Anubis
(Sorry I’d forgotten I’d been using this picture for Jamil’s point of views…lol)
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Twenty-Eight:
Jamil shook Kellan’s hand “Bastet?”
The tall dark haired man nodded. “Yes. Just like the goddess. She is my patroness.”
“Meaning you worship her?” He frowned then turned to look at Ahmed. “You worship Anubis, which is why Thomas called you that. And I assume Thomas worships Thoth. Are you members of some weird Egpytian god cult?”
Ahmed and Bastet exchanged glances before Ahmed shrugged. “I guess you can think that for now. I must go. Bas, you keep Jamil safe.”
“I will, brother. Now you need to go. Thoth will only wait so long before he does something on his own, and we both know that’s not a good thing.” Bastat clasped Ahmed’s hand. “Kellan, Jamil and I will wait for you in your suite.”
Before Jamil could protest again, Ahmed crushed their lips together. He melted into Ahmed’s embrace, choosing not to think about the couple watching them. After Ahmed broke the kiss, Jamil watched as he took two steps away from him then vanished.
“Holy shit! I swear to God, I have to be dreaming. People can’t just disappear like that,” he muttered, rubbing his eyes.
Kellan touched his arm. “It’ll take time to get used to it, but it’s a pretty awesome way to travel. I mean no waiting in line at security in the airport.”
“Kellan, stop.” Bastet rested his hand on Kellan’s lower back.
The touch looked gentle as did the smile he gave the younger man. Jamil could see the very obvious love between the two men. Kellan didn’t come across as crazy, so maybe Jamil should wait to get all the facts before he judged Ahmed as insane.
Exactly what does crazy look like? Some of the craziest people in the world looked normal. He huffed. “I need to finish putting this stuff away before we leave.”
“We’ll help out. Bas handles artifacts like these all the time and I’ve gotten good at being careful with fragile things.” Kellan glanced around. “What do you want me to do?”
“Kellan is cataloging my family’s private library,” Bastet informed Jamil. “You two can do this. I’ll keep watch.”
“You don’t think they’ll come here, do you?”
Fear rioted in Jamil, but it wasn’t for his safety. He didn’t want anything to happen to the priceless items he’d dug out of Petra. They were already learning new information and it was important to not lose any of it.
“To be honest, I don’t think so.” Bastet lifted an eyebrow at Jamil’s disgruntled glare. “I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but Anubis and Thoth will do their best to discourage them. Also, we need to know what they’re looking for and why.”
Kellan’s eyes gleamed. “Could they be looking for the book we found? The one with the immortality spells? Do you think the same group is behind this?”
“I’m not sure, love. We’ll know more once Anubis and Thoth return. Now help Jamil finish up.” Bastet’s firm tone shut down any further questions.
Jamil bit his tongue. So many questions. Yet he got the feeling neither Bastet nor Kellan would answer them for him. He was going to have to wait for Ahmed—or Anubis—to return before he got the information he wanted.
They finished cleaning up the lab then Jamil locked the door behind them. Bastet loomed over both of them as they made their way out of the museum. Kellan didn’t chatter, though Jamil could tell it wasn’t a normal thing for the man.
Silence reigned until they were inside Ahmed’s suite at the hotel. Jamil set his backpack down on the coffee table before rounding on Bastet and Kellan.
“Who the hell are you people and why are you doing this?” He propped his fists on his hips. “I’m not waiting until Ahmed gets back. How do I know you’re not trying to steal the artifacts to sell on the black market?”
Kellan gasped. His outrage visible on his face. Bastet simply grinned as he removed his coat before tossing it over the back of the couch.
“Get comfortable, Jamil. Kellan, why don’t you order us some room service?” Bastet paused, tilting his head as though he were listening to someone. “It’s going to be a while before the others get back.”
“Yes, sir.” Kellan brushed a kiss over Bastet’s cheek. “What would you like to eat?” he asked Jamil while walking over to the phone.
As much as Jamil wanted to stomp his foot and throw a tantrum about Bastet not answering him, he realized it probably wouldn’t help his cause if he did that. So he gave Kellan his order then flopped down into one of the chairs.
“Are you going to explain what the hell is going on?”
Bastet was far more graceful in his movements as he sat on the couch across from Jamil. “Maybe it is best for you to hear it from someone other than Anubis. It’ll give you time to process the information before you see him. You might be less likely to want to call the authorities.”
Jamil tensed. “Call the authorities?”
“Of course, if you try to do so, you’ll find no one believes you,” Bastet pointed out. “It’s an unfortunate outcome of our story.”
“Yet somehow you’ve convinced Kellan your story is true.” Jamil nodded in Kellan’s direction.
Bastet smiled. “Kellan is special. He’d already heard about my brothers and I before we met. In fact, it’s the reason we met in the first place.”
Jamil motioned for Bastet to continue. The other man sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
“I’m not sure if you’ve ever come across any mention of an Earth Warriors cult in your digs,” Bastet began.
“It doesn’t sound familiar, but I haven’t done a lot of digs here in the Middle East. Most of my digs were down in Central and South America.”
Bastet nodded. “We’ve done a good job at removing any written knowledge of us from those parts of the world.”
Again Jamil bit his tongue. Don’t interrupt him, or I might never know the whole story.
“My brothers and I were born during the time of the Pharaohs, though I think Sekhmet might be older than that. There are times when it feels like he’s been around since the world was born.”
Jamil’s mouth dropped open and, for once in his life, he was speechless.
One Response “Anubis”
And….you leave us hanging?!! How could you??? 🙂 Thanks, T.A. – have a nice weekend!