T. A. Chase

Anubis

Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase

Part One-

Anubis winced when the door slammed shut as he entered the library, but he didn’t apologize. He stalked through the shelves and piles of books, searching for his missing brother.

“Bastet, you better not be fucking Kellan in here, or I’m going to knock over the closest bookshelf that he’s finally organized,” he yelled as he wound his way through the rooms.

“What the fuck is your problem,” Bastet asked when he walked out of one of the chambers off the main room.

Kellan trailed behind him, looking a little ruffled and Anubis knew he’d interrupted some afternoon delight—or actually early evening delight considering what time it was.

“Isis and the others are waiting for you, so we can go over what Horus and Thoth found out about that last report out of Egypt.” He propped his hands on his hips. “I don’t appreciate you ignoring the mind calls and making me come all the way down here to get you.”

“Christ! Anubis, what’s gotten into you? It’s not like you had to hike twenty miles through a snow storm to find me.” Bastet glared at him.

He sighed, shoving his hand through his hair and giving it a little tug at the ends. “I’m getting stir crazy. After our meeting, I think I’ll go out for a run.”

“Why didn’t you go with Horus and Thoth?” Kellan spoke up, which he didn’t always do around Anubis.

“I had to finish up some business in Russia and couldn’t get back before they left,” he answered, feeling a little guilty that he seemed to make Kellan uncomfortable. Yet he didn’t know how to change it. “There wasn’t any point in following after them.”

Whirling around, he lead the way out of the library to the stairs heading up to the main floor. Anubis stuck his hands on his pockets as they climbed and decided to make an effort.

“The library is looking good. Are you figuring out your way through the clutter?” He glanced over his shoulder at Kellan.

Kellan blinked in surprise, then nodded. “Thanks, and yes, I’ve figured out that none of you had any system. You just tossed whatever book you found on top of the pile of other books and shut the door. It’s amazing I haven’t been squashed under a tumbling slide of them.”

He snorted. “I had nothing to do with that. I might have found them, but I just turned them over to Isis or Amun. They’re the ones who put them away.”

“How often have you been in the library?”

Anubis shrugged. “Counting just a minute ago…about five times since we moved here.”

“Anubis isn’t really into books and maps,” Bastet joked, poking him in the side when he passed by on the way to the study where the others were waiting.

“You don’t read?” The horror in Kellan’s voice and on his face caused Anubis to burst into laughter.

“Of course, I read, but not those stuffy historical tomes. That’s more Isis’ and Sekhmet’s area of expertise than mine. I like fictional books—action adventures or horror.” Anubis wasn’t ashamed to admit he liked stories that other people might think weren’t highbrow enough. “So I’m not into those kinds of books, and I can read maps just fine.”

He nudged Bastet in the back and the bastard laughed.

“It’s about time you got your ass in here,” Horus complained as they entered the study.

Anubis waved at Bastet and Kellan. “Not my fault, guys. He was downstairs molesting the librarian again.”

“He’s never going to get his work done, if you don’t leave him alone,” Amun pointed out from where he sat on the couch, flipping through some papers.

“Shove it, all of you. Just because I’m getting some regularly doesn’t mean you need to talk about it.” Bastet encircled Kellan’s waist and pulled him close.

Kellan blushed, but he didn’t look like he wanted to run away. Which was a big step up from when he first arrived in Scotland with them. He must be getting used to us.

“Oh we can all get some if we want, but it’s more fun to tease you about it.” Thoth grinned.

“All right, gentlemen.” Isis stood from behind the desk then walked around it to prop his hip against it. “Take a seat. We need to go over the new information.”

It took a little pushing and shoving, but they finally settled on the furniture except for Anubis who stood with his back against the wall and the entire room in front of him. Isis lifted an eyebrow when their gazes met. Anubis shrugged, not willing to explain why he felt the need to keep his back against something solid while knowing where all the exits in the room were.

“Why did you send them to Egypt?” Kellan leaned forward, obviously eager to know what was happening.

“They went to do some reconnaissance for us. Amum had been hearing some chatter on different forums about some items discovered at one of the major Egyptian archaeological sites.” Isis frowned.

Thoth gestured to the files Amum was reading. “We couldn’t find anything about what the items were, but we found the site and the archaeologist in charge.”

“What site is it?” Anubis had spent many years wandering the deserts of Egypt and had come across a lot of burial sites and temples that haven’t even been discovered yet in modern times.

“They were wrong. It’s not in Egypt, but Jordan.” Horus shot Anubis a quick glance.

“Petra,” Anubis said, his voice low.

Thoth nodded. Anubis saw Kellan look from Bastet to him, then at each of the other men before looking back to Anubis. It was obvious he could tell something was going on.

“Why does it seem like that’s not a good thing?” Kellan wiggled with excitement. “I can’t wait to go. I’ve wanted to see Petra all my life.”

“First of all, you’re not going,” Bastet told him.

Kellan huffed and folded his arms as he flopped back. Anubis was pretty sure the man was going to do all he could to convince Bastet to change his mind.

“You’re not going because you don’t know how to take care of yourself yet, Kellan. We’re teaching you as we have the time, but this isn’t going to be a vacation,” Amum explained.

“But I might know something that you don’t.” He stopped when everyone looked at him. “Fine,” he muttered.

“Second of all, Petra is where Anubis died,” Isis announced. “It has no good memories for him, yet he’s the one who knows it the best. So unfortunately, he’ll have to go back.”

And that made Anubis’ jackal howl inside him.

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