Page 66 of Marked

“I know,” I hiss and make my way to the kitchen, looking for my keys. “And I’m going to get her back.”

Jack puts a hand on my shoulder, but I shrug him off and ignore the growl he gives me. “It’s a trap, Valkyrie. He wants you to come to him.”

“I’m not going to let her suffer anymore because of me. It’s not fair to her! Stop trying to stop me!” I snap when I whirl on him.

With another growl, he lurches forward. I step back, but he follows, rapidly eating the distance between us until I’m backed against the counter. He throws his arms out on either side of me, caging me in. “Listen to me,” he demands, his voice low and dangerous. “He is a god, Valkyrie. He has hidden his aura from me, so I don’t know who he is exactly, but he is still a god. You can’t just go in blindly.”

I stare up at him defiantly. “I can’t just leave her. I won’t.”

“I’m not asking you to,” he bites out. “I’m asking you to be smart about this. We need to make a game plan.”

“We? I don’t remember asking you to tag along, Anubis.” His lip twitches with a sneer at the way I hiss out his given name. “Don’t think I’ve just forgotten and forgiven you. You may be a god, but you still deceived me.”

His nostrils flare with anger and I flinch, suddenly very aware that I pissed off a god.

I don’t realize I’ve shut my eyes until I feel his hand cradling the bottom of my jaw, three of his fingers resting against the side of my throat. His touch is soft as he tilts my head up, voice tender when he sighs my name, “Valkyrie.” When I open my eyes again, I see his are damn near blazing. “Don’t be afraid of me.” He lowers his voice until it’s almost a whisper. “Not you.”

My chest tightens at his tone, and my resolve cracks. “You hurt me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you everything.” He bends until his forehead touches mine, lashes dark against his skin as his eyelids drop. “I didn’t know how to explain my fuck up. How I let one of the most dangerous creatures in the underworld escape to the mortal world on my watch.”

His breath fans against my lips as he talks, and I fist my hands in my hoodie to keep from grabbing him. “What is she?”

“Ammit devours the souls of the unworthy,” he explains. “If a soul fails the heart weighing ceremony, she wipes them out of existence. They will have no afterlife.”

A shudder runs through me. “How long has she been missing?”

“A while,” he responds. “I’ve tracked her by the number of souls she’s decimated. When she devours a soul, Thoth and I know.” At my pinched brows, he explains, “Thoth records all results for the heart weighing ceremony, whether they’re devoured or go on to meet Osiris. He’s been doing my job as well while I’m here.”

“Osiris is the God of the Underworld?” I ask, but I know the answer even as he nods. My brow furrows when I think through what he’s told me. “Wait. You’ve been tracking her through the souls she’s devoured? Since she escaped?” When he nods, I growl and push at his chest. “Then you knew that all the victims we found, even those from across the states, were her work?”

He sighs and pulls back to look down at me once again but doesn’t let me push him away. “Yes, but it’s not that simple.” When I struggle against him, he tightens his hold on my jaw and presses his hips against mine, pinning me to the counter. “Will you stop being so damn hardheaded and listen to me?”

“Yes, sir,” I sneer sarcastically. “Whatever you say, sir. Or shall I call you God? If sir gets you all hot and bothered, I wonder what calling you God will do?”

A growl rumbles in his chest as his gaze shifts to my lips. “Watch that mouth of yours, pet, or I’ll punish it.”

“Empty promises are useless,” I snarl back. “Just like your lies.”

His nostrils flare again as his gaze locks with mine. Holding me in place, he presses his lips hard against mine. It’s punishing, almost bruising. “If only we had time for me to prove you otherwise,” he breathes before tracing my bottom lip with his tongue. “But there’s too much to say and do.”

“Then start talking,” I demand in a harsh whisper, hating how my body reacts so strongly to him.

“Yes, I knew all of these women were Ammit’s doing, but I didn’t know how she was doing it,” Jack begins. “By the time we knew she devoured a soul, it was too late. We can only feel it in the Hall of Maat because my powers are stunted here. When a soul blinked out from existence, I would rush to that town, but by the time I got there, Ammit was nowhere to be found.

“I would hunt for her, follow whatever trail was left behind, but the god helping her is very good at masking them. I can’t stay out of the hall for extended amounts of time, and they must know that.” He releases my jaw, letting his hand fall loosely around my throat, his thumb lightly stroking my rapid pulse. “I didn’t realize they weren’t killing their victims in the same town they took them from until I started working with you.”

“But you know them. You know the Jane Does on my board?” I press.

He shakes his head. “No. I don’t know their names, Valkyrie. That’s part of the problem. Yes, we know when Ammit destroys a soul, but without it being done in the Hall of Maat, they simply get recorded as ‘Unknown’. We need the heart weighing ceremony for that.”

My gaze drops to his chin as I stubbornly refuse to look at him. “There are more victims than what we found, aren’t there?

Another sigh, albeit this one is more reluctant. “Yes, including one that happened here before Browne. It’s why I knew to come here. The soul was devoured three days before Browne was.” At my horrified expression, he continues. “That’s why I need to find her. Seth, or whomever he is, is losing control of her, and she’s throwing the world out of balance.”

“How?” I ask, twisting my hands in the fabric of my hoodie as I try to keep my fucking sanity in the absolute craziness that is happening.

“Osiris, as well as the other underworld gods, is upset,” he explains. “Not only is she taking souls that aren’t meant for our underworld, but she’s also destroying innocent souls that should be granted an afterlife.”

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