“Listen!” I bellowed.
Everyone fell silent. My voice normally sounds bossy, but now it seemed magnified by a factor of ten. The wings probably commanded attention as well.
“We’re not your enemies!” I said. “I don’t care if you like us, but the world has changed. You need to hear what’s happened.”
My magic wings faded as I told everyone about our trip through the Duat, Ra’s rebirth, Menshikov’s betrayal, the rising of Apophis, and Desjardins’ sacrifice to banish the Serpent.
“Lies!” An Asian man in charred blue robes stepped forward. From the vision Carter had described, I supposed that he was Kwai.
“It’s true,” Carter said. His avatar no longer surrounded him. His clothes had reverted to the normal mortal ones we’d bought him in Cairo, but somehow he still looked quite imposing, quite confident. He held up the leopard-skin cape of the Chief Lector, and I could feel a ripple of shock spread through the room.
“Desjardins fought at our side,” Carter said. “He defeated Menshikov and execrated Apophis. He sacrificed his life to buy us a little time. But Apophis will be back. Desjardins wanted you to know. With his last words, he told me to show you this cape and explain the truth. Especially you, Amos. He wanted you to know—the path of gods has to be restored.”
The enemy’s escape portal was still swirling. No one had stepped through yet.
The woman who’d summoned it spit on our floor. She had white robes and spiky black hair. She shouted to her comrades, “What are you waiting for? They bring us the Chief Lector’s cape and tell us this crazy story. They’re Kanes! Traitors! They probably killed Desjardins and Menshikov themselves.”
Amos’s voice boomed across the Great Room: “Sarah Jacobi! You of all people know that isn’t true. You’ve devoted your life to studying the ways of Chaos. You can sense the unleashing of Apophis, can’t you? And the return of Ra.”
Amos pointed out through the glass doors leading to the deck. I don’t know how he sensed it without looking, but the sun boat was just floating down, coming to rest in Philip’s swimming pool. It was quite an impressive landing. Zia and Walt stood on either side of the throne of fire. They’d managed to prop up Ra so that he looked a bit more regal with his crook and flail in his hands, though he still had a goofy grin on his face.
Bast, who’d been standing on the deck frozen in shock, fell to her knees. “My king!”
“Hel-llo-o-o-o-o,” Ra warbled. “Goood-bye!”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but Bast shot to her feet, suddenly alarmed.
“He’s going to rise into the heavens!” she said. “Walt, Zia, jump off!”
They did, just in time. The sun boat began to glow. Bast turned to me and called, “I’ll escort him to the other gods! Don’t worry. Back soon!” She jumped on board, and the sun boat floated into the sky, turning into a ball of fire. Then it blended with the sunlight and was gone.
“There is your proof,” Amos announced. “The gods and the House of Life must work together. Sadie and Carter are right. The Serpent will not stay down for long, now that he has broken his chains. Who will join us?”
Several enemy magicians threw down their staffs and wands.
The woman in white, Sarah Jacobi, snarled, “The other nomes will never recognize your claim, Kane. You are tainted with the power of Set! We’ll spread the word. We’ll let them know you murdered Desjardins. They’ll never follow you!”
She leaped through the portal. The man in blue, Kwai, studied us with contempt, then followed Jacobi. Three others did as well, but we let them leave in peace.
Reverently, Amos took the leopard-skin cape from Carter’s hands. “Poor Michel.”
Everyone gathered around the statue of Thoth. For the first time, I realized how badly the Great Room had been damaged. Walls had been cracked, windows broken, relics smashed, and Amos’s musical instruments half melted. For the second time in three months, we’d almost destroyed Brooklyn House. That had to be a record. And yet I wanted to give everyone in the room a huge hug.
“You all were brilliant,” I said. “You destroyed the enemy in seconds! If you can fight so well, how were they able to keep you pinned down all night?”
“But we could barely keep them out!” Felix said. He looked mystified by his own success. “By dawn, I was, like, completely out of energy.”
The others nodded grimly.
“And I was in a coma,” said a familiar voice. Jaz pushed through the crowd and embraced Carter and me. It was so good to see her, I felt ridiculous that I’d ever been jealous of her and Walt.
“You’re all right now?” I held her shoulders and studied her face for any sign of sickness, but she looked her usual bubbly self.
“I’m fine!” she said. “Right at dawn, I woke up feeling great. I guess as soon as you arrived…I don’t know. Something happened.”
“The power of Ra,” Amos said. “When he rose, he brought new life, new energy to all of us. He revitalized our spirit. Without that, we would’ve failed.”
I turned to Walt, not daring to ask. Was it possible he’d been cured as well? But the look in his eyes told me that prayer had not been answered. I suppose he could feel the pain in his limbs after doing so much magic.