scent the air, the wind now carried the stench of jackals. I shivered, and the part of me that wanted to kill every last one of them and rip them apart with my claws rose to the surface. I sneered. “Mangy beasts,” I hissed. “They don’t deserve a calm, simple second death. They should be killed over and over until there’s nothing left of them but a smear in the dust where they died.” Pausing, I tilted my head to the left and murmured, “Many a time a man’s mouth broke his nose.”
“What’s that?” Ahmose asked.
“Uh, nothing,” I replied. “I’m finished. Let’s get going.”
We ran and ran until I was certain that even the power of the sphinx couldn’t carry me forward another step. “We’ve got to rest,” I cried. “I’m shattered.”
“Shattered, are you?” Ahmose chuckled, then bent over, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “I’ve never heard that term before,” he added.
I smiled. “Ya have a nice laugh. Me mother says, ‘A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures.’ ”
“And what do they cure?” he asked.
“Ach, everything. All the pains of the world disappear if you can find something to laugh about and, if not, things often look different in the mornin’.”
Ahmose was about to say something when a hand grabbed my arm. “What are you saying, Lily?” Asten demanded.
“What?” I replied, irritated that he would manhandle me so. “I’ll thank ya ta let me go now.”
He sucked in a breath and glanced briefly at Ahmose. “I think we need to talk. Alone,” he added with emphasis.
Now I was thoroughly upset. “No. Anythin’ ya need ta say, ya can say in front o’ him. I’ve got nothin’ to hide.”
“Nothing to hide?” Asten barked, running a hand through his hair. The cleft in his chin deepened and his eyes flashed dangerously. “You’re—” He gritted his teeth. “You’re not yourself, Lily.”
“Do ya mean ta traduce me, then? And in front of this lovely gentleman, too?” I said, jerking a thumb over my shoulder to indicate Ahmose. “Lily,” I spat, scoffing at his use of the name. “Who are you to judge what I am?” I asked, jabbing a finger into Asten’s chest. “Lily is a fragment of what we are. I am much more than Lily. When ya call me that, it diminishes the other parts o’ me. I do not appreciate it. Perhaps, mah friend”—I twitched my fingers, running them up his chest, over the cleft of his chin, and then tapped his nose—“ya should consider that it’s often better ta be found with good manners than good looks.”
Asten raised my wrist as if I were a fish at the market he was showing off and looked at Ahmose. “Do you see?” he asked as I struggled against him to free myself. “She’s different. Even more so than when she appeared as the sphinx.”
“Let. Me. Go!” I insisted, and Asten finally released me. I rubbed my wrist and glared at him all the while a part of me yearned to feel his arms around me.
Ahmose cautiously approached me, exuding tenderness and compassion from his gray gleaming eyes.
I sniffled and scrubbed my palms against my eyes. They itched. My brain did, too. I pressed my hand against the stela but didn’t feel any surge of energy.
Gently, Ahmose took hold of my shoulders.
“You don’t wish to be called Lily any longer?” he asked.
I shook my head no but felt confused as to why I did so.
“Then what should we call you? Sphinx?” he asked.
“Yes. I mean, no.” I let out a breath and pressed my palms against my temples, squeezing to stop the pain. “I guess it’s the best thing to do for now.”
I could feel Ahmose’s eyes on me. “Does your head hurt?”
Wincing, I nodded.
“Will the stela heal you?”
“We’ve been tryin’,” I said. “It doesn’t seem ta work.”
“We can try to help you, if you’ll let us. I’m a healer. Remember?”
“Yes,” I murmured quietly. “I remember.”
“Then close your eyes and try to relax. Breathe deeply.”
Obediently, I did what he asked and took in a cleansing breath. Ahmose gently took my hands from my head and began massaging my temples. “Ach, that’s lovely,” I said, feeling the tension in my body ease for the first time in what felt like forever.
A lilting hum intertwined with a purr filled my mind.
Asten came close and spoke softly in my ear. “Do you recognize me?”
“Yes,” I answered, feeling as if someone else was communicating for me.