Page 64 of Beyond the Ruby River
“There, there,” Temaj crooned against Daka’s ear. “You’re all right. I will meet your Mahu, but you mustn’t get your hopes up. I can make no promises.”
Daka let out a shuddering breath. All he heard was that he still had a chance. And as long as there was a chance, he could hope.
He sniffled. “We have some time. Mahu is sleeping now, but he no longer sleeps through the night. I could show you around? I have a good place for you to rest during the day.” Daka had thought of Temaj’s need for protection from the sun and prepared the shop’s backroom accordingly.
“You’ve anticipated I would agree to stay?”
Panic threatened Daka’s composure. “You won’t?”
Temaj frowned. “I’m not making any decisions yet. Show me this safe place, then I’ll need to hunt.”
“I know a good place for that too.” A memory of his first night in Naukratis surfaced, of the sweet young man he’d seduced outside the Golden Jackal, and the screeching quail he’d earned as he fed. It seemed a lifetime ago.
“Perhaps your Mahu should join us. Hunting is something he’ll need to witness for himself if he’s to make an educated decision.”
Doubts sprang immediately to Daka’s mind, but Temaj had a point. “He’s very weak.”
“A small infusion of my blood might make the outing possible, but no promises. Vampire blood is a powerful medicine, but it cannot regenerate consumed lungs. The best we could hope for is a temporary reprieve.”
Gratitude swelled Daka’s chest. “I’ll take anything I can get.”
Temaj took his hand. “To my resting place. Lead the way.”
With some reluctance, Daka left Mahu to his slumber and guided Temaj into town toward Mahu’s papyrus shop.
* * *
Mahu
As his body declined, the quiet grew. The sicker Mahu got, the more silence surrounded him, eerie in its stillness and unwelcome. He missed the sounds of children playing, workers scurrying down crowded streets, field laborers calling out instructions.
In the privacy of his home, in the middle of the night when he often couldn’t sleep, silence beckoned as if it waited for him on the other side.
Sometimes Mahu thought he’d prefer night terrors to this wakeful dread that churned in his gut. This anticipation of the end. The fear it brought. He hadn’t expected the panic, nor the urge to hang on. To cling to life by his fingernails and experience each breath, each new moment his days with Daka could offer before the finish.
His time was drawing near. His chest felt closed and heavy. Not enough room for the air he needed to breathe, and what he could gasp in and out prickled his raw throat to spasms. More coughing. He’d hardly the strength left for it.
Voices filtered in from the house beyond his bedroom, dragging him out of morbid musings and bringing a twinge of curiosity. Daka’s voice he recognized, but the man he spoke with was unfamiliar. He couldn’t pick out their conversation, their tones were hushed.
Mahu stared at the door. He longed to get up and meet the stranger in his home. Who would Daka have brought here in the small, dark hours of early morning? Another doctor when none had been able to help?
Then the answer dawned on him. The vampire. It could be Temaj in his parlor, awaiting an audience. The nerve of Daka, to invite him without so much as a word to Mahu first. But he wasn’t terribly upset, and he didn’t blame Daka for his desperation. Mahu felt it too.
The door slid open, and Daka slipped through alone. Their eyes met. Mahu could get lost in the dusk-blue depths of Daka’s guilty gaze. There was no energy left for anger. Of course, Daka had summoned the vampire. He wouldn’t let go without a fight.
Inwardly, Mahu sighed.Oh well.At least the silence would be chased away for a time by their visitor, even if Mahu had no intention of changing his mind on the subject.
“Go on,” said Mahu when Daka remained hesitant. “Let him in.”
Daka rushed to his bedside, knelt, and took one of Mahu’s hands in both of his own. “Really? I mean, I hoped you’d agree to meet him, but I wasn’t sure. Temaj is a nice man, Mahu, I think you’ll like him or I wouldn’t have sent for him.”
Daka’s warm grip felt comforting even while his words stirred worry. It mattered not whether Temaj was nice or mean, good or evil, Mahu couldn’t risk his soul to a demon.
But maybe the vampire could assist Mahu with something very important. Daka needed to find balance between his incubus half and his human half. Mahu would have liked to be the one to help, but he was running out of time. Perhaps he could entrust the task to Temaj?
“Help me sit up, would you?” Mahu shuffled beneath the covers.
Daka kissed his palm before releasing his hand. “Of course.” He fluffed the pillows behind Mahu’s back and straightened the blankets over his legs. “Can I get you anything?”
