Chapter Thirteen #2
“Thank you.” Gello pushed her heavy fall of curling red hair over her shoulder. “You look radiant as well, Sun God.”
Gello was Holly's (the Holy Spirit and Azrael's mom) best friend and about as different from Holly as you could get, both in appearance and temperament.
Her skin was tan, though not as dark as Ma'at's, her eyes were poison-green, and she had a voluptuous body that put mine to shame.
She got her looks from Lilith, her mother. Yes, that Lilith.
“Can we get back to the souls?” Anubis demanded, his glossy black shoulder-length hair swinging forward, the golden tube beads strung upon several locks clicking together.
His black eyes swirled with colors like an oil slick.
I used to think it was simply a unique feature, but now I think it's evidence of his Death Magic—the aura of souls.
Whatever it was, it was creepy, especially when he was mad.
“One soul arrived in Heaven, but he doesn't remember who he was,” I said. “I'm assuming it's the same in the other afterlives.”
“My tablets are missing as well.” Thoth, my least favorite Egyptian god, even less than Ptah (the one who tried to kill me and ended up turning my son into twins), came into the corridor.
He lifted his pointed chin and set his sharp eyes on me.
He was nearly as thin as Ma'at and nearly as powerful as Anubis.
God of Magic, Writing, Science, Judgment, and Mediation.
To me, he was a scrawny idiot who thought he was a genius, with an absurdly long neck and a bad attitude.
“Your tablets?” I asked. “What tablets?”
“The Emerald Tablets upon which I recorded the history of Atlantis and the secrets of science and alchemy. They are priceless!”
“You recorded the history of Atlantis?”
“Yes, someone had to. For fuck's sake, Vervain, it's in the myths. Don't you read? My people knew I was an Atlantean. I never lied to them.”
Re cleared his throat. “Pretending to be gods enabled us to help them.”
Thoth made a face. “As you say, Great One.”
I lifted my eyebrows at Re.
“It's true.” Re grimaced. “He told them about Atlantis. The rest of us didn't appreciate his candor.”
“Yet they worshiped me anyway.” Thoth smirked.
Re cocked his head. “Did they, though?”
“They did!”
“Only because we told them we were gods, and so they made you one through association.”
“Enough!” Anubis snapped. Then he saw Re's lifted eyebrow and cleared his throat. “All due respect, Grandfather. We'll deal with the souls later. Vervain, can you track the thief?”
“The thefts and missing souls could be connected,” I said. “We're not sure yet. We think the trickster has been stealing god relics again. Two other gods have come to us to report similar thefts, and the magic condenser is also missing. There was no trail to follow.”
“Will you look anyway?” Ma'at asked. “Maybe they slipped up. Or maybe it's unrelated.”
“Yes, of course. That's why I came.”
“No one gets into Duat without my knowledge.” Anubis met my gaze in challenge.
“The trickster has gotten past many wards.
We don't know how they're doing it. Maybe it's a talent they stole from another god, or maybe it's something they've developed.
Either way, they can get past any ward. And with the magic of Unseen, you wouldn't see nor sense them even if they stood next to you. They leave no trace of themselves, not even a scent.”
Anubis scowled.
Gello patted his arm. “Vervain is the best tracker we know. If she says they don't leave a trail, they don't.”
“But I will still look.” I motioned at Ma'at. “Will you show me where you kept the feather?”
“Yes, this way.” Wringing her hands, Ma'at led us through the corridors and around a corner, into another wing of the palace.
We passed several werejackals in uniforms. They were in their human forms, but unlike most shapeshifters, the werejackals' primary form was a jackal, not a person. Meaning, they always thought like animals, even when in human form. They followed us with their stares, lips parted to taste the air.
Brightly painted murals gave way to pure white walls of plaster, marble, and wood.
Pops of color came from furnishings to temper the pale background.
In Ma'at's wing, the style was one of comfort—gauze curtains, plush couches, chaise lounges that curled at one end, and thick blankets tossed everywhere.
The art was watercolors and marble statues.
A few Egyptian artifacts stood in display cases and on pedestals, but they were lost among the modern furnishings.
Side tables held photographs of Ma'at in tropical settings, wintry mountains, and even underwater.
Several men were in the photographs with her.
One man in each photo, not several in all of them. That's more my thing.
“I kept it in here.” Ma'at took us into a room with a white piano and a view of a private garden. “Even if your trickster made it past the wards, I don't know how he could have found it.” She pressed a rose in the molding, and a panel swung open in the wall.
“They took my scepter. And that was hidden even better than this.” Re motioned at the cabinet that was revealed.
“Truly?” Ma'at glanced at Re before opening a drawer. “It was in here.”
“Yes, truly,” Re said as I went forward.
“And Odin slept atop magic condenser,” Kirill added.
My senses had already shifted, my mind interpreting scents as colors.
I could see Ma'at everywhere and a few traces of Thoth, but nothing else.
She may have a full social life outside of Duat, but she hadn't brought anyone here.
At least not in the last month or so. I ran my hands inside the drawer and pulled out the velvet liner to search for notes.
But there was nothing. The only note left so far had been for Odin.
I was starting to wonder if the trickster was involved at all.
“I'm sorry. There's no trail.” I looked at Thoth. “Do you want me to—”
“No,” Thoth cut me off. “It will likely be the same, and I'd rather you not invade my space.”
“Thoth!” Anubis growled, sounding a little like the jackals he commanded.
“No, it's fine.” I waved Anubis back. “He's right. It's probably a waste of time. And I don't want to see his wing anyway.” I stuck my tongue out at Thoth.
The thin man bristled, pulling himself straighter. “It's the most glorious wing of the palace.”
“Doubtful,” I said in a bored tone.
Thoth's mouth fell open, and he made gasping sounds. “It is! Damn it all! This way.” He strode out of the room.
Anubis snickered. “Well done.”
“It was the truth.” I sighed and followed Thoth. “I don't really want to see his wing.”
We went out of Ma'at's palace wing and past the judgment room.
The massive door in the far wall led to the rest of the underworld.
Once deemed worthy, souls were let past where they waited on a shore for a boat that would take them down a river, through several gates, and past the homes of the gods to their new homes.
I didn't look at Anubis's throne, where I had once sat at his feet, chained to him.
I did, however, glance at Anubis and saw him stretch his neck awkwardly.
So, I wasn't the only one uncomfortable with those memories.
“Starlight?” Viper laid his hand on my back. “You all right?”
“You call her starlight?” Anubis asked before I could answer.
Gello, my husbands, and I stiffened.
“I don't believe it's any business of yours, Grandson,” Re's voice took on the resonant tones of power.
Anubis glanced around, his gaze lingering on his wife. “No, it isn't. Of course not. I was just curious.”
“I'm a star god, and she's my star,” Viper said proudly as we entered Thoth's domain.
I cleared my throat. “This really is lovely, Thoth.”
“Thank you.” Thoth glanced at Anubis and then lowered his head.
Thoth had a thing for Anubis. Most of his animosity toward me stemmed from his jealousy. And yes, I think he was even jealous of Anubis torturing me. Love can make you crazy.
As for Thoth's wing of the palace, I wasn't lying.
We passed rooms decorated with obsidian, gold, and deep jewel tones.
The lack of clutter and bright colors was calming, and the scent of sandalwood lightly rode the air.
More masculine than I had imagined Thoth's home to be, it was still beautiful.
There was art from every century adorning walls and shelves, including primitive tools and sculptures.
It was part museum, part spa, and part home.
There was an indoor pool, a room with a black lacquer bar, and a two-story library.
It was the library into which Thoth led us.
It was three times the size of mine, with free-standing bookshelves soaring two stories, rolling free-standing ladders to get at the books, library tables with little gold lamps, display cases full of antiques, and lecterns with priceless books on display. The spellbooks alone had me salivating.
Thoth pulled a bookshelf out from the wall with a secret handle.
“Aw.” I made a disappointed face. “A handle? Bookshelf doors are supposed to open when you pull a secret book-lever.” I mimed sliding a book out, but not removing it from the shelf.
“You've been watching too many movies.” Thoth rolled his eyes.
“And you haven't watched enough. You can make anything with territory magic. Hiding the lever in a book would be just as easy as hiding a handle.”
“I cannot believe we are having this argument.” Thoth shook his head as he led us into a secret room with a central table and display cases covering the walls.
“A treasure room!” I clapped. “Nice.” I hurried to peer into the glass cases, wondering what Thoth valued more than the antiques he had on display.