Page 98 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Underworld

Anubis looked at me, his eyes darkening. “It seems we have no choice but to comply.”

With a reluctant nod, I stepped forward, the energy inside me still crackling with tension. As Amon extended a hand, a swirling vortex of darkness opened up before us, ready to transport us to the place where our fates would be decided. As I glanced at Anubis, I couldn’t help but wonder what awaited us at the end of this divine reckoning.

Mara

It didn’t takeme long to get used to Duat.

The half-formed bodies with missing pieces were another story.

“So who killed you?” I asked one of the floating spirits with an awkward form.

“The Night Butcher.”

Huh. I liked that. Good name choice for a serial killer.

After Amon’s sentencing, things had taken a turn for the better. All his hubbub was for protocol in front of the others so they didn’t assume he was playing favorites. But I knew the real deal because Anubis was my favorite deity too. I mean, it helped that he found every opportunity to punish me in delicious ways.

After the discovery of my abilities, Amon sentenced me to an eternity chained to my master of punishment. I pretended to argue, but I saw a few of the others roll their eyes.

What could I say? I lived to entertain.

Anubis and I had weathered the storm of divine wrath, and our penance had turned into a sort of cosmic bonding experience. And let me tell you, nothing says “growth” like a few months of shared trials and tribulations. We had both been required to mend our ways and respect the sacred boundaries we’d once stomped over like rowdy tourists.

That was why I was tasked to help see the newly dead to their trials with my partner in crime, Nubi. He hated the pet name but it wasn’t his decision.

“Well, we might as well get this over with then. Come on.” Anubis pinched my butt and I yelped. I turned toward him with a scowl. “What was that for?”

“I suppose we should get you to the Hall of Two Truths,” he said coldly to the spirit as if reading from a boring textbook. “It’s where the souls are judged.”

Protocol. Right. Right.

We led the spirit to the Hall of Two Truths, where the weight of divine judgment would soon befall him. The Hall, with its ancient, shadowed corridors and enigmatic scales, was the placewhere souls faced their trials alone, stripped of worldly comforts and confronted with their deepest truths.

As the spirit entered, the massive stone doors of the Hall creaked shut behind him, and I could almost hear the collective breath of Duat holding in anticipation. His fate was now sealed within those hallowed walls, and our part in his journey was complete.

With the spirit out of sight, I turned to Nubi, my mood lightened. Grabbing his hand, I gave it a playful swing.

Anubis looked at me with that familiar mix of exasperation and affection, the kind of look that suggested he was still trying to figure out how he’d ended up in this romantic comedy with me.

“I never imagined,” he said with a long-suffering sigh, “that a series of missteps would lead to something so… right.”

I shot him a teasing grin. “Well, isn’t that just the hallmark moment we didn’t know we needed? Here we are, proving that even gods and troublemakers can end up with a happily-ever-after.”

Anubis’s lips quirked in what could only be described as a reserved smirk. “Yes, well, if this is a romance, I’d prefer it had fewer divine melodramas and more peace and quiet.”

I laughed, nudging him playfully as we made our way toward another randomly placed column. “Oh, come on. Admit it—life’s a lot more interesting with a bit of cosmic chaos. You’d miss it if it were gone.”

I elbowed him playfully before wagging my eyebrows.

“Do I get a chance to win a fabulous prize, or is it just a lifelong subscription to the Underworld Gazette?” It was something Imentioned the first time I arrived here, the memory of how this all started making me snicker.

Anubis gave me a sidelong glance, a hint of playful annoyance in his eyes. “I suppose you think you’ve made my life more… colorful?”

“Absolutely,” I said with a wink. “It’s like you went from starring in a solemn epic to headlining your very own romantic dramedy.”

Anubis shoved me against the column and my eyes widened. “Mara, I never knew color existed beyond the monotony of my duties, not until I stumbled upon a little mortal female desecrating my temple.”

If he wasn’t holding me up, I would have melted into a puddle from swooning.

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