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“You are the daughter of Ra. You were born to protect him and his people, created to destroy his enemies and, most importantly, to battle against Apophis, the greatest of all his foes. When you came into being, you were brimming with power, and you had so much, you could barely control it. You defeated Apophis and sent him deep into the underworld, and then set about ridding the world of his followers. I am not talking about innocents, I mean human beings devoted to him, who spent their lives killing and committing all sorts of atrocities. They raised an army against you, but by then you’d taken so much blood, you couldn’t stop, and you tore the army apart. You have to understand, you weren’t human, only a being created to destroy. You had no moral compass, no experience of life, and no humanity in you yet.” Wesley looked at me, and I met his gaze as his words began to sink in. “Ra saw this, and he knew he needed to make you more than you were. He created us to stop you. We reached the humanity inside of you, but not by giving you our blood, that merely slowed you down, but by giving you our hearts, our love. You learned to love and live, and the warrior inside you fell under control. You knew when to allow her out and when to keep her in check. You have never lost control like that since.”
“But West said—”
“West has been seventy-seven kinds of an idiot since he reincarnated,” Jack muttered, rolling his eyes. “I honestly don’t get what is going on in his head. He thought trying to slow down you getting your memories back would protect you somehow. I don’t think he realised that by not remembering, you would never grow to understand who and what you are, and that’s what has caused this mess.”
“To be fair to West, most of the time when she’s still getting her memories back, we weren’t having to protect her from some psychotic stalker,” Wesley interjected.
“So... I’m not a monster?” I asked quietly.
Jack smiled. “Only when you choose to be,” he answered. “You always have the choice. Jabari drugged you so you would lose control. He got into your head, turned your own thoughts against you, and then against us. He did it to divide us because we are stronger together.”
“A pride,” Wesley said.
I smiled, the first time in quite a while. “So now what?” I asked. “I feel like I screwed everything up. Where do we go from here? And, oh my... my parents! I left them a letter in Hattie’s apartment, I need to—”
“All sorted,” Jasper stated, as he strode into the room. Zayn followed him, and they both sat on the other side of the bed. Zayn sat close to Jasper, and my eyebrows rose as I saw Jasper casually rest his hand on Zayn’s thigh.
“How did you...”
“How did you think we’d found you, you daft woman?” he asked, then his gaze darkened, and he leaned forward, his fingers closing around my throat.
“Jas...” Zayn’s hand rested on Jasper’s elbow, but he didn’t move. His grip tightened around my throat. It wasn’t quite painful, but definitely uncomfortable. He pulled me forward and leaned in close, his eyes glittering darkly. “Don’t even think we are past this, because I swear to the gods that when you’re rested enough, I am going to put you over my knee and punish you for what you put us through. Do you understand me?”
My lips parted, and my heart thudded in my chest at the thought of what that might entail. I nodded, and his grip tightened.
“How do you answer me?”
“Yes... sir.”
He released me, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips. “Good girl.”
“Will you be selling tickets to that particular event?” Jack inquired, subtly trying to adjust his jeans.
Jasper let out a dark laugh and shook his head.“Oh no, that one is all mine.”
“Anyway...” Wesley chimed in, removing his glasses and pulling a cloth out of his pocket to polish them. “I assume we still have to go after Coulton.”
Jasper opened his mouth, but I got there first. “Yes, we do. I am going to make him pay for what he did to me. And Fallon.”
“You really don’t need to worry about Fallon,” Zayn replied. “He had a nasty accident down by the docks.”
I looked at him blankly. “He did?”
Zayn nodded. “According to the police report, he was doing some nasty deal with a drug dealer moored out in the North Sea. It went a little wrong and they slashed him open with a knife and tossed him in the Thames. Police have never seen anything like it. They said the person who did it somehow managed to rip his throat out like some kind of wild animal.”
“Hmm, that’s really intriguing,” I said, my heart lightening a little at the thought of Fallon no longer being a threat.
“It is. What’s more intriguing is that Fallon appears to have had a man on board the drug dealer’s ship. He sabotaged it somehow, and the whole thing sank, leaving no survivors.”
I shook my head, grinning. “Well, that’s some story. So Fallon was working for Coulton all along? Is he Golden Dawn then?”
“Well, we thought so at first,” Jasper answered. “But the ritual Coulton performed on the sarcophagus to keep you alive was really dark magic. I’ve only ever seen it performed once, and that was thousands of years ago. That’s not stuff the Golden Dawn will be teaching its followers. They worship Amun, the sun god, but this is dark magic. Only the priests of Apophis dabble with sorcery this dark.”
“So you think the Golden Dawn are really following Apophis?” I asked, feeling a little light-headed.
“No, I think Coulton is. I think he’s manipulating them, maybe he has been from the start. If he is a Priest of Apophis, then you are his master’s sworn enemy,” Jasper explained.
“Why now though?” Wesley queried. “I mean, she wiped most of them out after the battle. Why are they only coming after her now?”
