Part 16 (1/2)

Desjardins scowled. ”Not yet,” he admitted.

”You have to find him!” Sadie cried. ”Don't you have some sort of GPS magic or-”

”We are searching,” Desjardins said. ”But you cannot worry about Amos. You must stay here. You must be...trained.”

I got the impression he was going to say a different word, something not as nice as trained.

Iskandar spoke directly to me. His tone sounded kindly.

”The master warns that the Demon Days begin tomorrow at sunset,” Desjardins translated. ”You must be kept safe.”

”But we have to find our dad!” I said. ”Dangerous G.o.ds are on the loose out there. We saw Serqet. And Set!”

At these names, Iskandar's expression tightened. He turned and gave Desjardins what sounded like an order. Desjardins protested. Iskandar repeated his statement.

Desjardins clearly didn't like it, but he bowed to his master. Then he turned toward me. ”The Chief Lector wishes to hear your story.”

So I told him, with Sadie jumping in whenever I stopped to take a breath. The funny thing was, we both left out certain things without planning to. We didn't mention Sadie's magic abilities, or the encounter with the ba who'd called me a king. It was like I literally couldn't mention those things. Whenever I tried, the voice inside my head whispered, Not that part. Be silent.

When I was done, I glanced at Zia. She said nothing, but she was studying me with a troubled expression.

Iskandar traced a circle on the step with the b.u.t.t of his staff. More hieroglyphs popped into the air and floated away.

After several seconds, Desjardins seemed to grow impatient. He stepped forward and glared at us. ”You are lying. That could not have been Set. He would need a powerful host to remain in this world. Very powerful.”

”Look, you,” Sadie said. ”I don't know what all this rubbish is about hosts, but I saw Set with my own eyes. You were there at the British Museum-you must have done, too. And if Carter saw him in Phoenix, Arizona, then...” She looked at me doubtfully. ”Then he's probably not crazy.”

”Thanks, Sis,” I mumbled, but Sadie was just getting started.

”And as for Serqet, she's real too! Our friend, my cat, Bast, died protecting us!”

”So,” Desjardins said coldly, ”you admit to consorting with G.o.ds. That makes our investigation much easier. Bast is not your friend. The G.o.ds caused the downfall of Egypt. It is forbidden to call on their powers. Magicians are sworn to keep the G.o.ds from interfering in the mortal world. We must use all our power to fight them.”

”Bast said you were paranoid,” Sadie added.

The magician clenched his fists, and the air tingled with the weird smell of ozone, like during a thunderstorm. The hairs on my neck stood straight up. Before anything bad could happen, Zia stepped in front of us.

”Lord Desjardins,” she pleaded, ”there was something strange. When I ensnared the scorpion G.o.ddess, she re-formed almost instantly. I could not return her to the Duat, even with the Seven Ribbons. I could only break her hold on the host for a moment. Perhaps the rumors of other escapes-”

”What other escapes?” I asked.

She glanced at me reluctantly. ”Other G.o.ds, many of them, released since last night from artifacts all over the world. Like a chain reaction-”

”Zia!” Desjardins snapped. ”That information is not for sharing.”

”Look,” I said, ”lord, sir, whatever-Bast warned us this would happen. She said Set would release more G.o.ds.”

”Master,” Zia pleaded, ”if Ma'at is weakening, if Set is increasing chaos, perhaps that is why I could not banish Serqet.”

”Ridiculous,” Desjardins said. ”You are skilled, Zia, but perhaps you were not skilled enough for this encounter. And as for these two, the contamination must be contained.”

Zia's face reddened. She turned her attention to Iskandar. ”Master, please. Give me a chance with them.”

”You forget your place,” Desjardins snapped. ”These two are guilty and must be destroyed.”

My throat started closing up. I looked at Sadie. If we had to make a run for it down that long hall, I didn't like our chances....

The old man finally looked up. He smiled at Zia with true affection. For a second I wondered if she were his great-great-great-granddaughter or something. He spoke in Greek, and Zia bowed deeply.

Desjardins looked ready to explode. He swept his robes away from his feet and marched behind the throne.

”The Chief Lector will allow Zia to test you,” he growled. ”Meanwhile, I will seek out the truth-or the lies-in your story. You will be punished for the lies.”

I turned to Iskandar and copied Zia's bow. Sadie did the same.

”Thank you, master,” I said.

The old man studied me for a long time. Again I felt as if he were trying to burn into my soul-not in an angry way. More out of concern. Then he mumbled something, and I understood two words: Nectanebo and ba.

He opened his hand and a flood of glowing hieroglyphs poured out, swarming around the dais. There was a blinding flash of light, and when I could see again, the dais was empty. The two men were gone.

Zia turned toward us, her expression grim. ”I will show you to your quarters. In the morning, your testing begins. We will see what magic you know, and how you know it.”

I wasn't sure what she meant by that, but I exchanged an uneasy look with Sadie.

”Sounds fun,” Sadie ventured. ”And if we fail this test?”

Zia regarded her coldly. ”This is not the sort of test you fail, Sadie Kane. You pa.s.s or you die.”

S A D I E.

15. A G.o.dly Birthday Party.

THEY TOOK CARTER TO A DIFFERENT dormitory, so I don't know how he slept. But I couldn't get a wink. dormitory, so I don't know how he slept. But I couldn't get a wink.

It would've been hard enough with Zia's comments about pa.s.sing our tests or dying, but the girls' dormitory just wasn't as posh as Amos's mansion. The stone walls sweated moisture. Creepy pictures of Egyptian monsters danced across the ceiling in the torchlight. I got a floating cot to sleep in, and the other girls in training-initiates, Zia had called them-were much younger than me, so when the old dorm matron told them to go to sleep straightaway, they actually obeyed. The matron waved her hand and the torches went out. She shut the door behind her, and I could hear the sound of locks clicking.

Lovely. Imprisoned in a nursery school dungeon.

I stared into the dark until I heard the other girls snoring. A single thought kept bothering me: an urge I just couldn't shake. Finally I crept out of bed and tugged on my boots.

I felt my way to the door. I tugged at the handle. Locked, as I suspected. I was tempted to kick it till I remembered what Zia had done in the Cairo Airport broom closet.

I pressed my palm against the door and whispered, ”Sahad.”

Locks clicked. The door swung open. Handy trick.

Outside, the corridors were dark and empty. Apparently, there wasn't much nightlife in the First Nome. I sneaked through the city back the way we'd come and saw nothing but an occasional cobra slithering across the floor. After the last couple of days, that didn't even faze me. I thought about trying to find Carter, but I wasn't sure where they'd taken him, and honestly, I wanted to do this on my own.