“I’m you, silly.” The lookalike smiled, but it was not the kind of smile Star would find charming and cute. More an I-want-to-kill-you kind of smile. He had no idea he could make that kind of expression. “Well, I am the Star Rueng of this world who died long before you took over my body. Call me your doppelganger.”
“I don't care who you are, but I am the real Star Rueng!”
The doppelganger barked out a laugh and then sneered. “You must think you're really special. You get to have a second chance at life after killing a man, while others are punished for eternity.”
“I never asked for it,” Star said.
“Oh, I know,” the doppelganger said. “I watched it all. I saw your parents kneel down to those three gods and beg them to give you their second chance. And those three agreed without a thought. But if only those three knew, Osiris had turned down your parents before. He said your fate had already been decided. Your parents couldn't accept that, they still wanted you to have their second chance and sacrificed themselves to the three female gods.”
Star's heart broke once more, hearing that his parents sacrificed themselves for him. He'd been trying to live up to their expectations of him. Living a clean life, staying away from trouble, and finding a man that loved him despite knowing all the wrongs he'd done in the past.
“They were just as weak as my parents, begging on their knees.” He went to his knees, clasping his hands in prayer, and his expression changed to one of pleading. “Please, give our Star a new beginning. He's a good boy,” he said, then scowled, getting up. “Yuck, how annoying. But they reminded me of how my parents looked on their knees, begging me not to kill them.”
Star gasped, and the doppelganger laughed as if Star had done something hilarious.
“Why are you so shocked?”
“How could you kill the only two people who would love you?”
“Because I can. Don't play all innocent with me, either. I told you before. You're a killer. We might be from different worlds, but we have the hearts and minds to take anything we want and eliminate anyone who dares to stand in our way.”
“I am nothing like you! You're not real.”
“Oh, Star baby, I might be a spirit, but I am real. I'm not just in your mind, and when I'm done with you today, I will have taken complete control of your body.” He sighed. “I bet you're wondering how it happened. Let's just say I killed many people, ate their essence, and grew strong enough to hide, then bided my time so that the big man who watches you like a hawk wouldn't notice. Remember that day on set when he fought with that guy?” Star nodded without realizing what he was doing. “That was when I did it. You know, I wouldn't have been able to do it if you hadn't touched the contents of the package.”
Star's brows furrowed, and he tried to recall what the doppelganger spirit was talking about, and then it hit him. The day he'd met Kebechet, he'd gotten a package and had been distracted by thinking Anubis was cheating on him. The package had sat by the door for several days, completely forgotten until he tripped over it. He recalled opening the box and cutting his finger on the angel, but nothing else.
“Do you know how easy it was to possess you?” the spirit teased. “The hardest part was hiding my presence from the big guy. He's pretty strong.” He licked his lips. “I'm going to have fun with him when you're gone.”
“I won't let you,” Star growled.
The spirit laughed. “You plan on stopping me? How?”
“I don't know how to stop you, but I will.”
The spirit cackled. “You sound like one of the lame-ass action heroes in those damn movies you act in.” He shook his head, mocking Star ridiculously. “Do you want to know how I know you won't stop me from taking over your life?”
Star remained silent, and the spirit took that as his sign to keep talking.
“Because you haven't accepted your mating with Anubis fully.”
Star's brows furrowed in confusion. Of course he accepted his mating with Anubis. “You're spouting bullshit.”
“Am I?” The doppelganger spirit quirked a brow. “I'll help you out since you're about to die anyway. You've been holding yourself back. Afraid that he won't love you if he sees the real you. Let him know what you feel and think. Mates of your caliber are designed by fate so you can speak to each other telepathically and share emotions, like anguish and fear.”
Star stood in shock hearing that. He had researched mating, but nothing like that had come up in anything he read. If it was true, did that mean Anubis thought he didn't want to be with him? Star covered his face in shame, breaking his heart into a million pieces. He might have hurt the one person who had shown him more love and care than he deserved.
Oh no, Anubis, I'm so sorry. I want you so much; I can't imagine my life without you. My very existence belongs to you. Please, believe me. I can't give up.
Star looked at the spirit with determination in his heart and mind. “I refuse to let you have what you want.”
“Oh, don't try to act all tough and mighty now. You will bend to my will, and I will possess this body.”
“Never!”
“I've played with you long enough.” The doppelganger moved quicker than Star could blink, seeming to move through the bars of the cage, and grabbed him by the hair, pulling his head back hard. “The man doth protest too much. You think you're better than me, but you did it with glee the night you killed Thornton Miller. When you slashed his flesh, watching his blood splash all over, you laughed, feeling free for the first time.”
As he spoke, Star saw images of the night he killed Thornton. His face showed happiness and his rapt fascination with blood the more it soaked into his clothes and skin.
