The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1)(134)

“Maybe some day,” I said. “Much later.”

Horus sighed. “Five thousand years, and I still do not understand mortals. But—very well.”

He stepped up to the throne and looked around at the assembled gods.

“I, Horus, son of Osiris, claim the throne of the heavens as my birthright!” he shouted. “What was once mine shall be mine again. Is there any who would challenge me?”

The gods flickered and glowed. A few scowled. One muttered something that sounded like “Cheese,” although that could’ve been my imagination. I caught a glimpse of Sobek, or possibly another crocodile god, snarling in the shadows. But no one raised a challenge.

Horus took his seat on the throne. Isis brought him a crook and flail—the twin scepters of the pharaohs. He crossed them over his chest and all the gods bowed before him.

When they’d risen again, Isis stepped toward us. “Carter and Sadie Kane, you have done much to restore Ma’at. The gods must gather their strength, and you have bought us time, though we do not know how much. Apophis will not stay locked away forever.”

“I’d settle for a few hundred years,” Sadie said.

Isis smiled. “However that may be, today you are heroes. The gods owe you a debt, and we take our debts seriously.”

Horus rose from the throne. With a wink at me, he knelt before us. The other gods shifted uncomfortably, but then followed his example. Even the gods in fire form dimmed their flames.

I probably looked pretty stunned, because when Horus got up again he laughed. “You look like that time when Zia told you—”

“Yeah, could we skip that?” I said quickly. Letting a god into your head has serious disadvantages.

“Go in peace, Carter and Sadie,” Horus said. “You will find our gift in the morning.”

“Gift?” I asked nervously, because if I got one more magic amulet, I was going to break out in a cold sweat.

“You’ll see,” Isis promised. “We will be watching you, and waiting.”

“That’s what scares me,” Sadie said.

Isis waved her hand, and suddenly we were back on the mansion’s terrace as if nothing had happened.

Sadie turned toward me wistfully. “‘Stimulating.’”

I held out my hand. The djed amulet was glowing and warm in its linen wrapping. “Any idea what this thing does?”

She blinked. “Hmm? Oh, don’t care. What did Anubis look like to you?”

“What did...he looked like a guy. So?”

“A good-looking guy, or a slobbering dog-headed guy?”

“I guess...not the dog-headed guy.”

“I knew it!” Sadie pointed at me as if she’d won an argument. “Good-looking. I knew it!”

And with a ridiculous grin, she spun around and skipped into the house.

My sister, as I may have mentioned, is a little strange.

The next day, we got the gods’ gift.

We woke to find that the mansion had been completely repaired down to the smallest detail. Everything we hadn’t finished yet—probably another month’s worth of work—was done.

The first thing I found were new clothes in my closet, and after a moment’s hesitation, I put them on. I went downstairs and found Khufu and Sadie dancing around the restored Great Room. Khufu had a new Lakers jersey and a brand-new basketball. The magical brooms and mops were busy doing their cleaning routine. Sadie looked up at me and grinned—and then her expression changed to shock.

“Carter, what—what are you wearing?”

I came down the stairs, feeling even more self-conscious. The closet had offered me several choices this morning, not just my linen robes. My old clothes had been there, freshly cleaned—a button-down shirt, starched khaki slacks, loafers. But there had also been a third choice, and I’d taken it: some Reeboks, blue jeans, a T-shirt, and a hoodie.

“It’s, um, all cotton,” I said. “Okay for magic. Dad would probably think I look like a gangster....”

I thought for sure Sadie would tease me about that, and I was trying to beat her to the punch. She scrutinized every detail of my outfit.

Then she laughed with absolute delight. “It’s brilliant, Carter. You look almost like a regular teenager! And Dad would think...” She pulled my hoodie over my head. “Dad would think you look like an impeccable magician, because that’s what you are. Now, come on. Breakfast is waiting on the patio.”

We were just digging in when Amos came outside, and his change of clothes was even more surprising than mine. He wore a crisp new chocolate-colored suit with matching coat and fedora. His shoes were shined, his round glasses polished, his hair freshly braided with amber beads. Sadie and I both stared at him.

“What?” he demanded.

“Nothing,” we said in unison. Sadie looked at me and mouthed O-M-G, then went back to her bangers and eggs. I attacked my pancakes. Philip thrashed around happily in his swimming pool.

Amos joined us at the table. He flicked his fingers and coffee magically filled his cup. I raised my eyebrows. He hadn’t used magic since the Demon Days.

“I thought I’d go away for a while,” he announced. “To the First Nome.”

Sadie and I exchanged glances.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.