Free Vampire Sheikh by Nina Bruhns Page B

them to reveal a pained expression. “Seth-Aziz is a freaking demigod! He can have any woman he wants! I’m the one who needs her. Josslyn should be here, in Petru, with me and our parents!”
    This time they both looked across the garden’s splash of brightly flowering plants to the older couple. The man was holding the woman’s hand, patting it, speaking softly to her. The woman was staring vacantly at the horizon, seemingly unaware of the man beside her.
    â€œ We’re her family. Not Seth!”
    Nephtys’s heart went out to Isobelle Haliday, and especially to Trevor Haliday, for what they were going through. But she also knew her brother needed Josslyn far more than they did, regardless of what Gillian thought. What was the happiness of one small family against the fates of so many? If Nephtys’s vision was correct, Josslyn could be the key to saving Khepesh. How could she take the chance of not allowing it every opportunity to be fulfilled?
    In addition to serving Nephtys’s purposes.
    â€œI understand how you feel,” Nephtys said. “But you know what she will suffer if she comes here.” She foldedher hands in her lap to keep them from balling into fists. “Haru-Re also knows about my vision. There’s little doubt he would take out his antipathy for Seth by ruining Josslyn.”
    Despite a vain attempt to deflect it, pain razored through her at the thought. Selfishly, not for Josslyn’s sake, but for her own. Because she would then be forced to watch Ray’s dalliance with another woman. Until he tired of toying with her, and Josslyn ended up in the same pathetic state as Nephtys herself. Vamp-addicted, alone, and abandoned.
    Men were such cruel brutes.
    At least this one.
    Gillian bit her lip, frowning. “He wouldn’t do that. Not after he’s chosen you to be his consort. That would be—”
    â€œDespicable?” Nephtys’s attempt to keep the cynicism out of her voice failed. “Obviously you don’t know him as I do.”
    â€œThen why the hell do you love him?” Gillian asked in exasperation.
    The woman was so incredibly naïve. “Who says I do?”
    Gillian made a wry face. “Don’t even try. I can see it in your eyes, whenever you look at him.” She glanced over at Trevor and Isobelle Haliday, where the love on her father’s face shone like the sun that was rising behind him. Nephtys sighed. Sweet Isis. Was she equally transparent?
    â€œYou’re wrong. I don’t love him,” she said firmly, “I hate him.” But her statement lacked conviction evento her own ears. “I do, however, love my brother, and I know you love your sister. Therefore, I don’t want anything bad to happen to either of them. That’s why I sent her to Khepesh. I hope you’ll forgive me one day.” She took Gillian’s hand. “And at least she’ll be close to Gemma.”
    Gillian jetted out a breath. “This is so stupid. We should all be together. My sisters and I and my parents. You and Seth. Hell, you and Haru-Re. Jeez, someone should knock some sense into those two idiots. Why keep fighting each other in a war that no one wins?”
    Nephtys smiled wanly. “For the same reason the sun shines in the daytime and the moon lights up the darkness.”
    Gillian simply didn’t comprehend the forces at work. How could she? She’d only known the immortals for a few short weeks. This war had been going on for millennia, ever since the dawn of Egyptian civilization. Between the Sun God and the God of the Night; between order and chaos, between enlightenment and darkness.
    There were those who believed it boiled down to the essential fight between good and evil.
    But that was wrong, Nephtys knew. Both Seth and Ray were good men, each in their own way. Neither condoned real evil, as many of the ancient rulers had done. They were both beloved of their immortal