“Aren’t you the Egyptian god of death?” you ask. “You don’t have to kill my lovers. If I help you, you can save them. You should save them.”

Anubis shakes his head. “You’re mixing up your myths. I’m not killing anyone. I don’t kill. Your lovers have already died. I know it’s hard to accept. I’ve experienced loss. There aren’t many of my kind left.”

“You’ve probably lived for so long, you have no idea what it is to mourn for someone you love,” you mutter.

Anubis says nothing, but you can see a fleeting look of pain pass across his face. A savage sense of satisfaction fills you, but it’s gone as quickly as it came over you and instead of commenting, you merely clench your hands into tight fists and stare out of the window, speaking only to direct Dorian to the site where the statue was buried.

When Dorian finally parks at the site, you notice a familiar vehicle already parked there. And even if you didn’t recognise the car, you certainly know the two men standing between it and Dorian’s car: Walter and Ray.

As soon as Dorian parks the car, you undo your seatbelt and open the door, quickly getting out and heading over to the two men. As soon as you’re close enough to talk, the words start tumbling out over each other. “If we break the curse, then everyone who died and came back to life will stay dead. That includes Martin and Paul.” You swallow hard, your voice dropping as you whisper, “I can’t lose them.”

“I know you can’t,” Walter replies, his own voice soft. “But at least one of our colleagues has been seriously hurt, perhaps even killed, by one of those who died and came back. We can’t put anyone else at risk.”

You dart a glance at Ray, who just shakes his head and reaches out to take his husband’s hand, making it clear where he stands.

Anubis steps forward, past you and extends his hand to shake first Walter’s and then Ray’s. “My name’s Anubis.”

Ray raises his eyebrows and shakes his head. “Anubis?” He snorts softly. “Yeah, right.”

Walter doesn’t respond to him, but he gives Ray’s hand a warning squeeze before addressing the younger man. “You’re here because of the statue?”

“I know it’s been destroyed,” Anubis answers. “The problem is that destroying the statue didn’t break the curse. It merely allowed the curse’s effects to spread to a much larger area.”

“Then what do we…?”

Before Ray can finish his question, the ground begins to shake and quake under your feet. You stumble, just about managing to keep your balance, but by the time the earth’s stopped shaking, your teeth are rattling.

As you straighten, your eyes widen as they catch sight of what’s now at the site.

Two large caves have emerged from the ground. You can’t make out anything of what might be inside, as each mouth is pitch black. But some magnetic pull draws you towards the cave on the right and you take a shaky step in its direction.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Ray’s voice breaks the spell and you halt.

“You feel drawn to one cave or another.” Anubis’ voice seems to come from very far away. “Go inside and bring me out the object that’s there.”

You know Walter’s right. You need to help break the curse. But entering the cave will take you one step closer to losing Martin and Paul.