Chapter Sixteen
“Why are you all dressed in gold?”
Rose’s question came from the living room, where she’d been playing with her brothers approximately thirty seconds ago. Rudy abandoned the laundry he’d been folding - because somehow, even with a magic-wielding ancient god in the house, laundry still needed doing - and headed downstairs.
“Who the hell are you?” Rudy demanded.
The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me? Do you know who I am?”
“No. That’s why I’m asking.” Rudy planted himself between the stranger and his children. “You’re in my house without permission, so start talking or get out.”
“I am Horus.” The man said it like he expected trumpets. “King of Egypt.”
“Ah.” Rudy relaxed slightly. “Sobek mentioned you as one of his kin that he spoke to at times. You’re a sort of cousin, aren’t you?”
Horus’s expression soured. “What else did Sobek tell you about me?”
“Nothing much.” Which was true. Rudy had learned a bit about Sobek’s family since they’d claimed each other, but honestly between the kids, the house and everything else, learning family histories wasn’t high on the list of priorities.
“He had to have said something. I’m a very important person in our pantheon.”
“Fine, if you must know, he told me you have a beef with one of the other members of your pantheon - Seth, I think he said - and that all stemmed from the fact you won your kingly position by cheating.”
The god’s face turned an impressive shade of red. “I did not cheat.”
“He literally told me you cheated.” Rudy crossed his arms. “What are you doing here anyway? Sobek is out buying groceries.”
“Pfft…running errands like a mortal when he has the powers to fill the cupboards a hundred times over.”
“We like to do things the mortal way in this house.”
“No matter.” Horus waved dismissively. “I sensed a new claiming in the family and came to investigate. Word travels fast among the ancient gods.”
“So you just decided to appear in my living room?”
“Yes.” Horus looked around again, his nose wrinkling. “Is this where you live?”
“No, I just come here to do laundry for fun.” Rudy gestured at the laundry basket. “Of course, this is where I live.”
Timothy giggled, and Jack tried to hide his smile behind his hand. Rose bounced on her toes, completely unafraid.
“You’re very shiny,” she announced.
Horus’s expression softened slightly. “Thank you, small one. I am the king of Egypt, after all. Shininess is expected.”
“Were you really a king?” Jack asked, edging closer.
“I was. I am.” Horus straightened, clearly warming to his favorite subject. “I defeated Seth in single combat for the throne of Egypt and have ruled…”
“You cheated, though,” Rudy interrupted. “In the contest. I do remember that. I learned about it in school.”
Horus’s jaw dropped. “I did not cheat. I simply...used strategic advantages available to me at the time.”
“That’s literally what cheating is.” Rudy picked up a shirt from the basket and folded it. “Own it.”
“I will not own something I didn’t do.”
“Can you make things appear?” Rose tugged on Horus’s gold tracksuit pants. “Sobek can make things appear. He made pancakes appear this morning without cooking them.”
Horus glanced down at her, his expression one of someone who really hadn’t had a lot to do with children. “Of course, I can make things appear. I’m a god.”
“Can you make me a gold crown? Like yours?” Rose pointed at the air above Horus’s head where, Rudy now noticed, a faint shimmer suggested an invisible crown.
“A tiara,” Rose amended. “A proper one, not plastic, but a real gold one with sparkles.”
Horus snapped his fingers. A delicate golden tiara materialized, studded with what looked like actual diamonds. He placed it carefully on Rose’s dark curls.
Her eyes went huge. “It’s beautiful.”
“Of course it is.” Horus sniffed. “I don’t do anything halfway.”
“Except winning fairly,” Rudy muttered.
“I heard that.”
The front door opened. Sobek walked in carrying grocery bags, froze when he saw Horus, and closed his eyes like he was praying for patience.
“Sobek,” Horus said brightly. “I came to meet your mate.”
“I can see that.” Sobek set the bags on the floor. “How long have you been here?”
“Five minutes.” Rudy picked up another shirt. “He showed up in the living room, claimed he didn’t cheat to become king, and gave Rose a diamond tiara.”
Sobek’s gaze cut to his cousin. “You gave her diamonds?”
“She asked nicely.” Horus folded his arms. “Unlike certain people, I know how to be generous.”
“You once made me pay you back for a sandwich I ate at your house three hundred years ago.”
“That was an expensive sandwich.”
Rudy started laughing. He couldn’t help it. These were ancient gods, supposedly terrifying and all-powerful, and they were bickering like siblings over a sandwich from centuries ago.
Sobek’s expression softened when he looked at Rudy. Through their bond, Rudy felt his mate’s combination of mortification and reluctant affection. He’s always like this.
I can tell. Rudy sent back warmth and amusement.
“Your mate is laughing at us,” Horus observed.
“Your mate is standing right here and can speak for himself.” Rudy set down the folded shirt. “And yeah, I’m laughing. You two are ridiculous.”
Horus blinked. “I am the king of Egypt.”
“So you’ve mentioned. Three times now. If you get to ten times, I’ll insist you be the one who makes pancakes for lunch.
” Rudy moved to the grocery bags, peering inside.
Sobek had bought everything on the list, plus extras.
“Did you want something specific, or did you just drop by to announce your title and complain about Sobek’s decorating choices? ”
“I…” Horus faltered. “I wanted to meet the mate who finally tamed my cousin.”
“Nobody tamed anybody.” Rudy pulled out milk and headed for the kitchen. Sobek followed automatically, and after a moment, so did Horus and the children. “We’re mates. Partners. He’s not a pet, and neither am I.”
“Obviously.” Horus watched as Sobek helped put groceries away with the ease of someone who’d already learned where everything belonged. “I meant... He seems happy.”
Something in the god’s voice made Rudy pause. He turned and really looked at Horus for the first time. Past the ridiculous gold tracksuit and the prissy expression, there was loneliness.
“Sobek said you’re one of the Egyptian gods who doesn’t have a mate yet,” Rudy said carefully.
“I’m aware.” Horus’s jaw tightened. “Everyone keeps finding their mates. Seth found his, Ra found two of them, even Anubis - Anubis, the god of the dead - has a mate now. But me? The king of Egypt? I get nothing.”
“Maybe the Fates are waiting for someone who can handle you,” Rudy suggested.
Horus straightened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean you’re a lot.” Rudy grabbed a box of crackers from Timothy before he could rip it open. “You’re dramatic, you’re loud, you wear a gold tracksuit which doesn’t allow you to blend very easily…”
“This is designer.”
“…and you clearly need someone who won’t put up with your nonsense.” Rudy smiled. “Someone who’ll tell you when you’re being ridiculous and love you anyway.”
Horus stared at him. Sobek had gone very still, watching his mate with something like wonder in his eyes.
“That’s...” Horus cleared his throat. “That’s very presumptuous of you.”
“Probably.” Rudy shrugged. “But I’m betting I’m right.”
Rose tugged on Horus’s hand. “When you find your mate, will you bring them to meet us? I’d love to meet more shiny people.”
The god’s expression crumbled for just a second before he schooled it back into haughty indifference. “Perhaps.”
“You should.” Jack joined his sister. “We could have a party.”
“With pancakes,” Timothy added solemnly. “Sobek makes really good pancakes.”
“I do,” Sobek confirmed.
Horus looked around the small kitchen at the mismatched chairs, the crayon drawings stuck to the fridge with magnets, the chaos of family life that Sobek had clearly chosen. Rudy had no idea what the god was thinking, but he didn’t look so arrogant anymore.
“You’re happy here,” he said to Sobek. Not a question.
“Yes.” Sobek moved to stand beside Rudy, his hand settling on Rudy’s lower back. “Very happy.”
“Good.” Horus nodded once. “You deserve it, Sobek. After everything...”
The unspoken weight of millennia hung in that pause. Rudy leaned into Sobek’s side, offering comfort through their bond.
“Will you stay for lunch?” Rudy asked.
Horus blinked. “You’re inviting me to stay?”
“Well, yeah. You’re family now.” Rudy gestured around. “That’s how it works. You show up, I feed you, we pretend you didn’t break into my house.”
“I translocated. It’s different.”
“It’s really not.”
Sobek made a sound that might have been a laugh. “You don’t have to stay, Horus. I know you’re busy with…”
“I’ll stay.” Horus cut him off. His gaze swept the kitchen again, landing on each child before finally settling on Rudy. “Thank you for the invitation.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re helping make lunch.”
“But I’m the king of…”
“Egypt, yeah, we’ve established that.” Rudy pulled sandwich supplies from the fridge. “You can make grilled cheese or sandwiches. Pick one.”
Horus looked genuinely baffled. “I don’t cook.”
“Then you’re about to learn.” Rudy handed him the butter. “Sobek, can you grab the griddle?”
Through their bond, Rudy felt his mate’s deep contentment. Sobek retrieved the griddle without comment, settling it on the stove while Horus stared at the butter as if it might attack him.
“I could just make the sandwiches appear,” Horus tried.
“And Sobek could’ve zapped up the groceries he went out and bought, but where’s the fun in that?” Rudy bumped his hip. “Come on, king of Egypt. Show me what you’ve got.”
Rose climbed onto a chair to watch. Jack and Timothy joined her, all three fascinated by the idea of Horus cooking.
“This is beneath me,” Horus muttered, but he unwrapped the butter.
“Everything’s beneath you,” Sobek said. “That’s half your problem.”
“What’s the other half?”
“You’re an insufferable snob?”
Horus huffed but didn’t argue. He fumbled with the butter knife while Rudy demonstrated how to butter bread, and the children giggled when he dropped a slice on the floor.
“I’ve defeated Seth in combat,” Horus announced. “Multiple times.”
“Congratulations. Your bread’s burning.”
“What?” Horus spun back to the griddle, where smoke was starting to rise. He waved his hand frantically. “How do I make it stop without magic?”
Rudy laughed so hard he had to lean against the counter. Sobek rescued the sandwich, flipping it onto a plate while Horus glared at the offending griddle, like it had personally insulted him.
“This is humiliating,” Horus said.
“This is what family life is like,” Rudy corrected. “You’re welcome here.”
Something shifted in Horus’s expression. He looked at the children, at Sobek, at Rudy, and then down at the butter knife still clutched in his hand.
“Family,” he repeated softly.
“Yeah.” Rudy started buttering more bread. “So let’s try again, and this time, watch the temperature.”
Horus nodded. He buttered the next slice more carefully, placed it on the griddle with exaggerated care, and actually smiled when it started sizzling at the right rate.
“I’m doing it,” he said, sounding genuinely surprised.
“You are.” Rudy handed him cheese slices. “Now add these and flip it in about two minutes.”
The children cheered when Horus’s first successful grilled cheese came off the griddle. Rose clapped, Jack gave him a thumbs-up, and Timothy declared that it looked delicious.
Horus’s smile grew. “Perhaps I’m better at this than I thought.”
“Don’t get cocky,” Sobek warned. “You’ve made one sandwich.”
“And it’s perfect.”
It was a little burned on one corner, but Rudy didn’t mention that. He just watched as Horus made three more sandwiches, improving with each attempt, while the children offered commentary and encouragement.
They sat around the small kitchen table - six bodies squeezed into a space meant for four, with Horus perched on a wobbly stool someone had dragged in from the garage.
The god looked completely out of place in his gold tracksuit, surrounded by children with sticky fingers and a kitchen that had seen better days. But he was smiling.
“This is nice,” Horus said eventually. “Strange, but nice.”
“That’s family for you.” Rudy took a bite of his sandwich. “Strange and nice in equal measure.”
Horus nodded slowly. His gaze drifted to the window, something wistful in his expression. “When I find my mate...if I find my mate...do you think they’ll want this? This chaos?”
“If they’re meant for you, they’ll love the chaos.” Rudy reached across the table, squeezing the god’s hand briefly. “And when that happens, you bring them here. We’ll throw them a proper welcome party.”
“With pancakes,” Timothy insisted.
“With pancakes,” Rudy agreed.
Horus’s smile turned genuine. “Thank you. For treating me like... like just another person.”
“You are just another person.” Rudy shrugged. “An annoying, dramatic person who wears too much gold and can’t make a sandwich without supervision, but still a person.”
“I am the…”
“King of Egypt, we know.” Sobek shook his head. “Let it go, Horus.”
But Horus was laughing, and through the bond, Rudy felt Sobek’s gratitude and love so strongly it nearly overwhelmed him.
Thank you, Sobek sent. For accepting him and for seeing past the arrogance.
He’s lonely. Rudy sent back warmth and understanding. And he’s your family. That makes him our family.
Sobek’s hand found his under the table, squeezing gently.
After lunch, Horus conjured small golden trinkets for each child - a wolf figurine for Jack, a miniature crocodile for Timothy, and a matching bracelet for Rose to go with her tiara. Then he stood in the living room, straightening his tracksuit.
“I should go,” he announced. “I have kingly duties.”
“Sure you do.” Rudy walked him to the door. “Thanks for dropping by. Next time, maybe knock first?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” But Horus’s smirk was playful now, not condescending.
He paused on the threshold, looking back at Sobek. “I’m happy for you. Truly.”
“I know.” Sobek moved to stand beside Rudy. “And your mate is out there somewhere. You just have to go and look.”
“Maybe.” Horus shrugged. “But until then, I suppose I can tolerate visiting this chaos occasionally.”
“You’re always welcome,” Rudy said, and meant it.
Horus nodded once, then vanished in a shimmer of golden light.
Rose immediately ran to the window. “He’s gone.”
“He’ll be back,” Sobek predicted. “He pretends to hate this, but he doesn’t.”
“No, he doesn’t.” Rudy leaned into his mate’s embrace. “Your family is weird.”
“Says the man raising three shifter children.”
“Fair point.” Rudy laughed and tilted his head up for a kiss. “But at least our weird makes sense.”