Page 87 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

Mara

With that,Ma’at vanished as suddenly as she had appeared, leaving the hall in a disconcerting silence. I turned to Anubis, catching the slight tension in his posture and the faintest hint of a scowl on his face.

“Well, that was something,” I said, attempting to break the lingering awkwardness. “Seems like you’ve got quite the reputation around here.”

Anubis’s expression softened, though his gaze remained inscrutable. “Ma’at has a tendency to make her presence known at the most inconvenient times. Do not let her antics distract you.”

I nodded, trying to regain my composure. “So where do we go from here?” My face heated up at my insinuation of us continuing on together, and I quickly coughed to cover my slip. “I mean, where amIgoing from here?”

Anubis’s gaze remained steady, though I caught a glimmer of something almost imperceptible in his eyes—perhaps an acknowledgment of the awkwardness. “Yalin will be sent to the Hall of Two Truths for his final judgment. His presence here has been a disruption, and I cannot allow such interference to continue.”

I glanced at Yalin’s spirit, who had been quietly hovering near us, his ethereal form flickering with a mix of annoyance and resignation. “So, you’re sending him to face his judgment on his own?”

Anubis gave a curt nod. “Yes. It is not a task that requires my direct involvement. You, however, still have the trials ahead of you. I will need to focus on the process of guiding Yalin to his final destination.”

Yalin’s spectral form shifted uneasily, and he gave a haughty snort. “Lucky me. Off to the Hall of Two Truths where I’ll get to listen to you judge me while you dally about in your precious trials. How delightful.”

Ignoring Yalin’s sarcasm, I turned my attention back to Anubis. “Next trial? I thought I was done?” I was secretly excited to be spending more time with Anubis, but I didn’t want to let himknow that so I schooled my features into seriousness. “What do I need to know for the next trial? I’m ready to face whatever comes.”

I could be my own mind playing tricks on me, but it looked as if Anubis’s gaze softened a fraction. “The next trial will test your resolve and your ability to discern truth from deception. It is designed to challenge your inner strength and your clarity of purpose. Keep your wits about you and trust your instincts.”

I nodded, taking in Anubis's words. The weight of what lay ahead was starting to feel like a particularly heavy backpack, but I tried to steel myself for the challenge. I couldn't help but chuckle internally. Honestly, this was turning out to be unexpectedly more thrilling and complex than my usual tasks of plotting my next kill and figuring out how to dispose of the body. At least here, I was getting a front-row seat to cosmic drama without the mess.

As Yalin drifted away toward the distant Hall of Two Truths, I turned back to Anubis, who was already focused on his duties. I couldn’t help the flutter of excitement that bubbled up inside me. Like a schoolgirl with a crush, I took a chance and grabbed Anubis’s hand again, my heart pounding. Admittedly, maybe it was Ma’at’s presence that pushed me to do it—the innate need to claim him growing stronger the longer we were together.

“Then let’s proceed. I’m ready,” I said.

Anubis looked down at our clasped hands with an unreadable expression but made no move to withdraw. A sense of warmth and anticipation filled me as we prepared to continue.

From behind us, Yalin’s spirit let out an exaggerated groan, clearly annoyed. “Oh, really? How precious. Just what we need,a budding romance in the middle of cosmic bureaucracy. And here I thought this was supposed to be a place of judgment, not a matchmaking service.”

I shot a wry smile over my shoulder. “Yalin, if you’re so bothered, maybe you should focus on your own damn judgment instead of being nosy. Oh wait, you don’t have one. You seem to have lost parts of your body on the way here,” I chuckled.

Yalin’s spectral form flickered with irritation. “Oh, I’ll be sure to enjoy every minute of this. And just so you know, the trials are no picnic, regardless of who’s holding whose hand. Keep that in mind before you get too cozy.”

I turned back to Anubis, who was now looking at me with a hint of amusement in his eyes as well as exasperation. “Well, I’m ready when you are, big guy.”

Anubis gave a nod, and we began walking toward the next chamber. As we approached, a sudden disturbance caught our attention. Yalin’s ghostly form was writhing in frustration at a distance. The energy in the air crackled with a hint of dark humor.

“Looks like Yalin’s having a rough time,” I murmured to Anubis, trying to suppress a grin. Serves the creep right. If he was bold enough to molest teenage girls, who knew what else he was capable of in his lifetime?

Anubis’s gaze remained stoic but there was a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth. “Indeed. It seems the trials are not as forgiving as he might have hoped.”

From the distance, Yalin’s spirit howled in frustration. “Are you kidding me? I was this close to passing! Just a fraction more, and I’d have made it!”

His voice echoed through the chamber, carrying a mix of rage and disbelief. It was clear that his failure was not just a minor slip; it was a dramatic defeat by the narrowest of margins. His spectral form flickered erratically as if struggling to grasp the finality of his judgment.

I looked at Anubis with a raised eyebrow. “He really did have high hopes, didn’t he?”

Anubis gave a small, almost imperceptible smile. “Ambition and arrogance often lead to such dramatic outcomes. The trials have a way of ensuring that only those truly prepared will succeed.”

We continued forward, the sound of Yalin’s frustrated wails fading behind us. The next challenge awaited, but as I walked beside Anubis, the sting of Yalin’s failure seemed to add an unexpected touch of satisfaction to our journey.

As we moved through the winding corridors of Duat, I found myself caught between awe and a strange, bubbling excitement. The underworld’s majestic and eerie beauty was captivating, but more than that, the opportunity to explore it with Anubis felt oddly significant. To me, it almost felt like a date, though Anubis seemed as oblivious to this notion as ever.

Typical male.

I glanced sideways at him, sending him a wry smile. “You know, Anubis, since I’m here and all, it would be a shame not to get a proper tour of Duat. I mean, I’d hate to miss out on seeing all the sights.”

---