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  “Yeah,” I grunted. “I guess that would be a problem.” Talking about immortality made me ponder my own. Was I truly immortal now, like the other sphinx, Baniti? Did I want to be? There was so much I could do and learn as an immortal. I could be with Amon forever. It was an intoxicating notion. But if I could only see him for two weeks every one thousand years, that would be extremely lonely. Could a relationship like that work? Maybe I could stay with him in dreams.

  The truth was, the sphinx I’d become frightened me. I didn’t know how to wrap my mind around it. Maybe Dr. Hassan could figure something out. Of course, seeking a way to recover my mortality might mean something unpleasant for Tia. She meant more to me every day we were together. The lioness was like a sister to me. I’d always longed for one.

  But then, could I even go back to a normal life? Attend college? Or schmooze at my parents’ various functions when I had a lioness for a mental roommate? Even worse, how could I change my state knowing it might kill her or that she’d disappear forever?

  The rocking of the ship was soothing, and I laid my head back against the rail, letting it lull me to sleep. The tinkling sound of the stars faded and was replaced with the crackle of a popping fire.

  “Lily?” I heard the soft exclamation.

  “Amon?”

  I groped in the darkness, unable to make out his shape. Finally, my hand brushed against his arm.

  The sound of soft weeping filled my mind. “Oh, Lily. Why have you come?”

  “Amon? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Immediately, I knelt down next to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He clutched me close but I pulled away, keeping a hand on his shoulder as I attempted to use my sphinx vision to find his true form. “Tell me,” I demanded, unable to see anything. “Is your body injured?”

  “I am beyond pain. I am a man tormented. Especially knowing how close you are. You must turn back. Ask—no, plead with Cherty to take you back to Heliopolis.”

  “I can’t. You know that. Besides, I’m too close.”

  “There’s still time. Go back. Forget me. I beg of you.”

  His quiet sobbing made my heart quiver, and tears sprang to my own eyes. “I have to find you. I won’t give up. Don’t ask me to.” Amon didn’t answer. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Everything,” he murmured. “Nothing. I am in the Field of Fears. Here I am safe from everything and everyone but myself.”

  “Oh, Amon, I’m so sorry. Just wait for me. I’ll find you. I promise.”

  It was as if he didn’t hear me. “It’s almost easier facing a monster,” he said. “There’s nothing for me to fight here. My darkest despairs have surfaced to torture me. And you are at the heart of it. In offering you my heart, I have destroyed the one thing in the universe I wanted to protect. I am the one who’s sorry, Young Lily.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to speak calmly, rationally. “Your heart is all I ever wanted. It’s the one thing that keeps me going forward. Try to remember that and know how much I want to be with you.”

  “You should have taken Horus up on his offer,” he said morosely. “He would have been a much better choice.”

  “I don’t want Horus.”

  “A part of you did. I…I heard him say it.”

  I bit my lip. “I apologize if seeing that added to your pain. But I don’t love Horus. I love you. Besides, I don’t believe everything Horus says, and you shouldn’t either.”

  He ignored my sad attempt to explain. “You need someone strong like Horus. I don’t blame you for choosing him.”

  “I didn’t choose him. In fact—”

  “Just turn around, Lily,” he interrupted. “Go home. Live as normal a life as you can. There’s nothing here for you anymore.”

  “I’m not leaving you.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Even if you’re stubborn enough to try to find me, I won’t be here. You’ll never find me.”

  “You’ll be there, Amon! If you do something stupid, I’ll…”

  Tell him you’ll sink your claws into his back.

  “Yes, I’ll sink my…Tia!”

  It is becoming difficult to remain patient with this human sentiment. Step aside, Lily.

  Tia! I suddenly found myself locked behind a mental door where I could hear but not speak.

  “Young man, you will cease lamenting immediately,” Tia said. “Lily is in love with you. She has selected you as her intended mate. So far I have not protested this decision, but if you continue to bemoan your fate in this manner, I will encourage her to find someone more worthy. I advise you to muster the same courage she has shown.

  “This journey has been arduous for her, and it is not made easier by your casting her aside. In her mind there is no man as pleasing or as perfect as you are. From the soles of your feet to the crown of your head to the depth of your soul, you are all that she desires. Be thankful that I do not influence her otherwise. Now, you promised that you would advise us. I suggest you do so and make the most of the very few moments you have to communicate.”

  Suddenly I found myself back in control and Tia retreated, turning her back to me and giving us as much privacy as she could.

  “Amon? I’m sorry about that,” I said.

  He was quiet for a minute and then he replied, “No. Don’t be. She’s right. It still doesn’t change anything, but you’ve given up everything to save me. I can at least acknowledge that and love you enough to do what I know has to be done before I’m out of options.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked nervously. “Amon?”

  “She asked for my advice,” he said, “and here it is. When you meet up with the guardians, stay close to them. They’ll protect you. If somehow you do make it to the netherworld, avoid the Mires of Despair at all costs.”

  “The Mires of Despair. Got it.”

  “If you can get there, there’s sanctuary in the trees.”

  “What are you going to do?” I asked, almost afraid of his answer.

  “I’m going to use the Eye. I’ve only drawn on its power when absolutely desperate. The Devourer will be able to find me when I access it fully, but if I can use it to figure out a way to leave here, I’ll take it. Hopefully, I’ll be back in the afterlife by the time you arrive. You’ll know if I’ve been successful if I’m waiting for you on the dock. No matter what happens, Lily, know that I love you and wouldn’t trade one second of our time together for anything.”

  “I love you, too. Be careful.”

  “I will. I’ll try to—”

  My body lurched to the side and I was jolted awake. “Try to what?” I cried. “Amon?” I called out, but he was gone. Cherty stabbed at something over the side of the ship, then jerked his arm up. In his hand he twirled his river sticks before jabbing them at something again. Glancing over his shoulder, he hollered, “Girlie! Grab my rucksack and fish out the coin. Be quick about it!”

  I ran to the pile of loose rubbish he’d had on board and grabbed a bag, then headed over to him. Quickly I dug through the items in the bag, but I couldn’t find the golden coin with the benu bird stamped on it.

  “I don’t see it!” I yelled.

  “It’s in the secret flap. Feel aroun’ with yer fingers!”

  I gasped as a slime-covered arm with webbed hands tipped with razor-sharp claws grabbed on to the ship. The skin was black and filled with a dark fluid just beneath the surface. It looked like ink trapped in a thin balloon. With a howl, Cherty impaled the arm to the side of the ship; blue-black fluid burst from the skin and dripped down the side of the boat. An inhuman screech filled the air, and when he pulled out the sharpened stick, the arm slipped over the side.

  “I can’t find it!” I shouted.

  “Here! Hand it off!”

  I tossed him the bag and reached behind me, grabbing my shortened spears. I twirled, then jabbed them into the soft bodies of two creatures crawling up behind him. He tossed them overboard and then dug through the bag. “Got it!” he called out, a smile on his face, but
before he could pull out the coin, an arm snaked up, wrapped around the strap, and yanked it over the side of the ship.

  “Varlet!” Cherty cried as he shook his fist in the air. “Gotten more than you deserved with that one!”

  More of the vile creatures attempted to clamber aboard. “What do we do now?” I cried.

  “Hold ’em off while I make for the nets!”

  “The nets?”

  “Keep ’em pugnacious prima donnas off as best ye can, girlie!”

  “Right,” I murmured, and spun into action. As Cherty worked the tiller, rocking the ship back and forth and letting out the sails until they were nearly ready to pop, I did my best to keep the boarders at bay. With deadly accuracy, I sliced throats, stabbed torsos, and chopped off arms. Tia was able to sense when one of the intruders was sneaking up behind us, and I was grateful for her instincts.

  We soon found that when using the power of the sphinx, we were able to strangle our victims, but it was a slow process and required concentration. Also, it only worked on one enemy at a time. Fighting with weapons became sloppy when we tried using them while spearing the beast, but strangulation was an effective power to use from a distance.

  Soon Cherty joined us and we worked as one, felling the enemy. I was surprised when a dark creature collapsed at our feet. She was beautiful. Her inky black hair fell to her waist, and she held up her hand in an imploring gesture. Instead of legs, her bottom half reminded me more of an eel. Shiny scales covered her long form that ended in a fin like a shark’s.

  I hesitated only a moment, and when I did, she sprang forward, using her powerful tail to propel her up; bared an open, wide mouth of sharpened teeth; and sank them into my shoulder. White-hot pain exploded and a stinging sensation rippled from the wound out across my body. I screamed to see that she had wrenched a hunk of flesh from my shoulder. Cherry-colored rivulets dripped down her chin as she spat and smiled triumphantly.

  “Bloody viper!” Cherty cried as he brought the hammer down on her head. She slumped to the deck and the ferryman viciously kicked her limp body over the side.

  “What are they?” I asked as I leapt into the fray again, trying my best to forget my stinging shoulder.

  “Cold-blooded, voracious serin. And we’ve navigated into a cursed school of them.”

  “Serin?”

  “They’re usually not so active. Greedy carps!”

  “Are they mermaids?” I asked as I dispatched a trio in quick succession. “ ’Cause they look like evil mermaids.”

  “They’re distant relatives. If a mermaid is a blue jay, then the serin are vultures.”

  “Are they immortal?” I asked, hoping they might be swayed by my scarab.

  “No. But they breed quickly. I report infestations so’s Amun-Ra can keep their numbers in check. Usually I can distract ’em with a pretty coin, ’specially one from Amun-Ra. I throw it overboard and they leave me alone ta fight over it. Sometimes killin’ each other in the process, the voracious vixens. Now that they’s gotten a taste a you, they’s unlikely ta give up on us.”

  “Fantastic.”

  Stowing my short spears in the harness on my back, I summoned my claws and vaulted onto the back of a serin. Ten minutes later the creatures mysteriously disappeared.

  Pressing my hand against my bloody shoulder, I hissed, but moments later, I felt something hot against my chest—the necklace Horus gave me, glowing. It warmed my skin, and a tingling sensation crept from my throat over to my shoulder. I watched in shock as my wound began to heal. Soon there was no indication at all that I’d been injured other than the tear in my white tunic and the spots of blood that darkened it.

  Cherty was so focused on the Cosmic River that he didn’t notice my miracle healing. I moved up next to him and gratefully took the skin of water he offered, drinking deeply.

  He pointed ahead. “There. Do ya see that ripple? Like reeds in a river?” he asked as he looked over the side.

  “Yes. What is it?”

  “When a large animal, like, say, a crocodile, moves through ’em, it scatters the reeds and draws up mud.”

  I stared hard at the river and finally noticed that not all the lights flowed. Some clusters stayed in one place, like glistening plants.

  “What’s hunting us?” I asked.

  “Menfishers. Horrible beasties that stink of corruption. Pierce one and ya are drenched by his foul water. Their flesh is decayed and their bones are soft. They weave their nets of sinews ta catch those unawares.”

  “So they’re like water spiders?”

  “Yeah, but they look more like giant silk grubs. Their nets are like aspen trees. They grow from a single root sucker. The queen creates the net and her little minions perch along the web in different spots, waitin’ ta pounce upon those that get caught in it. Once there, they devour your flesh, then swim down ta their queen ta regurgitate the nutrient-rich bits of ya, which are then divided up between the colony’s larvae. They’ll eat pretty much anythin’—the disembodied, serin, kingjacks, and anythin’ else that lives in these waters.”

  “Charming.”

  Cherty was somehow able to navigate through without much trouble until we neared the end and the ship suddenly reeled to the side.

  “We been snagged!” he cried. “Quickly! Bring me my hammer!”

  Glistening, ropy arms had fastened on to the front of the ship. At the tips of the beasts’ long tubes were sticky bulbs that sucked noisily, creating mucous slicks everywhere they latched on. They looked like the limbs of a thin, albino octopus. When Cherty bashed one of the tips, it slunk back into the black water. Soon another and another burst out and hit the ship, the impact rocking the vessel back and forth like a toy boat.

  “Grab the rudder,” Cherty shouted. “We’ve got ta do this quickly or we’ll be grub meat for sure! When I drop the hammer, shove the tiller all the way to the right!”

  “Got it!”

  “Now!” he cried as he dropped the hammer on a bulbous limb. From out of the depths a giant white slug had reared its head and began to climb along a slick line of its own web. The line was now no longer attached to the ship, and the creature, along with its sticky trap, slipped beneath the surface of the star-filled river once more.

  “That’ll teach ya! Ya abominable beasties!” Cherty shouted as he brandished his weapon in the air before making his way back to me. “We make a good team,” he said. There was an appreciative gleam in his eye that hadn’t been there when I’d boarded.

  “Yeah. I don’t envy your day job,” I said.

  Cherty laughed. “No. I imagine ya don’t. Should be smooth from here until mornin’,” he added. “Rest now.”

  Hours later, which to me felt like minutes, the ferryman nudged my shoulder.

  “We’re here.”

  “The afterlife?” I asked.

  “Not quite. We’re at the Isle of the Dead. Just passed the pillars a while ago. When we dock, we’ll be greeted by the guardians of the gates and they’ll take you on to the Porch of Judgment.”

  “I see,” I said, standing up to crane my neck and search for a sign of Amon. If he’d been successful, then he would meet me on the dock. Maybe it wasn’t this dock. Maybe there hadn’t been enough time. My heart sank, but I tried to keep the nugget of hope alive. Amon just had to make it.

  The Isle of the Dead was a dark place. There was an almost tangible stillness to it. Ancient trees dotted the mountains, and I saw the ruins of old stone buildings. We docked and two men in armor sporting helmets and swords approached. One man’s armor was tinted bronze, while the other one wore silver. After Cherty tied off the ship, he turned to help me down.

  “Thank you,” I said, and took his hands.

  He squeezed them back, a watery sheen in his gray eyes, and then quickly dropped them and glared at me as if I’d tricked him into displaying the gesture. “It’s me job,” he said gruffly.

  Reaching into the ship, he grabbed a bag of food and handed it to me, then turned around to addres
s the guardians.

  “This one’s a kicker, a sphinx. Amun-Ra sent her. You need to take her in.”

  “A kicker?” the tallest guardian said from behind his helmet.

  “A sphinx?” said the other one.

  I grabbed my bow and quiver from the secure place I’d left them on the boat as the guard continued. “There hasn’t been a sphinx in—”

  The larger man grabbed the arm of the other. “Lily?” I heard his muffled voice say.

  The guardians stepped forward and each of them tore off their helmets. My heart leapt in my throat, unbidden tears filling my eyes. The two men came toward me, and when Cherty tried to block them, they easily pushed him aside and knelt at my feet.

  “It is you,” the larger man said.

  “How did you get here?” asked the other.

  I wrapped my arms around both of them, giving each a kiss on the cheek. “Asten. Ahmose. I’m so happy to see you.”

  “Girlie!” Cherty hissed as he grabbed my arm, wrenching me away. “No one touches the guardians, Dreamer or Pathfinder. Ya ’ave no idea what terrible things could happen ta ya.” The ferryman put his arm around my shoulder. “The dreamer torments the wicked with the most horrible visions as he guides them to the Porch of Judgment, and the pathfinder, well, let’s just say he’s as adept at leading people off the path as keepin’ ’em on it,” he whispered.

  “It’s okay,” I said, smiling. “They’re my boyfriend’s brothers.”

  “ ’Ur boyfriend? Are ya tryin’ ta tell me ’ur boyfriend is the revealer?”

  “I guess,” I answered with a frown. “His name is Amon.”

  Cherty slapped his meaty palm against his forehead. “By Apep’s pulsing pustules, girlie! Do ya have a deat’ wish? What am I askin’? Of course ya have a deat’ wish. ’Ur here, ain’t ya?”

  He punched the side of his boat, which told me just how upset he was.

  The ferryman went on with his lecture. “Bad enough ya gotta make ’ur way here, bein’ a kicker and all. Now I find out you’ve fallen fer one a the wanderin’ three, the soulless. And the wors’ one o’ the bunch, too. The revealer shows the disembodied exactly what they don’ wanna see. And most o’ the time, it ain’t a pretty picture. Nothin’ good will come o’ helpin’ a man such as that.”