If he could just get a good vamp whirl going, he'd serve the cocky bastard across the room black Armani, a pair of leather slip-ons, and show him how it was done back in the 'hood. Matter of fact, he didn't do Old World nothing, not robes and dreadlocks, nor Egyptian braids, none of that--he did clean-shaven, precision-cut. Fuck Cain!
And, yeah, he cussed--so? If Damali wanted some romance-language shit, some corny guy carrying a blade instead of a nine, who would croon to her in what sounded like Shakespeare's era, she could have all that. It wasn't him by a long shot. And so what if he didn't sing, he'd like to see Cain's ass at a modern-day bargaining table, throwing down serious deal-making, strategy, handling business like it needed to be handled--he had a skill, now, she'd better act like she knows. Not to mention--
"Why are you working yourself up like this over a pair of shoes?" Cain said, seeming genuinely perplexed. "Conserve your energy."
Carlos could practically feel steam coming out of his ears. He was so angry that his throat was cracked and dry. His blood pressure was spiking so hard it felt like his pulse was pushing his eyeballs out of their sockets. He made fists with his hands. "I want my shoes, my shit, and I don't want anything from you," he shouted.
Cain smiled, shook his head, and went back to his closet. "Now you really do sound like a child."
"Are you sure?" Marlene asked, glancing around the compound's altar room.
Damali's gaze took in each of the ancestral artifacts and mementos from many lands that rested peacefully within the solemn, wood- framed room. Bright sunlight poured into it to splash the ivory walls. She took a deep breath. "Yeah. I need to talk to Queen Eve."
"Remember, Damali, that's still his mother--Neteru or not."
"I know," Damali assured her as she stepped forward, preparing to kneel.
Marlene caught her arm. "No. You don't know. The mother-son bond is stronger than anything you could imagine. I know Eve won't take this to the male Neteru Roundtable for a divination on her own. Not when it comes to Cain. She and Adam have been at odds for years over her son, his stepson, okay? I'd feel better if you went to a more neutral queen from that era, like Nefertiti. Even though her husband, Akhenaton, got elevated posthumously he holds serious advisor weight at the table--since he reintroduced monotheism into law after periods of human uncertainty on the many gods issue."
"It'll be fine, Mar," Damali said with a calm smile.
Marlene let Damali's arm go, becoming exasperated with worry as Damali knelt. Nervous and wound up like a top, Marlene paced back and forth in front of the altar, keeping her voice low and reverent. "Besides, Akhenaton had six daughters, and was always seen with his queen at his side--seven women, Damali. You know he's seen it all---all of them fine, his wife a star. Nefertiti's girls had to be the bomb and had to have everything under the sun and moon at his door coming at 'em. Why not take it there for unfiltered advice and leave Eve be, because she's conflicted. She has to be; she's his mother," Marlene whispered though her teeth. "Her advice might be... oh, chile. I ain't speaking ill of one of our queens, but, remember, now, Akhenaton was the first of the monarchs to emphasize his role as a father, and with Tutankhamen as his son-in-law, you know--" "Help me call the violet pyramid, Mar," Damali said with her eyes closed.
"All right, all right, all right," Marlene said, her tone testy as she knelt. "In and out. Keep the questions simple and--"
"Open the pyramid with me, Mar," Damali said, breathing slowly and deeply. "I know not to step on any toes. Trust me. I owe Eve, don't forget... she put her body on the line to direct us to the Chairman's lair. That had to be a difficult meeting. I'm sure, if Adam found out, he didn't take it well."
Marlene let her breath out hard and focused with Damali. With their eyes closed, both women turned toward each other once their palms began to tingle, creating a peaked V with their right hands, fingertips barely touching, as their left palms slowly rotated faceup to form the base of the energy structure.
Slowly but surely a violet light filled the space between their hands as their focused energy intensified. They spread their hands apart until the light