Rise of the Prophet: The Prophet of Ra, #1

By T.M. Grinsley

Kristina and Jo are bound. By what, is yet to be seen.

 

Shortly after stepping foot onto Egyptian soil, Kristina begins seeing spirits in ancient Egyptian garb walking among the living. When viewing one of the mummies in a museum, she gets visions of what they truly looked like, and how they lived, when they were still breathing. Every time this happens, Jo is plagued with severe migraines that threaten to overcome her.

They will come to learn that past lives are real, good versus evil really does exist, and curses are commonplace in Egypt. Unfortunately for the mortal realm, this also means that the gods are also real and have started to wake from their slumber.

With an ancient secret society protecting the tomb of the gods, Dastan among their number, what could possibly go wrong?

*Not suitable for anyone under the age of eighteen
*Graphic Language
*Strong Sexual Content
*Dual POV

• Language: English
• Publisher: T.M. Grinsley
• Release date: Jun 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224136346

Book preview

Prologue

As Ra stormed into the room, I stretched languidly on the chaise. His shendyt swirled around his legs in an angry mass as he paced around the room, his true form shifting into view as his anger rattled the walls, burning off whatever was irritating him. I put my arms over my head in a gesture that thrust my breasts forward, hoping it would catch Ra’s attention.

What ever is the matter, Ra? I purred, as he made another pass in front of me.

"Those humans dare treat me with such disrespect! Fire shot from his palm, incinerating the ceramic pot I received from my followers that morning. I would love to see them suffer. Then they would have to come crawling back, begging for my forgiveness and my help. That would teach them some humility and respect."

He stepped out onto the balcony, smoke rising from his shoulders, staring out at what I assumed were the humans below.

I fingered the eye necklace Ra bestowed upon me last night as he spoke. I could feel Ra’s power building inside me, our bond growing stronger with each passing sun. I knew what I could do to help him. I just had to wait for the right moment, so I could unleash my wrath onto the world before us.

Ra’s head fell backward, a moan escaping his lips as he began to merge with Horus, letting his inner demon take over. My arousal for him pooled between my legs, his true form the sexiest thing I had ever seen. When the transformation was nearly complete, signaling it was time to attack, I slowly stood, letting the silk of my dress slide sensually down my legs.

Gliding across the room, I stood directly behind him, my body flush against his back.

Is there something I can do to help? I sighed softly against his ear. Tracing my nail against his skin, I wrapped my arms around his waist, my hand exploring his masculine chest.

Ra’s hands covered mine, pushing them to his side as he turned to face me. I want to make them suffer. But first... His lips slammed down onto mine, his rage fueling my desire, my legs weak with need.

My breath hitched in my throat with excitement at the words I had longed to hear for many moons. All you have to do is say the word, and your wish is my command.

I licked my lips in anticipation, my tongue brushing his lips, demanding entry. His mouth came down on mine again in a kiss full of passion and desire.

He broke the kiss too soon, his body humming with power that fought to break free. I could feel his inner turmoil fighting over what to do. No matter the decision he made, it would cost him dearly.

Strolling past me into the room, his human form fought to break free. If I had my way, his human form would cease to exist, and the demon inside would run free.

I turned to face Ra, slightly dazed from the kiss, unsure of what just happened. Shaking my head at his abrupt change in behavior, I followed him. He paced the room a few times, then walked over to the table by my bed, and poured two glasses of wine. With Ra’s back turned to me, I slid the dress off my shoulders, letting it pool at my feet, needing to take his mind off of what was to come.

When Ra turned back around to face me, I stood naked in front of him with a smile on my face. His eyes lit up as he handed me a glass of wine, his arousal growing between his legs. I took the offered drink and sipped it, my eyes never swaying from what I truly desired. I set the glass down on the floor next to my dress and crawled onto the bed. Lying on my side, I slid my hand down my stomach to my leg, inviting him to feast upon my flesh. Come, my pet, for tomorrow is a new day.

Ra sat his glass down and joined me on the bed, his arms pinning me on each side, removing my hand that rested on my mound. Grabbing my wrists, he pinned them tightly together over my head as the other roamed my body.

His rough hands scraped over my body, demanding more than simple child’s play. I needed him inside me. I needed to feast on the blood that flowed through his veins as he joined us as one.

Wiggling my wrists free, I deftly removed his belt, shredding his shendyt off his body with my nails. I wrapped my legs around his waist and moaned into his ear as his hands trailed down my stomach to my hips. In one fluid motion, he flipped me onto my back and slid inside me.

Pressure, unlike anything I had ever felt in my existence, built inside me, blinding me as I tried to keep the orgasm from releasing too soon. Ra’s hand wrapped around my throat, his finger pushing against my windpipe as he whispered in my ear the words I had been aching to hear:

Make them suffer, my Queen.

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I shifted into a lion as I mentally finalized my plans. Quietly, I roamed the dark streets of Cairo, waiting to attack. Soon, the people would all be asleep and at my mercy.

Darkness encased the town, the army of the unknown lending me their power as I began my attack. The unknown were revolting creatures that lurked in the darkest pits of hell, feasting in the wasted marshlands of the dead. Only the most vile of creatures lived there and were gifted to me by the Mundaga, who owed me her life.

I busted through the first door and killed everyone in sight, the blood of every man, woman, and child filling the halls of the once great city.

Men, women, children; I couldn’t differentiate. I killed indiscriminately.

The slaughter continued through the following days. With every kill, I felt even more rejuvenated, my bloodlust salivating with each new kill.

After much blood was spilled, I heard the pleas from the humans, wailing at the night sky for Ra to cease the attacks. I would never understand why the gods felt these worthless shits should live while we waisted away into nothing. They were a means to an end, a wasted space that should’ve been eradicated from this world.

Rolling my eyes, I watched as my army devoured them whole, their screams like music to my ears as they fell upon deaf ears.

I was having too much fun, my infinite power coursing through me, my lust for power too great.

Looking over the field of bodies, pride ran through my body as the pathetic wastes lay before me. Lapping up the last of my kills, I nearly fell to my side, feeling slightly woozy and tired. Gripping the side of my head, I tried to figure out what the hell was going on, my powers dwindling to nothing as something strange took hold of me.

Carefully maneuvering through the bodies, their corpses bled dry, the feeling only grew worse.

Heading back to the palace, no longer needing to feast, I shifted back to my human form. As I walked into Ra’s chambers, my steps became sluggish, and I collapsed on the floor in front of his door.

I heard the door open, strong familiar hands lifting me off the cold limestone floor, carrying me inside. My head hit the soft bed that instantly cocooned me in its warmth. I felt Ra’s lips on my forehead, his soft lips kissing me tenderly as he whispered, "Tiṣbaḥ 'ala khayr, my Queen.

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I opened my eyes to see the morning light streaming into the room. My head was pounding, and my memories were nothing but a blur. I glanced around the room to see Ra standing at the balcony, his head hung low as he looked lost in thought. Climbing out of bed, I gripped my head from a sudden bout of dizziness and stumbled my way over to him.

There is wine in the pewter next to the bed. Drink it. It will help the ache, he said without turning around.

Doing as he said, I downed the wine and all its contents; whatever he put in the drink, was already working. Walking to him, I looked out to see what had him lost in thought. The sand was stained red from the blood of the humans I had killed, my memories fighting to break free from the dark cloud that clogged my mind, my heart ripping into pieces at what I had done. Guilt curled in my stomach, and I looked at Ra, hoping that he would forgive me for my ruthlessness.

I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off with a gesture of his hand. You did exactly as I asked. I should’ve expected you to lose yourself to the power of the unknown. How do you feel?

I assessed myself, my mind in shambles. My true nature was hidden away in the darkness, the light snuffing it out. With the urge to feed off the weak gone, my soul was stripped of its true being. I called to the demon inside me, my call falling into nothing, my other half gone from existence.

I tried to get angry, to call my powers from the ground beneath me, but there was nothing.

What did you do to me!?

Do you still have the urge to kill?

I slowly shook my head no, my hands gripping the edge of the table, my knees almost caving at the realization of what was going on.

Ra looked at me over his shoulder, giving me a cold, calculated smile. Good. We shall rename you then. You will no longer be Sekhmet. You will forever be known as Hathor, the Mother Goddess, and heaven help the world should your bloodlust return.

Curling my fist against my chest, I tried everything within me to call upon my powers, reciting the ancient spell of the Mundaga to call upon the unknown, but only a whisper of a sound flowed through my mind, touching my soul. I could feel my demon inside me, fighting to break free of its cage.

You will pay for this. I ground my teeth together, fighting whatever the hell he had put in the wine, memories erasing themselves, my knowledge of the unknown, vanishing.

As my final thoughts drifted through my mind, I thought of only one who could save me, the one who started this all.

Humankind and gods alike would fall prey to me once again. I’d make sure of it. This love and kindness cage Ra put me in was just a mere setback in my plans.

For I will rise again.

Chapter 1

~ Kristina ~

Where is that blasted thing? I mutter to the mummies that just arrived for our new exhibit. For two days, I have been stuck in this drafty basement, cataloging every new artifact that has arrived. The only thing keeping me from going insane is talking to the dead mummies, who, in my mind, talk back.

Scouring through the entire Egyptian section at the University of Pennsylvania, the one thing I need in this place is nowhere to be found. The problem is, I am not sure what I am looking for.

I pick up dozens of ancient texts from the restricted section, but only a few depict the whereabouts of ancient gods in the Valley of the Queens.

Flipping through the pages, I try to locate what I was looking for, only to toss the book aside like all the others, and start the process all over again. After I don’t know how many books, I remove my glasses and rub the heels of my palms over my eyes, removing all the dust from them.

Even with over a dozen cups of coffee, an hour of sleep in three days, and endless amounts of paperwork piling up, my mind is focused elsewhere.

My best friend and pain in the ass roommate, Jo, received a mysterious package from an unknown sender a few days back.

Inside the package, a pendant was wrapped in silk that depicted a symbol of Ra, the Ancient Egyptian Sun God, with a strange image that looked like a mandala on its head with a rare stone in the middle.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful piece, but something about it seemed odd the moment I touched it. An overwhelming feeling in the back of my head rose to the surface when I saw its contents. Warning bells made my stomach turn because mandalas are not in Egyptian culture.

The entire thing was made of gold, and the mandala-looking shape had a cobra around the edges. It wasn’t large in size, and it fit perfectly between Jo’s breasts, so it was hidden from the human eye.

But who would send someone such a rare piece of jewelry with no note or return address? It seemed a little too odd in my book, so I buried myself in my work, hunting down the oddity that was driving me insane.

Bollocks. Where the hell did I put that damn book? Scouring through page after page, I still hadn't been able to find the ancient text I’d tossed aside a few hours ago. Last night, I had laid awake thinking about the pendant. I decided to use my master key to get into the library, to track down how I recognized that symbol. My OCD has been in high gear, fueling my search for the elusive data. However, the information might as well be laughing its ass off at me because it’s probably staring right at me, and I just can’t see it.

The problem I am having is, I can’t remember what exactly I am looking for, my caffeine-fueled and sleep-deprived brain making things worse.

Throwing my hands up in the air, I ignore the annoying tick in my brain telling me what to do and give up on this wild goose chase.

In six hours, Josephine and I will be heading to Egypt on a fourteen-day tour, exploring everything the country has to offer. We will be exploring Middle Egypt, checking out restricted pyramids only archeologists have access to. Then we will make our way to Bahariya Oasis, which holds the beautifully decorated tombs from 500 BC, and the Temple of Alexander the Great. After that, we will make our way to Taposiris Magna, a.k.a. Alexandria, where archeologists are on the hunt for the last Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra. My inner geek is jumping and screaming with joy as I think about what awaits me.

When I heard about this tour eight months ago, I screamed, ran around our dorm room acting like a fool, and got jiggy with my nerd self since my dream was about to come true. Jo had come home and thought I was on the verge of having a seizure. She called me a complete nut when she found out why I was freaking out, and plopped on her bed, waiting for me to calm down from excitement, so I could talk in a coherent sentence, instead of gibberish that made her think an alien had possessed me.

Since it was my year to plan our summer vacation, I’d booked our tickets on the spot and started prepping for the trip. I’d been saving up since I was thirteen, specifically for Egypt, so I could one day go on my dream trip of a lifetime and spare no expense.

Jo tried to get out of it several times, but after the haunted house in Europe, the split torture device, and the peeing my pants fiasco at Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, she owed me.

Hey, Kris? Where are you at? From the corner of my eye, I notice Jo enter from the backroom to the Egyptian exhibit.

Over here! I holler over my shoulder and get my keys out of my pocket to check one other place out. The cool thing about being the boss, I have unlimited access to everything.

Unlocking the door to Ra’s exhibit, I make my way to the ancient text we received a few weeks ago from Egypt.

For seven years, I have dedicated my life to becoming a specialist in all things Egypt. Since I was a kid, my mom and I watched the movie ‘The Mummy’ countless times, which began my obsession with the era.

My mom would drive me to all the local museums, watch documentaries on the History Channel with me, and plan trips around the world, so we could see history come to life. We traveled all over the United States and even overseas a time or two. When it was time for me to go to college, I decided to attend the University of Pennsylvania because they house the most extensive collection of Egyptian and Nubian materials in the United States.

To say my mother was thrilled was an understatement. Some moms get excited over babies and marriage; mine was head over heels in love with dead things and deciphering ancient languages that some think is a lost art.

It was like feeding candy to a baby. My inner historian and librarian went coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs when my dream became a reality. When I received my acceptance letter, I’d packed my stuff and moved the first chance I got.

I longed to follow the footsteps of Evelyn Carnahan. Okay, yes, she is a fictional character from a movie who fell in love with a hot treasure hunter and almost got killed by a mummy. But still, who knows? Maybe while we are in Egypt, I can meet a super-hot treasure hunter, who will help me uncover dead people from thousands of years ago, and I won’t have to deal with men who only want to get drunk, have one-night stands, or live in their mother’s basement.

Man, do I need to get a life.

Even though I have said this many times over, why the hell did you pick the hottest place on the freaking planet to go? My poor boobs are going to swelter in that heat. Not to mention, it’s a place full of dead people. I am all for seeing ghosts and checking out haunted places, but mummies? No, thanks. Jo plops in a chair next to me with her feet resting on my desk while I grab a few artifacts from the wooden crates we received a few days ago. She picks up a fake skull from my table and puts it by her head, so they both look at me. Besides, summer is meant for laying butt naked on the sand, meeting hot men, and getting your freak on. You know, normal stuff.

Rolling my eyes at my best friend who is petting my skull like a cat, I rip it from her grasp and put it back where it belongs. Calm your undercooked tits, woman. You will get plenty of sun in Cairo, and knowing you, you will find a hot Egyptian to warm your sheets in no time. Lord knows you don’t have a problem getting men to scratch your itch.

My gloved fingers gently shift the page, the brittle page crackling as I turn to look at another section in the book. I scan through the texts, completely ignoring Jo when she starts to dance with a dummy version of a zombie mummy. Wait a second. I pause over a small section in the book that is hidden behind a flap on the inside.

More like cold sheets. I mean-

I FOUND IT! A picture that looks exactly like the necklace Jo is wearing is staring back at me, inscribed in ancient text about Ra, the Ancient Egyptian Sun God.

What’s up, four eyes? Jo rests her chin on my shoulder, lightly tapping my glasses and gasps when her eyes land where my finger is pointing. Shut the freaking door! That’s my pendant. What does it say?

Moving so she is standing beside me, she removes her pendant and sets it on the book right next to the inscription, her hands visibly shaking with anticipation.

It says this pendant was gifted to the woman who captured Ra’s heart. There is no name here, but it says he moved heaven and hell to make her his. I can’t decipher what else it says because there is a chunk of the page missing... something about power and blood, but that’s it. I decipher the hieroglyphics with ease, one of the many things I specialize in.

Wicked! Jo grins from ear to ear, processing everything I just told her. So, I have an exact replica of a necklace that was given to Ra’s love?

Guess so. I need to keep digging to find out more, though. The historian part of me is reeling from the fact that I found a hidden section in the book, where no doubt, more gems are hiding.

Jo shakes her head and grabs my wrists before I am able to do anything. We have a plane to catch, remember? That can wait until we get back.

Glancing at the papers in front of me, I sigh like a petulant child, the need to keep researching, calling to my soul.

You promised you would set aside work, and play. This is a vacation. You know, V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N. The place where you visit to have fun and not be a boring librarian/scholar, Jo says with enough sass to choke a horse while dragging me out of the room.

I did no such thing, woman, I fire back and juggle my keys in one hand to lock everything up as she pulls me toward the back door to leave.

Ah, huh. We have to be at the airport in three hours. You know I love to party just as much as the next person and will do whatever I can to cause trouble, but I hate being late. So, get your butt in the shower and pack. Letting go of my wrists, she pulls my keys out of my hand to tell me she