Chapter 24
Charlotte
A couple hours later, I’m tapping my foot on the pavement around the corner from the museum entrance while I wait for Horus to meet me.
He left to go get the portal-key and my packed bag from my flat, while I got a shower and dressed for our museum adventure. We were to meet back here at 10:00 AM.
It’s 10:02 AM and my anxiety is spiking with horrible scenarios running through my mind of what could have gone wrong. Just as I’m about to start pacing, Horus rounds the corner with a drink tray in one hand and a brown bag in the other.
He gives me a winning smile once he sees me and I realize he has my duffle bag across his back. On him, it looks small enough to be a backpack and he shoulders it like it weighs nothing.
“I figured I would stop on the way and get some midmorning snacks.”
He hands me the to-go tea from The Tea and Tattle. My heart flutters at the realization that he stopped at my favorite tea shop and remembered my order. He even has my favorite pastry in the brown bag. Could this god be any more perfect?
“Don’t look so surprised. I pay attention even when you think I’m not.” He gives me a little peck on the nose and proceeds to eat his pastry.
Once we are finished with our mid-morning snack, we enter the museum through the same employee entrance as the day before. We decided at breakfast it would be best to start our search in the main atrium and try to retrace my steps from the first attack with Ammit.
“So, walk me through what happened before I arrived,” Horus says as we step into the sun-filled atrium.
“You mean, before you crashed through that now very intact glass ceiling?” I ask with a brow raised.
“I broke it. So, I fixed it.”
My arms cross and both eyebrows go up.
“Well, Bas helped. We used magic to put everything back as it was before the attack.”
“A week ago, that statement would freak me out, but now it’s just a normal Thursday conversation,” I mutter.
He chuckles before he continues, “Alright, enlightened one. Show me where the tablet was last seen.”
I walk past a tour group to get to the library in the middle of the atrium. Horus follows patiently while I recall the details from that night. “I put the tablet on the ground behind that counter while I tried to call for help.”
“I picked it back up and tried to make a run for it to the Egyptian wing,” I continue as I turn around and take a few steps in the direction of the most populated wing of the building.
I stop about halfway to the ancient Egyptian entrance. “This is where I fell once she hit me with the knife. I dropped the tablet as I fell and I remember it continued in that direction.” I point to the entrance. “So, maybe we should look in the Egyptian wing?”
“That’s as good a place to start as any,” Horus answers.
We head into the Egyptian wing that is packed with tourists. It’s going to be difficult to search this area but not impossible. “Let’s split up to cover more ground,” I say as I’m about to take off to the left.
Horus grabs my hand and pulls me to his side. “No splitting up. We stick together. There’s too many people in this crowd for me to keep my eyes on and I don’t want the Black Scarab sneaking up on either one of us.”
I nod in agreement, and pull on our clasped hands to lead him through the large wing.
We search under and behind exhibits, earning us strange looks from visitors. Horus gives the occasional commentary on certain pharaohs he found idiotic or ones that he admired. It’s still shocking to me that he knew many of the rulers and consorts in this room.
After a couple of hours of covertly searching the large wing, we end up back at the entrance racking our brains for where to search next.
“Tell me exactly what you and Bastet did when you fixed the damage in the atrium.” I have a hunch, but I need to know more about the magic they used before I can be sure.
“We used a fairly common spell. Thoth would be able to tell you more of the intricate workings of it, but it is used to fix broken items.”
“That’s all it does?”
“Well, it fixes and puts items back in their original location. For example, books can be put back in the correct location on a bookshelf. That sort of thing. It’s a pretty handy multi-use spell.”
I smile as my hunch is confirmed. “I think I know where the piece is.” I grab Horus’s hand and pull him through the throngs of people up the stairs to the ancient Roman wing.
“Care to share with the class?” he asks as I drag him along.
“You said the spell ‘puts items back in their original location’. Well, clearly they don’t go back to actual Egypt or Rome, but they go back to their original location in the museum.”
His eyes light up as he catches on. “You think it’s back in the location where it’s been stored on display.”
“You catch on quick, muscles,” I reply as I continue to pull him along into the Roman wing on the second floor.
It takes us a moment to get through the crowds of people but we eventually arrive at the jewelry and pottery exhibits. Once we are there, we take our time strolling through the isles looking in the glass cases for signs of the tablet.
These exhibits get rearranged fairly frequently. So, there’s no telling how far back in time the spell chose to go when it decided the tablet’s ‘original’ location.
As we are walking through the middle of the room, the hairs on the back of my neck rise and I turn to look across the aisle. Something seems to be pulling me in that direction, so I listen to my intuition and pull Horus along with me.
We come to stand in front of an exhibit with ancient Roman jewelry but I’m still feeling the tingling sensation which presses me to look closer. Some golden rings are sitting on a stone slab arranged in a circle. Nothing seems out of the ordinary except these were the rings sitting on top of the jewelry box that I was researching.
I take a closer look at the stone slab. Two sides of it seem smooth but the other two are rough, as though its been broken. “Horus,” I whisper. “I think I found it.”
He looks at the slab and puts his hand on the glass of the exhibit while closing his eyes. “I think you have, Charlotte. It’s giving off traces of magic. Let’s get it and get out of here.”
He moves to break the glass with his elbow, but I grab on to his arm before he makes contact. “Don’t break it!” I hiss. “Let me have a staff member remove it. I’ll say it’s for my research.”
His eyebrow raises skeptically. “That could tip off Set that we’ve found it. It’s too risky.”
I put my hands on my hips and reply, “And breaking into an exhibit is so much more inconspicuous.”
He looks to the glass case and then back at the room full of people and sighs. “Fine, but let’s be quick.”
I start walking towards one of the employee only doors but I stop dead in my tracks at a thought. “Wait, if we have someone get it out of the case, how will we get it out of the museum? We can’t just walk out of the front door with it.”
“It was never registered with the museum, right? So, they can’t miss something they have no record of.”
I look up at him and smile. “There’s that handsome brain doing some sexy problem solving.”
He snorts and puts his hand on my lower back to lead us to the employee door. Finally, things are looking up and we will get our hands on this infamous tablet.