Blackhearted Betrayal (28 page)

My own eyes flared with angry light, and I let out the snarl she had kept locked inside. Hey, I was only
partially
immortal. “Over my cold, dead body.”

She gave a fierce grin. “Oh, you are
so
much my daughter, Marissa Eurydice. I must ask, however, if he speaks the truth?”

“In a manner of speaking, Mother; two of my companions were once his followers, until they discovered he had broken not one but several divine laws and pledged themselves to my service.”

Her lips curved upward again. “I suspected you
planned to invoke the Feather against some quarry, daughter, but I scarcely hoped it would be against my greatest enemy.”

My turn for surprise. “I had not heard of such enmity between you. I thought …”

“You assumed we two had some sort of alliance because we work together for Egyptian Reckonings?” She gave a fairly admirable approximation of a snort. “Just because I
must
work with him in this guise doesn’t mean I’ve ever enjoyed it—or respected him. Quite the contrary, and he’s only grown more insufferable over the past few months though I know not why.”

I rolled my eyes. “Probably the influence of his new girlfriend.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Oh?” Then she shook her head. “No, time enough to hear the story later. He will not wait long, and I may not be able to stand against him in such a mood, not here in Duat. Now come then, since we must make haste.”

I fell into step behind her, pulse skittering since I wasn’t entirely sure of her intentions. Also, hearing that she didn’t think she could keep Anubis out of her own Hall didn’t inspire a whole lot of confidence. Speaking of which …“Where
are
my companions if Anubis had to petition you for them. Are they …safe?”

She nodded, though her eyes were solemn when she glanced at me over her shoulder. “Yes, since you passed your Trial of Faith, they are now.”

My mouth grew suddenly dry. “T-trial? I didn’t know …you mean if I had
failed
to make it through
to the Hall, they would have …”

“Perished, as would have you. Well, once your ambrosia wore off. Only a
true
Nemesis may make it through to the Hall of Two Truths in
any
of its guises, and then only if her cause is just.”

“But doesn’t being selected by the Triad make a Nemesis’s cause just by default?”

Her expression turned sardonic as she continued leading me through a dimly lit corridor. “I am the Bringer of Balance, child, no matter whether they who seek to usurp it currently work against those in power or
are
the ones in power.”

Her words made a lot of sense, especially considering the point that Nike had just made: Immortals could fall prey to their emotions every bit as much as their children, and when they
did
, entire nations often felt the aftershocks.

We reached the corridor’s end and came upon a group of six unsmiling guardians, who stepped aside and opened an enormous door to allow their mistress passage. She led me through the door after leaving strict instructions that
no one
else should be allowed past. I took that to mean not even Anubis and wondered how
they
could be expected to stop him if
she
didn’t think she could, but then the truth hit me. The guardians weren’t expected to win, only slow him down as much as possible.
That
had me swallowing nervously.

Did I make a huge mistake coming here? What does it matter if I invoke the Feather against Anubis if Ma’at herself can’t even keep him out of her own temple?

Then Nike reminded me of the obvious.
Bringing him to justice isn’t
her
job—it’s yours, with magical assistance from the Triad. The Mother Reckoner’s sole duty is to provide the proof the Triad needs to let you finish your job.

Which was to haul Anubis’s ass in front of the Triad
so they could pronounce his sentence for betrayal, not that I really knew what sort of punishment They
could
bring against someone even Their combined might would not be able to kill. And that was assuming they truly
would
be united as a whole. If what I suspected was right, and Ala
had
taken Anubis as Her lover …

I resisted the urge to shudder since I needed to appear strong then more than ever. Time enough to deal with
that
later; first things first: nailing Anubis’s figurative ass to the wall. Or, in this case, the Hall …

Because once I took a good look around, I realized that we’d just stepped into the Hall of Two Truths. It was both plainer and more awe-inspiring than I’d expected. The room truly
was
a hall, stretching out much farther in length than width, with the perennial dais at the opposite end from the entrance. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of cold white marble, something far more Greco-Roman than Egyptian in nature. My brow furrowed. Perhaps the Hall retained the same basic bones for whatever soul Mother Reckoner was judging, taking on only the barest trappings of the individual’s specific religion. The temple outside clearly rested inside Egyptian-flavored Duat; but this Hall was different, tied specifically to Ma’at in
whatever
guise she wore.

I shrugged away my inner musings and continued cataloging in case I needed to beat a hasty retreat later. Nods to Duat’s Egyptian heritage appeared in the form of hieroglyphics littering the walls here and there, and a narrow black carpet bearing gold-worked symbols ran along the floor from end to end. Ma’at hurried along that black fabric without outwardly seeming to. I found myself envying her serene demeanor. Then again, of the two of us, she was the only one who would never taste
death’s touch or have loved ones waiting in the wings who faced the same danger. Easy to pull off the serenity thing under
those
circumstances.

My infinitely-less-graceful feet scurried to keep up with the gliding goddess. Ma’at gestured to the not-unexpected pentagram etched on the floor in front of the raised platform. Oversized mirrors towered above the pentagram to the left and right, their grand scale reminding me of my not-so-pleasant journey into Anubis’s realm. Ma’at reclaimed my attention by stepping onto the dais. The moment her second foot touched that platform, silver light flared, flooding the room, then flaring to a painful level before dissipating. When it did, a humongous set of scales identical to those portrayed in modern-day American courtrooms dominated the center of the platform, minus only a blindfolded Lady Justice. Cue Ma’at.

She assumed position behind the Scales, facing me standing on the pentagram. The gold metal making up the framework of the Scales towered even taller than the goddess behind them but had been fashioned so delicately that she could still be seen clearly. The physical Scales themselves sagged equidistantly below the central pillar; waiting only for the metaphysical components they would soon assist their mistress in judging. Cue
me
.

I shifted my weight nervously from one foot to the other and back again, working up my courage. Sure, I knew the
theory
behind what I was about to do, the same way I knew the theory behind having a root canal performed. Didn’t mean I was in a rush to go through either …

Ma’at drew a slender mallet from somewhere and
lightly struck one Scale, then the other. Musical chimes far more melodious than simple scales should have been capable of producing sounded in the air, making me shudder involuntarily. The chimes struck me to the quick, inspiring a solemn sense of awe unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Seconds later, Ma’at murmured in that unintelligible immortal language I couldn’t comprehend even in demigoddess form. Silver and—surprisingly enough—sapphire energy roared to life around me in the precise shape of the pentagram. Okay, cue me for real: once prompted by Ma’at.

“One who stands as Nemesis to the Triad of the
Gens Immortalis
has braved the Trial of the Hall of Two Truths and brings petition to I who stand as Mother Reckoner, currently in my guise as Ma’at, She Who Brings Balance. Tell me, Nemesis, what exactly is it that you petition?”

I forced aside my renewed sense of insignificance to stand straight and tall, in honor of my role as Nemesis if not on my own merits. “I who stand as Nemesis to the Immortal Triad petition She Who Brings Balance by my right to invoke the Feather against he who is my quarry.”

Ma’at struck each scale a second time and regarded me expressionlessly. “Against whom would you invoke the Feather?”

“Against Anubis the Jackal-Headed, he who serves as Death Lord over Duat and who has sinned greatly against the
Gens Immortalis
in general and specifically against the Triad I serve.” Even if one of their number might have privately disagreed.

She raised those odd musical chimes again, then pulled the ostrich feather from her hair with elaborate hand gestures, moving with fluid grace every bit as
lyrical as the Scales’ chimes. Before she could set the feather in its appropriate place, however, commotion broke out in the antechamber where we had left her guardians. Fear lit in her eyes, fear that sent my own pulse into overdrive and made me want to shriek at her to hurry the hell up.

Fortunately, she felt that sense of urgency without my verbal prompting and placed the Feather with much less fuss than she’d plucked it from her hair. Magic kept the Scales equally balanced—they wouldn’t budge until the mystical representation of Anubis’s heart was placed opposite the Feather.

Speaking of the devil …a terrifyingly familiar voice screamed on the other side of the Hall’s entry door, a voice I hadn’t heard in several years and could have gone the rest of my life quite cheerfully without. Screams answered Mr. Jackal-Faced’s furious demands, screams of righteous anger and intense agony combined: the guardians giving their lives—and potentially afterlives—to honor their goddess’s last request. I gritted my teeth and nodded to that goddess. Their sacrifices—like so many others—must not go in vain.

“Then do so, as is your right, Nemesis of the Triad. Invoke the Feather against Anubis the Jackal-Headed so that We may judge the weight of his sins, heart and soul.”

My mouth opened to do just that, but explosive energy concussed at my back, sending me flying into the air and onto the ground just
outside
of the invoked pentagram, something that should
not
have been possible. The star’s magical energy should have served as a barrier holding me inside until Ma’at banished it or someone marred the physical representation on the floor. I barely registered that fact since I was busy reeling on my hands and knees
from the sheer force of the blow that had sent me sprawling. When I managed to raise my eyes, I caught sight of Ma’at chanting feverishly, hands raised but trembling as much as my body currently shook.
What
on earth—or should I say hell—had her so damned scared?

I somehow found the strength to turn my body enough to look behind me, and my heart plummeted. Anubis strode along the black carpet, body completely shrouded by an elaborately engraved gold-on-black robe, distinctive gold jackal mask glinting from beneath its hood every few steps.
That
wasn’t what had me as scared shitless as Ma’at; no,
that
would be the large number of lesser gods and goddesses following in his shadow, several of whom were currently bathed in dark splashes of crimson that could only be the blood of Ma’at’s guardians, who had tried—and failed—to give us the time we needed.

Jeez. Us. We are
beyond
outnumbered right now.
Nike tried to project calming sensations, but she seemed just as overwhelmed as Ma’at and me.
Even if Scott and the others busted in right now, I don’t think we can fight our way out of this …

Anubis stalked inexorably closer, and I couldn’t bear to watch, so I focused on his minions, taking stock of faces and symbols on clothing so I could rat them out to the Triad if, by some freaking miracle, I made it out of this. Although pretty much my only hope of
that
was if I made it
back
into the pentagram, reraised the magic Ma’at had summoned, and finished the Invocation—something I was willing to bet Anubis wouldn’t just stand back and watch me do.

Ma’at’s voice continued chanting, low enough that only I could hear, and I frowned, wondering what she might be trying to—

Harsh sirens clanged all around, sending the hands of every person in the room—save only for Anubis and Ma’at—flying up to cover ears against the incessant shrieking. The Hall itself started shaking, and all four walls faded away, only to be replaced by endless black streaked with shimmering pinpoints of light. My gaze flew back to the dais and saw a no-longer-fearful Ma’at standing there, in her Egyptian guise no more. Now she wore black leather pants and a vest similar to my own, and she glowed with a terrible silver-and-sapphire light. Nyx, primordial Goddess of the Night, Mother of the Furies, and, I was now coming to realize, the Triad’s original Nemesis. Not a bad choice to have at one’s side in order to make a crazy last stand against impossible numbers, all things considered.

She apparently had loftier goals than I, for she neither made an insane charge against her professed archenemy nor surrendered against what seemed overwhelming numbers. Instead, she started to …stall him.

“How
dare
you profane
my
sacred Hall and ceremony, Jackal-Faced traitor? Not to mention slay my guardians inside my very temple?”