"Uh, uh," Marlene said, shaking her head. "Not done. Out of character. Shit, even alive, Carlos Rivera had more cool than that. Something got his nose open, and it ain't the average vamp female."
"This thing has a lock on him, Mar. Even I can't break it."
Both women held each other's gaze for a moment.
"Damali, male vampires are not attracted to were-demon females. Conversely, were-demons will try to use strength in numbers to rush male vamps to get them out of their limited feeding grounds - since that entity's available time to feed is bound by both the phase of the moon and the location it was turned in. They wouldn't draw a master, of all things, right into its feeding zones. But we do know that a male vampire will accommodate and respond to the female he's trying to seduce by becoming what she wants him to be. They are masters of illusion."
Marlene rubbed her chin deep in thought as Damali kept her gaze fastened on her. "That's in their nature, too. So, if Carlos is suddenly taking on these new proclivities, then he's drawing something to him - or being drawn by something that is primal like a were, has form like human female, and a scent that beats Neteru. It's also bound to this region, one that has very funky karma, because that's where the bodies have been dropping. Whatever it is, it eats human flesh. That much we do know." Marlene blew out a long whistle.
"We've never seen an entity like this before, one from the demon realms that has enough power to attract a strong male master vamp. Carlos probably hasn't either." Marlene's gaze softened as she touched Damali's cheek. "You need to fight for him, and not let this thing get ahold of him. D, this ain't a normal male-female vamp pull. Whatever this thing is can jeopardize more than your relationship, it can compromise his soul in Purgatory - if he hasn't already dropped a body to feed her. And, trust me, I would never tell you something like this as a mother figure, or just as a woman, because I normally don't believe in it. But in this case, baby, screw it. Pull out all the stops. Fight for your man."
Marlene let her go and folded her arms over her chest. But suddenly both women's focus went toward the abandoned book on the bed.
"Mar, I smell paper burning."
They both rushed to the bed, and Marlene took the book up slowly. They watched in awe as the pages scorched and realigned, ancient markings entering new information beside it as they gaped.
Marlene's gaze remained riveted to the text. "The book reveals what it wants you to know, only when it is time for you to know it... this name was never entered into the pages until I just opened this book in search, or I would have seen it before now - so would the vampires. How is it that none of us knew?"
She had no answer for Marlene, just a wide-eyed stare.
"Baby, something foul had to go down beyond the mere history of this region, to keep her shadowed from the sacred texts. The Amazon in my books was only made five hundred years ago, not a thousand. We knew the light sent you early, child... that had to be by design梛ust like the one now mentioned in there was sent early. Hold it... she actually predated Nzinga's reign?" Marlene's eyes were so wide that it made Damali cover her heart with her hand. "Damali," she said reverently, "you know Queen Nzinga lived from 1583 to 1663, and never surrendered, even at eighty years old when she died. Girlfriend battled the Dutch and Portuguese from her base in Africa - she was the only one me and Shabazz had seen on the pages before you."
"You guys knew Nzinga was a Neteru, and that I was born early, but never gave me the dates... Why?" So much new information was hitting her, it made her head spin.
"Because if you were, it meant something serious - we had to know what that was to ensure your guidance. Only Shabazz and I know. But that's why she pulls you as a role model, and you admire her headdresses and garb... and like we told you, before that, we thought the Isis blade was held in the Nubian empire. If this Amazon fell in the mid 1540s, Nzinga was sent real early, too! A forty-year gap, not a thousand? That, we didn't know. I'd put money on it that the vamps didn't, either. As above, so below... Heaven has her mysteries, too. And now that we're standing in Brazil with the Temt Tchaas on us, the Amazon is written in? And she'd been fighting the same people... same slave trade?"
Marlene shook her head as her fingers reverently touched the new •etchings. "Uh, uh. This is scary deep. The Temt Tchaas rarely violates itself like that. It took your energy on this soil to make it respond. I've only seen it do that one other time since I've had it." She looked at Damali hard.
"When was that?" Damali whispered, almost afraid of the answer.
Marlene's eyes had never left her face. "When Carlos was named your life-mate guardian, then burned away early. Wasn't supposed to happen like that. I wept as I watched it. You were only fifteen when his drug trade kicked up a notch too far."
Damali's hand slowly covered her mouth but her eyes remained fixed on Marlene's. Her mentor only nodded and quietly closed the book.
"Go get him, and burn him back into the pages, baby. He was one of ours, and whatever's over here can't have him - not like this, just like Hell hasn't been able to hold him. This is big shit going down in the universe. I can't claim to know all, but I've seen enough. You were born early. There has to be a reason that you both have all these influences battling over y'all. He's a pivot point to disaster, somehow, too. But you're the only one who can get a lock. Use it, before the wrong side uses him. Do that for me; it's way personal now." She closed the book slowly. "The light has sped up the cosmic timetable. Neteru's are coming fast and hard, and there must be a reason female warrior energy is required for the big one, the Armageddon. This is real personal, even at the levels of Heaven."
For the first time in her life, she saw something in Marlene's eyes that went well beyond being a guardian. There was a shadow, an angry one that spoke of a past experience that couldn't be shared. And for the first time Marlene's focus wasn't solely on the universe's grand plan to save the world, but was also on salvaging a little bit of happiness for one of her own. Within this frank discussion, Marlene wasn't giving her platitudes, cautioning restraint, or telling her to be patient. Marlene's eyes said to go for broke. Claim your territory; mark it. Just do the shit with authority, like you own it, because you do. It was destined to be yours. The book said so.
"Marlene... I had a feeling about there being a Neteru in the equation." Damali steadied herself. "That's the DNA link - and why the team is vibing here so hard, linking to female energy. I have a mostly male team, the Neteru before me had a team of Amazon warriors... and I had a dark guardian life-mate. Whatever this thing is, it's syncing up and shadowing our team in a one-to-one matchup, and like you said, the mating ritual is giving it additional energy - topspin. It's gotta be the past trying to link to the present, finding cellular matches to draw more energy... and Rider and Dan have bloodlines, like Father Pat, that could make them instant targets... while the others would-be mates. Either way ain't good. What if - "
"This is definitely personal, then - and all of it, since you began fighting, has centered around mating energies," Marlene said, cutting her off. "It ain't about losing any of the fellas, especially Carlos, because he's the strongest one on the team and has the most to lose... and if it's a female vamp that got caught in the vortex, or a demon, who cares? We smoke that bitch." Marlene's eyes held Damali's in a lock. "I know we have innocents to protect, but I also care about you, your joy, your future... and I damned sure care about this team, way beyond some grand cosmic plan. Nzinga wouldn't have it; you shouldn't either... and if this Amazon couldn't hold onto her reign, or something corrupted it, do her. Yeah, girl, it's personal, now, if that's what's going on. I trust your instincts on this one."
That small but profound statement, I trust your instincts, made a huge difference as Damali stood there watching her mother-seer's outrage over something threatening her joy, her future, as well as the team's. For a few moments she could actually feel that, while Marlene grieved the loss of lives out there, it was okay that this was also personal. Something was after her daughter's man, and the lives of their squad, which made it a more visceral mission. It linked them in that very private moment in a way they never had before. Right now, they weren't just mentor and protegee, master and apprentice... or even friends. They were something much more than that. They were peers.
Chapter Fourteen
Heat and music and the sweet, potent flavor of her caipirinha drink coated Damali's insides with warmth. She'd craved the lime and sugarcane taste as much as she craved a few moments without worry. Everything that had been said in the room alone with Marlene was so wild that she needed time to regroup. If they were going to fight, they needed to be fresh, ready, with their heads on straight. Her team needed this night out just like she did, Damali thought, as she looked at their happy faces. She shot a knowing glance toward Marlene.
The guys had taken the news of pending doom fairly hard, and as though soldiers about to go off to their last battle, they were in the nightclub going for broke. Knowing what you were hunting, or what was possibly hunting you, was one thing. The not-knowing part was the real monster. It also gave her a certain peace about Carlos. At least there was a reason, perhaps some thin shred of hope to cling to. She was just glad that Marlene had been discreet about the more personal aspects of what she'd shared. The fellas didn't need to know all that.
Damali watched them from the corner of her eye amid the colors of the club strobe lights. Men definitely had a different way of dealing with stress. Her mother-seer had been right about that, too.
It seemed that each one of them was having their last affair with life, and grabbing it with all the gusto they could. She could only silently pray that she and Marlene had been wrong and thus filled with unnecessary anxiety. Maybe it was just strong Amazon vamp female energy fusing with the whack history of the region, and not something worse. But, then, when had their intuitions ever been that wrong?
The four small tables the team had pulled together to make a long row for their group vibrated with the samba. One could actually see tiny ripples inside each glass and mug of beer. Voices, laughter, couples, people searching for a partner; the club was throbbing with other types of energy that made Damali sad. There was so much yet to see in the world, and if she lost anyone on her team, she'd never forgive herself.
"Aw, man. Rider, check it out. Three o'clock over your shoulder, brother." Big Mike's eyes were trained on a tall sister by the bar, and Rider gave him a nod of endorsement.