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Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Nine-
“What do we do now?”
“We give them what they want.”
They all jumped and whirled to see Sekhmet standing near the entrance to the hotel. Isis was with him, holding a book. The other four looked at each other before Anubis took a breath and asked, “Are you going to accompany us?”
“Yes.” Sekhmet shot a glance at Amun. “You and I will be talking once we take care of this problem.”
Amun nodded, seemingly resigned to being yelled at for the mistake he made. As much as Anubis wanted to blame his fellow Warrior, he knew that it could’ve happened to any of them. They might be immortal, but they weren’t infallible.
“Come. We’ll go up to your suite and wait for them to contact us. Once we get the address where we’re to drop off the book, we’ll work on trying to find Jamil.” Isis gestured toward the door.
In an instant, they were all standing in the living area of Anubis’ suite. He wandered over to the window and stared out. He knew they should be discussing what was going to happen once he got the text, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Jamil being in the hands of those psychos.
“He’ll be fine,” Bastet said quietly from where he’d moved next to Anubis. “Even if they have injured him. Once we rescue him, he’ll heal. Kellan did.”
“In my mind, I know that, but my heart is a different story,” Anubis admitted.
Bastet gripped his shoulder. “I understand. It’s how I felt when Kellan was taken. I knew he would heal eventually as long as we got to him in time. I trusted that you all would help get him back. My heart wanted to tear the men who hurt him apart and I didn’t want to wait.”
“It was different. We knew who had Kellan. We have no idea who’s taken Jamil.” He shoved his hand through his hair. “I can’t help worrying that we won’t find him in time.”
“Stop.”
They turned to see Sekhmet standing in the middle of the room. There wasn’t any expression on his hard face and his blue eyes were cold as he stared at Anubis. His long golden blond hair was pulled back in a low ponytail down his back. It was a little odd that he was light while the rest of them were dark, but Anubis never really had the courage to ask why.
“Worrying about something you can’t change won’t help the situation. We’ll work with what we have and deal with the fallout when it comes. No one can hide from us for long. Time truly is on our side along with the favor of the gods.” Sekhmet barely blinked as he spoke.
Anubis started to say something but Bastet poked him in the side to keep him silent. At times, it didn’t pay to talk back to Sekhmet. The only one who did was Isis and he didn’t do it that often.
Before anyone could say anything else, Anubis’ phone buzzed, indicating he had a text. He tugged it out of his pocket and checked the directions. Bastet took it from him then carried it over to where Horus sat at the table with his laptop out.
“All right. How long did they give us?” Isis asked after he set the book down and strolled over to where Sekhmet was. He rested his hand on Sekhmet’s shoulder, being the only one who would risk touching him.
“We have an hour,” Thoth spoke from next to Horus. “That will give us more than enough time to scope the place out. We can figure out the best spots to stay out of sight and get in place before they show up.”
Anubis inhaled then released his tension. He needed to pay attention while the others went over what the plan was. He couldn’t get caught up in worrying about Jamil. There was nothing he could about his lover at the moment. All he could do was pray that they were able to get him away from his captors without any further injury and without giving up the book.
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Eight-
The scent was faint, but he could follow it easily enough. Thoth stayed right with him as they moved through the back streets, avoiding the small groups of people wandering home from work—or restaurants.
He kept going, trusting Thoth would keep an eye on their back trail. Time eased by without Anubis knowing until he got to a place where a new scent joined the others. His upper lip curled back and he whined. Stopping, he glanced around. They’d wandered back to where his hotel was.
Anubis shifted before whirling to snatch his clothes from Thoth. “We have to get up to my suite. They’re here.”
“They were here,” Amun spoke from the back entrance of the hotel. “Unfortunately, they got the drop on me somehow.” He was rubbing the back of his head.
Clenching his hands, Anubis did his best not to grab a hold of his brother and shake him. “What do you mean they got the drop on you? How the hell did that happen?”
Amun shrugged. “I don’t know. I was about to contact you when I realized you were here. I already talked to Horus and the ladies are fine. We should’ve known they wouldn’t go after them. They were probably watching Jamil and you, so they can see how close you are.”
“They think Jamil knows more than he does. We have to find him before they start torturing him.” Anubis tried not to think about what Kellan looked like after Sterling’s men got a hold of him.
“Can you follow his scent?” Thoth asked, seeming not interested in wasting any more time.
He didn’t need to be in his animal shape to track Jamil’s scent, but when it disappeared at the next corner, he growled.
“They put him in a vehicle and the windows weren’t rolled down,” he told the others. “Who are these men? Why not come after us? Why take Jamil?”
“Because he’s your weakness. They believe you’ll do anything to keep him safe.” Amun held up his hand to stop Anubis from saying anything. “We all know you would, but he’s not safe anymore. We have to work on the assumption that they’re going to work him over and all he can tell them is that we have the book.”
“Jamil could tell them where it is, but that won’t do any good since no one can get to our place without one of us taking them. Plus we’re not going to hand over that book.” Amun grimaced.
Anubis bit his lip then said, “How are they going to get a hold of us to tell us their demands?”
Bastet materialized next to Amun and punched him in the shoulder. “Do we need to give you a refresher course on safe guarding people? Also on how to keep your eyes open for potential bad guys?”
“No.” Amun snarled at him. “I don’t know how they managed to sneak up on me. It’s never happened before.”
There was a hint of guilt in Amun’s voice, and as much as Anubis wanted to jump on it, he knew it wasn’t important at the moment. What was done was done. They could yell at Amun all they wanted, but it wouldn’t change the situation.
“We’ll discuss that later,” he said. “Right now, we have to start searching every group we know to figure out who might have done this.”
Bastet nodded. “Horus will meet us in your suite. There’s no point in watching the women any more. They won’t go after them.”
Suddenly Anubis’ phone rang and they all froze. He took a deep breath as he dug it out of his pocket then stared at the unknown number.
“Are you going to answer that?” Horus asked, having appeared a few seconds earlier.
“Yes.” He swiped his finger over the screen then hit speaker. “Al Hazzan.”
“Let’s dispense with the lies, Anubis. We all know you are more than a consultant for UNESCO. I’m calling to tell you we need to make a trade. I have something that I believe is very important to you.” The voice had a thick accent and Anubis wasn’t entirely sure where the man was from.
“How do I know you haven’t killed him already?” Anubis shot a look at Bastet who nodded.
The man laughed. “You don’t trust us?”
“Seriously? After you kidnapped him, I’m supposed to trust that you’ll keep your word and return him to me.” Anubis snorted.
There were some sounds then Jamil said, “Anubis, don’t give them what they want and definitely don’t trust them. Ow!”
“Jamil,” Anubis shouted.
“No more. I’ll text you an address. You’re to drop the book there. Once I’m assured you haven’t tricked us, I’ll text you an address where you can pick him up.”
Anubis growled. “I don’t think so. Once you have the book, you have no reason to keep him alive. You’ll make sure he’s there and after I drop the package off, you’ll send him out to me. He better not have any injuries either—or I’ll hunt you down. I have all the time in the world while your life is finite.”
“Fine. We’ll do it your way.” The man hung up.
After stuffing his phone away, Anubis stared at his brothers. “Who here believes he’ll do what he said?”
No one answered and he nodded.
Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase (very short installment, but I wanted to get you something today)
Part Thirty-Seven-
“Son of a bitch,” Thoth muttered. “Where the fuck did those guys go?”
Anubis shook his head. “I don’t know. I thought we were following close enough that they couldn’t lose us. Let me shift and I’ll see if I can sniff them out.”
Thoth nodded, though he didn’t look happy about it. Anubis understood. Shifting in the middle of the city wasn’t the best option, but they needed to find the men they’d been following. Worry gnawed at him as the thought that they might have slipped away to go grab Jamil.
“Amun and Horus won’t let anything happen to Jamil and the ladies,” Thoth told him, taking Anubis’ clothes as he stripped. “If—somehow they get by them—they’ll let us know and we can rescue them.”
“I remember what Kellan looked like after we saved him from Sterling’s men. I don’t want Jamil—or the ladies—to suffer that torture.” He took a deep breath then let his jackal over take him.
When the pain and light disappeared, he glanced over at Thoth who stood at the opening of the alley where they’d last seen the two men. He’d shifted when they first started following the other two, just so he’d know their scent if needed. Trotting over, he inhaled deeply then sneezed.
Thoth chuckled. “I guess it does stink in there, and it must be like a hundred times worse for you.”
Anubis shook his head then moved through the alley out the other side. The shadows hid him a little, so if anyone were to see him, they might think he were simply a rather large dog. He was far bigger then his mortal counterpart. Unlike Bastet, who turned into a regular sized house cat, Anubis’ jackal was bigger than a wolf.
Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Six-
“Aren’t you bigger than the usual jackal? Not that I’ve seen any of them outside of the zoo.”
More blinding light and when Jamil could see again, Anubis crouched in front of him. Before anything could be said, Anubis surged forward to press his lips to Jamil’s. He opened to Anubis, letting his lover take control of the kiss and running his hands over Anubis’ warm skin.
Jamil grunted when Anubis encircled his waist then stood, holding Jamil tight to him. He trusted Anubis wouldn’t drop him, so he didn’t break the kiss to protest. Nibbling and sucking, he ate at Anubis’ mouth as though he were starving for a taste of the man.
Anubis shouldered open the door to the bedroom then must have kicked it shut behind them. Jamil moaned as Anubis flexed his fingers, digging into Jamil’s ass cheeks. He rubbed his groin against Anubis’ hard stomach and enjoyed the feel of his erection running over the ridges of Anubis’ abs.
“Hey,” he gasped, bouncing on the bed when Anubis had tossed him. “You could warn a guy.”
Smirking, Anubis reached out to yank at Jamil’s jeans. “Where’s the fun in that?”
Jamil shook his head, but joined in to get him naked. Once his clothes landed in a pile on the floor, he held out his arms for Anubis.
“Come here,” he demanded.
Anubis crawled onto the bed then wedged his shoulders between Jamil’s legs before licking a line along the underside of Jamil’s cock. Letting his hands drop to the comforter, Jamil whimpered and fisted the material as Anubis wrapped his lips around Jamil.
“Please,” Jamil begged and it was obvious Anubis knew exactly what Jamil wanted because he swallowed Jamil’s entire length until it hit the back of his throat.
Jamil tried to lift his hips off the bed, but Anubis pinned him down, forcing him to stay still while Anubis worked him. All that heat and suction drove Jamil to the edge and brought him back again and again. Anubis never let him go all the way over. Soon Jamil had lost all ability to speak. He barely managed to make noises to let Anubis know how much he loved what the man was doing to him.
Suddenly fingers were at his opening and he spread his legs wider to give Anubis more room.
“Holy shit,” he shouted when Anubis breached him with two fingers and didn’t stop for him to adjust. Anubis stretched and worked lube into his hole unmercifully as though the man was close to losing control.
Jamil forced himself to relax. It burned, but he knew he could take it as long as he breathed. Anubis wasn’t interested in hurting him. The man was simply caught up in his desire, not that Jamil blamed him. Anubis nudged his gland with his knuckle and electricity danced along Jamil’s spine.
“Christ, Anubis. Fuck me already.” He reached down to rap his fist against Anubis’ shoulder.
Chuckling, Anubis pulled away from him. Jamil pushed up on his elbows to see what Anubis was doing. He watched while Anubis tore open a foil package then rolled the rubber over his thick length. A palm full of lube coated it before Anubis positioned himself at Jamil’s hole.
Jamil bit his lip as Anubis pushed in, filling him to the point of discomfort. Anubis didn’t stop, but he smoothed his hands along Jamil’s sides, doing his best to soothe him while his body adjusted to the invasion.
He didn’t know how long it took for Anubis to bury balls deep since Jamil was lost in the sensations of being taken. Closing his eyes, Jamil took another breath then met Anubis’ gaze.
Those dark eyes held his and he saw so many emotions race through them. Did any of it mean that Anubis loved him? Jamil blinked and shook his head. It didn’t matter how Anubis felt about him. The man would leave as soon as they figured out who was after the book and Jamil knew they wouldn’t see each other again.
Don’t think about it now. Enjoy this.
Rocking into Anubis, he encouraged the man to move. Anubis grinned then pulled out a little before shoving back in. There was no gentleness in their lovemaking. It was rough and sweaty. The noise of their grunts and skin slapping against skin filled the air. He’d have bruises from where Anubis gripped his hips hard. Pressure built in Jamil’s groin until he couldn’t fight it any longer.
“Anubis,” he cried out as he came, coating their stomachs with his cum.
He shook. The clenching of his inner channel dragged Anubis over the edge as well. Anubis threw his head back and shouted as he filled the condom he wore.
They trembled in each other’s arms while their pluses returned to normal and they stopped panting. Jamil winced when Anubis pulled out.
“Come on. Let’s take a shower then we can rest for a little while. I’ll have to go with Thoth in search of who might have hired those men.” Anubis took care of the rubber before offering his hand to Jamil.
“That sounds good to me,” Jamil said as he strolled to the bathroom with Anubis. “The shower and the nap. Not you going to look for the bad guys.”
Anubis shrugged as he turned on the water. “It’s what I was created to do, Jamil. I must find the men who wish to destroy this planet, plus I want to make sure you’re safe. If we don’t stop them, they’ll come after you until they get you. They’ll torture you. It happened to Kellan.”
As much as he wanted to continue arguing, Jamil knew it wouldn’t do any good. He would deal with everything that happened when it did and try not to worry before. Like how he was not thinking about the relationship he might have going with Anubis.
Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Five-
Jamil accepted Anubis’ embrace for a few seconds before leaning back to meet Anubis’ gaze. “I can take care of myself,” he pointed out. “I’m not a child.”
“I know.” Anubis leaned down to brush a kiss over his lips. “But you’ve never dealt with men like these. It’s obvious they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want.”
“There have been a lot of robbers at the different sites I’ve worked,” Jamil reminded his lover. “I survived them.”
“You did, but like Anubis said, you’ve never encountered men like these. They aren’t just interested in trinkets they can sell on the black market. They want the artifacts that can give them true power to rule the world.” Thoth held up his hand to stop Jamil from scoffing. “Don’t laugh. You’ve been told items like that are mere legends. That the Holy Grail is just a myth created by poets and authors to get people to read their writing.”
Jamil eyed both men. “Are you saying the Grail is real?”
Anubis nodded. “Of course it is, along with the spear that pierced Christ’s side while he was on the cross. They are real and have powers beyond what any human can imagine. We’ve seen them in use and they’re scary.”
“Where are they?”
Thoth grinned. “If you come visit Anubis in Scotland, you can see them.”
He huffed. “Why do I think you stole them from somewhere?”
“We acquired them so no one would get hurt.” Butter wouldn’t have melted in Anubis’ mouth.
“Where the hell did you steal them from? What organization would be powerful enough to have those objects?” He shook his head. “You know what? I don’t really want to know. I’m sure you probably took them from the Vatican or someplace like that. Since you don’t seem to have any problem sneaking into that sacred place.”
Thoth shrugged. “Sacred is a relative term. What’s sacred to me isn’t nearly as important to someone else. It’s all in what you believe in. So is there anything you want me to get from your place?”
Jamil found a piece of paper and a pen to make a list. When he was done, Thoth disappeared and Jamil managed not to jump. It was going to take some time to get used to the people around him popping in and out of the room.
He dropped to the couch then rested his head back on the cushion, staring up at the ceiling. Anubis sat next to him, but he didn’t move.
“Is it always dangerous like this when you go on your missions?”
Anubis hummed low for a second then said, “Yes, I guess they can be dangerous, but to be honest, when you’re immortal and can shift into another shape, what’s there to worry about?”
“Wait a minute. You can shift shapes?” He tensed and straightened.
“Umm…yes. Did I not mention that earlier?” Anubis looked uncomfortable.
“No, you didn’t. Why would you not mention that?”
“Because you have enough to process after all the other information I gave you. Are you sure you want to absorb the fact I can change into a jackal?” Anubis grimaced.
Jamil jerked. “A jackal? And Thoth is a hawk, right? Was that video of the two of you?”
He started searching for his phone. He wanted to see it again, to see if there was any clue that the animals in it weren’t your typical jackal and hawk. Anubis rested his hand on Jamil’s arm.
“Yes, that was us. We didn’t realize there was anyone near by or we would’ve never done it. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back to this area and my jackal wanted to run over familiar sand.” Anubis sighed.
“Can I see you?” He wasn’t sure how he was going to react, but he did know he wanted to see Anubis’ jackal. “Please.”
Anubis didn’t look happy, but he stood and stripped. Jamil’s cock hardened at the sight of Anubis’ muscular body. He clenched his hands to keep from reaching out to trail his fingers over the ridges and valleys making up Anubis’ abs.
At first, there didn’t seem to be any kind of change, but slowly a bright light began to shine until he couldn’t look at Anubis anymore. He closed his eyes, not sure how long it took before he heard a soft woof. Slowly opening his eyes, he gasped when he saw the large canine standing in front of him.
“Wow. You’re beautiful,” he muttered, reaching out to run his hands over Anubis’ short fur.
The jackal licked his hand.
Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Four-
Jamil watched as the others laughed.
“Being immortal does give one a long range outlook on things,” Anubis commented while pacing the room. “We can’t get complacent though. Those men can not be allowed to get their hands on anything that might further their agenda.”
“What does this say?” Jamil motioned to the spell. “I don’t mean for you to cast it or anything like that.”
Thoth snorted. “We couldn’t cast the spell even if we wanted to. There are preparations and sacrifices that need to be done first before someone could even think about doing it.”
“Sacrifices?” He hoped Thoth didn’t mean what he thought he meant.
Anubis slid his hand up Jamil’s arm to grasp the back of his neck and urged him to move closer. Jamil eased into Anubis’ side, needing the safety Anubis inspired.
“Just like you’re thinking. I wonder if the guards were their attempts to please the gods, so that they would help them find the book.” Anubis rubbed his thumb along Jamil’s jaw while talking to the rest.
“If they were, then they did something wrong. The gods turned their backs on their pleas.” Thoth took the book from Jamil then wrapped it in the leather. “Now that we know what this is, I’ll take it to our library.”
Kellan eyed him. “Don’t hide it. Put it in with the other copies of the Book of the Dead I found already. I don’t want to have to search the whole place to find it.”
“Yes, sir.” Thoth bowed slightly and Bastet rolled his eyes.
“Stop teasing him, Thoth,” Bastet ordered. “You know how much he hates the way we let the library go.”
Thoth snorted. “Thank the gods, you fell in love with him then, Bastet. Our library will be organized while we’re out saving the world.”
Anubis reached over and punched Thoth. “You’re being an ass. Kellan actually is doing us a favor by going through the books and artifacts we’ve collected over the centuries. He’s finding things we’d forgotten about—or didn’t realize we had. Once he has the catalogue done, I’m sure we’ll be shocked at what we have.”
“I’m sorry.” Thoth patted Kellan’s shoulder. “Your job is something I’d never want to do. I’d go out of my mind digging through all those dusty tomes and weird artifacts.”
Jamil straightened. “What kind of artifacts do you have?”
“Things that should be in museums,” Kellan muttered as he glared at Thoth.
“We can’t risk the wrong people getting a hold of them, Kellan. We’ve discussed this before.” Bastet shook his head.
“But you have things from lost civilizations that modern people know nothing about. If they could see these items in museums, they could learn about them.”
It sounded like an old familiar argument they’d had several times before. Jamil looked at Anubis who shrugged.
“I’m sure you would feel like Kellan does, but I’m with Bastet on this. The reason we have the artifacts is because of the danger they present to the rest of the world.” Anubis brushed a kiss over Jamil’s lips. “Maybe after you get done with your dig at Petra, you can come to Scotland and see our library.”
He stared up in Anubis’ dark eyes and felt something click inside his chest. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t feel like that after only knowing the man for a few days, and after listening to his story, could Jamil truly believe that Anubis was immortal? Or was he just a paranoid guy?
As weird as it might have sounded, Jamil didn’t feel as though he were in danger when he was with Anubis. In all honesty, he felt safe and that was saying a lot, considering men who were friends of Anubis surrounded him.
Lifting his hand, he cradled Anubis’ cheek. “I’d like that, though I won’t be done here for another year or so.”
Anubis nuzzled Jamil’s palm. “Lucky for you, I have all the time in the world.”
“All right, gentlemen. I’m glad to know you’re going to see each other after this is over and all that, but we have shit to do and dangerous people to find.” Thoth grimaced. “I changed my mind. Bastet, take the book and Kellan back to Scotland. With it in our collection, they’ll never be able to find it. Anubis and I will go in search of the men who want it.”
Jamil tilted his head and asked, “Why wouldn’t they be able to find your place in Scotland?”
“Have you ever seen that play Brigadoon where the town only appears for one night every hundred years?” Kellan waved his hands around as he inquired.
Frowning, Jamil shook his head. “No, I haven’t.”
“It’s not important that you have. All that’s important is to know that normal mortals can’t find our place easily. Plus Isis is usually there and sometimes Sekhmet is as well. There’s very few who could get the drop on either one of them. If they chose to challenge them, then they will learn why Isis and Sekhmet are the strongest of us all.” Bastet’s smile held a hint of evil and Jamil wasn’t sure he wanted to meet Anubis’ other brothers.
“They should kind of scary,” he mumbled.
Anubis nodded. “They are, though I will say Isis isn’t once you get to know him. Sekhmet still scares me from time to time.”
Jamil nodded as he watched the others say good-bye then Kellan and Bastet vanished in a blink. He rubbed his eyes, not sure he’d ever get used to that. Thoth and Anubis looked at each other, and Jamil got the impression they were holding a silent conversation.
“I’ll see you in a few. I’m going to Jamil’s house and making sure it’s safe. Is there anything you want me to bring back for you?” Thoth questioned Jamil.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because right at the moment, you aren’t going back there. You’re safest here in my suite with me. Once we figure out who the master minds behind this is, you can go back to your place.” Anubis hugged him. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to risk your life.”
Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Three-
Jamil cringed inside at the rather squeaky tone of his voice, but he was a little outraged that they would consider taking something from the Vatican.
Ahmed grinned at him. “It wouldn’t be the first thing we stole from there.”
“Ahmed. I mean Anubis.” He stopped and Ahmed touched his shoulder.
“Call me whichever you feel most comfortable using. I don’t mind.” Anubis motioned to the others. “Bas and Thoth could tell you stories of the places we’ve entered and took things from. There are artifacts that shouldn’t be allowed where anyone can find them.”
“Why? What do you do with them?” He glanced at Kellan. “Do you help them steal things?”
Chuckling, Kellan shook his head. “I can’t appear and disappear like they can, so it’s best if I stay behind. I take care of the library where they store the items. You should see it, Jamil. Books that were written centuries ago. There are even some I’m pretty sure were supposed to have been lost when the library at Alexandria burned.”
Shock rushed through him. “You have to be joking. No one knows what was lost when that library burned. How do they know they have anything from there?”
“Sekhmet took them when he realized what was happening. He got as much as he could before the fire destroyed the rest.” Bastet shrugged when Anubis and Thoth looked at him. “Kellan asked him one time when he showed up in our library while Kellan was working.”
“How as I supposed to know none of you talked to him?” Kellan rolled his eyes at their surprised expressions.
“It’s not that we don’t talk to him,” Thoth protested.
Kellan snorted. “You’re all scared of Sekhmet. Well, all of you except Isis. Maybe he’s just lonely. We talked for about an hour and he showed me where the Alexandria books were.”
Jamil saw the way Bastet’s eyebrows shot up. Apparently this Sekhmet was a man the others either respected or feared. It was also apparent they were amazed that he talked to Kellan.
“Isis showed up to drag him off somewhere, but not before thanking me for listening,” Kellan said.
“We need to focus, people,” Anubis told them. “We’ll worry about the other artifacts later.”
A thought hit Jamil. “Are you going to take any of mine?”
Anubis shrugged. “I don’t think so. This is the only thing I’ve seen so far that’s dangerous to the world. The other things you found will help establish information about an unknown ancient society, but they won’t help you raise the dead.”
“Not that I want to do that anyway,” Jamil muttered as he ran his fingers over the faded ink, trying to work out the writing. “This isn’t the normal hieroglyphs I’m used to seeing in the ancient Egyptian texts.”
Thoth grimaced. “It’s not, so I’m not sure how they expected to read it. Maybe they have someone who can.”
Jamil peeked at Anubis who frowned. “Are there people out there who would still know this language? Aside from you guys.”
“There were a few in one of the local tribes who would remember. I’m not sure they’d help outsiders though,” Anubis mumbled, rubbing his hands together.
Kellan leaned into Bastet’s side and Jamil watched Bastet encircle Kellan’s waist, drawing him closer. “Could it be the same group of people who kidnapped me?”
Kidnap? Jamil’s heart beat sped up. He didn’t like to hear that. “You were kidnapped?”
“Yes. By a crazy man who wanted me to tell him where to find the spell on how to make Earth Warriors.” Kellan motioned to the other three men in the room. “I’d stumbled on the knowledge that they existed and that there was actually a book with the spell in it. The man kidnapped and tortured me to tell him. But I didn’t.”
“Why not? It might have stopped him from hurting you.” Jamil didn’t understand why Kellan wouldn’t spill his guts.
Kellan met Bastet’s gaze and smiled. “I knew Bastet and the others were searching for me. I just had to stay alive long enough for them to get there.”
“You said a group though. Are there more men who might do something like that?” Jamil thought about Sandy and Eesha. “I should warn the girls.”
Anubis touched his arm then shook his head when Jamil met his eyes. “You can’t. One of my brothers is watching them for us. He’ll be able to keep them safe or at least will be able to get a hold of us if he needs help. Horus will stay unseen.”
“Why?”
“If the men after the book were to see the ladies had a guard, they would think Sandy and Eesha knew something and take them. What the girls don’t know won’t hurt them.”
Jamil wasn’t entirely sure he trusted Anubis to keep his friends safe, but since he didn’t know who to keep an eye out for, it was best for Anubis’ brother to protect them at the moment.
“Sterling was part of a group of very wealthy men who wanted to be the most powerful in the world. They also wanted to find immortality because they didn’t want to lose their power or money,” Thoth explained.
“It’s possible they decided if they couldn’t get immortality, then raising an army of the undead would be the next best thing.” Bastet rested his cheek on Kellan’s head while he spoke.
Jamil winced along with Anubis. “I can’t imagine what that would be like.”
“No need to, because it’ll never happen. The book is going to disappear into legend and no one except for us and our other brothers will know where it is.” Thoth stared down at the book in Jamil’s hands. “But before we do that, maybe we should think about setting a trap to find the killers.”
“We know it won’t be the ones who hired them,” Anubis pointed out.
“Of course not, but justice will be served for those who were killed. We’ll keep working to search out all the members of the group. We have time on our side. They don’t.” Thoth’s eyes gleamed.
Anubis
Anubis copyright c.2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-Two
Anubis touched Jamil’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. As long as Kellan and you don’t touch it, we’ll be fine.”
Jamil nodded, though Anubis could tell Jamil struggled with not being the one to open it. Gesturing for Thoth to continue, he held his breath as his brother opened the cover. There was no surge of power or ‘wrongness’ when he did so and Anubis relaxed a little.
“Nothing that I can feel,” Thoth informed the rest of them.
“Good.” Bastet took up a pair of the gloves Jamil had tossed on the table. “Now let’s see what makes this copy so special, our enemies will kill for it.”
“How many copies of the Book of the Dead are there?” Jamil asked while Bastet turned pages.
Anubis snorted. “Millions of modern day printings, but this isn’t modern.”
Kellan nodded. “You’re right. Plus this isn’t the typical book we’re used to seeing, even with ancient versions. It’s almost as though all the other ones were translated from this one.”
Bastet stiffened and Anubis heard Kellan inhale sharply.
“What?”
Without saying anything, Bastet held the book out to him. He took it and glanced down to read the page they’d been looking at. As his mind translated the words, worry settled into his very soul. This wasn’t good.
“You can read that?” Jamil asked Kellan, who shook his head.
“No, but Bas and I are connected mentally, and he lets me know what it says. The Earth Warriors are given the ability to read any language ever used.” Kellan flashed Jamil a bright smile. “It comes in handy with some of the books they have in their library.”
Jamil didn’t look like he believed Kellan, but Anubis couldn’t go about convincing him right then. He finished reading the page then handed it to Thoth. He removed his gloves before beginning to pace.
“I didn’t realize there was such a spell in the Book,” he commented.
“Neither did I,” Bastet said. “I know it isn’t there in any of the other copies we have, or even the ones that are available nowadays.”
“So when was it removed? Is this the only book that has it? Did the people who copied it know the danger of the spell?” Anubis rubbed his hand over his head as he thought.”
Jamil took the artifact from Thoth and frowned. “I can’t read this. It’s not any of the ancient Egyptian languages I’m familiar with.”
“No. From what I can guess, it comes from a culture far older, which would make it one of the oldest books—and languages—ever recorded.” Thoth flopped onto the couch.
“Seriously?” Excitement caused Jamil’s voice to shake. “This is a major archaeological find. The Jordanian government is going to have a field day.”
Bastet glanced at Anubis and as much as he didn’t want to say it, Anubis knew he had to be the one to burst Jamil’s happy bubble.
“Sorry, Jamil. The world will never know this book exists.”
“What?” Jamil clasped the book tightly to his chest as though he expected Anubis to wrench it from his hands. “Why not? We can’t hide this away. There is so much we can learn about an unknown civilization from this manuscript.”
Thoth laughed. “If it was just an older version of the Book of the Dead, we’d let you have it. We have other older copies in our library. But unfortunately, the spell on that page you’re looking at means we have to hide it away.”
Jamil squinted at the faded words. “I don’t understand. What’s this spell and why do you think it’s dangerous?”
“It’s a spell to raise the dead,” Kellan told him.
“So what? There are a ton of spells out there to do that and none of them work. No one can raise the dead or bring people back to life.” Jamil sputtered to a stop when Thoth shook his head.
“All of the known spells don’t work. Mostly because no one has the power to make them viable. But there are some spells that even a nonbeliever could use and they would work.” Thoth gestured toward Jamil. “The book you’re holding has one of those.”
Jamil shot Anubis a questioning glance and he nodded. “Thoth is right. You might think it’s crazy, but looking at Bastet, Thoth and I, do you really think there aren’t ways to bring the dead back to life? We are examples of what can be done with enough power and belief.”
“But you said the gods created you. I’m pretty sure they aren’t inclined to help anyone else who might try this.”
Anubis sighed. “They aren’t the only gods around, Jamil. There are others who wouldn’t have a problem helping a mortal cast this and some of them are ones we don’t want to have that kind of foothold in the world.”
He watched as Jamil set the book down then tore off his gloves. He’d known the moment he’d dug the book out of the dirt that it would never be seen by anyone other than the other Earth Warriors. Well…and Kellan. He hadn’t planned on allowing Jamil to see it.
Anubis knew it went against everything Jamil stood for to hide a priceless artifact like that away from the world. As much as he understood, Anubis wasn’t about to let Jamil change his mind. The spell wasn’t the same as the one that had created Anubis and his brothers. It didn’t imbibe immortality on people, but it could help create an army of the undead which would give the person controlling them extraordinary power.
“Are you like the Vatican, hiding books away from the world to make sure they don’t give people radical ideas?” Jamil accused.
Bastet chuckled. “I’ve been in the Vatican’s library, even the secret one with the banned books, and I have to say our library is far more impressive.” He turned to eye Thoth. “Though I did see a book there we might want to think about collecting. I’ll talk to Isis about sending Amun after it.”
“You’re going to steal a book from the Vatican?” Jamil sounded outraged.
Anubis
Anubis copyright c. 2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-One-
“Well the world hasn’t gone up in flames yet, so you have to be doing something right,” Jamil pointed out.
Anubis grimaced. “Thanks for the encouraging words.”
Shrugging, Jamil said, “It’s the best I could come up with.”
After brushing a quick kiss over Jamil’s lips, Anubis stepped away. “I’m sure the more you think, the more questions you’ll come up with, but right now, we need to focus on what I found. I can’t let my past distract me from what’s happening now.”
“Right.” Jamil clapped his hands together as he turned to glance around the room. “I assume you’re going to want your brothers here to look at it with you.”
“Yes, but you should be here as well. As much as I’d love to keep you away from this, I’m afraid you’ve been in the middle of the situation from the beginning, even though you didn’t know about it.” Anubis ran his hand through his hair then sighed. “I’ll call them back.”
::Can you join us now?:: he asked Bastet and Thoth.
“Yes.”
Jamil jumped about a foot in the air. If Anubis hadn’t been worried about what was going on, he’d have laughed at the disgruntled glare Jamil shot at Thoth.
Thoth grinned. “Sorry. I forget you’re not used to our powers yet. Have you told him the craziest part yet?”
Anubis punched Thoth in the arm. “You know I didn’t, and I don’t appreciate you bringing that up right now. We don’t have time for it.”
“What are you talking about? How can anything be crazier than thinking you’re immortal and put on this earth to fight bad guys?” Jamil flopped onto the couch with an exasperated exhale.
“Oh trust me, some of their powers are stuff of legends,” Kellan commented as he joined Jamil. “Anubis is right though. We don’t have time. Whoever is after the book is willing to kill for it. We need to know what’s in it then get it out of their reach.”
Bastet motioned to Anubis. “Retrieve it,” he ordered.
He bit back the sarcastic quip he wanted to make to do as Bastet said. At the moment, it wasn’t important to take Bastet down a peg. Really though? Who did he think he was? The only ones who gave orders were Isis and Sekhmet. The rest of them were equals.
Taking a deep breath, Anubis closed his eyes and imagined the chamber where he’d taken the book. With his second breath, his nose filled the musty odor of age and decay. He glanced around to see the sarcophagus and other burial treasures.
Anubis bowed. “Thank you for allowing me to store the book here, your majesty. I’ll continue to pray for you as you travel through the underworld.”
He picked the book wrapped in leather then thought of the hotel suite. A soft gasp told him he’d returned there. Bastet stood close to him, holding out a glass of whiskey. After drinking it, Anubis nodded his thanks.
“Where did you hide it? Why not just send it to the library in Scotland?” Kellan studied him.
“I put it in an as-yet undiscovered tomb of an unknown pharaoh,” Anubis informed him. “I knew no one would ever find it there, so it was the safest place. Especially if something happened and we couldn’t retrieve it.”
Jamil’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Undiscovered tomb?”
Anubis nodded. “Yes, but don’t ask me where it is. I’ve only been inside. I have no idea where it is in the grand scheme of the desert.”
“How did you find it then?”
“I’d been led there on an earlier mission.” Anubis wasn’t going to tell Jamil any more than that. He told the truth. He didn’t know exactly where it was and wouldn’t be able to point to a spot on the map. But even if he could, he probably wouldn’t.
There was a disturbing heaviness in the shadows hugging the corners in that tomb. Anubis didn’t want Jamil to open it and end up dealing with more than grave robbers. Vindictive spirits could cause serious harm to innocent people. Anubis wouldn’t run the risk it would injure Jamil.
Bastet and Thoth stared at him and he gave a slight shake of his head. Thoth snorted softly while Bastet merely shrugged.
“Let’s take a look at what you found,” Bastet suggested. “I have a feeling we’re running out of time. Our enemies are closing in on us. We need to be ready for them.”
Anubis walked over to the table while the others followed. He set the book down then unwrapped it. Stunned silence filled the room as he revealed it.
“A Book of the Dead,” Kellan breathed, reaching out to touch it but stopping inches short when Bastet grabbed his hand.
“Don’t touch it,” Bastet told him.
“Wait. I have gloves in my backpack.” Jamil dashed over to where he’d dropped it then dug through it.
Anubis cleared his throat. “It’s not just that it’s an artifact that Bastet doesn’t want Kellan to touch it, Jamil. There could be poison or curses on the book to keep it safe.”
“How can you find out?” Jamil trembled and Anubis knew it was because he wanted to look at the book, but was restraining himself.
“I wish Amun was here,” Thoth muttered.
“I know. He’s the most knowledgeable about curses and poisons. Unfortunately, he’s on another mission and I doubt Isis will take him off.” Bastet rubbed his chin. “Do any of us have the courage to ask Sekhmet to come and look at it?”
Anubis shared a glance with Thoth then met Bastet’s amused gaze. “No.”
Bastet laughed. “I didn’t think so. I guess we’ll have to do it the old fashion way.”
Thoth groaned. “I hate this, but I’ll do it. I don’t have anyone I need to keep safe, so if there’s poison, I can be sick.”
“What if there’s a curse?” Jamil inquired before Thoth touched the cover.
“Then I’m stuck with it until I can find Amun and have him break it.”
Anubis
(Sorry the cable went out last night before I could get this scheduled to post.)
Anubis copyright c.2015 T.A. Chase
Part Thirty-
Jamil’s confusion was evident in his frown. “You’re telling me that each one of you died in some way. Then the gods chose to resurrect you, so you could save the earth from destruction. What kind of destruction and how did they know it’s going to happen?”
Anubis bit back his laughter. “They’re gods. Just as the one you all worship nowadays is omnipotent, so are they. People might not chose to believe in them any more, but they still have power. They saw the earth wreathed in fire and blood. They knew mortals would bring it to the brink by greed, violence, and various other evil. They had one of their priests cast a spell to give my brothers and me eternal life and powers to stop it from happening.”
“You died? How?”
He knew Jamil would eventually ask that question. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Anubis sorted through his thoughts. How little could he get away with telling Jamil? To be honest, he had no interest in telling him anything, yet he understood the only way Jamil might believe him was if Anubis told the truth.
::You do realize he doesn’t have to believe you. It doesn’t matter. We can deal with whoever is robbing Petra without him.:: Thoth reminded him.
::I thought you were gone.::
Thoth chuckled. ::We’re digging through very dusty books in the library. Kellan is muttering about how disgraceful our treatment of these books is. I’m quite capable of multi-tasking. Don’t tell him anything if you don’t want to.::
His brother was right. Anubis really didn’t have to explain anything else to Jamil, yet he couldn’t help but want his lover to know everything about him.
“Ahmed?” Jamil touched his shoulder. “I guess I should call you Anubis, huh?”
“When we are alone, Anubis is fine. When we are out among others, Ahmed is best. There are very few people who know of our existence. Some groups believe the rumors about us and look for the spell that created us. We have collected every book that surfaces that has the spell—or variation of it—and hide it away.” He shrugged. “It seems like men don’t want to lose their power and wealth as they get older, so they become desperate to find the Fountain of Youth.”
“Humans fear death,” Jamil said. “We don’t know what comes after and that scares us.”
Anubis nodded. “I understand that.” He took a deep breath. “You’ve been impressed with all the knowledge I have of Prince Okilma and his family. My knowledge comes from the fact that I was his bodyguard and lover up until my death at the hands of our enemies.”
Jamil stiffened, jerking his hand away from Anubis like he’d been shocked. “You used to live at Petra? All that information wasn’t from your tribe? Do you have a real tribe?”
Shaking his head, Anubis pushed to his feet and stalked to the windows. He stared out at the street below them. “My tribe died when Prince Okilma did. I was an orphan when I went to serve the royal family. I was chosen to be his closest companion because of that very fact. My loyalty would always be to him and I’d be grateful to be saved from a life of slavery.”
“Were you grateful?”
He smiled. “Yes, I was, plus I loved Okilma as a brother when we were younger. Then as we grew older, I discovered I loved him as far more than a brother. We became lovers before he took over the throne. There was no taboo against two men loving each other like we did. I was his bodyguard as well, and when he married Eesha, I swore to protect her too.”
Anubis saw Jamil edge closer to him, his curiosity getting the best of him. “Weren’t you jealous of them?”
“No. I understood he needed to marry and have children to secure the throne for the next generation. Plus the princess was a beautiful soul, gentle and kind. She accepted Okilma’s relationship with me without anger or hatred.” Anubis swallowed against the sob threatening to escape as he thought of Eesha. “She’s the one who lead me to the book in the caves. Her spirit had been tasked with the mission of making sure I found it.”
A soft pulse in his chest told him his god acknowledged his sorrow and then a tiny burst of joy informed him Eesha was indeed happy again. He pressed his hand to his heart. Thank you.
“How did you die?”
“We were attacked. Unfortunately, our enemies overwhelmed us and we were captured. They told Okilma he had to sacrifice one of the royal family. If he did that, they would leave the rest alive. Even though I wasn’t blood, I was considered part of the family, so he gave me to them.” He ignored Jamil’s rough gasp of surprise. “They slit my throat and made Okilma and Eesha watch me bled out. I’m pretty sure they murdered the prince, princess and their son shortly after I died.”
Jamil slid his arms around Anubis’ waist then rested his forehead between his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry.”
Anubis turned in his embrace then placed his knuckle under Jamil’s chin to raise his head. He stared down into Jamil’s eyes. “You believe me?”
“I believe you think what you’re telling me is true and you’re hurting because of that. I am sorry for that. Whether it’s true or not, I’ll still have to work on that. The fact that you and your friends appear and disappear before my very eyes is a trick I need to figure out.” Jamil rolled his eyes. “I’ll admit I’ve been trying to figure out how you knew so much about this obscure group of people that we’d never heard of before. Something told me it wasn’t just from legends told by your tribe.”
“I have no tribe except for my brothers,” Anubis said softly. “We have been alone in the world, fighting against a tide of evil I’m not sure we can conquer.”
