The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles #1)(19)

“That’s a long name,” I said.

“He’s a long crocodile,” Sadie said. “Oh, and he likes bacon.”

To prove her point, she tossed a piece of bacon over her shoulder. Philip lunged out of the water and snapped up the treat. His hide was pure white and his eyes were pink. His mouth was so big, he could’ve snapped up an entire pig.

“He’s quite harmless to my friends,” Amos assured me. “In the old days, no temple would be complete without a lake full of crocodiles. They are powerful magic creatures.”

“Right,” I said. “So the baboon, the crocodile...any other pets I should know about?”

Amos thought for a moment. “Visible ones? No, I think that’s it.”

I took a seat as far from the pool as possible. Muffin circled my legs and purred. I hoped she had enough sense to stay away from magic crocodiles named Philip.

“So, Amos,” I said between bites of pancake. “Explanations.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Where to start...”

“Our dad,” Sadie suggested. “What happened to him?”

Amos took a deep breath. “Julius was attempting to summon a god. Unfortunately, it worked.”

It was kind of hard to take Amos seriously, talking about summoning gods while he spread butter on a bagel.

“Any god in particular?” I asked casually. “Or did he just order a generic god?”

Sadie kicked me under the table. She was scowling, as if she actually believed what Amos was saying.

Amos took a bite of bagel. “There are many Egyptian gods, Carter. But your dad was after one in particular.”

He looked at me meaningfully.

“Osiris,” I remembered. “When Dad was standing in front of the Rosetta Stone, he said, ‘Osiris, come.’ But Osiris is a legend. He’s make-believe.”

“I wish that were true.” Amos stared across the East River at the Manhattan skyline, gleaming in the morning sun. “The Ancient Egyptians were not fools, Carter. They built the pyramids. They created the first great nation state. Their civilization lasted thousands of years.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And now they’re gone.”

Amos shook his head. “A legacy that powerful does not disappear. Next to the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans were babies. Our modern nations like Great Britain and America? Blinks of an eye. The very oldest root of civilization, at least of Western civilization, is Egypt. Look at the pyramid on the dollar bill. Look at the Washington Monument—the world’s largest Egyptian obelisk. Egypt is still very much alive. And so, unfortunately, are her gods.”

“Come on,” I argued. “I mean...even if I believe there’s a real thing called magic. Believing in ancient gods is totally different. You’re joking, right?”

But as I said it, I thought about the fiery guy in the museum, the way his face had shifted between human and animal. And the statue of Thoth—how its eyes had followed me.

“Carter,” Amos said, “the Egyptians would not have been stupid enough to believe in imaginary gods. The beings they described in their myths are very, very real. In the old days, the priests of Egypt would call upon these gods to channel their power and perform great feats. That is the origin of what we now call magic. Like many things, magic was first invented by the Egyptians. Each temple had a branch of magicians called the House of Life. Their magicians were famed throughout the ancient world.”

“And you’re an Egyptian magician.”

Amos nodded. “So was your father. You saw it for yourself last night.”

I hesitated. It was hard to deny my dad had done some weird stuff at the museum—some stuff that looked like magic.

“But he’s an archaeologist,” I said stubbornly.

“That’s his cover story. You’ll remember that he specialized in translating ancient spells, which are very difficult to understand unless you work magic yourself. Our family, the Kane family, has been part of the House of Life almost since the beginning. And your mother’s family is almost as ancient.”

“The Fausts?” I tried to imagine Grandma and Grandpa Faust doing magic, but unless watching rugby on TV and burning cookies was magical, I couldn’t see it.

“They had not practiced magic for many generations,” Amos admitted. “Not until your mother came along. But yes, a very ancient bloodline.”

Sadie shook her head in disbelief. “So now Mum was magic, too. Are you joking?”

“No jokes,” Amos promised. “The two of you...you combine the blood of two ancient families, both of which have a long, complicated history with the gods. You are the most powerful Kane children to be born in many centuries.”

I tried to let that sink in. At the moment, I didn’t feel powerful. I felt queasy. “You’re telling me our parents secretly worshipped animal-headed gods?” I asked.

“Not worshipped,” Amos corrected. “By the end of the ancient times, Egyptians had learned that their gods were not to be worshipped. They are powerful beings, primeval forces, but they are not divine in the sense one might think of God. They are created entities, like mortals, only much more powerful. We can respect them, fear them, use their power, or even fight them to keep them under control—”

“Fight gods?” Sadie interrupted.