Set by Alessa Thorn

18

Ayla woke in Set's bed, her head buzzing and her stomach grumbling. She couldn't remember arriving back in Naqada or Set carrying her inside.

Ayla frowned at one of Set's clean shirts she was wearing, wondering how she could sleep through him changing her out of her filthy clothes. Her stomach gurgled again, so she climbed out of the comfortable nest of soft red linen and let her hunger guide her.

Set was in the kitchen, stirring something that smelled amazing. He didn't look remotely tired or tousled even though he had followed up their night with the four-hour drive back to Naqada.

"I kind of hate you," Ayla said.

"Is that so? What did I do now?" he asked, throwing her a charming smile.

"How come you are not as wrecked as I feel? It's completely unfair."

Set pressed a cup of tea into her hands. "Gods bounce back quickly. Go and shower. You'll feel better." He pressed a kiss on top of her head and pushed her towards her bedroom. "Dinner won't be long."

Ayla drank her tea in the shower and was almost human again by the time she got out. She was glad she had promised Set she would do nothing but read and relax if he helped Kharga because she wasn't going to be good for much else.

"Better?" Set asked when she sat at the table opposite him. He put down a plate of grilled lamb, salad, and couscous in front of her.

"You really are my knight in shining armor," she said, picking up her fork.

Set laughed. "I'm no knight, and you know it. I just know it's safer for everyone if you're full."

"You are both wise and handsome," Ayla replied before she started shoveling food into her mouth. Set sat opposite her, watching her carefully. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I haven't heard from Kader, and I don't know if it's a good thing or not. If he found out that I took you to Kharga, that you watched me work, he would send half of Cairo after me."

"Like he has a say in the matter. He lost his right to be an overprotective father when he decided to walk out on my mother and me," Ayla replied, anger flaring. "I don't regret going to Kharga and witnessing what you can do. It's not all about the lives you took, but the ones you saved too."

"We saved, Ayla," Set corrected.

"It doesn't matter what Kader thinks or does. Not when it comes to us and my feelings toward you," Ayla reiterated. Set's eyes widened, and she wanted to hide under the table.

"You know Kader will fix this hit out on you, and you will get your old life back," he said.

Her old life. Ayla didn't know how she felt about that. She couldn't go back and pretend none of it had ever happened; like meeting Set hadn't pulled her into a world that she had never imagined. Something had changed inside of her, and there was no going back.

"Until he does, I'm not going to think about what that means," Ayla replied, not looking up from her plate of half-eaten food.

"I found some more books in the library that you might be interested in," Set said, smoothly changing the subject.

"Oh? I don't think anything can top Hippokrates."

Set gave her a sly smile. "Not even Asclepius's notes on resurrection?"

Ayla dropped her fork. "You're teasing me."

"I'm not. I stole them from Apollo right after he died. I didn't want that kind of secret to be set loose in the world. Considering how the rest of the Olympians ended up going, I'm glad I did," Set replied.

"And you're willing to show me something so dangerous?" Ayla could think of ten big pharma companies off the top of her head that would murder for that kind of information.

"I know that you won't use it for evil. I trust you."

Ayla sat back in her chair. "You keep finding things like that, and I might never leave."

Set gave her a sphinx smile. "Is that a promise?"

"A threat more like."

"In that case, I'll have to see what else I have in the library to tempt you."

True to the plan and promise, after dinner, Ayla curled up on the lounge chair with the pile of bound notes in a leather folio. Set's smile went wide when she realized he hadn't been joking about having Asclepius's notes and almost fainted.

"I can't touch this," Ayla stammered. "I need gloves or something."

"Your hands are clean, so the pages will live. I always wondered why I found the need to steal them. Originally, it was going to be a gift for Anubis, but I haven't seen him in centuries. Now, I realize they must have been for you all along."

Heat rushed to Ayla's cheeks. "How about I read them, and you can still keep them for Anubis?"

Set kissed her hand. "If you insist."

Like Hippokrates's notes before it, Ayla fumbled her way slowly through the writing, and Set helped out with translations along the way. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking behind his golden eyes as he gently stroked her hair.

I could get used to this, Ayla thought for the hundredth time. Maybe it was why she didn't like whenever Set mentioned going back to her old life. She hadn't been unhappy before, but not having Set close by made her feel cold and empty. It was like he was the piece of warmth and contentment her life had always been missing.

My Ayla, he had said to her in his deep god voice. Did he mean it? Could this thing growing between them be something permanent instead of a stolen moment in time?

Ayla's heart thrummed hard, her hand still on the page as longing rushed through her. She turned to him, placed her hand on his chest, and looked into his endless golden eyes.

Come on, courage, don't fail me now.

"Set, do you think that maybe we—" she began when his phone started buzzing angrily. Ayla put her head against his chest and groaned in frustration. "Do you think we can toss that damn thing into the Nile?"

"As soon as the threat to your life is over, I'll happily let you," Set replied, pulling it out and answering with a sharp, "What do you want now, Abasi?"

"Kader wants to know where you are."

"Too bad. We are safe. That's all you need to know."

"Are you close to Cairo?"

Set dragged his fingers softly through Ayla's hair, his voice bored. "Close enough. Why?"

"Because we need you to come to Cairo and help clean up the fucking mess you've created. I've got a lead on the men that have been passing Moussa information, and we need you to deal with it," Abasi said.

Ayla frowned at the man's entitled tone. Who did he think he was to talk to Set like he was some kind of lap dog? Set ran a thumb between her eyebrows to smooth away her disapproval.

"When do you need me there?" he asked.

"As soon as possible. Kader wants a team watching his daughter while you're gone, so I'll ask you again, where are you?"

"Like I would trust any of them near Ayla. She's safe because only I know where she is, and it's going to stay that way," Set replied.

"She belongs to Kader—"

"No, she doesn't," Set said, his tone making the hair on Ayla's arms rise.

"She sure as fuck doesn't belong to you! Don't forget who you report to and whose daughter she is."

"I haven't forgotten. I just don't care. I'll come to Cairo tomorrow morning, seeing how you don't want to get those manicured hands of yours dirty," Set said and hung up. He tossed his phone to the other end of the couch and let out a long, frustrated breath. "You heard all of that."

"I did." Ayla lifted a hand to his face. "He was wrong."

"I know. The nerve of the little prick, I swear—"

"I do belong to you," Ayla interrupted. There was a long, tense moment when her heart stopped beating. Then Set leaned over her, his dark hair curtaining around them.

"You do, and I'm glad you know it, malikati," he whispered. My Queen.

Then Set kissed her slowly and thoroughly enough that Ayla's toes curled on the cushion, and he showed her what it meant to belong to a god.