CHAPTER THREE
GOD
Mina gulped hungrily at the musty air. His heart slammed into his ribs as he lay there taking stock of all the burning, aching, throbbing parts of himself.
His shoulder was on fire, and he felt a sticky warmth that told him it was definitely bleeding. His knees were scuffed, and his head was cloudy, a slight knock to the ground when he’d thrown himself into the room.
Mina looked up and slowly, painfully, raised himself from the ground, taking in the room that had saved his life.
It was about the size of a large living room, except for the ceiling that rose to a height beyond what the dim rope lights strung around the walls could reach.
Mina scanned the room for anything that might indicate where he was or what he should do next, but it looked like nothing more than an empty chamber.
Mina froze.
At the far wall, something was different.
The stone floor rose to a short platform that held what appeared to be a set of tall, wide steps.
Mina squinted, still adjusting to the sparser light.
As he did, he followed the stairs with his eyes until they ended at the base of a statue.
The statue of a great beast on a throne.
No. Not just a beast. Two long feet, angled back, black as night.
Anubis. The shape of the god of the afterlife materialized from the darkness as Mina’s eyes continued to adjust. Even seated, the statue towered over his small frame.
The sculpture of Anubis matched the artistic depictions in every way—from the narrow waist up to the broad, chiseled chest and the sharp, sleek face of a jackal, to finally two red eyes made of what had to be rubies or some other precious stone.
Despite its lifeless form, Mina shuddered, a spasm of fear down his back making him dizzy.
He steeled himself, pulling in a deep breath, though it came back out of him ragged and trembling.
He crossed the room and climbed the stairs.
Standing at the base of the throne, Mina’s head came only to the statue’s knee.
He placed a hand on the stone of Anubis's leg. It was cool and smooth as glass. Whether obsidian or black marble or something else, he couldn’t tell.
He ran his hand down the length of the shin.
The detail was incredible. Like he could almost feel the ripple of muscle beneath the stone.
Mina closed his eyes and wondered what it would be like to stand at the foot of a real god.
The real Anubis. Cold awe sprinkled goosebumps across every inch of skin.
Despite all of his theology training, he’d never been able to imagine the true power of a deity.
He’d sent countless prayers into the rafters of the church, into the churning blade of his bedroom fan, but he was never able to conjure an image of anything powerful enough to reach across the cosmos and hear him.
But somehow now, in the presence of this lifeless thing, he thought he could.
A twitch beneath his hand. Mina jerked back and stumbled two steps down.
He’d definitely felt something move under his hand.
The aftershock of the earthquake? That had to be it.
He walked back to the statue and placed his hand on it.
Warm. Probably from where he had been touching it before.
He reached up to the thigh. Also warm. He stepped right and placed his hands on the other shin.
Warm. And soft. Not at all like stone. Soft like the richest velvet. Or fur.
Mina turned to ice.
He stepped back and looked at the two giant legs that now shone like the lean back of a Doberman.
Muscles beneath the impossible skin tensed into thick ropes pulled tight.
Mina, with dread building deep in his gut, looked up to the red eyes that no longer sparkled.
They glowed, winked out for a split second, and then glowed again.
Blinking. Warm air, a breath. The smell of cloves. Of wood smoke.
“Oh my god,” Mina whispered, swallowing down the sour vomit making his teeth feel gritty.
He stumbled down the steps, miraculously not tripping, and threw himself against the wall that had shut behind him, clawing at the seam, praying to the god of his childhood that had never listened before and seemed still not to hear him now.
That god felt farther away than he’d ever been.
Nothing in the wall would budge. Mina might as well have been trying to pull out a stone from the Great Pyramid itself.
Mina turned back around, and the statue was standing.
A twelve-foot Anubis had stepped down from the dais, crossed the room, and was now in front of him.
Warmth spread across the front of his pants and down his leg, abject fear consuming every inch of his body.
This was impossible. He’d bumped his head.
He was concussed. Having a stroke. A hallucination.
There wasn’t enough oxygen in this room.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and held it for a slow count of four.
Several times in a row. Every second he wasn’t eaten or crushed or snapped in half was another second he was able to convince himself it had only been a wild vision. Slowly, Mina opened his eyes.
The vision was gone.
He stepped back into the center of the room and closer to where the statue should have been.
Except now the statue was gone too. Only the empty stone throne remained.
Mina raked his hands through his hair, throwing beads of sweat behind him.
“Ok,” he whispered into the room, grounding himself in the reality of his own voice.
He was real. He was alive. He just needed to find a way out of here. “Ok, ok.”
Mina turned around.
His heart threw itself into his throat, and if he’d had anything left in his bladder, it would have escaped him.
Before him stood Anubis. Smaller than before but at over seven feet, the glowing red eyes and hulking black frame still loomed over his twinkish five-eight.
Mina didn’t move. Didn’t breathe.
The creature stared at him. Its thick chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm. Its canine nose flaring at the air between them. Smelling him. Judging him. Testing him, Mina thought.
As if reading his thoughts, the figure reached out a hand and pressed it against Mina’s chest. It felt made of iron, and it warmed the chill racking through his body.
He weighed the hearts of men to determine their worth.
Great. From this being’s perspective, Mina was a follower of a foreign god who’d just desecrated his temple by coming all over it.
Mina considered for a moment dropping to his knees and begging forgiveness.
But the strong hand stayed on his chest, anchoring him in place.
Mina craned his neck up to look into the face of the creature.
Fear began to loosen its grip, and his heart began to slow.
His breathing became more regular. The god’s nostrils flared, and its red eyes fluttered shut, taking in the scent of him.
Mina found that he liked the feel of the hand on his chest. The strength of it.
Mina’s smallness against its enormity. He felt a twitch in his pants and squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself not to react to the touch that was spreading a dizzying warmth throughout every inch of his body.
When Mina opened his eyes again, Anubis was tilting his head to the side. Uh oh, thought Mina. Can this thing read my thoughts?
A rumble, not from below but from all around. Like great stones cracking and falling down a mountainside. Except this was no earthquake, no stones. This was a voice. Deep and resounding as if the bedrock itself were the vocal cords and the chamber he was standing in a throat.
“Son of man.”
Mina would have fallen to his knees if not for the giant iron hand pinning him to the wall behind him.
“You have come to Anubis, Lord of the Sacred Land, Ruler of the Nine Bows, Guide to the Duat. You are not dead. You are not supplicant. You do not offer your spear in my service. You do not kneel before me, a god of the necropolis. Instead, you…” The echo of his voice reverberated like thunder.
“…desecrate.” The last word came out in a growl so deep Mina’s bones vibrated.
Mina’s vision went foggy, and his knees started to give.
But before he could fall, the figure tightened the hand on Mina’s chest into a fist, clutching the shredded scruff of his ruined shirt to hold him upright.
A long, clawed finger reached forward from his fist and caressed Mina’s clean-shaven cheek.
This is the end, thought Mina. A giant, jacked jackal god is going to annihilate me and drag me to Egyptian hell.
“You are delicate,” the thunderous voice cracked. “Supple. A sapling that refuses to break.”
Mina wondered if he should kneel now. If he should bow or raise his hands in worship.
All the empty movements that always felt so awkward to him in church services suddenly felt like the only logical response.
And if any being deserved it, surely this one did.
At least until Mina was sure that he’d appeased whatever wrath he’d invoked.
Still, something in Mina fought against it. From the father who didn’t believe he was worthy to the religion he always felt too misshapen to fit inside, Mina wasn’t going to contort himself for one more authority. He locked his knees and threw back his shoulders.
“Mina.” The vibration of his name shook his chest until he felt lightheaded. “Son of man. I have seen your heart.”
Fuck. This time, Mina didn’t bother reprimanding himself for the swear.
“It is light and pure. And yet it is split. Torn. It wars with itself as two armies of a brother land. It is unnatural and wrong.”
Oh, good, Mina thought. Anubis is homophobic, too. Bye, world.
At that thought, Mina could have sworn he saw the red eyes squint, the shadow of a smirk. Though with the canine features, it was difficult to tell.
“You are a man without a god. Your knees smooth and unblemished. Anubis, Shepherd of Souls, Guardian of the Lost, will show you the meaning of supplication.”
Show?
“But first, be still.”
The creature let go of Mina’s shirt and, slowly and with the utmost care, wrapped the long fingers of his clawed hand around his throat, leaning forward, the black snout inches from Mina’s face.
The spice of the god’s breath filled Mina’s head with a sleepy fullness even as panic tried to scream its way through the fog.
And then the long, clawed fingers began to squeeze.
Mina felt his windpipe close as stars danced before his eyes.
Frantic, Mina wrapped two weak hands around the enormous forearm of the creature and pulled, but it might as well have been made of marble.
So this was death, he thought, with a calm resignation.
Mina closed his eyes as the stars in his vision turned to black spots and the world went dark and quiet.