Page 115 of Immortal Sun

Cassius checks his watch. “I’m gonna go ahead and do the fast version. Hi there!” He peers around me. “Try not to pass out, though if you’ve been dealing with Ra, I’m surprised you’re still standing,” He pauses and looks over at me. “Hey, I heard about the first training day, if you need any?—”

“Not aword.” I clench my fists.

I can tell he’s trying not to smile as he looks away. “Yes, well, there’s this book that I think?—”

“Do not make me spill your blood, angel,” I hiss.

He sighs and walks barefoot over to Cleo then bends down to meet her at eye level. “He’s a god.” That’s literally all he says.

Cleo regards him in silence, her face expressionless.

He heaves another sigh. “Many people and cultures worship different deities, but there is only one where sacrifice was the main form of worship as time went on.” He presses his hands together and pulls them back. Between them shows a graphic with a long timeline of war, famine, the Greek gods, Roman, Egyptian, African, and so the list goes on. “All the stories are the same, even though the locations were spread all over creation. Free will allows people to decide how they worship. And in that, the very god you’re looking at, decided he would rather not be worshiped for his godliness. What happens when the people stop worshiping? Take one look at the Greeks and get back to me.” Cassius sighs and slams his hands together then pulls them apart again. “The Great War between all the gods caused many deaths, much destruction. It was asked of the demigods to participate in the armies of heaven. Many lives were lost, but as the demigods fell, the land became fertile again, and the gods that created them became more powerful—mainly Chaos. There were trials established by the gods to keep their power strong while the worship stopped. Chaos decided not to take part in the trials and hid away his power as much as he could in his abominations. Always twins. Always linked, always searching, never satisfied. Ra can’t go back to the skies where he belongs without ending Chaos for good; and in order to finally be able to end Chaos, he has to kill off the last of his power—you.” He sighs. “So you see, you were drawn here, now you will be sacrificed here, you will return to the Nile and the world will have a deep exhale because of it.”

“What happens,” Cleo finally speaks, her voice weak, “when the children of Chaos die? After the sacrifice.”

“That’s a third question.” I reach for her, but Cassius lifts up his hand and then shifts closer to her, his lips a breath from hers.

I’m annoyed, but I do nothing.

It would cause unbalance to kill him and I do genuinely like him and the rest of the immortals out of Seattle even if they drive me crazy.

“You return to the Nile. For you die as a warrior. You return to where you were born, and your spirit returns to where it was created.” He slowly points upward. “You will be reborn.”

“Only to be sacrificed again?” she asks in an even tone.

Cassius smiles. “No. To live as a human without any memories of the horror of death. So you see, it’s a gift.”

“Dying isn’t a gift,” she says. “And I don’t trust you either.”

He stands abruptly. “She’s stubborn.”

“Told you.” I sigh.

“Well, I did what I could.” Cassius suddenly stops moving and looks back at her. “What was your name again?”

“Cleo.” She doesn’t look as terrified as before, but her right hand is shaking.

Cassius suddenly reaches for it, and his eyes blaze white as the temperature drops in the room. Frost forms on his lips, and he licks it. Then his eyes go jet-black before he drops her hand and backs away slowly.

“What is it?” I ask.

Cassius shakes his head. “Despair.”

“For what?”

He looks over at me, breath exhales and freezes from his mouth. “You.”

He’s gone in seconds.

An eerie feeling washes over me. The room matches the chill in my heart when I turn to Cleo.

She’s staring down at her shaking hands; they hold tiny flakes of snow that are melting against her skin.

“So now that I’ve answered your question.” I drop my robe to the ground. “Get on your knees and face me.”

“You have no heart.” She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “Were you trying to scare me? Make me feel better? What’s the point in even talking to a god? An angel? Anyone? The end is the end, isn’t it?”

“YOU OWE ME!” I yell, shaking the cave with my voice. “You owe me for my sacrifice for my years of patience! You are the last name to be recorded! I’m giving you a gift! Do you understand what Chaos truly is? What it does?” I wave a hand in front of her face and snap my fingers.

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