“Anyway, portals are like doors. They pass through the Duat to connect one part of the mortal world to another. And yes, I’m not good at those. But I am a creature of the Duat. If I’m on my own, slipping into the nearest layer for a quick escape is relatively easy.”
“And if they’d killed you?” I asked. “I mean, killed Muffin?”
“That would’ve banished me deep into the Duat. It would’ve been rather like putting my feet in concrete and dropping me into the middle of the sea. It would’ve taken years, perhaps centuries, before I would’ve been strong enough to return to the mortal world. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. I came back straightaway, but by the time I got to the museum, the magicians had already captured you.”
“We weren’t exactly captured,” I said.
“Really, Carter? How long were you in the First Nome before they decided to kill you?”
“Um, about twenty-four hours.”
Bast whistled. “They’ve gotten friendlier! They used to blast godlings to dust in the first few minutes.”
“We’re not—wait, what did you call us?”
Sadie answered, sounding as if in a trance: “‘Godlings.’ That’s what we are, aren’t we? That’s why Zia was so frightened of us, why Desjardins wants to kill us.”
Bast patted Sadie’s knee. “You always were bright, dear.”
“Hold on,” I said. “You mean hosts for gods? That’s not possible. I think I’d know if...”
Then I thought about the voice in my head, warning me to hide when I met Iskandar. I thought about all the things I was suddenly able to do—like fight with a sword and summon a magical shell of armor. Those were not things I’d covered in home school.
“Carter,” Sadie said. “When the Rosetta Stone shattered, it let out five gods, right? Dad joined with Osiris. Amos told us that. Set...I don’t know. He got away somehow. But you and I—”
“The amulets protected us.” I clutched the Eye of Horus around my neck. “Dad said they would.”
“If we had stayed out of the room, as Dad told us to,” Sadie recalled. “But we were there, watching. We wanted to help him. We practically asked for power, Carter.”
Bast nodded. “That makes all the difference. An invitation.”
“And since then...” Sadie looked at me tentatively, almost daring me to make fun of her. “I’ve had this feeling. Like a voice inside me....”
By now the cold rain had soaked right through my clothes. If Sadie hadn’t said something, maybe I could’ve denied what was happening a little longer. But I thought about what Amos had said about our family having a long history with the gods. I thought about what Zia had told us about our lineage: “The gods choose their hosts carefully. They always prefer the blood of the pharaohs.”
“Okay,” I admitted. “I’ve been hearing a voice too. So either we’re both going crazy—”
“The amulet.” Sadie pulled it from her shirt collar and held it for Bast to see. “It’s the symbol of a goddess, isn’t it?”
I hadn’t seen her amulet in a long time. It was different from mine. It reminded me of an ankh, or maybe some kind of fancy tie.
“That is a tyet,” Bast said. “A magic knot. And yes, it is often called—”
“The Knot of Isis,” Sadie said. I didn’t see how she could know that, but she looked absolutely certain. “In the Hall of Ages, I saw an image of Isis, and then I was Isis, trying to get away from Set, and—oh, god. That’s it, isn’t it? I’m her.”
She grabbed her shirt like she physically wanted to pull the goddess away from her. All I could do was stare. My sister, with her ratty red-highlighted hair and her linen pajamas and her combat boots—how could she possibly worry about being possessed by a goddess? What goddess would want her, except maybe the goddess of chewing gum?
But then...I’d been hearing a voice inside me too. A voice that was definitely not mine. I looked at my amulet, the Eye of Horus. I thought about the myths I knew—how Horus, the son of Osiris, had to avenge his father by defeating Set. And at Luxor I’d summoned an avatar with the head of a falcon.
I was afraid to try it, but I thought: Horus?
Well, it’s about time, the other voice said. Hello, Carter.
“Oh, no,” I said, panic rising in my chest. “No, no, no. Somebody get a can opener. I’ve got a god stuck in my head.”
Bast’s eyes lit up. “You communicated with Horus directly? That’s excellent progress!”
“Progress?” I banged my palms against my head. “Get him out!?