Blackhearted Betrayal (29 page)

Anubis stopped a dozen feet away from the pentagram, which was another dozen feet away from Ma’at—make that Nyx. I huddled halfway between the two full immortals, doing my best
not
to appear like a quivering mass of hysteria while also trying not to draw undue attention.
Gods, I hope she’s even better at bluffing than I …

That familiar, deep, almost androgynous voice dripped with derision. “As history has shown, one immortal law stands above all others, Ma’at: Might makes right.” Anubis gestured to his minions. “Since I
currently have the might, I have every right to enter whoever’s temple I so desire, and to slay
any
who stand against me.”

Megalomaniac much?

Ma’at-as-Nyx bared her teeth and made a sudden gesture while calling out a brief magical keyword that completed a spell she’d earlier began but left unfinished. The floor rumbled beneath our feet and, just like that, reality shifted, and the pentagram reappeared around me: fully intact and ready for me to use. Anubis let out an angry snarl, but I had already leaped into action. “I invoke Ma’at’s Feather against Anubis the Jackal-Headed!” I cried it out once, twice, then thrice, a sacred number across many cultures and religions and, when used by a demigoddess inside an immortal-channeled pentagram, immutable.

Nyx’s lips curved into a satisfied smirk, and she slipped into her guise as Ma’at again, her Feather gleaming atop its side of the Scales while she struck the musical chimes three more times. Anubis roared in fury, but he was too late, superior numbers or not. The black-robed, golden-masked immortal was immediately whipped inside the pentagram—against his will—and was pinned at its center by some unseen force. At the same time, a black, vaguely heart-shaped object appeared at the end of the Scale opposite the Feather. That object pulsed with silver-and-black magic much as an actual heart would have beat, but it was merely a magical stand-in, a metaphor for the blackhearted god’s soul.

Ma’at chanted another indecipherable magical phrase, and the Scales began tilting wildly, first one way, then the other. Her head jerked back, and she glowed with inner fire, hair snapping in the wind much like a gorgon’s
serpents would have done. She continued chanting, but her language changed from immortal to ancient Egyptian, one I could actually understand with just a bit of magical effort. I made that effort so I could comprehend her words, which turned out to be a recitation of the good deeds—and correspondingly bad—of the immortal seething just behind me. I could
feel
the rage pouring off him in waves that rivaled a Fury’s magic-enhanced anger even though I couldn’t see
him
, at least not until I glanced over my shoulder for a glimpse. I allowed a tiny smile to cross my lips. He deserved to suffer way more than that, but at least it was a start. He was forced to stand impotent at the center of the pentagram while Ma’at proclaimed his most notable sins for all to hear. I was surprised that she had to get through a whole lot of good before the bad, but then I shook my head at my own folly.
No one
was all good
or
evil, not even me or, conversely, my psycho former mentor.

My mouth dropped open when I realized that specific person had not come into my mind out of sheer coincidence: Stacia herself had just run into the room, accompanied by the same Anubian priests we had left behind in Boston’s Underbelly. All were robed, and several wore deep cowls that concealed their faces; one caught my attention by waddling more than walking.

I forced my eyes away and cursed beneath my breath, with Nike echoing my sentiments mentally. We were trapped, however, forced to remain in the magical circle lest we disrupt Ma’at’s spell and free Anubis from his Reckoning. All I could do was hope and pray that Mother Reckoner could hold Anubis’s minions off while she finished …Scarcely seconds had passed before another group rushed into the Hall of Two Truths, making
such a commotion I glanced over my shoulder fearfully once more, only to catch sight of my grandmother’s shade leading a ragtag band of spectral reinforcements: the Cat shade being chivvied by my own lovely Nemesis; Mijai and his fellow Imsetian priests who had sacrificed themselves to our greater cause, and—I was shocked to see—Laurell and Patricia. Shocked because they were clearly in spiritual form, which meant both had died, but then appeared in Duat rather than the realm Furies went to upon death. Unless …my pulse picked up speed. Unless they had actually survived in the Belly and chosen to travel here in spiritual form the way I had first journeyed to Duat to confront Anubis. If that was so, they had shown a tremendous amount of courage and loyalty. I didn’t have enough time to wonder
how
they had found us but assumed they’d used some sort of tracking spell.

Nan and company wasted no time wading in against Stacia and the Anubians, although one of them—I soon recognized him as Khenti-Manu—broke free and scurried into the group of immortal flunkies forced to observe Anubis’s Reckoning. No doubt
he
was the “high-ranking priest” who had done the seemingly impossible: forcibly transmuting an immortal being
out
of his own body and an arcane spirit
into
it. Khenti-Manu quickly realized what I had—that the divine audience members, all weaker than Ma’at by far, had no choice but to stand as frozen observers while the forces she enacted played out. Of course, this bought us only a temporary reprieve. Once their liege lord’s Reckoning ended, I would finally have the proof I needed to bring him to justice, but he would then have
me
at his mercy. He and his minions would attack, and Triad’s help or not, there was
no
way
Ma’at and I could stand against so many immortal foes, even if they were all
lesser
gods and goddesses.

My gaze fell upon the twin mirrors hanging on the walls to each side of the pentagram. I let out a hiss of breath as possibilities danced through my mind. Each stood in the direct path of the pentagram’s magical overflow, to east and west the way that Ma’at’s Scales stood just to the north. This meant that either (or both) could serve double duty as portals, portals to bring in arcane and—hopefully—immortal reinforcements of our own. But first I had to figure out
how
.

Nike wound to my shoulder and nuzzled my neck in excitement.
Nemesis says she can tell your grandmother your plan. Mijai can surely open a portal to Ma’at’s temple in Duat.

Thanks to the fact Anubis had so kindly done
something
to his portion of the Underworld that allowed shades to retain their magical abilities even after death. That meant Ma’at’s surviving guardians—and hopefully my
own
group led by Durra and Scott—could leap through to bolster our numbers. Unfortunately, that would
still
leave us outnumbered.

Nike gave me inspiration again.
When Sahana makes it through the first portal,
she
could open the second …
But that still left the question of where to send for help. I glanced from the eastern mirror to the western, and my heartbeat skittered again. No way could I risk opening a portal to Ala’s realm again. She was likely the one who had gotten Imseti ousted from his body to begin with. As long as there was a chance she
was
Anubis’s secret lover, I couldn’t involve her unless the rest of the Triad were present to counter her. So where …Of course!
Nike, when Sahana
does
come through, have Maeve send Durra through the second portal to the Palladium for our mothers.

Nike let out an excited hiss. Three
Nemeses and a number of Furies will be
more
than a match for Anubis and his lesser allies.

My lips twisted fiercely.
Indeed. And then I can focus on subduing him so that his followers will lose heart and surrender—or Adesina and Mom can fetch the Triad here.
It would be
much
less risky to bring Ala there in the company of Kamanu and Epona, especially
after
we got things here under control. Of course, first we had to pull that feat off.

Pass the plan on to Nemesis, please. I don’t care what they have to do—Mijai
needs
to open that portal to Duat, and Sahana
has
to open the second to the Palladium. My hands are tied here until Ma’at finishes.

Done!
Nike called a moment later. I held my breath while Nan’s shades redoubled their efforts, soon succeeding in overpowering the Anubians and sending Mijai under the protection of the three Fury shades around the group of frozen immortals to the western mirror. I couldn’t help looking back at Anubis to gauge his reaction and sighed in relief to find him focused solely upon Ma’at as she continued reciting his past deeds, his very
many
past deeds considering how many thousands of years he’d had to accumulate them.

My—okay, thanks to Nike’s help,
our
—plan went way more smoothly than expected; Mijai tapped into the pentagram’s overflowing pool of energy without disrupting the Reckoning, thanks to the spectral assistance of Imseti, opening a portal to Ma’at’s temple in Duat.
Nan leaped through the second the portal solidified. Several tense moments later, she popped back through the portal, followed closely by first Scott (
big
surprise), then Sahana, Durra, and Charlie.
Those
three immediately skirted the pentagram’s edge and began the next step at the waiting mirror. Nan and Scott stepped up beside me—remaining outside the pentagram—and narrowed their eyes at Anubis behind me.
He
didn’t notice, but it
did
raise my spirits to know they would be at my back to make sure no one took me unaware.

Mac and Ellie soon jumped through the first portal, leading a number of Ma’at’s guardians to surround Anubis’s lesser gods. My stomach sank because my brother and his wife would be in the second greatest danger after me once Anubis’s Reckoning ended, but I gritted my teeth and reminded myself that the danger was theirs to face. I
couldn’t
save everyone I loved from facing harm, and thanks to the lessons Trinity and Scott had taught me, I
wouldn’t
even if I could.

My body tensed when Ma’at’s voice reached a crescendo, and I tuned back in to her actual words. She had reached Anubis’s most recent history, which meant his Trial by Feather would soon end, presumably freeing both him and his followers once more. Sweat broke out upon my brow. While we were nowhere
near
as outnumbered as we had been at the start of his Reckoning, our victory—or even survival—was by no means yet assured. I glanced down at Nike.
Pass word on to Durra’s Amphisbaena that Anubis will be freed from stasis very shortly. They
must
get that portal up!
She bobbed her head in agreement, all the while sending me comforting thoughts. They didn’t really soothe me much, but I
did
appreciate the gesture.

Standing still and waiting for Death to approach had never been a strength of mine. I focused my attention on the robed and masked figure behind me, thinking about the crimes Ma’at cried out that directly impacted my loved ones and me: assisting Nan’s sister Medea in stealing control over Nan’s body; recruiting, via Medea, a significant number of Furies into his own personal service and inspiring civil war in a formerly united-for-millennia Sisterhood; using Mijai and his peers to lure Imseti to his part of Duat, then murdering the priests to raise enough Death energy to oust Imseti from his body—and giving it to a mere
arcane
merely to prove he could, then sending that arcane who just so
happened
to have an unhealthy obsession with me to persuade
me
to betray my duties and superiors the way he had
his
.

Rage, already running at a low-key buzz beneath the surface, surged to a flood rushing through my veins. I smiled an unpleasant smile and tapped into that riotous flood, allowing it to sweep me up in its grip since—as Nemesis—I didn’t have to worry about Turning Harpy. Being able to channel inhuman amounts of Rage—plus tap into the Triad’s abilities on a limited basis—were the advantages that would allow me to stand up to Anubis long enough for the cavalry to arrive.

Or so I desperately prayed.

All at once, Ma’at screamed out the greatest of Anubis’s crimes as the Scale holding Anubis’s heart plunged straight upward: “Plotting to steal the corporeal form of a member of the immortal Triad to pass yourself off as one of them, stealing powers both divine and political that are
not
rightfully yours!”

My lips curved smugly as I stared into Anubis’s silver-rimmed, yellow Hound eyes—the only feature I
could clearly see through his mask. “Checkmate,” I murmured even though he couldn’t hear. Ma’at had confirmed
all
the crimes I had suspected; hearing the worst shouted out last made everything that much more dramatic. The universe must have agreed because Sahana
finally
got the second portal up and running. Durra leaped forward at the same time Ma’at’s body sagged. The physical representation of Anubis’s heart vanished as if it had never appeared, sending the Scale back to its neutral position of Balance. I braced my body, and sure enough, the pentagram’s barrier dissolved with one last dramatic flare.

I’d prepared myself as much as possible, but so, it seemed, had Jackal-Faced. He leaped backward the moment the pentagram dissolved, letting out a sharp command, which inspired a flurry of activity among his lesser immortals, who shoved forward another robed figure with an oddly distended belly. My mouth tightened because I sensed who his captive was before a smirking Stacia stepped up to yank off the robe’s hood: a heavily pregnant Serise, the figure I’d noticed having such a hard time walking earlier.