practically levitates when it enters his system. Then, with your silvery blood, he is now... oh, my, at the point of no return. I do not believe I have ever seen him this way."
Damali felt like she'd been punched in the stomach. "Pearl. . ."
"He could not have wrested the Caduceus from you, it had to be willingly given. Just as he could not take your body... but he did not want it with the tainted energy of hurt and spite resonating in it... that would have reduced his vibrations, therefore reduced his pleasure. He knows you are capable of pure, unrefined ecstasy, and that is what he wanted from you. He needed your trinity for a larger plan that he would never divulge to me, but I could feel his mind working the strategy daily."
Damali groaned and closed her eyes. "Tell me about the Caduceus." She couldn't even think about how close she'd come to just giving this schizophrenic entity her body.
"Although created by Imhotep, he did so with the healing energies of Mother Nature, thus it contains female power, conferred queen to queen. Cain had to manipulate circumstances so that you would give it with your blessings attached to it, or the rod would go dead. He knew that. I was a pawn, even though we were friends... lovers... he could sense Carlos would panic and act prematurely while in Nod, he knew my weakness for pleasure, and put us in a volatile position. He knew that I had to be seriously injured in order to get you to part with the staff... just as he knew Carlos would be estranged from you for his actions... I love how Cain's ambitious but twisted mind works. He is brilliant."
"But you were his lover--for how long?" Damali shouted, nearly faint.
"You were his friend, and he let you snap your neck to get the Caduceus? And you're not mad?" She was incredulous. "You're all right with that?"
"Those sentimental facts were not as important as his overall goal. Why remain angry? I have enjoyed his pleasure for years. I am free. His actions impact his karma, not mine. So, why harbor resentments that only lower one's vibration?"
Again, she could only stare at the pearl in her palm. This sister who'd encased the essence of her spirit in it was so cosmically cool and philosophical that it was bugging her out. "Girl... what is your name?"
"Zehiradangra," the pearl replied happily. "Oh, Damali... Your heart is so good. I love your energy. Do not let him break it, or your heart. He will use the Caduceus to heal his mortally wounded in battles so they may repeatedly rise when felled. If he has his way, your Neteru Council of Queens will be divided on this issue, Eve and your complicity in this disaster... which will separate you from your power source of Aset, Isis... then he will not be stopped."
"He set his own mom up?" Damali just stared at the pearl, her hand trembling. "Oh, yeah, this is definitely Dante's son."
"I knew his intent the moment I felt his presence on the beach. That is why I would not go to him. That is why I would not return to the honest one, Carlos, when he called after me. If Cain got me back and trapped me, I would have been remanded to his pool of exquisite sensation again... or maybe banished from it. I do not know. Either way, I could not bear the limitations of the pool after a dip in the ocean. Nor could I fathom being totally denied it. The dilemma seemed hopeless."
"You weren't going to eat the people on the ship?" Damali whispered, hot tears now wetting her lashes.
"No. I would never do that... I was simply curious. That is in my nature, as a dragon. I have never seen ships such as these. If I died, I wanted to die in the sea."
"It was suicide. You popped his energy bands... aw, girl... if you had only told us, you could have hooked up with our team."
"I did not pop Cain's bands. He let them go as I panicked, knowing I would run headlong from him. At that moment, I did not know that you would trust me. But I was sure that the younger Neteru would not be understood, and this would cause you pain. In the chaos, Cain would have had time to siphon the truth of my gift to you from me, and then he would