26. Drew
Drew
W ell, crap.
In all the furor to get the necklace and find out if it worked, I’d forgotten all about the elixir that would keep my thoughts private. Now my entire mind was his for the taking.
I stood still back in Horus's office as he walked circles around me, huffing, puffing and chuckling to himself as if he were demented. He probably was, but I still tried to keep myself calm, my mind clear, my thoughts solely on him. Maybe I could protect myself that way, and most importantly, maybe I could protect everyone else.
"It's cute," he said after a while. "That you think you can hide anything from me. Your mind has never been more legible." He stood in front of me and his dark eyes reached all the way into my soul, infecting it with their evil. "Your little act of defiance worked far better than you could have anticipated. Your little potions kept so much from me and I never knew you were taking them or I would have ordered you to stop ages ago. It's honestly quite impressive. I don't think anyone has ever managed to evade me for so long."
I didn't do him the favor of answering. I didn't need to. He could read me like an open book.
"Open book indeed. And what a book! You cheeky little witch," he tapped my cheek several times, each strike stronger than the last one. "You didn't tell me just how powerful you are. And I see my brother's cock has made you stronger. How…predictable. He always was a man slut."
I choked. "That's rich, coming from you."
He raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Oh he talks indeed. And here I thought you were going to keep all your insults inside here." He poked at my head and I felt his finger long after he removed it. "I don't have sex because I enjoy it. I have sex to teach you people who's the boss. I do it to teach you subjugation. You understand, right?"
I understand you're a sick son of a bitch!
The slap came before I'd even finished my thought and it reverberated through me like a pulsating wave that never ended.
"Don't insult my mother. She was a sweetheart," he grumbled.
"Well, in that case, you're a dickbag. Is that better?" I growled.
"Much. Thank you." He stopped and studied my face for a moment, no doubt piercing through more of my mind. After all he hadn't been able to rape my thoughts along with my body all these years. This was probably a feast for him.
"A very powerful witch indeed. And thanks to my brother we've even gotten rid of that little breathing problem of yours. But, Drew, tut tut tut. You never told me you're the proud owner of a stēgi!"
"What can I say?" I shrugged. "You never asked."
It was as if I'd never even spoken.
"And not just any kind of stēgi. A stēgi that can reset time itself. I was wondering how you were doing it.”
“Doing what?” I growled.
“Resetting time. I was feeling the déjà vu but I didn’t realize it was true until I paid your brother a visit and he kept thinking how he’d relived all this.”
I frowned.
“That’s how you knew we were coming!”
That still didn’t explain how Gene could feel it. For Sett, it made sense. He was the god of clarity. But Gene? And Yaya. I assumed it was because she’d been in the house but maybe it wasn’t…
Maybe the three of us were linked somehow.
I reached up to my tattoo and bit my lip. Was that…why? The triquetra became hot under my touch and I reminded myself to ask Sandro.
If I ever got out of here.
“How wonderful,” Horus said, piercing me with his terrifying gaze. “So many people, so many gods to possess. And with your stēgi…think of all the things I could do with such a base of operations."
I choked back a laugh, or a cry, I wasn't sure which and bit my tongue as if that would stop that retort from forming in my head.
"I can tame anything, little Drew. Haven't I proven that already? All I need is the scarab with my power, and then no one can stop me."
"I will," I said. "I'll find a way."
"You can shut up now. I'm bored of you," he said and turned his back to me. "You've gone and sullied yourself with my brother's body. I couldn't be more revolted. If you didn't have such a useful power I'd have gotten rid of you already. Maybe I still will, once I take over your house. I won't need to stop time when I can reset it."
I wanted to tell him to keep on dreaming. To shut his mouth. To go fuck himself, but I couldn't. Not when his command was wrapped around my lips and every other extremity, keeping me from doing anything that didn't please or satisfy him.
"You disappoint me so much, Drew. I thought you wanted to be by my side when I ruled the world. I thought despite your objections you understood what I wanted to do was important."
What you're trying to do is sickening, you fucking bastard!
"Regardless," he went on as if I wasn't even there anymore, and approached his desk. He opened a drawer and retrieved a key that looked a lot like one of our skeleton keys. "I'm glad I kept your brother's things. What do you say? Shall we pay your stēgi a visit?"
My eyes grew wide and I wanted to defy him. To stop him. To deter him. But I couldn't. There was nothing I could do without his permission. All he had to do was slide the key into any door and he could infiltrate our only safe space and poison it with his evil.
"Any door, you say? Very well," he said and without missing a beat walked to his office door, closed it and I held my breath as he slid the key into the keyhole.
Of course it fit. It fits any door, anywhere. It doesn't discriminate.
I couldn't warn them. I couldn't save them. Everything we'd done was pointless because we'd managed to let him into our inner sanctum.
I'd managed to do that, all on my own. Because I’d acted before I thought and now everyone would pay the price. It didn't matter that we'd rescued Gene and Anubis. It was all pointless. They'd be back under his control in no time. And so would Yaya.
He turned the key and pushed the door open but it didn't budge.
A little sliver of hope pulsed through me. Maybe Spiti was stronger, smarter, than I thought.
But my hope only lasted for a second before Horus turned and glared at me.
"Come on, boy. Give me a hand."
I moved swiftly and decisively toward the door and put my hand over Horus's as if he was my friend and not my mortal enemy, and together we pushed the door open.
Of course it let us through. No matter what, Spiti wasn't alive. It wasn't human. It couldn't think. It could only obey its inhabitants. Even if letting one of them in meant bringing chaos.
The familiar square landing welcomed me in its bosom only we weren't alone. Sett was halfway down the stairs. Yaya and the young men were at the top turning from Sett to us with shock in their eyes.
"What the…" Yaya started when the floor gave way under me and I started falling.
My guts twisted and my throat tightened, the tumble dark, never-ending and headache-inducing. Until I landed on something hard and a faint light illuminated both Horus and Sett.
"What-what is this?" Horus asked as Sett stepped up held out a vial and tipped it upside down.
Gold grains fell down and swirled around him like little sparks of light that intensified with every passing second until the room was so bright it blinded me and the grains poured down on me like torrential rain.
"Oh this? This is my playground," Sett said with a smirk.
Sand. It was sand. It was everywhere. It covered the floor. It covered my clothes. And it still wrapped around Sett like a storm, like sheets of velvet and glitter. And then it swirled around me like a bright light that reached all the way into the darkest parts of my soul and eradicated any trace within that wasn't mine.
"No. That's not supposed to happen. This isn't fair!" I heard Horus but he sounded far away. When I opened my eyes, or when my vision cleared, he was right there, his face a work of art.
A work of art that I couldn't wait to smudge into oblivion.
"You. Freeze him. Now," he said.
I smirked and took a deep breath. Horus's actions slowed down to a halt and filled my lungs again, knowing that whatever happened next, he couldn't take control of me again. Never again. Not with all this sand around.
I never needed a necklace to bind me to another god instead of my cruel master. All I needed was a room full of sand and my Sett.
He'd protect me. He'd free me. He'd love me. Always.
Sett stepped through the sandstorm like the king he was, his skin appeared darker but shone as if cast in gold. His hair set in the shape of a crown and every muscle in his body flexed as if they struggled to contain the man and his power.
He knelt before me and placed his fingers under my chin, piercing me with his gaze. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"
I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him before I was able to articulate any words. "I'm okay. I promise, I'm okay. You saved me."
Sett held me close and I reciprocated. I didn't want to let go. I didn't want to break this moment. It was as if it was a spell and letting go would unwind and take me back to square one.
"I'm sorry I abandoned you. I'm sorry I left you behind."
I pressed the side of my head to his and breathed in as if clear for the first time in my life.
"You didn't. I sacrificed myself to save all of you."
"And I'll live with that regret for the rest of my life," he said.
I pulled back and stared at him. "Don't say that. Don't think that. You have nothing to regret, okay?" I said but before he could answer my gaze landed on Horus. "Do you have the scarab?"
Sett turned to his brother too and dug into his pocket to retrieve the little golden bug that was the final piece of the puzzle that was my life.
"Ready?" He asked as he rose to his feet and I nodded.
Sett closed the gap between him and Horus and punched the scarab into Horus's chest but he didn't let go.
Not when Horus came back to life and not when he struggled against him, trying to swat Sett away, trying to take control of the situation and reclaim his power. He punched, he kicked, he growled and I felt each strike as if it were on me.
It didn't matter. Sett held on no matter what pain his brother inflicted on him. Even when an axe formed in Horus's hand, he didn’t let go despite the blood pouring down his nose and mouth painting his skin. Sett held on no matter what until Horus stilled as if suspended in time.
A thin layer of light appeared around Horus like a ghost one second and the next it dissipated, swallowed by the buzzing scarab on his chest.
Horus fell back and Sett yanked the scarab off him and stumbled back into my arms.
"Is it done?" I asked.
Sett turned to face me and nodded. Sweat and blood beaded his face. His eyes were puffy and purple. His nose broken. He could barely hold himself up. I welcomed him in my arms and set him down, before I ran my hand across his cheek.
"You did great, my love. You can rest now. I've got it," I said and Sett nodded.
His eyelids became heavier the more he blinked and I watched him like a hawk to make sure he was okay.
Just when I thought he was going to pass out, his eyes went wide at something behind me. I turned just in time to see Horus with the axe in his hand aimed right at me.
Before I could even react or breathe it flew off his hands and landed a few feet to my side, lodged in sand, then…
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The three loud sounds only made me more confused when Horus convulsed.
I watched the depowered god as one ring of blood appeared in his chest, then another and another. The color drained from his face just as if it were his life and he sank to his knees, finally giving me a view of the person behind him. Yaya stood there, shotgun in hand and a furrowed brow that was even more intense than when she was scolding Gene and me.
"Die, fucker. Die," she said and took a step toward us, pointed the shotgun at Horus's head again and shot him there just to be sure.
"Yaya!" I said, half in shock, half in awe and hugged her. "You saved us."
She rolled her eyes at me. "That's what yayas do."
I nodded and she ruffled my hair. "You're alive then."
I grimaced. "Uhm...yeah, I guess."
"I knew you'd be okay. You're strong, like me."
I guessed that was her way of telling me she loved me and she was glad I was okay, but then she pulled me into her arms and squeezed me so tight I almost had an asthma attack.
“That’s more like it,” I said, hugging her back.
Sett groaned and we both turned to him.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
He tried to support himself, glaring at his dead brother on the sand. "A-axe," he said. "Axe."
I turned and looked at Horus's axe. I didn't need to be told twice.
I unwedged it off the floor, gripped it with both hands and told Yaya to step back.
"What are you doing? He's dead," she said.
"Just making sure..." I groaned and brought the blade down on Horus's chest, "he's dead for good." A zing of magic burned through me but I ignored it and pulled the axe out to strike him again. And again. Every time the blade came into contact with skin, I felt the singe of energy and it gave me confidence in what I was doing. When there was barely any body left, I dropped the axe and turned to Yaya. "You killed his human body.” I panted. “I killed his spirit. Can you say dream team?" I offered her my fist.
"Can I say what now?" she asked, ignoring my fist.
I chuckled. Of course she didn't know what a fist pump was. But I loved her anyway. She had saved me. Saved all of us.
"Nothing," I said and turned to help Sett up. "We should get out of here."
I glanced up to the ceiling that was several miles away and hoped the house had a way of letting us out without needing to fall or climb. A door appeared in the middle of a small sand dune barely a second later.
"Good house," I mumbled.
I put Sett's arm around my shoulders and supported him by the waist. His chest inflated and when he breathed out he stood a little taller.
"That…was easier than I thought it'd be," he said.
I grimaced and made my way to the door. With each step Sett seemed more and more able to stand until he was walking all by himself.
"Yeah, sure it was. We just had to die a couple hundred times."
"For you, I'd die a thousand more," he said.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. "All right, Christina Perri," I snorted but despite the joke, his words crept all the way into my heart and made a home there.
Maybe…maybe we'd be okay, after all.