Recreated (43 page)

“They've overtaken us,” I said.

“Yes,” Asten answered, “but that is the least of our concerns at the moment.”

“The
least
of your concerns? I'd say it's a pretty big concern, especially since the Devourer likely knows where we are. What else could possibly be concerning you at present?”

Asten frowned and opened his mouth but seemed hesitant to speak. Instead, he looked to Ahmose, who furrowed his brow before finally saying what was on his mind. “How are you feeling, Lily?” he asked watchfully.

I folded my arms across my chest. “Fine. Considering everything. Why?”

“Where are you from?”

“New York.”

“What's Dr. Hassan's first name?”

“Oscar.”

“Why are we here?”

“To save Amon.” I threw my arms up. “What's with the twenty questions?”

“We just wanted to make sure you're you,” Asten said.

“Who else would I be?” I asked testily.

Ahmose sighed. “We did a spell on you and”—he seemed uncomfortable—“we discovered that you're not alone in your mind.”

“What are you two talking about? You know I have Tia, too. Though she has been extremely quiet as of late. It's like pulling teeth to get her to talk.”

“That's just it, Lily. She has been quiet but now another voice is taking over.”

“Another?”

Ahmose nodded. “You're still there, which is a relief, but there's Tia and now…Ashleigh.”

“Hold on. Are you saying the fairy is in my mind, too?”

“The spell confirmed it,” Asten said. “We aren't sure how it happened. Perhaps it had something to do with the tree?”

“Or fairy magic?” Ahmose suggested.

A humming sound started to fill my brain again. “No. No. This isn't possible. How is this possible?” I started rocking back and forth, my arms clasped around my knees. “I'm going crazy, aren't I? This happened to the other sphinx. She went crazy. Asked to be killed. What am I going to do?” Reaching out, I grabbed Asten's arm and took hold of Ahmose's hand with my other one, shaking them both. “You've got to help me. Isn't there something you can do?”

Ahmose shook his head sadly. “We've never encountered anything like this before. What's…disturbing is that there are times when you don't seem to be aware that you're not in control.”

“What?” I gasped. “Are you sure?”

“There's only one way to find out,” Asten said. “Do you remember…dreaming with me?”

“Dreaming? What specifically are you talking about?”

“There was a shooting star, a grassy hillside?”

“No.” I shook my head. “The last dream I remember was seeing Amon being tortured.”

Asten nodded curtly. “That proves it, then. It wasn't you.”

“Wasn't me? You saw me, but I wasn't me?”

“It was you, in body, but not in mind. Did Hassan say anything about the merging of your consciousness or about one of you disappearing?”

I thought for a moment. “Hassan said that because I didn't kill Tia, our minds would fight for control over my body. And Horus said something about the power of the sphinx working when the two of us agreed on what we were doing and that the only time we could be fully ourselves was when the other—or, I guess, others now—acquiesces or sleeps.”

“So it was Tia who dreamed with me,” Asten mused thoughtfully.

I pressed my hands against my face. “This is really confusing.” Taking a deep breath, I looked up at the netherworld sky and wondered what was going to become of me. Then I realized it didn't matter. What did matter was finishing what I set out to do. Crazy or not, possessed by a lioness and a fairy or not, I was going to save Amon.

Standing up, I dusted my hands on my leggings and assumed control, silencing every other voice in my mind. “Let's put these multiple personalities-slash-psychosomatic issues of mine in the parking lot and decide what to do about that at another time. For the moment, we've got bigger fish to fry. Let's hope we'll find a solution later on down the road. If either of the other girls comes out to play, I trust the two of you will keep them aimed in the right direction.”

Asten and Ahmose looked at each other and then nodded.

“Good. Shall we go, then?”

Asten handed me my weapons and I noticed that his fingers lingered over my hand for just a moment longer than necessary, but I ignored the gesture. When he offered to carry me, I purposely went to Ahmose instead, attempting to pay no attention to Asten's clenched jaw and how it made the cleft in his chin deepen. I itched to question Tia about what she'd been doing while in control of my body, but I tamped down those thoughts, which smacked of betrayal. The truth was, I needed her and I knew it.

Ahmose seemed willing and happy to help and didn't appear to notice how quiet his brother was. Pressing my hand against Amon's heart scarab, I felt the thump of it against my palm and turned in a slow circle until I knew the direction we should take. The feel of it steadied me. “That way.” I pointed, and as we rose into the air, I heard the cries of jackals far below. Though I knew they followed us, we soon outdistanced the pack.

A few hours later, I spied something that looked very familiar. It was the iron wall my dream self had climbed when I first saw the Devourer. I wasn't sure if she was there, but I knew Amon was. His heart called to me. It was so much weaker now than it had been before, but at least I knew he was alive.

We touched down on a lip where we could crouch and peer into the stone theater beneath us. There was no sign of the woman I'd seen before, but I knew that didn't mean much. I scanned the area, and though the pole Amon had been chained to previously was still there, he wasn't. The iron chains that had held him hung limply, clinking softly against each other as they stirred in the breeze.

“Where is he?” I whispered.

“Does your heart tell you he's here?” Asten asked.

“Yes.”

“Perhaps it is a trick,” Ahmose suggested.

“I suppose it's possible,” I agreed. “Let's try to get down there.”

I was about to reach for my weapons when I paused. “She'll suck us dry sure as I'm talkin' to ya right now. Fightin' this many is like tryin' ta empty a pond with a pail. I think it's best we leave. If we're real quiet-like, she may not even notice us at all.”

“What did you say?” Asten asked, a look of surprise crossing his face.

I glared at him, not liking his wary expression at all.

“Ashleigh?” Ahmose patiently turned toward me.

“Yes?” I smiled at him, enjoying the look of those gray eyes twinkling in my direction.

“We really need Lily to be here right now.”

My smile disappeared. “Don't I have a right ta go where I please?”

“You do.” He cupped my hands in his warm ones and something in me quivered. “But right now we need to fight a battle. You might be safer staying back as far as you can. But lend her your strength if possible.”

I peered at him, looking for insincerity, but found none. “All right, then. I'll hide. You just keep us alive. Do ya understand?”

“I do. And I will.”

“I'll hold ya ta that.”

Blinking, I found I was staring too deeply into Ahmose's eyes. His brows were lifted. I gave a curt nod, my cheeks burning over the things I'd been thinking—that
she'd
been thinking, I corrected myself, and sighed. This was all so confusing. A part of me knew the thoughts weren't mine, and yet they felt as real to me in the moment as the touch of his hand had. Squaring my shoulders, I signaled the brothers.

We'd just stood when there was movement below. Quickly we ducked down as the grating of stone echoed up to our ears. Sand shifted on the arena floor and disappeared down a crack that grew wider. From beneath the sandstone surface a dais rose, and on top was a large black cauldron. A door opened in the forum and creatures of all descriptions entered, filling the space around the giant kettle.

When all were in place, a drum sounded, and as one, the creatures looked to the sky. Thousands of winged beings filled the air, screeching as they called out below. I ducked, knowing they were minions of the Devourer and hoping in vain that they wouldn't notice us.

While they flew overhead, the Minotaur henchman entered.

“Ach! Look at 'im!” I remarked too loudly. “Ya wouldn' wanna ride that into battle, now, wouldja? I mean, he's got the kind o' face that looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp!”

Ahmose elbowed me. “Ashleigh, you must try to keep your voice down.”

“It's okay,” I said, shaking my head. “I'm still here. She's just got very loud thoughts, is all. It's hard to block out.”

The Minotaur was followed by a shrouded figure in the form of a man. I felt my heart lurch, thinking it might be Amon, but then I saw that the person wasn't chained. He walked of his own free will. The man I knew would have fought to his dying breath. No. Amon was here somewhere, but it wasn't the man in the hood.

The winged batlike creatures fluttered madly, dipping lower and lower until a form materialized in their midst. Quickly, the leathery wings stilled, becoming a cloak. The Minotaur smiled—a chilling, slightly nauseating sight. “All hail the Devourer!” he cried out. The sentiment was echoed among the rowdy crowd of monsters so terrifying I knew I'd have nightmares about them for years, assuming, of course, I survived long enough to dream again.

The personification of all I loathed took a step forward. She raised her arms to the crowd, her back to us, and laughed.

“Thank you all for attending this most auspicious occasion!” the Devourer said in her lovely, monstrous voice. She turned in a circle, swinging her curvy hips as she did so, and I saw that this time she was dressed in a gown of sparkling silver, a very
clingy
one. The living cloak trailing behind her was spiked from the horns of the winged minions that clung to one another, and the skulls of some little beasts adorned each shoulder.

Her long, dark hair hung down her back in lustrous undulating waves, and even from a distance, I noticed that the small silver beads adorning the locks of her hair were also living, clutching sections with their claws and affixing a gleaming, jeweled crown upon her head. The gems were as red as blood.
How appropriate,
I thought.

She looked even lovelier than she had the last time I'd seen her. The greenish-gray veins that surfaced during our last encounter had disappeared. Now she was all creams and pinks except for the same bloodred lips. It was as if she'd blossomed while feasting on Amon's power. Technically, she'd been siphoning off energies from all of us. The idea that the bloom in her cheek might have come from me sickened me. I shivered, knowing it was highly likely that was what had happened. She thrived on our shared power.

“She's not at all what I expected,” Ahmose whispered.

“In all the stories I've heard about her, she was always referred to as the ugliest of immortals,” Asten added.

“You might think she's beautiful now,” I said. “But wait until she opens her mouth like she's about to stuff an entire Thanksgiving turkey down her throat. Turns your stomach.” Ahmose and Asten stared down at the woman like they were in love or, at the very least, entranced. I elbowed them. “Do I have to leave the two of you here? Are you going to be able to fight a pretty girl?”

Ahmose had the decency to look chagrined. “Sorry, Lily. We will fight when the time comes.”

“I expect so. It's going to be hard enough to defeat her even with the both of you backing me up. If it gets too difficult, then focus on the Minotaur and the rest of the demons and I'll take her out. Got it?”

“Yes, little lioness,” Asten said with his cheeky smile.

I gave him a suspicious look. “Okay, then.”

The Devourer motioned to her manservant and the Minotaur stepped up onto the dais, followed by the man in the hood. With a wave of her hands, the cape she wore lifted, baring her creamy shoulders, and the screeching, leather-winged beings disappeared in a puff of smoke. The black mist created by their bodies zoomed downward, entering the cauldron and filling it with roiling dark liquid that sizzled and popped. A sickly sweet stench filled the air.