Page 20 of Immortal Sun (Dark Olympus)

CHAPTER 20

CLEO

“Where wolf’s ears are, wolf’s teeth are near.” —Volsunga Saga, ch. 19

W hat do you do when you’re living with someone who thinks he’s an actual immortal and you’re seeing weird things? No wonder he was talking about vampires and everything else the other day; he’s clinically insane. So, I have one choice. Believe him and freak out or get to work and ignore his rumblings.

I ignore all the signs because to believe anything else means a nervous breakdown. I think I’m doing pretty good until my hands are shaking so hard I can barely unwrap an artifact. I quickly set it down and get on my phone to Prime in some rosemary and sage, and a shit ton, enough to cleanse the house ten times.

The things Cyrus even said about Jake were weird as if he has him in a dungeon somewhere. I was too weirded out and petrified to ask if he knew exactly where he went. Maybe I am going crazy though. Mom used to say weird things before the end, but that’s what happens when you stare out the window during storms as if you wish you could be electrocuted. I miss her. I miss her so much, but in the end, sometimes I wonder if it was better that she had to pass that way, because she seemed more and more miserable. Petrified some days, happy the next.

Is the same thing happening to me?

I focus my thoughts on all I have. Research. Jake. Breathing.

I can at least look through Jake’s work.

History, after all, never lets you down. Books are truth: black ink, white paper, artifacts show us things from years of being buried we would never have known had we not searched. For a while, they center you in a reality even if it’s part fantasy; someone still created it, birthed it.

I pull in a long breath. I open up The Book of the Dead and read through the names.

Just focus on death and not the gorgeous man upstairs who says he’s going to be the one to bring it, sounds super easy. Yup, don’t focus on the gorgeous man upstairs who’s having a mid-life crisis and thinks he’s the God of the Sun, or his best friend who old ladies follow down the street, or, you know, the grumpy contractor who saved your life, or even the weirdly beautiful man who seems to hate Cyrus with every fiber of his being only to come over for dinner like he has no choice.

I forgot about the store. Crap, where did I even put the bag of clothes? The necklace? I touch my neck and nearly pass out. The necklace is on me. I don’t remember putting it there. Does that mean my clothes are in my room? Closet? Put away? Did I sleepwalk?

I want to scream. Instead, I slam the book shut, only to open it again out of frustration and stupid curiosity.

What is wrong with this house? With the sanity of the people who live in it? I suck in another breath then deep dive back into the book and let myself get lost in it. I’m used to focusing on my work and ignoring the world. I did it in New York, I can do it now. In theory this was a good idea, do this instead of bartend, wait for Jake, get paid, but now, it feels like I’m losing my sanity.

I absentmindedly turn the page.

My breath catches.

It’s a picture of a massive man with golden armor. His sword is red, and it’s shoved into Mount Olympus. The man next to him has black armor and isn’t as tall. His sword is dripping with blood, but the weird part is both of them are tied together by a golden thread.

It wraps around each of their wrists.

The caption read. “The battle of Ra and Apep.”

Apep was never defeated, though, so it makes no sense that they’d still be tied together. I frown and stare harder at the picture then turn the page.

Anubis is standing next to Horus, Apollo looks on hanging his head and holding out his hand to Osiris. “The first marriage between the gods, the beginning of peace or the start of war?”

Parts of the pages are so faded in the next chapter that it’s nearly impossible to read.

I shake my head and close the book. There’s a laptop at my workstation. I start looking up ancient sacrificial ruins for the Egyptians and then type in The Book of the Dead. Is this what Jake was truly digging into?

All sorts of spells were “granted” to people who passed into the afterlife, from eternal beauty to grandchildren that would carry on their names. How sad, to die and have one final wish, and believe it. I wonder if it gave them peace or if they doubted in the last moment. Interesting, so interesting.

“That looks miserable,” says a male voice.

I jump a foot.

Enki is leaning over me with an apple dangerously close to the laptop.

“Do you mind?”

He frowns. “I mind a lot of things.” He holds out the apple. “Care for a tiny little bite?”

“What is with you and apples?” I grumble.

“Oh, this?” He grins. “Was actually a coincidence, but funny as hell. Cyrus was in a mood and got mad when I told him I was hungry and offered to bake cookies. So temperamental. Anyway, I grabbed an apple and ran down the stairs then locked him outside. He’s currently stewing by the large ugly tree talking to the squirrel. Oh and Apep stopped by with some food, wanted to see you but Cyrus said ‘no’. There was cursing, I think your brother was mentioned. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, he’s talking to Rat.”

That was a lot of information, but I go with, “He’s really talking to the squirrel?”

He takes another large bite, juices leak from the apple, he licks the outside of it with his tongue and shoots me a flirty wink. “Rat loves gossip.”

I roll my eyes. “You guys are all…I don’t even know.”

“Insanely attractive?” He gives me a slight bow, holding his apple out. “Why, thank you.”

“Did you need anything?” I change the subject. “I’m researching, and you seem like the sort of guy who would sneeze on the laptop, break it, and apologize for it later.

He looms over me again, this time holding the apple behind his back, and makes a face at a drawing of a god standing at the base of Mount Olympus. “Terrible picture. You know, I didn’t even have time to wipe the blood off my face, and boom, there you have it, someone’s painting us post battle like we have time to stand there posing like idiots.”

My stomach drops to the floor. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

He jerks his head toward the picture like it’s just a normal day. “The picture.”

“That’s not you.” I’m going to strangle him—actually no, I’m going to fight anyone that mentions gods and myths.

“Oh, weird.” He shrugs. “Huge resemblance, if you ask me, and I do remember fighting a large war and nearly dying. But my mistake.”

“Right, and I’m Aphrodite.” The joke falls flat to my own ears.

He gasps, making me jump a foot. “My long-lost bride! You’ve arrived!”

I lean in. “Are you drunk?”

He snorts. “I wish. Anyway, I came to bring you something from town, kind of like a ‘yay you made it and haven’t gotten kidnapped yet’ gift, you know after the whole gas leak and having to live here with a monster. ”

My patience is truly running thin. “I’m not going to get kidnapped.”

I leave out the part where I nearly died last night and needed to be saved by two people who I would have thought preferred me dead anyway.

He hesitates, his eyes narrow. “Interesting.”

“What?”

“Your lack of memory,” he whispers. “Anyway, hold out your hand, and before you shriek and ask if it’s a spider or snake or any sort of reptile including a turtle or a salamander, wait they’re amphibians…eh, never mind—it’s none of those things. It truly is a gift.”

I don’t know why I’m nervous at his blank expression, but I hold out my hand palm up.

Slowly, his beautiful fingers drop something into my hand. I gasp. “The Eye of Horus?”

“A gift from the gods.” He grabs it and puts the black and red bracelet around my wrist. “He doesn’t often give out such gifts, it’s said it will protect you from?—”

“—Evil,” I finish for him. I flip the rock, the opposite of Ra, in my hand. To anyone it would look like a small simple blue rock with an eye on it, to me, it actually means something. It’s the antithesis to The Eye of Ra. Or at least it feels that way. Horus was the left eye, Ra was the right. “It offers protection.”

He folds his hands in front of him and winks. “I may have added a bit of Zeus’s lightning, Apollo’s sword—don’t tell him, and Mars, well he’s always pissed, so it’s easy to steal a tiny bit of juice. I did, to be fair, cook this up for you, so don’t ingest it, but you can at least accept it.”

“Why?” I ask. “Why would you give me this?”

He sobers. “Everyone needs a shield every once in a while and it pains me,” He chokes and looks down at the ground. “I failed you know.”

“Failed what?”

He sighs. “My purpose, my mission, some might say, the only path I was supposed to walk on became so dark that only humanity lightened it for me, so I failed—on purpose, but with that failure I came to realize that the reason humans are so lost is because nobody is holding out a light, we all need the light, but we need the shield when it gets dark. You’ll see the light, Cleo, you’ll see it often and what it reveals is absolutely terrifying, best you have a shield of protection, The Eye of Horus, so that when things become dark, you can still truly see.”

“That was cryptic.” I’m shaking, the rock feels heavier and heavier in my hand. I almost set it down.

“Let it.” He whispers. “Let it take the baggage. The Eye of Horus sees all, knows all, protects all, and it keeps all, let the collector collect, Cleo.”

Tears well in the back of my eyes, I don’t know why but I suddenly feel lighter. “Thank you, Enki, truly. It’s been a rough night and day.”

“It’s been a rough century.” He winks. “And don’t worry about it, someone has to have your back.” He sighs. “And now it’s my job to let you know that you need to take a break, close the laptop and go upstairs so that Cyrus doesn’t burn the house down with flames from his fingertips.”

Flames? What does Enki know? And why is he suddenly talking about Egyptian gods too? “Why would he do that?”

He leans in and crooks his finger. “Whenever he’s hungry, which is always, he cooks. Plus, he’ll probably want an opinion on what you think would be good for first exhibit during the festival for the eclipse.”

I nod. “Yeah, because the guy who claims to be a god really cares for all of that before he kills me.”

Enki freezes, his eyes avert to the ground, it’s the first time I’ve seen him semi-uncomfortable. “Yeah well, when you’re stuck here you see yourself in the gods the way tourists see themselves in the mountains. You wish for greatness when you lack it.” He completely glazes over the whole Cyrus wants to kill me comment.

“Are you saying Cyrus lacks greatness.” I ask, my voice shaking.

“Don’t we all?” He shrugs, mischievous smile back in full force. “Let’s go.”

I don’t have time to say anything; he’s already grabbing my arm. I hurriedly shut down the laptop then let him pull me out of the room. By the time we’re upstairs, Cyrus is pacing in the kitchen and talking on the phone.

I can’t make out what he’s attempting to say over the snarls and growls emitting from his mouth before he slams the phone onto the counter and looks over at us.

His eyes immediately lock onto my second bracelet and narrow.

“It’s been a pleasure.” Enki salutes me and then gives Cyrus the middle finger before running toward the front door.

“Use the amulet!” Enki laughs, and then he’s gone.

I look down at the rock in my hand. “Yeah, because that’s going to work.”

Cyrus snorts. “You took a gift from him?”

“It’s not food!” I point out, irritated with him yet again. “And it’s pretty.”

“You’re an idiot.” Cyrus sighs. “I have a meeting tonight. Have you finished looking over more of the artifacts? Done a deep dive into mythical unicorns and fairies, had a nice little search on the internet for fun? ”

“Unicorns exist?” I mock gasp and cover my face with my hands then drop them. “No, I was told by Enki to come upstairs because you were grumpy and needed food.”

“I ate. But you need to eat too.” He suddenly looks concerned and angry at the same time. “Everything is labeled in the fridge, and the housekeeper will be here tonight.” He looks back down at the amulet. “Don’t lose it.”

“Wait, first you’re pissed I have it, and now I have to keep it?”

“Your fingers will quite literally fall off if you try to get rid of it.” He shrugs. “But sure, try it.”

“What is wrong with you guys and bracelets, anklets, rocks? At this rate I’m just going to hole up in my room and start rocking back and forth. It’s exhausting.” I hold up my hand. “This is a rock.”

“Of course it is, I’m not an idiot.”

“And this is just a bracelet.” I touch the sun and little zaps of electricity hit my fingers before I yelp and pull them back.

Cyrus just stares at me and crosses his arms. “I wouldn’t test fate. You have a shield, you have protection as if it will help, but feel free to use The Eye of Horus if something goes bump in the night.”

“Yes. I’ll just Wonder Woman my way out of a pinch by throwing a rock at something. How have I never thought of that my entire life? And you said if I read the books and planned the exhibit for the eclipse festival, since I can’t exactly work at the closed bar right now, you’d help me find Jake.”

“I just got off the phone with Daggon regarding Jake, thank you for pointing that out. He lost track of him. Apep’s hit a dead end too. If you’re curious what happened, ask the squirrel.”

“Be honest, are you on medication?”

“Be honest, are you terrified?” He counters, and then he’s just gone, and I’m left thinking that I’m going to set fire to the entire house. Maybe I should have lit a match at the bar afterall.

Knowing him, it’s probably fireproof, maybe that’s why he wasn’t too concerned when I smelled the leak.

But, knowing myself, I’d probably jump off a cliff before ever hurting anything historical and important.

My brother gave me my first history book; he was adamant that we find out about our family history.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom so angry as when he told her he wanted to know where our dad came from and that he was doing some research.

The rain started that night, a massive storm that wouldn’t quit. She seemed…defeated in a way, and neither of us could figure out why. She was never really the same after, her smiles were more forced, and whenever there was a storm, she’d walk outside and stand in the rain for hours. She never got sick, but she’d walk back in the house and pour herself a shot of whiskey. Storms always affected me and Jake, but they affected her in a way that was different. I could never tell if she loved them or hated them, needed them or resented them.

One day after the storm, I’d asked her what was so evil about being curious. It was the only time I ever truly saw a flash of anger in her eyes. I was sent to my room for an hour for even asking. I prayed to the stars that one day I’d meet my dad and he’d help me. That was the first time I’d seen a shooting star fall. I had touched the charm on my bracelet, as if it had magical conjuring powers, and from there on out, I prayed while touching the charm, until I no longer believed in magic.

“It’s just a storm.” Jake grabbed my hand and then pulled me into the tiny tent I kept in my room next to my stuffed bears and the hidden fruit snacks in the treasure box. “Storms don’t hurt you. People do.”

I crawled into his lap. “But they’re loud.”

He laughed. “So are we.”

We were ten.

It was perfect.

He grabbed a flashlight, and I’ll never forget his next words. “Let me tell you about the gods.”

He talked about Brahma first then moved on to Viracocha, he went through all of the gods I never even knew existed in ancient beliefs and texts

I sighed into my brother’s chest. “I wish it was real.”

He slumped back against the pillow and took me with him as we looked up at the top of the pink tent. “I do too.”

“Maybe we can travel the world someday, unlock all the secrets it holds.”

“Maybe,” he whispered, “I’ll take you on a long trip, wanna bet I can do it?”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not even a bet!”

“I’ll make lots of money and get us plane tickets.”

I smiled. “Then I’ll pay for food.”

He held out his hand. “Deal?”

“Deal.” I laughed.

“Kids!” Mom yelled. “Dinner.”

“Y-you can have mine.” Jake said quickly. “I’m not even that hungry.”

His stomach growled so loud that even the thunder was probably terrified. Mine felt empty too; it always did. We were so poor I was surprised we weren’t living out of our car.

“No, it’s fine, I’m not that hungry either.” I smiled at my twin. Other than he was a boy and I, a girl, the only thing different between us is that I have one green eye and one blue and his were both blue. “We’ll share.”

He nodded and grabbed my hand.

We walked into the small kitchen and sat at the table.

Potatoes.

But at least we had gravy today.

There were only two.

I split mine in half and handed it to him.

Mom protested as she always did.

But we needed her to be strong and take care of us, so I handed her the last one and smiled.

I sit at the breakfast bar and try not to tremble as thunder rumbles in the distance.

“They sure have a lot of storms here,” I whisper to myself, shaking off the memories. It was a long time ago, but life has a way of never really fading from memory. I give a slight shiver when I hear footsteps.

“It’s normal.” The housekeeper I’ve barely seen comes waltzing in with tons of grocery bags. “The storms fill up the water, help the fish, they keep us safe. Storms aren’t what you should be worried about.” She’s really tall and looks about my age.

I haven’t had a lot of interactions with her, but I bite anyway. “And what should I be worried about?”

“Everything else,” she says cryptically. “Like literally everything else. Now are you going to help me unload or just sit there?”

She’s bossy.

I like it.

I wonder if she tortures Cyrus on a daily basis and kind of hope she gives him hell. Then I forget about him as I help her unpack the groceries until everything is put away.

I don’t realize I forgot the milk until we both reach for it. She stares at my right hand and freezes.

“Something wrong?” I ask.

“Where did you get that?” She points at the bracelet then takes a step backwards toward the modern fridge.

I frown. “My mom gave it to me.”

Her hands go up in front of her like a shield. “Oh, that’s lovely.”

“Yup. Apparently, it keeps me connected to my brother.” I hold up the rock. “And now I have protection from a real god, amazing right? Cyrus and Enki truly seem to believe in this stuff.”

“Ha-ha.” Her laughter fills the kitchen. “Cyrus is a bit different but a good boss.”

“Who thinks he’s a god.” I point out to gauge her reaction.

She shrugs. “Probably from all the research he does. You know men, they snap their fingers and something happens and they suddenly have a dick swinging contest, nothing to be worried about, right?”

“Right.” I nod, suddenly feeling better. “Thanks for that, I’ve been feeling like I’m losing it all day.”

“Ah, welcome to Deer Harbor, sweetheart.” She winks. “Now, why don’t I fix you something to eat?”

“That sounds great.” I grin.

She nods right back and goes to work, and for the first time in days, I feel like I can finally relax.