“Are we sure the possession was completed? Wouldn't the spirit need to convince Star to die for him to take over his life like he did with the other victims?” Sobek asked.
“I don't think it has gotten that far,” Chase said. “When I saw him yesterday, he was a bit absentminded, but nothing else was unusual.”
“I woke up this morning to find him missing and a knife next to the bed,” Anubis said. “I can only guess the spirit wanted him to do something,”
“Maybe kill you, or something worse,” Sobek added.
“Then we need to stop it,” Uriel said. “Does Star have any powers?”
“He's a cat shifter,” Anubis said, purposely leaving out Star's enchantment abilities. While they were talking, Anubis couldn't help but think of his conversation with his father urging him to see Nephthys. “That day on set, after we got rid of the ghoul’s corpse, you told me to see Nephthys. Is it because you knew this would happen?”
“You did what?” Isis and Bastet yelled together, and Set growled, narrowing his eyes at Osiris.
Osiris held up his hand in protest. “No, it's a misunderstanding. I swear.”
While Osiris tried to defend himself, Anubis shot to his feet. He felt it, an emotion that did not belong to him. Anubis was worried and anxious about being unable to find Star, but he wasn't afraid, and this foreign emotion was definitely fear. It happened so suddenly, Anubis wasn't sure what was going on.
“Inpu, what is it?” Sobek asked, coming to his side.
“Star, I can feel him. He's scared.” Anubis gasped and clutched his chest, holding on to the small bit of emotion. He closed his eyes, seeking out the thread of their bond, seeing not his that was attached to Kebechet but the ones he’d made with Thor and Sobek. Standing in the center of it all was his bond with Star that shone the brightest, but he could tell the luster was slowly fading, as if something was pulling away its shine. It was strong; however, on closer inspection, the thread was split into two and was also connected to him.
Oh fuck, Star's pregnant. My baby boy is pregnant and is scared.
It made sense how the spirit could hide its presence not only from him but Osiris as well. Even before birth, demi-gods were strong, and if the spirit was drawing strength from the fetus, then no wonder it was getting stronger. Anubis snapped his eyes open, unable to sit calmly and listen to everyone discuss possibilities. He no longer cared who was responsible for what, how, or where the spirit came from. He now knew how to find his forever one, and that was all that mattered.
Holding on to the fetus's thread, Anubis followed it, unsure where he was going. But he knew he was heading in the right direction since the feeling grew. He appeared in front of a large gothic-style house, dilapidated, overrun by wild vines covering the beauty beneath. Many would find it disgusting, but he knew this was Nephthys’s dark and corrupted soul leaking out for all the world to see.
Don't expect me to call you Dark Raven, Anubis huffed. But the name fit their cunningness and evil persona perfectly. Anubis had known he would have to face the person who gave birth to him one day. He had let their years of abuse slide, not because he had some idiotic notion that they would see him as their son and want to be a part of his life. He knew the kind of person they were. Nephthys reminded him of Angerboda. Where Angerboda ignored and mistreated Fenrir to gain Loki's attention, Nephthys hated Anubis because he chose Osiris and all his faults over them.
Anubis was not surprised when the front door swung open after a few seconds of him standing on the porch. He walked inside, and the room was filled with the same darkness ad Nephthys’s soul, but the feeling was getting stronger. This time, he could also feel Star's presence, yet he couldn't reach his mind and presumed that the spirit or Nephthys was blocking him.
Enough of this shit.“Witch, show yourself!”
Anubis did not need to wait for even a heartbeat when a glowing orb rapidly blinked on and off as a deep voice came from it. “You know the rules, son of Osiris...”
“Fuck your damn rules. Take me to the woman who gave birth to me,” Anubis snapped. There was no more talking, and the world around Anubis changed. He knew the beings, old magic, and gods surrounding Nephthys, and although he did not want to piss them off, he didn’t want to deal with their foolishness or idiotic request to prove himself in order to find Star, because he knew they were going to try and challenge his heart. Anubis already knew how he felt about Star. He needed to find him and his children and tell Star he loved him.
“You're quite audacious to come here and not pay respect to the higher gods,” said a sweet melodic voice behind him. “But what should I expect since my sister and her lackey raised you.”
Anubis turned and connected gazes with Nephthys, who was beautiful as always and a replica of Isis's curvy figure. The only difference was her long jet-black hair and her eyes that were so much like his. She seemed put out by his appearance. “Where is Star?” he said, ignoring their words of slander against Isis and Bastet. He was not in the mood to trade words with her, not when he could feel his lover's fear.
“Follow me.” Nephthys turned and walked into a room that was separated by gaudy beaded curtains.
As they stepped farther into a room that was decorated as if the nineteen seventies had violently thrown up in it, Nephthys shifted into a thirteen-year-old goth boy with hair as dark as midnight and fingernails as black as the liner shading his eyes. Anubis appreciated the boy's beauty and nothing else. It was not uncommon for gods to change their looks or genders since they lived for a long time, so no questions needed to be asked. Often, gods appeared in the form most humans felt comfortable being around them.
“You must be wondering why he's here?” Nephthys asked.
“Wouldn't you?” At first, Anubis had thought Nephthys had something to do with the spirit, but now he wasn't so sure. “How did you find Star? How did you even know he was my mate?”
“I might not have been a part of your life, young jackal, but I know everything about you.”
“Was it when you tried to kill me that you got to know me?”
“He and I grew close in a sense on late-night walks. He is a very thoughtful young man. I found him on the bridge naked in the middle of the night. He had a lost look in his eyes, so I brought him here. He kept mumbling that he could not hurt you. He'd rather kill himself than you or anyone he loves.” The childlike face smiled. “I have grown to like him. I thought my protection would stop the spirit from possessing him, but it seemed it was his fate; in the process, I ended up putting a magical block on him and somehow canceling the divine protection on him. For that, I am sorry. Maybe he could have fended off the spirit if I hadn't weakened him. Or maybe that was the reason the spirit latched onto him.”
They stopped before a door, and Anubis could feel immense power radiating from it. Touching the door, he was blasted with Star's frantic thoughts.
Anubis, help me! Find me, please. I need you. I didn't want to leave you.
