Re's gaze hardened as he stood, and Trevor started to growl; low in his throat.
“Let it go,” I said sternly to them both.
They gaped at me.
“But, Minn Elska,” Trevor whispered.
“No!” I said. “And throw those fucking flowers out the window.”
Trevor looked at Re, and Re nodded. Trevor retrieved the bouquet from where it had been discarded on the carpet and went to the balcony once again.
“La-la,” Re said gently.
I turned a hard stare on him.
“Please don't look at me like that,” Re begged as he drew closer. “If you want to keep your secret, I won't press you to tell me, but if I can ease your pain in any way, I'd like to. Even if I need to hurt my grandson to do it. Does Anubis deserve my fury?”
“No,” I whispered and closed my eyes. I breathed deeply again and pushed away the past. “No; leave him be.”
“As you wish,” Re said softly. “But know that I would do anything for you, and if someone hurts you, I will kill them; no matter who they are.”
“Thank you, Re.” I turned into his embrace, and he held me tightly. “But I can do my own killing.”
Re looked down at me in surprise.
Chapter Forty-Four
Re left me with Trevor, who would be walking me down the aisle. Believe me; I know how screwed up that sounds, but it felt perfect. Re had decorated his ballroom with enormous arrangements of white flowers and swaths of white silk. The color seemed even brighter against the vivid murals adorning the ballroom and it made the room feel pure; the perfect backdrop for a new beginning.
Trevor escorted me down a white carpet runner; between rows of Egyptian Gods who were Re's family. They smiled at me, but I could tell that they were confused. No one could understand why Re was suddenly getting married, and there was more than one pair of eyes that stared at me suspiciously above smiling lips. I didn't blame them; I'd be just as suspicious. But I couldn't allow them to ruin this moment for me.
So, I kept my eyes on Re, and when Trevor offered Re my hand and then kissed my cheek, I felt the rightness of the moment. This was meant to happen, and it was meant to happen now. Whatever may have been going on with my life trying to correct the changes that had been made to it, I knew that Re and I were right on schedule.
That certainty made everything better. I stared at Re in perfect bliss as he recited his vows to me. I was so lost in him that I had to be nudged after I failed to respond to the prompt for my own vows. Re smiled knowingly at me as I stumbled over the words, but when it came time to seal our union with a kiss, his expression transformed into one of pure adoration. Our lips met with what felt like destiny, and I reveled in this triumph. We had won; it may have been a small victory, but it was a vital one. Re and I had found each other and united our lives right when we were supposed to.
The Gods cheered, and it felt as if they were celebrating our triumph with us. I eased out of our kiss and stared at Re contentedly. Then he took my hand to escort me down the aisle and into our life as a married couple.
Music began to play and the furniture was moved about as tables were brought into the ballroom and a feast was laid out. But Re wasn't ready to sit down. He swept up my train, draped it over my arm, and then guided me around the room in our first dance. The Egyptian Gods loved this; they applauded as they watched their patriarch dance with his new bride. Then several couples joined us, and the celebration took off.
We feasted and then cut the cake together, but the garter and bouquet tosses were bypassed; one had already been thrown and the other didn't exist. Still, Duat wine was flowing, and no one seemed to notice the absence of the human traditions. I met and danced with several of Re's family members, and I was even able to dance with Trevor a few times. It was lovely... until Anubis sought me out.
“Is that how you seduced my grandfather?” Anubis growled as he grabbed my arm and swept me out of the ballroom.
Re and Trevor were both distracted by our guests and didn't notice me leaving; Anubis had timed his abduction well. I could have screamed, but I didn't want to make a scene, and I also wanted to believe that Anubis was a good man beneath all of his bluster.
“What do you mean?” I asked as he shoved me into a side room.
“That vision you gave me,” Anubis growled. “You had me going at first, but then I realized that it had to be a trick. And if you could do it to me, then you could do it to the Sun God himself.”
“I didn't do anything to you, Anubis,” I said softly. “I was just as affected by the memory as you were.”
“Memory,” he huffed. “Don't try to sell me your stupid story about this being an altered timeline.”
Ask him how you could have possibly known what his palace looks like, Alaric prompted. You couldn't give him a vision of something you've never seen.
Good point.
“You saw us together in your palace, right?” I asked him.
Anubis narrowed his eyes and nodded.
“I've never been to Aaru, Anubis,” I said reasonably. “You'd know if I had.”
Anubis blinked as he processed this. “You could have come in through Duat. You could have... ”
I just stared at him and waited for him to
