“The cat had to kill it over and over again,” Carter said. “Like what Thoth said about repeating patterns. The thing is...I asked Dad one time if the cat had a name. And he said nobody knows for sure, but most people assume it’s Sekhmet, this fierce lion goddess. She was called the Eye of Ra because she did his dirty work. He saw an enemy; she killed it.”
“Fine. So?”
“So the cat doesn’t look like Sekhmet. It just occurred to me...”
I finally saw it, and a shiver went down my back. “The Cat of Ra looks exactly like Muffin. It’s Bast.”
Just then the ground rumbled. The memorial fountain began to glow, and a dark doorway opened.
“Come on,” I said. “I’ve got some questions for Thoth. And then I’m going to punch him in the beak.”
C A R T E R
25. We Win an All-Expenses-Paid Trip to Death
BEING TURNED INTO A LIZARD can really mess up your day. As we stepped through the doorway, I tried to hide it, but I was feeling pretty bad.
You’re probably thinking: Hey, you already turned into a falcon. What’s the big deal? But someone else forcing you into another form—that’s totally different. Imagine yourself in a trash compactor, your entire body smashed into a shape smaller than your hand. It’s painful and it’s humiliating. Your enemy pictures you as a stupid harmless lizard, then imposes their will on you, overpowering your thoughts until you have to be what they want you to be. I guess it could’ve been worse. He could’ve pictured me as a fruit bat, but still...
Of course I felt grateful to Sadie for saving me, but I also felt like a complete loser. It was bad enough that I’d embarrassed myself on the basketball court with a troop of baboons. But I’d also totally failed in battle. Maybe I’d done okay with Leroy, the airport monster, but faced with a couple of magicians (even clay ones), I got turned into a reptile in the first two seconds. How would I stand a chance against Set?
I was shaken out of those thoughts when we emerged from the portal, because we were definitely not in Thoth’s office.
In front of us loomed a life-size glass-and-metal pyramid, almost as big as the ones at Giza. The skyline of downtown Memphis rose up in the distance. At our backs were the banks of the Mississippi River.
The sun was setting, turning the river and the pyramid to gold. On the pyramid’s front steps, next to a twenty-foot-tall pharaoh statue labeled Ramesses the Great, Thoth had set out a picnic with barbecued ribs and brisket, bread and pickles, the works. He was playing his guitar with a portable amp. Khufu stood nearby, covering his ears.
“Oh, good.” Thoth strummed a chord that sounded like the death cry of a sick donkey. “You lived.”
I stared up at the pyramid in amazement. “Where did this come from? You didn’t just...build it, did you?” I remembered my ba trip to Set’s red pyramid, and suddenly pictured gods building monuments all over the U.S.
Thoth chuckled. “I didn’t have to build it. The people of Memphis did that. Humans never really forget Egypt, you know. Every time they build a city on the banks of a river, they remember their heritage, buried deep in their subconscious. This is the Pyramid Arena—sixth largest pyramid in the world. It used to be a sports arena for...what is that game you like, Khufu?”
“Agh!” Khufu said indignantly. And I swear he gave me a dirty look.
“Yes, basketball,” Thoth said. “But the arena fell on hard times. It’s been abandoned for years. Well, no longer. I’m moving in. You do have the ankh?”
For a moment, I wondered if it had been such a good idea helping Thoth, but we needed him. I tossed him the necklace.
“Excellent,” he said. “An ankh from the tomb of Elvis. Powerful magic!”
Sadie clenched her fists. “We almost died getting that. You tricked us.”
“Not a trick,” he insisted. “A test.”
“Those things,” Sadie said, “the shabti—”
“Yes, my best work in centuries. A shame to break them, but I couldn’t have you beating up on real magicians, could I? Shabti make excellent stunt doubles.”
“So you saw the whole thing,” I muttered.
“Oh, yes.” Thoth held out his hand. Two little fires danced across his palm—the magic essences we’d seen escape from the shabti’s mouths. “These are...recording devices, I suppose you’d say. I got a full report. You defeated the shabti without killing. I must admit I’m impressed, Sadie. You controlled your magic and controlled Isis. And you, Carter, did well turning into a lizard.”
I thought he was teasing me. Then I realized there was genuine sympathy in his eyes, as if my failure had also been some kind of test.
“You will find worse enemies ahead, Carter,” he warned. “Even now, the House of Life sends its best against you. But you will also find friends where you least expect them.”
I didn’t know why, but I got the feeling he was talking about Zia...or maybe that was just wishful thinking.