24. Drew
Drew
Y aya walked us to the front door and just before we left, she held my hands and spat on either side of me to ward off evil then she proceeded to do the same with Sett.
"May the goddess Soteria watch over you always and forever keep you safe."
I kissed Yaya's cheek and felt her warmth radiate to me. I really should have confided in her sooner. I should have told her what was going on as soon as Sett had cleared my mind from Horus's compulsions. But better late than never. I just hoped this time would be the last we'd ever need all these wards and protections.
I walked out of the house and back into Horus's porch and when Sett joined me and Spiti's door was shut, he kicked Horus's front door in just like he'd done before.
I followed him inside and froze everyone around us who looked at us with equal amounts of shock and horror. I took in the room disgusted by the level of undress of some of the men. I didn't know if I never noticed before or if I'd been ordered not to notice but my throat filled with bile at the view.
All this time I'd believed I'd had it worst, I'd been one of Horus's favorite toys both in and out of the bedroom but at least…at least I got to go home at the end of the day. The ones he didn't favor as much, the ones in here, the boys and men who never left—who could never leave—had it so, so much worse.
They weren't just disposable in Horus's fight to ascend to his ultimate throne, they were puppets, marionettes who were never truly free to make choices, not even given the illusion of freedom like I had.
I stopped in front of a big, topless, bulky man and took a deep breath.
Why had I always seen him and others like him like the enemy? Like Horus's faithful little soldiers when no one wanted to be here. Maybe they had, in the beginning when they’d sworn allegiance to him like I had, but Horus didn't like choice. And this man, all of these men, they were trapped here.
"I'm sorry," I told him.
I would do better. If— when we defeated Horus, I'd take care of them. I'd set them free.
"Drew, are you okay?" Sett asked from the other end of the room.
I turned to him with some hesitation. There was a part of me that didn't want to let this man, any man in this room, alone. I wanted to let them go now. To give them their lives back. But as long as Horus was around, whether frozen in time or not, they were all a security risk.
"Yeah," I croaked. "Yeah, I'm okay."
I joined Sett and together we ran down to the basement, where just like before, we found Gene, Anubis and Horus frozen still.
I looked at all three of them, running through all the options at our disposal. Trying to figure out the best way forward even though we already had a plan in mind.
Sett worked his sand magic around the room while in my head I walked up to Horus and planted the scarab in his chest like I'd done before. But I wasn't about to make the same mistake again.
Instead I approached my bound brother and held him tight. I needed him to be safe. I needed him to survive this time. I couldn't take any more deaths. Not his, not Sett’s, not mine. I needed us all to live. Only one person in the room deserved to die and it wasn't us.
I held him tight and closed my eyes, focusing on unwrapping my magic from around him until he hugged me back.
"Drew. I was so worried," he said.
"You were worried? Are you kidding?" I glared at my brother but I squeezed his pretty face with my fingers like I used to do when he was little.
"What's going on? What are we—" he started when Sett stepped forward and blew sand in his face.
Gene turned away and coughed but once the sand cleared he looked at me as if for the first time.
"Drew! You came," he said.
I glanced at Sett and thanked him silently. That was good thinking. If Anubis had been compelled nothing guaranteed Gene hadn't too.
"Of course I came. You're my little brother. It's my job to protect you. Idiot." I rubbed his shaven head and Sett broke his chains.
“Everything is…so weird. I don’t understand what’s going on,” he said.
“What do you mean?” I narrowed my eyes and stared at my brother as if that would help me understand the damage Horus could have done to him.
“I…I don’t know. It’s as if…” He ran his hand down his chest, where Anubis had cut through him before. “As if the last couple of days keep repeating themselves. As if I keep dying and coming back to life.”
Impossible.
He shouldn’t remember. He shouldn’t have felt his previous deaths or any of the other loops. He shouldn’t remember them.
“I’m not sure how…” I started and caressed his face. “I’ll explain later,” I said. I hoped the shock of his deaths would fade for him like it had faded for Sett and I. I hoped he’d forget.
"What about Ani?" he asked, turning to look at Anubis.
"Don't worry. Nobody's getting left behind," I said and gave him his key. "Now go. Get home. Yaya is waiting for you. She's eager to see you again. We'll be right behind."
Gene took the spare key and stumbled toward the basement door when he slid the key into the keyhole and disappeared back into the safety of our ancestral home.
"He's good. He's safe," Sett confirmed, taking me in his arms and I savored the embrace for a moment before I let go and focused on Anubis.
Time unwrapped from around him like a silk cloth dropping to the floor and he faced his father.
"Father? Is that you?" he asked.
Sett stepped forward and broke Anubis's chains.
"Are you okay? Are you still compelled?"
"Compelled? Compelled by what?" he asked then turned to face the frozen Horus to his side. "Oh. Is that…is that who I think it is?"
Sett and I both nodded.
"I have no idea what happened. I don't remember anything."
I narrowed my eyes. That must mean everything Anubis had told us in the previous iteration was all Horus's doing. As if he wanted us to know what he'd done. As if he wanted to brag. I guessed narcissists needed validation no matter how powerful.
"Drew? Are you okay?" Sett asked and I nodded, shaking myself back to the moment.
"Yeah. Are…are you ready?"
Sett's eyes went wide at my reply and I was about to ask him what was wrong when I heard it.
"You came back. You truly must love me," Horus said. "Anubis, kill your father."
I turned to face my master and tormentor and fear washed all over me.
Fuck! What happened?
I’d lost my concentration on my power, my thoughts had wavered and now Horus was awake as a consequence.
"I'll take care of you," Horus said and his axe appeared in his hand.
The mere presence of the weapon stole my breath away and I backed up even as its blade came down on me.
I tried to stop it. I tried to freeze him again but it was too late. The blade crashed into my chest...
And melted through me.
"What?" Horus shouted but I was already back on my feet, and put distance between him and me.
Sett and Anubis were going at it like two enemies instead of the father and son they were. Anubis's scythe came down on Sett but he blocked each attack with his khopesh but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't fight back without risking his son's life and he couldn't not deflect or risk his own life.
Potion or not there were only so many attacks he could take before he got hurt and Anubis was swift like the wind. He moved so fast and gracefully that half the time he was just a blur. But Sett gave as good as he got.
"You, come to me," Horus said and I looked him in the eyes, defying his order.
"You can't control me anymore, you bastard."
Horus smirked. “I may not be able to control you but I can still kill you."
He ran across the room and it took me by surprise. I'd never seen him so active, so athletic. It was always his lackeys—his prisoners—who did his dirty work while he watched.
I jumped out of the way and scampered back to my feet, taking a deep breath, but my power didn't work. Horus's blade came down on me like a guillotine. Once again, it was as if I was intangible. It went right through me. I barely felt its metallic assault on my body.
But it wasn't time to rest. I didn't know how many of those hits I could take. And Sett was in a similar situation. The more he resisted his son's attacks the more Anubis managed to dig his scythe into—or through—Sett.
I kicked Horus in the head. He stumbled back and I got to my feet and back up, crashing against Sett’s back as we faced both our attackers.
"How long is this potion going to last?" Sett asked.
"Not long. I've never made it before but Yaya said there was only so long before it wore off."
"We're stuck," he said.
"Can't you clear Anubis's mind?"
Sett sighed. "I already used all the sand in this room the first time."
"Shit."
Horus came for me but Sett spun around and blocked his attack while Anubis's scythe tried to nick me in the shoulder, but he didn't succeed.
I glanced at my necklace then at Anubis.
Anubis growled at me. He resembled Horus like that. I didn't like it. This wasn't the real man. Just his uncle's puppet.
Anubis tried to hurt me again and I grabbed the ankh of my necklace.
This was a bad, bad idea, but it was the only one I had.
I took the necklace off and walked right into Anubis's blade hoping the potion hadn't worn off yet.
The scythe went through my chest like a spear, but I wasted no time. I put the necklace around him and pushed him and his weapon back.
He stumbled and shook his head clear.
"Oh no," he said. "Are you okay? Whoever you are?"
I nodded and stepped to the side.
Sett looked at me and the color drained from his face.
"What have you done?" he asked.
"Save your son, Sett. Now!"
I took a deep breath and froze Horus, giving Sett and Anubis some time, but it didn't last long. My breath was erratic, my body reeling from all the fighting. Horus started moving, as if in slow motion. He was resisting my power. He was in control of me again.
"Go. Now."
Sett tried to reach me, to touch me, but Anubis pulled him back. As a last act of defiance I dug into my pocket, took out my key and threw it at them.
Sett caught it in the air, shaking his head. Tears streaked his cheeks. "Drew! I can't…I can't leave you."
"You can and you will. Get them to safety, then come for me," I told him. "Please come back for me."
He pierced me with his gaze and the gold in his eyes seemed to dim a little. "I will. I promise you I will."
"I believe you," I said as Horus's actions sped up.
Sett and Anubis reached the door just as Horus came to and commanded me to freeze time.
But it was too late.
They were gone.
And I was Horus's prisoner once again.
Only now, I knew my brother was safe. There were no aces up Horus's sleeves. We'd ripped them all from him.
"Well, well, well. Look who grew up," Horus said and approached me, my body so still I couldn't even look him in the eyes. "Let's have a little look-see into that head of yours finally, shall we?"