AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Wesley nodded. “I would assume he will either be transporting the sarcophagus now or will have someone meet him at Abydos with it.”
West stood up and walked over to the window, staring out into the back garden.
“What are you thinking?” I asked, getting up to join him.
“It could be another trap. We ran into it last time with Ptah. What if this time they just upped the bait? What if they are waiting for us at Abydos and this is some big scam? What if they lead us down into the underworld and she has to face Apophis again, and they had no intention or ability to raise him from his prison? There are too many factors... I can’t...” He trailed off with a sigh. “Wesley, what would happen if Apophis succeeded? If he created a new Ennead? Wouldn’t that shift the balance of divine power, just like the original ones were trying to avoid?”
Wesley thought for a moment then nodded. “Yes, if they were to come up out of the underworld. While they were down there, there would be no effect on the real world, but as soon as they came up, it would throw the balance way off.”
“Would that cause the original Ennead to wake up?” Tory queried.
Wesley shook his head. “No, they cannot wake up by themselves. There’s a fail-safe in place. Only one person can wake them up, and even then, if a new Ennead including Apophis reached the surface first, they could cause untold amounts of devastation by the time the original Ennead were to awaken. They’d be coming into a battle that was already half won.”
West nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. Worst-case scenario, this is real and it’s going down now. Coulton is taking gods to Abydos to create a new Ennead that will serve Apophis and allow him to return to the surface and return the world to the primordial waters, killing everything that lives.”
Tory stared at him. “That’s a pretty bad worst-case scenario,” she said.
“If it is going down like this, we should pre-empt the attack,” West suggested, looking at me.
I nodded, starting to see where he was going with this and not liking it much. “We need allies. Powerful ones.”
“I’m sure Neith and the others—” Tory began.
West shook his head. “No, if an Ennead forms that is controlled by Apophis, their power will increase, and if Apophis can take their power, then he will be undefeatable, even by you. We need the same kind of power.” He glanced at me, and I nodded my agreement. West looked over at the others. “We need to wake the original Ennead and take them to Abydos with us.”
Wesley’s mouth dropped open. “Wake the Ennead? But... But...”
“I thought you said only one person could wake the Ennead?” Tory asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, only one was entrusted with the task by Ra before he fell under the enchanted sleep,” Wesley answered, watching West closely.
“Okay, so if we need to do this, then we need to find this person and persuade them to help us, right?” Teddy said. “Will they help? We have to save Hattie and stop Apophis. They have to help.”
“Oh, I think they’ll help.” I grinned at West who smiled back.
“So who is it?” Tory queried.
“The only person Ra trusts completely,” Wesley answered. “The daughter of the sun and the slayer of the serpent. The Eye of Ra herself.”
Tory’s mouth fell open. “Me?”
“You.”
Chapter sixteen
TORY
Wesley’srevelationhadn’tactuallycome as that big of a shock. As soon as we had started talking about the Great Ennead, my memories had been stirring. Flashes of statues, tunnels, and streams of blood filled my mind. The responsibility of being the only one who could wake this assembly of the most powerful beings on Earth weighed heavily, and more than once I had questioned West’s decision to wake them, but at the end of the day, I agreed. I would rather risk the wrath of those gods than risk being wrong and having Apophis rain down devastation on the world, missing the chance to wake them once things had gone south. It was better to be prepared.
Once the decision had been made, it had fallen to logistics. After a quick discussion, it was decided we would split into two teams. West had quickly established Zayn as the second team leader, who would take the majority of the priests to Abydos as soon as possible and try to head off Coulton before he reached the underworld, or at the very least, delay them. West and I would form the second team and head to Cairo to find the resting place of the Great Ennead, and then release them from their enchantment. We would then join the others at Abydos and hopefully stop Coulton before he reached the underworld, or at the very least, delay him.
I had argued with that at first. I wanted to be heading towards Hattie and Ptah, not in the opposite direction, but Austin made it clear that we needed to wake the Great Ennead as soon as possible or all could be lost. He had an idea of where they were buried, and we were counting on me remembering how exactly I was supposed to find them and wake them up. It was a gamble, but Austin thought I might remember more the closer I got. I’d admit, the idea of meeting a father figure I didn’t actually remember yet was rather daunting, even under the whole we needed to save the world premise. I also felt a little guilty towards my dad and had spent an hour on the phone with him and my mother that afternoon, trying to keep the chat light and natural. I’d said I had changed my mind after all and was heading back out to the airport the next day to spend some time with Hattie. They were rather hesitant, understandably so after my last encounter, but I told myself I wasn’t technically lying, and then when Austin came on the phone and reassured them, they relaxed.
The rest of the afternoon had passed slowly for me, but quickly for my priests. Wesley disappeared to do some research into the Ennead, Jasper was trying to come up with magical ways to contact Ptah once we had the sarcophagus, and Austin, Jack, and Zayn were organising flights and contacts in Egypt. The house was a buzz of activity, except where I sat on the sofa playing with Kitty Cat and Izzy. I felt useless and restless and couldn’t settle, even though Austin assured me I needed to rest and conserve my strength. Even working out for an hour in our gym hadn’t managed to settle me, and I’d have given anything to have Zayn down there training with me. He’d started to teach me kickboxing, and although I was pretty useless at it, it definitely got the endorphins flowing. On my own, though, it was hard to push myself. I drifted around the house, annoying people with my presence, until Jack finally called for pizza and we all sat down for dinner, curled up on the sofas. I picked at my slice, not hungry and still restless.
The guys were full of chatter about the mission ahead of us, discussing contacts, guns, and the best locations. The private jets we had chartered left the next morning, and Austin ordered an early night for everyone. We would be flying into Cairo, but the others would be flying directly to Sohag International Airport, which was only about eighteen miles from Abydos. Zayn’s contact would have cars waiting for them, and Teddy would be meeting them there. I worried about splitting up and hugged Wesley an extra long time before he disentangled himself to go up to bed. He looked tired, and there were dark circles under his eyes from all the reading and worrying, but my affection seemed to cheer him up. The rest of us sat for an hour watching something on TV, but I wasn’t paying attention, and my constant shifting seemed to get on everyone’s nerves. Eventually, Austin called it and switched off the TV, telling everyone to get to bed. I’d kind of hoped he’d come with me, but although he kissed me deeply and wrapped his strong arms around me, he left for his own bedroom. He was preoccupied and in business mode, so I didn’t blame him.
I changed into a little black satin nightdress. Normally I preferred pyjamas, but my skin was buzzing, and I couldn’t get comfortable, and the last thing I wanted was more fabric wrapping around me and constraining me. I got into bed and tried to snuggle down and go to sleep, but I couldn’t stop tossing and turning. My head was full of thoughts I couldn’t calm, like what I would have to do tomorrow, whether we would even find the Ennead, and if we couldn’t or if I couldn’t wake them, then what? The world could end. That was what they’d said.
