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Nekhbet’s eyes narrowed. ‘Wadjet? He inhaled Wadjet? Tell me everything.’
Carter and Sadie joined us as we briefed the goddess on what had happened so far.
When we were done, Nekhbet wailed in outrage. ‘This is unacceptable! Wadjet and I were the symbols of unity in Ancient Egypt. We were revered as the Two Ladies! That upstart Setne has stolen my other Lady!’
‘Well, he didn’t get you,’ Sadie said. ‘Which I suppose is a good thing.’
Nekhbet bared her teeth, which were pointy and red like a row of little vulture beaks. ‘You Kanes. I should’ve known you’d be involved. Always mucking about in godly affairs.’
‘Oh, so now it’s our fault?’ Sadie hefted her staff. ‘Listen here, buzzard breath –’
‘Let’s stay focused,’ Carter said. ‘At least we got the Book of Thoth. We stopped Setne from devouring Nekhbet. So what’s Setne’s next move, and how do we stop him?’
‘He has both parts of the pschent!’ said the vulture goddess. ‘Without my essence, the white crown is not as powerful as it would be, true, but it’s still enough for Setne’s purposes. He needs only to complete the deification ceremony while wearing the crown of Ptolemy. Then he will become a god. I hate it when mortals become gods! They always want thrones. They build garish McPalaces. They don’t respect the rules in the gods’ lounge.’
‘The gods’ lounge?’ I asked.
‘We must stop him!’ Nekhbet yelled.
Sadie, Carter, Annabeth and I exchanged uneasy looks. Normally when a god says, We must stop him, it means, You must stop him while I sit back and enjoy a cold beverage. But Nekhbet seemed serious about joining the gang.
That didn’t make me any less nervous. I try to avoid teaming up with goddesses who eat roadkill. It’s one of my personal boundaries.
Carter knelt. He pulled the Book of Thoth from Setne’s severed hand. ‘Can we use the scroll? It has powerful magic.’
‘If that’s true,’ Annabeth said, ‘why would Setne leave it behind? I thought it was the key to his immortality.’
‘He said he was done with it,’ I recalled. ‘I guess he, like, passed the test, so he threw away his notes.’
Annabeth looked horrified. ‘Are you crazy? You throw away your notes after a test?’
‘Doesn’t everybody, Miss Brainiac?’
‘Guys!’ Sadie interrupted. ‘It’s terribly cute watching you two snipe at each other, but we have business.’ She turned to Nekhbet. ‘Now, your Scavenging Highness, is there a way to stop Setne?’
Nekhbet curled her talon fingernails. ‘Possibly. He’s not a full god yet. But, without my crown, my own powers are greatly diminished.’
‘What about the Book of Thoth?’ Sadie asked. ‘It may be no further use to Setne, but it did help us defeat Apophis.’
At the mention of that name, Nekhbet’s face blanched. Three feathers fell from her dress. ‘Please don’t remind me of that battle. But you’re correct. The Book of Thoth contains a spell for imprisoning gods. It would take a great deal of concentration and preparation …’
Carter coughed. ‘I’m guessing Setne won’t stand around quietly while we get ready.’
‘No,’ Nekhbet agreed. ‘At least three of you would be required to set a proper trap. A circle must be drawn. A rope must be enchanted. The earth must be consecrated. Other parts of the spell would have to be improvised. I hate Ptolemaic magic. Mixing Greek and Egyptian power is an abomination. However –’
‘It works,’ Annabeth said. ‘Carter was able to go invisible using my hat. Sadie’s explosion scroll at least dazed Setne.’
‘But we’ll need more,’ Sadie said.
‘Yes …’ The vulture goddess fixed her eyes on me like I was a tasty dead possum on the side of the highway. ‘One of you will have to fight Setne and keep him unbalanced while the others prepare the trap. We need a very potent hybrid attack, an abomination even Ptolemy would approve of.’
‘Why are you looking at me?’ I asked. ‘I’m not abominable.’
‘You are a son of Poseidon,’ the goddess noted. ‘That would be a most unexpected combination.’
‘Combination? What –’
‘Oh, no, no, no.’ Sadie raised her hands. She looked horrified, and anything that could scare that girl I did not want to know about. ‘Nekhbet, you can’t be serious. You want a demigod to host you? He’s not even a magician. He doesn’t have the blood of the pharaohs!’
