Anubis sat and listened to the two convince Neith to leave her job. He had no idea what Sobek was thinking, but it seemed Bastet and Isis did. Maybe he’d asked them to persuade her in a way he couldn’t. It didn’t help that Neith was a stubborn and proud person. When she put her heart and soul into something, she stuck to it until the very end.
Neith sighed. “Set and I haven't traveled in a very long time, and I miss the days when Sobek was a baby, and we would take off at a moment's notice.” She smiled, as if thinking of a sweet memory. “You know what, I'll do it.” She looked at Anubis. “This is my resignation. I quit.”
“If that’s what you want, I accept,” he told her.
“Good,” Bastet said. “I'm glad you finally agreed. I'm sure Set will be happy to hear you say that.”
“What would I be happy about?” said a recognizable baritone voice.
Neith stood from her seat, glided to Set’s side, and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I've decided not to fight you on taking a break.”
Set encircled her waist, quirking a brow. “Really? What made you change your mind?”
“Anpu, he convinced me…”
“One word from your beloved godchild, and you give in, when your son and I have been trying to do it for weeks,” Set said tensely, cutting her off.
Anubis mentally rolled his eyes. He was used to Set’s tone when it came to him. Even though Set and Osiris made nice, Set still did not like Anubis and only tolerated him because of Neith and his affection for Isis. Set hated that Neith chose to work at After Life, but it had more to do with wanting to be close to Sobek than it had to do with Anubis.
“My love, don’t start,” Neith said. “Simply thank Anubis for his sound words.”
“I’m not starting anything,” Set grumbled.
He looked in Anubis’s direction and nodded his head as if to say thank you. But his eyes spoke of so much hate for Anubis, which Anubis was very immune to. Anubis knew that his discontent stemmed from what Nephthys did to him. It was no secret how much Set had loved Nephthys, and their betrayal cut him very deep, not to mention the decades of harassment they’d all experienced at their hands. They were also jealous that Set had found a new love. He had nothing against Set; however, if the man came at him aggressively, he would respond similarly.
“Why are you here?” Neith asked, pulling Set’s attention from Anubis.
“I came to get you, of course,” Set smiled and said softly. “I wanted to take you to lunch.”
Neith giggled when he kissed her cheek, and they teleported without saying another word to everyone else.
“Aren’t they cute?” Bastet commented.
“Yes, they are,” Isis added and turned to Anubis. “Don’t let Set bother you. He’ll come around.”
Anubis shrugged his shoulders. “If I craved Set’s approval like I need food, I’d die of starvation. Set isn’t in my sleeping or waking thoughts. Anyway, what was the real reason you three showed? Was it because of the nomination or for me to help you convince Neith to go away with Set?”
“Both,” Bastet said, setting a bowl of Beid Bell Bastuma, one of his favorite meals, before him. “Come on, eat up. I made this for you.”
Anubis glanced down at the meal and then at the two women who were staring at him expectantly.Something is up with them.Call it his years of dealing with the three, but he knew when to be suspicious. He just could not figure out what they were up to. But he would wait and see, because all their schemes would reveal themselves in the future.
“Seriously, what did you both do? I promise I won’t tell Father.”
Isis huffed, and Bastet tsked in response.
“You are a suspicious child,” Bastet said.
“Mama, I haven't been a child in a long time.”
“No matter how old you get, I’ll always consider you my baby boy,” Bastet said sweetly, pinching his left cheek and making Anubis roll his eyes.
Whoever heard of a dom being a mama’s boy?
“Now stop focusing on the wrong things and turn your energy into finding me a daughter- or son-in-law,” Bastet said, with Isis co-signing with her words by nodding in agreement. “I need more grandbabies.”
“Oh boy, let’s not go there,” Anubis said, rolling his eyes. “I already have enough on my plate to even think about giving you more grandchildren. Besides, I’ve stopped thinking there is a forever one out there for me. If the Fates had designed one for me, they are surely taking their sweet-ass time sending them my way.”
He couldn’t take their pitiful expressions and hurriedly scarfed down his meal, eager to leave and start his day. He was not in the mood to entertain their conversation about finding a lover or a forever one. Once, he’d been young and idiotic, believing he would one day find a match. And thought he had found her in a beautiful mortal woman.
