Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

“Your wish is my command, Princess.” His mocking tease grated on my frayed nerves, but he got to his feet and dusted off his coat like nothing had happened between us.

I wanted to weep at the unfairness of it. “I just want to get this done so I can go back to the hotel and take a shower.” A nice cold one.

Zane just laughed and took my hand. “This way, then.”

Zane’s lighter sparked, then flickered into a small thread of flame, illuminating the darkness around us. I sucked in my breath at the unnerving sight of his sharp features lit up in shadow. “Here we are.”

“Light something bigger, would you?” I rubbed my arms and stared around me at the dark hole that was Nitocris’s tomb. I clamped my jaw when it threatened to chatter; Zane would have totally made fun of me.

I’d settle for him wrapping his arms around me and chasing the fear out of me with a nice, steamy bout of sex. But a girl has standards to uphold … Damn Itch. I hated it and the way it messed with my mind.

The tomb was damn spooky. I wasn’t scared by much; I didn’t scream in horror movies, and I wasn’t even afraid to skydive. But this? This small, dusty tomb in the middle of the stifling desert? This hole of choking darkness, the heart of evil as I knew it?

Yeah, the tomb scared the hell out of me.

Outside, Zane had pointed out a small, square passage in the rock wall, the edges surrounded by archaic symbols of scarabs and ankhs that I recognized as Egyptian. He’d gestured for me to crawl down inside and I had, not knowing that the descent would be a hundred feet into the earth in a small, cramped passage where I couldn’t even stand upright, leading into total darkness.

I definitely hadn’t thought that one through.

I sneezed as dust tickled my nose, and rubbed my hand against my face, imagining spiders and creepy- crawlies hovering in the darkness. Ahead of me, the lighter flame spread as he held it against a rag-wrapped torch. To my vast relief, the darkness retreated a bit as he held the torch out to me. “Here you go, Princess.”

I took the outstretched torch, relieved. “Thanks for the light. It’s a bit creepy in here.”

Zane laughed at the expression on my face. “I can’t imagine why. The tomb of the most ancient and evil of all vampires? Not nearly as scary as Remy at a shoe sale.”

I gave him a wry smile and held the torch up to get a better look around. The walls were smooth, the room narrow enough to be well-lit by my torch but long enough that the far end lurked in shadows. The ceiling was low, with lotus columns between the carved-out floor and the ton of rock above our heads.

The tomb was empty save for some rat droppings in the corner and a few heaps of scattered, rotted fabric. Like every other Old Kingdom tomb, it had been ransacked millennia ago.

“It’s odd,” I said, stepping forward and staring around me. “Most funerary dwellings in the Old Kingdom were either pyramids or mastabas. Your queen doesn’t seem like the type to want to be hidden away in the middle of nowhere in a cliff-face tomb.” I shot him a questioning look.

Ever easygoing, Zane shrugged carelessly, his arms crossed in a stance of boredom. “Nitocris decided to end her mortal reign with a bit of a bang. Killing all of your closest advisors and then destroying your mortal form doesn’t exactly earn you legions of followers. She had a few priests who were devoted enough to entomb her here.”

I continued my hesitant exploration of the room. A large blocky shape-a sarcophagus, I assumed-dominated the shadowy far end, and I decided to leave exploring that for later, concentrating on the wall paintings instead. “They must have liked her a lot if they came to decorate the place ahead of time.”

“They didn’t. Most of the tomb paintings were done after Nitocris was entombed and had risen again.”

The hairs on my neck prickled. Spooky. I stared at the large figure painted on the column in front of me. It was your typical Egyptian tomb mural, a woman in a sideways pose, her hands upraised. Closer inspection revealed a black cloak flowing down the woman’s back. Her upraised hands were covered in red, which I assumed was blood. “That’s odd.” I pointed at the woman’s cloak. “I’ve never seen that in all the archaeology texts I’ve studied.”

“There’s a lot down here you won’t see in books, Princess. Now finish your exploring so we can leave already.” His tone was curt.

I turned in surprise and looked at him. “Don’t tell me this place gives you the willies, too?” It made me feel a bit better to know I wasn’t the only one freaked out.

“Not exactly,” he said dryly. “More along the line of bad memories.”

“Do I want to ask?”

“Probably not.” He leaned against one of the beautifully painted pillars and gave me a lazy look. “So find what you need and let’s leave.”

I gave him a one-finger salute and moved to the next series of pictures. More Egyptian scenes of the Afterlife, sprinkled with some rather disturbing elements. I turned away from a depiction of Nitocris holding aloft the severed head of an enemy and looked back at Zane. “I’m not going to find anything here, am I?”

“Depends on what you’re looking for.”

“Thanks for the cryptic answer. You know exactly what I’m looking for: clues to where this damn halo might be.”

He shrugged his shoulders and lit up a cigarette. “Don’t ask me. I’m just here to enjoy the scenery and to make sure that you pass our lovely prize over to the queen.” His eyes rested on my breasts, outlined by the sweaty black T-shirt that clung to me. “Nice scenery, by the way.”

“Fuck off. When I’m interested, you’ll know.” I turned away from him so he couldn’t see the hardening of my nipples. Oh God, was I interested. One more of those sexy, full-lipped smiles, and I’d be lost. Be strong, I reminded myself. Be strong for Noah.

If I didn’t have sex for another day, would I spontaneously combust? It was starting to feel that way; I was way overdue.

My torch sputtered and flickered, reminding me that I didn’t have time to study the paintings at my leisure. I fumbled for the disposable camera hidden in my pocket, clicking the flash on and holding it up to the walls.

Snap.

A bright flare of light illuminated the tomb, momentarily blinding me. Spots swimming in front of my eyes, I moved to the next section of wall and took another picture.

Zane hissed in distress. “Woman, are you trying to blind me?”

He was shielding his eyes with the thick sleeve of his jacket, a scowl on his pale face. Perversely, I moved to the other side of the tomb, taking several photos without really paying attention to what I was capturing. “Quit being such a baby, vampire. As much as I love to spend time in your company, I’m taking pictures so we can get out of here quickly.”

Snap, snap, snap. I flitted around the tomb, taking photos with haste. Just when I was reaching the end of the film, I heard a moaning gurgle from behind me. Irritated that Zane was trying to make me feel guilty, I shoved the camera back in my pocket. “Would you cut it out? That’s really getting on my nerves.”

Zane grabbed me by the arm, causing me to drop my torch, and began dragging me away from the mural I had just taken a picture of. “That wasn’t me,” he murmured in my ear. “And we need to leave. Now.”

A chill shivered down my spine and I froze up. “If that wasn’t you-”

The moan sounded again, filling the tomb. “What is that?” I whispered, clutching Zane’s upper arm. My other hand fumbled for one of the guns, then paused. Which one should I use? The wrong one would be useless and might get us killed-or worse.

A shuffling noise came from the far end of the tomb. Red eyes blinked into the darkness, then focused on me.

Zane cursed, and he tensed under my hand. “I should have guessed.”

“Guessed what?” I slid behind him, peeking out from around his shoulder.

His sigh sounded more exasperated than anything else. “That she’d have one incubating down here.”

“One what?” It couldn’t be the answer that popped into my mind. Surely not. Surely we weren’t that unlucky.

A hiss in the darkness, and the creature took a few steps forward into the light cast by the torch that now flickered on the ground.