Tia clenched my hand reflexively, enclosing the scarab. Carefully, she put it in my lap and turned to the man at her side. Cupping his face, she stared hard into his eyes. “Now, you listen to me, Asten. There is nothing wrong with your heart. There is nothing wrong with you. When this is all over, we will seek an answer to this issue. But for the time being, it matters not.”
“What if it means you are lost to Wasret? Perhaps you should find another who can summon you from the darkness,” he said almost wearily.
“Asten,” Tia said, “there is no one else that I would heed.”
He nodded and then asked almost tentatively, “Do you still want to be bound to me?”
“Can you enact the spell without taking my heart inside yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Then you may proceed.”
Lifting his hands, Asten wove a starry cloud and chanted the spell that would bind Tia to him forever. When it was done, he pulled Tia into his arms and they sat there for several minutes, just simply holding on to one another. We then heard a slight cough on the other side of the curtain.
“You should sleep now,” Asten said. “We’re leaving at sundown.”
Tia nodded. “Good night, then.”
“Good night.”
As she slid from his arms, Tia retreated, and I came forward once more. Opening the curtain, I saw Ahmose and Amon standing there. Taking each of their hands, I squeezed them and then headed back to my cave room. Though I got into bed, I tossed and turned as my mind ran through the various reasons why Asten couldn’t absorb Tia’s heart.
Unable to be separated from them, I put all three scarabs beneath my pillow and buried my hand under it, too, so that my arm touched each one. The little pulses of three separate heartbeats soothed us. Tia and Ashleigh spoke with me long into the night. When we’d all agreed upon a course of action, I finally closed my eyes and slept.
It seemed like only minutes later when a hand touched my shoulder.
“They are gathering above, Lily,” Amon said. “Come when you are ready.”
Groggily, I rose from the bed and splashed cold water on my face. The fresh clothes that lay in a nicely folded stack nearly brought tears to my eyes. After I was dressed in a loose shirt tucked into soft breeches, I made a halfhearted attempt to work my fingers through the tangled mass of my hair but soon gave up.
Carefully, I placed each heart scarab in the quiver where the few precious arrows of Isis lay and examined the leather harness. It had neither stretched nor loosened from the wetness of the Cosmic River. Comfortable boots completed my ensemble. When I was ready, with my bow, quiver, and harness with knives strapped on, I exited my cave and found all three men waiting for me. Nodding to each of them, I said, “Let’s go.”
The servant of Nephthys waited for us at the bottom of the stairs. I followed her up with the Sons of Egypt trailing behind me. After a few steps, my neck felt prickly and hot as if someone held a burning candle too close to it. The heat stole around my neck like a tight collar and crept slowly up to my cheeks.
When I looked back, wondering if anyone else was having the same problem, three pairs of eyes locked on to me. My steps grew heavier. My clothes suddenly irritated my skin. I pulled at my shirt, fanning my skin with the fabric. The blood in my veins became roiling lava. Liquid hunger pooled in my belly.
The fire ebbed when a hand cupped the small of my back. It was like ice touching a fevered brow. Amon murmured quietly in my ear as he lifted the hem of my shirt to rub soothing little circles on my bare skin, “It is a side effect of the bond, intensified by the sphinx side of you.”
“What’s happening to me?” I asked, limbs trembling.
His hazel eyes gleamed in the dark cavern. “The blood of a sphinx is volatile. Especially when she takes a mate.”
I gulped. “But we haven’t…” My words trailed off as I realized how awkward a turn the conversation had headed. “Mated,” I finally managed to spit out.
Amon’s lips twisted. “The fire burned in you before, despite our lack of a—what would you call it—a honeymoon?”
I nodded, grimacing at the same time. I vaguely recalled Dr. Hassan saying something about a sphinx’s blood before. Now I wished I’d paid more attention.
“Do you remember how our bond led you to find me in the netherworld?”
“Yes.”
“Imagine that times fifty.” When I raised an eyebrow, giving him a you-can’t-be-serious look, Amon further explained, “Once a sphinx selects a life companion, they are bound in such a way that only he can cool her fiery blood. When you gave me your heart scarab before we left the netherworld, the first sphinx bond was cemented.”
“But I thought we were bound together permanently in the pyramid,” I said, rubbing my arms, my cooling skin itchy.
Amon shook his head. “That was just you, the human, Lilliana Young. The sphinx bond couldn’t occur until Tia accepted me, too. That didn’t happen until you gave me your heart. If she had been against it, you wouldn’t have been able to draw it out. That Tia and Ashleigh were able to bring forth their heart scarabs as well means that you were all in agreement with the bonds created.”
“Okay, but this fire thing is new. We didn’t burn up at Nana’s farm,” I said. “Does it only happen every so often? Can I turn it on and off?”
“No. Not exactly. The mind is powerful. Without your memories of me, your body didn’t prickle with heat. Since your memories awoke, I’ve been with you enough to keep the fire banked. You won’t normally experience it while you’re close to your bond mate anyway. But when a sphinx heads into battle, which we are about to do, the embers become a wildfire. It is a means of preserving you. The fire fuels your skills in battle. In your case,” he said, “the reaction is amplified even more since you are now bound to three different men. Your blood burns for each of us, and we feel it. It’s a message to us that you are headed into danger. If it happens when we are apart, we can follow it directly to you and, hopefully, assist you in vanquishing whatever foe threatens your life.”
“Wait a minute. You said it normally won’t happen when I’m near you. So what does it mean if we are together when it happens?”
“When we are together, it means…it means you desire to be close.” Amon took hold of my hand, threading his fingers through mine. “When your blood calls,” he said, “we cannot deny the pull. It sings us a siren song. For me, this has always been the case, even before you became a sphinx, but the strength of it is irresistible now. Any separation from this time forward would be almost unbearable for us. Any of us,” he added so the others could hear.
“So as long as you, Asten, or Ahmose are nearby, I won’t burn up like a rocket entering the atmosphere?”
“We must touch you to bank the flame once it begins. But the fire will not harm you, Young Lily, though it may be overwhelming at times. I should have anticipated such a response when enacting three bonds. You are a sphinx and are, therefore, subject to the instincts that govern such a creature. Binding oneself to a sphinx is not something to be taken lightly.”
Seeing my concerned expression, Amon added, “We do not regret it. Not one of us. Do not think to entertain the idea in your mind that we are not as committed to you as you are to us. We take our vows seriously.”
Vows? Does our bond mean we’re…we’re married? Wow. I was so not in the place I ever thought I’d be at this age. I didn’t think I was going to get married until…well, I supposed I’d never really thought about marriage, at least not seriously. But still—I gave my new bond-mates sidelong glances, admiring the stubbly jaws and the strong shoulders, felt the hand entwined with mine, and let out a sigh—a girl could do worse.
When we reached the top of the stairs, we were immediately surrounded by the gods. Nephthys gave me a long, discerning look—the kind that said she knew all the things we’d been up to. “Isis,” she announced, “it’s time.”
The beautiful winged goddess approached and walked around us in a circ
le, murmuring soft words I couldn’t make out. The sun had just set, and the sky was the fleeting shade between purple and black. In a moment it was gone. Then something brushed across my consciousness. I could have sworn I heard the whispering of voices in my mind. They were nothing like Tia or Ashleigh. They felt…foreign.
“This spell,” Isis said distracting me from the voices, “will channel the energies of the cosmos. We will bind you in such a way that you are cloaked from the Devourer. If she captures Amon again, your bound hearts will not lead her to you and vice versa.”
“This is how you and Osiris are connected?” I asked.
“Not exactly.” Isis cocked her head. Her mouth puckered, then wrapped around a word. “Wait,” she said. The goddess closed her eyes and raised her nose as if seeking a scent. When she opened them, she narrowed her gaze on me and said, “Well, well, you have been busy. We knew about Amon, of course, but this…,” she said, indicating Asten and Ahmose. “This is new, is it not?”
Flushing, I nodded.
“I see,” Isis said. “It…complicates things.” Turning to Amon, she asked, “I understand the reasons for using my spell for your own benefit, but why did you give it to your brothers?”
Amon, as tall as the statuesque goddess, stood before her boldly as he answered, “They have as much right to happiness as I do, I should think.”
“Interesting.” A corner of Isis’s mouth lifted, and there was a telltale sparkle in her eye. “And very generous, I might add, considering you’ve bound the woman you love to your brothers. I’ll have to make a few changes because of it.”
He didn’t bother to clarify that the spell enacted had been for Tia and Ashleigh and not for me, but perhaps to her it didn’t matter. Or…I bit my lip, considering. Is it possible Amon didn’t tell me all the details of the spell? Whatever the case, it was too late to do anything about it now. I’d have to confront him about it later.
Isis turned, pacing. Her lustrous wings quivered slightly. I remembered the feel of her feather-tipped arrows brushing my cheek when I drew the string and wondered if it hurt when her feathers fell out.
When Isis came to a decision, she asked me to stand in the middle and for the Sons of Egypt to form a triangle around me. Amon was to place a hand over my heart and his other on the shoulder of Asten. Asten and Ahmose were to also put one hand on the shoulder of the brother standing next to them and then the other one on my shoulder.
“Since you have already chosen to bind your hearts,” Isis said, “I will finish the portion of the spell that Amon started, but know that you will still have the power to walk away should you choose.”
“Hold on,” I said. “I thought our bonds were unbreakable. That nothing could ever come between us.”
“And nothing can,” Isis said, “except yourselves.”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“You have bound your hearts, but as you know, a heart can be broken.” Isis glanced over at her sister, Nephthys, who lowered her head to stare at her hands. “There is a deeper bond, though, than just the exchange of hearts. It is a union that is shared by two beings who cling to one another so tightly, they become one. This is the spell I have created that connects me with Osiris. It is a bond of souls, of the cosmic power that makes up the both of us.
“To enact it, I had to give up a part of myself. Now we share our energy, feel one another’s pain. If one dies, so does the other. This is a hidden spell. An invocation not even Amon can discern, for it was enacted here on this mountain, where not even the stars could be witness.
“I will not coerce your affections or take your agency from you to create such a lasting bond at this time. But I will link the six of you. From this point on you will be yoked together. The only way to separate you after this will be to break the yoke. When this happens—if it happens—it will devastate you. You may recover from this break, but you may not. Do you understand?”
We all voiced that we did.
“Again, know that I will not touch the bonds you created yourselves; instead, I will create a syzygy, a powerful spell that will serve to strengthen the ties between the Sons of Egypt as well as those of the Progenitors of Wasret.” She touched a hand to Amon’s shoulder, her face full of sympathy. “Amon, if you had come to me, I could have guided your path, strengthened the bond you attempted so that truly nothing could sever it. Such a tie would have prevented all that has befallen your loved one. It is unfortunate that the one you chose to love is the one my sister was waiting for.”
Amon stiffened his shoulders, and his eyes met mine. They were full of sorrow and apology. I wanted to reassure him, to tell him I understood and I had no regrets. Maybe he was able to read my mind, but I suspected he had turned off that ability. He chose to respond to Isis with only with a nod.
“Sister,” Isis said, “it is time to begin.”
An icy rush of air swept over the mountain. My skin prickled and turned as cold as if my arms were frostbitten. When the wind died, I stood there, eyes closed, feeling the beating of not one, not three, but six hearts. Swallowing, I opened my eyes and found I was looking straight into Amon’s. He gave me a brief smile and raised his eyebrows in a silent question.
A slight nod told him that, yes, I was okay. I was, in fact, more than okay. After the spell, I felt an even deeper connection to the others. It had nothing to do with love, though—at least not romantic love. It was more like we were a unit, a team of warriors heading into battle. If we were asked to put ourselves in harm’s way to protect each other, then that’s what we would do.
Amon raised his hands in the air, murmuring a spell, and sand gathered around him, swirling in heavy gusts. When it settled, he was dressed in gleaming battle armor, his deadly scimitars strapped onto his back. Sand swirled around Asten and Ahmose as they also prepped for battle.
I stood, uncomfortably wringing my hands. Nephthys approached. “Why do you not use your power to create your own armor?” she asked.
How could I share my fears with the goddess who’d been seeking Wasret since, pretty much, the dawn of time?
Isis touched her sister’s arm. “She is worried that calling forth her power summons the other,” she explained.
“Ah,” Nephthys said. She compressed her lips, studying me for a moment, her eyes brighter than an Iowa sky. Then she said, “I understand your hesitation. You wish to remain yourself for as long as possible.” When I only nodded miserably, she went on, “Your ability to clothe yourself was present before you added Ashleigh to your circle, was it not?”
“Y…yes,” I stammered, remembering how Nebu taught me how to use my newfound power in Heliopolis. “And Amon’s scarab clothed me in armor when I faced the Devourer in the netherworld.”
Nephthys smiled. “You may continue to draw upon this. It comes from within you. It is a part of being a sphinx and therefore not exclusive to Wasret. The protection that comes from your heart scarabs is a visible result of the love your young men have for you.”
I swallowed. “Are you certain?”
Isis laughed. “If my sister says it, then it must be true.”
Nephthys’s expression tightened, but then she took hold of my hand. “Trust me in this.”
“Okay,” I said, blowing out a breath. “Here goes.”
Carefully, almost hesitantly, Tia and I worked together to draw upon the power of the sphinx. Particles of sand blew over our feet and encased our legs. Becoming more confident, we summoned more sand. The wind blew harder, creating a shifting wall between us and the others. My clothing battered my body, and my hair whipped back and forth like frenzied Medusa snakes.
When it settled, I wore a boned leather vest that cinched my waist. It was plated with thin-pounded armor. My blouse was dark and made of thickly woven gray material, as were the leggings I wore. Armor-plated boots and gauntlets protected my lower legs and wrists. A metal collar and shoulder plates finished out my attire. The clothing was heavy, but it would offer protection. Especially if we had to g
o after those sky-demon things.
The harness had shifted from my shoulders to a leather belt that slung low on my hips. My spear-knives were now easily accessible, one on each hip. I practiced drawing them out, and when I returned them, they snapped back into place almost of their own volition.
The quiver and bow were still in their usual positions across my back. For a brief moment, I panicked, unable to find the heart scarabs in the quiver. Then Isis pointed to my midsection, and I saw the twinkling scarabs were now embedded in my belt. Amon’s was in the center, and the other two on either side. When I touched them, the sparkling gemstones spread out in overlapping scales that wrapped around my body like armor. They were hard as diamonds, but they weighed nothing.
Isis walked around me, inspecting my attire. She frowned and shook her head.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, patting the wound braids that created a chignon at the nape of my neck. “Did I forget something?”
“I think you did,” she said.
I checked my quiver, tugged on my shirt, and looked over at Asten, who just shrugged.
Sighing, Isis said, “It pains me to see such a gift wasted.”
“What gift? The bow and arrows? I’ve used them as little as possible, but—”
The goddess hissed and waved her hands. “No, I do not mean the arrows.”
“Then what…?” I began. The goddess lifted her wings pointedly and rustled them.
At seeing the still-clueless expression on my face, Nephthys came to my aid. “What my sister is wondering,” she said, “is why you aren’t using your wings.”
“My…my what?” I asked, wondering how I had found my voice.
“Your wings,” Isis said. “I was sure Hassan understood,” she mumbled.
I put my hands on my hips. “Apparently, you played things a little too close to the chest.” I pointed a finger at the goddess, waggling it in the air, and then swept it in a big arc. “That goes for all of you.”
Isis sighed and gave me a long-suffering look, like I was a child asking her to explain the most basic of things. “Do you not remember that the symbol you found on the temple was that of the Greek version of the sphinx?”