Page 87 of Immortal Sun

Flames? What does Enki know? And why is he suddenly talking about Egyptian gods too? “Why would he do that?”

He leans in and crooks his finger. “Whenever he’s hungry, which is always, he cooks. Plus, he’ll probably want an opinion on what you think would be good for first exhibit during the festival for the eclipse.”

I nod. “Yeah, because the guy who claims to be a god really cares for all of that before he kills me.”

Enki freezes, his eyes avert to the ground, it’s the first time I’ve seen him semi-uncomfortable. “Yeah well, when you’re stuck here you see yourself in the gods the way tourists see themselves in the mountains. You wish for greatness when you lack it.” He completely glazes over the whole Cyrus wants to kill me comment.

“Are you saying Cyrus lacks greatness.” I ask, my voice shaking.

“Don’t we all?” He shrugs, mischievous smile back in full force. “Let’s go.”

I don’t have time to say anything; he’s already grabbing my arm. I hurriedly shut down the laptop then let him pull me out of the room. By the time we’re upstairs, Cyrus is pacing in the kitchen and talking on the phone.

I can’t make out what he’s attempting to say over the snarls and growls emitting from his mouth before he slams the phone onto the counter and looks over at us.

His eyes immediately lock onto my second bracelet and narrow.

“It’s been a pleasure.” Enki salutes me and then gives Cyrus the middle finger before running toward the front door.

“Use the amulet!” Enki laughs, and then he’s gone.

I look down at the rock in my hand. “Yeah, because that’s going to work.”

Cyrus snorts. “You took a gift from him?”

“It’s not food!” I point out, irritated with him yet again. “And it’s pretty.”

“You’re an idiot.” Cyrus sighs. “I have a meeting tonight. Have you finished looking over more of the artifacts? Done a deep dive into mythical unicorns and fairies, had a nice little search on the internet for fun? ”

“Unicorns exist?” I mock gasp and cover my face with my hands then drop them. “No, I was told by Enki to come upstairs because you were grumpy and needed food.”

“I ate. But you need to eat too.” He suddenly looks concerned and angry at the same time. “Everything is labeled in the fridge, and the housekeeper will be here tonight.” He looks back down at the amulet. “Don’t lose it.”

“Wait, first you’re pissed I have it, and now I have to keep it?”

“Your fingers will quite literally fall off if you try to get rid of it.” He shrugs. “But sure, try it.”

“What is wrong with you guys and bracelets, anklets, rocks? At this rate I’m just going to hole up in my room and start rocking back and forth. It’s exhausting.” I hold up my hand. “This is a rock.”

“Of course it is, I’m not an idiot.”

“And this is just a bracelet.” I touch the sun and little zaps of electricity hit my fingers before I yelp and pull them back.

Cyrus just stares at me and crosses his arms. “I wouldn’t test fate. You have a shield, you have protection as if it will help, but feel free to use The Eye of Horus if something goes bump in the night.”

“Yes. I’ll just Wonder Woman my way out of a pinch by throwing a rock at something. How have I never thought of that my entire life? And you said if I read the books and planned the exhibit for the eclipse festival, since I can’t exactly work at the closed bar right now, you’d help me find Jake.”

“I just got off the phone with Daggon regarding Jake, thank you for pointing that out. He lost track of him. Apep’s hit a dead end too. If you’re curious what happened, ask the squirrel.”

“Be honest, are you on medication?”

“Be honest, are you terrified?” He counters, and then he’s just gone, and I’m left thinking that I’m going to set fire to the entire house. Maybe I should have lit a match at the bar afterall.

Knowing him, it’s probably fireproof, maybe that’s why he wasn’t too concerned when I smelled the leak.

But, knowing myself, I’d probably jump off a cliff before ever hurting anything historical and important.

My brother gave me my first history book; he was adamant that we find out about our family history.

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