Page 58 of Ra
Neith considered just how far she wanted to dig into the messiness that her fellow gods had created, not quite willing to admit her own part in it, but seeing for the first time how the actions of the gods, hers included, could impact the lives of the humans they surrounded themselves with. She turned from Ra to Azi. “There is no rule that says you must free them, Azenath. Finding them was enough. You can simply walk away. The world has survived for eons without them. We do not need them now.”
“I did not find him. Had Abasi not pretended that he found the temple, he’d still be waiting. It’s Abasi that found him.” Azi turned toward the exit again, making her way down the steps that led from the stage to the main floor of the auditorium.
“Azi! Please!” Ra exclaimed, hurrying after her.
“Do not call me Azi, it implies a certain familiarity. If you must address me, use my full name. But even better yet, leave me alone.”
“I didn’t orchestrate this fiasco! Other than causing Neith to lock us away, I had no part in it. I’m as much a victim as you. I did not manipulate you.”
“Didn’t you, though?” she asked, turning on her heel suddenly to look at him. “By not telling me and allowing meto make my own decisions, didn’t you manipulate me into the position of helping you by playing the innocent one?”
He shook his head defiantly. “No! Of your world I was innocent. I needed help! I had no idea how to behave in this world. I needed you! And then it became a different kind of need. Everything between us is real. Had I told you the truth you’d have felt pressure to make sure I didn’t return to the temple. I wanted you to follow your own heart, feel whatever it was you felt…”
“Of my own free will,” Azi finished for him.
“Azenath!” her father called out, in his ‘dad’ voice, trying to intervene on Ra’s behalf.
Pointing her finger at her father, she narrowed her eyes. “Do not even try to speak to me. I don’t want to talk to you. What kind of father uses their daughter for their own personal gains, as you have? And before you try to insert yourself, I don’t want to talk to you, either,” she said, shooting a glare toward Abasi. “You, I haven’t decided about yet,” she said as her gaze shot over to Neith. “You are technically my boss, for now.” She turned and stormed toward the exit, not giving a second thought to the man — or god — who followed her, pleading his case non-stop.
“Dear Azenath! Do not walk away from me!”
“Dear god wasn’t an homage to you. It was a plea for my own God to intercede and give me the patience to deal with your self-serving, self-loving, entirely self-focused, condescending point-of-view!”
“I knew it wasn’t what I thought it was!” he shouted accusingly.
Azi walked away from him.
“Wait! At least talk to me! I don’t know how to do this! How do you convey such a monumental emotion to another and have them understand it?”
“Trust is always a good place to start. But then, you’ve shattered all that to hell and back!” she yelled at him, tried to slam the door behind her as she went. Because of the hydraulic arm on the door, it didn’t slam, so she grabbed it and kicked at it, shoving it while kicking it a time to two until it finally closed.
Ra turned slowly and his gaze slowly swept the three of them there on the stage, watching him.
“You are correct, by the way. I didn’t say how she had to give her heart. It didn’t have to be romance. It could have simply been assisting one in need. She did that. You have earned your right to another life. I will restore your powers, use them wisely, and secretly, or I will lock you away again,” Neith said.
“I don’t want them. I don’t want to be a god. I just want to be with Azenath,” Ra said.
“Clear your head, Ra! Who wouldn’t want to be a god?” Neith asked, shocked at the things Ra was saying.
“Being human is much more tolerable than the curse being a god was,” Ra said. He quickly left the room, and everyone in it without waiting to see if they even had a response.
Chapter 14
Ra rushed out into the parking lot, to the place they’d left Azi’s car when they’d first arrived. But the empty parking spot, coupled with the red tail lights driving away in the distance let him know he was too late.
He stood in the darkened parking lot, his gaze following the dimming lights as they gradually made their way out of sight. He honestly didn’t know what to do next. As he stood there in the stillness of the night, he heard the click of high-heels behind him. “Go away, Neith.”
“You do realize that if you were once again a god, you could make her do whatever you want her to do — including forgetting how angry she is and loving you endlessly,” Neith said as she came to a stop beside him, matching him in posture, even looking out in the same direction.
“Doesn’t mean very much then, does it?”
“Are you aware that humans live less than a hundred years? It’s not a whole lot of time to leave your mark on the world.”
Ra didn’t even look at her, he just stood quietly.
“You are immortal. If you want her, make her immortal, too. You’ll have everything you want forever.”
His gaze swung to the female standing beside him. “I didn’t give permission for that! Change it. Change it now!”
