Page 78 of Beyond the Ruby River
Today he mourned the death of a friend—the sort of friend who’d kept Daka as his dirty secret, who wouldn’t introduce him to family or friends, who wouldn’t be comfortable being seen together in public—but who’d come to mean a great deal to him nonetheless. Daka had gone to the river because he couldn’t attend the funeral.
Hakim was a religious man, and though he desired other men, he lived under strict rules never to indulge, or at least not to indulge and be caught. Daka had been exactly what Hakim needed. A kind lover who didn’t much mind the discretion and kept his secrets under lock and key. And Hakim offered what Daka needed, a reliable meal ticket without further expectations on his emotions.
Over the years their mutually beneficial relationship deepened to friendship, then admiration, and finally a sort of love. Daka had been mourning Hakim for months as the old man grew sicker and near to death. Their opportunities to see one another grew few and far between as Hakim’s family congregated to care for him, and most of those visits were spent holding Hakim’s hand and watching his fitful sleep.
Daka had grown accustomed to this sad cycle—witnessing the slow decline and inevitable death of his lovers—but being used to something didn’t make the experience any easier. No matter how much he told himself he would not get attached, Daka often grew close to the men he fed from regularly.
Niya’s solution had always been to have no regulars. Her social circle consisted of other immortals, and her ‘feeding pool’ was the entire city of Cairo these days. She didn’t form close bonds with mortals and advised Daka not to either.
But Daka had always been drawn to humans, ever since the first.
Ever since Mahu.
Without fail, when Daka lost another mortal lover, his thoughts drifted unwaveringly back to Mahu. He’d never repeated the mistake. No more begging vampires to gift the humans he cared for with immortality. That was a lesson he could only live through once. He’d lost both Mahu and Temaj in that ill-fated bargain.
Still he was not sorry. Mahu had done well for himself, Daka knew. Selected as one of The Dozen—a council of vampires who presided over a large region in Europe—Mahu was a well-respected leader with a reputation for both kindness and generosity.
Daka couldn’t help but to keep tabs on him, seeking word of Mahu whenever he crossed the path of a vampire who may know him. He’d stopped sending letters when Mahu had asked him to, but he’d never stopped writing.
The letters he’d written but hadn’t sent continued until he ran out of Mahu’s papyri. They were bundled together and tucked safely away at his mother’s home as Daka’s own lodgings remained modest, and Mediterai’s mansion was a veritable fortress. He’d switched to paper after that, his curiosity snagging over what Mahu would think of modern paper, of books instead of scrolls, of the pyramids that crumbled to ruins, of his long-forgotten gods having given way to Christianity and then to Islam.
When Mahu thought of Ahset, Kasmut, and Beni, did he think of them in Osiris’s care in the underworld, or had he given up those ideals as the rest of Egypt had centuries ago? So many questions lingered in Daka’s mind, so many letters written that Mahu would never see.
The current had swept him farther downriver than he’d intended to go. The walk back to his little house on the outskirts of Cairo would be a long one. More time alone with his thoughts. Likely the last thing he needed.
As Daka swam to the shore—for he’d learned to swim on his own some years after Mahu left—an odd sensation struck with alarming force. Tugging at his spine, sending a tingling tremor to his very core, a summons demanded Daka’s full attention. The kind of summons he’d thought himself incapable of perceiving.
Dakarai, Nedjes, Daka, my love…
The power behind the call was tremendous. Confusion sent Daka’s thoughts tumbling.
He’d never been successfully summoned, though his family had tried. They’d long ago given up hope Daka would ever sense the call, and even if he did, he’d never managed the faintest hint of astral projection. His mind and body were glued together despite his efforts to free them.
But this tug felt altogether different.
This was Mahu calling!
After no word for nearly two millennia, Mahu wanted him. Daka had to answer. Anger lingered beneath the excitement, but it was easily dismissed. He could be mad later if only he could see Mahu now.
Summoned from the very center of his being, Daka’s spirit flailed at the cage of his body, desperate to be free. Mahu lay dying in his bed, again, and though Daka wasn’t sure how he knew, he was certain it was true. In Mahu’s suffering, somehow he’d summoned Daka. Whether the call was intentional or accidental, Daka didn’t care, as long as Mahu wanted him.
But Daka didn’t know how to answer the summons. Panic rose to clench at his chest and constrict his throat. Dragging himself from the river and onto shore, Daka fought to maintain the connection to Mahu’s call.
Nedjes, please. I’m sorry. I’m scared.
Naked and soaking wet, Daka crawled over damp black soil to lie on his back. Alone in the middle of acres of farmland, he forced his muscles to relax and closed his eyes. The sounds of birdsong and the breeze over the water faded around him. The earthen smell gave way to nothing as he cleared his senses to focus solely on the summons. He pushed panic away.
Shouldn’t have left…cruel of me…my biggest regret…
Mahu, Mahu, Mahu!Daka begged his mind to cooperate, screamed at his body to let go, demanded his spirit to take flight.Mahu needs me. Please, please.
He wished Niya was there. Perhaps she could guide him. Perhaps she could work this miracle that had been denied to him his entire life.
Straining, every fiber of his being longing to comfort his lost love, Daka shook with effort.
Come to me, Dakarai, for I can no longer come to you. Come to me though I don’t deserve it. Come because I need you.
Daka sucked a great gasping breath into his lungs. On the verge of giving up, he let go his demands and simply let his mind drift toward the sky. The world around him evaporated, everything he’d known wisping away on cloudlike tendrils and disappearing with the wind.
