as he studied my form. My cheeks burned. With a twitch of his fingers, tiny particles of sand and dust sped toward him and twirled in a path around his hand. They coalesced and brightened, twisting faster until I could no longer distinguish them.
Anubis directed the swirling mass toward me, where the gleaming substance surrounded my limbs. Nervously, I darted from the bed just as the light burst. It melted down my body, becoming a flowing gown of green the exact same shade as Amon’s heart scarab. Golden scales that looked like the scarab wings were attached to the dress at the top, forming a sort of jeweled collar that softly wound over my shoulders, my back, and underneath my arms like a shoulder harness.
The segments lengthened and continued down the sides of the gown where they crossed my abdomen like a winged corset of glistening armor. A gleaming emerald scarab sat at the center of my waist where the wings met. The bottom of the dress flowed out in delicate gossamer and ended at my ankles. On my feet were golden sandals that sparkled like the hooves of the desert horses who were descendants of Nebu, the famous immortal stallion.
“It’s beautiful,” I admitted.
“Yes. It should serve adequately for the present.” He watched me inspect the armor and added, “I used the scarab you hid beneath your pillow to create it.”
Startled, I raised my eyes to his. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew. I am a god, after all. The fact that his scarab went missing when I mummified Amon was not lost on me.” Stepping forward, he stretched out a finger to the emerald but stopped just short of touching it. “The gemstone is nothing, a trinket. It is the power Amon instilled within it that is important. A piece of him resides there. Only you have the ability to draw it out and return him wholly to himself.”
“Is it normal that I can feel his heartbeat when I touch it?” I asked without making eye contact.
He didn’t respond for a few seconds, and I reluctantly drew my eyes to his. Anubis was looking at me with a sort of puzzled expression. His eyes slowly traced a path from my face down to the jewel at my waist.
“It means your connection is stronger than we all thought. Even Isis couldn’t feel her husband’s heart upon his death. It shouldn’t be possible for a mortal at all and yet…” His words trailed off as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. “Yes. I sense it. Though it is faint for me. If I wasn’t aware of it, I doubt I would have discovered it on my own.”
When Anubis opened his eyes, he took a step forward and reached out a hand to trail his fingertips down my bare arm. I stopped breathing, confused about what was happening. Anubis murmured in a honey-rich voice, “The yearning you feel for one another is”—he paused and tilted his head—“it’s heady, addictive. A potent enough elixir to tempt even a god.”
His warm gaze locked on to my lips and he lowered his head as if to kiss me. I shifted minutely since his hand cupped my arm in a powerful enough grip to prevent me from doing much of anything, and he froze, apparently shocked by his own actions. The intensity in his expression, the emotion behind his eyes was quickly reeled in.
Before I could ask him what he was doing, he moved several feet away and said, “It will certainly be an enticement for every dangerous immortal being in the netherworld.”
“So you’re saying the scarab will make immortals want to…” I couldn’t complete the sentence.
Anubis replied frankly, “They will want to devour you. In one way or another.”
I touched my fingertips to the scarab. “That’s fantastic,” I murmured wryly as I pondered the ramifications of my connection to Amon.
“The potency of the spell creates an aura about you. All of those you come into contact with will be affected by it in varying degrees. The pull becomes more powerful the longer a person is exposed. The stronger the immortal is, the more he will be able to resist its lure, but those of a weak mind will scarcely be able to control themselves. They’ll be bewitched. Becoming a sphinx will at least afford you the ability to protect yourself more fully.”
Not knowing how to process all of that, I focused instead on the sphinx thing. “Right. About that—”