Immortal Dynasty by Lynda Haviland

tensed that she had caught him off guard. He deserved it.
    “What spell?” He placed the cat on the floor, and stood facing her. His aura colored with defensive energy.
    “How did you resurrect my body?”
    At the mention of her body, his eyes briefly flicked down to her bare breast. Her nipples hardened. She felt the hot thrill of control. Returning his gaze to hers, he slowly pulled the medallion from under his shirt.
    “With this.”
    “Just that? No spell?” He was still too arrogant for her liking. “Where is my priest? He will know how to correct your mistakes.”
    “Mistakes?” He closed the distance between them in two very determined strides.
    “Yes. You did it wrong. You should have left such things to those who are—”
    “Listen, your highness, I have a few questions of my own.”
    “I do not answer to you.”
    “You will answer me because my grandfather’s life depends on it. He believed in an ancient prophecy. He spent his whole life searching for you. You are a part of it. So, let’s just start with any easy one…why were you in that statue?”
    He was so close that his scent filled her, calmed her. She thought about denying him an answer. He was not a part of this. Yet, he was the one to find her. Regardless of how it turned out, he had been the one to free her to fulfill her destiny.
    “I was waiting. Waiting for the time of the prophecy to begin.”
    “What part do you play in it?” Turning away, he chased the cat off of the counter and back down to the floor.
    “My priest foresaw everything. Thousands of sun cycles in the future, the dark army would rebuild. It would be a time when humans would be unprepared and incapable of defending themselves.”
    “So, you’re here to defend us. Not a bad plan to send the warrior goddess.”
    “There was a flaw. He also foresaw my death. Although he could not see when, it was clear that it would occur before the time of the prophecy.”
    “He saw all of that?”
    Shaila nodded.
    “Well, he missed another important detail.”
    “Which one?”
    “He didn’t see me coming, did he? Or you wouldn’t be standing in front of me.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean that if he saw me in the picture, he would have made better plans for your resurrection.”
    “There is another possibility. Maybe he did not see his own demise.” Did that mean her destiny had been altered? And what of the babe’s destiny? She had to find out what happened to her tomb. “I would like to know how I came to be in Lilith’s possession. There were other items in my tomb. Items that are equally important to fulfilling the prophecy.”
    “Would one of those items happen to be a black diamond amulet?”
    His eyes studied hers too intently. She realized he wasn’t just waiting for her answer. He was judging her reaction to the question. A lie could be convenient, or it could produce more questions that she had no intention of answering. Shaila’s answer would have to be an honest one.
    “Yes. It was sealed in the tomb with me.”

    * * *

    Stay!
    Shaila still reeled from his arrogance. He had actually ordered her to stay put like some trained animal, while he went off to some place called a lab. Then, he had commanded her to put those awful clothes back on.
    He might carry himself like a pharaoh, but her palms ached to slap his face. A human with that kind of audacity could taunt the gods of the Underworld, heedless of the consequences. Goddess, how will I control such a man?
    His kiss came to mind again, and this time she allowed the memory to linger. While Shaila was not the magnet of male attention that her mother was, she understood the power given to women. She just wondered if she knew how to wield it.
    Startled by a thunderous roar, she ran to the window, and watched in fascination as Darius rode off on a strange looking machine, like a chariot with no horses. The world she’d left behind had no such self-moving devices. At least, not any that were accessible