Anubis sighed. “Anput and I have been friends since childhood. And our fathers, in their benevolent wisdom, thought it would be good to join our families together and made a betrothal contract. Anput and I were young and loyal to our parents and thought we had no right to say no. So we got married. Was I, or have I ever been in love with her? No. But I admire her, and I'm sure she would say the same about me. When Kebechet was old enough to understand the relationship between her mother and me, we divorced. Anput went after the man she wanted, and I remained single until you caught my attention.”
“That's it?” Star said, looking truly disappointed.
He smiled. “I told you, far from being as drama-filled as you might have guessed.”
“That's good, I suppose. Will I ever get to meet her?”
“Of course. It will be hard at this point to keep things hidden from my family since Kebechet now knows I've found my forever one. You'll find, baby, my daughter not only has a forked tongue, but she can't keep secrets.”
“So she really is a snake?”
“Not everything you know about us gods is a myth.”
“Good to know.”
“Anyway, what's important now is finding out which god your parents made a deal with.”
“You don't have to do that, but I'll leave it up to you.”
Anubis grinned. “Now that we've gotten that out of the way, can we return to our earlier activities?”
“Is that all you think about?”
Instead of responding, Anubis waggled his brows and captured Star's lips in a heated and needy kiss, making love to him on the couch.
* * *
A couple of nights later,Anubis was awakened by a presence magically entering his home. Slowly he moved Star to the other side of the bed after kissing his upturned cheek gently and fixing the blankets around him. Anubis quietly got out of bed and grabbed a robe, pulling it on as he walked out of his bedroom, heading straight for the kitchen and spotting a box addressed to Star that had been sitting next to the door for the past few days. He wondered if Star had bought something and forgot to take out the contents or if a fan found out where he lived and had it dropped off.
“What brings you here, Father?” Anubis asked the elder Ahket when he entered the kitchen and saw his father, who was dressed in an expensive, black three-piece suit, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“Can't a father visit his son?” Osiris moaned as he took a big bite of his sandwich. “Greatest invention humans ever came up with,” he said.
“Cut the bullshit and tell me what you want, old man?”
Anubis went over to the fridge, grabbed the milk, and then poured a glass for his father, who graciously took it and drank it all in one go, grinning in delight as he set it down.
“Look, I fucked up, okay. We had the escaped soul, but we lost it again because it changed hosts.”
Shit,Anubis mentally cursed. Truthfully, he had forgotten all about the damned malicious soul. He’d focused more on work and discovering everything he could about Star.
“Are you sure it's here?”
“Yeah,” Osiris said tiredly. “We just need to find out which magical being it's hiding in.”
“That's going to be hard. If the body is suitable and it has completely taken over its host, then it's a lost cause.”
“We'll find it,” Osiris said. “We have to.”
Anubis looked at his father and noticed that something wasn't right. He looked worried, and Osiris was never the type of person to fret over lost souls. “Is there something special about this soul you're not telling me?”
“I heard you found your forever one,” Osiris said instead of answering his question.
Okay, Father, we'll play your game for now.A genuine smile crossed Anubis's lips. “I see Keb lived up to her reputation and reported it to you.”
Osiris chuckled and nodded. “So, when do I get to meet him? Is he pregnant yet?”
Anubis rolled his eyes. “Seriously, give us some time to get to know each other first before we have children.”
