Free Touch of the Fire God [Scions of the Ankh 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Toni L. Meilleur

realized what he was doing, he pulled back and drew on his bow; the arrow struck forth like a viper.
    Hathor gasped as she realized the bow was aimed at her, but before she could feel its bite, Ralabos’ woman jumped in front, taking the arrow between her own shoulder blades.
    “Nooo!” Ralabos roared and he fired a deadly, sizzling bolt toward Seth. It glanced against the madman before he disappeared.
    His rage supplanted by concern, Ralabos went to the side of his beloved, whom Thoth was tending gingerly.
    “He has mixed a poison, Ralabos. The blood of Osiris with the venom of a serpent.”
    Ralabos took the form of his wife from his comrade and wept openly.
    Thoth bowed. “I am in debt to you. She has saved my beloved Hathor.”
    The woman in Ralabos’ arms began to quake in pain as the poison coursed through her once-immortal body.
    “She is dying,” Ralabos said, his words broken, carrying the weight of the knowledge that he would be without her for the rest of his immortal life.
    “I will not let her spirit cross over,” the male with the Egyptian kilt declared. He was Anubis, the one the mortals referred to as the god of the dead.
    “You must bind her soul, Thoth. Do it now, for her soul begs to cross over, and I can only deny this so long.”
    Surrounded by total silence, Thoth chanted and Ralabos held the form of his wife, kissing her delicately and whispering in her ear. “You must not leave me,” he said softly to her. “You must find your way back to me. No matter how long it takes, I will wait for you.”
    “It is done,” Thoth declared. “When her soul passes from this body, it shall reside in that of a newborn human. I have no way of knowing when, or which body, but I can find her soul, Ralabos. We have but to wait.”
    “Until she dies ...” Ralabos finished.
    “Yes, it is crude, but once I find her soul again, her human form has to die to release her soul. Then she will know you, my friend. You will have your beloved back.”
    “We owe you much,” Hathor declared, staring down at the woman who had saved her life. “Seth has found a way to kill us with the very thing that gave us life.”
    “Yes, my sweet, that is true. He has used Osiris’s blood and mixed it with a bringer of death among humans and made it a poison for us as well. But I will find a way to counter this,” Thoth declared determinedly.
    “She has to but die again to be with me?” Ralabos asked, quietly watching the life drain from his loved one. He stroked her hair lovingly, trying to give her as much comfort as he was able. He felt the pain traveling through her body. It magnified his rage at Seth all the more.
    “She must die here in this very place as a human to be reborn to what she once was,” Anubis warned. “But Ralabos, she must do it in consensus. If her human form cannot accept this, her soul has no choice but to cross over. I cannot change this. Even the god of the dead is bound by rules.”
    The pain the woman felt was insurmountable. The poison claimed her body as its playground and showed no mercy. For a being that had never felt pain, it was both new and terrifying.
    But she lay in the arms of Ralabos. Her Ralabos. The one made for her and only her. They had been together longer than any time recorded, and now she was leaving him. She grieved for him, for he was in much pain. Her pain, she felt, was nothing compared to his; she could feel his heart breaking for her.
    Then her mind could bear no more as the pain washed over and through her. Her vision began to darken, and she heard him calling her name ...
     
    * * * *
     
    Rene woke with a start. The sun peeked gleefully through her windows, and her heart was beating as if she had run a marathon.
    She had been in so much pain. No, not her right? The woman in her dream had died so painfully. Rene felt a pounding between her shoulder blades as if she had been pierced. She scrambled out of bed and raced for the bathroom, grabbed the hand mirror that was