The house started to shake as the black tattoo slithered along Timber’s pale skin as if something from the inside was trying to come out.
“You can’t have him,” a female voice rasped.
Horus stiffened. “Neither can you.”
I looked around for the voice but saw nothing. The temperature in the room dropped as Cassius’s wings spread out, ready to fight, ready to impale whatever came at us.
“Fight it.” Horus encouraged his hand still on Timber’s chest. “You must choose. Don’t be like our father. Don’t let a sick soul take everything from you. Remember who you are, Prince of Darkness, Anubis, Keeper of Souls!”
Timber’s eyes burst open. They were pure gold, they were bright, and they were trained directly on me.
“Timber.” I reached for his hand and squeezed. “Anubis…”
With a roar, something black wrapped around Horus’s hand as he slowly pulled the darkness from Timber’s body, the soul had flecks of blue still on it, but the rest of it looked like it was rotting.
Horus jerked the rest of it free and held it out to Cassius. “Destroy it.”
Cassius took the black soul and crushed it with one hand. Black icicles fell to the ground and disappeared i
nto thin air.
Timber moaned as gold pulsed across his skin, right before my eyes I saw him become restored to the man I had kissed only minutes previous, the man who I saw in my dreams, the one who said he was my other half.
The love of my life.
My soulmate.
The Prince of Darkness.
Timber’s body convulsed and then as if jerking awake from a long night’s sleep, he blinked and sat up, his eyes locked on Horus first. “Brother? What the hell are you doing here?”
“Good to see you too. Missed you. It’s been what? A few thousand years? And thanks for saving my life, oh you’re welcome Anubis, all in a day’s work, also I’m trapped here now…”
“He’s never had good manners.” This from Alex who shot Timber an amused grin before winking over at me.
Nerves took over.
Would he remember past me and present me?
If we kissed in the garden was it in his memories now?
I had so many questions.
First and foremost, I just wanted to touch him, to feel his skin, to tell him… what? That I was in love with him? That I’d been in love with him for as long as I could remember? Only that I wasn’t a god so my memories were still somewhat fuzzy? How did one even begin that conversation?
“Stuck,” Timber repeated in a voice that was just slightly richer than before. “You’re stuck in this time?”
“Apparently.” Horus stood and then looked down at his clothes. “I imagine this would land me somewhere unpleasant?”
Mason winced. “You look like you belong at the Halloween store.”
“What’s Halloween?” Horus asked with genuine curiosity.
Alex laughed. “Ethan, show some fang. That right there, people really love vampires, they dress up as them. Ethan loves it, don’t you, boy?”
Ethan flipped him off and then gave Horus a helpless look. “This is going to be difficult for you.”
He shrugged. “I’m a god, I think I have it handled.”