A God's Bargain (EgyptianGod!Brothers and Reader)

Chapter 17

Air rushed into my lungs as I gasped, my entire being numb to every sensation beyond my skin. I could feel my heartbeat, hear every pulse of blood in my veins, every creak of my joints when they flexed. Even breathing was a thunderous noise to my overstimulated senses.

But all I could see was darkness.

Darkness with no end.

I never liked the dark.

"Ah, that's news to me."

I bit my tongue to silence any noise of surprise before I felt cold wrap around me, smooth as silk while remaining hard like steel. A soft hiss hit my left ear, my teeth digging deeper into my tongue.

"The darkness isn't so bad once you're used to it, (y/n)," The same voice spoke to my left ear before curling around to my right, "Such a shame that you've been ensnared by their plans, a helpless marionette tied by their strings."

"Apophis," I spoke the deity's name with as much hatred as I could.

"You speak a name I do not yet bear," The serpent's dark voice chided from the darkness, "Speak the name I have now."

I didn't entertain him, staying silent as the cold grip around me became tighter.

"Come now, (y/n). You're playing a dangerous game with me."

"I don't consider this a game!"

As my lips closed on the last syllable, the darkness fell away to a brightly lit room, a few rectangle tables and chairs positioned around them filling the space. Fluorescent lighting flickered down and reflected off of glass beakers and metal laptops, a warm familiarity wrapping itself around my body and mind.

The white lab coat I used when on-site, the blue nitrile gloves required to handle ancient artifacts, the white facial mask that provided a plastic eyeshield to ensure that neither breath nor eyelash could fall on the fragile items.

How was I...home?

"This is what you miss the most, (y/n). I already know it's a certainty."

My eyes fell down to the heavy weight in my hands, seeing the last piece I had studied: a piece of stone wall that bore hieroglyphs depicting some kind of divine ritual.

"If only you hadn't been dragged back in time, entangled in their little game, you would be back in this laboratory and studying the culture I brought to life."

"Set brought me back to settle things with his wife," The mask muffled my words a little, "I already have an agreement with them about this. You can't say anything that will shake my conviction."

"Oh, you think Set was the one to drag you back?" I felt a length of snake tail tighten around my left leg but couldn't see it, "How misguided you really are..."

"You are chaos. Anything that comes from your mouth is deceit, Apophis."

"Apophis?" The new voice startled me as I blinked, the laboratory instantly disappearing as I found myself sitting in the local coffee shop I always frequented, the artifact melting into a hot mug of fresh coffee. I glanced across the table to see one of my co-workers with a raised eyebrow, "I know you've been working a lot of overtime, but there's no need to call me that name."

"Trent," His name slipped past my lips, his own mirroring my smile.

Trent Brickert was a man that I had worked alongside since I had been hired into the company, easy on the eyes but we never went beyond coffee buddies after work. His long black hair was in its usual braid, fully revealing his tanned skin tone and toned body that was normally hidden underneath pants and long sleeves.