"Why did you come?" Lucy asked Octavia. "I did all of this to keep you safe. Look at you! You've made yourself one of us again. You can't leave now."

  "Do you think I would let you steal my family? Do any of this?" asked Octavia.

  "I know who you really are, and I know you're struggling," said Drusus. "Think, Lucy. You don't want to do this."

  Lucy laughed. "Do you think so? Every day I fought to keep myself. The Lucy you want, she's a tiny voice inside me, and she will be a memory soon. None of us are trustworthy. This is the only way."

  "Lucy," Octavia spoke. "Listen. I know what is happening. I have been where you are. We can settle matters between you and Ra, have your Trial."

  "This ends with us. I will let no more Klaereons be victimized by this scroll."

  Carlo slid into the room. "I'm not willing to let you go without a fight."

  Lucy rounded on Carlo. "Why did you come? You should be with Flavia. I wanted to keep you safe." Her eyes cooled to blue, and she reached for him, but her hand stopped.

  "Oh god," said Drusus. "Flavia."

  Carlo glanced at Drusus. He knew something, but now was not the time. "I want us both to be with Flavia. We can sort this business with Ra. You and I, together, you know we can do anything. We can even solve the riddle of the scroll. Don't you want to come home?"

  Lucy shook her head. "I…I'm not strong enough. Why didn't Isis leave me dead?"

  "You are strong enough. I know you want to do what's right, protect us. I promise you, I will never leave your side again. Not until you Bind Ra, and you are well."

  The earth shook. Horus fell from the sky, slamming into the rock outside the temple.

  "Apep," said Drusus. "The battle."

  "We have to leave here now," Carlo said. "Before we are noticed."

  Lucy glowed. Under her arms, metallic feathers draped like cloth. She dropped the scroll, and it rolled away from her. Her voice echoed. Carlo recognized Ra's voice overlaid.

  "If she will not release me, so be it. I will not be Bound. I will be the master."

  "No," said Lucy. "I will not let you take me."

  Octavia wove strands of shadow and threw them toward Lucy. "I want my sister back. Do you hear me, Ra? You will not use her, the way you used me." They sizzled in contact with Ra's light.

  "I will be myself," Ra shouted.

  "You will not, by god," said Drusus. He charged Lucy, horned head down. Thoth bared sharp teeth at Drusus and jumped.

  "Thoth!" Marcellus shouted. "Stop!"

  Horus staggered up from the ground, roaring. Octavia turned to Horus, her hands glowing black, shaping a shield. Horus slammed into a barrier of black shadow, and Octavia slid across the floor.

  "You are all mine," said Ra. "All of you!"

  "Carlo!" Octavia poured shadow into her shield as Horus hammered against it. "Help Lucy!"

  Carlo wrapped his arms around Lucy. The light hurt him. He shifted, and held onto her. He was not letting her go. "Tesora, can you hear me? Come back to me."

  "She is mine. She will always be mine. Duat will be mine."

  Carlo spoke through clenched teeth. "She's stronger than you. For years, every day she fought you. She's fighting you now."

  "What do you want with this mad woman?" Lucy's fingers became talons and they sank into his shoulders.

  "I love her. You cannot have her."

  "If I kill you, I can."

  "Exactly what I hoped you'd say." Carlo's clothes smoldered and his skin blackened. He closed his eyes and made himself believe. She will not let you die. She loves you. She will come back to you.

  "Let go of me," Lucy shouted. "He's killing you."

  "Stop him, then," Carlo said. "Only you can."

  There was an explosion of light. Carlo could not see. The pain in his shoulders eased, the fire stopped, and he and Lucy fell on the floor, hard.

  "Carlo? Carlo?" Lucy grabbed him, shook him.

  His lips were parched. His skin was on fire. Her hands touched his face, softly, he knew, but it still hurt.

  "Please." Lucy sobbed.

  "I will be better soon. I promise you."

  "Ra is imprisoned again, but I am still unstable. I cannot guarantee anyone's safety. This cannot continue."

  "On that we agree." Horus stopped screeching, and the chittering Carlo heard meant Thoth had shifted to a less dangerous form. Carlo could see the outline of the scroll case. He grabbed it.

  "Take the children," said Lucy. "Go home, all of you."

  "We're all going," said Carlo.

  "I don't see how," said Lucy. "There is no second chance for Ra and myself, but I can make sure he cannot harm you."

  Octavia's voice was a whisper. "We can find a way. We must."

  "No," said Lucy. "Go, before I change my mind."

  "Carlo Borgia?" Behind them, the battle for the barq of the sun raged. Anubis stood between two pillars.

  Carlo swallowed. "We are not being judged. We are leaving."

  "The gate between your world and Duat remains open," said Anubis. "Apep has slipped our grasp and is heading toward it." Outside of the temple, the giant snake of night slithered toward a pinpoint hole of blue light far in the sky. The open portal.

  "Can you close the portal?" Octavia asked Lucy.

  "I don't know how I opened it," said Lucy.

  "You and I have to find a way to close it," said Octavia. "We have to try."

  "Drusus and Carlo, would you please help Anubis and his colleagues keep Apep from escaping into Hathersage?" Octavia spoke. "Lucy and I will puzzle out how to seal this portal."

  "That should be easy," said Carlo. "We might even win. I'm sure the Egyptian gods limbered Apep up for us."

  Drusus grabbed Octavia around the waist and kissed her deeply. "Your wish is my command."

  "I am not amused," said Octavia, smiling. "Go. Come back to me in one piece."

  Drusus kissed her again. Carlo and he stood by Anubis. Across the landscape, the barq of the sun laid on its side on the ground.

  "I can make explosives, toss them at Apep," said Carlo. "It will take a little time."

  "Carlo, we have an army of gods to distract Apep. Your job is much more important. Take Marc and Greg and get out of Duat. Can you do that for me?"

  "You would suggest something like this," said Carlo. "And you're right. I'll see them safely delivered, and I will return and lob some bombs. Does that suit?"

  "It does, indeed. Take care of them and yourself."

  "The same to you."

  Drusus sprinted toward the barq.

  "I am taking the children home," Carlo announced, interrupting Octavia and Lucy's conversation.

  "Yes," said Octavia. "We'll follow as soon as we can."

  Carlo embraced his wife. "I love you. I know what you're thinking. Promise me you will come back to me."

  "Carlo, I—"

  "Promise."

  "I promise," said Lucy.

  "I will see you on the other side of this. I swear to you, we will make it right between you and Ra."

  Octavia's voice cut across Lucy's words. "If we don't act now, all of our intentions will be for nothing."

  Carlo pecked Lucy on the cheek. "I'm going."

  Carlo moved back toward the children. Gregorius chased the griffin's tail as it snaked back and forth. Carlo lifted the giggling boy onto Horus's back. How could he not notice the world falling apart around them?

  "Come along, Marc," said Carlo. "We're going home."

  "What about Mama and Papa?"

  "They will follow us."

  Thoth squeaked. "Thoth doesn't want to be close to the scroll."

  "Bear up," Carlo said to Thoth. "Our suffering will be of short duration." Carlo lifted Marcellus behind Gregorius, and anchored both the boys from behind. "Sorry," he whispered in Horus’s ear. "For the weight and the scroll."

  Horus lifted into the air as though his burden were slight, heading toward Apep and the open portal.

  Drusus ran toward the barq of the sun.

  "I have opened the door to allow Apep to run rampant in our world," said Lucy. "What have I done?"

  Octavia took her hand. "This is as much my fault as it is yours."

  The side of Lucy's mouth quirked. "Father was right. You should have killed me."

  "Father was wrong. He made this situation. I should have devoted myself to helping you with Ra instead of worrying about our reputation, about my problems with Drusus. I should have realized that you were suffering, that madness would come for you, as it came for me." Octavia shook her head. "I wanted our problems to be solved, and I ignored yours."

  Lucy squeezed her hand. "There is a great deal of blame to go around. We can dwell on it or we can attempt to set things right."

  "I am taking the children home," Carlo announced, interrupting Octavia and Lucy's conversation.

  "Yes," said Octavia. "We'll follow as soon as we can."

  Carlo embraced his wife. "I love you. I know what you're thinking. Promise me you will come back to me."

  "Carlo, I—"

  "Promise."

  "I promise," said Lucy.

  "I will see you on the other side of this. I swear to you, we will make it right between you and Ra."

  Octavia's voice cut across Lucy's words. "If we don't act now, all of our intentions will be for nothing."

  Carlo pecked Lucy on the cheek. "I'm going." Carlo moved back toward the children.

  Lucy didn't have the courage to say goodbye to him. He lifted the boys onto Horus, carefully, with kind words and soft manners. Carlo would be a good father. Flavia was lucky in that. Horus launched into the sky.

  "These Duat shadows are less than ideal for my craft," said Octavia, gathering the greasy black shadows. "They slide out of my hands. My skills are much less here."

  "Duat belongs to Ra," said Lucy. "It's as much his magic and energy as it is these shadows. Octavia, what if I give you something to work with? What if I let you have Ra's power?"

  Octavia hugged herself, her skin frosting to an almost blue as she paled. "I couldn't. I'd be too afraid to wield it well, and I don't have your strength."

  "Not like before." Lucy chewed her lower lip. "I would never, ever do that to you. No, I mean if I give you myself and Ra, together. I will temper Ra by my presence, and you will use us to patch the hole."

  "I don't understand."

  "If I give Ra the other parts of my soul, and I work with him, concentrate, I think we can do what needs to be done." Lucy kept her voice even.

  "You'll let Ra have you?"

  "I created this problem. I intend to solve it. Together, I think we can close the gap."

  "I can think of no other course to try," said Octavia. "Are you certain?"

  Lucy nodded once. "Promise me," said Lucy. "You must make sure all goes well with Marc and Greg. To us, the scroll was a prison. For them, it can be otherwise."

  "I promise you," Octavia said, holding Lucy close. "I won't let my sons fail. I love you."

  "I love you too."

  Octavia stepped away, wiping tears away from the corners of her eyes. "Do what you must do, before I change my mind and won't let you."

  The barq sailed toward Apep. Drusus clenched the rail of the ship in anticipation. "You fight Apep every day?" he asked Anubis.

  "We do."

  "You win every day?"

  "We must."

  Drusus watched Apep's scales, dark as night, shimmer with chromatic rhythm. "So, we'll win today?"

  "Today is unwritten, Khun. Ra has returned to Duat. There is a hole in the sky."

  "We'll win," said Drusus. They had to, didn't they? His family's escape hinged on this battle. "I've never fought this kind of thing," said Drusus. It was true, he thought, as he rifled through his own memories and Khun's. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for this. "What is the best tactic?"

  Anubis tested the weight of the balance of a spear. "He has vulnerable spots. His eyes, inside his mouth, his coils can be bound and constrained."

  "He does this every day as well, and yet he returns each day, whole and ready again?"

  "Khun, you are acting strangely. You know all this."

  "I've been in the mortal world a long time." All his life, Drusus reflected. "We can hurt him in no permanent way."

  "Apep remembers every slice. He will pay us back sevenfold during the last battle."

  "Let's hope that is not today." If it were today, Drusus would make sure at least everyone else would be safe.

  Apep's giant tail flicked out and the barq rocked sideways. Drusus righted himself against the rocking of the ship. The coils of Apep sounded like the rushing of the waves.

  "May I borrow your spear?" Drusus asked.

  Anubis tossed it to him. Drusus, hooves clomping on the polished wood of the deck, ran and jumped across the black gap of space from the ship to Apep. He loved it, the rush of the air against his skin, in his ears. He felt the certainty of strength belonging to him. Why had he been afraid to embrace this new part of himself?

  He threw himself at the giant snake, driving the spear into its side, dangling from the haft with strong, rough hands. The barq slid under the snake. Drusus grabbed between two scales and hurled himself onto Apep's back. He wrenched the spear out of the snake's side, and black ichor flowed over the chromatic scales. Drusus ran down the length of its back, jumping when Apep undulated, bouncing until he landed on the snake's head.

  Drusus drove the spear into Apep's eye, and was sprayed with viscous yellow fluid.

  Apep rotated, and Drusus fell. He clutched at the spear dangling from the eye, but his hands were too slick. Apep's mouth gaped open and Drusus dropped inside, barely missing being impaled on an enormous fang. Apep's mouth clapped shut.

  The bars of the cell Lucy had imprisoned Ra behind glowed a hot red. Light emanated from Ra, hurting her eyes, illuminating the cave she imagined. With a wave of her hand, it all disappeared, and all that remained was Lucy and the old king. "You were right," she said.

  "Of course I was. Which part did you discover I was right about?" The old man stroked the beard strapped to his chin, the symbol of his kingship in Egypt.

  "I have been Isis's pawn. You try to conquer me, I try to control you, and this is where we are, at the end of all things."

  "You have grown arrogant and have taken on the weight of the world, when you know nothing about it. It was easy enough to make you believe you had power," said Ra.

  "I was wrong in Venice. I can't free you. The only person I can free is myself. We need each other, don't we?"

  "To be complete," said Ra. "Take your place at my side. I beg you, come to my embrace and be free."

  Ra wrapped Lucy in his arms, in his wings, and Lucy and Ra burned.

  Lucy’s body glowed. Cold fear slushed in the pit of Octavia’s stomach.

  Ra's voice came from her sister's mouth. "Octavia Klaereon, I have come to you again."

  "I am not afraid of you," Octavia said.

  "I remember differently," said Ra.

  Lucy's body dissolved, and the light floated toward Octavia.

  Octavia's heart fluttered and she cringed. I will not fail. I will not fail. I cannot fail.

  Drusus rested on the tongue of the giant snake, covered in saliva. Blood gushed from his side where the snake's fang had grazed him. Not exactly where he hoped to find himself. Apep rolled and Drusus dug his nails into the soft flesh of the side of its mouth. Drusus grimaced and pushed all of his strength against the fang. It snapped. Green poison leaked from behind it and sprayed Drusus, burning him. He hefted the fang like a lance and ran at the line where Apep's mouth creased.

  Lucy's voice rose above the roaring of panic in Octavia's ears.

  You will not fail. You are Octavia Klaereon, head of the Klaereon family. You are putting our house in order.

  “All right, Lucy. Our house.” Power ripped through Octavia.

  You are mine. Ra's thoughts, so familiar, but Octavia was different now.

  "No, Ra. You are ours," said Octavia.

  Octavia wove the oily shadows with Ra's golden light, riding on a rope of the shadows, into the sky. Apep closed on Horus, his mouth open to swallow the griffin and its precious cargo. Carlo and the children shot through the hole, and Octavia pushed with every ounce of magic she had. Gold poured out of her body, making the strands a shield, merging with the black, shrinking it. Apep hit the shield and writhed, crashing to the ground. Then Octavia was falling.

  Strong arms clutched her, but all she could see was Lucy, her hair braided, in the blue dress and pinafore Carlo had found for her in Venice, the tiny girl Octavia had betrayed. Lucy smiled shyly at her. Octavia reached out her hand for her, but she disappeared.

  Octavia's eyes fluttered open. Drusus landed on the ground, holding her. "Octavia?"

  "Lucy's gone," Octavia said.

  Drusus pulled her to him, and the two of them watched the lights go out in the black sky.

  Carlo's stomach pitched as Horus swerved away from Apep. Gregorius laughed with glee. Horus dodged, flew under a gushing waterfall of sticky black showering from the snake's underside and glided around the snake's head.

  A net of gold sprayed out. Octavia was closing the portal. Carlo dug his heels into Horus's side. Apep's jaws opened, and Carlo felt the heat of its breath. Marc shouted and Thoth chittered.

  Horus shot through into the blue sky of a cold September day, and behind them, the black world of Duat shrank to a pinpoint, dissolving into the ruins of Mistraldol. Carlo hopped off the griffin before it landed, hit the ground running, and raced toward where the hole had been.

  "No," he said. It was like Duat had never been.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Hathersage, June, 1843

  George resettled the front stones. Mistraldol was almost finished after months of repair. There had been some changes, a large walkway planted with trees and lined with stone slabs for carriages, the front of the house made grander and more house-like. George had taken liberties, had proven adept at design, and Carlo hadn't cared much.

  The gray of grief covered Carlo like winter drizzle in the first weeks. When the grief lifted, the real rain returned, enshrouding him inside the house with enormous guilt. At those times, he knew he was betraying his wife, his friends, but he didn't care. As winter passed, grief was still a present fog. Then the green grass and purple heather peeked out of the ground, and Carlo found he had been in Hathersage for a year, the Venetian widower who had settled among the people of Hathersage, respected for his magical abilities, his kindness, and his loss. His heart ached for home, and he considered taking Flavia, Marc, and Greg away to Venice. They would disappear like his grandfather and mother.

 

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