Page 70 of Death and Desire

Her tears fell freely. She missed her mother dreadfully. The ache surrounding her loss had never truly healed. Even this trip to Cairo had been some sort of desperate attempt to bridge the insurmountable chasm between her and her mother. But it was no use. She would never again see her mother in this life nor fill the void of her absence.

“Over the course of my existence,” Anubis began, his voice rough but tender, “death and I have become well acquainted. Those who enter my domain are touched by him. I see their lives. Their loves. Their deaths. In the stolen moments before they meet judgment, I uncover the heart of their humanity.”

Violet met his gaze. Lost in luminescence, she listened, still clutching his hand between hers and drawing on his strength, his presence. This was no mortal man, and yet, he was far more than an ancient deity.

“I grew...attached.” Anubis paused, his jaw twitching as he clenched it closed, almost as if the confession left him ashamed.

With a gentle brush of her fingertips across his palm, Violet wordlessly coaxed him to continue.

“Each soul entrusted to me hadlived. Their experiences, no matter how limited or vast, gave them depth. They found love and purpose. Theirlifegave them value.” His heavy sigh echoed through the room. “I envied them.”

“But you are alive.” She stroked the inside of his wrist, stopping at the gold bands encasing his forearms. “I can feel your heartbeat.”

“I live, yes, but I never knew passion from a life of my choosing.” He regarded her thoughtfully before shaking his head. “Seeing those in my care with such a gift left me despondent and frustrated. So I asked Ra to remove my heart...to return my focus to my purpose.”

“When your mother left Egypt, she unknowingly took my heart with her.” A ghost of a smile appeared on his canine lips. “And entrusted it to you.”

“Anubis, I—”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “For years, I was furious at the thought of achildholding my single greatest treasure. I grew angry at myself for removing it, for placing myself in such a vulnerable position. But over time, my anger and regret subsided.”

“I watched over you from a distance, unable to do anything but reach out to you through the bond.” His voice deepened, betraying emotions his face couldn’t show. “I planted the desire in your heart to come to Egypt to return what had been wrongfully taken.

“The moment you arrived in Cairo, your presence pulsed through me like a drum.” He licked his teeth, as though remembering long-forgotten hunger. “Dreams were no longer enough. I had to see you. Touch you.”

Anubis removed his dark hand from her grasp and traced his fingertips along her jaw. “The bond between us pulled sharp and hard somewhere beneath my ribs, twisting until I relented.”

Violet hummed at his caress. “The gala.”

“You came to me without prompting, without invitation.” His smile appeared again, more prominent this time. “As though our fates were woven together.”

What was he saying? Was there more to this than the jewel and the bond it had created? Hope unfurled in her chest, warm like sunrise over the treetops.

“What if it was just the jewel calling you?” Violet asked, dazed and captivated.

“I believed the same.” Anubis cradled her jaw in his hand. “When you returned the jewel, I expected the bond to break.”

Her heart thundered in her chest, and the soft brush of his thumb on her lower lip left her knees weak.

“I saw you with him tonight. I felt your reaction to him. Your desire.” Anubis growled, low and menacing. “Tell me, little flower, did you want him to claim you?”

“I—” Heat blossomed across her cheeks as fear skittered down her spine. Not of him, but of his unwavering assessment as he delved into her thoughts and stripped her bare. She dropped her gaze, unable to face him.

“Look at me, Violet.” He waited until her attention returned to him. “There is no shame in desire.”

“Then why bring it up?” She seethed. “It was a lapse in judgment. A mistake! I was hurt and lonely and...you had your heart. There was no longer any reason for you to remain with me.”

“Violet.” He said her name slowly, the syllables ringing in her head. His tone shifted. Soft and firm, like chastisement, bursting with sensual implications, leaving her body trembling, her undergarments damp. “The bond remains.”

“Wha—?” She snapped her mouth closed and shook her head. “How is that possible? I no longer possess the jewel.”

“I know.” Anubis’s soft growl made butterflies take flight in the pit of her stomach.

“But...how?”

“I do not have the answer.” He toyed with a lock of hair that had escaped her simple braid.

“What does it mean?” Violet inhaled, savoring his scent as she drew closer. She placed her hand on his chest, just beneath the gold plate covering the place where his heart rested.

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