Page 47 of Immortal Sun

Apep immediately starts choking on the piece of salmon he put into his mouth. I would say it was funny except, damn that was a question.

Enki starts laughing then snatches a bottle of wine and pours Cleo some more. “Settle in, this might be a battle.”

Apep stops choking and chuckles while Cleo drinks her wine and watches in rapt fascination.

Hell.

I’m in Hell.

Her eyes are wide, waiting for an answer I’m not so sure she wants to hear, and all I wanted was to eat salmon and have a calm night trying to slowly get her used to her new future.

She reaches for her fork then suddenly drops it and looks to Apep. “Do you know, though? I’ve never even heard of this myth.”

Apep clears his throat.

Enki pours yet more wine for Cleo.

Kratos looks heavenward. I’d feel sorry for him except he opened the door with his question in the first place.

A normal dinner, quite honestly, considering the past ones.

“Well.” Apep clears his throat once more and adjusts his very tight black tie with his stupid black suit. The man didn’t even take off his bright blue peacoat as if he isn’t staying long enough to even have dessert.

“I think…” He looks to me then back to Cleo. “It all started with Anubis. Long ago the gods around the world began to die off, creating a perfect storm for attack. Mars got pissed at Apollo, Anubis stole Osiris’s Greek bride—let’s just assume every belief in the world of the gods is real, and assume that the minute they became less in numbers, they became weaker, once one god rebelled the rest of them did too. There was an all-out war of, some might say…chaos.”

My chest aches like someone stabbed me.

“Apep decided he would rather die than do a human trial, and chose to go to the earth to create his own offspring, an army of sorts, just to piss the remaining gods off. The more he created the more the world sank into chaos while the rest of the gods decided something had to be done. Rather than fighting each other, they joined forces, every country, every pantheon, every deity, down to the Creator themselves and the angels of old, some say even immortal vampires and werewolves help guard the Earth, but that’s a different story.” Apep continues. “The story says that Apep stored his power in each of his children so that the gods could never take it from him like they did the remaining gods when they lost their trials.”

“Just a rumor.” Enki laughs. “I mean he’d probably sacrifice his own if he could.” He laughs harder. “Right, Dad?”

Cleo pauses. “Right, I forgot he’s your dad.”

“Own up to it.” Enki lifts his glass. “Cheers.”

“And this is where we take our leave.” Apep stands. “Thank you, but I don’t think my sons will be up to eating tonight. It’s been…well, it’s been.”

“But you just got here.” Cleo stands then stumbles against the chair.

Enki grins over at me, and I realize in that moment I’ve made my first mistake with him.

He loves it.

He loves messing with me. He lives for it. He points at the wine bottle and then snaps his fingers.

The label disintegrates into smoke and what remains is a bare black bottle.

Half of it gone.

And Cleo is drinking the rest of her glass.

He winks at me and walks off with his brother and father. “Have fun!”

Shit.

Why?

What the hell did he do now?

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