A/N: Guess who is finally back with a new Sanubis story? I apologize for the wait; university's been horribly stressful. In any event, here is a one-shot occurring about four years after The Serpent's Shadow. Major Sanubis, mentions Zarter and Jalt. No Walt-Anubis combo. Hope you enjoy!
WARNING: Non-descriptive mentions of sex. Brief adult language. Rated high T.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Kane Chronicles or any other works of the brilliant Rick Riordan.
Sadie knew she should have been a smidge more careful with the mission, but honestly, it wasn't like she was trying to release a horde of demons into the Met and collapse from straining her magic. She wasn't sure why Anubis was making such a big deal out of it.
"I'm making a big deal out of it because you were an inch away from dying," he hissed, his gorgeous coffee-colored eyes alight with anger. Really, it wasn't fair that he looked so attractive, even while yelling at her. When she found him in her room so late at night, she hoped he had a different sort of passionate encounter on his mind, but that clearly wasn't going to happen any time soon. "Did you even take a second to consider the consequences of the spell?"
"Alright, I thought you promised to cut the bloody mind-reading shit," she snapped back, crossing her arms over her chest. "And what was I supposed to do; let the demons wreak havoc on the rest of Brooklyn? You know I couldn't let that happen."
"I thought you promised to stop being so reckless with your life. You could have let Carter, or Zia, or literally anyone else who was there help you take care of the problem!"
"I know my limits," she shouted, her sapphire eyes glittering dangerously. "I've used ha-di a thousand times! I only passed out for a minute!"
"You've never used it on this large a scale!" Anubis spread his hands wide, clearly getting more and more frustrated. "One of the reasons your father allowed me to stay here with you was so that I could keep you safe. How am I supposed to do that if you keep throwing yourself in the path of danger? I shouldn't have to keep checking the faces of the souls lining up for judgment every time I have to go to the Duat, hoping that you're not one of them!"
"Look, Death Boy, I'm seventeen; I'm not a child anymore! And you're my boyfriend, not my babysitter!"
"Sadie, as much as I wish you weren't, you are still mortal. Every time you over-extend your powers, you come close to death. I cannot watch you kill yourself out of sheer stupidity!" He ran his fingers through his jet-black hair, sighing in frustration. "I'm needed back at the Hall of Judgment. I trust you can manage to not die in the time I'm gone."
She let out a gasp of indignation as he pushed the air in front of him, creating a doorway of darkness.
"Fuck you!" she shouted at his back as he stepped through the portal, angrily tugging at the red streak in her blonde hair. Then she turned and screamed into her pillow.
"Woah, someone had a rough night," Jaz joked as Sadie walked into the infirmary. Zia, bandaging a burn on one of the anklebiters, chuckled quietly before freeing her charge. "Let me get you an energy potion. How was he?"
Sadie supposed Jaz had the right to make assumptions. Her makeup was smudged, her hair was a tangled mess, and she probably looked like she didn't get any sleep the night before (which was true). She was lucky it was Saturday—she was definitely not in the mood to deal with Drew and the rest of the Plastic BAGs.
"Nothing happened," Sadie grumbled, accepting the potion Jaz handed to her. "We got into a bloody fight about the mission. I don't know why Anubis got so upset—I've had way closer calls before!"
Jaz looked up from putting gauze back on the infirmary shelf and quirked a perfectly shaped blonde eyebrow. Zia narrowed her amber eyes.
"Fine," Sadie sighed, sinking onto one of the infirmary beds. "I get it. He just doesn't want to see me hurt, blah, blah, blah. What should I do?"
"I would just apologize," Zia suggested, sitting down on the bed across from her. "If I'm being totally honest, you were a tiny bit reckless last night."
"Yeah, yeah, I should have let everyone help me instead of panicking," she said, crossing her arms. "No one realized how many demons there were at the museum. I thought I could handle it."
"Well, at least you realize what you did wrong," Jaz mentioned. "You and Anubis get into little fights all the time. Just handle it like the ones before."
"Yeah, but before, we would just make out before it got too intense," Sadie said, collapsing back onto the bed. "This is the first one where he actually left."
Zia sighed. "Look, the only experience I have in relationships is with your brother—"
"Which is why I don't exactly trust your judgment when it comes to romance."
"But anyone can see that you two have a huge, magnetic attraction," Zia continued. "I know I didn't approve of you and Anubis at the beginning, but he definitely cares for you. You've been together for four years. He won't be gone for long."
"Whenever he comes back from his hissy fit, just kiss and make up," Jaz maintained, flipping back her curly blonde ponytail and moving over to where Sadie was sitting. "Whenever Walt and I have a fight, we always try to get it out of the way as soon as possible."
"Alright, fine," Sadie reluctantly agreed, running her hand through her red-streaked hair. "I won't make any promises—I'm still pissed off about it. Now I'm going to go teach my divine words class on no sleep. This will be marvelous."
"As the closest thing we have to a doctor, I'm going to recommend you don't do any intense magic today," Jaz said, crossing her arms. "Just go get something to eat and take a nap—you need to restore your energy levels."
"I'll cover your class," Zia added, playing with a fire amulet around her neck.
"Thanks, you guys." Sadie chugged the rest of the energy potion. "I'll tell you how it goes."
"Oh, and Sadie?" Zia called after her. "You might want to clean yourself up a bit. It's hard to feel better when you, ah, don't look your best."
"And if everything does go well with Anubis tonight, remember to use protection!" Jas shouted after her.
Sadie flipped a certain finger at them before walking away. Honestly, she needed better friends.
She collapsed on her bed, still in her combat books, red tank, and black jeans from earlier, and groaned. It seemed that, as per usual, nothing in Brooklyn House would wait for her romantic issues to be resolved. After being quite rudely awakened from her nap by her brother, she was forced to answer the questions of some moronic old magicians in the First Nome, deal with what Felix aptly named an "Ice-pocalypse," reprimand Felix for using his powers in the dining room, apologize to Felix for making him sob, and confiscate one of Walt's lion amulets from the anklebiters. What's more, that bloody-minded Jackal Boy hadn't shown up since the fight, and she was getting more and more irritated by the minute.
Sadie was debating whether or not she was recovered enough to use ha-di on him when a knock sounded from her door. She muttered some choice words under her breath as she heaved herself up and stomped over to answer it.
"Carter, I swear to all the gods of Egypt, if those old gits have another question, I will—" She stopped abruptly when she realized it was not, in fact, her brother standing at the door.
Anubis stood in the hallway, looking as attractive as ever in his skinny black jeans, white T-shirt, and classic leather jacket. His hair was perfectly rumpled in his typical just-had-amazing-sex fashion, and he had a stupid little half-smirk on his gorgeous face.
"Lady Kane," he said, raising his eyebrow slightly.
"Oh, no," she huffed, narrowing her black-rimmed eyes. "You do not get to leave me in the middle of a fight, show up an entire twenty-four hours later unannounced, and go all Lady Kane on me, expecting me to drop my panties and forget everything."
He sighed through his nose, tilting his head to the side. "May I come in?"
Sadie crossed her arms over her chest. "What, so you can give me another lecture about being responsible? I get it, Death Boy. I wouldn't have used the spell if there wasn't another option, and if you think I'm just going to pretend that there was anything else I could have done—"
"By Osiris' Kingdom, you are so infuriating sometimes," he interrupted, sounding exasperated, before leaning in and locking their lips together, hard. She rolled her eyes and kissed back, tangling her hands in his hair and deepening the kiss. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her towards him.
"Are you going to let me in now?" he asked after a few moments, his eyes smoldering.
"Oh, shut up," Sadie snapped, grabbing him by his jacket and pulling him into her room. She shoved off his jacket and resumed snogging him thoroughly, slipping her hands under his shirt, grazing her knuckles against his toned stomach and bringing him even closer to her.
He growled low in his throat. The next thing she knew, Anubis had lifted her up and pressed her against the wall by her bed. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he started kissing down her neck. She had almost forgotten how strong he was—being the god of funerals really gave him an unfair advantage. As she busied herself with undoing his belt, the way he pushed her shoulders back with his forearm as he grazed his hands across her chest was almost painful. Unwillingly, she let out a tiny gasp of discomfort.
Anubis pulled back, his eyes widening. His hair was now a tangled mess, and he looked a bit dazed. "Did I…Did I hurt you?"
"I'm fine," Sadie muttered, glancing down and dropping her feet to the floor. "Just get back here."
He looked at her quietly for a moment, his head cocked to the side, before leaning back in with a decidedly gentler kiss. The clothing that separated them started to slowly came off until there were no barriers between them, and the sound of their heavy breathing blocked out all other noises.
When it was over, they lay tangled in the sheets of her bed, her bare back against his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a chaste kiss to her shoulder.
"I apologize for last night," Anubis said quietly, stroking her hair softly. "I… I wouldn't be able to bear it if anything happened to you. I overreacted, and I'm sorry for that."
"It's alright," she whispered, turning over to face him. "I overreacted as well. I'll attempt to be more careful."
He pressed another kiss to her forehead. "I trust your judgment. Until you get granted immortality, I will attempt to not panic."
Sadie snorted lightly and closed her eyes, snuggling closer into his warmth. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Jackal-Head. That's a while into the future."
"I know," he whispered softly, as her breathing mellowed out. "I love you."
"Mm-hmm," she said sleepily. He might have said something else, but she was already asleep.
A/N: I'm debating the rating of this fic. If you think I should bump it up to M, please let me know.
Thanks so much for reading! Again, like any author, I appreciate your reviews, so please tell me what you think!
Also, I'm considering writing a multi-chapter story that involves the everyday lives of Sanubis and the rest of the Brooklyn house characters a few years after TSS…Yes or no?
Love, Madi