t know Zayn was... I mean he... Ohhh...” I fell silent as a flame built inside of me. Not hunger or desire for once, but pure jealousy. I’d seen the way Zayn looked at me. I loved the way he treated me and how I felt when I was with him. I didn’t want to share him, which was completely selfish considering I’d slept with him and Jack, and Jasper too.
West smiled. “Zayn didn’t know when he came to your service. We lived several lifetimes with you before they realised their feelings for each other.”
“And...um, I was okay with that?” I asked, looking down at my hands.
“I believe you were extremely happy with the situation,” West said, actually grinning at me.
