I wasn’t sure what it was like to be a god. I couldn’t know. But I still felt bad for her.
“What are you thinking, pup?” Bast asked, startling me from my thoughts. She was sitting up, leaning forward with her elbows on the table and her head cradled in the palms of her hands. Her yellow eyes bored into me like a couple high-intensity laser beams.
“About my life, the universe, and everything,” I replied, looking away from her and down into my milk. I’d only taken a sip of it, and to be fair it was really good, but I wasn’t exactly interested in drinking the stuff. Which was odd because I couldn’t even remember the last time I had eaten.
“I doubt that,” Bast purred, her tongue flicking out between her teeth as she spoke. “You look more like you’re thinking about a girl. And, while I don’t mean to be blunt, I really hope it isn’t the jailer. There’s no hope for you down that road.”
I blushed, fire spreading across my face. “I wasn’t thinking about Aziza. I was thinking about you.”
“Oh,” Bast said, and her response surprised me. Color filled her cheeks as she crinkled her nose. “I did not realize you cared so much for my feelings.” She looked down at the table. “Being a god is a pretty time-consuming job, so I don’t often get the chance to just be.” She smiled at me. “This is really nice.”
“Well, I enjoy your company too.” I nodded, trying to understand her plight because I was pretty sure she just wanted someone to listen to her. It was a bit weird because she was a god and probably understood why the grains of sand did the things they did, but at the same time, a friendly ear was a friendly ear.
“That makes me very happy.” Bast smirked at me, and I swear to God, her eyes glinted mischievously. She got to her feet, stretching so that her body strained against the fabric of her clothing. “You know, it’s okay if you want to look,” she added, padding over to me, her bare feet sinking into the plush carpet. It was the color of blood, but instead of seeming horrible, it just seemed normal. “I don’t mind. No one else looks at me anyway. It’s kind of nice, actually.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” I grinned at her. “If you were my girl, I’d look at you all the time and twice on Sundays.”
“I believe you.” She sat down next to me on the cushion, her body so close I could feel the heat rising off of her. One of her perfect porcelain hands drifted down and rested on my thigh. I was pretty sure my cheeks were melting because I was suddenly so hot that I didn’t know what to do.
When I didn’t respond, she moved her hand up just a touch so that it was resting just below the hem of my tunic. My heart was beating so quickly in my chest, I was pretty sure it was going to explode. Why was she doing this? What was I supposed to do? Should I push her off? Should I tell her to stop? But she was a god, if I told her to stop, would she turn me into a mouse?
She leaned in close so that her breath was hot on my neck. It sent little shivers scampering across my flesh, and I wasn’t sure I could tell her no even if I wanted to tell her no. I swallowed as her tongue flicked out, licking my earlobe.
“It’s been a long time,” she said, voice husky in my ear. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to make of that because, as I turned toward her and stared into the face of a beautiful goddess, the only thing I could think about was how perfect her lips were. “We could do more …” She let the words hang there in the air like a promise just aching to be kept. “I could show you things. So many things, Lucas …”
I swallowed as a million reasons why this was a bad idea ripped through my mind, and then I decided I didn’t much care. I reached out, my hand reaching around the back of her head. She let me pull her into me, and as our lips touched, fireworks exploded in my brain.
21
“Did you two have fun?” Aziza’s amused voice woke me from sleep, and as my eyes fluttered open, I saw Aziza was standing there.
Her dress was covered in splotches of blood, and her hair was all sorts of messy. Anubis stood about half a foot behind her, huge, hulking, and equally amused. Like Aziza, he was covered in blood. It was smeared across his chest and arms like he’d reached inside a corpse up to his elbows and then wiped his hands on his shirt. Only he wasn’t wearing one.
He was nothing but hard muscle and staring at him, I suddenly felt very inadequate especially since his naked wife was laying across my also naked body asleep.
Bast licked her lips next to me, her tongue sliding out over her teeth as she yawned, eyes fluttering open. “Oh, you two are back.” She frowned, eyes swinging back to me and roaming over my body like, for lack of a better term, a hungry lioness. “I’d hoped to have another go at him.”
“Was it that good?” Aziza asked, staring straight into my soul. “I’d wondered …”
“Definitely worth it,” Bast repeated, finally untangling herself from me and standing. “I was trying to give Luke a few pointers.” She blushed, cheeks turning bright red. “But it turned out he didn’t need them.” I caught the edge of a wink as she sashayed past Aziza who stood there like a statue, staring at me with a strange look in her eye.
Bast put one delicate hand against Anubis’ chest and stood up on her tippy toes to whisper in his ear. Whatever she said made a tremor run down his body, but before he could do anything, she dropped down and padded past him out the door. Anubis watched her, and well, so did I because as much as I hated to see her go, I liked watching her leave.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Anubis said, voice half-strained as he turned and disappeared into the hallway.
Aziza watched him go for a second before walking over to me. “You don’t have any idea what that’s about, do you?”
“Um … no.” I looked from her to the doorway where the gods had disappeared.
“They’re swingers.” She looked me up and down. “They get off on, well …” She trailed off as she seemed to realize I was naked.
“Oh.” I smirked. “That makes everything fit.” I nodded. “Guess that’s why I didn’t get smote.”
“Nope. I’m sure Anubis is super pleased right about now.” She giggled, her eyes drifting back toward my crotch. “Now your only concern is if you wind up having a whole mess of kittens.”
“Wait, is that a thing?” I asked, suddenly worried because I’d, well, not used the proper protection because, in my defense, she was a goddess. “Can she really have my … kittens?”
“She’s a cat god. Of course, it works that way.” She stared at me stone-faced for almost ten seconds before bursting out laughing. “Nah, I’m kidding with you. The only way Bast can get pregnant is if she wants to.”
“Good to know.” I moved to get my clothes, but before I could, she grabbed my arm, stopping me. “Hmm?”
“Was it really good?” she asked, gesturing toward little me. “I’ve heard she’s really good at, um …” she flushed nearly scarlet.
“At sex?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “She wasn’t bad if that’s what you mean.”
“No, um, I heard she’s really good with her mouth.” She once again pointed at my crotch and this time I got it. “Did she do that for you?”
“Oh, yeah, she was a lot better at that than the actual sex.” I shrugged. “She’s way too squirmy.”
“I wonder if she’d show me,” Aziza said, looking back at the doorway, and I got the distinct impression she hadn’t really been listening to me. “I mean, I get the mechanics of it, but I’ve never really felt like I was good at it, you know?”
“You don’t feel like you’re good at blowjobs?” I asked, making sure I was on the same page as her.
“Not really, no.” She frowned. “I want to be good at them, but I always get the impression no one enjoys it, so I get all self-conscious …”
“I’m sure you’re great at it.” I smiled at her. “I mean that.”
“You’re sweet, but you have no way of knowing that.” She frowned and opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, I interjected.
“Well, why don’t you try
it on me, and I’ll tell you?”
“You would let me do that?” she asked, swallowing hard as she nervously tucked her hair between her ear. “After you’ve been with Bast?”
“Yeah, that way I could tell you.” I nodded. “I really like this plan.”
“I’m not sure I want to go after Bast. The comparison might make me seem even worse …” She looked down at me. “Wow, you’re big.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking a step toward her and as I took her hand, she didn’t resist. “But trust me, I’m sure it’s fine, and if you really want to know, I’ll tell you.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?” she asked as I slowly guided her hand to my cock, and the second she touched me, her cheeks flushed. “Because I don’t want to make you feel like you have to do this.”
“Oh, trust me. I want to do this.” I smiled. “And besides, what’s a blowjob between friends?”
“I suppose that’s true.” She nodded before dropping to her knees in front of me. “Okay, tell me if I mess up.”
22
“I’m pretty sure you’ll find what you want here,” Anubis said a few hours later.
One of his tanned hands swept out in front of him as he gestured at the walled gates of a huge city, at least I think it was a city. The margarine-colored walls surrounding it stretched up so high into the sky that I couldn’t see the top, much less over them. I wasn’t quite sure what awaited us inside, but as we approached the huge gilded gate, my wolf seemed strangely calm. Maybe it was because we were with Anubis and Bast, but I felt strangely invincible.
“Thanks for bringing us.” I smiled at him. When in doubt, be polite. It was something my dad had drilled into me. Politeness costs you nothing, and sometimes, it gets you everything. Besides, he was a god, and he had found a clue as to Khufu’s whereabouts, even though technically Aziza had helped him with the mummies instead of me. Still, how often do people tell stories about gods doing them a solid?
“You don’t remember the name, do you?” Aziza asked, quirking her eyebrow at me. “That’s why you said ‘here’ isn’t it?”
Anubis nodded sheepishly. “I’m bad with names.”
“It’s okay. I am too.” I patted him on the shoulder. “I really appreciate this.”
It was true. Not only had Anubis found a clue, but he had been waiting for us in a room just off the hallway we’d been in. Surprisingly, it was covered with paintings of swans. Then he’d done one better and offered to take us there. Someone was clearly in a good mood.
“Don’t keep thanking him, or he’ll get a big head,” Bast said, smirking her cat smirk at him, and laying a hand on his shoulder and leaning into him so her breasts pressed into his back.
“Once you’re through the gate, we won’t be able to help you anymore. You’re on your own with Khufu. Try not to mess up and lose him. I had to pull in a bunch of favors to learn the location.” Anubis stared up at the sky, eyes sweeping over the tops of the walls. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it again.”
That worried me. This was Anubis. Who the hell would be strong enough to hide things from him? No one good, that’s for sure. And for him to have used favors? That seemed doubly ominous. Still, I wasn’t planning on letting Khufu slip through my fingers now that we were so close.
“We’ll be careful,” Aziza said, walking past us and placing her hand on a small stone dais that sat inauspiciously next to the gate. The moment she touched it, purple light exploded from her palm, throwing off sparks and shrouding us in shadow. “Besides, I know the guy who runs this place.”
As the sparks faded, I the dais began to rumble. I threw a look at Anubis, but neither he nor Bast was there. Both of them had vanished as though they had never been at our sides.
“Jailer, why have you come to Saqqara? This is a holy place, and none of your charges are here.” The voice boomed across the sands, whipping it into small dervishes all around us.
“Anubis has told us that the key to finding Khufu is within your walls, Imhotep. We ask for passage within so that we might find him,” Aziza said, blatantly name dropping.
“Denied.” The light on the dais went out like someone had flipped the off switch.
“Well, that was rude,” I said, staring at Aziza. Her mouth twitched for a split second before settling into a stony mask that could have sent small children fleeing to their mothers. I wasn’t sure what it meant, exactly, but her scent had changed subtly. I knew that scent. She was worried.
“Yeah, and odd. He should have let us in. Imhotep is usually a pretty reasonable guy, so …” She rubbed her chin thoughtfully with one hand.
“So, something is wrong,” I said, following along with her.
“I knew it couldn’t be this easy,” Aziza said, walking over to me and putting one arm around my waist. “Thankfully, there’s more than one way to skin a mummy.” She looked back toward the city. “Would you lend me some of your power? If you do, I think I can get us up there.”
“Um … sure,” I said as she pulled me in close to her body and reached out toward the sky with her other hand.
“Great, now kiss me.” She pressed her lips to mine, and as she did, I felt my magic rise inside me and flow into her body. Her clothing shimmered, throwing off amethyst sparks moments before a linen cord exploded from her sleeve and shot off into the air like a rocket. It hit one of the towers with a flare of purple energy a second before our feet left the ground.
Aziza continued to kiss me, and we shot up along the line of her mummy-cord. The edge of the wall came at us so fast that I was sure we were about to be splattered against it, so I threw my feet out. My heels smacked into the stone with a thwack as she broke the kiss.
“That was amazing,” she said as we hung there, just below the lip.
“Yeah, it was.” I looked around. “So, uh, I’ll climb up and then pull you up?”
When she nodded, I bent my legs so that all I had to do was reach out and grab the lip. The buttery stone was so close that it wouldn’t be hard to pull myself up. I took a deep breath and grabbed onto the stone, calling on my magic to help me get a better grip. Then, muscles straining, I hauled myself up. I slowly got to my hands and knees, careful not to lose my balance, but since the ledge was over six feet wide, it wasn’t hard.
When I turned around, Aziza’s lips twitched around the edges like she was trying to suppress a smile. She nodded once as I reached out and took her free hand and, with a surge of strength, pulled her onto the wall next to me.
“You did great. I was worried you might be scared of heights,” she said, giving me a quick hug.
“Nope. At least, I never have been before,” I replied as we turned to look out into the complex below. The walls didn’t seem as high inside the place because I could see the sandy earth below. The compound was huge, filled with mini-pyramids and statues of what I assumed were gods.
All around the courtyard, the animal-headed figures stood guard, brandishing all sorts of wicked-looking weaponry. The entire inside of the left wall was covered with a mural that depicted Ra on his sun-boat traveling down a river with a host of other gods at his side. It was done in a sort of pictograph so as it swept across the wall, the scenes changed to show them fighting off a massive black serpent with eyes like the void itself.
“We better get down there before any sentries come,” Aziza said, pointing toward the sky, but when I followed her finger, I didn’t see anything.
“Sentries?”
“Yeah, giant stone falcons that make sure people don’t scale the walls. If one sees us, it will sound the alarm, and all those statues will come to life and try to kill us. I’d like to avoid that.”
“I would also like to avoid that if possible,” I replied. “So, how do we get down? The stairs?” I pointed to an alcove on my right. There was an entrance that was blocked by a simple wooden door with slats the color of old mud. It wasn’t even closed all the way. Through the partial opening, I could see stairs heading downward.
“Good
find.” She nodded to me as I walked over to the door. “But what if it’s trapped?”
I grinned at her as I pushed the door open to reveal a torch-lined stairwell that led down into the inky darkness below. “Well, if you’d like to stay out here, you can. By yourself. With the falcons. On top of a giant wall.” I shrugged and made my way inside.
Aziza moved to follow, but as she reached me, a hand that was more a mottled grey-green claw with glinting black nails grabbed her face, wrapping its fingers around her mouth and jerking her down the stairs.
I leaped forward, rushing after her as her feet disappeared from view down the dimly lit stairs. Before I made it more than a few steps, the door slammed shut behind me. A breath of cool, damp air rolled over the back of my neck. I whirled around as the torches went out, not one by one or anything, but all at once and completely, so that I was left in pitch black darkness.
I swallowed, trying not to lose my cool as the scratch-scratch of claws on stone filled my ears. It was too dark to see much, but I called on my wolf form to enhance my vision. Unfortunately, even shifted, it was so dark I couldn’t see very well.
I sniffed, tasting the air for clues. It reminded me of sweat, old socks, and rotten eggs. I crinkled my nostrils in disgust and took a step forward, my feet padding silently along the stone. It was brittle beneath my talons, and I moved slowly so I wouldn’t alert anyone.
I went down into the deep dark, ears straining to hear, but getting nothing. I moved further, claws trailing lightly along the walls on either side to feel for a trap door or other surprise.
A scream exploded through the darkness. It tasted of fear and pain. I leaped, loping down the stairs and relying on my reflexes to keep me from falling. I slammed into a landing a moment later, my shoulder smashing into the unforgiving rock. A loud crack echoed through the cavern.
King of the Gods Page 12