“Are you sure?” he asked. “We’re leaving ourselves open.” He glared at Desjardins. “Just one more good smack with the sword?”
“I’m sure, Carter.”
I closed my eyes and focused.
Consider carefully, Isis said. What we’ve done so far is only the beginning of the power we could wield together.
That’s the problem, I said. I’m not ready for that. I’ve got to get there on my own, the hard way.
You are wise for a mortal, Isis said. Very well.
Imagine giving up a fortune in cash. Imagine throwing away the most beautiful diamond necklace in the world. Separating myself from Isis was harder than that, much harder.
But it wasn’t impossible. I know my limits, my mother had said, and now I understood how wise she’d been.
I felt the spirit of the goddess leave me. Part of her flowed into my necklace, but most of her streamed into the Washington Monument, back into the Duat, where Isis would go...somewhere else. Another host? I wasn’t sure.
When I opened my eyes, Carter stood next to me looking grief-stricken, holding his Eye of Horus amulet.
Desjardins was so stunned, he momentarily forgot how to speak English. “Ce n’est pas possible. On ne pourrait pas—”
“Yes, we could,” I said. “We’ve given up the gods of our own free will. And you’ve got a lot to learn about what’s possible.”
Carter threw down his sword. “Desjardins, I’m not after the throne. Not unless I earn it by myself, and that’s going to take time. We’re going to learn the path of the gods. We’re going to teach others. You can waste time trying to destroy us, or you can help.”
The sirens were much closer now. I could see the lights of emergency vehicles coming from several directions, slowly cordoning off the National Mall. We had only minutes before we were surrounded.
Desjardins looked at the magicians behind him, probably gauging how much support he could rally. His brethren looked in awe. One even started to bow to me, then caught himself.
Alone, Desjardins might’ve been able to destroy us. We were just magicians now—very tired magicians, with hardly any formal training.
Desjardins’ nostrils flared. Then he surprised me by lowering his staff. “There has been too much destruction today. But the path of the gods shall remain closed. If you cross the House of Life again...”
He let the threat hang in the air. He slammed his staff down, and with a final burst of energy, the four magicians dissolved into wind and gusted away.
Suddenly I felt exhausted. The terror of what I’d been through began to sink in. We’d survived, but that was little consolation. I missed my parents. I missed them terribly. I wasn’t a goddess anymore. I was just a regular girl, alone with only my brother.
Then Amos groaned and started sitting up. Police cars and sinister-looking black vans blocked the curbs all around us. Sirens blared. A helicopter sliced through the air over the Potomac, closing fast. God only knew what the mortals thought had happened at the Washington Monument, but I didn’t want my face on the nightly news.
“Carter, we have to get out of here,” I said. “Can you summon enough magic to change Amos into something small—a mouse maybe? We can fly him out.”
He nodded, still in a daze. “But Dad...we didn’t...”
He looked around helplessly. I knew how he felt. The pyramid, the throne, the golden coffin—all of it was gone. We’d come so far to rescue our father, only to lose him. And Carter’s first girlfriend lay at his feet in a pile of pottery shards. That probably didn’t help either. (Carter protests that she wasn’t really his girlfriend. Oh, please!)
I couldn’t dwell on it, though. I had to be strong for both of us or we’d end up in prison.
“First things first,” I said. “We have to get Amos to safety.”
“Where?” Carter asked.
There was only one place I could think of.
C A R T E R
41. We Stop the Recording, for Now
I CAN’T BELIEVE SADIE’s GOING TO let me have the last word. Our experience together must’ve really taught her something. Ow, she just hit me. Never mind.