The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1)(119)

“How do we get him out?” I said, my voice trembling.

Next to me, Carter caught his breath. “Amos?”

I followed his gaze up to the glowing red vent in the middle of the ceiling. A pair of legs dangled from the opening. Then Amos dropped down, opening his cloak like a parachute so that he floated to the floor. His clothes were still smoking, his hair dusted with ash. He pointed his staff towards the ceiling and spoke a command. The shaft he’d come through rumbled, spilling dust and rubble, and the light was abruptly cut off.

Amos dusted off his clothes and smiled at us. “That should hold them for a while.”

“How did you do that?” I asked.

He gestured for us to join him in the room.

Carter jumped the trench without hesitation. I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to let him go without me, so I hopped the trench too. Immediately I felt even queasier than before, as if the room were tilting, throwing my senses off balance.

Zia came over last, eyeing Amos carefully.

“You should not be alive,” she said.

Amos chuckled. “Oh, I’ve heard that before. Now, let’s get to business.”

“Yes.” I stared at the throne. “How do we get the coffin out?”

“Cut it?” Carter drew his sword, but Amos held up his hand.

“No, children. That’s not the business I mean. I’ve made sure no one will interrupt us. Now it’s time we talked.”

A cold tingle started up my spine. “Talked?”

Suddenly Amos fell to his knees and began to convulse. I ran towards him, but he looked up at me, his face racked with pain. His eyes were molten red.

“Run!” he groaned.

He collapsed, and red steam issued from his body.

“We have to go!” Zia grabbed my arm. “Now!”

But I watched, frozen in horror, as the steam rose from Amos’s unconscious form and drifted towards the throne, slowly taking the shape of a seated man—a red warrior in fiery armor, with an iron staff in his hand and the head of a canine monster.

“Oh, dear,” Set laughed. “I suppose Zia gets to say ‘I told you so.’”

Chapter 37. Leroy Gets His Revenge

MAYBE I’M A SLOW LEARNER, OKAY?

Because it wasn’t until that moment, facing the god Set in the middle of his throne room, in the heart of an evil pyramid, with an army of demons outside and the world about to explode, that I thought, Coming here was a really bad idea.

Set rose from his throne. He was red skinned and muscular, with fiery armor and a black iron staff. His head shifted from bestial to human. One moment he had the hungry stare and slavering jaws of my old friend Leroy, the monster from the D.C. airport. The next he had sandy hair and a handsome but harsh face, with intelligent eyes that sparkled with humor and a cruel, crooked smile. He kicked our uncle out of the way and Amos groaned, which at least meant he was alive.

I was clenching my sword so tight, the blade trembled.

“Zia was right,” I said. “You possessed Amos.”

Set spread his hands, trying to look modest. “Well, you know...It wasn’t a full possession. Gods can exist in many places at once, Carter. Horus could tell you that if he was being honest. I’m sure Horus has been looking for a nice war monument to occupy, or a military academy somewhere—anything but that scrawny little form of yours. Most of my being has now transferred to this magnificent structure.”

He swept his arm proudly around the throne room. “But a sliver of my soul was quite enough to control Amos Kane.”

He held out his pinky, and a wisp of red smoke snaked toward Amos, sinking into his clothes. Amos arched his back like he’d been hit by lightning.

“Stop it!” I yelled.

I ran toward Amos, but the red mist had already dissipated. Our uncle’s body went slack.

Set dropped his hand as if bored with the attack. “Not much left, I’m afraid. Amos fought well. He was very entertaining, demanding much more of my energy than I had anticipated. That chaos magic—that was his idea. He tried his best to warn you, to make it obvious I was controlling him. The funny thing is, I forced him to use his own magic reserves to pull off those spells. He almost burned out his soul trying to send you those warning flares. Turn you into a storm? Please. Who does that anymore?”

“You’re a beast!” Sadie shouted.

Set gasped in mock surprise. “Really? Me?”

Then he roared with laughter as Sadie tried to drag Amos out of harm’s way.

“Amos was in London that night,” I said, hoping to keep his attention on me. “He must’ve followed us to the British Museum, and you’ve been controlling him ever since. Desjardins was never your host.”

“Oh, that commoner? Please,” Set sneered. “We always prefer blood of the pharaohs, as I’m sure you’ve heard. But I did love fooling you. I thought the bon soir was an especially nice touch.”

“You knew my ba was there, watching. You forced Amos to sabotage his own house so your monsters could get in. You made him walk into an ambush. Why didn’t you just have him kidnap us?”

Set spread his hands. “As I said, Amos put up a good fight. There were certain things I could not make him do without destroying him completely, and I didn’t want to ruin my new plaything quite so soon.”