“You sure heal slowly,” Khufu said, licking his finger and poking me in the side of the snout with it. “I thought you were wolves were supposed to be really quick. Or is that just an ‘in bed’ thing?”
I felt my cheeks flush as he smirked. “Don’t bother answering, I’ll find out from Sekhmet later.” I think my face turned radioactive because my skin was so warm I could have melted metal. Khufu began to laugh, and the sound irked me. Here we were, in the middle of a battlefield with the worst of the Egyptian pantheon on the loose and he was making jokes? Surely there was a better time and place for that. Besides, how was he supposed to ask Sekhmet when she’d been… thrown through the pyramid?
I bolted to my feet so fast agony ripped through me as the healing wound tore open, spilling goo down my fur as I stumbled forward. Khufu put a hand on my shoulder, trying to stop me but I threw him off.
“Thes, you need to recover before you go out there. We may have stopped Horus, but Apep is no push over,” Khufu exclaimed, fear threading his voice. What was he so scared of? Hadn’t this been the battle he’d been preparing for?
I turned to look at him, and as I did, the moon and stars winked out, pitching us into absolute darkness. A chill settled over my back as I craned my head toward the pyramid to see it burst into flame. An explosion rocked the building, blowing out an entire wall and spitting rubble across the desert. The pyramid threatened to collapse as a snake the size of a pod of blue whales slammed down on top of the stone. It coiled around endlessly, encircling the pyramid with its bulk. The Apepians burst into clouds of darkness and coalesced into the giant serpent, expanding its girth even more.
Black mist swirled around us as the immense snake lowered its head and grinned at me, its ruby eyes striking into my heart and chilling me to the core. I stumbled backward, grabbing my chest as the enormity of the thing weighed on my mind like a planet.
“Thes, you have to resist,” Khufu said from next to me. He was on his knees, unable to even look at the snake, which wasn’t good. It also didn’t make me feel confident with his plan. He could have been standing at least. That would have really inspired me.
“Thes,” Apep said, and his voice was like the emptiness of a black hole threatening to absorb everything and anything. “How are things?”
“Been.” I gritted my teeth. “Better.”
Laughter echoed across the desert as the creature reared up. He had Sekhmet all wrapped up in his immense body. His huge snake muscles bulged, tightening as he coiled around her so her eyes bugged out of her skull.
“I propose a trade,” Apep said and from the sound of his voice I wasn’t sure I was going to have much of a choice in the matter.
“What’s that?” I asked, forcing myself to my feet and staring up at the inky snake.
“You give me Set,” Apep hissed. “And I give you the girl.” Sekhmet screamed, punctuating his words.
“Thes, you can’t,” Khufu grunted from the ground next to me.
“I don’t have Set,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Not technically.” Apep laughed. “Who do you think is giving you the power over chaos?” He gestured at my armor with his forked tongue. “He has given you the last of his power. All I want is for you to give it to me.”
I patted myself, and as I did so, I knew it to be true. When I had given the Was-staff to Wepwawet, Set must have done something to help heal us. Now that Apep had mentioned it, I could feel Set’s essence burning within me like a tiny ember.
“I don’t think I want to do that,” I said, shaking my head as the serpent’s gaze weighed on me so heavily, my knees shook from the strain.
“Fine, don’t.” Apep flung Sekhmet upward into the air, and as he did so, I realized what he was going to do. He was going to swallow her whole.
I leapt forward, my body flinging itself through the air and catching her just as the snake’s immense jaws closed around us. My free arm lashed outward, grabbing hold of Apep’s massive left fang as my feet set against his bottom jaw. My muscles strained, bulging in my flesh and burning like they were filled with acid as I held the snake’s mouth open from inside.
Apep’s tongue lashed out, slashing open my side and spilling my blood down my side. I grunted, dropping to one knee as he forced his mouth closed one inch at a time.
“Thes,” Sekhmet whispered, eyes barely open as her lion head melted away to reveal her battered, bloody face. “Put me down and escape.”
“Okay,” I said although I had no intentions of listening. I flung her free of Apep’s maw with one arm.
I didn’t see where she went as she disappeared from view, arms outstretched toward me and anger masking her face. Instead, I reached down inside myself, grabbing onto everything I had and drove my fist upward into the roof of the snake’s mouth.
Golden god-blood rained down on me as I brought my fist back for a second strike, and I realized I was glowing with golden light. Apep screamed, the sound blowing out my ear drums as I hit him again, breaking through the tough muscle along the roof of his jaw. I opened my hand and raked my claws outward, splitting open his flesh as Apep bucked violently.
He flung me sideways, spitting me out of his mouth in a spray of blood and saliva. I hit the ground hard, rolling to my feet but smashing my armor and hurting my shoulder in the process. Apep loomed over me, his huge teeth leaking crimson fluid that spattered on the sand, dissolving it, and I realized how stupid I’d been. I’d been so close to his venom glands… If I’d have grabbed his fang a few inches higher, he’d have dissolved my hand completely. The thought struck me momentarily dumb as the snake lunged at me.
“Thes, catch!” Khufu cried, and I reached out, grabbing his flying khopesh out of the air as Apep slammed down onto me, snapping up me along with a healthy portion of desert.
The giant snake threw his head backward, and I fell down into his throat and the abyss beyond. I lashed out with Khufu’s khopesh, driving it into the creature’s flesh, splitting it open like a ripe melon. The muscles around me convulsed as I slid to a stop and drove my clawed feet into Apep’s insides. I began tearing my way back up toward his mouth, but after a few feet, Apepians actually appeared inside the god, rappelling down toward me on ropes made of black smoke.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, half-wondering why they didn’t just appear on top of me and drag me downward. Instead of waiting to engage the creatures, I slashed at the muscle in front of me with Khufu’s khopesh, the blade grew wet with golden ichor as every cut caused the snake to shake and writhe.
The lead Apepian released his rope and fell toward me, slamming into me with so much force, I nearly lost my grip. I threw him off even as the creature sank his jaws into my shoulder, and I thanked my lucky stars I was wearing full metal armor and it actually stopped something. Then again, I was pretty sure the stuff would be awesome if I wasn’t fighting deities.
Three more Apepians let go and fell toward me. I reared back and drove the khopesh into Apep’s flesh with all the force I could muster. Warm desert air hit me as I stared through the hole and saw what remained of Giza. It wasn’t much, honestly, but it was the best thing I’d ever seen. I threw my left arm through the hole as the three minions hit me at once, nearly jerking my limb from my socket.
I kicked one off as the other two latched on me, grabbing me around the waist and snaking their way up my body. I stabbed one with the khopesh, driving a hole through its chest and reducing it to dust as the last one grabbed onto my left arm and braced its feet against the side of the snake. It pulled, trying to jerk me free of the hole as I took its hands off with one well-placed slash.
I lay there, struggling to breathe as it fell downward into the abyss. The sound of scurrying Apepians filled my ears. More were coming, and now they were coming from both directions. I gritted my teeth and jammed the khopesh into the hole, using all my strength to cut sideways through the muscle. It was like trying to slice through a redwood with a sword. My muscles screamed in protest as I sawe
d with everything I had, sliding the blade forward inch by inch.
When the hole was just big enough, I shifted back to human form and threw myself through the wound. Something grabbed my ankle, jerking me to a stop and almost tearing my leg off. I fell, smacking into the outside of Apep’s scaly hide as an Apepian hauled me back toward it. I kicked at the creature, my boot catching it in the teeth. It squealed, releasing me, and I fell to my doom, only this time at least I was outside the snake.
Thankfully, I wasn’t far from the ground so the fall didn’t kill me. I lay there dazed as Apep screamed, blood flowing from his body as the sun came up over the horizon. Its rays struck the massive leviathan, and Apep began to dissolve, which was good because I wasn’t sure I could do anything. I tried to call on my wolf, but as I did so, Wepwawet fell to the ground in front of me, exhausted. There was no way he was going to be able to help me.
I turned my attention back to Apep in time to see the huge snake burst into flame. Its form evaporated, leaving the god on his hands and knees in the desert. Golden fluid dripped from his torn throat and his skin cracked and bubbled beneath the sun’s rays as he struggled to his feet, moving toward me with murder in his eyes.
I forced myself to my hands and knees, realizing my leg was broken. I wasn’t sure if it had happened in the fall or when the Apepian had grabbed me, nor why I hadn’t felt it until now, but as I tried to put weight on it, I realized I couldn’t. I fell forward, smacking into the sand as Khufu’s khopesh slipped from my grasp.
Apep bent down and picked it up as his hair burst into flames. He raised the weapon high, about to strike me down when a flaming arrow burst through his chest, followed by a dozen more. He pitched forward, Khufu’s weapon flying from his hand and landing on the sand. Sekhmet moved toward him, still firing arrow after arrow into the snake god.
“Sekhmet,” I said as Apep exploded into a cloud of black mist and seeped into the ground, escaping. She glanced at me as silence descended across the landscape and sunlight came streaming across the horizon.
“Shh, Thes. No talking,” she said, lips quirking up at the corners as she made her way toward me. “I have a promise to keep, and strangely, while it does involve your mouth, it doesn’t involve talking.”
Chapter 26
“So here’s the problem,” Khufu said, clapping me on the shoulder hard enough to rattle my teeth as he casually jerked his khopesh from my grip and shoved it through his belt. “You shouldn’t have been able to use the Was-staff. You’re much too dumb.”
“Way to ruin the moment, pharaoh,” Sekhmet said, bow still in her hand as she casually reached back toward her quiver for another flaming arrow. “Can’t this wait?”
“Nope!” Khufu beamed, turning his back on me and helping me to my feet, throwing my arm over his shoulder to help support my broken leg.
“Why can’t it wait?” I asked as he began dragging me forward so quickly I had to hop to keep up with him. To say it hurt was the understatement of the year.
“Because Set is dying and unless you return whatever chaos energy you have left, he’s going to die.” Khufu shook his head. “Otherwise, believe me, I’d be more than willing to let you and hot stuff back there go knock one out of the park. Ra knows you both need it. Though I’m not sure how well that would go being that you have a broken leg and all. Not a lot of mobility.”
“I’m also a healing goddess,” Sekhmet said, catching up to us and bending down to touch my leg. Warmth spread out along my flesh as she rubbed her fingers in a small circle over the break. My pain vanished, and as I hopped along like a one-legged bullfrog, I realized I was healed.
“Well, that’s pretty cool,” I mumbled, half in awe.
“Yeah, the perks of having a supernatural girlfriend,” Sekhmet replied, and as the words left her mouth, she blushed until she was nearly scarlet. So she was my girlfriend now? And, as I let the thought rattle around in my brain, I realized how happy it made me.
“Alright you two, let’s make this quick. Afterward, I’ll even stand outside and make sure no one bothers you,” Khufu said, glancing from Sekhmet to me and back again. “And wipe that stupid grin off your face, Thes. It’s unbecoming.” I smirked and ignored him. I was happy, was that a crime?
We reached Set a moment later and found him lying on his back at the base of the pyramid. One eye had winked out entirely beneath the sheen of oily blackness clinging to his body. His other eye held only the barest glimmer of scarlet light, like the last remaining ember in a chunk of smoldering charcoal.
Nephthys knelt beside him, wiping away at his face with some kind of rag, though it didn’t seem to be doing much good. When we approached, she looked up at me, face full of fear, and bit her lip.
“Thes, you have to help him… please,” she said, and the sound of her voice broke my heart into a million shards of glass.
I nodded and moved forward, falling onto my knees next to the god. I reached out and rubbed his face with my hands. He was so cold, touching him turned my fingernails blue.
“What do I do?” I asked, looking around for help.
A shadow fell over me as Khufu put his hand on my shoulder and knelt down next to me. “Just let go of his power. I can’t exactly instruct you in how to do that, but if you do, it will return to Set on its own,” Khufu said, voice suddenly strained, and I swear something warm and wet spattered against my back. Was the pharaoh crying? No… no he couldn’t be. Khufu didn’t cry. Hell, I was pretty sure if you cut him, he wouldn’t bleed.
I resisted the urge to turn around and check, and instead, shut my eyes. I reached out toward my wolf. I may not have known what to do, but I had a sneaking suspicion Wepwawet did. He appeared in my mind, tired but no longer hurt.
“Are you sure you want to return this power?” he asked me, wolfish face staring at me as though considering me very carefully. “Keeping it will make us the strongest. The most Alpha.”
“He’ll die if we don’t,” I replied. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“Perhaps,” Wepwawet said, tossing the mental equivalent of the Was-staff through the air. I caught it and held it in front of me, and as I did so, I realized I was holding the staff of Ra in my other hand.
They both began to glow, one with the light of the sun and the other with the light of the moon. In that I moment, I realized the truth. While chaos and order were always at odds over each other, they were really two sides of the same coin. They came from the same pool of power.
My eyes opened and I saw. Set lay on the ground before me. I spread my hands over his chest, running my fingers through the oily goo covering his body, leaving behind snail trails of gold and crimson light. The darkness overwhelming his body began to burn away bit by bit as flame spread over his skin like wildfire. Set’s body bucked, thrusting itself upward as a scream tore from his lips.
“What are you doing?” Nephthys screamed, grabbing hold of me, and as she did so, Sekhmet shoved her off of me. The goddess hit the ground in a heap and stared at me with murder in her eyes.
“Leave him be,” Sekhmet growled. “Can’t you see the blackness burning away?”
“But it’s killing Set. He doesn’t have the energy for this,” she cried, but she didn’t make any more movement toward me, which was good. It was either let me work or let Set die. If he was going to die, I might as well try, right?
The moments stretched into minutes as I used my flaming hands to wipe away the sludge, slowly revealing Set’s battered, raw body. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, sweat dripping from my brow, but it must have been a while because when I was finally satisfied, the sun was high overhead.
Set’s eyes opened, and he stared at me. He tried to say something, but before he could get any words out of his mouth, Nephthys latched onto him, throwing her arms around his neck and gathering him into her body like he was a small child.
“Thank Ra, you’re okay!” she cried, tears of joy leaking down her face as she buried it into his neck. “Don’t ever scare me lik
e that again!”
I suddenly felt like I was intruding on an intimate moment and moved to get away. I got to my feet, turning away from the embracing couple to see Khufu staring at me like I’d just returned his favorite puppy, which was kind of a strange look, I’ll admit.
“Thanks, Thes,” he said, voice filled with an emotion I couldn’t quite place. Before I could say something cool like “don’t mention it,” the pharaoh wrapped me in a hug so tight, I was pretty sure it nearly broke my ribs.
“There’s just one minor problem everyone seems to be forgetting about.” Horus’s voice startled me so much, my heart leapt into my throat as I spun, shifting into werewolf form and flinging Khufu off of me. “You shouldn’t have been able to wield either staff, much less both of them together.”
He was sitting there, still bound in gold chains, although his head had been reattached. Joy. Horus stared at me with cool, disconcerting emerald eyes and began to laugh.
“Why is that?” I asked, staring at him as Sekhmet intertwined her hand into mine and pulled me away from the bound god.
“Come on, Thes. We have much better things we could be doing than listening to that old bird,” she whispered into my ear, breath warm on my cheek. A shiver ran down my spine as a smile spread across my lips. The thought of spending some alone time with Sekhmet was, how can I put this bluntly, pretty freaking appealing.
“Don’t let her distract you from the truth, Thes,” Horus called from behind me. “They’ve all been hiding it from you this whole time.” I felt his smirk in the air as I stopped in midstride. “I’ll tell you what they won’t, right now. I won’t even make you bargain for it.”
His words rattled around in my head, breaking down every good argument I had in a nanosecond. I wanted to know. Almost more than anything else.
There was a blow behind me, the hard sound of fist on flesh as Sekhmet pulled me forcibly forward. I glanced at her to see her jaw set in a hard line.
All Wrapped Up: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 2) Page 15