Page 96 of Immortal Sun

The mug drops out of my hand as a man wearing red and black armor approaches. He looks formidable.

He also looks like the man in The Book of the Dead.

And Cyrus’s armor. It’s also shown in that book.

I gasp, covering my mouth with my hands.

“So now you see,” Cyrus says. “There is only one reason for your existence, one reason for you to be here. Your death.”

“This makes no sense,” I say under my breath while my heart slams against my chest. “None of it.”

“And yet, it’s your reality,” he says. “I normally wait at least a few weeks, I keep tally marks on my tree to count the screams of torture, but you, you won’t listen, you won’t believe. I bet you wouldn’t even worship or sacrifice like the others willingly did, like your brother did.”

“Jake!” I jump to my feet. “Where is he?”

“Safe. Secure.” He grins. “I’ll let him go if you sign another contract.”

I shake my head. “No. No contracts. What the hell sort of trafficking thing do you have going on here?”

Someone else appears in full black armor, he’s carrying a dagger in his hand, and I know immediately it’s Enki. “It’s been prepared, Cyrus.”

“First,” Cyrus says with a cavalier grin, “we’ll make you shine like a star in the sky and then, slowly, your blood will drip, until there’s nothing left. In the meantime, you can write.”

“What?” I’m so terrified and confused I can’t feel my legs. I can’t feel anything. I can only hear the bell.

“Transcribe, really.”

“What exactly am I transcribing?” And why am I still asking questions when I should be running? But he would catch me, I know that. So I ask questions to stall.

He tosses a book in front of me, it’s black, dirty, covered in red stains that look like blood. “The Book of the Dead, your current obsession.”

I don’t pick it up, I just stare down at it, and its bell-shaped lock that perfectly matches the one on my ankle.

He leans down. “It’s every name of those who have died to keep humanity safe, and you’ll write it over and over again, so you understand the sacrifice you’ll be making. You’ll write their names down, the dates of their deaths, how they died, until you see why this is necessary. You will remember them for their sake and for your own. To save the world, sacrifice one. When you inscribe the last name, it will be your own. Then and only then will I release your precious Jake.”

“Where is he?” I scream.

“The underworld, of course.” Cyrus shrugs. “But, I’d stay far away from it even if you could figure out how to get there. A dragon guards him day and night, and when dragons are starved, they’ll eat just about anything.”

I stumble back. “Dragons aren’t real.”

“Apparently, neither are we.”

He nods to the book. “I’d get to work.” Cyrus’s eyes go white as he cups his ear. “Yes, even now I hear his screams. He hates the cold, doesn’t he?”

My breath stalls in my chest. He hates the cold the way I hate the thunder.

“Give him back!” I shriek. I jump toward Cyrus, but Enki holds me back and it’s impossible to move against his strength.

How is any of this happening right now?

Am I drugged?

Rat looks from the tree to me and then slowly turns his back. Even the stupid cow looks away as if to say they can’t help me.

Enki tosses me over his shoulder and starts walking me down the stairs off the cliff.

Cyrus says nothing.

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