Sett and his King (Demon Gods #3)

18. Drew

Drew

S he would know.

She had to.

She was the oldest witch in town. Granted she wasn’t as old as Sett or Horus, but she’d been around. She’d seen things. My knowledge paled in comparison to hers.

And this time I could ask her for what I truly wanted. When I was here a few days ago—or was it yesterday? With all this time resetting itself things were starting to get complicated on that front, but when I was here before I couldn’t ask her to free me of Horus. It wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t even a thought that crossed my mind. Surely Horus’s intricate work on my already fragile mind.

But this time?

My mind was clear as day.

We took the path under Camden Lock bridge and I stood to the side, leaning against the railing that overlooked the canal. I took a deep breath and dug through my pocket as I stared at the stone wall in front of me and the faded Minoru on Tour poster stuck on it.

Even that reminded me of Gene. He was a Minoru Minion through and through. He’d spent more than reasonable for a ticket in the arena in hopes he’d get up close and personal with the young singer. But I didn’t care. If that was what made him happy I’d spend a million on a ticket. I’d spend our whole fortune, do a hundred bad jobs to fund it. As long as he was around. Alive and around to hear him sing “Love me like a unicorn” and drive us all nuts with the earworm.

I took a red gemstone, a fire spell, out of my pocket and threw it into the water. It bubbled and boiled on impact and with a simple, but magical whoosh , the stone wall parted to allow us access into Mother Red Cap’s lair.

“Clever witch,” Sett mumbled as we walked into the tunnel.

I shrugged.

I didn’t know if she was clever. She was a survivor, like most of us these days. I couldn’t blame her for using every precaution to keep people away, I was just grateful she’d accepted my simple spell.

Seeing as I didn’t often deal in spells, I didn’t have any precious gemstones lying around. I wondered if she’d accept a potion for entry. Would that mean she’d only give me a potion in return? As if I didn’t know how to make any potion known to man.

No.

I wasn’t looking to exchange a spell or a potion for another. I was here looking for information.

She was sitting at the fire pit in the center of the room as soon as we walked into the main chamber and she barely lifted her head to greet us. Instead she pinned us both with her emerald gaze as if we weren’t welcome.

“You’re not, in fact, welcome. But you’re back so soon,” she said and rose to her feet, “I simply had to know what could possibly have gone wrong.”

I stopped dead on my tracks and stared at the old witch.

Fuck!

I’d forgotten my Apokryphon Elixir.

“Fuck indeed,” Mother Red Cap said and I felt a chill down my spine.

She could hear my thoughts. She could hear everything. Just like Horus.

Mother Red Cap smirked. “And I can hear your deception. Isn’t that what you’re worried about?”

I didn’t nod. I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Not anymore.

“You came into my home, tricked me into summoning a god for you all so you use him for your master’s nefarious purposes. Isn’t that right?”

It was hard to swallow, I could have choked on nothing.

How the hell did she know all that? Could she wade through every single thought and memory and pull at strings to read me like an open book?

“He wasn’t himself. He didn’t mean to deceive you.”

Sett stepped in front of me, raising a hand over me protectively and I could have cried right there on the spot.

I hadn’t had anyone in my corner like that in so long, I’d forgotten what it was like to not be alone. To not have to face everything all by myself.

“Relax, kid. I don’t care why you came to me. I only care that you did. You think I didn’t know you were keeping things from me? I may not have been able to read your mind, but I could read everything else about you. You think I don’t know what a god’s servant looks like?” Mother Red Cap’s stone-cold expression softened and she prompted us to have a seat around the fire as she sat back down and crossed her legs, staring at us both.

I took another step and sank down onto the seat opposite her trying not to let my relief show.

Not that it helped when she could literally pick it up from my mind.

“Has anyone told you you think too much?” she asked.

“I fear for the people you’ve been dealing with if you think this is thinking too much.”

She didn’t respond, just held my gaze as if challenging me to think something worse. Something bad. Or something inappropriate.

Sett sat next to me and leaned over to grab my shoulder. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Mother Red Cap smiled.

“What now?”

“Nothing.” She put her hands up.

“If it was nothing you wouldn’t be smiling wickedly like that.”

She chuckled. “I was just thinking…you broke him very quickly. It usually takes them a few more days.”

She turned from me to Sett and I narrowed my eyes.

“What are you talking about?” I asked even though I knew exactly what she was referring to.

“Don’t worry, my dear. It’s nothing bad. I love to see it.” She turned to me and puckered her lips into a cheeky smile. “Now tell me. What can I do for you? You can’t possibly need another god, could you?”

I shook my head and studied her eyes as if daring her to let me in on her thoughts. I’d heard so much about her and yet even after my second interaction with her, I couldn’t quite figure out her angle.

“I need you to help me break my bonds from Horus. I need…I need to find a way to stop him from taking control of me for good.”

Her gaze turned to the fire burning between us and it gave her eyes an eerie glimmer that danced along with the flames.

“That…is beyond my means, I’m afraid.”

My heart sank.

“What do you mean beyond your means? You’ve been around a long time. You can’t tell me you don’t know of anything, not a single resource that could help me?”

“If your master was human, a witch, or a Nightcrawler, I could help you…” She clicked her fingers. “Like that. But a god? That’s way beyond my powers and knowledge.”

I shook my head.

“No. It can’t be. You’re lying.”

Mother Red Cap smirked and glared at me again.

“Do I look like I care enough to lie?”

“You might not know, but you don’t need to be insolent,” Sett growled beside me.

“My apologies, Your Majesty. I don’t mean to be insolent. I simply can’t help you.”

“Maybe you just lack the incentive.”

Sett also stared at the fire when he spoke to her. He didn’t raise his tone. He didn’t frown. He simply glared at the flames as a sandstorm rose around us and came together to trap Mother Red Cap in her very own blizzard.

Mother Red Cap’s calm demeanor dropped momentarily as she looked around, no doubt searching for a way out, but there was none.

The sandstorm had raised her above the ground, it had thrown her hood back and set her dark red hair into a wild frenzy above her.

And then she clutched at her throat as if…as if he was sucking the air out of her.

I turned and stared at Sett. He appeared unfazed by it all. He wasn’t even looking at his victim. He was so powerful and yet so serene at the same time.

I’d never seen him like this. I’d never seen him in many ways, but it struck me in that moment how powerful he truly was.

He wasn’t a regular witch. He wasn’t a superior human. He was a god. The god of violence, although that title didn’t suit him. Not in the slightest. He was a master of sand and a god of freedom and he was hot as all sin.

The sandstorm ceased just as fast as it had started and Mother Red Cap fell to the floor, her hair a knotted mess around her.

“How about now? Did that jog your memory?”

She raised a lock of hair from her face and looked at Sett, but it wasn’t with anger. But neither was it fear.

“You…you think you’re the first god to attack me?”

I grimaced.

Just how many had she brought to life into this world? Was she the one who had awakened Horus?

“No. Not him,” she snapped at me. “I never summoned him. But you know some of the others.”

I stared at her for a few moments before I even allowed myself a breath.

“They can’t help me.” I deflated.

I was never going to be free of him, was I?

“Are you sure about that?” She raised an eyebrow at me and I wished for the hundredth time this hour that I could read her mind like she could read mine because I had no idea what she was talking about but I had a feeling that, in her own, twisted way, she had just given me a clue.

I just had to follow the breadcrumbs.