Beyond Your Touch (21 page)

A slow, deep drumbeat drifted up from far below and I glanced to see where it was coming from. The arena was bright with torches now, people moving around up on the stage and in the ringside seating area.

“I told you to stay out of sight,” Chase's voice growled right next to me.

I jumped and whirled toward him. “Shit, Chase. You scared me.”

His eyes narrowed. A faint spark of aura crackled up his flexed biceps before vanishing. “That's the problem. You need to stay sharp. I could have been one of Malphic's guards.”

“They already were here—and they didn't see us,” I snapped back.

His tone remained tough. “What if I'd been them, coming back? I don't want to have to kill someone because you think this is fun and games.”

My cheeks burned. “I know it's not.”

“We don't think you have to be worried about killing guards,” Lotli said, her voice soft.

I glanced at her and swallowed hard. Her figure wasn't cocooned by veils anymore, far from it. In fact, she'd rearranged them into something closer to the belly dancer I'd originally expected—only sexier.

She touched her tongue to her lip ring. “We did wear specific clothing for a reason, correct?”

My teeth clenched, but the truth of what she was saying weighed inside me, real and undeniable. She was supposed to look like a performer, someone sent here to put on a show. Chase had said we'd find my mother in the harem or the nearby baths. It was likely the women there would be similarly dressed. In truth, I hadn't given Lotli the credit she deserved. She'd purposely tamed down her outfit at the house to avoid being misconstrued, like I definitely would have done. Here her motive for looking sexy was obvious. It was the right thing to do.

“You look perfect,” I said, smiling approvingly.

Chase gave her a lingering once-over. “That outfit would take my mind off pretty much anything.”

“You are too sweet to us,” she said, without a hint of flirtatiousness.

I slipped my hands into the robe's hidden pockets, letting my fingers slide over my flashlight and the salt. It was time to get down to business. Lotli had assumed her sexy role. It was time for me to step into my eunuch persona.

CHAPTER 24

 

—On finding an agreeable suitor:
Sovereign Mistress Vephra

 

 

M
y adrenaline kicked in big-time as I bowed my head like a humble eunuch and trailed Chase and Lotli back inside. According to Chase, it was traditional for the performer to lead the way, then the bodyguard, and lastly the eunuch.

We started down the stairs, our boots shushing against the narrow stone treads, the aurora's shifting radiance giving way to the flash of torchlight. On either side of us, murals glistened and stalactites twisted down the walls like motionless black vipers. One thing was for sure, if we had to get back to the veil in a hurry, running up these stairs wouldn't be easy. They were steep enough to wind an Olympic athlete and seemed to go on forever.

Eventually, we reached the next landing. It was much larger than the first, with an ornate balustrade and a dozen or more carpets hanging on its walls.

An echo of raucous laughter flooded up from below us and the smoky-masculine incense smell grew denser and stronger, now layered with the faint oily aroma of jasmine and oranges. Chase had warned us that Malphic's fortress wasn't a sparkly

One Thousand and One Nights
fantasy, but I hadn't pictured it as quite so ominous.

Lotli stopped in her tracks. “Are you sure this is the best way?”

“We need to go down one more floor,” Chase whispered. “Go on. I'm right behind you.”

The stairs became wider and less steep. Voices joined the laughter, but the distance still made it impossible to judge where they were coming from or make out what they were saying. I gripped the oval handle of my dagger, wondering if Lotli's and Chase's heartbeats were slamming as loud as mine.

“You there. Stop!” A voice bellowed up from the landing a few steps below us. The Hulk's voice, I was certain of it.

“Yes? Whatever you want,” Lotli twittered sweetly, but a note of fear quivered in her voice.

The Hulk's voice rumbled, “What were you doing up there?”

I sucked in a breath, willing my heartbeat to go from panic to determined and ready. I lifted my head a fraction. Chase's stance was wide, a knife waited in his hand.

“We—we were looking for you,” Lotli said, going down another step. “We thought you were upstairs. But you weren't. We—we are lost.” She reached the landing and sashayed up to him, hips swaying. “We could use your help. We fear we are terribly late.”

“Your first time here?” he asked, his voice perking up.

I didn't dare look at him for more than a second at a time, but I could have sworn the tattoos on his arms briefly emitted a lusty glow.

Lotli's voice went breathy. “If we'd been here before, we're certain we would have remembered you.” If I hadn't been totally convinced she was over the aftereffects of the magic, her tone would have worried me.

The Hulk chuckled. “You're supposed to go to the harem baths first—for your cleansing. But there's enough time for me to show you just how memorable I can be.”

Head held high, Chase strode forward. “We don't have time for this. Take us to the harem.”

The Hulk's eyes hardened. “Fuck you. I'm talking to the mistress.”

“Show us to the baths—right now,” Chase demanded.

“Or what?” I heard the scrape of the Hulk's sword leaving its scabbard.

My jaw clenched. Screw the humble eunuch thing. Eunuchs were supposed to guard the performer's virtue too, right? I deepened my voice to the most guy-like tone I could manage, probably pretty realistic for a eunuch, and snarled, “Or I'll cut your sacks off!”

“What?” The Hulk's head snapped toward me. His voice veered higher. “What did the fucking eunuch say?”

Lotli sighed dramatically. “He said he'd cut your sacks off. Personally, we find swordplay exhilarating, especially when there's a possibility of a sweaty threesome afterward. But we're afraid my other attendant is all business. If he says he'll remove your balls, then that's what he'll do. Then he'll tell our master that we were willing to give our gifts to you, when they were intended for the warlord.”

“Malphic? You're not just a performer. You're a—” He stepped back as if someone had just labeled her with a skull and crossbones. “Yes, of course. I'll take you to the harem baths myself. Right away.”

He started to turn away, but Lotli slithered her fingers around his wrist. She swayed up close to him, until her hips massaged his leg. “It would have been wonderful—for both of us.”

Chase balled his fingers into fists. Personally, I wanted to gag.

The Hulk blinked and stuttered. “Ah—yes. The—the harem. That's where you need to go.”

We followed him down another story and onto yet another landing, the heat growing more oppressive and the incense smell stronger with each step. We went into a hallway. The light dimmed. Tendrils of smoke enshrouded the torches' glow. Persian-style carpets hung everywhere. Voices and laughter echoed out from the shadows. A screech. An erotic moan. The carpet-decorated walls gave way to a diamond-like mosaic of orange and blue tiles, studded with strange black symbols. The haze thickened. No doubt Chase didn't like this hulking guard. But I was glad to have an armed escort taking us straight to where we needed to go. After all, the route could have changed since Chase was last here.

Something white and tiny flew past me, fluttering against my sleeve. A moth. A second later, another one brushed my shoulder and I felt the snap of static electricity, followed by a crackle of energy as another fluttered into my hood. There was a whole swarm of moths now, thousands of them bursting out from the haze and streaming by us on all sides.

“Flying maggots,” the Hulk sputtered.

Lotli and Chase ducked to avoid the thickest of the mass. I waved my hand to fend them off and turned my head to one side. That's when I spotted a dark, human-shaped shadow creeping along behind us.

Crushing fear launched my heart into my throat. But I swallowed the urge to scream and calmly turned forward, cold dread sinking into my bones. A shadow-genie. Only steps behind us. What the hell was he doing? Had he figured out who we were?

For a long moment, I walked on, muscles tense, fear blistering inside me. Finally, I pushed past it and lengthened my strides enough to catch up with Chase. I nudged him in the back. He glanced over his shoulder. I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head to indicate behind us. He nodded to say he knew the shadow was there.

The march of approaching footsteps came from ahead of us. Chase swiveled back around. And, an instant later, a half dozen guards strode into sight.

The Hulk stopped and dipped his head in respect.

“Why are you away from your post?” a guard in a black turban demanded.

Chase's hand went to his waistline. And, at the same time, the creepy sensation of something looming behind me clawed up my spine. It was like in the gallery, except this time I didn't dare throw salt at the shadow. I had to act unbothered.

Petrified, I listened as the Hulk explained that Lotli was a special guest and he was escorting us to the baths—that the guard with the ponytail was in the spire. A big lie, but I couldn't have cared less. I could smell a disgusting mix of foul breath and bleach emanating from inches behind me. Feel the moist heat coming from its mouth.

Fuck this.

I whirled around. A shadow equally big and wide-shouldered as the one in the gallery glowered down at me.

“Back off,” I snarled.

The shadow spat on the floor. “Out of my way, gelding.” He shoved me in the shoulder, sending me staggering into the wall. Chase had his scimitar out, ready to swing. The shadow laughed, elbowed his way past us and through the group of guards, and stalked off down the hallway.

“Well, he's certainly nasty,” Lotli said, breaking the tension.

The Hulk grunted. “He wouldn't stand a chance against Samiel.”

After another brief interrogation that Lotli handled with amazing charm and panache, the guards let us pass. I had to give her credit—once she'd recovered from the aftereffects, she'd turned into a person I was glad to be partnered with.

We followed the Hulk deeper into the fortress, his measured steps swifter than before. The air became even more humid with each curtained doorway we passed. I struggled to keep track of the route we were taking—three doorways on the right, two on the left, a left turn, a right one—I had to remember how to get back to the spire, in case Chase really didn't know the way and got confused.

The Hulk stopped by a keyhole-shaped doorway and pulled aside the curtain. Sitar music and citrus-scented mist wafted out from inside. “Through here,” he said.

Loti paraded in, pausing long enough to run a finger down his chest and coo, “I'll save a dream for you.”

My stomach tensed. I wasn't sure if she realized genies could physically have sex with people in their dreams or not, but either way I wouldn't have said that to him.

“As you wish.” He grinned. With a click of his heels, he left us and headed back the way we'd come.

Once I was positive he was out of sight, I stepped around Chase to head inside. The harem baths. All we had to do now was find Mother and get back to the spire.

Chase snatched me by the shoulder, holding me back until he could go ahead. Damn. I'd forgotten. Proper order. Eunuchs last.

Inside, the mist was intense. Between that, my hood, and the sweat dribbling down my face, it was hard for me to see much. But the room's floor was tiled, a glossy pattern that resembled peacock feathers.

I stepped away from Chase and caught a glimpse of columns and statues surrounding a steaming pool. It reminded me of a Roman bath, like the one I'd seen when Dad and I visited England, only instead of sunshine this room was brightened by the eerie glow of gold-and-ruby-colored globes filled with what appeared to be oil and flickering flames.

No one was in the pool or anywhere around it. But a man in a crisp white robe bustled out from behind a fountain and hurried toward us, a eunuch, I assumed.

He greeted Lotli with a bow and then spoke to her in a hushed voice, too low for me to understand. Chase folded his arms across his chest and gazed into the distance like a statue. I tried for a moment longer to catch the gist of what the eunuch was saying, but quickly gave up and lowered my gaze to the floor, humble and quiet, hopefully rounding out the perfect picture of a performer and her entourage.

As I stood there staring at the floor tiles, I started to understand at a deeper level how different life had been for Chase, beyond just the clothing and the spookiness of this place. Or, more correctly, it began to sink in how lucky I'd been to not grow up like this with so many rules about what you could and couldn't do, rules about who you could be, a lack of choice as painful and deadly as any sword slice or sip of nightshade tea.

And it wasn't just Chase who had grown up caged by the commands and whims of others. Lotli had lived under similar circumstances. I mean, I doubted Zea would have killed her or thrown her into an arena full of blood-hungry leopards, but she'd had to kowtow instead of following her own desires.

“We would like that,” Lotli's voice rose.

The white-robed eunuch's arm swooped out, gesturing for us to follow him. “This way, then.”

We walked along the line of columns, deeper into the steam, past the sitar player and into a small antechamber. The echo of soft whispers and a girl's gentle laughter made me glance in their direction.

Two women dressed similarly to Lotli sat on a long marble bench. White-robed eunuchs knelt in front of them, dipping sponges into bowls of what looked like black tea, and dabbing the women's legs and feet with the liquid. Two other performers being cleansed, I assumed. But no sign of Mother.

There were more whispers and three more women came out from a blue-curtained doorway. Well, not exactly women—

I pressed my fingers against my lips, smothering a gasp. They didn't have solid bodies like Lotli and me or the two other women performers. Their bodies were ghostly, ethereal, like Lotli and I would have been in this realm without the Methuselah oil. Human women. Captives, most likely. Like my mother. I'd forgotten that she most likely wouldn't appear solid.

Fear tumbled through me. I had an image of my mother in my head. But it was created from a patchwork of faint memories, photos taken years ago, and Dad's descriptions of her beauty and musical voice. “
Like a silkie stolen from the sea,
” is how he'd described her. But the horrifying truth was—I might not recognize her, especially if she was ethereal.

I moved in close behind Chase and whispered, “One of them isn't my mom, right?”

No,
he told me with a shake of his head. A guard came out through the same blue-curtained doorway as the women. He glanced our way. Chase stiffened, bent close to me, and quickly whispered, “Your mother must be with the Sovereign Mistress Vephra. You can't miss Vephra. She's tall. Regal. She'll be with Malphic.”

“Uh—what do you mean by—” I wanted to ask why he'd said
you
—as in why I couldn't miss Vephra—but the guard strode up to us and I silenced my questions.

The guard focused solely on Lotli as if even the white-robed eunuch who'd escorted us were invisible. “You are here for the cleansing?” he asked her.