Page 16 of Sins of the Heart

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that?”

Eagerly, they nodded and voiced their agreement.

He waited only for that, their clear and unwavering agreement.

Then he had Gahiji write the terms in the large book

that stood open on a pedestal in the very center of the

great, airy room. Sutekh was very particular that every

detail be recorded. He had no wish to rob them in the

end. He liked to be fair. It was important to him to be

fair.

So Gahiji wrote in neat, legible script in the book

that was bound in human skin treated with tannin and

turned to leather. The pages were parchment made of

more of the same. But that was a secret, known only

to Sutekh and Gahiji. A little shared joke between

them.

Each in turn, the supplicants slumped in relief as the

record was written. They had not achieved the specific

goal they came for—a return to the life they had left

26

SINS OF THE HEART

behind—but they had achievedsomething.They

always seemed to find that uplifting. Perhaps it made

them think the afterlife in the Underworld would not

be so very bad.

When Sutekh held out his hand, they came close to

take it. They were always so pathetically grateful.

Until he opened his jaws, let them unhinge like the

jaws of a snake, and swallowed the supplicant’s soul

whole, doing exactly what he said he would do, keeping that soul as close to him as could be. Of course,

they never suspected he meant to truly make them part

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