The Serpent's Shadow (Kane Chronicles #3)(86)

“Uh, thanks.” Carter took a macaroon.

Naturally, I opted for the chocolate. I hadn’t eaten a proper meal since we’d left our father’s court.

Ra set down the platter and wobbled to his feet. Bes tried to help, but Ra waved him off. He tottered toward Zia.

“Zia,” he warbled happily, as if singing a nursery rhyme. “Zia, Zia, Zia.”

With a jolt, I realized it was the first time I’d heard him use her actual name.

He reached out to touch her scarab amulet. Zia backed away nervously. She glanced at Carter for reassurance.

“It’s okay,” Carter promised.

She took a deep breath. She unclasped her necklace and pressed it into the old man’s hands. A warm glow expanded from the scarab, enveloping both Zia and Ra in a brilliant golden light.

“Good, good,” Ra said. “Good…”

I expected the old god to get better. Instead, he began to crumble.

It was one of the most alarming things I’d seen in a very alarming day. First his ears fell off and melted to dust. Then his skin started turning to sand.

“What’s happening?” I cried. “Shouldn’t we do something?”

Carter’s eyes widened with horror. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

Ra’s smiling face dissolved. His arms and legs cracked apart like a desiccated sand sculpture. His particles scattered across the River of Night.

Bes grunted. “That was fast.” He didn’t seem particularly shocked. “Usually it takes longer.”

I stared at him. “You’ve seen this before?”

Bes gave me a crooked grin. “Hey, I took my turns working on the sun barque in the old days. We’ve all seen Ra go through his cycle. But it’s been a long, long time. Look.”

He pointed at Zia.

The scarab had disappeared from her hands, but golden light still radiated around her like a full-body halo. She turned toward me with a brilliant smile. I’d never seen her so at ease, so pleased.

“I see now.” Her voice was much richer, a chorus of tones descending in octaves through the Duat. “It’s all about balance, isn’t it? My thoughts and his. Or is it mine and hers…?”

She laughed like a child on her first bike ride. “Rebirth, at last! You were right, Sadie and Carter! After so many eons in the darkness, I am finally reborn through Zia’s compassion. I’d forgot what it is like to be young and powerful.”

Carter stepped back. I couldn’t blame him. The memory of Walt and Anubis merging was still fresh in my mind, so I had a sense what Carter was feeling; it was more than a little creepy hearing Zia describe herself in the third person.

I lowered my vision deeper into the Duat. In Zia’s place stood a tall man in leather and bronze armor. In some ways, he still looked like Ra. He was still bald. His face was still wrinkled and weathered with age, and he had the same kindly smile (only with teeth). Now, though, his posture was straight. His body rippled with muscles. His skin glowed like molten gold. He was the world’s buffest, most golden grandpa.

Bes knelt. “My lord Ra.”

“Ah, my small friend.” Ra ruffled the dwarf god’s hair. “Rise! It’s good to see you.”

At the bow, Sobek came to attention, holding his long iron staff like a rifle. “Lord Ra! I knew you would return.”

Ra chuckled. “Sobek, you old reptile. You would snap me up for dinner if you thought you could get away with it. Horus and Isis kept you in line?”

Sobek cleared his throat. “As you say, my king.” He shrugged. “I can’t help my nature.”

“No matter,” Ra said. “We’ll need your strength soon enough. Are we approaching sunrise?”

“Yes, my king.” Sobek pointed ahead of us.

I saw light at the end of the tunnel—literally. As we neared the end of the Duat, the River of Night widened. The exit gates stood about a kilometer ahead, flanked by statues of the sun god. Past that, daylight glowed. The river turned to clouds and poured into the morning sky.

“Very good,” Ra said. “Steer us to Giza, Lord Sobek.”

“Yes, my king.” The croc god thrust his iron staff into the water, poling us along like a gondolier.

Carter still hadn’t moved. The poor boy stared at the sun god with a mixture of fascination and shock.

“Carter Kane,” Ra said with affection, “I know this is difficult for you, but Zia cares for you greatly. Nothing about her feelings has changed.”

I coughed. “Ah…request? Please don’t kiss him.”

Ra laughed. His image rippled, and I saw Zia in front of me again.

“It’s all right, Sadie,” she promised. “Now would not be the time.”

Carter turned awkwardly. “Um…I’ll just…be over there.” He bumped into the mast, then staggered toward the stern of the boat.

Zia knit her brow in concern. “Sadie, go take care of him, will you? We’ll be reaching the mortal world soon. I must stay vigilant.”

For once, I didn’t argue. I went to check on my brother.

He was sitting by the tiller in crash position, his head between his knees.

“All right?” I asked. Stupid question, I know.

“She’s an old man,” he muttered. “The girl I like is a buff old man with a voice deeper than mine. I kissed her on the beach, and now…”