Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The speedboat pulled up on the shore of the Nile, the sandy wasteland of Amarna glittering before us through the reeds of the Nile. As I spied the boats parked farther up the banks, I wondered what I was about to get into.

“Are you sure this is it?” I questioned my guide, who stood beside me in the small boat. Though a born and bred Egyptian with black hair and smiling eyes, he’d insisted that I call him “Smith.” It was an alias, of course. What we were doing was highly illegal and frowned upon by the government, who protected their national treasures.

But money talks, and I had stolen a big chunk of it from Remy’s room. With it, I was able to find myself a guide and a speedboat within a short time.

The trip to Amarna had been a long one. I’d sat in the back of the speedboat, lost in my thoughts. Guilt over Noah had obsessed me for the first few hours, and all I could think about was how I was failing him, and how wonderful he’d been to me. As the miles flew past, my thoughts turned darker as they led to Zane. He’d betrayed me, and now he was going to get the halo for the queen before I could save Noah, and we’d all be in deep doodoo-Remy, Stan, Noah, and me.

I was determined not to let that happen.

“Yes, this is Amarna,” Smith agreed in heavily accented English, breaking my train of thought. “There is not much left of the ruins today.”

“I’ll say.” I stared over the edge of the boat. “It doesn’t look like anything.” I was disappointed in my first sights of the fabled ancient city. A few tourist traps were visible over the tall reeds of the Nile, but other than a ferry ramp, it all seemed unimpressive. Where was the Temple?

I pulled out my guidebook and flipped to the bookmarked pages, looking for photos or a map. “So if this is Amarna, is the Temple to the Aten nearby?” The guidebook had listed it as the oldest monotheistic temple in the world, so I figured that was my best bet for halo finding, and no doubt where I’d find Zane and the others.

“You want the temple?” Smith asked. “I can take you there for two hundred euros.”

I frowned. “There’s going to be some vampires out there. I’m not sure you want to go. It’s dangerous. If you could just point me the way-”

Smith shook his head. “I will take you. Two hundred euros.”

I tossed the guidebook aside. “Suit yourself, buddy. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I pulled out my purse and handed him the last of the bills in my wallet. Remy had loaded us with cash for the trip, and I was just about broke by now, which was another depressing thought. Money made things happen in Egypt, and without it, I was going to be sunk.

“So the driver of the boat is going to wait here for us, right?” I looked over at our “driver” who seemed more like Smith’s teenage kid than a certified, licensed tour guide. He’d driven like a bat out of Hell, though, so I had no complaints. We’d gotten to Amarna before the sun came up, and even though dawn was peeking over the horizon, I figured we still had about an hour before all the vamps dropped off the face of the earth for another twelve hours.

“Yes, the driver will wait,” Smith assured me, giving me a toothy white smile. “He will wait for one hundred euros.”

“Sure,” I echoed, trying not to wince. “Pay you when we get back on the boat after you take me to the temple?”

Smith shook his head, frowning. “Pay now.”

“Not so fast,” I said, glaring at him and clutching my purse close. “How do I know that you won’t just take my money and leave me here? You guide me to the temple, and then we’ll talk about paying Junior here. Got it?” I thought it was a pretty good bluff, considering I didn’t have the hundred.

“Fine, I will take you,” Smith agreed reluctantly, and my heart eased a little in its frantic pounding.

The boat pulled up against the dock, bobbing on the waves. I scanned up and down the river before I got out. Two white specks bobbed in the distance-the boats Zane and his crew had used to get here before us. I hoped that they were empty, or Smith Junior might be in for a nasty surprise.

Don’t think about that, Jackie. Just get out of the boat. One thing at a time, I told myself.

Smith and I headed into the flat, brown ruins in the distance. We didn’t carry flashlights; the sky had lightened to a murky twilight, the smooth desert becoming more visible with each moment. We cut through a few of the sandy hills and, to my surprise, they weren’t all necessarily dunes-crumbled bricks and neat lines were drawn in the sands.

There was a city here, after all.

We followed the tourist path deeper and deeper into the ruins. Smith didn’t need my map, heading directly for one area as if he had radar. I began to suspect this was not the first illegal run he’d made to off-limit sites. The path was rocky and hazardous, thanks to my ridiculous sandals, and I had to keep my eyes glued to the path.

“Almost there,” Smith announced, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Hiking sucked when I was living, and wasn’t any better in the Afterlife.

Smith suddenly stopped and hunched down beside a crumbling half wall.

I nearly plowed into his backside, and instead went stumbling to the ground, wrenching my ankle with a “pop” that only I heard. I hoped that was my shoe and not the bones of my foot. If I had to make a break for it, I’d be toast.

“Someone is out in the temple ruins,” Smith whispered, shivering against the stone wall and clutching his hat like a shield. “A man with a gun.”

Hmm. “Does he have black hair and a long coat? Two other people with him?”

Smith just gave me a terrified look, unable to speak.

“You’re a big help,” I muttered, crawling a few feet away and peering over the wall.

The ruins of the Temple of the Aten lay before me in all their unamazing glory. I’d read that there was pretty much nothing left of the Aten Temple except for a few fake fiberglass columns, so I’d expected that. Only the flat lines of stone indicated that once there had been a beautiful temple here.

Zane stood outside those lines, casually pacing behind his two prisoners, gun in hand as the dawn rose behind him. On the ground at his feet, Remy and Stan sat back to back, their hands and feet tied.

They were alone, which surprised me. I’d expected a few more of the queen’s lackeys to show up to ensure that this thing was done right, but nope. It was just Zane, who looked rather bored and kept checking his watch as if he were waiting for something.

Like me.

I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do, Jackie, he’d whispered against my skin.

All a bunch of big fat tricks. Anger burned in my mind, searing out all the tender thoughts I’d had of him. I hated liars.

Furious, my hands clenched the crumbling brick wall. That asshole had used me from day one. Well, no longer. I pondered the distance between here and the boundaries of the Aten Temple. It didn’t look like anything was in there, but maybe it wasn’t obvious to those who weren’t within its lines. Zane scrupulously avoided even sweeping his coat over the bricks. I imagined it was warded from both angel and vampire, which was why they needed a succubus to do their dirty work.

Why hadn’t he used Remy to retrieve it?

I crouched back behind the wall. “Smith,” I said, turning to him.

But the wall next to me was empty. He’d run out on me. Couldn’t blame him. I sighed, rubbing my face. “Great. I guess I have to go at this alone.”

“Wasn’t that the plan all along, my dear?” The queen’s eerie, purring voice sounded behind me, and I froze in place. Oh, God.

I turned slowly to face her. “I can explain …”

Nitocris crossed elegant arms over her chest, her red eyes burning into me. She was dressed in a dark red pantsuit that looked painted onto her, highlighting the menacing bloodred of her eyes and lips. Behind her stood several vampire goons dressed in black suits and long, dark trench coats. One of them clutched a comatose Noah, hands and feet bound, his face badly cut.

Oh, Noah. My heart ached just looking at him.

The queen smiled down at me, showing rows and rows of sharklike teeth. “An explanation? I think I should like that.”