Soul Slam, Soul Warriors Book 1

Chapter Twelve A

A huge burp escaped my mouth.

The sound vibrated between us knocking me back and replacing the earlier sparks. Good thing the sparks didn't ignite. My hand flew to my lips. My face flamed. Heat swamped, dragging me down. I wanted to disappear in the burp's vapor.

Too soon.

Tut had no right to stop me from kissing a guy. Who are you, my father?

I'm the soul that slammed inside you.

Right. Not my father, but a male all the same.

Xander rolled backward and laughed.

At me.

I waved my hands in front of my face. Where was a gilded fan when you needed one? Never in my life had I burped so loud in front of anyone. And Tut had forced me to do it.

I hated the burping and farting contests the boys had at home. So gross. And yet, I'd been doing gnarly stuff like that all day. Tut's influence. He might be a king, but he was still a guy. But that didn't make it any less embarrassing. "Excuse me."

Xander's cheeks were redder than usual. His forehead creased. He twisted his lips together. "We probably shouldn't have..." He pointed to his mouth and then mine.

Cold chilled the warmth inside. Hot to cold in less than ten seconds. Fear to anger in a minute. He didn't really want to kiss me.

"Oh?" My voice sounded frosty. Finally, I was cooling off.

"No touching. Remember."

Duh. Guess not. With my claustrophobia hammering away and Xander so close all thought had flown out of my head. "Right." Maybe that's why Tut had stopped us.

Xander's never been hugged and now, I'll never be able to hug him. Or touch him. Or kiss him. Or any boy for that matter. This latest fact sucker punched me. I ached with loneliness.

The strained silence between us sounded louder than my burp. I bit my lower lip and rocked back and forth trying to calm myself. Now, that the excitement of our almost-kiss was gone, fear invaded my bones like an ever-advancing army.

"Is there an air vent in here?" My voice sounded shaky.

"No."

"How long have you stayed in here? At one time?"

His eyes questioned. "I don't know."

I don't know divided by two people. My breath came quicker, shallower.

"Are you okay?" His smooth and strong hands fiddled with the signet ring on his finger.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" Could he tell I was freaking out?

He shrugged. "Maybe someday we can go. Together."

"Go where?" Cause I didn't want to go back to that last scene. If we ever tried to kiss again, I'd remember this non-momentous moment.

"A baseball game."

All righty then. His mind was already off the kiss. Maybe it wasn't as non-momentous for him as it had been for me. Boys go from one subject to the next without angst-ing at all.

Maybe he'd forget the burp, too. One could only hope.

A new trickle of sweat poured down my back. The walls wavered. Maybe he'd forget if I freaked out completely.

The waiting, the uncertainty of possibly being found, of being trapped in the cubby like a rat in a hole, had my mind and my emotions running around in circles. Scared about my future, fearful of being caught, embarrassed about the kiss and the burp, panicked about my feelings for Xander, terrified of this small space—all of it thrashed around in my head. I needed a distraction, something to keep my brain occupied and my feelings at bay.

Swallowing the lump that had formed in my throat, I tried to control my thoughts of doom. I didn't see any way out. If I somehow survived this tiny trap, would I use too much power, burn up and die? Surely, Tut thought of these things when he used the amulet.

"What about the anointment process?" I yanked out the papers I'd shoved in my pocket and smoothed the creases. Puzzling the clues out might keep my mind off of...no, I wasn't going to think about it.

I read, "The Mighty Amulet of Aten bestowed upon King Tutankhamen the blessed powers of the sun god. When he died his soul did not move to the Afterlife. Instead, Tut awaits the appropriate host to continue the use of the sun's powers."

"When Tut died the entire kingdom melted down." Xander used his knowledge again. "The period was so disruptive Queen Ankhesenamen even appealed to the enemy for help."

"Tut's soul will be lost until such a time that a proper host is found and the sacred chant is read on the night when the summer solstice and a full lunar eclipse coincide."

"Last night."

"To gain full use of Tut's god-like powers, the seven essential oils must be anointed on the host in a sacred ceremony."

"That must be the ceremony I was supposed to go to after receiving Tut's soul." Xander put the pieces together. "It says nothing about ending the burn out."

Heat burned in my gut. The fire was real. I'd seen it, used it twice at the park last night. "As the host uses the powers, the sun's heat will continue to burn inside causing the host to die."

This was a curse. I would burn out and die. And while awaiting death, no comforting touch from the ones I loved.

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