Caress The Dark God [Scions of the Ankh 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Toni L. Meilleur Page B

this out. There is nothing that stumps you for long.” She walked to another book, peering at it with little interest.
    “It would help if Anubis—” As soon as Thoth began speaking, Hathor’s head snapped up.
    “No! For the first time in his life Anubis has a chance at happiness.”
    “I know that, love, but this is very important.”
    Hathor came over to her husband and caressed his cheek. “Think about it, Thoth. He is the only one of us who has never had a mate. For his entire life he has lived life alone with nothing but bedmates. I know this is important, but so is he. He has helped the humans enough in the past that he should be able to pass on this. You can handle this. We can handle this. And let us not forget, husband, we have other friends who can aid us. We must stop this dependency we have on Anubis to always do our dirty work.”
    “Anubis is a good man, but he is a Dark One. I suppose over time we have depended on him to do the work none of us had the stomach for. But you are right, we can do this.” Thoth sighed. “I know Apep is linked to this, but I don’t know how.”
    Hathor smiled as she brushed lightly past her husband, still browsing through the books with little more than passing interest. “As for Anubis, that is his nature, dear.” Hathor flipped through pages as she continued. “Just like it is in a woman’s nature to nurture.” She moved to the next book. “You will not bother him with this until he is ready, right, dear?” Hathor waited for an answer, and when she received none she looked up in curiosity.
    Thoth looked at her with a mixture of horror and understanding. “Are you all right, husband?” Worry clouded her voice, but Thoth rushed past her to stop at one book, which he flipped furiously through. “What is it?” Hathor rushed to his side. “You don’t think …”
    “It fits.” Thoth nearly whispered to himself, as the serpent symbol of Apep glared up from the faded pages.
    “But he’s been banished. Imprisoned in a realm just outside of Creation. He has no power here.”
    “I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” Thoth retrieved his laptop and went to the web page he and Anubis had been viewing days earlier. It had been right there in front of him and he hadn’t seen it. “This woman was a founding member of the cult, and she is dead as well.”
    “And?”
    “I remember reading the reports. Apparently she had given birth not too long before she had died. They never found the child.”
    “You’re going to have to explain this to me.” Hathor sat down in a nearby chair. “You believe Apep has something to do with the killings, yet you also believe he is still imprisoned. What has this woman to do with anything?”
    “I suspected during the time that the veils between worlds thinned, something managed to either get in or out of Earth’s realm. I believe Apep managed to father a child with a human woman, probably given to him as a gift during the time the veils between realms thinned.”
    Hathor looked shocked. “He would only need a very small window of opportunity to send his essence through. A young, fertile human woman could easily become a host. The babe could grow at an exponential rate! Oh, Thoth, this is terrible!”
    “What Anubis and Tessa ran into the yesterday was indeed a hybrid. Anubis said it fed off humans by using their souls as energy.”
    “But what would be the point, husband? Apep was not exactly a man dedicated to family. Why would he choose to procreate? That is not in his nature.”
    “No, it is not in his nature. But it is in the nature of everything living to survive.” He looked at his wife apologetically. “He is probably using this thing as a gateway, a conduit to somehow break through. I am sorry, wife, but I must have Anubis’s help on this. He is one of the very few powerful ones, as is Ralabos. It will take all of our strength combined to stop this thing. There is no telling what he can do, or even what Apep’s