Page 25 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
He arched his brow at that comment. "Been there a lot have you?"
"Well ... no. But I've seen pictures. They're usually dark-skinned and certainly not redheaded."
"Shows what you know. We traded extensively with many nations and had people who came to live in Upper Egypt from all over the known kingdoms."
"You're feisty in the morning, aren't you?" she teased. But it did explain why his skin tone was so dark, given his blue eyes and red hair. "So you can read hieroglyphics then?"
"Of course."
"I bet you're a hoot in a museum. Have you ever walked past a mummy, looked down, and said, hey Uncle Imhotep, how you doing?"
He didn't show even a glimmer of amusement. "A museum?"
That was what he fixated on? "Never mind. What other creepy old languages do you read?"
"Greek and Sumerian."
"What about Latin?"
He frowned. "What's Latin?"
Her stomach lurched. Did he predate Rome? That was probably the most terrifying thought imaginable. Because if he did, he'd been locked away here for more than three thousand years. "You know Rome, right?"
"No. I was never allowed to roam. It's forbidden."
"Not roam around. The Roman Empire. You know, Nero, Octavian, Caesar, other people with funky names..." Names she should have paid more attention to in school. "That giant fearsome empire that conquered the world and subjugated everyone, even Egypt."
"I've never heard of this place you describe."
Yeah, he was older than dirt. She'd ask him what year he was born, but that would be worthless. His calendar, if they even had had one then, wouldn't be the same as hers.
And he'd been under Noir's fist all that time.
Damn.
She frowned as another random thought hit her ... did they have books then?
Surely not. But then ... She studied the brittle pages and the worn leather binding.
"So how did you get a book written in a language that old?"
His mood turned dark as an air of profound sadness engulfed him. "Noir used to give them to me whenever I pleased him."
Desperately, she wanted him to elaborate on what pleasing Noir entailed, but her animal senses told her not to pursue it. Whatever it meant, it was obvious it caused him a tremendous amount of pain to think about.
Noir must have bound the original scrolls into books. That would make sense.
"Is this the only one you have?"
He shook his head. "I managed to save five of them."
"What do you mean?"
"Noir also destroyed them whenever I made him angry, which has always been a lot. I hid as many as I could, but he eventually found all but the five."
"That bloody wanker bastard." The profanity flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. But honestly, it infuriated her that he would destroy something so priceless. And take from her demon the only thing that had most likely ever given him any kind of pleasure in this hellhole of an existence.
Seth was stunned by her outburst. The fact that she was angered over what had been done to him ...
No one had ever cared before.
She's faking. Don't be stupid.
But it didn't feel like that. It felt ... real.
She cleared her throat as her face flamed bright red. "I'm so sorry."
That confused him even more than her outburst. Anger he always understood. But her incessant need to say that one word all the time ... "You apologize a lot and for things you haven't done. Why?"
"I'm not apologizing because I did something. It's a conveyance of emotion that means I hurt for you or with you."
He still didn't get it. "Why would you ever hurt for me when I'm nothing to you?"
"Because that's what people do. They sympathize with others and try to help them."
If he were capable of it, he'd laugh at the absurdity. "Obviously you haven't met the same people I have. I've never known anyone like you describe."
"I'm not talking about demons. I'm talking about humans."
"And they are even worse. You expect cruelty from demons. They're open with their treachery and make no attempt to conceal it. Humans ... they lure you in, and just when you make the mistake of believing in them, in trusting the lies they spew with conviction, they stomp all over you."
Lydia's head spun at the heated emotion in his voice. What had been done to him? "No one ever helped you? Really?"
"No."
"Not once? Ever?"
"If they did, I paid for it eventually with my flesh, bone, and my blood. So no, I don't count that as help. It's even crueler than doing nothing. Trust me."
She would give him that. But man ...
In that moment, she was even more grateful for Solin. Without him, this would have most likely been her fate. "I wish I could make it better for you."
"Make what better?"
"Your life. Your memories. My past isn't perfect and I've had people who have hurt me. Bad at times. But not like you describe. Not to the point that they poisoned my very soul. For that, I'm sorriest of all."
Nothing would ever ease the pain of his past, she realized. He was as broken as anyone she'd ever met. And who could blame him? Noir's cruelty would make anyone insane.
Seth swallowed at the sincerity he saw in her eyes. A part of him was desperate to trust her. If only he could. But a lifetime of betrayal stood between them.
They'd only just met. And she was his prisoner. Like him, she would say or do anything to escape.
