“Of course it’s a conspiracy,” Neith said. “They’re all in on it—the mortals, the magicians, the demons, the tax collectors. But I’m on to them. Anyone who invades my territory pays.” She gave me a hard smile. “I take trophies.”
From under the collar of her army jacket, she dug out a necklace. I winced, expecting to see some grisly bits of…well, I don’t even want to say. Instead, the cord was strung with ragged squares of cloth—denim, linen, silk.
“Pockets,” Neith confided, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
Walt’s hands went instinctively to the sides of his workout pants. “You, um…took their pockets?”
“Do you think me cruel?” Neith asked. “Oh, yes, I collect the pockets of my enemies.”
“Horrifying,” I said. “I didn’t know demons had pockets.”
“Oh, yes.” Neith glanced in either direction, apparently to be sure no one was eavesdropping. “You just have to know where to look.”
“Right…” I said. “So anyway, we’ve come to find Bes’s shadow.”
“Yes,” the goddess said.
“And I understand you’re a friend of Bes and Tawaret’s.”
“That’s true. I like them. They’re ugly. I don’t think they’re in the conspiracy.”
“Oh, definitely not! So could you, perhaps, show us where Bes’s shadow is?”
“I could. It dwells in my realm—in the shadows of ancient times.”
“In the…what now?”
I was so sorry I asked.
Neith nocked her arrow and shot it toward the sky. As it sailed upward, the air rippled. A shockwave spread across the landscape, and I felt momentarily dizzy.
When I blinked, I found that the afternoon sky had turned a more brilliant blue, striped with orange clouds. The air was crisp and clean. Flocks of geese flew overhead. The palm trees were taller; the grass was greener—
[Yes, Carter, I know it sounds silly. But the grass really was greener on the other side.]
Where the mud-brick ruins had been, a proud temple now stood. Walt, Neith, and I were just outside the walls, which rose ten meters and gleamed brilliant white in the sun. The whole complex must have been at least a kilometer square. Halfway down the left wall, a gate glittered with gold filigree. A road lined with stone sphinxes led to the river, where sailboats were docked.
Disorienting? Yes. But I’d had a similar experience once before, when I’d touched the curtains of light in the Hall of Ages.
“We’re in the past?” I guessed.
“A shadow of it,” Neith said. “A memory. This is my refuge. It may be your burial ground, unless you survive the hunt.”
I tensed. “You mean…you hunt us? But we’re not your enemy! Bes is your friend. You should be helping us!”
“Sadie’s right,” Walt said. “Apophis is your enemy. He’s going to destroy the world tomorrow morning.”
Neith snorted. “The end of the world? I’ve seen that coming for eons. You soft mortals have ignored the warning signs, but I’m prepared. I’ve got an underground bunker stockpiled with food, clean water, and enough weapons and ammunition to hold off a zombie army.”
Walt knit his eyebrows. “A zombie army?”
“You never know!” Neith snapped. “The point is, I’ll survive the apocalypse. I can live off the land!” She jabbed a finger at me. “Did you know the palm tree has six different edible parts?”
“Um—”
“And I’ll never be bored,” Neith continued, “since I’m also the goddess of weaving. I have enough twine for a millennium of macramé!”
I had no reply, as I wasn’t sure what macramé was.