“No,” Anubis admitted. He nodded at Walt. “Look.”
Walt finished his spell. He spoke a single command word: “Hi-nehm.”
The hieroglyph for Join together blazed silver against the dark wax:
It was the same command I’d used to repair the gift shop in Dallas, the same command Uncle Amos had used last Christmas when he had demonstrated how to put a broken saucer back together. And with horrible certainty, I knew it would be the last spell Walt ever cast.
He slumped forward. I ran to his side. I cradled his head in my arms. His breathing was ragged.
“Worked,” he muttered. “N
ow…send the shadow to Bes. You’ll have to—”
“Walt, please,” I said. “We can get you to the First Nome. Their healers might be able to—”
“No, Sadie…” He pressed the figurine into my hands. “Hurry.”
I tried to concentrate. It was almost impossible, but I managed to reverse the wording of an execration. I channeled power into the figurine and imagined Bes as he once was. I urged the shadow to find its master, to reawaken his soul. Instead of erasing Bes from the world, I tried to draw him back into the picture, this time with permanent ink.
The wax statue turned to smoke and disappeared.
“Did—did it work?” I asked.
Walt didn’t answer. His eyes were closed. He lay perfectly still.
“Oh, please…no.” I hugged his forehead, which was rapidly cooling. “Anubis, do something!”
No answer. I turned, and Anubis was gone.
“Anubis!” I screamed so loudly it echoed off the distant cliffs. I set Walt down as gently as I could. I stood and turned in a full circle, my fists clenched. “That’s it?” I shouted at the empty air. “You take his soul and leave? I hate you!”
Suddenly Walt gasped and opened his eyes.
I sobbed with relief.
“Walt!” I knelt next to him.
“The gate,” he said urgently.
I didn’t know what he meant. Perhaps he’d had some sort of near-death vision? His voice sounded clearer, free of pain, but still weak. “Sadie, hurry. You know the spell now. It will work on…on the serpent’s shadow.”
“Walt, what happened?” I brushed the tears from my face. “What gate?”
He pointed feebly. A few meters away, a door of darkness hovered in the air. “The whole quest was a trap,” he said. “Setne…I see his plan now. Your brother needs your help.”
“But what about you? Come with me!”
He shook his head. “I’m still too weak. I will do my best to summon reinforcements for you in the Duat—you’ll need them—but I can barely move. I’ll meet you at sunrise, at the First Nome, if—if you’re sure you don’t hate me.”
“Hate you?” I was completely baffled. “Why on earth would I hate you?”
He smiled sadly—a smile that wasn’t quite like him.
“Look,” he said.
It took me a moment to understand his meaning. A cold feeling washed over me. How had Walt survived? Where was Anubis? And what had they been conspiring about?
Neith had called Walt a child of Set, but he wasn’t. Set’s only child was Anubis.