Reconciliation by Lisa Oliver
Chapter Thirteen
“What the hell?” Luka sat up rubbing his head, looking around for Mimi. One minute he was laughing and trying to catch up with his mate and the next he was tumbling over Mimi’s neck as her legs buckled and she fell. The horse was gone, and so was the warmth of the sun. The air was still, as though nothing lived in what appeared to be a large cavern carved out of stone. The place was lit with small torches that hung on the wall, but there was nothing else – just rock above and sand under his butt. “What is this place?”
“Welcome, wolf. This place is known as the Duat,” a deep voice sounded from the shadows. “Your kind might equate this place with the Underworld, but according to Egyptian beliefs, the Duat is where a person’s soul is brought before me for judgement.”
“I’m fucking dead?” Luka laid his hand on the side of his neck where he knew Seth’s tattooed mating mark was. “I think there’s been one big mistake. I can’t be dead. The Fates saw fit to give me an immortal mate and our life threads joined when he claimed me. My mate is Seth, god of the desert and storms. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?”
“Seth the murderer.” The laugh wasn’t a happy sound. “I know my brother as well as I know my own face. Did he mention he killed me?”
“You’re a dead god?” Luka rubbed his head again. Maybe his idea of immortality was different to the ones held by higher beings. How hard did I hit my head?
“Your ideas about immortality are perfectly sound, little wolf.” There was a shuffle in the sand as though someone was getting closer. Luka was more upset by the fact his faceless captor seemed to read his mind. Pulling on his doctor persona, Luka got up off the floor. “Did you see what happened to my horse? Taja will be most upset if something’s happened to her.”
“The horse is back with her herd where she should be and she didn’t suffer from the fall.” The voice was definitely closer. “Aren’t you at all curious about me, or why Seth saw fit to murder me?”
“Look, buddy…” Luka still couldn’t see anyone, but he turned to face where he believed the voice was coming from. “Seth and I haven’t been together very long, and I’m sure he’s got a huge long history he’ll talk about over time. But for now, he’ll be frantic, and my wolf is decidedly uncomfortable being underground. So, if you don’t mind…?”
“You truly don’t care that the one you’re bound to for eternity is a cold-blooded killer?”
“I fail to see how Seth can be considered a killer when you told me yourself you’re immortal, just like my mate. What I do think, is that this place seems pretty bare, devoid of people, and you’re probably bored, or lonely. I don’t know why you’re trying to rile me up and cause doubts between me and my mate – but that doesn’t happen with a wolf shifter, buddy. So, if you can point me in the direction of the doorway out of here…”
“You’re definitely not like the other puppy Seth took up with.”
Luka stilled. “I imagine whoever that was, that business is now ancient history. Seth and I are planning a future together, not dwelling in the past.”
“You won’t have a future with Seth.” The cruel laughter was back, and Luka had a strong urge to block his ears with his fingers. “Seth loved another just like you – his heart was torn apart when that puppy left him. He doesn’t have it in him to plan a future, to be happy, or to fall in love. That wolf stole his heart and Seth never got it back.”
“I think you’re full of shit!” Luka put his hands on his hips and glared at where the shadows were the darkest. “I don’t know what happened between you and my mate, but then I don’t listen to idle gossip and I’m not about to start now.”
“That bastard murdered me. Threw me in a trunk, locked it up and threw the damn thing in the river. When the trunk drifted to shore, he found me and cut my body into a thousand pieces and distributed them all over the world so I couldn’t come back.”
“And yet, here you are, talking to me.” Luka had a vague recollection of learning something about that at school. “So clearly, you’re alive, and doing your very best to stir shit between me and Seth. Honestly, buddy, get yourself a counselor. You have major jealousy issues and that ain’t attractive.”
“You… you…, I could smite you where you stand.”
“Apparently, I can’t die either. But if you don’t mind, I do have to go and find Seth, because believe it or not, your last death for the want of a better word will seem like a walk in the park if Seth finds out you’re keeping me against my will. I make him happy.” Luka wished he could see the person behind the voice. “He laughs when he’s with me, he has fun with me, and he may not be in love with me right this minute, but I’ve got an eternity to work on that, so fucking let me out of here.”
“Or I could seduce you into staying instead. Wolf shifters are very prone to succumbing to the temptations of the flesh.” There was a rustle as if clothing was being removed and then a tall and very pale man stepped out of the shadows. From a purely aesthetic standpoint, he was gorgeously proportioned, not as big or muscled as Seth but Luka could see where people might find the man sexually attractive.
Luka felt nothing, but he made a point of looking the man up and down. The lack of erection was a clear indication the man was toying with him. “Seriously, buddy, you need to get out more. That pale skin might have been all the rage with vampires in the Victorian era, but most modern people would think you were ill. I’ve seen healthier looking color on my patients in the ER ward and they had a lot more to worry about than you do.”
“You’re not attracted to me?” The pale man seemed perplexed, and a robe appeared out of thin air, coating his skin. “All gods are considered too beautiful to be gazed upon with anything but lust and worship by mere mortals. If anything, you should fear me – I judge the dead.”
Luka yawned and rubbed his head. There was a bit of a lump on it. “But I think we’ve already ascertained, I’m not dead, which means it’s not your place to judge me. Let me go.”
“But we have so much to talk about…”
“Let me go.”
“There are stories I can share…”
“Let me go.” Luka folded his arms over his chest.
“You must at least want to know the story of Seth and the wolf who stole his heart.”
“When Seth is ready, he’ll tell me himself, or not, and it makes no fucking difference to the way I feel about him. Let me go.”
“How can you even go near that bastard when you know his hands are covered with my blood.”
“I’m starting to see why Seth had good reason to kill you,” Luka growled. “Send me back to where you snatched me from. Now!” He put on his best glare, his thoughts running rampant with how frantic Seth would be. Luka had promised Seth he’d never leave him, and by the Fates he fucking meant to keep his promise. The silence between them stretched, Luka not giving an inch.
Finally, the other man huffed, and threw up his hands. “Clearly, I need more research on modern shifters. You can go, but watch your back little wolf, because I haven’t finished with you yet. Go back to my murderous brother.”
Luka opened his mouth to retort, but he felt a tug on his body and he closed his eyes quickly. He really wasn’t a fan of translocation. Seconds later, he opened them again to find himself standing in the middle of a desert plain with nothing but sand and sky around him. “Bastard,” Luka snarled, as he looked inside himself for the bond he could feel with his mate. Finding it, tugging on it, Luka sat down to wait. It wouldn’t take Seth long to find him. The man was a god after all.
