Page 27

He grins as he leans into me. "No, you aren't going to get rid of me that easily. Besides, when I said together, I meant everything. Even dying."

"Let's not test that tonight." I chuckle as our fogging breath continues to mingle in the cold night air.

I help him up on unsteady legs, and we survey the aftermath. Mercifully, everyone seems fine. Those who were fighting now look bewildered, some helping each other up, others apologizing, most pretending nothing happened.

Kayvon doesn't pay them much mind as he looks up. "I can't hear him anymore; I don't feel Artaxerxes."

I give him a bittersweet smile and just say, "Me neither."

"But I still remember stuff. A lot of stuff, antiquity stuff, ancient Egypt stuff."

I sift through my memories, focusing on the man in the mirror. Flashes come: tender moments between Merytamun and Artaxerxes, a traveler from the East, long talks on a temple roof beneath a star-lit sky, intimate moments stolen in that same temple, and finally an overwhelming sadness as darkness closes in. I know these aren't truly my memories, but somehow, they've been redeemed, a rare gift I doubt most people ever receive.

I glance up at the obelisk and realize I can still translate the glyphs—not just from my studies, but because my mind feels newly organized. Stranger still, I look beyond the obelisk and see the stars and galaxies as vividly as I did the first time I shared them with Kayvon.

Kayvon follows my gaze. "Crazy you can see all that, huh?"

"Actually, we are the only ones." I pull out my phone, take a photo of the sky, and show him the yellow-gray murk everyone else apparently sees. "That's what it's supposed to look like to everyone else; I learned that the hard way."

He stares at the phone, then back at me. "But I could see them too, even before you read the thing on the lid."

"It would seem so," I reply, keen not to read into past lives for the rest of the night.

"But how?" Kayvon insists.

"I guess we're just special."

The thought weighs on me: was it always meant to be us? Are we truly that special, chosen by fate to survive all this? “Kayvon, the night we met—was there any other reason you were there? Anything besides a cheap apartment?”

He takes a moment to think, a grin settling on his face. “Honestly, I had just gotten into the city, was trying some pizza, and while I was watching the stars, I saw a flyer for a cheap apartment. I thought I was lucky; there's a certain sort of auspiciousness about stars and signs that I didn't really think too hard about.” He turns to me, making sure our eyes meet before he says, “Then I met you in the hallway, and I think somewhere deep down any thought of convenience went out the window. Suddenly it felt more like I was supposed to be there.”

I know exactly what he means by the way he smiles, and a part of me wants to be happy; maybe it was fate, not luck. Yet even as I try to meet his gaze, my elation curdles. What if, like Artaxerxes and Merytamun, fate chose wrong?

I quickly return his smile before my confidence falters, then glance up and search the sky, relying on what I now recognize as my new star timekeeper abilities. "It's not even 8:30. Late enough that trick-or-treating should be over, but early enough for a movie. Assuming the city’s still in one piece, wanna watch The Mummy?"

He stares at me in mock shock. "I don't know what's stranger, that you'd suggest that or that it's still Halloween."

I don't respond as I gently guide him back to our apartment building. Along the way, we collect another, different Famous Ray’s pizza since it just seems like the right way to celebrate. We also make a point to call Carol and Terry. Terry says he got in a really bad argument with Max, but they talked it out. Carol explained she experienced what felt like a slowly building migraine that suddenly vanished. It seems we moved fast enough that, as far as Kayvon and I can tell, most people will think tonight was just another crazy Halloween in New York City.

We get back to my place with pizza in hand. I start to set up my laptop, shooing away a needy Mittens, as Kayvon asks, "So, do you think it was the curse or something else?"

I sit next to him, collecting a slice of pizza for each of us on paper plates. "What was the curse?"

"Why Merytamun entered your body."

"I think that is a great subject for a research paper," I reply, as I get ready to start the movie. "You gonna be okay eating during the mummification scene? It's so gross and crunchy and stupid, but I love it!"

"I thought you would be so about this movie," Kayvon says with an air of skepticism.

"I am... but I like it for the adventure. It's about as Egyptian as your toilet paper costume."

Kayvon snakes his arm around my waist and pulls me to him, the sensation feeling enthralling in a completely new way. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?"

He moves to kiss me, but for the briefest moment, doubt flickers in my mind. I haven’t truly been myself since before I met him, and suddenly, despite everything, that matters. The thought makes me stiffen, and I pull away—he notices instantly.

He inches back ever so slightly. "Is everything okay?"

I blink, reevaluating so much of our relationship, trying to decide if my every passionate act was due to some potential curse trying to live vicariously through me.