Chapter 7
Horus
“Charlotte!” I yell as I kneel next to her and shake her shoulders. She passed out a few moments ago while I was dealing with Ammit. Of course that slimy croc managed to give me the slip after some well-placed shots to the ceiling causing even more glass and debris to rain down in this museum.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I managed to get a bullet through any vital parts. Someone needs to pursue her, but for right now I need to figure out what’s wrong with Charlotte.
“What happened in here?” comes a husky feminine voice that belongs to Bastet.
“Ammit happened. Where is Thoth? Charlotte seems to be hurt, but I’m scared to move her.” Mortals are so fragile, and I am not nearly the healer that my mother and Thoth are. I’m better at breaking things than putting them back together.
“Thoth found the security guard’s body. He’s bringing it with us to have Anubis take a look.”
“Well, tell him to get his ass here now,” I growl. “Her heart rate is slowing.”
“Don’t ruffle your feathers, little falcon. I’m here. What is the fuss all about?” Thoth says as I hear him approaching where I’m kneeling with Charlotte. “Oh, give her to me, boy. She’s bleeding out. I can at least patch her up until we get back to headquarters.”
There are so many cuts on Charlotte’s body, it’s hard to tell if it was all from the glass ceiling or if there was a major scuffle before I arrived. None of my bullets grazed her since I waited to shoot once she was out of the line of fire. If I hadn’t come when I did, she would definitely be lost, and the location of the tablet along with it.
I stand to let Thoth take a look at her and realize that my pants are wet. I look down to see them coated in a thick, red substance. Charlotte’s blood is pooling on the floor where I was kneeling and my heart drops.
“What the hell happened to her?” I snap at Thoth.
“She has a deep knife wound in her upper arm. It looks like it nicked an artery. I need to get her to Anubis right away. He’s better at stitching an injury like this.”
“Well she will be dead if we don’t stop the bleeding now!”
“I’ve managed to stop the flow of blood, but she has a lot of glass pieces embedded in her among other injuries. I can’t heal them all and if I seal the wound now, she will just end up dying from infection. Stay calm and help me lift her. We need to portal her to headquarters now.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I’m spiraling over this woman that I barely know, but deep down I know she is going to be an integral part of finding the tablet. I can’t let this all be for nothing. So, I open my eyes and ignore the blood that squishes under my boot as I step up to Charlotte’s unconscious body. “Just open the portal and let’s get her some help.”
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My heart rate has evened out now that Charlotte seems to be stable. Anubis assured me that we had gotten her there just in time and she would make a full recovery, but even magic has its limits. She would need to stay in a magically induced coma for the next couple of days to allow the healing magic to take effect.
“Mortals and their slow healing,” I mutter.
“Waste of magic and time if you ask me,” Bastet replies. “As soon as we find the tablet, she will have to be killed anyway. She has seen too much.”
She, Thoth, and I are back at the museum trying to put the atrium back together before the morning shift arrives and search for the missing tablet piece. So far, the latter seems to want to continue to stay out of our reach.
“She could be an asset, Bas. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and off her at the first chance.”
“Did you forget what happened the last time we let humans into the fold? It got us into this mess,” she sneers.
“I am inclined to agree with Bas on this one. The girl is more of a liability than an asset,” Thoth says as he comes through one of the back doors into the main atrium of the museum. “On another note, I didn’t even need to wipe the camera footage. It looks like the Black Scarab cronies did that for us. Most likely they created the constant camera loop when they started the blackout.”
“You don’t think Ammit was acting alone?” I ask.
“Doubtful. She is more action than technology specialist. She most likely had help when she first arrived.”
“I am going to start tracking her and see where the trail leads,” says Bastet. “I have a portal key. So, I will meet up at headquarters when I’m finished.”
Thoth and I both nod as she heads out of the museum. No use in going with her as backup. Bastet is lethal and can definitely take care of herself. She has more weapons stashed on her person than is ever necessary.
“So, was there footage to see what might have happened to the tablet? Also, what happened to the security guard?” I ask Thoth as we get back to work trying to magically rectify the mess made in this museum.
“I’ve made a copy, but from the little bit of the footage that is left before the blackout, it seems that Charlotte did indeed find a piece of the tablet. She had it in an examination room, but once the blackout hit I cannot tell where it went after that. As for the security guard, I found him dead stuffed in a storage closet. I brought his body to Anubis to examine. He can get more out of the dead than any of us, and he has the patience for it.”
“So, we still need Charlotte to tell us what happened. How soon before she wakes?”
“She almost died, little falcon. Remember that mortals do not heal like us. You heard Anubis. It will be a couple of days at the earliest before she can wake.”
I feel like a child being reprimanded by an elder, but of course I have forgotten how fragile they can be. I have not really interacted with humans on a personal level for several centuries. Even so, those limited interactions I did have were to find information or to let off some steam. Nothing that required me to get close. It’s hard to rationalize how it happened, but I have started to get close to Charlotte.
At first, she was just a woman looking into a piece of our history that might succeed where others have not. That’s what my job has been for the last couple of centuries. Look into people of interest that might find these pieces of tablet and keep them out of my uncle’s reach.
She was just a mark but I’ve had to learn her whole life history and habits for this job. In doing so, she has started to become more than a mark to me. I know how she likes her tea and that she likes to celebrate sunny days with that special chocolate pastry that she buys. She has a smile that makes the world seem to stop for a moment just to bask in her happiness. She is determined and smart, but most of all she radiates positivity. Maybe that’s why I felt drawn in like a moth to a flame when I first laid eyes on her, or maybe the centuries are taking their toll and I’m starting to lose my sense of godliness as my father would put it.
I need to remember that she is just a job and a means to find a part of the tablet. Bas and Thoth do have merit when they say humans are a liability. Just look at what happened with Cleopatra. She was what we all considered a good friend. Being associated with us not only killed her and her family, but the entirety of Egypt was claimed by Rome. These mistakes cannot be repeated and must be avoided at all costs.
“It’s hard to remember they are fragile when it has been so long since their involvement in these matters,” I reply.
“Yes, of course. I remember those times fondly, where we were not only worshiped but loved and befriended. Strange to see how we are viewed now as though we are merely myth,” Thoth says as he stares off into space and is clearly recalling fond memories of times gone by. “But alas, this is how things must be. It is too dangerous for humans to get involved. I hope you understand what must be done after we find this piece of the tablet?”
“You mean kill an intelligent woman who’s only mistake was finding a mysterious artifact? Sure, no problem.”
“Cut the sarcasm, Horus. She cannot be trusted to keep everything she has seen to herself and we cannot be out in the open anymore. We have kept the Black Scarab guessing as to our next moves and our whereabouts. Don’t let that all go to waste for a human woman.”
As the final pieces of glass float up the ceiling of the museum atrium and mold together, looking as if the glass is brand new once again, my heart sinks for what has to be done. Sometimes immortality is a pain in the ass.