Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Excerpt Forty-One-
One of his captors lay crumpled on the floor near the door. He had no doubt that Horus had killed him, which didn’t bother Jamil at all. After been kidnapped and beaten, he had no sympathy or mercy for the ones who did it.
“Where are the others?” He kept his voice low, not sure who else might be close by.
“They’re waiting until I let them know you’re free. We’re going to stay in this room while they get the rest of the bastards.” Horus fell silent for a minute and Jamil wondered if he was communicating in some way with his brothers.
Horus grimaced but didn’t say anything. “Isis says they’re moving in position. Sekhmet ordered them not to kill the head guy. We’re taking him hostage and Sekhmet will use his wonderful charm to get the name of the big boss, so we can work on taking him out.”
Jamil raised his eyebrows. “You seriously think Sekhmet will be able to get the man to talk? He’s that scary?”
“If you ever get to meet him, you’ll understand why none of us have any doubt he’ll do what he says.” Horus shrugged. “I don’t know what he used to do before Sekhmet changed him, but he’s quite compelling and intense. None of us deal with him much anymore. Not that we’re the ones backing away or anything. As the centuries have passed, I think he’s getting tired.”
Jamil looked at him and Horus chuckled.
“What the fuck do I know anyway? He might just not like us.”
“I’m not doubting you. Hell, I don’t know any of you well enough to form an opinion. I’m just wondering if you were going to stop talking so we could listen to make sure no one was heading our way.” Jamil grunted when Horus pinched his arm. “Why’d you do that?”
Horus rolled his eyes. “Because I can’t punch you. Anubis is going to have a fit when he sees all your bruises.”
“I think they broke a rib or something.” Jamil pressed his hand to his side.
“Well that’s really going to piss Anubis off,” Horus muttered.
Before they say anything else, there was a shout from somewhere in the warehouse. Jamil jumped to his feet, but Horus grabbed his arm. He glared at the man who simply shook his head.
“We need to stay out of the way.”
“But you, at least, should be out there. I’m sure you’re trained in fighting like the rest of them. Give me a gun. I can protect myself. I’ll stay in the corner.” He pointed to the spot furthest away from the door. “I know how to handle a weapon. You need to get out there and help them.”
Horus didn’t look convinced. “I’m not sure. You’ve been manhandled pretty badly. To be honest, while I might be trained, I’m not really good at the whole fighting thing. Bastet is much better than me. I like sneaking around and spying on people. That’s what I did when I was normal. I was a spy.”
Jamil huffed in annoyance then decided not to argue. There were six other men out there who’d had centuries to train with each other. He had to trust that they knew what they were doing and none of them would get hurt.
Shots rang out and he dropped to his knees, even though they were nowhere near his room. Horus eased closer to the door, not sparing a glance for the man on the floor. He stepped over him then peered around the edge.
“That didn’t sound close,” Jamil spoke up after a few minutes when there weren’t any more shots.
“No. They’d be closer to the front of the building.” Horus closed his eyes then said, “Anubis is chasing one of the men down. He slipped out while they were trying to herd the others. Sekhmet got the head guy and took him. I have no idea and I’m pretty sure we’ll never see that guy again. The other men are dead.”
Relief waved through Jamil and he slumped to the ground. As much as he had trusted Anubis and his brothers to save him, a small voice in the back of his mind had kept saying that they wouldn’t be able to get him free. He had a feeling he’d die in the back room of some unknown warehouse. Yet he shouldn’t have had any doubt that Anubis would find a way to get him out without dying.
Horus touched his shoulder and Jamil looked up. “Come on. Anum said we could go out. Thoth and Bastet have taken care of the bodies. Actually, I was wrong. They kept one guy alive and they’re turning him over to the police for the murders of those guards.”
“Good. The families will get closure then,” Jamil replied as he slowly pushed to his feet. “Let’s go. I think I’m going to need to get to the hospital.”
“Don’t worry about that. One of us will be able to heal you more than likely.” Horus hesitated. “Do you need to lean on me?”
He shook his head. “No. I’ll be fine. I would really like to get out of here now.”
Horus gestured toward the door. “Come on. We’ll go to where the others are.”
Following, Jamil realized Horus had pulled a flashlight out to illuminate the way through the halls to where the building opened in one enormous room. He noticed Thoth and Amun standing next to Bastet and another man he hadn’t seen before.
“Nice job, guys. I did my part and kept Jamil safe, though someone’s going to have to look him over. The bastards beat him a little. He might have a broken rib.” Horus drew their attention.
“Come over here, Jamil.” The man Jamil didn’t know motioned to him. “I’ll check you out. I’m the only one with the strongest healing ability.”
Jamil snorted. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“We can’t bring the dead back to life,” Bastet told him.
“Or stop time.” Amun grinned.
“Or speed up time,” Thoth jumped in.
Horus opened his mouth, but one look from the stranger stopped whatever he was going to say. When Jamil got close, the man held out his hand.
“I’m Isis. It’s nice to finally meet you, Dr. Ahlid. I’ve read some of your papers about your different digs. Quite interesting.” Isis took his hand and Jamil jumped slightly at the heat flowing from Isis’ touch.
Friday, September 18th, 2015,
by and is filed under "Anubis, Earth Warriors, Free story ".
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awesome, T.A. – thank you, and have a nice weekend!