Set shrugged. “With a few days to research the correct spell, you might manage that. Unfortunately…” He cupped his ear to his hand. In the distance, tires squealed—two cars, traveling fast, getting closer. “You don’t have a few days.”
Bes cursed in Egyptian. “Don’t do it, girl. He can’t be trusted.”
“Can we find the scroll without him?”
“Well…maybe. Probably not. No.”
The headlights of two cars swerved onto the Nevsky Prospekt, roughly half a mile away. We were out of time. I had to get Carter away from here, but if Set really was our only way of finding the scroll, I couldn’t just let him go.
“All right, Set. But I’ll give you one last order.”
Bes sighed. “I can’t bear to watch this. Give me your brother. I’ll put him in the car.”
The dwarf took Carter and stuffed him into the backseat of the Mercedes.
I kept my eyes on Set, trying to think of the least terrible way to make this deal. I couldn’t simply tell him to never hurt my family. A magical pact needed to be carefully worded, with clear limits and an expiration date, or the whole spell would unravel. “Evil Day, you are not to harm the Kane family. You’ll maintain a truce with us at least until—until Ra has been awakened.”
“Or until you try and fail to awaken him?” Set asked innocently.
“If that happens,” I said, “the world is going to end. So why not? I will do what you ask concerning your name. In exchange, you will tell me the location of the last part of the Book of Ra, without trickery or deception. Then you’ll depart for the Duat.”
Set considered the offer. The two white sports cars were only a few blocks away now. Bes shut Carter’s door and ran back over.
“We have a deal,” Set agreed. “You’ll find the scroll at Bahariya. Bes knows the place I mean.”
Bes didn’t look happy. “That place is heavily protected. We’ll have to use the Alexandria portal.”
“Yes.” Set grinned. “Should be interesting! How long can you hold your breath, Sadie Kane?”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind, never mind. Now, I believe you owe me a secret name.”
“I give you back your name,” I said. Just like that, I felt the magic leave me. I still knew Set’s name: Evil Day. But somehow I couldn’t remember exactly how I used to say it, or how it worked in a spell. The memory had been erased.
To my surprise, Set didn’t kill me on the spot. He just smiled and tossed me Vlad Menshikov’s sunglasses. “I hope you live, after all, Sadie Kane. You’re quite amusing. But if they do kill you, at least enjoy the experience!”
“Gosh, thanks.”
“And just because I like you so much, I have a free piece of information for your brother. Tell him Zia Rashid’s village was called al-Hamrah Makan.”
“Why is that—”
“Happy travels!” Set disappeared in a cloud of blood-colored mist. A block away, the two white sports cars barreled toward us. A magician stuck his head out the sunroof of the lead car and pointed his staff in our direction.
“Time to leave,” Bes said. “Get in!”
I will say this for Bes: he drove like a maniac. And I mean that in the best possible way. Icy streets didn’t bother him at all. Neither did traffic signals, pedestrian pavements, or canals, which he twice jumped without bothering to find a bridge. Fortunately, the city was mostly empty that time of morning, or I’m sure we would have mowed down any number of Russians.
We wove through central St. Petersburg while the two white sports cars closed behind us. I tried to hold Carter steady next to me in the backseat. His eyes were half-open, his corneas the most awful shade of green. Despite the cold, he was burning with fever. I managed to tug off his winter coat and found his shirt soaked with sweat. On his shoulder, the puncture wounds were oozing like…Well, it’s probably best I don’t describe that part.
I glanced behind us. The magician in the sunroof aimed his staff—not an easy task in a high-speed car chase—and a glowing white javelin shot from the tip, hurtling toward us like a homing missile.
“Duck!” I yelled, and pushed Carter against the seat.
The javelin broke the rear window and flew straight through the windshield. If Bes had been normal height, he would have gotten a free head piercing. As it was, the projectile missed him completely.
“I’m a dwarf,” he grumbled. “I don’t duck!”