Zia knit her brow in concern. “Sadie, go take care of him, will you? We’ll be reaching the mortal world soon. I must stay vigilant.”
For once, I didn’t argue. I went to check on my brother.
He was sitting by the tiller in crash position, his head between his knees.
“All right?” I asked. Stupid question, I know.
“She’s an old man,” he muttered. “The girl I like is a buff old man with a voice deeper than mine. I kissed her on the beach, and now…”
I sat next to him. The glowing orbs fluttered around us in excitement as the ship approached the daylight.
“Kissed her, eh?” I said. “Details, please.”
I thought he might feel better if I could get him talking. I’m not sure if it worked, but at least it got his head out from between his knees. He told me about his journey with Zia through the serapeum, and the destruction of the Egyptian Queen.
Ra—I mean Zia—stood at the bow between Sobek and Bes, very carefully not looking back at us.
“So you told her it was all right,” I summed up. “You encouraged her to help Ra. And now you’re having second thoughts.”
“Do you blame me?” he asked.
“We’ve both hosted gods ourselves,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be permanent. And she’s still Zia. Besides, we’re heading into battle. If we don’t survive, do you want to spend your last few hours pushing her away?”
He studied my expression. “What happened to Walt?”
Ah…touché. At times, it seemed that Carter knew my secret name as well as I knew his.
“I…I don’t know exactly. He’s alive, but only because—”
“He’s hosting Anubis,” Carter finished.
“You knew?”
He shook his head. “Not until I saw that look on your face. But it makes sense. Walt has a knack for…whatever it is. That gray obliteration touch. Death magic.”
I couldn’t answer. I’d come back here to comfort Carter and reassure him that everything would be all right. Now, somehow, he’d managed to turn the tables.
He put his hand briefly on my knee. “This could work, sis. Anubis can keep Walt alive. Walt could live a normal life.”
“You call that normal?”
“Anubis has never had a human host. This is his chance to have an actual body, to be flesh and blood.”
I shivered. “Carter, it isn’t like Zia’s situation. She can separate at any time.”
“So let me get this straight,” Carter said. “The two guys you liked—one who was dying and one who was off-limits because he’s a god—are now one guy, who isn’t dying and isn’t off-limits. And you’re complaining.”
“Don’t make me sound ridiculous!” I shouted. “I’m not ridiculous!”
The three gods looked back at me. All right. Fine. I did sound ridiculous.
“Look,” Carter said, “let’s agree to freak out about this later, okay? Assuming we don’t die.”
I took a shaky breath. “Deal.”
I helped my brother up. Together we joined the gods at the bow as the sun boat emerged from the Duat. The River of Night disappeared behind us, and we sailed across the clouds.
The Egyptian landscape spread out red and gold and green in the dawn. To the west, sandstorms swirled across the desert. To the east, the Nile snaked its way through Cairo. Directly below us, at the edge of the city, three pyramids rose on the plains of Giza.