Sins of the Flesh

This time she didn’t even bother to glance at him.

“Use the jug,” she said. “That’s why I gave it to you.” She’d had no choice but to stop for gas along the way, and each time, before she pulled into the station, she’d bound and gagged him and covered him with the blanket after pushing him down on the floor of the rear seat, releasing him only when they were clear of the gas station.

There was no way she’d let him get out of the car to use the facilities, so she’d picked up a milk jug and emptied it for his comfort.

“It’s embarrassing.”

She did look at him then, and she let the disgust she felt seep into her expression. “I wonder if the women you killed found what you did to them embarrassing. I know Marie Matheson was embarrassed. Horrified. Afraid.” Marie had been lured to the Temple of Setnakht, singled out by Kuznetsov for his benevolent attention. And then he’d drugged her, intending to kill her. Maybe intending to rape her first.

The only reason she’d escaped was because Naphré Kurata, a former trainee of the Asetian Guard, had stumbled on her by accident and hauled her out of there. And Calliope knew this only because somehow, Marie had ended up in Roxy Tam’s care.

“How do you know Marie?” He fidgeted in his seat and pulled at the bonds she’d kept around his wrists as a precaution against his early exit. “You’re a member of the Asetian Guard, aren’t you?” he asked, his tone pitched high with stress. He’d asked the latter question more than once on their trip, and she hadn’t offered answers.

“You’ll know everything you need to soon enough,” she said.

He would. Because they were heading into the heart of the Asetian Guard. And chances were good that neither of them would be leaving alive.





AS SHE’D EXPECTED, a team met Calliope on the road; four silent, black-clad women took Kuznetsov from her. She didn’t argue. There was no point. With her arms folded across her chest, she watched as they shoved him into the Hummer. At least she’d done this much, delivered him to the Guard.

She found it faintly amusing that as they pulled away and he realized she hadn’t been invited to come along, Kuznetsov sent a panicked look at her out the back window. She supposed there was some logic in that reaction. Better the devil you know. Moments later, she heard the chop-chop of the helicopter blades and saw the shadow move across the sky, flying dark, no lights. She’d been left to make her way on foot. A message. The Matriarchs weren’t particularly pleased with her.

Which meant they knew what she’d done. Again, no surprise. Even the newest acolyte would have been able to sense the soul reaper’s prana flowing through her. The Matriarch’s could probably feel it from miles away.

She headed back to the gray SUV and got her sleeping bag out of the back. Then she climbed in the back-seat and made herself as comfortable as she could. She had one hell of a long climb ahead of her, and she’d just driven halfway across the country without sleep. Best thing she could do was grab a half hour now before she set out. Because she had a feeling that once she got where she was going, sleep would be the last thing she had a chance to do. So she set her watch alarm and closed her eyes.

Years of experience and training had taught her to sleep when she could. Within seconds, she was out.





SHE JERKED AWAKE, FEELING hyperaware, listening for her watch alarm. Nothing. Which meant the half hour she’d set it for hadn’t passed. Something else had woken her.

Pushing open the door, she climbed out of the SUV and looked around. She kept the hood of the vehicle at her back and turned her head from left to right, scanning the perimeter. Then she turned around and did the same in the opposite direction. The sky was darker than it had seemed earlier, the air warmer. The sensation of being watched prickled along the back of her neck.

Her breath hitched. She didn’t need to turn to know he was behind her.

“Calliope.” He said her name as if he was savoring it, and she closed her eyes at the sound of his voice. Smoke and warm brandy. She didn’t want to find the sound of it appealing. “Took a bit of effort to find you.”

She heard him step up behind her and felt the heat of his body. She smelled the scent of his skin, bright and clean. Like sunshine.

He wasn’t here. Couldn’t be here. She knew that. If she turned, she would find herself alone. If she turned, he would be gone.

She turned.

And he was right there, gray eyes locked on hers, stormy. Angry. And something else.