Anubis

Anubis copyright c.2015 T.A. Chase

Part Three-

A scent caught his nose and he sneezed as Sekhmet came closer. His jackal worried the lion would take it, but Anubis knew Sekhmet wasn’t interested in the rabbit, so he continued eating.

::We’ve all run away from the memories we don’t wish to relive. The Gods must have decided it’s time for you to face yours.::

He snorted again. ::As much as I would love to say I’m too busy to go and have you send someone else in my place, I know better. You and Isis would badger me until I gave in. I’d rather avoid all that hassle.::

Sekhmet chuffed softly from where he sat, just beyond the edge of the moonlight. ::We badger you because we care. The people who hurt you are gone from this world, Anubis, and you are not. You have to get beyond the betrayal.::

After licking his fur clean, he snarled as he stood. ::Get beyond it? The man I loved and the people I considered my family turned me over to our enemies. They allowed me to be killed because they thought it would keep them safe.::

He wanted to run away, but knew Sekhmet would follow him. For some reason, the oldest of the Earth Warriors had a point to make that night and he wouldn’t leave Anubis alone until he drove it home.

::Humans are fine tuned to survive and will do what they must to save the lives of the majority.::

Shifting to his human form, Anubis paced around the bushes he’d eaten by. While they’d seemed like trees to his jackal, he could see they weren’t that big. He was glad they didn’t have any neighbors for miles around since he was sure they’d have issue with a naked man wandering around at night. Then again, they might just brush it off. The Scots seemed like a rather blasé group of people for the most part. They’d probably assumed he’d had too much to drink.

::So it’s okay to kill one to save thousands?::

::It’s an explanation, Anubis. I didn’t say it was right—or wrong for that matter. It’s simply something that happens.::

He could hear the shrug in his friend’s words. Whirling around, he searched for Sekhmet in the shadows, but for being such a large animal, he blended into the darkness quite perfectly. ::Maybe I wouldn’t be so bitter, if they had asked me for my sacrifice—or if any of them had survived after I died. The others broke their oath and killed them anyway.::

And maybe that was the problem he had with the whole thing. If they had asked him to make the decision for himself, he would’ve been more than willing to give himself over to their enemies. But they hadn’t. His lover had gone behind his back and offered him as the scapegoat—or sacrificial lamb—whichever way he wanted to think of it.

He closed his eyes as he began to remember that night, then he jerked himself out of those memories. He refused to relive them while he was awake. Anubis had no control of returning there while asleep.

::Your bravery in the face of such betrayal by love and family is why Anubis chose you as his representative in our group. That and your ability to fight like a demon when you have to.::

::I’m good at ushering souls to the afterlife.:: He admitted, which had made him one of the prince’s best warriors and was why their enemies wanted him to die.

Sekhmet’s chuff was a laugh and Anubis was happy to know that he’d made the man laugh. He didn’t know the last time he’d heard that. He wished Sekhmet would come back to them, but he spent more time alone now then he did with the brothers.

::It’s not your place to worry about me. Now go run. You’ll be leaving for Jordan tomorrow. Try not to allow your unhappiness cloud your judgment when you get there. I have the feeling those artifacts and the archaeologist aren’t what we’re led to believe.::

::Do you think the archaeologist is someone I should be worried about?::

Again he could almost see Sekhmet shrug. ::I’m not sure. My instinct is telling me we must be careful with how we approach this. Danger hangs like a cloud over everything that has to do with this mission.::

Anubis and his brothers had learned not to discount Sekhmet’s premonitions. He would do as Sekhmet said and kept his eyes open to make sure he didn’t miss something. While they had gotten rid of Sterling after the billionaire had tried to torture Kellan for information on the Earth Warriors, there were still a lot of other cults and people who wanted their powers. No matter what the items were, he had to bring them back to Scotland and their vault where they’d been hidden from the world.

::There are things the world should never know, and immortality is one of them.:: Sekhmet agreed. ::Now go.::

Shifting again, Anubis dashed away from the spot, running up and down the hills and splashing through streams. His jackal loved the freedom of the air blowing through his fur. He loved being able to hear the night sounds so clearly and smell all the scents drifting on the breeze.

It was just after midnight when he returned to the castle and shifted before walking inside. There was a pair of sweats, thick socks and a long sleeve shirt where his clothes had been. So one of the guys must have decided to do some laundry and was nice enough to grab his stuff too. It must have been Kellan.

“What makes you think it was Kellan,” Amun asked as Anubis walked into the kitchen to find his brother sitting at the table.

“It seemed like something he’d do. Why? Did you put a load in the washer?” He dug out a spoon and joined Amun, pulling the carton of ice cream Amun’d been eating away from him.

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