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“What did you do to them?”
He shrugged. “A similar drug to the one I gave you. It’s fast acting and absorbed through the skin. It knocked them out, nothing more.”
“How…” Then I saw it—a faint iridescent sheen on the concrete floor. In a warehouse full of machinery, it might have appeared to be engine oil or even a leak in the roof from when it rained. “It’s on the floor.”
“Exactly. I knew none of you would come in through the front door. Your pride are worthy warriors, but even the thickest skin has a weak point.”
I realised what that meant. The floor surrounding the cage was covered too. Even in lion form, the pads of their feet were skin, and when Zayn had gone down to release them, it had soaked into his as well.
“You can run if you like, and I will simply pursue you to the ends of the Earth like before until I am victorious. But you will run alone, for I swear to you that none of your priests will leave this warehouse alive.” He swung his gun around so the red laser light centred between Zayn’s closed eyes, and my heart lurched. “Or you can come down and we can finish this.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I closed my eyes.
Jabari sighed. “I am a very patient man, Tory, but even my patience has limits. Come down. Now.”
I swallowed. “Do I have your word that if I come down, you won’t hurt them?”
He paused. “You do.”
I couldn’t see any other way out. I guessed this would have been the part where Zayn would have told me to run, and for a moment, I wanted to. I wanted to shift and run away and never look back. But my priests were down there and they needed me, and no matter what they’d kept from me, I wasn’t about to abandon the men I loved. If I died trying to save them, then that was how it was going to go. Besides, we’d all come back again, like West said. I took a deep breath and climbed to my feet.
“Okay, I’m coming down.”
I stood and walked to the end of the gangway, moving slowly down the metal steps. I was naked in my human form, and the steps were icy cold despite it being summer. I shivered from cold and from fear. I wasn’t about to let him shoot them all.
His eyes travelled over my body as I reached the last step, and I felt sick. Fucking creep. He motioned to the floor with his gun. I glanced down and saw a pair of slip-on ballerina style shoes. I recognised them as mine. He’d obviously taken them from my house when he’d planted the bomb in my bedroom. White-hot hatred seared through me, and I bit down on my lip, trying to control myself.
“Put them on.”
I did, and then I crossed the floor towards him. He backed up until we were standing near the table and took something from inside his jacket.
“I am glad you’re being so biddable, Tory. I assume you realise I cannot let you leave this place. You pose a risk to humans by existing on this planet.”
“Jabari, please. Let’s talk about this. I’m not going to hurt anyone. I—”
“Kneel.” He motioned to a mat on the floor.
“What?”
He reached out and wrapped his hand around my throat, dragging me towards him and forcing me down onto my knees. His grip was tight, and I gasped for breath. “Powerful one, mistress of the dark flame, I have pursued you through many lives and many lands. I bring death to you, Sekhmet, battle goddess, red lady of vengeance. I will put an end to your evil and restore light to the world. Now kneel and die with honour.”
I grabbed his wrist, trying to pry his grip away as I fought for breath. I heard a click as Jabari laid his gun down on the table, and then I saw a flicker of light reflecting off the blade in front of my face—a long bronze dagger, the hilt ornately engraved. It seemed familiar, though I couldn’t remember why. I could almost feel the hilt in my hand and feel the engravings pressed against my skin. Jabari loosened his grip on my throat.
“You recognise it, don’t you? You should, it’s yours. I took it from you and sank it deep into your heart to perform the ritual to remove your power. It pulled your power from you, until your priests gave you more.”
A roar sounded behind me, and I turned my head. My mouth fell open as my gaze connected with golden eyes staring at me through the bars of the cage. They were starting to wake.
Jabari grinned, ignoring them. “But this time, there will be no ritual. I will cut out your heart and eat it. Your soul will pass into nothing, and not even Anubis himself will be able to grant you life again.”
I froze. No, no, that wasn’t the plan. We were supposed to come back. All of us, together. West—Austin had promised me. Eternity, he’d said. We had eternity together. The bars behind me rattled furiously, and three lions now voiced their anger and despair at not being able to reach me.
I met Jabari’s gaze, tears escaping from my eyes at the thought of being permanently separated from my priests. “No, please...”
He pressed the tip of the blade against my chest, positioned perfectly between the rib bones above my heart. “Do not shame yourself by begging. You were a worthy opponent, but it is time to atone for your dark and bloody past.”
I closed my eyes, recoiling from the manic delight and hatred on his face, but they flew open again as the knife slid between my ribs and plunged deep into my heart. I gaped at the pain that exploded in my chest, my hands curled around the blade embedded inside me. All I felt was pain and shock, and my vision darkened for a moment. I could only see the dark expression of triumph on Jabari’s face, and then he was gone.
I looked down at his body as blood began to flow from a wound at the side of his head. I blinked, trying to make sense of it, and then another figure came slowly into view, and I looked up into the face of Lord Jasper Wyndham.
