Her husband had delivered the state of the union in full battle bulk, and then called Jose to his side to walk down the beach. Mo�ments later, Carlos had left Jose standing on the shore appearing numb as he evaporated into a golden obelisk-blade in hand.
Juanita's eyes still held a hard edge of betrayal in them and didn't soften until Jose returned and pulled her into a hug.
"I had to tell him," Damali said quietly, staring at Juanita's back and searching Jose's eyes.
Juanita nodded and kept her face pressed against Jose's shoulder.
"Good looking out, D," Jose said, quietly. "Thanks."
"What happened?" Marlene said, her radar snapping on, but Damali held up her hand. "That," she said, nodding to where Jose and Carlos had been on the beach, "was personal. Let it rest. He just wants Jose to be careful, since he has some vamp line in him. With Cain's energy whirling at Chairman Level, anything crazy could kick off."
Jose nodded, and Juanita turned to finally glimpse Damali with a silent thank-you in her eyes.
"I have to go," Damali said, standing with effort. "He went to the kings; I have to consult the queens." She glanced around the team. "Y'all pull out all the weaponry, get strapped, all seers' radar up. Everybody's personal guard up; sensory capacities at the ready."
She waited until nods and battle-ready gazes met hers and the dis�gruntled band of warriors began to stand and go into the house. Silent terror was threading its way through her system, though. Each time she'd tried to summon her Isis, she got only a small tickle of cur�rent in her palm.
Hastening to the water's edge, Damali focused on the surf, trying to get the violet pyramid to open. Nothing. No juice. It was as though she was a dead battery. Damali glanced over her shoulder and tried to signal Marlene with her mind. Nothing. No telepathy? She covered her mouth with her hands. Her system had never been this fried in her life. Part of her wanted to dash back to the house and get Marlene to open the pyramid. The other part of her knew it would freak Mar and the entire squad out if they thought they had a Neteru down.
Damali touched the large diamond in the center of her collar with two fingers and spoke in a low, urgent whisper.
"Aset, hear me. I must come to you, but you have to get me. Cain is loose."
CHAPTER FIVE
Chaotic, swirling interdimensional winds gathered Damali into a maelstrom the moment the violet queen's pyramid opened and she stepped over the threshold. Crash-landing in a giant marble hallway, she was caught by two hands just before she hit the ground.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, young queen," Nzinga said, holding Damali upright.
"Cain-"
"Yes," Aset said in a quiet rush, cutting off Damali's words. She motioned to the large chamber that housed the Council of Queens' meeting oval. "We must have a brief private session before we take this to the table." Aset glanced at Nzinga. "Create a diversion and has�ten Nefertiti to my side."
Nzinga stepped away as Aset practically dragged Damali down the large rose-and-gold marble hallway to hide behind a pillar. If it weren't for the frantic look in Aset's eyes, Damali would have been sure her queen was about to kick her natural ass. Old school, outside, one on one.
Damali didn't even get a chance to verbally defend herself or put up a fighter's stand to take the blow. Aset had swiftly grabbed her into a hug and now whispered tenderly in her ear.
"I know, I know, sister, but Eve is beside herself. Do not fear me or the other queens. We have to tell her that you have confirmed her son's Darkness, and thus must execute him... but stand behind me and Nzinga when you do."
Damali clung to Aset like she was drowning. Perhaps she was. A hundred emotions slammed into her and threatened to burst out all at once.
"I don't know what to tell her," Damali said. "He's lost his mind."
Aset nodded and held Damali away from her, finally letting Damali go to place a graceful finger over her lips before speaking again. "How are your powers?"
"Weak," Damali admitted. "I couldn't even summon the pyra�mid."
Aset closed her eyes. "All of us are experiencing a dredge." For a moment Damali just stared at Aset. "You guys, too? Whoa..."
"We work on a delicate, cooperative balance of feminine har�monies and energies," Aset said with a weary sigh. "Eve is the cor�nerstone of that. She was the first of our kind... Perhaps this is indeed the end of our reign, whereby the first shall be last and the last shall be first. Eve was the first, you are the last. I do not know." Aset began to pace. "Never before has our council been so bitterly divided. Eve accepted our collective decision on the surface, verbally conced�ing to the will of the group, but deep within her spirit, she is so wounded that even the Caduceus did not repair her suffering." Shim�mering silver tears filled Aset's eyes. "He isher son."
Not sure where to begin commentary, Damali dragged her fingers through her locks. "I thought the power drain was from Carlos being so angry at me... and from the battle bite, but-"
"Your husband...a Neteru king, battle bit you?"
Aset's voice held a tone so aghast that Damali cringed. Then the fact that she wasn't supposed to reveal that, per Carlos's request, made her close her eyes.
"Aset,swear to me on a stack of every holy book ever written that you willnever disclose this to any other queen. My husband asked me not to-"