We headed toward a ruined garden and hid beneath a gazebo. The overhanging vines and broken tree branches cloaked us well enough. I slid from Nebu’s back and saw my reflection in the murky waters of a round reflecting pool. My wings twitched. I definitely didn’t look like the girl I’d once been.
Wings aside, my hair, usually long, straight, and glossy with product, was wild and unkempt. I couldn’t even begin to determine its color. It curled in a similar way to Ashleigh’s. Even the shade of my skin had changed. I’d once been as pale as moonlight, but now I was as tan as if I’d spent the summer in Florida.
My frame had always been svelte, but now my limbs were lean and strong, more like Tia’s. Even my temperature had changed. My new normal was somewhere between hot tub and a recently blown-out match. I wondered then if my body was still truly mine or if I was morphing into someone new.
Amon came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me awkwardly, trying to encompass my wings as well. I pulled them back into my body, and he turned me around, taking in my frowning mouth and wrinkled nose.
“What is wrong?” he asked his eyes shining with an iridescent green light.
“Pretty much everything.” I sighed. “I don’t feel like myself. Everything is wrong. The wings are just another thing on top of all the others. I’m a stranger in my own skin. As out of place as a pair of flip-flops at a fashion show. I’m not the girl you met in New York, Amon. Not anymore.”
“No, Nehabet,” he replied. “You are not.” I raised my eyebrows, surprised that he wasn’t trying to placate me. “You no longer walk the path of yesterday. Whether that is a good or a bad thing in your mind is for you to choose. All I know is that your soul is an unquenchable flame. It crackles like a storm cloud full of lightning. The changes to your body mean nothing. I would know you no matter what your form.”
The corner of my mouth quirked up. “Are you trying to say you’ll love me when I’m old and gray?”
“No,” Amon said. “I mean to tell you that I will still love you when your physical form becomes dust and nothing is left of either of us except our wills. Whatever becomes of us, wherever death leads, I will find a way to be with you. Do you believe this?” he asked.
I pressed my forehead against his. “I think I do,” I said.
Nebu stamped a hoof, pawing nervously at the ground.
“Something is wrong,” Ahmose said, approaching from the place he’d been standing guard. His silver eyes burned in the night. “A lot of paths just abruptly ended. Something has happened to the contingent sent to rescue Osiris.”
“I thought you couldn’t sense them,” I said.
“Remember when I said the paths here were difficult to discern?”
Nodding, I said, “Yes. You couldn’t follow the paths of the gods.”
“Right. Well, the group led by Ma’at to Amun-Ra’s home was large enough that I could make it out. They entered, several paths converging on the same place, but then they just…just disappeared.”
“We’ve got to help them, then. So, what’s it going to be?” I asked. “Sneak in or fly up to the top?”
“Both,” Amon said. “Give me and Asten a head start, and then you three fly up. Hopefully, we can provide enough of a distraction that you can get in, get Osiris out, and get to safety.”
I was about to protest when Amon took my hand. “Asten will provide cover for us,” he said, knowing how I would respond to separating. “Remember that because of our connection we are now cloaked the same way you are. She won’t sense us.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded in agreement. Asten and Amon crept through the darkness and disappeared into the shadows between the remaining buildings.
About twenty minutes later, Ahmose decided it was time. He climbed on Nebu’s back, and I spread my wings. We flew up and up, circling the dark city. When a sky-demon screeched, Nebu flew close, his wings brushing the building where it crouched. Ahmose quickly bashed it over the head with his cudgel. It crumpled, falling from its perch, and its thick body hit the ground below with a heavy thump.
If there were other sky-demons around, they were quiet. We landed on a damaged balcony. Stone broke away as Nebu’s hooves touched the surface and we tucked in our wings. Quietly, we made our way inside. I pulled my spear-knives from their sheaths. We were now on the opposite of the large room where we’d first seen Osiris, but there was no sign of the god. There were, however, some very discernible bloodstains where he’d once been.
Treading farther, we came upon the fallen warriors who had accompanied Ma’at. Ahmose crouched down and turned over one of the bodies. “Their hearts have been eaten,” he said. Grimly, we inspected room after room, but we found nothing except broken furniture and shattered glass. There was no sign of Asten or Amon. Dread built in my chest.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Where is everybody?”
At that moment, a boom shook the building, and I stumbled against Ahmose. After helping me regain my feet, he took my hand. “Come on,” he said. “That happened in the courtyard.”
We peered down off the balcony. The air was full of sky-demons—many more than we’d seen leave. They were being joined by their returning brothers, who carried captives in their talons.
One of the captives broke away from the sky-demons. He was joined by a snarling hound. “Anubis,” I hissed to Ahmose. When he was cornered and captured once more, I watched in horror as the Devourer exploded in a flurry of bat-winged creatures and then materialized before him.
Her throaty laugh caught on the wind. “Ah, now, here is one I can take my time with.”
The dawn sun stretched its light over the scene below, bathing the courtyard in blood-red rays. Before Ahmose could stop me, I leapt over the side, snapping open my wings and screaming a battle cry. Sky-demons veered to attack, and I eviscerated one with my knife and tore the wing of another. Nebu and Ahmose soon joined me. The unicorn’s hooves barely missed my head as Ahmose sank his cudgel into the shoulder of a flying demon before it could grab my wing.
We fought our way to the ground slowly, dispatching demon after demon. They dropped one by one to the courtyard below. The Devourer looked up to watch our progress, a confident, glee-filled smile on her bright face, but it took much longer to reach her than I’d anticipated.
Once we got to the ground, I headed directly over to a still-alive sky-demon and sank an arrow of Isis into its back. It writhed and squirmed, but it didn’t answer me when I demanded its obeisance.
The Devourer’s laugh carried to me from across the bloody field. “Did you think I wouldn’t learn from my past mistakes?” she said.
“These are loyal to none but me. And,” she added as she strode closer, “they don’t have enough of a mind to manipulate.”
Yanking out the arrow and seeing it disintegrate in my hand, I quickly plunged my spear-knife into the beast’s head. It slumped over, a black tongue lolling out its mouth. Up close I saw the immediate change in its skin as it turned from a dark bronze to an unhealthy green to an ashy gray. Chunks of it broke off and turned to dust as the creature melted. It was like watching corroded metal disintegrate. One. There was only one arrow of Isis left. With a shiver, I turned to face my enemy.
Nebu landed lightly beside me, and Ahmose leapt down. Dozens of sky-demons still swarmed above us, but they seemed to have a healthy appreciation for our skills, because they didn’t attack again.
The Devourer glanced up at them, her mouth downturned in a sour expression. She raised a hand, crooking her finger at Ahmose. “Hello again, handsome,” she said. “Back for another kiss?”
When Ahmose said nothing, she pouted prettily. “No? And here I was willing to set aside this luscious one just for you,” she said, indicating Anubis. “If you’ll excuse me. I’ll have to get to you next. I’ll save you all for my dessert.” Ignoring us, she turned back to the god.
“Something is wrong,” I hissed to Ahmose. “She’s not even concerned that we’re here. Considering th
e fact that I almost did her in last time we met, I’d think she’d show at least a tiny bit of worry.”
“I feel you are right. She has set a trap for us. But until we can discern it, we must attempt to free her captives.”
Abutiu, Anubis’s loyal dog, lay next to him. He had been struck with a lance. It impaled him, fixing him to the ground where he kicked limply, struggling to get to his feet again to protect his master. Ahmose and I stalked closer, determined to stop her before she even began to think about draining the god.
“There, there,” she said to the handsome god who wrenched himself back and forth, trying to escape the demons who held him prisoner. “It won’t hurt. Much,” she added with a devilish laugh. Placing her hand on his chest, she trailed her palm down to his stomach. “Oh, my,” she said, biting her lip, “I do like a man who keeps himself fit. By the time they get to me, all the men are so starved. It’s almost doing them a service to consume their hearts.” The Devourer clucked her tongue in appreciation. “It’s so rare to find such a…vigorous specimen. I’d rather like to savor you awhile.”
Placing her palms against Anubis’s tight stomach, she pulled him closer, opening her mouth to let her green light leak out.
“I don’t think so,” I said and pressed a button, elongating my spear. Taking aim, I threw it. Spinning like a javelin, it headed straight toward the Devourer’s heart. But before it struck, a man dropped from the sky, grabbing it in midair. He touched lightly down on the ground and dropped my weapon. It landed in the grass with a heavy thump.
My heart broke as Ahmose said the name I couldn’t bear to utter.
“Amon?”
“Amon?” I echoed, after I regained my ability to speak. “What are you doing?”
The Devourer turned to us. “How nice. I was wondering when you were going to make an appearance. I should have known that whenever the girl arrives, you won’t be far behind.” The woman put her hands on her hips and strode boldly across the grass, but as she did the entire area shimmered and faded.
The Devourer disappeared for a moment and then came back into view. She must have been distracted by the incident as well. She halted and laughed, spinning in a circle, her arms in the air. “Soon, my minions,” she cried out to what I assumed were her sky-demons. “Very soon now.”
That doesn’t bode well, I thought. What’s she up to? Something was wrong. The Devourer was entirely too confident. I hoped it didn’t mean she had Amon under her thrall again. We’d only been separated a short time, but where she was concerned, anything was possible.
Amon had vanished at the same time she did. When he reappeared, he headed in our direction. I braced myself for an attack. But as he drew closer, I relaxed, seeing the warmth in his eyes, rather than the blank nonexpression he’d worn in Heliopolis. He was still my Amon. “We cannot kill her yet,” he said as he ran up to us and returned my weapon.
I took it, relieved that he was still on our side. “Why not?” I asked.
“We must close the barrier to the mortal realm first. Seth has given the Devourer the power to breach it.” He held out a hand, circling the area. “Do you see where it’s starting to bleed together? It should be visible to you now. With the Eye, I noticed faint traces when we entered the building.”
When I indicated I couldn’t see anything, he scanned the grounds and then pointed up to the broken towers of Heliopolis. There was a shimmer in the air, and when I squinted, I could just make out Times Square. “Oh no,” I said. “It can’t be.”
I ran forward, spinning as building after building took form. They phased in and out as if trying to gain purchase in Heliopolis. A moment later, sidewalks and streets appeared, along with ghostly images of mortals from my world. Soon they became aware of our presence and walked around us with irritated glances and raised eyebrows.
All at once, I was in New York City, and I could see what was happening from their perspective. A group of passersby stopped cold and looked up, staring in confusion at the ruins of Heliopolis that began to replace buildings in the city. A famous theater became a crumbled building of marble. The Devourer, who’d disappeared again, materialized nearby and tried to latch onto a passing mortal. He screamed and threw up his arms to defend himself, but her hair swept right through him. Quickly, he ran down the street.
A cop made a beeline toward us. I can’t imagine what he thought we were—a winged girl standing next to a golden unicorn and a villainess with needle-sharp hair. Next to us were Ahmose and Amon, two men that could have stepped out of a video game, one with a large cudgel and the other with gleaming gold scimitars. Maybe they’d think we were an elaborate advertising ploy for a new show on Broadway.
A large broken fountain with a statue of a benu bird taking flight appeared in the middle of the street, causing the cars to veer abruptly. A cab slammed right into a minivan, and the cop lifted his radio, gesturing wildly as he tried to control the screaming crowd. But as quickly as the fountain materialized, it disappeared again, and we went with it. I was back in Heliopolis, but the tall tower of Amun-Ra still flashed with rippling pixels announcing an upcoming movie, then it too faded into stone.
An oncoming taxi suddenly burst from the air. It zoomed straight in our direction. The driver didn’t seem to see us. Amon shouted and grabbed my arm, but we were trapped between the fountain and a building. The familiar sounds of the city came back at us all at once. The driver finally saw us and braked, but he didn’t react quickly enough. He was going to run us down. I raised my arms instinctively, my wings shooting out on either side, but the taxi barreled through us like a ghost and faded into the mist along with the noise of the city streets.
“It’s getting worse!” I exclaimed when I saw the shifting between the two worlds increasing. “We’ve got to stop it! Are you sure killing her won’t work?” For the moment, the Devourer was distracted by a panhandler.
Amon shouted, “If we kill her first, the celestial barriers will burn. The crossover will happen abruptly instead of in stages, and the two realms will implode. All the creations living in either realm will be instantly unmade. Either way, Seth wins.”
“How much time do we have?” I shouted as I waved our party over to a space where a sidewalk became visible. In New York we appeared to be standing in an alley between buildings. A fire escape shimmered above our heads, merging with our reality and then vanishing again.
“Until the breach is irreversible?” Amon asked, thumbing his bottom lip with his fingertips. “I would think it would happen fairly quickly. Her sky-demons are hovering, waiting until they can enter the mortal realm and sweep up the living victims, gathering them for her to consume. Once she begins feeding…”
Amon trailed off, and I shuddered. “Where’s Asten?” I asked, suddenly realizing he wasn’t nearby.
“He…” Amon’s face fell. “He was taken by the sky-demons. He’d been scouting one building while I checked out another. By the time I heard his shout and found him, he’d been engulfed by an entire contingent. From all appearances, he came upon a nest of them sleeping. I would have attempted a rescue, but by the time I fought off the stragglers, Asten was gone.”
My claws emerged as Tia yowled in my mind. We must save him! she screamed.
We will, I comforted her. But first we have to stop the Devourer.
“How do we close the breach?” I demanded, taking hold of Amon’s shirt and yanking him away from a delivery truck that came out of nowhere driving up our alley. I didn’t let out a breath until it passed us by.
“Only celestial energy will seal the breach,” said Amon. My vision blurred. Where are we going to get celestial energy?
Amon glanced up at the unicorn, who peered back at him and blew a soft breath from his nostrils.
Resignation filling my soul, I closed my eyes and prepared myself to call forth Wasret. We were out of options. Nebu nudged my shoulder.
I can close the breach, he said. Unicorns have such power. You already know we can cross through the barriers. W
e can seal them as well. But a yawning opening such as this will require help from many of my kind.
“Will they come?” I asked him, laying my hand on the unicorn’s back.
He seemed to hesitate, then answered, They will if I ask.
Amon stepped closer. “Are you certain you wish to do this, Nebu?”
I cannot think of a nobler cause than this, Revealer. Thank you for helping me see the possibilities. Nebu pressed his cheek against me, resting his head on my shoulder. Farewell, young sphinx. Perhaps, if the gods are willing, I will see you again.
“See me again?” I said, but Nebu moved away, stepping out into the street. He rose up, his front legs pawing the air, and when he came down, hitting the ground, a wave of electric power shot out in every direction. The entire area shook, and we stumbled as if we’d been caught in the epicenter of an earthquake. Nebu’s golden body flickered, and a bluish light trickled down his mane and over his heaving form, turning him as white as a pulsing star. Golden sand particles lifted from his skin and hovered where his alicorn should be.
The Devourer rose from where she was leaning over a baby in a stroller and scanned the ghostly crowd suspiciously. When she saw Nebu, she took in his new appearance and screamed. She ran toward us, abandoning her search for human hearts, but her efforts were too little, too late.
The land trembled and split in two, cutting the Devourer off from us as dozens and dozens of unicorns emerged. Their whinnies and pounding hooves were loud enough to distract even the sky-demons. They quickly vacated the area, taking refuge as best as they could in the transitioning buildings.
Nebu nickered loudly, and the animals surrounding him responded in a wild cacophony of noise. He touched his head to one after another. When he did, the unicorns danced and shook their bodies. Golden sand exploded from their forms until they were as pure white as their leader.