Earth, Sun, and Moon Saga Ch. 10

Qebhet pouted. "Fair. I guess. After the vampire and her man attacked my father at the museum, we had to take more drastic measures. That wasn't as clean as we would have liked it. I apologize for that. By the way, who is the man? He was fun to play with."

"Is he dead?" Gwen asked.

Qebhet didn't answer and her silence told Gwen all she needed to know. James was alive.

"So are you two going to finally tell me what you want with me?" Gwen asked, keeping her voice even and conversational. She'd long ago learned to control her emotions in even the most stressful of situations. One does not survive the Middle Ages by being hot-headed.

"Ah, glad you asked," Edward said. "One of the things we did not expect after bringing forth Anubis again—which took the better part of two decades by the way—was that he'd still be subject to certain parameters set for him while on Earth. Parameters set by you, for example."

"I guess I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. When you fought him the first time, you hit him with a ward. A powerful one. Remember that?"

"Remind me."

"I barely remembered myself until we got Anubis here and discovered he was almost entirely stripped of his powers. Sure he was still a god and unkillable and strong and all that but he was blocked from being able to tap into the fabric of the divine. He could not finish the ritual and complete his great mission."

"You want me to reverse the ward so he can complete the ritual?"

Edward put his hand on the glass. "My love. I have crossed a river of time to sit across from you again. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The original plan was to find Anubis and complete the ritual to bring forth Bastet. We didn't even need Lenore. And you were never supposed to be involved. I imagined our first meeting as me showing up at your doorstep, wildflowers in hand."

Absurdly, Gwen wanted to reach out and touch his hand through the glass. To comfort him. She saw the scared, earnest boy underneath it all.

"I won't help you," she said softly. "I won't help you hurt my friends."

Edward nodded. "I understand. If I were standing where you were, I wouldn't help me either." He stood slowly as if planning on walking away. "You know, when we were done with the ritual and Bastet was free to walk the Earth with the deity she loves, she told me she would repay those that helped her."

"And what did you ask for? Money? Power?"

Edward smirked. "No, nothing like that. I'm rich enough thanks to a solid leg up in childhood and a very capable guardian. And power? It's meaningless without someone to share it with. No, I didn't ask for a reward for myself. Rather, I asked that Bastet bless the only woman I've ever truly loved. It was supposed to be a gift upon returning to you."

It was Gwen's turn to smirk, her calm mask slipping at Edward's smugness. "What could she possibly offer me?"

"How about the one thing you've always wanted but could never have? She's the goddess of family. Of fertility."

A knot formed in Gwendolyn's stomach and sunk deep. "You can't mean . . ."

"He does," Qebhet said softly. She put a hand on her own belly for emphasis. "And Bastet is a goddess of her word. It's a contract woven into his very soul. She could no more break it than stop the sun from rising."

Edward knelt in front of the window, looking up at her. "From her, you can have the last piece of yourself. That missing piece. You can be a mother."

Anger flooded Gwen's chest so fast that it took her by surprise. The fucking gall of this man. White-hot energy danced off her fingertips as she felt her whole being ripple against the reality around her. She would tear this whole office apart, sigil be damned.

"You attack me in my own home and that's what you offer me? How dare you waste my time with that prattle!"

She pushed down and felt her feet leave the floor. The desk was shoved backward, and the empty filling cabinets tipped over. She levitated upward and lashed out against the window with a sweep of her arm focusing that energy to a point. The crackle of the barrier took her blow and reverberated it back to her. She absorbed the energy and howled in rage.

"How dare you!" she screamed. "How DARE YOU!"

Levitating further upward, she struck out again. And again. The sigil was powerful and seemed to absorb just as much as it reflected back. She threw everything she could at it.

Qebhet sighed in frustration and walked away, her heels clicking on the concrete floor of the warehouse. Edward stood still on the other side, wincing as she took hit after hit of the reflected energy.

She stopped, or rather, fell down exhausted. It had been a long time since she'd pushed her powers that far and it was akin to trying to sprint after being a couch potato for six months. Or six decades.

She gasped for air, panting. Her chest felt hollow and tears streamed down her face. Not possible. It couldn't be possible.

Edward got up to leave, glancing back at her sadly.

She said it before she knew she was saying it.

"Wait," she choked out. "Please, wait."

And Edward did.

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I enjoyed writing it! I spent a long time doing research on ancient Egyptian mythology to put that together, so I hope it works.

If you are still enjoying this tale, please don't forget to leave a rating or a review. It really does give me the energy to keep putting this to paper. I love the enthusiasm of the readers here, and I'll keep writing as long as you keep reading.

I hope you lovely nerds have a fantastic week, and be kind to each other!

Exes and ohs,

Dakota