Amon lifted his head. “Anubis.”
“I apologize for not making my entrance more timely, but I have already seen to your brothers and I cannot delay any longer.” He glanced at us and furrowed his brow. “Have you explained to her what must be done?”
“I have,” Amon answered. “But it is a hard thing to ask.”
Anubis waved his hand. “I will be here to assist her.”
“When it is complete she must be returned to the time and place she first met me.”
“Yes, yes. I will arrange it. Now come, Amon, it is time.”
Amon helped me to my feet, giving me a final hug as he slid the jeweled scarab into the pocket of my cargo pants. When he pulled back, he shook his head briefly, indicating it was a secret between us, then he took my hand, guiding me to the stone altar.
After giving me an unashamedly electrifying last kiss despite our audience, Amon stroked my cheek, obviously reluctant to let go. Finally, he lay down upon the altar. My breath stopped and my heart started racing. I just can’t do this.
Anubis waved his hands and four canopic jars appeared on a nearby dais. “Amon,” he asked authoritatively, “do you willingly cede the powers gifted to you by the great god Amun-Ra?”
“I do,” Amon answered.
I bit my lip and wrung my hands, expecting Anubis to now bring out the rusty tools and scoop out Amon’s organs. Instead, Anubis opened his hands and a ball of golden light lifted from Amon’s chest and shot toward the handsome god. Quickly, Anubis thrust the light away from him and it flew into an open jar. A lid materialized from the sand in the shape of the Sphinx’s head, then slammed onto the opening and sealed it with a beam of light.
This was done three more times. One lid became the head of a baboon. Another formed into the face of a jackal. The final light did not emerge from Amon’s body as a ball but as an ethereal winged creature. It was his golden falcon. The bird circled above us, gazing at me with a golden eye, the tips of his wings grazing my cheek as he flew past. He glided toward the row of canopic jars and then hovered over the last one. In a stream of light he flew into it, and the final lid—a falcon-headed one—sealed the jar shut.
“What about the Eye power?” I asked. “Will you take that, too?”
“The Eye of Horus will stay with him during his sojourn,” Anubis answered patiently. “Now”—he produced a beautiful jeweled knife out of thin air, its wickedly curved blade gleaming sharp and deadly— “the rest is up to you.”
He pressed the hateful weapon into my hand and I reluctantly took it, gripping it numbly in my fist. “I can’t,” I sobbed. “Please don’t make me do this.”
Anubis sighed. “This was a mistake. She does not have the fortitude to see beyond herself.”
“She will do it,” Amon replied. “She is stronger than you think.” Amon took the hand that didn’t hold the knife and pulled me closer. His skin no longer gleamed now that his powers had been taken. “Lily,” he began, “do not think about what will be lost. Think instead on what has been won.”
“Nothing’s been won,” I said, leaning over him. Fat tears dripped off my cheeks and onto his chest.
“We defeated Sebak. We kept Seth at bay. Is that not a triumph?”
“It doesn’t feel like one.”
“Then know that you have won my heart.” Gently, he brought my hand to his chest, spreading my fingers over it. He took the hand holding the knife and brought it next to my other hand, the tip of the blade touching the skin directly over his heart. When my shaking hands were in place, he reached up and ran his fingertips down my jaw. He smiled—a beautiful, heartbreaking sunshine smile. “I love you.”