Tara screamed for him to stop, but no sound escaped from her larynx. Her feet remained still as if glued to the ground. Her body could not budge. She had to watch as the young warrior charged toward the home of the man who single-handedly advised the Pharaoh. Something was off. The guards parted, allowing him to enter. Within the blink of an eye, Tara no longer stood outside of the home, but in the bedroom where the young woman watched her love attempting to her rescue.
The Vizier held her by the arm in his savage hold while the young warrior stormed into the bedroom. Tara wanted to stop him from getting himself killed. She wanted to help the young woman escape the death grip of the Vizier but Tara was powerless. The yearning for the lovers to be together enveloped everyone in the household as they allowed the young man entry to the private chambers. This enraged the Vizier. In a flash, Tara saw a gleam of gold illuminated by the fire torches burning around the room. The brilliance drew her eyes to the elaborate dagger and scabbard hanging from the Vizier's waist.
As the warrior let out his ferocious war cry, he leveled his spear, and attacked with the power of love pushing him forward. The young warrior underestimated the skill of his opponent. The Vizier kicked the shield out of his hand and grabbed the spear, yanking it behind him but forgetting where the young warrior's love stood. The tip of the spear violently penetrated her body, drawing them all to a shock of disbelief.
The warrior let out a piercing scream and fell to his knees with tears streaming in his eyes as his love took her last breath. His despair transformed into a rage as he pulled to his feet and hurled himself at the Vizier. With cold headed clarity, the Vizier seized the dagger from the sheath. Tara's eyes burned with terror as she watched the Vizier mercilessly wield the blade. She covered her eyes not wanting to see…
Tara heard a disorienting cacophony of sounds as she opened her eyes and felt searing pain. The throbbing pang against the side of her head forced pulsing shades of white and red, before the street around her came into focus. She gasped for breath and trembled with fear.
“That’s it, deep breaths. You are going to be fine. Be still. Just breathe. That’s it….” the masculine voice invaded her thoughts. “I’m so sorry Tara, I should have never left you, I’m so sorry.”
“Ben?”
"I'm here." Benjamin Reynold’s reassuring voice lulled her into closing her eyes, but he tried his best to keep her focus with him. "Tara, I need you to stay awake for me. Can you do that for me?"
“What happened?” She could barely get the words out while Ben kneeled beside her.
“You were attacked, Tara.”
“What?” She asked him with confusion clouding her every thought.
Like a tidal wave crashing over her, the images flooding Tara’s memory forced her to sit up only for her head to swirl with dizzying nausea. She lifted her hand to steady herself only to have Ben grip her and clasp her weak body in his arms.
“Take it easy,” Ben assured her, “be still. The paramedics are pulling up now.”
Tara took a deep breath as an Emergency Medical Technician assessed her condition outside of a motel room that looked a lot similar to a dozen others they'd driven by before the high-speed chase that led them here. After a round of exhausting questions from the police, Tara watched Ben hover a few feet away yelling into his phone and pulling nervously at his gorgeous head of cropped hair. She felt more at peace with what happened and appreciative of Ben’s caring presence.
“Ben,” she called to him quietly.
His eyes shifted to her as he spoke to his boss on the phone about Tara’s boss, "I don't care what you have to do, Rork. Get him to pay for air travel, or hell, you pay for it, and I'll pay you back."
Ben got off the phone to make his way toward her. Tara smiled, "Are you going to tell me what happened? The cops only asked me about the guy who attacked me. I didn't see him. Where were you? Are the artifacts safe? I had this bizarre dream about them. It was violent and bloody.”
Ben took her hands into his, "I don't want you to worry, but remember that I told you any time something of value is being transported there is going to be someone who wants to take it. I need you to listen to me. Things are going to get a little bit crazy before they get back to normal. The room's been ransacked. I need you to go through the space to see if anything is missing."
“Oh no,” Tara sighed. When he led Tara to the room, the breath left her lungs haltingly as the sight of the room torn to shambles brought her to her knees.
2
Ben caught Tara as her knees buckled the minute she let her gaze drag across the ravaged room. The bed she'd slept on had been turned over onto its side. The mattress was sliced open with springs and stuffing littered around the room. The television was ripped from wall, and every single drawer was turned out. All her possession were strewn haphazardly across the floor. Her toiletries were deliberately broken and flung against the walls leaving oozy residues.
“This,” she hesitated, “This doesn’t make sense. Why do all of this?”
“My guess…” Ben watched her painfully sort her clothes out of the mess, “They didn’t see what the artifacts were stored in and didn’t see me leave with them.”
"Why did you leave?" Tara asked him with bated breath.
"Tara," he closed his eyes, dreading the conversation, "I
