“Nephthys lies,” the Devourer snarled. “She cannot appreciate a man such as Seth.”
I rolled my eyes. “What’s to appreciate? One who hurts others can’t love. He’s a bond breaker, not a bond maker. Even you, with your limited experience, should be able to recognize that.”
Her forehead creased as she laughed bitterly. “And what do you, as young as you are, know of love?”
“I know it means sacrifice. Being willing to give up anything to protect the person that you love. The Sons of Egypt would do so for me, and I would do the same for them. Tell me, would Seth give up his ambitions for you? Would he rush to your side to save your life?”
“Your naïveté is laughable. I do not need to answer your childish questions. I am the Devourer. I have taken in all the suffering, all the sin, all the hate and bitterness that has ever been a part of the world. It lives in me. For me, it is enough to know that Seth has helped me break free of the netherworld. Perhaps he does not love me according to your definition, but he valued me enough to give me my deepest, darkest desire.”
“Then I feel sorry for you.”
She gave me a half smile. “Oh? Why is that, my succulent tidbit?”
“Because you deserved more. It’s not too late, you know. You can change. Give up this ambition and try to become something different.”
Her forehead creased but then smoothed out. “You think you know everything. But unfortunately, you’ll find,” she said as her glinting eyes drifted down to my chest, “that you sorely underestimate me.”
With a snap, her hand pierced my chest, penetrating right through my armor, and I yowled in pain. The Devourer threw back her head in a triumphant shout as she delved deeper, seeking my heart. I breathed heavily, tears running down my cheeks as she probed. Gritting my teeth, I took hold of her arm and wrapped my hands around her wrist.
Her smile faded as I clenched my jaw and lifted my wings. Beating them heavily, I lifted off the ground, pulling her with me. She paled when her feet could no longer find purchase. “Where is it?” she hissed. “Where is your heart?”
I ignored her and soared higher. She glanced around with concern then turned her gaze back to me. Tendrils of her hair shot out and dug into my arms and back, the fiery darts latching on to me beneath my skin. Her pupils were huge, and her nostrils flared. It was obvious she was frightened, and yet still she dug. Letting out a gasp, I warned her, “If you stop, I will let you live.”
Her face twisted into a mask of hatred. “Do your worst,” she taunted. “Your power is nothing next to mine. I am the Devourer. I am—”
“Yeah, yeah,” I interrupted and then peered down at her with a raised eyebrow. “But I’m a New Yorker,” I hissed. “And you messed with my hometown.”
Channeling my power, I beat my wings, letting the feathers gather in the sunlight. An electric current sizzled and popped. The Devourer wrenched her body back and forth, beating on me with her free hand. I looked down at rivulets of blood streaming down my torso and felt a tug on my waist. She’d discovered my belt with the heart scarabs. She yanked my belt free, and I gasped and let go.
The Devourer fell through the air, her barbed hair ripping out of my skin as her hand slipped out of my chest. Mouth open in awe, she stroked the scarabs, completely oblivious to her precarious position. The power I’d channeled had reached its zenith, and I clapped my wings together. A sizzling stream of light shot out toward her, and when it hit, she threw her arms and head back, electricity streaming from her mouth and out the ends of her hair.
The belt slipped from her fingers, and she grasped for it feebly even as she screamed. Her skin turned white and then brightened. I could have sworn I saw her lashes flutter closed and a smile of peace spread across her face before her entire body exploded.
I sank down to the ground, my wings barely keeping me aloft, and crumpled next to Anubis. Nearby, I spied the fallen belt and stretched as far as I could. Clasping it between two fingers, I pulled it close and crushed it to the gaping wound in my chest. Blood soaked the ground around me. I heard the cry of a falcon and felt a shadow pass over my face before I closed my eyes.
When I woke, it was to the crackling, popping sound of a fire. I tried to move, but every part of me ached in a way I’d never felt before. Letting out a moan, I shifted my elbow to the ground to lift up my body, but I fell back heavily. A pair of arms caught me before I hit the ground.
“Shh. Lie still,” Amon’s voice murmured in my ear. “We are safe for now.”
“Ahmose?” I managed to say.
“He is here. Ahmose is resting now. It took nearly all his remaining power to save you. If it weren’t for him and the emblem of Horus, one of you would surely have perished. Even if Anubis had been able to properly tend to one of your bodies, Cherty is gone. There would be no safe passage to the afterlife. Your souls would have been lost at best, food for Apep at worst.”
Good to know, I thought. I reached up to my neck and found the necklace Horus had given me. The healing stela had come in very handy. Amon gestured to the other side of the fire, where Anubis sat next to a sleeping Ahmose. Anubis appeared to be resting, too. He sat back against a dirt wall, knee raised, his arm propped on it, his hand pressed against his forehead.
“How is he?” I asked.
“Anubis will survive.”
“Ashleigh wants to see Ahmose,” I whispered to Amon. He nodded and lifted me up.
I retreated, letting Ashleigh take over. She picked up his hand and held it gently. Tears blurred my vision, making the firelight dance in shimmering patterns as we looked at his face. She leaned closer, pressing her hand against his heart. Light bloomed beneath his shirt as she channeled the power imbued in her by the fairy tree.
Finished, Ashleigh sat back and asked Anubis, “Will you tell us what happened to the others?”
“The group Ma’at led was captured and destroyed. The Devourer made me”—he paused and swiped his eyes—“made me watch. It took a long time. Ma’at was powerful. She said…” Anubis stopped as a shudder ran through him. “She said Ma’at harbored a secret love for me. I told her she was mistaken. That Ma’at argued with me at every turn. That she hated my way of circumventing her rules and the way I mocked her rigid nature.” Anubis sniffed sadly and ground his jaw. “But then Ma’at turned to me, horror filling her eyes, and I knew the Devourer spoke the truth.”
“Oh, Anubis. I’m sorry,” Ashleigh said.
Sadness clouded his features. “Now I suppose we’ll never know what could have been.”
“There was no way ta save her, then?” Ashleigh asked.
“No. I have to capture the life essence before it departs the body. The Devourer sucks down every last bit until there is no chance to recover anything. Ma’at is gone.”
Ashleigh took his hand, squeezed his fingers and settled next to Ahmose. With our energy funneling into him, we slept again.
We rested until the dawn and felt recovered enough to head back to the mountain to regroup. Once there, we found only a third of the people remained. Amun-Ra had made it back and Nephthys had never left. They mourned when Anubis told them about losing Ma’at. They shared the good news that Osiris had been found and brought back, and we told them of killing the Devourer. Our victory was marred with loss.
Leaving Amun-Ra, Anubis, and Nephthys to form plans, I sought out Horus and found him kneeling next to his father’s side. Osiris was pale and feverish, and in his sleep he thrashed and called out over and over for Isis.
Without acknowledging my presence, Horus said, “He feels her suffering. It hurts him worse than the pains in his own body.”
“We’ll save her,” I said.
“I hope we will. Thank you, by the way. Thank you for killing the Devourer.”
“I should be the one thanking you,” I said. “Your stela healed me. I would have died without it.” Reaching behind my neck, I loosened the clasp and held it out to him.
“You should keep it,” he said, turning as his wet
eyes met mine.
“Will it heal your father?” I asked. “It didn’t heal the Sons of Egypt.”
“The stela only heals those who are part of my family.”
I cocked my head. “Then why did you gift it to me?”
“It…it felt right. The fact that it heals you means something. We are connected, you and I, in our own way.”
I didn’t know how to feel about that, but I couldn’t deny it either. Kneeling down next to him, I pressed it into his palm, folding his fingers over it. “Your father has more need of it now than I do. Thank you for sacrificing such a gift for me.”
Horus gave me a long, penetrating look, then, nodding, he placed the necklace between his father’s hands. I took in Osiris’s slack jaw and clammy skin. Horus leaned over his father’s missing leg, bathing it gently. As he did so, he murmured a quiet spell, finishing with, “Water unmakes and makes anew.” After squeezing Horus’s shoulder, I left him with his father and headed back to the others.
“What’s the plan?” I asked Amon and Ahmose, who stood on the outskirts of the group as the gods talked.
“It would seem they are unwilling to wait for Seth to break free and find them. They will seek him out instead,” Amon said.
“Is that wise when we are so few?” I asked.
Amun-Ra looked up suddenly. “We are not as few as Seth might believe,” he said, his brows drawn together. “Prepare yourselves, citizens,” Amun-Ra announced. “We head into battle within the hour.”
Anubis approached, his expression hardened. Already he’d changed. He was clean and dressed in black battle armor, but his eyes were tired and there was a grim determination in the set of his shoulders. He wore a sword on his hip and carried a black plumed helm beneath an arm. I heard a whine behind him, and my jaw dropped when I saw a limping Abutiu trailing his master.
“He made it!” I exclaimed.
“Yes.” Anubis’s sad eyes crinkled at the corners, and his downturned mouth twitched into a lopsided smile as he knelt and scratched his dog behind the ears. “At least I still have him. They brought him back to me when they discovered Osiris. I gave a bit of myself to heal him. I’m sure my sacrifice will be well worth it. Won’t it, you mangy beast?”
The dog butted his head against his master’s hand and licked his fingers. After a moment, he stood and said, “Abutiu will stay here with Osiris and some of Amun-Ra’s elder servants who are not able to fight. The rest of us will head into battle. I’ve been instructed to stay with you and protect you for as long as I am able.” He nodded to Ahmose and Amon. “Are the two of you recovered sufficiently?”
They gave a stiff nod of their heads, indicating that they were.
“Good. You will not be traveling in your bird forms. You’re too big of a target, and we’d like to keep your identity hidden for as long as possible.” Amon and Ahmose seemed surprised by this.
“Where will we be going?” I asked, interrupting. “Is Seth in Heliopolis?”
Anubis shook his head. “Seth is still shackled to his prison, though he has breached the walls. Our goal is to finish him before he loosens his chains and while he is still weak from the loss of the Devourer. It is probable that he’d been counting on her to provide him with enough energy to break free. That is why she sought the mortal realm. Feasting on the hearts of the living would have given her enough power to release him. If Seth had been loosed, we doubt that even we would have been able to contain him.”
“Okay, so where is his prison?” I asked.
“It lies in the only place with a strong enough gravity to hold him—the Waters of Chaos. The obelisk where we trapped him orbits the rim. We should find him there, and hopefully we will finish this fight with our brother once and for all.”
I was about to ask, “How are we going to get there?” “How can I breathe in space?” and “What about Isis?” when the air around us shook.
The fabric of the sky rippled, and dozens of golden forms burst through. My eyes stung as I fought back tears. “How?” I managed to say, which was pretty much the lamest of all my questions.
“They were inspired by the sacrifice of their brothers and decided to come to our aid. They will carry us into battle.”
Unicorns flew overhead, kicking out their legs in a gallop, and whinnying to announce that they’d arrived. I took in the sight of them and swallowed a painful lump. In my mind, I knew Nebu was gone, but I scanned the sky for his familiar form anyway. Losing both him and Cherty along with Ma’at was something I wasn’t going to get over any time soon.
A hand took my arm. “Are you okay?” Amon asked.
“I’ll be fine,” I said and turned to him, hoping to step into his arms for a hug. I stopped when I saw he was already dressed in his golden armor. His eyes sparkled at seeing my consternation. Leaning down, he took hold of my shoulders and brought his lips to my ear. “Someday, I promise, there will be no armor between us.”
I flushed. “I hope so,” I said.
Amon backed away, holding me at arm’s length, and gave me the once-over. “I would prefer to see you better protected, Nehabet.”
I glanced down at my ruined clothing, crinkling my nose. “Me too. I’ll be back. Don’t head off to battle without me.”
His forehead puckered. “I will never leave your side again, Young Lily.”
“Good. I’ll hold you to that.”
Heading off to one of the empty tents dotting the top of the mountain, I summoned the sand and let it cleanse my form. My arms rose, and the ripped, bloody clothes melted away until I wore nothing at all. The wind buffeted and scraped my skin until it gleamed. It tore through my hair, whipping it back and forth until I felt it slapping my bare back, smooth and silky.
When I was clean, the sand coalesced, forming clothing. I closed my eyes and envisioned not exactly what I wanted to wear but how I wanted to be protected. Fabric, soft and supple, wrapped around my limbs. Lightweight plates covered my chest, legs, and arms in a variegated pattern that mimicked my wings. A special harness formed with a pouch between my shoulder blades, and there were rimmed openings in my armor large enough for my wings to emerge.
On my feet, thick boots formed. They were cushioned on the inside and laced tightly up to my knees. Plates grew over the tops of the boots and stretched over my legs, creating shin guards. The toes of the boots were sharpened to shiny points. The heart scarabs now rested in a thick armor plate that stretched from one shoulder to the other.
My gleaming hair was swept away from my face and hung down my back in a straight line. It didn’t even move in the wind. I twirled my spear-knives and slid them over my head and into the harness, then placed the quiver and bow in the spot I’d created. My weapons settled securely against my body. When I emerged from the tent, bending my arms and testing my boots, I didn’t even hear Ahmose or Amon approach.
Ahmose took my hand and kissed my fingers. Though I had gloves, they were fingerless so I could use my bow and grip my spear-knives. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he said, “I am honored to fight at your side. My cudgel, my ax, and the rest of me are yours to do with as you wish.”
“Thank you,” I said, heat stinging my cheeks. “My biggest wish is that we all come out of this alive.”
“I will endeavor to make that happen,” Ahmose said.
Next I turned to Amon, who was leaning against the tent pole with one hip, his hand on the hilt of his blade as he took in my attire. I blushed even harder beneath his gaze and drew my lower lip between my teeth before asking, “Did I forget something?”
His eyes opened wide. “No, Nehabet. I was just thinking that I have never in my long years seen a woman, or a warrior, as beautiful and awe-inspiring as you. I pity the one who finds the pointed end of your spear at his throat, and yet I understand how he feels.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, cocking my head.
“I say this because I know you have the power to dispatch any and all who oppose you. Thus, I pity them. But I understand because s
ince I met you that first time in New York, I have felt a pressing need to surrender myself, body and soul, to your will. Young Lily, I want you to know before we go into battle that I henceforth renounce all the gods and proclaim you are the only object of my worship.”
He knelt before me, took my hand, and kissed it.
If a boy in New York had said something like that to me, I would have laughed my head off enough to bring tears to my eyes, and then would have repeated the story to the cabdriver on the way home. But I couldn’t laugh at Amon. He was utterly serious, and a twinge of worry entered my mind, effectively killing any tendency toward a mirthful reaction.
I narrowed my eyes and looked down my nose at him suspiciously. Yanking him up to his feet, I placed my hands on the broad armored plates of his chest. “You’re not thinking of doing something crazy and noble like you did when you ditched me and headed off to the pyramids by yourself, are you? ’Cause if you are, you should know that I’m a different girl now than I was then.”
Though I didn’t think it was possible, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace, our armor and weapons crunching together. “You are my Lily,” he said. “The same Lily that I feasted with, even if our first feast was warmed-over dogs. You may be more powerful. You may be clothed in battle armor. You may have faced demons and slain a great enemy. But the girl I fell in love with, the one who saved me on the pyramid, the one who carried my heart even then, is the same girl who stands before me now. And I would not change her for all the worlds in all the cosmos.”
He kissed me. And it was sweet and soft and full of every wish and promise that I wasn’t sure either of us could keep. But I knew we desperately hoped we’d get the chance to make it possible.
“I love you,” I said when we broke apart. “But I can’t help noticing you didn’t exactly answer my question.”
“Then take this as your answer. I love you as the flowers love the rain. They open their mouths to drink it in, and it sustains them. You give me sustenance, Young Lily. I will not—I cannot leave your side again.”