Chapter Eleven
Present day, Oxfordshire, England .
Mike was running out of time. His mum had said she didn’t want anything special, but she’d had a rubbish year what with losing Gran, and he thought he should be able to get her something to cheer her up. She’d always loved old stuff, and often spoken about the holiday to Egypt she’d taken with his dad, so maybe he could get her something which reminded her of that. He’d searched online but hadn’t felt comfortable buying something without seeing it in person first. Instead, he headed to the High Street in his lunch break to have a browse in an antiques shop he’d walked past countless times but had never been in.
After several minutes of staring at the shop window and nothing catching his eye, he decided to go inside. The old-fashioned bell rang as he pushed open the door and he was hit by a smell somewhere between excessive dust and overly floral. He couldn’t place the fragrance, but it reminded him of the oils in his parent’s bathroom that his mum had brought back from her last cruise when she’d stopped in Cairo.
He saw a fancy plate, but on closer inspection, it had a few too many chips for the price tag but he was tempted since it was from the period he’d been researching for their family tree. His mum had teased him about his many times great-uncle Callum Gething, who he’d uncovered had never married, and had spent his life living with a roommate who was the son of a duke. Several comments had been made about getting Mike a wealthy roommate, along with suggestive winks, but she’d been one of his biggest supporters since he’d come out in his early teens and he knew she’d be first in line to buy a moving-in gift if he found a bloke he could stand to live with.
“Can I help you with anything?”
He turned to see the shop assistant. If Mike had a type, this guy was its definition. He was cute, with high cheekbones and curly black hair, stunning blue eyes, and pale as if he had an aversion to the sun. He tended to go for men whose colouring was different from his own dirty blond hair and tanned even in February complexion thanks to his dad’s roots in Spain.
“Hi,” he said. Not his smoothest opening gambit. He managed to put the plate down before he dropped it. “I’m looking for a present for my mum.”
An older man popped his head around a curtain. “Luke, I’m just stepping out. You all right minding things while I’m gone?”
“Yes, Dad. No worries.”
So cutie had a name. Luke suited him.
“Sorry about that,” Luke said. “I’m helping out before I go back to university.”
Mike had graduated a couple of summers ago, and unlike a lot of his friends, had been happy to head out into the real world. Despite knowing nothing about him, he had a twinge of regret at the thought Luke might be heading far away. Luke didn’t come across that young, but then Mike wasn’t the best with judging ages and had insulted his Aunty Carol when he’d added ten years to her real age when she’d asked him to guess. “What are you studying?”
“I’m about to start a doctorate in Ancient History.”
“That sounds impressive.” And very specialised, probably somewhere hundreds of miles away. “Where are you doing that?”
Luke smiled and looked very pleased with himself. “Oxford, I can’t believe I got my place. But it’s only up the road so I can keep an eye on my dad, and I’m flat-sharing with a girlfriend.”
Pretty, clever… straight. He swore he heard his heartbreak. “Lucky girl,” he managed to say, although it came out croaked.
Luke laughed. “Oh, no. A girl who is a friend. I was going to share with my boyfriend, but we broke up so… anyway, how can I help?”
He rejoiced internally that his gaydar wasn’t broken and Luke was single, and when his course started, he’d still only be twenty minutes away if he drove. Which was all very presumptuous for someone he’d just met, hadn’t said more than a few words to and probably wasn’t interested. It was weird as he wasn’t the type to get carried away over someone he didn’t know.
“Erm… yeah… birthday present for my mum. She likes old stuff. Been going on about Egypt a lot, so maybe something related to that?”
“That’s definitely old, and I can’t say we’ve much in that line.” Luke chewed his bottom lip and put his hands on his hips as he stared around the room.
Although he hadn’t been here, Mike had been in many antique shops. His parents had loved dragging him and his sister into them as they had a mooch and this one didn’t seem much different. A selection of random things on shelves and smaller items in glass cabinets gave the place a chaotic but charming feel.
“Actually, I might have just the thing. We had a house clearance collection a few weeks back, and there were some interesting trinkets. Let me grab the cabinet keys.”
Before Mike could stop him, Luke shot off to the counter. It was his mum’s sixtieth, and he had a nice bonus from work, but he wasn’t sure his budget would stretch to the sort of thing kept under lock and key.
Luke returned. “Here we go. Come with me.”
Mike followed him to one of the cabinets where a mass of little objects had been put on display. A stone figure not bigger than his thumb in the rough shape of a man caught his eye, it sat next to a scarab and a bracelet made of jade beads.
“I should have probably asked about your budget,” Luke said opening the door to the glass case. “This bracelet is lovely but on the pricey side.”
“I could probably go up to five hundred quid,” he said.
Luke put the bracelet back. “I don’t think we can come down in price that far.”
He couldn’t drag his gaze away from the stone figure, he pointed to it. “What’s that?”
Luke reached in and picked it up. “It’s an ushabti, a burial token found in tombs. We’re not sure if this one is an original as it’s got very little damage and most of the ones I’ve seen are a bit more worse for wear.”
He didn’t think it would be suitable for his mum, but he had the unquestioning need to hold it. “May I?”
“Of course.”
As his fingers touched the stone the overwhelming smell from earlier filled his nostrils, his mind spun and he staggered backwards and the world dissolved around him.
The sun was setting across the desert, Osahar was waiting in their rooms for Baniti and they would eat together. Today marked one year since they’d placed the ushabti in the tomb and Baniti had thought it would be nice to mark the date. He’d taken extra care to anoint himself with the oil fragranced with lotus blossom, knowing how much Baniti loved the smell of it on his skin.
Then there was the gift he had sought out, something perfect for Baniti and he couldn’t wait to give it to him. He’d saved for a long time to afford it, he was convinced Baniti would love the necklace of turquoise beads.
He heard footsteps and smiled as Baniti arrived carrying a basket. He often returned home with food from the kitchens—he was a favourite of the cooks and got much better food than other senior priests thanks to his kind ways.
“Osahar, there you are. As beautiful today as the first time I saw you.”
Osahar raced to greet him and went willingly into the embrace. Even after all these years, there were still moments when he was surprised that Baniti had chosen him. There had been times when he doubted he could hold his interest but they were now more devoted than ever. “You are early, my love, is everything all right?”
“I made my excuses as I had important business to attend to.”
“You do?”
Baniti laughed and kissed him. “There is nothing more important than coming home to you.”
Mike blinked several times and realised he was lying on his back on the floor of the shop. He turned his head to see Luke lying next to him, still clutching the stone. He shook away the woozy feeling and struggled to sit up, Luke doing the same.
Luke’s eyes were wide. “Did you see that too?”
Mike didn’t know what to say, the images of his vision were still vivid. “I think I’m going mad.”
“Osahar?” Luke asked, his voice cracking.
“Baniti?” Mike replied, unthinking. His mind whirled as the memories of another life flickered through his mind, the pyramids, a spell, the scent of lotus blossom, and the love for someone so overwhelming that he’d have died for them.
He stared into Luke’s eyes and Luke reached out and cupped his cheek. “I don’t even know your name now, only who you were before.”
“My name’s Mike, I’m an accountant. All I know about you is you’re called Luke and you’re a student.”
Luke puffed out his cheeks. “I don’t think this is the first time this has happened.” He closed his eyes and Mike waited, hardly able to breathe. “Callum?”
For a moment Mike didn’t understand, and then another set of memories hit him hard. Cravats and frock coats, balls and gentlemen’s clubs. “Dominic?”
“I think so.” Luke smiled. “We’ve found our way back to each other.”
A clock on the shop wall chimed one, and reality crashed through the strange fantasy he was experiencing. “Shit, I need to get back to work,” Mike said, and glanced at his watch.
Luke was still touching him. “You can’t leave me now. My dad will be back in a mo. We’ll go somewhere to talk.”
Mike shook his head, this was not right, and he needed to get away before anything weirder happened. “This is crazy, we must be hallucinating.”
He got to his feet, needing to put some distance between them. Luke must have drugged him or something. His gut clenched at the accusation, but this couldn’t be real.
“You took longer to accept this last time too,” Luke said. “Don’t fight it.”
“What?”
Luke grabbed a notepad and wrote down his number. “Call me. We need to talk.”
Mike took the piece of paper. “What I need is to get back before I’m late. This is just a crazy moment. Work’s been busy and this is a way of my mind coping, or you did something to me!”
Luke snorted. “Bollocks did I. Give me your number.”
“No.” He shoved Luke’s number into his trouser pocket, he’d chuck it later. “You’re nuts and I’m leaving.”
He bolted out of the shop, ignoring Luke’s cries to come back. His office wasn’t far but when he got there he was sweating and shaking.
“Whatever is the matter?” Kelly, his boss, asked as she spotted him.
His head was pounding, his mind whirling with strange thoughts he couldn’t quieten. The voices telling him to listen and trust them. “Migraine,” he lied. “My head’s killing me.”
“Go on home. I’ll cover anything you need to do this afternoon, and the rest can wait.”
He loved his boss, and the admin team had access to his email and files so he could pick them up tomorrow. “Thanks, I’m really sorry about this. Must be the pollen or something that set me off.”
Thankfully he didn’t live too far away, the location of his flat on a road off the High Street one of the reasons he’d rented it. He staggered through his front door and collapsed onto the sofa. This morning he’d woken up, gone to work like any normal day and now he was fighting off a full psychological mania. For fuck’s sake what was wrong with him?
The dry heat warmed his skin, and he helped himself to another date. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, Baniti?”
They were on a terrace, a private space Baniti had access to as he was one of the pharaoh’s favourites. Osahar loved to watch the sunset over the pyramids, and he and Baniti spent many of their evenings together on this very spot.
“You know that I love you more than life itself, and because of that I want to ensure a way that when we pass over we can walk through the Field of Reeds together. One lifetime with you is not enough, I want to ensure we spend our afterlife together as well.”
Osahar felt the same, but the future was in the hands of the gods. “Apart from continuing my prayers, and making the right sacrifices, I don’t know what more we can do.”
“I have heard of a way, a spell that the pharaoh intends to use for his favourite wife and concubine. And a friend of a friend mentioned an old man who could help, and I intend to find him tomorrow, and if you agree we will complete the spell and bind ourselves for the next life.”
Osahar gasped, it sounded like powerful magic, but Baniti was a clever man, and if anyone was capable then he was. “Do you think it’s real?”
Baniti squeezed his hands. “Yes. I do. We will find a way. You will be mine forever, Osahar. And I will be yours.”
The certainty in Baniti’s words filled him with belief. The idea he could have the man he loved for eternity was beyond anything in this world and he would do whatever was needed of him to support Baniti’s efforts.
“We will be each other’s forever.”
The whirlwind of chaos quietened, and Mike felt a sense of tranquillity, the like of which he’d never experienced before. He’d had boyfriends and they’d never stuck, and now he knew why, he wasn’t meant to be with them. He’d been waiting for Baniti to return, the same had been the case when he’d lived as Callum and found Dominic, and now he was Mike, he would find his happiness when he was reunited with Baniti through Luke.
He needed to speak to Luke. He knew so little about him but he had to see him, hold him, and he had no doubt Luke was who he was destined to be with. Callum hadn’t known Dominic beyond one card game before they’d handled the ushabti together and they had gone to have a long and happy life as a couple, and he was convinced it would be the same for him and Luke.
After a moment of panic, he found Luke’s number in his pocket, dug out his phone and sent Luke a message.
Mike: This is Mike. I’m at 2A Binning Lane. I remember.
He sat there staring at his phone, the minutes ticking by as he waited for a reply. What if he had got the number wrong, or Luke had decided that he was too stupid to bother with as he had bolted rather than dealt with what was happening?
The doorbell rang. He raced to answer and standing there was Luke.
“You’re here.”
Luke smiled. “Yes.”
Without thinking he pulled Luke into his arms and kissed him, Luke melted against him, they might not know anything about each other yet, but they had their whole lives ahead of them to learn. Their past lives would guide them, and the spell would ensure they would be happy.
Luke pulled back and cupped his cheek. “You’re always the cute one.”
Mike laughed and gazed into Luke’s eyes. “You’re always the hot scholar. I bet you even remember the spell?”
“Of course.” Luke grinned. “In life and death we are together, no mortal path will limit us, and we will journey to the edge of time. Blessed be the eternal heart, bind souls never to be apart. Through the ages we will always be as one.”
The scent of lotus blossom filled the room. Luke kissed him and everything was perfect. Once again.