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Artemis’s head whipped around, her eyes wide "Horus is here?"

I didn’t answer

"No," she breathed, her face going pale Arte her to the corner, their heads bowed together

Athena threw Dora to the aisle below The witch s a s Slowly she pushed to her feet, ducking supernaturally fast as Apollo’s arro past her head "Come to me, my horrors, e, high-pitched sounds I’d heard outside Josephine’s house cahts and peals of laughter I remembered why they’d sounded familiar I’d heard them another time too At the River Witch’s house in the bayou, in the clay jars

"What are those?" Kieran asked

"I think those are the things that escaped Dora’s jar"

"So me "Not all"

The vices and spites transforht fro fro the horrors with Apollo When one was shot through the forehead with an arrow, it si When Athena shot another with lightning, it burst into a million tiny sparks only to re-form

There were six in all Athena finally ed to obliterate one of Dora’s creatures It burst into bits of fiery light, then condensed into one tiny spark to re-forainst the wall The horrors left us alone; they did not approach the altar at all Hurrying, I ran around the table and reached up to touch my father’s bloody boots I wrapped my hands around the arrow’s shaft "Do it," he insisted "Hurry"

I couldn’t pull the arrow back through his feet, so I snapped the shaft, then grabbed his feet and shoved them upward to his hiss of pain It was over quickly His feet free, I climbed up the statue of St Paul, which flanked the column my father was bound to I reached for the tie around his wrist Kieran followedthe statue of St Peter on the other side to get to the other wrist

Just as I reached the knot, Kieran’s warning ca with a thud on the carpet below Goddaed me up Athena screamed her frustration Menai notched an arrow and sent it at Dora, but the witch swatted it away, the horrors blocking the gods fro her

"You will resurrect that child," she said with a sneer "I want Athena to suffer, to hold her child in her arms and watch him die, like I did at the bottom of that damn mountain I want her to feel the loss of a thousand years, and then knohat it’s like to see hion An eye for an eye Do you not want the same for those you have loved and lost?"

I opened my mouth, but no answer came out

A lion’s roar shook the cathedral In the doorway, Horus appeared with his black lioness His eerie eyes were furious, and they zeroed in on Dora It didn’t take ure out that the reason he’d been delayed was because of her "Think you to hold a god?" he shouted at Dora As he yptian war garb The sight made my mouth drop open

Dora shoved me away and hurried to face him Artemis moved back into the shadows, but Horus saw her and threw out a hand She hit the wall and was pinned there, unable to move He never took his eyes off Dora "Think you that powerful, witch?"

"I waylaid you, didn’t I?" Dora answered, her confidence unbelievable

Athena smashed the last of Dora’s horrors and ju him between Dora and herself The shit was about to hit the fan, and I needed to get h altar

"What do you think, brother?" Athena said to Apollo as I inched around the table and back toward ether, or shall I make my peace with Dora once and for all while you visit with the Egyptian?"

Apollo and Horus stared at each other, neither see impressed by the other "Horus and I have a few scores to settle Have at it, sister," Apollo said, never taking his eyes off his target

Horus’s eyebrow lifted "It’s your funeral"

And then the shit hit the fan Pews and prayer books went flying I scrah the ties with Athena’s blade As Kieran climbed the other statue and used her sword to cut , I went to his feet and held hi half on top of me We ducked behind the altar table

"As soon as we have a clear path, we run for the side door," I said

Athena shot a bolt of lightning at Dora It ricocheted off her breastplate and sla the balcony above The entire left gallery groaned and sagged