Chapter 28
Horus
“What do you mean you won’t tell me where she went!?” I yell at Thoth.
The whole gang is here to witness my fury at the god of magic. He could smite me to turn into any manner of creature, but between Isis, Bastet, Anubis and myself, I think we can bully him into telling us where Charlotte portaled to.
Thoth seems unbothered and slightly judgemental as he crosses his arms and says, “She doesn’t want to see you, Horus. You didn’t see how distraught she was and I made her a promise. I won’t break that promise just because you want to keep her for a little while longer.”
“You idiotic bird! I love that woman!” I seem to be saying that a lot more freely now. “I don’t want to harm her. I want to explain that I never planned on going through with the betrothal.”
Thoth’s eyes widen at my declaration and the others gasp at what I’ve revealed.
Anubis steps carefully next to me at the foot of the dias. He must see the desperation on my face, because he turns to Thoth and says, “Can you at least send me, Thoth? Let me go speak with Charlotte and convince her to give Horus a moment to explain.”
Anubis has always been the most level headed out of all of us. His calming presence is what souls need when being guided to the Duat. He never crumbles under pressure and has a way of calming a person’s mind when it is in the middle of a storm.
Thoth knows this and seems to be weighing this option when Bas chimes in, “Come on, Thoth. I know you’ve got some sort of romantic streak based on those books you keep in your dresser.”
It’s hard to ruffle Thoth’s feathers but this seems to do the trick because the look he gives Bas would make a mortal pee their pants. “How dare you! I told you those were for research!”
“Do you not know how the parts fit together, Thoth? I figured someone as wise as you would have experimented a few times at least,” she teases.
“Enough,” Isis commands. She sends her power through the room and all of us stand down.
Thoth gives Bas another scathing look, but turns to Anubis and says, “Alright, I will agree to send you to Charlotte. I made a promise about sending Horus, but not you. So, I guess this isn’t putting me in any compromising position.”
He types away on the computers and the portal starts to charge up. Thoth hands Anubis a portal-key to get back.
As Anubis approaches the portal, he turns to look at me with a soft smile, “Don’t worry, brother. We will get her back.”
As he disappears through the portal, I let go of a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. If Anubis can’t convince Charlotte, then no one will. I just have to pray that she sees sense that this was all a huge misunderstanding.
Only a couple of minutes go by before the portal charges up again and a shaken Anubis runs back through. His panicked face finds mine and he says to all in the room, “She’s been taken. The Black Scarab has her.”
I’m stunned into silence but once my mind catches up with what Anubis says, I hear my mother yelling orders. “Thoth, stay here and protect the temple. Keep us updated with anything you can find. The rest of us are going to search for any clues as to her whereabouts.”
Anubis still looks shocked as he says quietly, “I know where they took her. It would be best if you all saw it for yourselves.”
Isis nods her head and looks at Thoth, “Get that portal back up and send us to wherever you sent Anubis.”
Thoth even looks a bit shaken as he says, “Her flat. I sent her back to her flat.” He snaps out of his shock and types away on the computer to get the portal open.
Once we all step through, my mind goes numb. Her whole flat has been ransacked and it’s hard to recognize the cozy apartment I saw yesterday compared to the chaos that is currently inhabiting the space.
It takes a moment to realize that Bastet is in my face speaking to me. “Horus! Snap out of it, I need your help clearing the space.”
Next to me, my mother’s normally stoic face is ashen as she surveys the space. “They found her,” she says quietly. “This is my fault.”
“This is no one’s fault but the Black Scarab’s. Now, again, please help me clear the space and make sure no traps are lingering for us,” Bastet says.
I launch into action and begin looking for anything that doesn’t seem to fit, but it’s difficult in all the mess. The more I glimpse of the flat, the more my vision starts to see red and my breathing becomes uneven. All I can think is that they have her and could be doing unspeakable things to her.
If anyone has touched her, they are losing more than just a limb. They will be loosing their fucking life.
Through the angered haze, I make my way through the mess and don’t find any traps or surprises for us. When I come back into the living room, everyone is staring at the far wall where our portal brought us in. Crudely scratched into the wall with claw marks is a message.
We stare in silence for several moments before my mother’s voice fills the space. “You will not give up the tablet for that woman.”
“Watch me,” I growl.
“Everyone calm down,” says Anubis. “There might be a way that we can keep the tablet and get Charlotte back.”
I look at my half-brother with pleading eyes. I need his rational mind to work for me since I am too rattled to put together many thoughts other than thinking of her being beaten beyond recognition. I give him a nod to continue.
“I’ll need a layout of the museum so that we can look at possible ambush locations, but we could always duplicate the tablet and give them the fake.”
“Hmmm, not a bad plan,” says Bastet. “But anyone in the Black Scarab would know if the tablet was a fake. It radiates magic.”
“I think Thoth might be able to help with that,” comments Isis. “He might not be able to duplicate the same magic into the fake, but he could give it a magical aura. It might be just enough to fool them into giving up Ms. Fletcher.”
“Unless it’s Set who has her. He would be able to know instantly,” says Anubis.
“I doubt Set has her,” I say. “This whole mess points to Ammit.” I gesture around the room and to the crude message. “Set has to keep his position at the museum which means doesn’t want to get his hands dirty. This is more Ammit’s unhinged work. Set is too calculated for an abduction like this.”
“I agree,” Bas says while nodding her head. “Ammit is an emotional fighter which makes her dangerous but also sloppy. My guess is that Set hasn’t let her feed on any souls since her failure with you last week. So, she will be desperate to please him, which means she is not on top of her game.”
“Let’s go back to headquarters. We can make a more concrete plan and inform Thoth of our findings,” replies Anubis.
We use the portal-key to go back home and prepare for a fight that Ammit cannot hope to win.