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"It’ll be dangerous," Bes said "Reckless Probably fatal"

"So, an average day for us," I su his phone "Then what should I tell Amos? He’s on his own?"

"Not quite," Zia said "I’ll go to Brooklyn"

I alave ic, Carter"

"That’s not what I meant It’s just--"

"I want to speak with Amos myself," she said "When the House of Life appears, perhaps I can intervene, stall for tiicians…at least I did when Iskandar was alive Soht listen to reason, especially if Menshikov isn’t there egging thery mob I’d seen in my vision Reasonable wasn’t the first word that ca the sa

"If you teleport in at sunset," he said, "you’ll arrive at the sa to be chaos, not ht?"

"Let’s hope," Zia said, "it doesn’t co answer, but Walt nodded "I’ll go with you"

Sadie dropped her senet sticks on the floor "What? Walt, no! In your condition--"

She clamped her mouth shut, too late

"What condition?" I asked

If Walt had had an Evil Eye spell, I think he would’ve used it on my sister just then

"My fa I told Sadie…in confidence"

He didn’t sound happy about it, but he explained the curse on his family, the bloodline of Akhenaton, and what it meant for him

I just sat there, stunned Walt’s secretive behavior, his talks with Jaz, his moodiness--all of it nificant

"Oh, man," I oing to say, I appreciate the senti with this disease for years I don’t want people pitying uys I’ll take Zia back to Brooklyn That way, Amos will know she comes in peace We’ll try to stall the attack, hold them off until sunrise so you can coed "If you fail, and we don’t stop Apophis, we’re all going to die toht side," I said Then so it was like a tiny nuclear reaction in my head "Hold up Menshikov said he was descended from the priests of Auys They were so full of the?"

"Weren’t those the saht Akhenaton and cursed Walt’s ancestors?" I asked "What if Menshikov has the secret of the curse? What if he could cure--"

"Stop" The anger in Walt’s voice took"Carter, I’ve co Menshikov is the enemy Even if he could help, he wouldn’t If you cross paths with him, don’t try to make any deals Don’t try to reason with hilanced at Sadie Her eyes were gleaht

"Okay, Walt," I said "I won’t ain"

But Sadie and I had a very different silent conversation For once, ere in total agree to visit the Duat And while ere there, we’d turn the tables on Vlad Menshikov We’d find him, beat the crud out of him, and force him to tell us how to cure Walt Suddenly, I felt a whole lot better about this quest

"So we’ll leave at sunset," Zia said "Walt and I for Brooklyn You and Sadie for the Duat It’s settled"

"Except for one thing" Bes glared at the senet sticks Sadie had dropped on the floor "You did not roll that It’s irin spread across her face She’d accidentally rolled a three, just what she needed to win

She lasses and tried the about Menshikov’s burned voice and his scarred eyes, and what ht happen to my sister if she tried to read the Book of Ra

"Impossible is et ready for the Great Pyramid"

If you ever visit the pyramids, here’s a tip: the best place to see theet, the more disappointed you’ll be

That may sound harsh, but first of all, up close, the pyraht Everybody who sees them says that Sure, they were the tallest structures on the earth for thousands of years, but cos, they don’t see stones and golden capstones that made them really cool in ancient times They’re still beautiful, especially when they’re lit up at sunset, but you can appreciate theht in the tourist scene