Shadow Blade (36 page)

“Yeah.
I should have known something that would negate a Shadowchaser’s powers would come from Shadow-magic.”

“You were just out of training. There was no way for you to know.”

“Thanks for saying that.” It was something she’d have to carry with her, just like all the other regrets and mistakes she carried. She leaned into him and the regrets and mistakes didn’t seem as heavy.

“What you
did .
 . . what you’ve done all along . . . ”

“I did what I had to do, as did you.” He set the glider to swinging. “I would do so again, if I had to.”

So would she. “I
saw .
 . . I saw amazing things while I was . . . well, dead. Did you
see .
 . . ?”

“The hall, the gods.
Yes.” He smiled.
“Definitely amazing.”

He’d seen what she’d seen, experienced what she’d experienced. But he was supposed to move on, not stay behind in this world. He’d petitioned the goddesses for the right to return to the world of the living, to continue being her fail-safe. Yes, he had one more life to save, but that wasn’t the reason he gave them. He’d wanted to save her life. Save her. She wanted to ask him why, but she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer. Not yet.

She asked a different question instead. “Isis sent you back and Ma’at sent me back. What do you think it means?”

He touched her
throat,
the mark of Ma’at’s feather imprinted there, then pulled down the collar of his shirt to show her the Isis knot just below his Adam’s apple. “It means that we’ve been blessed by our goddesses. It means we still have a lot of work ahead of us.” He regarded her. “Are you prepared?”

“Prepared? No. Shadowchasing and the Gilead Commission have been a big part of my life. I don’t know how to live without them anymore. But I’m ready to do whatever Ma’at asks of me.”

He stood, held out his hand to her. “At least you know how to be a team player now.
Sort of.”

“Sort of?
What do you mean, sort of?” She let him pull her to her feet. “I think I’ve done pretty well with the teamwork thing.”

He coughed, clearly to cover a laugh. “Why don’t we go inside, grab some food, and ask the others how well you’ve got the teamwork thing down. I think we’ll get some interesting answers.”

“See, now you’re not playing fair. Maybe we should ask them if you’ve learned any humility in the last four thousand years.”

Khefar responded with a wry smile.

She stood and headed inside. The ancient Nubian warrior followed her.

There were still tons of questions that needed to be answered, decisions that needed to be made. As long as Ma’at guided her, she’d face whatever the Universe wanted to throw her way.