Unwrapped: An Urban Fantasy Adventure (Werewolves vs. Mummies Book 3) (17 page)

I trudged forward, dragging my body through the melting snow and shivering as icy water clung to my clothes and fur. My breath came out in white wisps as I sucked in frigid gasps of air. After what felt like forever, I finally reached the fallen form of Horus who lay splayed across the snow. In places, the god was little more than a charred skeleton. The rest of his skin had a shriveled texture to it, reminding me of a raisin. Between the char and withering, I probably wouldn’t have even known it was him if he hadn’t had the head of a falcon.

One of his sunken eyes opened, staring at me from beneath a hood of melted feathers.

“Thes,” he croaked, voice hoarse and grating. “You came to rescue me.”

“Yeah,” I said, scooping him up in my arms. He was strangely light, and I wondered if every ounce of moisture had been sucked from his body. “You owe me now.”

“Indeed,” he rasped, head falling forward so his beak rested on his chest. “What do you desire?”

“For you to rally the gods and get your mother to release Sekhmet.” As I said the words, a shiver ran through the god.

“Then get me to the sun throne. It is the only way to restore my power. Do this and I will help you, I promise.” He tried to swallow, but the sound he made was more like rubbing two pieces of beef jerky together.

“How do I know you’re not lying?” I asked, suddenly unsure how to actually get him out of the prison. It wasn’t like there was an obvious exit. We were standing in a metal box, albeit a snow-filled metal box.

“You’ll have to trust me,” he replied, and as he spoke, his falcon face faded away, leaving me looking at his human face. Still, as he reverted, his body seemed to bolster a touch, as though the extra power he’d been using to maintain falcon form had flooded back into his body and given him a better grasp on life. “But I won’t betray you, Thes. We both get what we want after all.” His hand fluttered in the direction of the ice cube formerly known as Set. “Set is defeated, and I will assume the throne.” He grinned at me. “It’s everything I could ever want.”

“Indeed,” I said, resisting the urge to fling him into the snow in disgust. He was right after all. In the end, Horus had to win. The thought made my stomach twist in disgust, and not just because his mother had kidnapped my girlfriend following a horrible decapitation. No, it was because I didn’t think the falcon god was up to the challenge, and if he wasn’t, we were screwed. This was like purposely better on the worst horse in a race, only losing this race might destroy the planet. “Just hold the throne against the destroyer, and I’ll admit I was wrong about you.”

“What do you mean?” Horus gasped, and the fear in his voice made me shudder. “The destroyer is back?”

“He is circling his host as we speak. Once we get you to the throne, you must rally the gods,” I said, but as the words left my mouth, Horus pushed me violently away. The god slipped from my hands and hit the snow, sinking down into it.

“No, he cannot be back.” Horus tried to get to his feet, but before he could move more than a few inches, I stepped on his spine, pinning him to the frozen metal floor. “You don’t understand, Thes!”

“I understand fully,” I said as the falcon god struggled beneath my heel, but my werewolf bulk was more than enough to keep the dehydrated god in place. At least, I was pretty sure it was. “We made a deal. Honor it.” Horus began mewling, burying his face in the snow. I let out an exasperated sigh. “Seriously, man?”

“The destroyer is unlike anyone. If he comes, it will be to kill us all. You may have beaten Apep, but he cannot be stopped.” Horus shook, shivers racking his entire body.

“Maybe the destroyer is a girl,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the struggling god. “Presuming the destroyer is male is awfully sexist of you. Now stop making snow angels and zap us to the throne so I can put your scrawny ass on it and get my girlfriend back.”

“You don’t understand, Thes,” Horus opined once more. “If the destroyer comes back, it won’t matter if Isis releases Sekhmet. We’ll all be dead.”

I leaned down close to Horus so my snout was only inches from his ears. “Horus, you’re doing this. End of story.”

“I don’t think—”

“It doesn’t matter what you think!” I snapped, jerking him to his feet by the scruff of his neck and spinning him around so I could glare into his eyes. The fear there made me wonder why everyone had put so much faith into him. I’d seen that look before, and every time it was followed by someone throwing down his weapon and running for the hills in a hysterical panic. Still, I was desperate. I reached into my memory for the toughest voice I ever remembered. That of my Alpha, Halcyon. “You’re doing this,” I growled, copying his I chew boulders and spit out gravel tone.

“Thes,” he whispered, body going as still as death as I began dragging him toward where I sort of recalled entering the prison. Granted all the walls looked the same, so it was sort of a long shot, but it was about time kismet started helping me out.

“I’m not sure what part of ‘it doesn’t matter what you think’ you do not understand,” I said as we reached the wall. I ran my nails over the silver metal. There had to be a door here somewhere.

“The part where you expect me to do battle with an unstoppable god killer,” Horus grumbled, although I’m not sure if his words were actually directed at me. They seemed more forlorn and directed at the ether than anything. It was like he was starting to accept the inevitability of his situation. This was good. I wasn’t going to let him do anything other than sit his scrawny ass on the damn throne and make Isis return Sekhmet to me. Besides, it wasn’t like his shriveled raisin form had much in the way of power to stop me with.

The wall beneath my hand slid away to reveal Osiris. Anubis stood a few feet behind him. Both wore glittering armor, but while Osiris’s seemed to be made of polished silver, Anubis’s was the same color as his mother’s had been. The color of old, dried blood.

“Howdy partner,” Osiris said, nodding at me and tipping an imaginary cowboy hat at me as his eyes shifted to Horus. “Seems you’ve found our runaway pigeon.”

“It would seem so, but he keeps trying to fly the coop.” I pushed Horus toward the two death gods. “And I realized I don’t actually know how to get to the throne, much less out of this prison.”

“We figured as much,” Osiris said, reaching out and taking Horus from me, and for some reason, I let him do it. I can’t say why, but I sort of trusted Osiris to do the right thing, probably because we’d both died fighting a horde of imaginary zombies together. “That’s why we came. Now, let’s get out of here.” With that, Osiris bopped Horus on the head, knocking the falcon god unconscious before slinging him over his shoulder like a continental soldier.

“But what about Set and Nephthys?” I asked, glancing back at the frozen godsicles.

“I’ll take care of the parental units,” Anubis said, moving past me into the room. “That’s why I came along. Maybe I’ll get more allowance out of it.” He sauntered toward the carnage with a bounce in his step. “I need mo’ allowance. Yodelayeoo.”

I shook my head, barely able to keep from grinning at his antics even though this was a serious situation. “Do you think we can do this? Bird brain seems to think we’re all going to die.”

“Here’s the secret, Thes. Everyone’s got to die sometime.” Osiris threw his arm around my shoulder. “Maybe this is our time, maybe not. But we won’t know if we don’t get out there and do our thing. Even if our thing is to die a gruesome, grizzly death at the hands of an unstoppable force.”

“Wow, that sounds awesome. I’ve always wanted to die a horrible grizzly death with an extra helping of gruesome. You know, just to make it interesting,” I replied, hoping against hope, I wasn’t about to meet my maker.

Osiris just met my eyes and shrugged. “Who knows, maybe you’ll become an immovable object. Stranger things have happened.” Osiris began leading us down the passageway. “Now let’s go. Time waits for no one. Except Thoth, but he doesn’t count.” He elbowed me in the side. “You know because he’s the god of time.”

“Yeah, I got it,” I replied, sighing. “Well, no matter what, we have to try.”

“That’s the spirit, except, well, your words remind me of some very wise words I was once told a long, long time ago.” He looked over, meeting my eyes. “Do or do not. There is no try.”

“Are you quoting Yoda to me?” I shook my head in disgust. “I think we’ve reached the absolute limit to Star Wars references for this little journey. I’m officially putting the moratorium on them.”

“Alright,” Osiris said, eyes gleaming. “Ready to go to the throne and sit bird brain on it?”

“Yeah, more than ready,” I replied.

Osiris nodded at me. “Beam me up, Scotty!” With those words, we vanished in a flash of white light.

A moment later, I found myself standing upon the heavens. They spread out in front of me in an ever expanding expanse of clouds. The sky above was a palette awash with pastel colors, changing in a soft gradient of pinks and yellows. The only other thing here was a simple wicker chair. It looked old and forgotten. Cobwebs clung to its surface, and the reeds binding it together were cracked and brittle.

“Is that it?” I murmured, sure it had to be because it was the only thing here, but at the same time, it seemed so much less impressive than the scenery. “It looks a little…”

“Dumpy? Uninspired? Old?” Osiris offered, dragging the unconscious bird god toward the chair. “That’s because it’s been empty for a while. Ra hasn’t sat here in ages. He’s been too weak, and the throne is just an extension of his power.” He shot me a conspiring look. “For the moment at least.” He knocked Horus upside the head. “I’m sure my son can power it up.”

He said the words casually, but only then did it dawn on me that Horus was Osiris’s son. It made sense, especially since I knew Isis to be his wife, but still. No wonder he had been so interested in helping me rescue his offspring.

“Is this you just realizing feather-brain here is my son?” Osiris asked, raising an eyebrow in my general direction.

“Well, yeah, actually,” I mumbled, glancing away sheepishly as Osiris sat his son on the wicker chair. At first nothing happened. Then it grew eerily quiet, and I could almost hear the wind whistling through the clouds. The sunlight grew hotter on my face, and as I turned toward where I felt it, a shadow fell across me.

I spun back around. The most non-descript man I’d ever seen walked toward us. He was about five feet tall with a bald head and skin darkened by years of work outside. His mouth was compressed into a tight line, and his muscles were wiry, reminding me of a swimmer who hadn’t eaten quite enough to support his activity level. As the man moved across the clouds, Osiris smacked his son hard enough to rattle the falcon god’s teeth.

“Wake up!” Osiris cried, but the only sound I heard in response was the man’s soft footsteps upon the clouds.

“What’s wrong? Who is that?” I asked, peering closer at the man but seeing nothing particularly interesting about him. He wasn’t even wearing anything that special, just an old loin cloth.

“Stay back, destroyer!” Osiris brandished his flail at the man, but it would have been more encouraging if he wasn’t shaking like a leaf. My blood turned to ice as the realization of who this was filled me. This was the destroyer, and as powerful as Osiris was, he was so scared he was shaking. That wasn’t good, not at all. How was I supposed to beat someone who made deities quake in their godly britches?

Still, knowing I was finally face to face with him brought me a strange sense of closure. This was it. All I had to do was stop him, and I’d get Sekhmet back and be able to reunite Connor with his soul. If all I had to do was take out a mythical force bent on killing gods and heroes alike, well, I could do that. For Sekhmet, I
would
do that.

“No.” The destroyer’s one word reply was strangely neutral despite the weight it carried. Power flowed out toward me, making my hair stand up and my knees shake. I’d had been in the presence of power before, and his one word made all of those powers seem weak beyond comparison.

Osiris glanced at me, and I could tell he was on the edge of hysteria. “I’ll hold him off. You must awaken Horus before—” His words were cut off as the man appeared between us, having crossed several hundred feet of distance in the space of a heartbeat. Before Osiris could even finish speaking, the destroyer drove his palm through the death god’s chest and tore Osiris’s heart free.

I couldn’t even form a coherent sentence as everything around me seemed to slow down. He had just torn the still beating heart from Osiris’s chest with no more effort than it would take me to breathe under normal circumstances. Doubt crept into me as I watched him eye me like an unwanted appetizer. How was I supposed to stop him when Osiris couldn’t even live for more than a few seconds in the destroyer’s presence? What hope did I possibly have?

“I cannot be held off, Thes Mercer. This is inevitability.” He tossed the heart over his shoulder. It fell through the clouds like a stone as Osiris collapsed to his knees, golden blood spilling from the wound. “You would be better to just return home.” The destroyer gestured in front of me, and the air tore itself asunder. Through the tear I could see the outline of my backyard. It was the very place where I’d been sucked into Hades with my friend Lillim. It seemed like forever ago. “Go home.”

It was a tempting offer, all things considered. I had Connor’s soul, after all. Every minute I stayed here just delayed me returning home to restore him. And then there was the teensy weensy little fact that he’d ripped out Osiris’s heart with about as much effort as it’d take me to crack an egg. Still, I couldn’t leave like this, not with Sekhmet still a prisoner, her heart torn from her body. For her, I had to try. No, I had to succeed!

“No!” I cried and charged at him.

He broke my face with his fist, and I got the distinct feeling he’d slowed enough for me to see it coming, but not enough for me to have done anything about it. My snout snapped backward, a shattered mess of bone and gore. Pain exploded through every ounce of my being, and my vision went blurry. As my feet left the clouds, and I started to fly backward, he grabbed me by the throat, arresting my flight with a jerk that nearly snapped my neck. He began walking toward the portal, dragging me along like a werewolf-sized stuffed animal.