Chapter 13 #2
The question hung in the air, weighted with meaning I could not quite grasp. “What do you mean?”
“Thoth came to you," Ra said, rising as well. “Told you about the ledgers. About Jessica’s scheduled death in eight months.”
My stomach dropped. “How did you…?”
“We know everything that happens in our domains, Anubis. Did you think Thoth would keep such information from us?” Ra moved closer. “We know about the ledgers. We know about November 3rd. And we know you have been searching desperately for a way to prevent it.”
Jessica made a small choking sound. “What are they talking about? What ledgers?”
I closed my eyes. “Jessica.” No. This would not be how she found out. She’ll hate me.
“What’s happening in November?" Her voice was rising. “Anubis, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Thoth came to me when I was at work. He brought the message that you’re scheduled to die,” I whispered, my words echoing in the pyramid. “It’s supposed to happen on November 3rd in a car accident on Interstate 95. It’s written in the cosmic ledgers, unavoidable according to the Fates.”
The color drained from her face. “I’m going to die in eight months?”
“No,” I spat the word out with vehemence. “No, you are not. I will not allow it.”
“You don’t get to ‘allow’ or ‘not allow’ death, Anubis. You of all people should know that.”
“I am the god of death. If anyone can circumvent the Fates, it is me.”
“The Fates cannot be circumvented,” Ra said. “Their decrees are absolute. We learned that millennia ago.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I turned to face them, feeling desperation claw at my chest. “Accept it? I cannot. Watch her die knowing I could do nothing? I refuse. There must be another way.”
“There is,” Osiris said, his voice low and pointed. “That is why we summoned you here, my son. When you came to me and told me your plan to bargain with the Fates, I could not let you. Something in the ancient consciousness teased my brain. That is what I needed time to research.”
Hope flared in my chest, dangerous and desperate. "Tell me."
Ra and Osiris exchanged a look, some wordless communication passing between them. Then Osiris spoke.
“There is a ritual. It is ancient, forbidden, and known only to the oldest gods. It can transform a mortal into something... more. Not quite divine, but not mortal either. They become eternal, unchanging, immune to death and fate.”
My heart stopped. “Immortality.”
“Of a sort, yes.”
“You can make her immortal?” I stared at them. “Why did you not tell me this the moment you knew?”
“Because it is not without cost,” Ra said. “And not without risk. The ritual requires specific conditions and specific actions. And most importantly - it requires her willing consent. She must choose this, Anubis. You cannot force her choice. Free will.”
I turned to Jessica, who was standing still as a statue, listening to the conversation. “You could live. Forever, with me.”
“Forever,” she repeated faintly. “I would be immortal. Like you.”
“Yes.”
“What’s the cost?” she asked, looking at Ra and Osiris. “You said there was a cost. What is it?”
Osiris answered. “The ritual must be performed in a specific location. There is a chamber deep within this pyramid, hidden even from mortal archaeologists. You must enter that chamber together, and there…” he paused.
“The transformation requires the joining of mortal and divine essence. It requires you to make love while surrounded by the sacred symbols of eternity, to mingle your life force with Anubis’s divine power in the presence of ancient magic. ”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “You’re saying we have to have sex in a pyramid to make me immortal?”
“Essentially, yes,” Ra said. “The physical union creates a conduit for divine essence to flow from Anubis into you. The sacred chamber amplifies that flow, guides it, and transforms it into something permanent. By the time you emerge, you will be fundamentally changed. No longer mortal, no longer bound by fate or death.”
“But you must choose this freely,” Osiris emphasized. “Without coercion, without pressure. If you enter that chamber unwillingly, the ritual will fail. Possibly catastrophically.”
Jessica looked at me, and I saw a thousand emotions flickering across her face. She rolled through a cycle of fear, hope, confusion, and desire.
“Can we talk about this?” she asked. “Privately?”
“Of course.” I turned to Ra and Osiris. “Give us a moment.”
They inclined their heads and faded into shadow, granting us privacy while remaining close enough to answer if called.
Jessica gripped my hands, her palms sweaty. “Okay. Okay. So I’m supposed to die in eight months, but I can become immortal if we have magical pyramid sex?”
“That is an accurate, if crude, summary, yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me about my death thing because...?”
“Because I did not want you to live in fear. I wanted to find a solution before you ever knew there was a problem.”
She considered my answer for a long moment. “I appreciate that. I think. But also, we’re supposed to be partners. You can’t make decisions about my death without me or my input.”
“You are right. I apologize.”
“Okay.” She took a breath. “So. Immortality. That’s... that’s a big decision.”
“It is.”
“Walk me through it. What does it mean? I’d live forever?”
“Forever, or until the universe itself ends. Whichever comes first.”
“And I wouldn't age?”
“No. You would remain as you are now. You would be forty-five, healthy, unchanged.”
“What about Sophie? My friends? Everyone I know will still age and die.”
The question hit me like a physical blow. I had not considered her daughter. I had focused on saving her, not thinking about what she would lose.
“Yes,” I murmured. “They would. You would watch them grow old, pass away. You would experience the same loneliness I described to you on the felucca.”
“But I’d have you.”
“You would have me. Always.”
She looked around the chamber, at the hieroglyphs covering the walls, the eternal torches, the weight of ages pressing down. “I don’t know what to say. This is insane.”
“Completely.”
“I came to Egypt to have a midlife crisis and maybe find myself. Now I’m being offered immortality by the sun god himself.”
“Life is unpredictable.”
“That’s an understatement.” She met my eyes. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to choose whatever will make you happy. If that is immortality with me, I will treasure every moment of eternity we have together. If it is living out your mortal span and facing November 3rd as fate intended…” my voice broke.
“Then I will hold you for every moment you have left and guide your soul personally when the time comes.”
“You’d really let me choose death? Even knowing you could prevent it?”
“I love you too much to force you into eternal existence if that is not what you want. This must be your choice, Jessica. Freely made.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I’m scared.”
“I know.”
“What if I choose immortality and regret it? What if I can’t handle watching everyone I love die?”
“Then I will be there to help you carry that grief. I will be with you every step of the way.”
“What if I choose mortality and die in eight months and you’re alone again?”
“Then I will carry you in my heart for the rest of my existence. And I will know that for however brief a time, I had the privilege of loving you.”
She sobbed, and I pulled her into my arms, holding her while she shook.
“I don't want to die,” she whispered against my chest. “I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want Sophie to lose her mother.
But immortality… Anubis, that’s forever.
That’s watching my daughter grow old and die.
Watching her children grow old and die. Being the only constant in a world that keeps changing around me. ”
“I know. It is a terrible burden.”
“But I’d have you.”
“You would have me.”
She pulled back, wiping her eyes. “Can I ask them questions? Ra and Osiris?”
“Of course.”
I called them back, and they materialized from the shadows.
“You have questions?” Osiris asked, his voice gentle.
“How does it work?” Jessica asked. “The ritual. What happens?”
“You enter the sacred chamber together,” Ra explained.
“Ancient inscriptions cover the walls with the oldest magic - spells of eternity, transformation, rebirth. As you join physically, the magic activates. Anubis’s divine essence flows into you, guided and amplified by the sacred space.
Your mortal body absorbs that essence, transforms, and becomes something more.
By the time you reach climax, the transformation is complete. You emerge immortal.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No. If anything, it is intensely pleasurable. The magic enhances every sensation.”
“And there’s no going back? Once it’s done, I’m immortal forever?”
“There is no going back,” Osiris confirmed. “This is permanent, irreversible. Choose carefully.”
Jessica looked at me. “And you want this? Do you want me to be immortal? To spend eternity with you?”
“I want you to live,” I said. “However that looks. But yes. If you choose immortality, if you choose to spend eternity with me, I would consider myself the most fortunate being in all of existence.”
She was quiet for a long time, thinking. I did not push. This was her decision, her future, her life - or eternal existence - to determine.
Finally, she spoke. “I have one condition.”
“Name it,” Ra said.
“I want to call Sophie first to tell her I love her. I won’t tell her what we’re doing, but I need to hear her voice before we do this.”
“Of course.”
“And after…if I do this, if I become immortal…we figure out a way for me to still be part of her life. I don’t care if I have to pretend to age slowly or fake my death and come back as my own distant relative. I’m not abandoning my daughter.”
“We will find a way,” I promised.
“Okay.” She took a shaky breath. “Okay. Then yes. I choose immortality. I choose you, Anubis. I choose forever with you.”
Relief and joy and terror flooded through me in equal measure. “Are you certain?”
“No. I’m terrified; I’d be a fool if I wasn’t.
But I’m also sure that I don’t want to die in eight months.
I don’t want to leave you. And if the universe is offering me a loophole, I’m going to take it.
” She managed a watery smile. “Besides, someone needs to keep you from judging modern coffee culture for the next few millennia.”
I kissed her, pouring everything I felt into it. When we broke apart, both breathing hard, I turned to Ra and Osiris.
“Contact your daughter now.”
Her hands shook as she texted Sophie.
Went to Egypt for a long weekend with Anubis. Don’t worry if I don’t respond right away.
Mom? Is everything okay?
Yeah. Better than fine actually.
You don’t do spur of the moment things.
Maybe it’s a new me. New beginnings and all.
What’s that supposed to mean?
Nothing. I wanted to let you know that I’m happy and safe and I love you. I’ll text and call you soon.
Promise?
Pinky promise.
I love you, Mom.
Love you too.
Jessica handed me her phone. “She has chosen. Show us the chamber.”
Ra smiled. “Follow us.”
They led us deeper into the pyramid, down passages that twisted and turned in ways that defied comprehension. The air grew thick with power, with magic older than human civilization. Finally, we stopped before a door covered in hieroglyphs that seemed to writhe and shift.
“Beyond this door lies the Chamber of Eternity,” Osiris said. “You must enter together. The ritual will complete itself. The magic knows what to do. When you emerge, Jessica will be immortal.”
“Thank you,” I said, bowing. “Both of you.”
“Thank you,” Jessica said, mimicking my bow.
“Thank us by treating each other well,” Ra said. “Eternity is a long time to spend with someone. Choose wisely how you fill it.”
“I will.”
They faded, leaving us alone before the door.
Jessica stared at it, and I felt her hand trembling in mine.
“Last chance to change your mind,” I whispered.
“I’m not changing my mind.” She looked up at me. “I love you, Anubis. Let’s go become eternal together.”
I opened the door, and we stepped into forever.