Blood and Roses24

Chapter Two:

Minnon woke up in a cold sweat. His dream had felt so real that it was shaking. He didn’t want to feel this way. Hell, he didn’t want to feel period. The return of his emotions was the most difficult thing he had ever had to deal with. He couldn’t help but veiw emotion of any kind as a weakness.

On the battlefield and in the training courts in Egypt he had taught his men that to let their emotions show in the midst of a fight would only allow the enemy to win. If they allowed themselves to feel at all in a situation like that would only get them killed. Emotions were deadly and they couldn’t afford such weakness in the heat of battle.

He should have follwed his own advice that fatal night when his entire world was ripped from under him. He had given his trust and love to the demi-goddess Mayet and she had betrayed him in the worst possible way. She had destroyed the one person who had ever given a damn about him and then proceeded to kill him in order to show her loyalty to the Soul Collectors.

Unfortunately, her assault on him had not ended there. When she had discovered what he

had become she did take from him his ability to feel most emotion. To finalize her cruelty she had left him with the worst emotions a person could feel: bitterness, longing, and hatred. She had known him for most of his life and knew how he felt. The worst blow of all was the realization that she didn’t love him. She never had and she never would. It had all been a game for her.

Mayet had made him love her. Then when he had least expected it she ripped his heart out almost literally.

Now because of one fiery little woman he found himself feeling again only these emotions were were more intense than they had been all those centuries ago. It was uncomfortable and the inconvenient thing in the world.

He had dreamed that Mayet was on the rampage. She had a goal and she wasn’t going to stop until she had fulfilled it. The Master Collector was out to toy with and then destroy so many people, many of their faces he didn’t recognize. The one that did stick out was the face of the young woman from the night before.

For some reason, Mayet had it out for Jacquie. She wanted her dead in a big no-coming-back kinda way. Why he didn’t know but he was determined to find out. Minnon understood the fact that she was a sorceress, that her soul and spychic powers were valuable to the Collectors but somehow he knew this wasn’t just another feeding matter.

This was about vengence and retaliation.

Jacquie was completely innocent of what bug had crawlen up Mayets’ ass though she was going to have to bare the brunt of it if somebody didn’t do something. Runner could do something about this mess if he wanted to, he thought bitterly.

Damn that man and his reasons.

It was up to him now to protect a young woman who neer shold have had to be brought into their world. If Mayet wanted her so badly, she would have to go through him. If Jacquie needed protection he was going to be there whether she wanted him there or not. He realized that she thought that last night would be their one and only meeting just he had. The little woman was just going to have to get used to his presence for a while.

(Will be contiuned)