Sett and his King (Demon Gods #3)

6. Drew

Drew

I jumped and turned to face Yaya.

Goddess!

I didn't know why I was so startled. It wasn't as if I didn't know Yaya would be here. She was always here, at home. Maybe I was just relying on Spiti keeping her away from us considering it also kept trying to get us into bed.

Or maybe I was hoping it would keep her safe considering the chance Sett could be a danger to us all.

But then again, Spiti was a bastard sometimes so of course there was no logic to its madness.

"Yaya! You're here!" I got off the stool and approached her to give her a kiss.

She frowned and turned to stare at Sett.

"He's acting as if I'm not always here," she told him. "You know I can't leave, silly boy."

I huffed and started to translate when Sett took Yaya's hand and gave her a big smile.

"Why can't you leave? Do you need help with anything?" he asked her in perfect Greek.

Well, perfect ancient Greek, which was a whole other beast, yet Yaya understood him. And so did I. That was weird considering I flunked in Ancient Greek at school.

"Oh, no. Don't worry about me. Such a sweet boy."

She patted his cheek a couple of times as if he was just any guy. I guess to her he was. I grimaced, staring at Sett hoping he didn't take offense to my grandma but he just smiled and squeezed her other hand tighter.

"Thank you, but you said you can't leave? I'd like to help if possible."

"Yaya Penelope is stuck at home. There's nothing we can do about that."

Sett turned from Yaya to me.

"Why?"

Yaya dismissed the question and let go of Sett so she could go around the kitchen to tidy up. Even though there was nothing to tidy up. There never was. Spiti took care of everything for us.

"Uhm…a few years ago she was dying from old age. In order to save her, Spiti trapped her here."

He nodded as if he was slowly coming to a realization.

"I see. And because stēges exist outside of time and space she can live indefinitely as long as she is within its walls."

"Ah stop talking about death now. It's bad luck." Yaya shook her hand in the air as if warding off evil and grabbed my glass of wine to take a sip. "Where's Evgenios? He's not been home all day. Have you seen him?"

Yaya looked at me. So did Sett. I felt on the spot. I usually did where Yaya's staring was involved but for some reason, right now, I felt like I'd been caught red-handed in a lie even though I hadn't uttered a word.

"I…I just saw him. He was out with some friends. I…I wouldn't disturb him for a few hours. He…he looked exhausted."

Yaya nodded and continued drinking my wine while Sett stared at me as if questioning my decision to not tell the truth.

"That boy. He needs to learn to take care of his body. He never rests properly," Yaya muttered and sat at the kitchen island. "Oh. Andrea! You should have told me you were hungry. I'd have made something quick."

"But there's stew," I said.

"Yeah, but it won't be enough for two strong boys like you."

Sett glanced at me but if he wanted to say anything he hid it behind a smirk.

"We're fine Yaya. I promise."

Yaya nodded, staring at her glass—well, my glass. She remained quiet as if looking for an answer in her wine. The atmosphere became charged, almost suffocating.

I hated keeping this from her, what had happened to Gene. But I couldn't tell her. Not now. Not yet. Not until I'd had a chance to save him. I didn't need her to worry. I was worried enough for the both of us.

"My grandson is a good soul, Your Majesty," she said after a long pause that felt longer because of the war inside my head.

Your Majesty?

She knew who he was? How?

I stared from her to Sett and back, trying to understand but unable to.

"Thank you," Sett said. "I know he is. I can tell."

I almost groaned. I had to physically stop myself from doing that. I was not a good boy. I wasn't a boy and I didn't even know if I was good anymore. But one thing I did know was that I'd get my brother back no matter what.

"And so are you," she added.

Sett nodded in gratitude and I bit my lip.

What did she know? She'd never dealt with gods before. She didn't know the kind of atrocities they were capable of. It didn't matter what kind of packaging they came in. Whether they were handsome with a beautiful smile. Whether they had eyes that could make your heart skip. All gods were monsters and nothing would ever change that.

"I didn't think I'd ever get to meet one of you," she said and I froze. "But I feel very privileged to have met you."

"You're very kind," Sett replied.

"History hasn't been kind to you, though. So be careful. Whatever you're helping my grandson with, just…watch your back."

I glared at Yaya.

Why was she being like that all of a sudden? Did she know what was going on? How was it possible?

"Always," Sett answered. "But what do you mean history hasn't been kind to me?"

He turned to look at me and Yaya set her glass down.

"You didn't tell him?" she asked me.

"Tell me what?"

Yaya gave me a soft smile that never quite reached her eyes and stood. She patted Sett's shoulder and slowly walked into her bedroom, leaving me alone with the god in my kitchen.

His golden eyes shimmered as if pleading with me. He appeared almost wounded, pleading with unspoken words lingering in the air and I didn't know what to do with myself.

It wasn't my job to fill in Sett on what history had made of him in the last few thousand years. It was his job to help get the scarab so I could save my brother.

"Andreas?" he reached for my hands, the charge of his magic sparkling in the air around him even before he managed to touch me and I stepped back.

"Don't call me that," I said.

It was time to set some ground rules. It was time to get to work. I'd wasted enough time.

"My name is Drew," I said.

"Okay. Got it. Drew it is," he replied. "I'm sorry if I did anything to offend you."

I turned my back on him and closed my eyes.

I couldn't keep looking at him. I couldn't be alone in the same room with him. I couldn't forget he was nothing but a ruthless creature. Just like his brother.

"It's okay," I said. "Let's…let's just get on with it. We don't know how much time we have."

I walked out of the kitchen and turned to see if he was behind me. He wasn't. He stood in the middle of the kitchen staring at me and it took everything in me not to forget my resolve and give him a big hug.

"What?" I asked.

"What did your yaya mean about history?"

"You're still on that?" I walked back into the kitchen but kept my distance from him.

Just because he looked like a wounded bird, didn't mean he was.

"Your history lives on in legends and tales," I said. "You're infamous for being a trickster god who had it out for Horus."

"What?" he cocked his head and set the glass down. He started walking toward me but I put my hand up. "What do you mean? I…I need to know."

"We don't have time for fairy tales?—"

"Please, Drew. Please help me understand. It-it's important to me."

There it was again. Those puppy dog eyes. That quiver in his lip. I didn't even know if it was intentional or if he was putting on an act, but whatever it was was convincing.

"Fine. Follow me," I said and walked out of the kitchen with a sigh.

I walked straight into Dad's office and Sett appeared right behind me.

"Get Sett his answers," I said to the house. "And be quick about it."

Immediately the room started reorganizing itself before our very eyes, expanding into a vast space, a library full of endless books. Some of them started falling off the shelves but before they hit the floor the room shrank back down again leaving those books stacked on the desk. The old computer blinked into life and the chair rolled back, welcoming Sett into its arms. He took a seat like a king on his throne.

He opened the books and started reading while I watched. I knew we didn't have much time. I knew we should be getting on with the search and yet I couldn't stop staring at him and how careful he was being with the books, how engrossed he became in the task of reading his story. He even used the computer after a while, first with some hesitation as if unsure what to do with it but then he clicked and scrolled like a pro.

I didn't know how much time passed before he was done. Time was so...arbitrary in this house. But when he finished, he pushed the chair back, stood and glanced at me.

"I…I see," he said.

He'd turned from a pleading god into a sad god and I hated seeing it.

What I hated more?

My body's reaction to his sadness.

"Are…are you okay?" I asked before I could help myself.

He nodded. "I see my brother's propaganda persisted. He erased me. He erased us all."

"Erased who?" I asked.

Sett took a deep breath and smiled.

"No one. It's okay."

He was protecting himself. But it wasn't from me. It was from his feelings. And for some reason it made me upset to see it.

"You know…you can talk to me. I…I'm a good listener," I said and took two steps so I could squeeze his arm.

His big, strong, defined arm.

I pulled back as if I'd burned myself and he stared at me but didn't comment on my reaction.

"We should get out of here," he said. "We should find that scarab."

He said with a touch of a growl to his voice and turned the door. He walked toward it and opened it and I stood behind him, looking out into the city beyond.

Cairo.

Without a word, Sett crossed the threshold and I stared at his back the whole time as if that would help reveal his secrets.

I wished I knew what Horus had done to him. Why he hated his brother so much. What kind of things had been left unsaid, things that had been left out of the history books. Because it was as clear as anything that Sett would do anything to kill Horus.

I took a step forward. One step closer to saving my brother.

I didn't care about the gods and their grudges. They could all kill each other for all I cared.

I just had to get my hands on that scarab.