The Chaos of Stars
Page 57

Then my mother laughs. It’s a tired, worn-out laugh, more air than mirth. “Oh, Little Heart. You don’t need to worry about this.”
“He can control the sun god now!”
“No, he can’t. He may have thought he found something there, but I can assure you that Amun-Re’s true name isn’t recorded anywhere. Surely you don’t think I’d go to all that trouble to get it for myself and Horus and then write it down where any slovenly god of embalming could find it?”
I slump onto a chair, relieved and confused. “Then what did he find? Because he seemed happy.”
“Anubis is a fool, and like all fools will easily believe what he wants to believe. He probably found something in the text he thought was Amun-Re’s true name. He’ll come back and try to use it, and then he’ll be sent scurrying with his tail between his legs. And I assure you that after I have this baby, he will have a serious reckoning to face for threatening you.”
“So you’re safe,” I say, and for the first time since I kissed Ry—oh no I kissed Ry and then he told me the truth, and it’s like I’m remembering it for the first time all over again what is wrong with my brain—the steel bands around my lungs release.
“I am safe. And I’m glad you are, too. How did you get away from Anubis?”
“Some friends helped me out.”
“I’m so glad you made good friends.”
I think of Ry, his parents, the truth. I should tell her who—what—he is. She should know there are other gods out there. But if I told her, I have no doubt I’d never see Ry again.
I should want that.
“I’m glad, too,” I say instead. “Okay. Yay, it isn’t the end of the world.” My hands sting like crazy holding the phone, and I want to sink into the couch and sleepy oblivion. “I’m gonna go take something for my head. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Oh, and Isadora?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll want to hear all about how the gala went before your bastard half brother showed up.”
“Okay.” I smile. She remembered. “Good night.”
“Good night, Little Heart.”
I hang up, and now that my initial relief is past, I am back to worrying about Deena. After I wash my hands and pick the tiny bits of gravel out of them, I change out of my ruined dress into pajamas and bandage my various scrapes. I can’t get the stupid bracelet off. I’ll make Ry take it off me tomorrow.
There’s some p.m. painkiller combo in the cupboard—did Tyler say ibuprofen was bad or good? I can’t remember. I don’t care. The phone rings, and I stare at it for a few seconds before realizing I have to answer.
“What?”
“Hey, kiddo.”
“Sirus! What’s going on? What happened to Deena? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”
“They’re both okay. Sorry if the note scared you. It was kind of a scary night.” He laughs drily, and I couldn’t agree more, though this is definitely not the time to tell him about my mini family reunion. “After we left the museum Deena was really dizzy and her stomach hurt. We went straight to the hospital, and she’s fine now, on bed rest until they decide whether she needs to deliver the baby sooner rather than later.”
“But she’s not due yet!”
“She’s far enough along that it might be safer for both of them to get him here.” He swears softly. “Oh, thank goodness, she’s asleep. She didn’t hear me call him a him. Anyway. It’s something called preeclampsia, and since we know it’s an issue one way or another, we’ll deal with it and keep both of them perfectly healthy. But we aren’t going to be home for a while, probably. Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me. But I don’t understand how this happened. Deena was totally healthy a few days ago.” Had Anubis done something to her?
“It’s just one of those things. Pregnancy leaves women vulnerable in a lot of ways. But I mean it—you don’t need to worry. The only problem we’re facing now is a baby without a nursery, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t such a big deal.”
I sigh, relieved. At least one part of my family is safe from Anubis. “Great. Thanks for the guilt, there, Sirus.”
After again reassuring me that everything is fine, he hangs up.
I sink into the couch, not bothering to go upstairs, and my aching head spins with everything that happened tonight. It’s too much to process. Deena, Anubis, Ry. I thought everything would be easier after I finished the stupid museum room.
I snort a sleepy giggle as I think of Anubis’s face when he gets back to Egypt and realizes he doesn’t have the name. What an idiot.
Happy with that thought, I’m on the very edge of sleep when I remember Sirus’s words, similar to what my mother had said: a woman is most vulnerable when she’s pregnant. Something tickles at the back of my numbed skull, something I’m not quite grasping but know I need to.
“Oh, no.” I sit straight up, terrified in the certainty of my new realization.
Anubis wasn’t looking for a name to control a god.
He was looking for a poison to kill one.
17
One day as Amun-Re walked the earth, a snake bit him. But it was no snake he had created, and so he could not name it and remove the poison. Amun-Re, god of the sun, was dying.