Read Online Shadow of the Sheikh by Nina Bruhns - Free Book Online Page A

is…was…one of us.”
    Gemma’s eyes widened and for a moment she was mute. Then, “My God. Lord Rhys Kilpatrick? It was his grave Gillian was searching for! But he’s been dead for over a hundred y—” Her sentence choked off in dismay.
    â€œNeedless to say, Kilpatrick is still very much alive,” Shahin said. “And in love with your sister. They ran away together.”
    Gemma closed her eyes and amazed him when her lips lifted in a bleak smile. “Thank God. At least something good has come out of all this insanity. She mentioned a wedding in her note. So they eloped?”
    At the reminder of Rhys’s treachery, Shahin finished his drink with a scowl and set the glass on the brass table with a clunk. Seth claimed to have himself engineered Rhys’s defection to Petru, the palace of their enemy, as a sort of Trojan horse, but Shahin feared Seth’s fondness for the Englishman had convinced him of a loyalty that did not exist. “Not exactly,” he said.
    â€œWhat happened?” she asked.
    â€œOur priestess, Nephtys, had a vision of Gillian asthe demigod Seth-Aziz’s consort. The wedding she mentioned was to Seth, not Kilpatrick. But she and Rhys defied the god and went over to our enemy, Haru-Re, to seek sanctuary.”
    Gemma’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious. You wanted her to be consort to a demigod?” Her expression turned to patent disbelief. She started to shake her head, then shot him a sharp glance. “Wait. Seth-Aziz? As in Seth-Aziz the high priest of the cult of Set-Sutekh? The one in all the local native legends? That’s the cult you’re talking about?”
    â€œCult has such a negative connotation. You must use the term per netjer . Ours is not a cult worshiping a specific deity. It’s a way of life. An offering of service.”
    But again she was not listening. She looked completely aghast. “But Seth-Aziz, he’s supposed to be a…a…”
    â€œVampire?” he helpfully supplied. “Yes, he is.”
    â€œNo…” she whispered, going deathly pale. “Vampires don’t exist.” Her denials were getting repetitious.
    â€œThey do. Two of them, at any rate. Haru-Re our enemy, and Seth-Aziz, our leader.”
    â€œAnd you wanted my sister to be his consort.” She looked utterly appalled.
    â€œWe still do. Well, one of them.”
    â€œYou can’t be serious. Surely, you don’t mean…?”
    Shahin jetted out a decisive breath. “Oh, but that’s exactly what I mean. Seth has decided that because of Lady Gillian’s defection, your other sister, Josslyn, is to take her place. As his wife.”
    â€œNo!” Gemma jumped up so fast that the rest of her drink splashed out of the glass, soaking her shirt. She barely noticed. “How dare you?” she demanded. “What gives you the right to force such a thing on her? On any woman? Did it ever occur to you that she might not want to be a vampire’s—His—”
    â€œDon’t,” Shahin warned, and rose in a single swift motion.
    He grasped her arms when she whirled and started to stalk off. Where she’d go, she had no idea. But it didn’t matter. This was too much. “Let go of me!”
    â€œThere’s one thing you need to understand,” he growled. “We don’t force ourselves on anyone. In fact, we go to great lengths to avoid mortals even knowing of our existence. It was Gillian who intruded on our space and forced our hand. But in the end, she chose to join us and agreed to become Seth’s consort of her own free will.”
    â€œI don’t believe you!” Gemma spat out. “Consort to a vampire? ”
    â€œSeth is a demigod, our high priest. Being avampire makes him more powerful, but to all appearances, he is a man like any other.”
    She couldn’t decide if he was serious or just plain crazy. So she