Thoth by Alessa Thorn

8

Kema waited for Thoth to summon her again for three days. Three days of looking over her shoulder; three days of expecting him at every turn. It was exhausting, and she started to wonder if he had maybe decided to leave her alone after all.

Everyone leaves you alone eventually, a small, hurt part of herself said. The orphan in her had learned that lesson early on, which is why she had shaped herself into someone who didn’t need anyone. It was one of the many reasons she had run out of the church on her wedding day.

In the past, both friends and lovers hadn’t liked knowing that they were a want that Kema had at the time, but they were never needed. Friends and lovers came and went. Kema had accepted that. She devoted her time to trying to solve the mystery of the magic book, earning money, and enjoying being in her own company.

Kema no longer had the book, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t recorded in her notebook the symbols she had seen Thoth drawing to try and study them. He didn’t want her as an apprentice, and she certainly didn’t want a master. Despite that, she was going to be observant as long as she was being forced to accompany him on hunting expeditions. She would figure it out as she went along, like she always had.

All of these things hadn’t changed in the last three days, and yet, Kema still found herself looking for a flash of bronze or lapis lazuli blue in a crowd.

When Thoth did make his presence known, he did it in the most inconvenient way possible.

Madame Heka had been busy all day. Inside Kema’s tent, the air was sweltering, and she had to reapply her make-up more than once. Without the usual eye of Thoth that she no longer felt comfortable with. His ego was big enough without her paying homage to him.

Kema was settling in with a British tourist when she flipped the top card over for her reading; the Magician. Frowning, Kema shuffled the deck again and let the sunburned woman pick; the Magician.

“Ohhh, two magicians, what does that mean?” she asked Kema, wide-eyed. Clearly, she had no idea that there was only meant to be one Magician card in the deck.

“The mists haven’t parted for me yet,” Kema said, in her trance like voice. “Pick again.”

The tourist accepted the deck. She shuffled clumsily, and the cards slipped from her hands and scattered over the silk cloth. Every one of them was the magician.

“Fuck,” Kema muttered.

“I…I don’t understand. What does it mean?” the tourist asked.

“Nothing good. But don’t worry, my dear. Its message is for me, not you,” Kema hurried to reassure her. “Ah yes, the mists clear at last. Alexander is here. Speak to me, great emperor! What is it that you say? That she isn’t to trust the man in the blue shirt?”

“How do you know about Steven?” the woman demanded.

I saw you arrive with him?

Kema clutched her hands. “That’s it. Steven. Don’t trust him. I see him laughing with a brunette, big breasts, teasing smile.”

“Kylie! That slut. I knew she was making eyes at him behind my back,” the woman exclaimed. Kema patted her hand gently.

“It is but one future. Keep a close eye on him if you think he is worthy. If not, set him free and save yourself the heartache,” Kema told her.

The scattered cards chose that moment to catch on fire. The tourist yelped, tossed a handful of pounds at Kema, and ran out of the tent.

With a sigh, Kema picked up the money and then turned to the cards that were still flaming, but not actually burning.

“Really, Thoth?” she muttered and gathered them together. As soon as she touched them, the flames died, revealing normal cards with multiple images.

Kema packed up her bag and opened the tent door. All of her clients that had been waiting had mysteriously disappeared. Kema looked around, and her stomach fluttered when she spotted the cause.

Thoth was leaning against a tree nearby with an open book in his hand, reading. He held a tray with two coffees in the other and was using his thumb to turn pages. He waited, ignoring her as she packed up her tent and stowed it away in the lockers.

“New boyfriend, Kema?” Salim asked, lifting a brow at her from behind his stand of fresh produce. Somehow, Thoth heard and raised his head curiously.

“Ha! In his dreams,” Kema replied with a laugh, waving goodbye to Salim. Thoth closed his book as she approached him.

“You took your time,” he commented.

“You should’ve helped me pack up if you were in a hurry. I hope you used your power over flames to keep one of those coffees warm for me and not just use them to scare my customers away.”

Thoth gave her a long look down his nose. She was getting used to that look of frustration and amusement. She held his gaze until he relented, offering the tray to her. Kema took one of the coffees and gave him a smile, just to confuse him.

“Where have you been?” she asked, sounding a little too accusing.

“Busy. Set and Ayla are keen to go over all of the Anubis research I have, and as you saw, it’s extensive,” Thoth replied. He tucked his book under his arm and looked her over. “I also thought it would be wise to give you a few days to recover from your last adventure.”

“You were worried about me?” Kema asked.

Thoth huffed. “Not even a little bit. Ayla told me I had to give you healing time, and I didn’t want to piss off Set by ignoring her wishes.”

“Ah huh, so why are you here? I mean apart from chasing all my customers away.”

“I tracked down a haunting from a ghost that you let out of the Duat,” Thoth replied. “And I did bring you coffee to make up for the customers.”

Kema clicked her tongue. “You should’ve brought me some Zalabya too if you wanted that. Where is this ghost?”

“It was sighted near the ruins of the Roman theatre,” Thoth said.

Kema sipped her coffee and waited. “Well, come on, do the magic door thing.”

“Magic door thing?” Thoth shook his head. “The ghost doesn’t make an appearance until sundown, which is about half an hour away. We can walk.”

“Awww, but I like the magic door.”

“I figured because you like to run away so much, a walk wouldn’t bother you,” Thoth said, tucking his book under his arm. His tattoos glinted in iridescent colors in the afternoon light, and Kema quickly tore her eyes away from him.

“Have you thought about opening the store again now that I have returned your book and restored your faith in humanity?” she asked because she couldn’t help but tease.

“I don’t have time to run the store, make sure you stay out of trouble, and look for Anubis at the same time,” Thoth replied.

“I could run it for you. I always wanted to work in a bookstore.”

Thoth shook his head. “Gods only know what you would get up to. I can’t have you selling books that are actually valuable.”

“I’m sure there’s a way to make sure that doesn’t happen. You need the space before a wall of books collapses on you, and we never find your body.” The fact that Kema wanted to get her hands on more books with real magic in them only factored in a little bit.

“Sure, it’s my safety that concerns you. It has nothing to do with the fact that you want to teach yourself magic behind my back,” Thoth said, seeing through her bullshit.

“It’s not the only reason, but you’ve made it abundantly clear that you’re not going to teach me, so I have to learn somehow,” Kema argued.

Thoth made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “I never said that I wasn’t going to teach you anything. I said that I wouldn’t take you as an apprentice. Those two things are different, and I have good reason for it.”

“And that is?”

“I don’t trust you,” Thoth replied bluntly, making Kema flinch. He looked sideways at her and then quickly at the path ahead. “Amongst other reasons.”

“I suppose I partly deserve that, but what if I end up hurting people because I don’t know how to use the magic I have?” she replied.

“I would stop you.”

“You can’t watch over me all the time.”

“Can’t I?” he said softly.

Kema didn’t dare look at him. She didn’t know what to make of the warmth that sparked in her stomach either. She didn’t reply. Instead, she kept her attention on the trees around them.

“I will show you enough not to hurt yourself or anyone else, Kema. I might be an asshole, but I’m not that big of an asshole.”

Kema grinned. “At least you’re self-aware. I thought the attitude was because you weren’t used to humans.”

“It’s not that I’m not used to them. I just don’t like them very much.”

“Then why live in Alexandria? Why not live in some cave in the desert and be left alone?”

Thoth’s brow furrowed over the question. “I like to be alone around people if that makes sense.”

“It does. Looks like we have that in common too,” Kema replied.

“Really? I thought you would have a horde of people around you. You’re…good with them. Unlike me.”

Kema shook her head. “No, just me. Friends and lovers are great, but I only have one true love, and nothing else has kept my interest.”

“And what’s your one true love?” Thoth asked, sounding genuinely interested.

“Isn’t obvious? It’s magic.” Kema turned her head to smile at him. “I bet you thought I was only fooling around with readings to make money off dumb tourists.”

Thoth tossed his coffee cup in a nearby bin. “Yes, actually, that’s exactly what I thought.”

Kema debated whether it would be better to let him keep believing it. There was a curious look in his bronze eyes, like he was seeing her for the first time, and she realized she wanted to tell him the truth.

“I don’t want to learn magic in order to put a better act together at the park. I’ve only done that to hone my skill and earn some money while I spent the rest of my time trying to figure out that book of yours. Ambitious of me I know, but it didn’t stop me from trying,” Kema explained. She knew he would scoff at the small collection of texts on her shelf, probably dismiss them as human trash, so she kept them to herself.

“People without ambition are boring. That you are curious as well is what makes you dangerous,” Thoth replied.

“Here I thought it was my devastating smile,” Kema said.

Thoth shook his head at her antics. “That too.”

Kema’s devastating smile spread across her face at his small confession, and Thoth grinned back. It was such a surprise that she collided with a man talking on a phone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said, stepping out of his way. The man’s expression shifted, dark eyes looking her over slowly and with interest.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked.

“No,” Thoth answered for her, putting his arm around her shoulders and leading her away. “Really, the nerve of some men thinking they can ogle anyone.”

Kema tried not to laugh. Thoth being protective of her was something strange to behold.

“I don’t think he was trying to hit on me, sorcerer. He probably recognized me as Madame Heka,” she replied.

“It still doesn’t give him the right to stare at your breasts like they hold all the answers in the universe,” Thoth muttered.

Kema did laugh then, loud and bawdy. “How do you know they don’t?”

“Because I know all the answers to the universe’s secrets, and trust me, it’s not breasts.”

“What is it then?”

Thoth’s eyes were close enough to hers that Kema could see the darker flecks of bronze in them. “Nice try, but I’ll never tell.”

Kema knew she should push his warm arm off her shoulder and keep a healthy distance between the god and herself.

She didn’t do either. She couldn’t help it; she liked the moody bastard.

And that wasn’t going to end well for her at all.